#this guy does not give a shit about treating her with any respect from what i've seen and essentially wants her to drop any interestes and

[umilily]

waking up from a poorly timed nap to my friend once more making the worst possible life choices

[doberbutts]

One of the really insidious ways black people in media get treated is that despite our stereotypes expanding outside of "thug" "slave" and "prostitute", we are still very limited on *what* we can be portrayed as.

It is no shock to me that the two black women in Veilguard, for instance, are either medium toned like myself or a nonhuman skin color (introduced as a woman). It doesn't escape my attention that the only black woman in Baldur's Gate list of companions is also a nonhuman skin color. Dark skinned black women are still considered too unattractive to include as potential romanceable candidates, as it *also* does not escape my attention that the darkest we've had was Vivienne who was simultaneously regarded as an incredibly unlikeable character by huge swaths of the fandom and also unavailable for romance.

But moreover- why can't the bubbley nerdy cute mage be a black woman? Why can't the shy but resourceful archer be a black woman? Why does the black woman have to be someone with their guard up, walls as high as a skyscraper, cynical and callous? Why can't the black woman be the warm and loving Wynne, or the somewhat naive yet devout Leliana? The stalwart and just Aveline? I know plenty of Isabelas, and Viviennes, and Neves, and Taashs, but I also know plenty who are Merrill, or Bellara*, or Harding, or Cassandra, and I even lived with a Sera for a while. Why can't she be Bethany or Morrigan?

The closest we had was Josephine, who again is still fairly light skinned, but at least she has a bit more flexibility. And she isn't a companion, so her screen time is fairly minimal if you're not taking the time to romance her.

*And I don't begrudge Bellara too much, as A: I adore her and B: I'm pretty sure she's our first visibly Asian companion which is a milestone in itself. My point is more that Bellara could be black with virtually no story change because I know plenty of bubbly chirpy friendly black women who have a deep love of their hobbies and interests, who are bisexual and even prefer women, with deep trauma in their pasts, and yet the choice to *not* do that speaks to a problem the media has in their depiction of black women that is far bigger than Bioware.

And it doesn't escape my attention that the men have this problem as well- Wyll and Davrin* are both regarded as boring by their respective fandoms due to the choice to play it safe and stick with the extremely good and upright and just knight character instead of giving them something more messy- Astarion and Lucanis could be black with, as said, little-to-no change in their storyline because I know-even have dated- pansexual former sex worker black men with intensely complicated feelings about sex and intimacy, and I've had plenty of ex-con soft yet dangerous men holding themselves at a distance to prevent themselves from hurting anyone as my friends and even extended family.

I know plenty of intensely nerdy and probably autistic black guys who will infodump gladly about their special interest to the point of it consuming them. I know plenty of black guys with martyr complexes who think they have to tear the world- and themselves- apart just to fix what is broken in this world. I know plenty of black guys who, despite their own inability to get their shit together, are like a port in a storm every time you talk to them. I know plenty of black guys who are extremely educated and well respected within their field, with gentle yet commanding demeanor. Any of these characters *could* be black, and yet they aren't, and the choice to do so is again far bigger than Bioware and Larian.

*Davrin, like Vivienne, being the darkest and first blatantly black male companion instead of potentially able to be ambiguously "of color" like Zevran, Fenris, and Dorian. Even more damning that they'd considered, like Sera, making Solas blatantly black in his concept art and instead chose to make him a pale egg.

As someone desperate for representation, it becomes quickly obvious as I take inventory of what roles black people are given that we still aren't considered as complex and nuanced and interesting. We're allowed to be more than we were before, but we still have a long way to go.

[umeqii]

-⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY ⠀⠀⠀. . . ⠀⠀⠀but you're lowkey cool .

fandom ; class of 09

character ; nicole

gender ; female reader (lesbian nicole real)

creator ; umeqii

QUICK A/N - so like idk i'm a nicole kinnie and so like i might (i will) self project but yk ^_^ and uh idk i js wanted to post smth abt co09 bc like all i saw was mf jeffery ones and no one likes jeffery he's a fucking wierdo anyways!!

TW - like it's co09, so mentions of pedophilia, drugs, dark humor, sh, suicide jokes, things like that :P

─── WHAT IT'S LIKE DATING NICOLE !!

okay so it's quite clear that nicole is a sociopath, and she's aware of it and she payed VERY little attention to you at first

i guess you were just like, that one girl who just sits in class n minds her business and overhears alot of weirdass drama like that one blonde bitch kelly being inlove with her cousin or something

but you had a new student, and you gotta admit, she was really pretty ≥∇≤ !!

her personality; not so much (real though)

anyways, you grew up to read people really easily from the way you were raised n shit so when you first spoke to nicole in class, you realised she was faking to smile; or just faking to be nice in general

so you kept that in mind, but didn't say anything because you were loekwy afraid :P

one time, you guys had science together n this kid jeffery kept tryna talk to nicole and it's not like you were mad at her for tryna make new friends, it was jeffery you were mad at

he didn't even acknowledge you one bit ☠️☠️

so you just end up standing next to them saying nothing and looking like a random stranger

when nicole sat in her seat, with jeffery rambling about anime girls or something, you saw how she looked REAALLLYYY pissed so you were gonna sit in your seat (which was opposite hers) and ask her

UNTIL THAT BITCH JEFFERY LIKE SAT IN IT ☠️☠️😭😭

you just ended up staring at him with a slightly open mouth when he ignored your soft askings of "can you please move?"

that's when our favourite toxic lesbian said something!! (i'm delusional)

" oh my FUCKING god, next time i hear anything about your stupidass anime cat girls, i will actually hang myself from this light. like who the fuck even asked?? i know damn fuckin' well i didn't. and get your greasy and filthy ass out of y/n's seat, you bitch. "

😨

that was jeffery's face (and lowkey yours' too)

he got out of your seat and mumbled an apology to you and sat somewhere else leaving you and an annoyed nicole sitting in silence

" oh uh...are you? "

" do you have any meth. "

" ah fuck sorry, i don't do.. uh yeah "

" you look like you do, you seem fucking crazy "

" oh. "

so like after that, and you, being the sapphic you are, ended up falling inlove with nicole !!

she was lowkey a bitch and you won't lie, toxic as fuck but she was your only friend and she stuck up for you so that's good??

she treats everyone with no respect at all, but for you, you can see the SLIGHT change in attitude

like you see her with jeffery, then people like jecka and emily, and you!!

she would always say things about you guys making out or having sex in the bathrooms and you couldn't tell if they were jokes or not

but like i lowkey cba to say how ym got together so all ik is that yu asked her out, she made out with yu and yh

so like now HEADCANONS time

nicole is an insecure girl deep, deep down so that's why she acts the way she does.

but yeah, those insecurities make her REALLY jealous 😭😭

it's sometimes concerning .

like one time you were approached by emily and she was asking you if you wanted some drugs or something, which you declined, and you ended up complimenting her hair and saying how it brings out her eyes and she ended up hugging you

then nicole stormed over and started going fucking crazy mode at emily saying how " don't you have like a 30 year old boyfriend you can give head right now? so fuck off and let me give this bitch head instead, you cokewhore!! "

something along the lines of that

like i guess showing affection makes her pretty vulnerable, so when ym are in public she's a bitch

she's really controlling or whatever the word is (toxic)

"y/n, you know how much of a fucking pathetic loser you are? just think how fucked up you would be without me, then. like no offense babe, but you're really fucking deranged in the head but i guess that's something that makes you hot."

okay that's all i can think of but yeah i also hate parental controls like why are only 5 of my apps unlocked like let me go on discord ://

you guys should add me on discord, my user is umeqii yiu bitches /affectionately /nf

[spacerockfloater]

Being a female viewer and hating Criston Cole is deranged.

I have to get this off my chest. The blind hatred that Criston is receiving from women is insane and I’m going to explain why.

For context, I am talking about Show Criston, not Book Criston. Comparing two standalone versions of a story is silly.

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that so many women, who are the primary victims of utilitarian relationships, would ever come together and shit on Criston for enduring such a situation.

I’m sorry, but how many of you have been used by men? How many of you have been reduced to one night stands, situationships and placeholder wives? How many of you have been deemed “not good enough” to be an exclusive partner? I log into tiktok and I see NOTHING but stories of broken women who are just used for sex, money, care and whatnot by men, and then they are tossed away like worthless trash while said men continue their pursuit of the ideal woman. Being used by men just for sex and being denied the status of girlfriend, let alone wife, is probably one of the worst plagues women are experiencing in the western world because the MOMENT we were emancipated, men understood that they don’t owe us shit anymore and instead of treating us with respect, they decided to grab whatever they can and give nothing back. Do not tell me that there are women out there that are fine with this arrangement because the multiple “GWM while I tell you about the guy that was with me for 12 years and then married someone else” tell a different story, one of multiple women’s dignities being trampled by hungry men. My heart breaks for every woman (EVERY woman, cis, trans, EVERY woman) who has been called by a man she loves just for sex, for every woman whose man never wanted to be seen in public with her, for every woman who had to hear that her man is not ready for a relationship only to witness him getting engaged to another woman 2 weeks after. I hope you overcome this and become stronger and I am glad that we are finally supporting one another.

How can we then, the women who are helping other female victims rise up and speak out against this kind of abuse, push Criston down and tell him to suck it up and accept being Rhaenyra’s plaything? Have we no mercy? Are we so hungry for revenge against men that we’d want them to endure the same humiliation that we did, as if one fictional man’s suffering would bring us justice? Are we so jealous that Criston didn’t sit down and just take it like the rest of us, but instead spoke up and removed himself from that situation? Or are we so gullible that we accept what the screenwriters shove down our throats and unknowingly support the patriarchic view that if you’re being used by someone you should just accept it?

I can hear some of you arguing that “Oh, this is different because Rhaenyra is royalty!” as if being used and tossed by a powerful person somehow makes the situation any better? Would it be okay if a rich person wanted to constantly use you for sex while he keeps looking for a better woman to be by his side, just because he values his wealth and status more? Rhaenyra straight up sneered at the idea of a simple life with him. She straight up told him that HE is not worth as much as her crown. OUCH. Even though I can’t even begin to imagine the pain of being told you are not enough by your loved one, it was Rhaenyra’s right to choose what her priorities are, but WHY would he have to accept being her sidepiece? “These were different times”: does this make it any less devastating for the victim? And he was a victim because Rhaenyra still used Criston and misled him by constantly complaining about how she HATES her duties for YEARS and then luring him to break his oath. Do you think he would have still slept with her if he was aware that moments ago, Rhaenyra was begging on her knees to be fucked by Daemon and only turned to Criston because her first option was no longer available? Like, the man was contemplating having sex with her and resisted her for a good fucking while, so imagine how quickly he would have turned around and walked out that door if he had that information beforehand. You know why? Because he loved her. He loved her to the point that he broke his oath for her, the oath of a station he FOUGHT FOR IN A WAR. He shed blood and sweat and risked his life for the mere opportunity to gain that position. This was ALL he had, he came from NOTHING and he was still willing to toss it all away for Rhaenyra not once, but twice. It wasn’t just sex he wanted because we never see him have sex again after that. He became vulnerable and gave up everything that he was to be with Rhaenyra. He was willing to abandon his whole identity for her sake. Is this not what the ideal partner is? Ready to abandon everything for your shake? Everything he fought for, tooth and nail? Was he unreasonable in thinking that Rhaenyra was willing to do the same for him? Was he crazy to think that because he was ready to put everything he FOUGHT for aside for her shake, Rhaenyra would also put aside a duty she was handed and actively seem to hate for him too? Fuck no! After hearing her constant talk about how she hates her father, her duties, her refusal to wed other men, how she is trapped as a princess, how people have no idea how much it SUCKS being her, why would he not assume that she’d be willing to give it all up for him, as he’d do for her We never see Rhaenyra even TRY to be a ruler, just complain about it. Of course it would be a fucking shock to him hearing her say “Lol dude, I actually do kinda want this”.

Criston was actually the only person in the series that wanted Rhaenyra for her, not her money or crown. I’m not saying she had to follow him, it was her right to refuse him, but his willingness to lead a simple life with just her has got to mean something. And don’t give me that “he only wanted to redeem his honour by marrying her” crap, because first of all Criston nutted up and admitted everything to Alicent and was ready to face death without EVER blaming Rhaenyra for anything, and second of all, oh no, how dare a human being have ethical values and desire to live with dignity in society’s broad light rather than move in the shadows as the princess’s secret boytoy! Bad, bad Criston for feeling you have to atone for your sins. Maybe we as people have become so corrupt that we envy those who wish to walk a virtuous path in life. Or maybe y’all have become so fond of the unhinged unapologetic character trope because it feels “original” (even if it’s ridiculously overused nowadays) that you’ve actually forgotten what characters with good morals are. Like, picking your fave war criminal and rolling with them because you enjoy good drama, especially in a show that’s meant to provide entertainment, is one thing, but passionately stating that Criston had to submit to that humiliation is something else entirely.

Finally, let’s ditch the Criston being a misogynist bullshit because he had NO issue obeying Rhaenyra before their affair or Alicent. And he is ALWAYS true to himself and his values, because even after everything he endured, he did not use Alicent’s anger as an excuse to take revenge on Rhaenyra and harm her children. Criston never betrayed her, Rhaenyra used him and he walked away and he went towards the only person who seemed to spare him some sympathy and understand him and not condemn him for his crimes even if he hated himself, which is typical victim mentality. And don’t get me started on the Joffrey incident because y’all tore Cole to SHREDS for it. Joffrey had it fucking coming. You don’t go up to people’s faces, especially ones you don’t know, threaten them by telling them you know their secret, a secret that SHAMES them and burdens them to the point they’re ready to commit suicide, and all but directly call them a whore. What the fuck did he think was going to happen? They’d shake hands? Piss off. Let this be a lesson to anyone that doesn’t know how to keep their mouths shut and their noses out of other people’s business. Also, mocking his suicide attempt makes my stomach turn. Just take a moment to consider all the young women who just like him, reluctantly surrendered their virginities to men only to find out they were nothing but sex dolls in their eyes, all these girls whose trust led to their secret being spread and them getting ridiculed and slut shamed for it: how many girls have taken their own lives because they found living with such a burden unbearable?

For the love of everything you hold sacred, please wake up. The narrative that you can be used by someone powerful and you have to accept it because that’s the way things are is a man’s construct. Do not let them fool you.

[thydungeongal]

Okay, so we know that Gygax was a misogynist and fascist. I read the forum posts with the infamous "nits make lice", and yes, it's a description of in-universe attitude, but he then went on a pretty fash rant about an eye for an eye being just and pacifism being "slave morality", so I don't see reason in figuring out his specific kind of bigotry.

Arneson was also a fascist. Guy who wrote Tekumel was so as well.

Were any of founders of hobby not racists and misogynists? Tunnels and Trolls looks promising, because there is a woman who was always a player but is credited in all editions for her contributions, so I hope misogyny is not foundational of hobby, even for generic fantasy games. But also one of spells sounds as a very bad taste racist joke (mind control spell was called "yassa massa" until 5th edition included), and I remember that in his space rpg from 1976 there was an illustration that was a very bad taste caricature of Israel-Palestine conflict (spaceship with crew dressed in stereotypical Arab clothing is being chased by ship in the shape of Star of David, I don't remember what did speech bubble say).

But what about the rest? Do you know how normal were contents of early editions of RuneQuest and other games that are considered foundational? Classic Traveller looks fine, but only because it doesn't feature any topics where racism or misogyny could be obvious, so I am not sure. Was there like, a sensible amount of women early in the hobby? I know there were some from reading old ass magazines that occasionally published materials written by women. But do you know more about it?

Not gonna lie, this is just me feeling guilty and bad because of one article that takes a pretty gender essentialist outlook on everything, but thinking that I enjoy something "fundamentally male" is Not Nice, girl

First edition RuneQuest is refreshingly lacking in a lot of the casual racism and misogyny of its time, and Greg Stafford was genuinely interested in culture and mythology. It's not perfect by any means but I think RuneQuest does treat the cultures he takes influence from with a lot of respect.

Traveller is funny because first edition Traveller has a whole bit about "we default to using he/him pronouns for characters but that does not mean that they have to be men, by Jove!" which is a huge dub for the he/him lesbians.

As for whether there were a lot of women in the early days of the hobby, I don't know. But I know that Iron Crown Enterprises (creators of Rolemaster) had at least some women in their employ, some of them credited as playtesters (in addition to the charmingly eighties attribution of "and various other young dudes and dudettes).

But ultimately, screw Gygax and his gender essentialist ideas. There have been lots of women in the space since its inception and while the roots of the hobby may have been male-dominated the very fact that so many women have flocked into RPGs is all the evidence you need that this is not a hobby that necessitates a male brain whatever the fuck that means. Gygax may have managed to catch lightning in a bottle with D&D but that doesn't mean we have to give him the final word on everything RPG-related forever. Also because he said a lot of other really dumb shit besides the "RPGs are for the male brain," so like he wasn't the esoteric genius people sometimes try to paint him as.

[anli-rambles]

I legitimately do not understand the people who think Achilles was a better father figure to Ratonhnhaké:ton than Haytham was. Haytham was a shit dad let's be real but Achilles was so much worse and I keep wondering if I played the same game as these people, genuinely.

Achilles giving Ratonhnhaké:ton his dead son's name wasn't some cutesy, 'aw look he sees him as his son' thing, it's really fucking weird especially since he gave him the name 'Connor' when he barely knew the boy. He stripped Ratonhnhaké:ton of his identity bc he couldn't be bothered to learn how to pronounce his name (yeah sure Haytham couldn't do it with Ziio either but at least he fucking tried and went on to call her by the name she told him to use, he didn't go 'yeah I'm not gonna bother with that, your name is Stacy now') and went on to treat the boy like a tool to enact revenge against Haytham.

Achilles never respected Ratonhnhaké:ton's agency. When he comes back to the homestead saying he thinks an alliance between the Assassins and the Templars could be possible if Charles is out of the way, Achilles gets angry, refuses to listen to him, and once again tells him to kill his own dad whom he's just started to somewhat get along with. Ratonhnhaké:ton is hopeful that he can work things out with his father and you can tell he wants to have that bond with him but every single step of the way, Achilles keeps pressuring him to kill Haytham (something Ratonhnhaké:ton goes on to sincerely regret, btw) and won't offer any justification other than "he's the bad guy". Even if Haytham is basically only a threat to other Templars at this point.

But Haytham is the one who expects too much from his son ? All Haytham does is talk about the way he sees things and yeah he's telling Ratonhnhaké:ton that he's naive and all that but he's not wrong when he tells him not to trust Washington either, and even Ratonhnhaké:ton admits that Haytham is making a point when he says the people he seeks only care about the freedom of white men. Haytham isn't pushing Ratonhnhaké:ton into killing Achilles, and aside from telling him not to trust Washington, he doesn't order him to kill the guy either. Or to kill Achilles. He doesn't even ask him to join the Templars or leave the Assassins, just to try and see things the way he does. He's leaving the choice up to him and still follows him even if he thinks he's wrong.

Again, Haytham isn't a good father by any means, but at least he has the decency to let Ratonhnhaké:ton be his own person even if he disagrees with what he's doing. Meanwhile Achilles is just using him to process his grief and get back at Haytham in the way he knows would hurt the most. He doesn't care about Ratonhnhaké:ton's motivation for doing the things he does (protect his people).

[depressedhatakekakashi]

what are your favourite kakashi moments that made you love him as a character?

Ohhh I have so many.

From Og Naruto.

When Naruto whinned about doing another 'boring mission' and asked if they were going to chase cats again, and Kakashi just responded with a 'purrhaps'.

His whole talk about the importance of teamwork and protecting your teammates. His beliefs are made clear from day one and it's very friend oriented which i love.

How he showed respect to Zabuza, the man he'd been fighting just minutes before.

When he talks to Naruto about rivals and looks at Gai. after playing the 'cool guy' and continuing to bother Gai by asking him what he'd said it was really cool to see that he clearly felt the same way about their rivalry as Gai did.

Saving Sakura in the Konoha Crush. no hesitation, man cut two shinobi down in an instant to protect his daughter student

Walking away from Tsunade while she was trying to give him a new mission and heading out to find his students instead.

Fighting back to back with Gai in the konoha crush arc. Up to this point Kakashi has been a protector. the one guarding his students and fighting alone. To see him fighting back to back with someone, thus protecting them while allowing them to protect him, was really cool and showed how deep their bond is.

when he told Iruka that Naruto was working to be a shinobi like him. He was being so sweet and cheerful, and i love how he reminds Iruka just how much Naruto looks up to him.

Knowing how to open the first gate. It's pretty clear Kakashi has rather negative feelings about the gates when he finds out Gai taught them to Lee, but here he is using the first gate because he can at least appreciate its use (but still sticks to using only the gate that doesn't cause any significant negative effects to his body)

Shippuden

How he just talks to Lady Chiyo when they're on their way to locate Sasori and Deidara. Dude has no reason really to be nice to her considering the welcome he got from her, but when she asked about Naruto's drive to save Gaara Kakashi did not hold back on telling her about his student. (In general just how he treats everyone around him with kindness, even his enemies)

Getting frustrated with Naruto not listening to him and physiclly having to grab him and pull him back in their fight against Deidara because he needs Naruto to work WITH him, not against him because he's allowing his anger to get to him. big mood my dude.

How he spent his time stuck in the hospital thinking about how to improve the team, and ultimately accepted that the only person he could really help improve at the ridiculous rate they needed was Naruto. If he could have found a way to improve his own skills at that incredable pace i have no doubt he would have gone with that idea, but he accepted that it was time for him to help Naruto surpass him.

How he stepped in without hesitation to save Team Gai when Deidra decided to blow himself up in hopes of taking them down with him

how he does the same thing for Iruka, putting himself into a battle against Pein he has next to no chance of winning so he can give others an opportuity to escape to safety.

His cute challenges with Gai. I just love how he actually lets himself relax and goes full dork mode around Gai <3

how he smiles at Sai and tells him that he belives in him

"Sensei is sorry" it's so stupid but cute and I love how he obviously recognizes he needs to explain things a bit slower for Naruto.

Bullying tenzo. One is not a true friend if you cannot bully each other XD

Stopping lightning with his hands to protect Team Seven from Kakuzu's attack

Being such a sneaky shit that he's able to take out Kakuzu's first heart before his presence is even known.

the entire hidan and Kakuzu vs Kakashi fight tbh. I love how he's just jumping around dodging Hidan like it's not big deal XD

his background! The loss of his father, Obito's death, Rin's death, Minato's death. This man really watched as people around him dropped like flies and still refused to stop believing in other people.

And so so so much more. I love a lot of what he does and who he is. He's a facinating character

[incorrect-rqg]

Okay my intent here is not to start drama in the rqg fandom in 2024 because I love this community and frankly it's not that deep, but there's something I just wanna talk about for a sec.

I've seen the sentiment around lately that the party is unnecessarily cruel to Wilde - from the Prague arc all the way up to Damascus or even Japan - and that this specifically contributes to Wilde's guardedness and unwillingness to be emotionally open with the party throughout the show. That he goes "oh, you want me to be the snarky punching bag with no feelings? Then that's what I'll be."

While this is a sentiment I generally agree with, I take some issue with the idea that the party - Grizzop specifically - is mean to Wilde for "no reason".

Grizzop has a very good reason to dislike being around Wilde, which he expresses on numerous occasions - Wilde's lack of respect for Grizzop's personhood and his use of condescending and demeaning language.

While Wilde never actually calls Grizzop "It" like he'd later claim (just a result of long gaps between sessions and Ben being a human being with imperfect memory), he does call him "this one" and generally treat him in a dismissive and condescending way, even after being told to stop numerous times.

Now, I've seen the argument that this is kind of just how Wilde talks to everyone. That's just who he is, especially in earlier arcs. This isn't entirely untrue, but that doesn't change the fact that like... Grizzop is a goblin (in the RQGverse a minority race with a history of oppression), who has been the target of this kind of language and attitude from humans his entire life. He's entirely warranted in being upset at being treated this way. Wilde doesn't ever really give Grizzop any reason to like him, and frankly Grizzop doesn't owe Wilde jack shit.

Another scenario is the iconic moment where Grizzop punches Wilde in the dick. I made a post about this a couple days ago while Very High and then forgot to delete it in the morning so it's just up now. But I've seen a couple comments (on the post and elsewhere) being like "poor Wilde :(" or "he didn't deserve that" and like... He kinda did? He was being antagonistic and negging Sasha, deliberately trying to make her feel worse about her upcoming Risky Medical Procedure. Even if it was just him being silly that's still a pretty shitty thing to do. You can argue that Grizzop went overboard with the physical violence, but arguing that it wasn't at all warranted doesn't make sense to me.

I love Wilde as much as the next rqg fan. He's probably my favourite character, maybe behind Sasha. But in order to appreciate the extent of his character growth it's important to recognize situations where yeah, he was being shitty and antagonistic.

And, even in a scenario as silly and fantastical as this, I still think it's important to not brush off the experiences of a marginalized person who says they're a target of discriminatory language, even if the perpetrator is someone you like. Wilde is white, and charming, and wealthy, and in a position of power over Grizzop as his handler and as a government representative. He is not the victim in this situation.

Again, very much not looking to start shit here, especially because "aw, poor Wilde :(" is definitely a thought I've had while listening to early RQG. This is just something I've been thinking about a lot during my current relisten and wanted to share with you guys.

[sugar-coat-it]

can you imagine teenage dream matty going to a pool party with his pals and seeing girly in her bathing suit??!!?

i wonder if he would lose his shit once he sees her?

i feel like he would probably have to stay in the pool so no one notices the tent in his trunks 🫣 but maybe someone would notice and give him a hard time hah.

love youuuuuuuuu

b <333

(Tumblr is a rat bastard and ate my response to this, I’ll try and remember everything I said)

OMG YESSSS

His jaw just drops when she unzips her hoodie to reveal her cute bikini. Has he seen her body before? Yes. Does that make him any less captivated? No, absolutely not. He’s whipped. He’s a mess. He's desperately trying to be respectful and not stare at her tits, “subtly” adjusting his swimming shorts. Matty's also just somewhat in disbelief that his girlfriend is so hot

Just when he thinks he can manage not embarrassing himself during the party, he’s absolutely done for the moment they’re all sitting by the pool eating popsicles under the beating sun. He's so tense as he occasionally glances over to watch her tongue lave over the sweet, brightly colored treat, the pressure at his crotch becoming unbearable. Then a bit of it drips onto her chest. He almost whimpers out loud.

“OKAY IM GOING SWIMMING, LAST ONE IN THE POOL HAS TO KISS HANN!” he shouts quickly, his voice cracking horribly somewhere in the middle of his sentence before he throws himself into the pool to hide his… predicament

His plan seems to be working well. That is until someone suggests playing chicken. Before he knows it, she’s perched on his shoulders, her warm, wet thighs near his head and jesus christ, someone save this poor boy

Even when everyone is ready to get out and dry off, Matty lingers in the pool, knowing the tent in his swimming trunks will be very noticeable if he gets out of the water. One of the guys probably does piece together what’s happening and cracks a joke about it, earning a threat and a death glare from a very bright pink Matty (“Come in here! I’ll sort you out! C’mere!” he shouts. It’s a lot less intimidating as a threat when he’s in swim shorts, stuck in a swimming pool). Eventually, he’s forced to get out, and you best bet he makes an absolutely mad dash for his towel, wrapping it around his waist in record time.

They do get a moment together in the house, slipping away from the eyes of his friends. He finally gets the chance to tell her how gorgeous she looks in her swimsuit and they end up making out in the kitchen, soaking wet.

[not-goldy]

Tkk have zero respect for Jk. Today, tkk still lying saying Jikook seperated after 5 weeks or Jk wanted to join Tae, but can't cause of tattoos, even tho he never said any of that & Jimin was a last resort, even tho Jk could've enlisted alone. Mad they didn't get the buddy system for their favs. My question tho, why is it Jk always doing all the sacrificing in their minds? Its Jk wanted to be with his baby, but couldn't. You don't hear them say Tae could've enlisted with Jk instead, if tattoos were an issue tho. Do you? Does this mean Tae doesn't love JK as much as Jk loves Tae, since Tae didn't sacrifice what he wanted to do, to be with Jk? You don't hear them saying poor Jk, when all tae's pictures of him and jennie hit the web or Tae was vacationing with her or walking with her holding her hand in Paris and how Tae spent more time in Paris with Jennie, then he did with Jk on that friend ski trip. Do you? Its always Jk either being the shitty BF emotionally abusing Tae & even physically cause they try to say Jk yanks Tae away from people, etc or its Jk is the reason Taekook is not Taekooking or Its his tattoos, he couldn't go, but he wanted too LIE. Its them saying Tae tried to tell us for months Jk is his lover, but Jk is off doing fanservice with others and hurting Tae instead. The flip flopping narratives & victim complex throw on Tae is disturbing. Its okay for Tae to fuck Jennie for 2 years, hold her hand in Paris, take intimate pics in her bed, take couple selfies with her in his house wearing matching clothes, follow her on IG, lounge in bed with Wooga and kiss on them and go off with them and hang on randoms in paris & say he likes Jimin the most over Jk and move another man into his home who is not Jk. See all of that is okay in their minds and yet they still manage to make Jk the abuser treating tae like shit, cause how dare he enlist with another man, hang out with his 97 line, its all fanservice, he doesn't treat tae right.

They don't know what narrative they want to run with, but they know whatever it is, Tae has to be the main character. They are all tae solos and want him to be the main character no matter what. Even if it means painting him as a helpless abused victim by the most popular idol on one hand & on the other, the one Jk has to make sacrifices for, but never the other way around. Tae can treat JK like garbage, cause its deserved for all his years doing fanservice with Jimin. They really hate Jk and they hate him more now since Chapter 2, cause he didn't play along with what Tae was doing. Plain and simple, but he's the most popular idol and that pairs well with more attention on Tae when it comes to trending, so they keep him around for that. Its not Taekook they like. Its the ship being big that they like and the attention they get from it and the bigger the ship, the more attention for Tae and that is what matters. That's what it always been about it. Funny thing is though, Tae hates these fools and keeps shitting on their fantasies on purpose and they keep letting him. He gives a little, then snatches their fucking scalps for them. Deserved too.

That's an understatement I don't know a single Tuktukkers who likes Jungkook for real

In fact he has no agency no autonomy where they are concerned everything he does is coerced, against his will there's no free choice in their vocabulary

To think some of them are grown adults with this mindset is crazy

Jungkook has been caught sneaking Jimin into his hotel room by hybe hidden cameras and nooooo Jimin is the one to blame for it. Not the guy who sneaks into his room at 1am to lie on his bed doing absolutely nothing

They just can't admit the fact Jungkook IS NOT who and what they think he is nor what they want him to be in their ship realm.

And they HATE him for it too

They hate that man they ship with their favs

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

https://www.tumblr.com/araeph/153886578765/zutarians-act-like-kataras-romance-with-aang-is?source=share

This is so funny.

So zuko can make household chores because he learned how to serve tea but i guess aang can’t make a fruit pie. 

Or zuko knows some things are more important than romamce? So katara being chained is totally the same as mai being in safe.

Aang dying in kataras arms is a parental responsibility?!

Wtf is this dude smoking

***

I love how they act like the episode in which we see Aang canonically apologize for letting all the attention from being the Avatar go to his head means he could never possibly change, even though we see the change on screen AND that it stuck since he is also annoyed at Toph for not helping out. By that logic, Zuko is still racist and violent and would thus treat Katara HORRIBLY. Character development only counts when it happens to a character they like.

“Parental responsibilities” THEY ARE CHILDREN, STOP TREATING THEM LIKE ADULTS! KATARA CANONICALLY HATES BEING THOUGHT OF AS THE MOTHER OF THE GROUP, AND ZUKO JUST DISCOVERED THAT PARENTS SHOULDN’T DISFIGURE THEIR KIDS! THEY’RE NOT ADULTS, THEY’RE THEIR FRIENDS’ PARENTS, THIS IS NOT HOW FOUND-FAMILY WORKS!

“Oh, she dressed up as his mom” She also dressed up as her brother’s heavily pregnant wife. It’s almost like they’re children and that doesn’t mean anything to them, and you’re only reading into an obvious joke because it’s convenient. Also Sokka is canonically the ONLY ONE who literally says “When I think of mom, I think Katara”, while Aang has been on team “Katara is still a kid and needs to have fun” from day one.

“Would gain a partner that respects personal boundaries” *shows screenshot of when Katara got mad at Zuko for getting in her personal space and in which SHE has to move away because the dumbass won’t* Beautiful. Effervescent. You don’t see that kind of delusion everyday. Also we all know your ship started because of rape fics, shut the fuck up.

“Someone who sees her as ally” Aang has been Katara’s ally from day one, dipshit.

“Not as a possession” Ah yes, because the guy that was constantly accusing his girlfriend of liking someone else even as she explicitly said she didn’t give a shit about a dude’s existence, and then proceeded to throw said dude over a table in a fit of rage TOTALLY doesn’t have any issues with jealousy, possessiveness and self-control. Funny how when Zuko does it we need to take into account his traumas and the fact that he’s a teenager that doesn’t know any better due to not being an adult yet, but Aang needs to be threated as an adult that is already set on his ways despite being younger than Zuko AND constantly talked about as if he’s a toddler by zutarians.

“Someone who waits for the right time to talk” Yeah, to use her biggest trauma as a cheat-code to get the forgiveness and friendship he feels entitled to. He spent the start of the episode DEMANDING Katara’s time, attention and understanding and she REPEATEDLY told him to back off and he only got the hint when she yelled at him. I love Zuko, but patience, taking hints, and not struggling with entitlement have NEVER been traits of his.

“He understands how much she needs her family and puts them first” Again, he literally used that get what he wanted. He only started caring AFTER they were already on a journey. Can we stop the blantant lying and dick-sucking?

“Rather than someone who disappears when she needs them” Again, on the map thing Aang realizes on his own that he messed up and tells the truth, character development counts when it happens to someone other than your favorite emo boy. Well forgive Aang for panicking when he discovers that his life’s mission went to hell and that the world has completely lost hope. And it’s funny how, if he doesn’t let her go in Ba Sing Se despite his mission being important, he’s the bad guy, but if he DOES put the mission before Katara he is STILL the bad guy. It’s almost like zutarians are biased or something…

“The guy that ditched Katara to help his father continue commiting genocide after hearing about what happened to Katara’s mom has sympathy for her loss, unlike the best friend that is struggling with losing literally everyone in his life - after all, he won’t let her murder someone over it, since he knows she’ll regret it” Fuck you.

“Zuko trusts her to deal with her anger and pain in her own way” Again, no, he was literally just using her and her trauma because he felt awkward about her being the only one in the friend group that still hated his guts. He didn’t start to genuinely connect with her until they were already deep in the journey. AANG is the only that literally lets her borrow Appa to go on said mission, and accepts when she decides not forgive Yon Rha after all, despite sparing his life, and ZUKO tells Aang “You were right.” Stop lying for five minutes.

“Ironically a partner that understands that some things are more important than romance” Once again, LOVE how Aang is the bad guy if he puts his mission before Katara, but he doesn’t he is STILL the bad guy.

“Would not risk her life and everyone else’s to keep his moral purity” *conveniently doesn’t show Zuko not killing his father when he had THE perfect chance because that’s the Avatar’s job (and would be kinslaying in his eyes) and thus it’d be dishonorable to do it*

“Someone who sees her for who she is, not who he wants her to be” Zuko literally thought Katara had it in her to be a blood-thristy killer just for the sake of revenge. Aang knew she would regret it and let her realize it on her own by letting her go to the mission, with the guy that was fully on team “Go murder!” because he KNEW Katara would never do it. And he was right, and Zuko said as much. Because Aang is the one who knows her, he just doesn’t know the OC you call Katara.

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

No, but can we talk about how, despite allegedly being a "feminist" movie, Barbie 2023 actually mocks the idea of a female fantasy and Barbie being an inspirational role model for young girls?

It's so upsetting that not enough people bring this up, even the other haters of Barbie, but it needs to be addressed. Barbie was meant to provide an empowering fantasy for young girls. A lot of people have differing opinions on whether Barbie is feminist or not and what she represents. But at the end of the day, Barbie was designed to give girls a role model to see themselves in, to show them that they could pursue any career, that they can be the heroines of their own story, and reach their fullest potential. She was meant to tell girls that anything is possible. And the movie not only shits all over that, it makes that feminist message out to be something unrealistic and bad, and even worse, portrays it as something that oppresses men and makes THEM victims, because everything needs to be about men. And it's fucking disgusting. Allow me to explain how.

(spoilers for the Barbie movie below...I mean, if you even care, lol.)

We start out at the beginning of the movie with an introduction to the magical world of Barbieland that our well-known and universally familiar dolls live in. Barbieland is a feminist utopia, one that many women would be eager to live in. Women have all the power, are well-respected, can and do pursue any career, and support and uplift each other rather than tear each other down over their differences(aside from Weird Barbie, who they do apologize to in the end). They are happy and free in their female-empowering land, they don't fear the leers and catcalls from men as they walk down the streets, they dance together happily late at night, and they are confident in their bodies. There is diversity in the Barbieland. There is a plus-sized Barbie, a transfem Barbie, a wheelchair Barbie, and plenty of Barbies of color. The President of Barbieland is a Black woman. And none of these differences hold the Barbies back from being able to have power and they are not treated any differently from the other Barbies.

Femininity isn't seen as a weakness. Neither is expressing emotion, and in fact the fat Barbie even has a miniature speech about how she can balance her emotion with her logic and this makes her a smarter person, which the other Barbies support. It's a world where women are empowered and have unlimited potential to achieve their dreams and live freely without fear of their oppressors. Stereotypical Barbie isn't even afraid to reject Beach Ken's advances, she doesn't fear being stalked, raped, or killed by him for saying no. She just turns him down, and not only that, but she turns him down in favor of having girls' night, showing that in this world, girls support each other and value their female friendships over heterosexual relationships with guys(I'll touch on this point again later). I don't know about you, but that sure as hell does sound like a world that I dream of living in. Minus the fact that all the food and drinks are fake.

But the story doesn't frame this matriarchy as empowering, like they should. It portrays it instead as something ridiculous and far-fetched, something that the audience is meant to laugh at rather than support, which becomes more blatant as the movie progresses.

And then we get to the "real" world. Where men instead rule over women in a patriarchy, and we see Barbie experience misogyny for the first time. And this was the moment I started fully hating the movie, and realized it for the sloppy, anti-feminist mess that it is. The first part of the movie set in Barbieland was campy and fun and happy and feel-good, providing the exact type of feel that Barbie brings. But the moment she steps into the real world, everything becomes sad and hopeless and cynical.

And I get that the patriarchy does exist and women are oppressed by it every day, but the way the movie executed this was really overexaggerated and cringeworthy. They made it seem as if women are constantly and completely powerless in every aspect of life, like seriously they didn't even show ANY women in positions of power and the only women we did see with jobs besides a female doctor, were Gloria who works an office job at Mattel and Ruth who is already dead and is for all extents and purposes relegated to the fucking kitchen. They made the world out to be a complete and total dystopia where women aren't capable of achieving anything and the only two women of importance who are from the real world are Sasha and her mother Gloria, the former is portrayed as bitter, cynical, and constantly angry, the latter is portrayed as stressed-out, depressed, and somewhat suicidal with her thoughts about death. Is this all that the Barbie movie thinks that women can achieve in our world? Being miserable and frustrated with no hope of achieving our dreams and desires? With no power or satisfaction in our day to day lives? Is this all that this shithole movie thinks that women can amount to?

And the worst part is how Barbie is derided and mocked for thinking that she has provided a female role model for women and girls. The start of the movie mocks Barbie for thinking that it solved all women's problems and completely advanced women's rights/feminism, even though Barbie/Mattel has never claimed that. Yes, she was meant to be a role model. But she was never portrayed as the be-all, end-all of feminism. Even people who look up to Barbie and were encouraged by her aren't naive enough to think that a twelve-inch tall plastic doll is enough to smash the patriarchy. The movie makes this up solely so they can tear down Barbie for something that it never claimed to do in the first place. When our main Barbie leaves to go to the real world, the other Barbies encourage her(as Barbies tend to do) by saying that they bet all the women in the real world will thank her for giving them rights. Which is obviously meant to be an overexaggerated and satirical jab at Barbie once again, for thinking that it has created feminism or whatever, and that sexism is over solely thanks to the Barbie franchise. Cute. Too bad no version of the Barbie brand has ever claimed that in the first place. Again, it's a ridiculous and false claim that only exists to further unnecessarily jab at Barbie and propel this backwards-thinking message.

And then when she gets to the human world she is mocked even more. Sasha and her friends laugh at her when she claims to be Barbie and asks them to thank you for inspiring them, and then when she says she loves and wants to help women, Sasha aggressively informs her that EVERYONE hates women. This movie actually has a pretty nihilistic view of womanhood, when you think about it. The Barbie world is portrayed as an empowering world where women can achieve anything that they set their minds to, and aren't held back by sexism, causing them to have full power, reflecting the female fantasy that Barbie was always supposed to represent. But that's just a fantasy land, and is portrayed as cheesy and superficial. When Barbie gets to the real world, she is confronted with the supposed "reality" of being a woman, and comes to realize that it's not actually about empowerment and being smart and capable after all, but about suffering and never having your voice respected, and never having any power and freedom but instead losing your idealism and optimism as you age, causing her to break down in tears upon realizing how stressful it is to be a woman and that she never actually empowered them like she hoped. Seriously, whose idea was it to make Barbie constantly crying and miserable and incapable of doing anything on her own? Is this the Barbie I know? No, it's a pathetic, nonsensical knockoff. I'm telling you, they were TRYING to tear Barbie down.

This is especially true when Gloria gives her entire speech to Barbie about how contradictory and painful being a woman is, ending it with "not only are you doing everything wrong, but also, everything is your fault!" Come on! What is this? It's such a painful and harsh message to try to send through BARBIE of all things, that the essence of being a woman is just pain, pain, pain and guess what else? More pain! How being a woman sucks because all you do is get hated by everyone and treated as an object worthy of scorn and ridicule. It's just so unnecessarily cruel, how they violently ripped away any feminist empowerment Barbie was meant to possess in favor of forcing her into a depressive world where women have no rights or value, and had the nerve to portray this as "realistic", because obviously more negative automatically means more realistic, right?

Rather than provide a middle ground where women face hardships and adversity but are still capable of rising above their struggles and finding the strength within them to make their voices heard and get what they want in society, they opt instead for a stupid false dichotomy: the world is either a stupid frivolous Amazon utopia wrapped in pink and glitter with girl power up the wazoo or a bleak, heartless, and grey dystopia where nothing good ever happens to a woman and only men can do anything important. And it portrays the second one as clearly more realistic and the "better" option. Which, in doing so, sends the message that a world where women rule and are respected and have power and are encouraged to have ambition and pursue any goal they want in life...is unrealistic and impossible, if not outright deserving of scorn. It's so miserable and aggravating. When Barbie said "the cognitive dissonance required to be a woman under the patriarchy" I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. THAT'S how badly the movie annoyed me with its nihilistic and negative preaching. I watched the movie in two days and when I stopped watching it on the first day I felt such a frustrated, hollow feeling in my stomach. I felt so unsatisfied. Like, is this it? Is this all I can dream of having as a woman? All that praise this shitty capitalist crapfest received for being so feminist and eye-opening, ultimately led up to this? For real? So disappointing.

But that's not even the worst part. The worst part is when the movie introduces the KENdom, aka, when Ken brings about the patriarchy...and if the movie hadn't already been hot stinkin' ASS, this is when it would've REALLY started to drag, and where it REALLY reinforces the idea that women can never have any actual power and authority and must instead constantly suffer under the patriarchal status quo.

Ken comes back to Barbieland and introduces the other Kens and Barbies to the patriarchy and horses(ig no one told him that horses are a matriarchal animal, but whatevs), and within hours, revamps the world into a patriarchal hell, just like the real world(except it's portrayed as very childish and simplistic because the witers don't actually take the patriarchy seriously and think it's just "boys think girls have cooties".). And the other dolls instantly buy into it? First of all, am I really expected to believe that the Barbies, who have been established as champions of strength, power and dominance, and who have always ruled the Barbie world, would instantly and easily give in to Ken's brainwashing and allow all of their power to be ripped out of their hands, becoming the happy devoted sexy slaves of the Kens? You think they would casually be like "I for one, welcome our new male overlords!" and let the Kens have all the power? Am I really supposed to accept that shit? And am I also supposed to accept that the other Kens in Kenland, including the Asian one who competes with the white Ken over Barbie, would easily leap at the chance to oppress their female counterparts, rather than laugh at Ken for being silly and tell him to sit his ass down somewhere? Really? Don't piss me off.

The only way you could accept this series of unfortunate events as plausible is if you accept the fact that we're supposed to laugh at Barbieland for being a girl power feminist matriarchy in the first place. If we're meant to laugh at the women for being in power and at this imagined society for being so gynocentric and girl-positive, then of COURSE we're meant to laugh at them for getting their power ripped away that easily, as women could never hold power for so long realistically! Eventually the men would realize their true potential and make society work in favor of them! It's natural and inevitable! The Barbie movie said so!!! And so we watch as the intended "humorous" scenes go on and on, of the men happily running around, flaunting their muscles, and chugging down beers like it's going out of style, while the women happily submit to this newfound male authority, massaging men's feet and serving them drinks. Because obviously a matriarchy could never last long, women are so weak and fragile that any sense of power that they think they possess could easily be ripped away from them within a moment's notice. Peak feminism, everybody.

But it's cool, because eventually the Barbies prove me wrong. They DO get their power back, and establish their rights again. But how do they do it? Do they stage a coup and violently and angrily fight the Kens? Do they march for their rights, as real life feminists have done? Do they balance logic and emotion, as fat Barbie praised herself for doing in the beginning of the movie, and reason with the Kens that oppressing the Barbies is not the right thing to do? No, no, they...put on sexy skimpy outfits and pretend to be dumb bimbos so as to lull the Kens into a false sense of security and think that THEY are in control. And later on they let the Kens sing to them a song about how they want to control women, before turning them against each other by pretending to be in love with different Kens than the ones they were originally listening to. Are you kidding me? This is supposed to be a feminist revolution! But instead of actually using their genuine power to put the men back in their place, they instead use their feminine wiles and dumb themselves down so that the men can feel strong. It is literally leaning into the sexist trope that the only weapon women have, especially against men, is their sexuality, and that this is the only way that women can get their way. Despite this going against EVERYTHING that Barbie stands for! She is supposed to be a strong, smart, and capable woman who can do it all and look glamorous while doing it! She is NOT supposed to be a fucking femme fatale, vamp, or sex object!

So not only do they have their matriarchy easily ripped away from them, but they also are forced to abandon their actual female empowerment and instead conform to the patriarchal status quo to get ahead. By using their bodies, stroking men's egos, and allowing men to mansplain to them. Because the only weapons women are capable of using are the ones men gave us. Because women are just bodies. And this is portrayed as a GOOD thing. Seriously, two of the Barbies even high five each other as they trade Kens at the fireplace, as if to say, "go girl, you are doing it!" Like, seriously, are we supposed to see this as a girlboss moment? Because I sure don't. It's giving "weaponized femininity". It's giving "eyeliner so sharp it could kill a man". It's giving "men are visual creatures." It's giving "kill me with a chainsaw right fucking now because I'm done with this shit." Oh, and don't even get me STARTED on how the Kens have a violent manly war, while the women only get to flutter their eyelashes and use their sex appeal. Because men are strong, women are pretty. Of course.

And then the worst part in the entire movie, the part that really infuriated me and let me know that this movie was the antithesis of feminism, arrives...the Barbies get their matriarchy back and are in power again, and everybody cheers and is happy, except for Beach Ken, who runs away to go sulk. And then...Barbie...fucking apologizes to him. She apologizes to him for casting him aside and making him feel unwanted and unvalued, and even says outright, "not every night has to be a girl's night." Why the fuck, movie? Do you remember earlier in this post when I mentioned how Barbie blows off Ken to hang out with her female friends, because it's girls' night, and female friends matter more than a guy? Sisters before misters, and all that jazz? Well, fuck that. Near the end of the movie, Barbie ends up apologizing to Ken for having a girl's night all the time, as if she was a bad person for not seeing how much she owed him and not hanging out with him all the time when she simply didn't want to. Here we have a woman apologizing for putting her girl friends over a man. The man doesn't apologize for making women his and his brethren's personal slaves. The woman apologizes for making him feel the need to go there by not catering to him, by being too focused on herself to the point where she ignores him, by being so empowered and strong that she makes him feel overshadowed, dare I say, emasculated, and thus need to reassert his fragile, threatened masculinity.

Because this isn't a feminist movie, not really. This is an MRA movie. This is a movie that, rather than focus specifically on the women and their problems, brushes their problems under the rug so as to remind the audience that "men matter too" "men have issues too" "men also suffer under the patriarchy!" And other such claptrap. I don't understand why the fuck cishet Reddit incels/conservatives/right-wingers/other such reactionary groups hate this movie and think that it's anti-men when actually it is pro-men and aligns fucking PERFECTLY with their bullshit line of thinking. That feminism oppresses and victimizes men, that men are the REAL victims of sexism/oppression, that women being granted rights is ultimately more harmful to MEN, that women need to be nicer to and pacify men and apologize for having too much power, that we all need to be quiet and listen to MEN and their experiences more. And I FUCKING HATE that. MEN have been listened to ENOUGH. And I am SICK of being forced to include them and their viewpoints more. How about instead of centering the Kens, we focus more on the Barbies and exploring THEIR issues, and using THEM as templates to convey issues about misogyny? Instead of focusing on Ken and his issues and his unrequited love for Barbie??? Instead, it was made all about the Kens and how oppressed they feel because the women are at the top of the hierarchy, to the point where THEY got the fun little dance number near the climax, RATHER than the actual fucking BARBIES that this movie was NAMED after. Because last time I checked, this WAS the BARBIE movie. NOT THE KEN MOVIE!!!

Oh, and don't even get me STARTED on that shitty ass parallel the movie tries to pull between the Barbieland matriarchy and the real world patriarchy. The movie tries to make the claim that the Barbies being dominant and the most powerful in the Barbie world is just the same as men being dominant and the most powerful in the real world, because the Barbies oppressed Kens just like men oppress women in our world. It also tries to raise the point that the Kens felt insecure and overshadowed by the Barbies and were treated as second-class citizens, thus they installed the Kendom. AND I FUCKING HATE THAT comparison for two reasons. The first is that the Barbies never oppressed the Kens or treated them as inferior in any way. They were simply more important because...it's the BARBIE company. Not the KEN company. Barbies are toys meant to be sold to little girls to inspire THEM. So of course the women are going to be the ones in charge! Why is that such a bad thing?

And the second reason is because I haaaaate the dumb fucking trope of "matriarchy bad because woman oppressing man is just as bad as man oppressing woman!" that this movie and countless, endless other pieces of media also try to push. Like, do you know why female-dominated societies(particularly utopias/positively portrayed ones) are so often represented in media??? Because the world we live in is so heavily male-dominated in almost every society and culture, and has been this way for centuries!!! Sure, there are and have been a few matriarchal cultures in society, but they are few and far between. The overwhelming majority of the world is run by men! Sad but true! And this allegedly feminist movie is for real gonna sit down and tell me "okay, but we can't allow ourselves to dream of a world where women are the ones with positions of power and men are not the privileged ones"? Hell no, fuck that. This movie is giving multiple people, both men and women alike, the opportunity to argue that sexism against men is "just as bad".

But women should be allowed to dream of our matriarchy. We should be allowed to fantasize about a world where we are in charge. We should be allowed to dream about a world where we are protected, respected, and catered to, and can live freely and without fear and oppression, without being told to "think of the men." It doesn't mean that men should be abused, mistreated, or oppressed just like women are and have been. But then again, the Barbies didn't even do that either, like I said. This movie, in its shallow attempts to "critique" the matriarchy(lol) ends up reinforcing exactly why the two aren't comparable in the first place. When the Barbies were in charge, they didn't oppress the Kens or treat them as second-class citizens. They simply lived their lives, going about their day and having fun while pursuing awesome careers.

The Kens, on the other hand, actively oppressed Barbies when they were in charge. The second they were given power, they leaped at the chance to treat Barbies like garbage, the same way that they somehow believed that they had always been treated. They treated the Barbies worse than the Barbies ever actually treated them, to be quite honest. They were the real oppressors, not Barbies. It ironically enough sends the accidental message that the world actually IS better off with women in charge. Can you really blame the Barbies for taking their matriarchy back again(I certainly was happy when they did!)? But no. Instead, the movie expects us to sympathize with the Kens, after everything they've done, and tries to portray the idea of a matriarchy as "just as bad" as a patriarchy. And if that's not an EXCELLENT example of a false equivalence, then man, I don't know what is. Don't even get me started on the audacious slap in the face that was "the Kens will one day have as much power as women do in the real world." As if women got rights and seats in high office because they asked the men kindly? Barf.

And then at the end of the movie, Barbie of course leaves the false, silly matriarchal utopia to live as a boring ass regular human in the "real" world. She no longer gets to live in a world where she is fully liberated and empowered and not relegated to a lesser human being with lower status. She now must live in the "real" world, the hopeless, bleak, and oppressing real world where she will be faced with relentless misogyny and looked down upon by men and society. The movie could have had her form a bridge between the Barbie world and the human world, trying to mend the problems in both worlds while still staying true to who she is at her core. But instead, she is forced to say goodbye to her past life, abandon all her female friends and her old home, in favor of living in a world where she is denigrated to a second-class status in society. Because the female empowerment Barbieland trumped? Is a lie. Nothing short of a sweet, comforting lie designed to shield girls from the bleak and cynical realities that womanhood actually entails. Real womanhood is adorned with thorns at every corner.

But it's all right, because at least she gets to see the gynecologist! That's her ultimate ending. Not actually improving life for others and herself and making the world a more equitable place for women with the help of the other Barbies, as well as Gloria and Sasha. It's going to the gynecologist. Because having a vagina makes you a woman. Yay! Some people have tried to reclaim this as a trans metaphor, but I highly doubt a movie as shallow and lacking in intersectionality as this was aiming for anything near close to that. And it's a crying shame that this is what the movie thinks is an empowering and satisfying ending to Barbie's arc. How pitiful, sad, and pathetic.

It's such a shame, as well, because the Barbie movie could have actually had genuine critiques of the patriarchy and how it affects women without making everything out to be pessimistic and dreary, and without trying to center the Kens and coddle their male fragility. It could have discussed beauty standards and the expectations to always be conventionally attractive and perfectly presentable to a tee for women(something that Barbie has oft been criticized for, and with good reason, and has also been brought up in the movie too, but of course got dropped and barely mentioned again). It could have tackled gender norms and compulsory femininity, and showed Barbies who subvert or have complex/unique relationships with femininity(esp women of color and queer Barbies, who have different relationships to femininity than white and/or cishet women), even include some masculine/tomboyish/butch Barbies who aren't portrayed by the narrative as the butt of the joke. It could have used Weird Barbie to portray both of these messages and given her a more complex arc and concrete role in the narrative besides being just a comic relief character who gets called ugly all the time(by both other Barbies and herself, which is just sad, self-deprecation much?) and then at the end of the movie gets an apology thrown at her by President Barbie(and also, who was she before she became Weird Barbie? The movie doesn't say, and that is such a let-down, that we never get to know who she was before.).

They could have showed lesbian and sapphic and aroace Barbies, whose characters could be used to challenge amato/heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality. They could have explored what Barbie meant for women of color, trans women, fat women, disabled women, and mayyybe not? Cast a conventionally attractive white cis thin blonde woman as the main/regular Barbie? Especially if they were going to make that joke about how a woman who looks like that shouldn't be casted for a character who cries that she's ugly(which raises unfortunate implications as to what type of woman would be correct to cast in that role...but like every other genuine aspect of feminism in this movie, it gets forgotten about and erased as soon as it's brought up.) But they didn't do any of that. Because this is a white "feminist" movie written by a white woman and created in partnership with a capitalist company for one specific purpose: To sell toys.

Which wouldn't be as much of a problem if they didn't try to slap a feminist message on top of that, and then fail at delivering their message, hard, so hard in fact that they sideways-shuffle all the way into (trans)misogyny. For all the hype this movie gained(from the same people who will then turn around and silence genuine critique of the movie's shallow portrayal of feminism with "it's not that deep, it's just comedy, you shouldn't have expected Barbie to ACTUALLY be introspective and profound despite everyone claiming that it was!"), the actual contents therein gave us NOTHING to chew on. Just an empty parody of feminism that was more about the Kens than the actual Barbies, and portrayed suffering in silence and manipulating men with your looks as the ultimate pinnacle of womanhood.

I can't say I'm surprised. I'm just disappointed.

[bitchy-w1tchy]

Anfuu analysis

Anime onlys: I would highly recommend not reading any further because I will be discussing a lot of shit that happens way past episode 10 in the anime.

This is long, sorry

Lemme say first off that I really have not seen a relationship like Andy and Fuuko's before (granted my only other shonen series I have been into were Fairy Tail and AOT). From what I have seen in other shonen, which I normally can't get into because they're pretty cookie cutter imo, romance doesn't happen right off the bat.

Undead Unluck would not be a thing if Fuuko and Andy didn't have a relationship. I'm a damn sucker for romance and the second I saw the dynamic between them in the first episode, I knew I was in for a helluva ride.

So in the beginning, it is obvious that Andy is using her. He has admitted to it multiple times, there's no hiding it. My guy wanted to die and saw someone who could potentially give him a proper death and he wasn't going to let that opportunity slip through his fingers.

Up until the end of Spoil, Andy saving Fuuko, protecting her, teasing her, that was all for his personal gain. He didn't take into account that she had been touch deprived for ten years, living vicariously through her shojo manga. Andy called her a pushover many times but I don't think she was. She loved the fact that she could touch someone without them dying. In a short amount of time, she got to live out a ton of different scenarios that only her shojo mango could provide her and I think she was in love with the idea that she could finally start living a little.

Going back to the Spoil arc, after Fuuko saves Andy from Victhor, that's when the dynamic starts to change a little bit. Fuuko saved Andy. She got him back. And Andy FOR SURE saw that. She wasn't some brat to him anymore. Does he love her at this point? No. But he definitely respects her and wants to continue to protect her. He doesn't JUST see her as a personal asset anymore.

And we are that in the Unrepair arc, when Fuuko gets hit by Rip's scalpel, Andy loses it and has to collect himself before returning to the fight, not only that is that Fuuko had to reassure him that she was fine.

Fuuko is not a damsel in distress and Andy sees that, allowing her to fight alongside him (even if she is just piggybacking). Andy recognizes that he can be stronger with her Unluck and it makes me so damn happy that she isn't cast on the sidelines during fights (thank you tozuka)

ANYWAYS

Autumn arc is where we start cooking, fr. Fuuko admits she loves Andy. Is she in love with him? No. But she is starting to fall. She spent 10 years with him in that damned book. And Andy definitely loved her too. They helped each other grow. And when they came out of that book they were stronger than ever.

Before Fuuko goes with Under, it was blatantly obvious that Andy did not want her to go. At this point, he does not like being away from her at all. But there is a huge amount of trust there so he lets her go.

But man's was STRESSIN the whole time she was gone, not sleeping or nothing until her heard from her. Not only that is Fuuko admits that she is in love with Andy, realizing it now that she has been away from him for only a couple days. Not only that is Unchaste doesn't work on her because she truly loves someone unconditionally.

Now, before I go into the rest of Spring and into Ragnarok, I'm gonna say that Andy does not know how to deal with his feelings. His inner dialogue and the way he speaks to Fuuko are not matching up at all. Before he admits he loves her, (God damn it I wish she heard him), he's looking back on their time together, how they both grew, how he treated her at first, etc.

At the end of Spring, he admits to himself that he can't die because he can't accept Fuuko's feelings properly. And why can't he? Because he's AFRAID.

But when he speaks to Fuuko he plays it off as, "now it's my turn to fall in love with you", kinda jokes around about it.

This is where I get controversial. By the time Spring ends, does Andy love Fuuko? Without a doubt, yes. Is he IN love with her? No.

Like I said, he is scared to accept her feelings. I do believe that if he could get past the barrier of his own feelings and accept her love then I truly believe he would fall head over heels with her in an instant. His feelings are what's holding him back.

So why is he so afraid? Because I think that if he admits he is in love with Fuuko and accepts Fuuko's feelings, then he won't want to die like he has wanted for 2 centuries. And if he DOES die, then he leaves behind a heartbroken Fuuko.

I mean, come on, Fuuko gets shanked and Andy absolutely loses his shit. That's love.

I PISSED that Andy and Fuuko never got their proper talk before the Loop happened. But I'm hoping that when Andy decides to get his ass off the fucking sun (kidding), then we have a real talk between them because I'll tell you I am so sick of licking these anfuu crumbs off the fucking floor. (Bring my boy home)

(now I do think, at some point during the Ragnarok arc, he doesn't want to die anymore. His astral projection is that of an old man. He just wants to grow old.)

[spaceorphan18]

You said you saw Deadpool & Wolverine - how did you like it?

Oohh, thanks Nonny! I had been planning on writing my thoughts! :)

I liked it!

I thought it was a very apt bridge between the old Fox films and Deadpool coming into the MCU.

I'm not a huge fan of uber violent things but something I appreciate about the Deadpool films (and Ryan Reynolds' brand of 12yo humor) is that behind it all is a lot of heart. And this film retained that, through all the crudeness, the point is that ultimately, Deadpool/Wade is a really good guy. And I can respect that.

Getting into specifics... which are very spoiler-y

I thought the plot itself was very thin, and this whole thing probably works better as a bunch of sketches, but it's fine. I was never asking for a lot from this film, and it did the only thing I was really asking of it, which was provide entertainment and get Deadpool into the MCU.

I appreciate that they really didn't shit on Logan's legacy while bringing Hugh Jackman back. Jackman seemed to be having a good time of it, which I'm glad to see.

Btw, loved all the musical jokes we got in this! Loved it.

I LOVED the montage of various Wolverines -- I understood most of the references! Yay me for reading X-Men comics for so long!!

The Henry Cavill cameo? Perfect.

I'm not surprised we didn't see a lot of Wade's family and friends, but it is sad they got such a small amount of screen time.

Ooff, Vanessa continues to be the one really weak piece of this whole thing. Does the actress not want to be there? Does she have limited time? Why is her character always being reduced to love interest whom Wade does everything for but there's no development of her character? Idk.

The TVA stuff is fine. I feel like it's so convoluted now that it doesn't really matter that it ultimately doesn't make much sense. I do think the MCU needs to start moving away from the multiverse stuff. It's just getting too mucky and it's lost focus.

Oh, why is Thor holding Deadpool, I'm sure it was just a gag, but oh god would it be hilarious if they brought it back at some point.

The Happy stuff. It's always great to see him, but how did Deadpool end up in the main universe? Why am I even questioning this?

Cracked me up that they hid Peter's face in that picture. Can't give Sony any more money than necessary.

Oh, in general, I love LOVED all the fourth wall breaks. This is why I watch Deadpool movies.

Cassandra Nova was fine as a villain. The actress was great! She just feels... a little too seriously evil to be in this comedy movie. Idk.

All the returning c-list villains were fun!

Having Chris Evans return as Johnny Strom was a brilliant move and I loved it. Having him just be the opposite of Steve Rogers on top of it was hilarious. Perfect use of a cameo, film.

Wesley Snipes returning as Blade. Goddamn. I'm kinda surprised he agreed to do it!

Great to see Jennifer Garner return as Elektra. I'm kinda glad I made myself watch all those marvel movies (which I still need to finish...) I appreciate this cameo more (and the dig at Daredevil).

Yay Laura returning! Could have always used more of her, but she did what she needed to.

Okay. Okay, let's talk about it. Let's talk about Channing Tatum as Gambit...

The Pros : The accent was fun, the way they used his powers was fantastic and original, they didn't make him the butt of jokes or treat him like a joke, there was a general respect for the character overall and I really, really, appreciate that being a Gambit fan

The Cons : Look, I have nothing against Tatum personally. He just doesn't look right. He's too think in body shape (not meant in a derogatory way), and his face just doesn't work in the headsock. Not to mention the costume looked plastic and cheap.

I really hope Gambit is back, but can we have Tatum as Gambit here like we had JKras as Mr. Fantastic in Dr. Strange? Just a one time fun gag? Please??

Remy is having a really good year despite dying everywhere.

The Deadpool squad (or whatever) I'm afraid I haven't read enough Deadpool to really get it, but it was fun. The side scrolling action sequence reminded me of a video game. And honestly, Wolverine with his cowl on, just kind of loosely moving reminded me of a video game as well.

I'm super curious to see how Deadpool plays within the MCU now. Let's go for it.

The credits were a nice touch. I'm glad they could honor those films for what they did, and I'm glad we can now move on from them.

Tl:dr it was fun and I liked it! :)

[bornwholocker]

Yeah I’m making another character rant post sue me, but it’s actually crazy to me how many people I’ve seen just going full hater mode on toshiro?? Obviously you’re allowed to not like a character, but people are villainizing him so hard, it’s wild. Like as an autistic person who has had people pretend to be friends with them, yes that shit HURTS. And the way toshiro went about his relationship with laios(especially for so long) definitely wasn’t healthy, but also like. It’s so much deeper than that?? And I’m glad I’m starting to see more people talking about this lately because honestly, it’s right there guys.

First things first, I do want to remind people that being “polite” and not telling people you don’t like them, but subtly signaling it, is still the standard in most social situations! And it doesn’t make much sense to me and it sucks for a lot of people and causes miscommunication, but it’s not like toshiro’s some big bad evil guy for following unspoken social rules that most neurotypicals also follow. Also also, given that dungeon meshi’s setting is definitely not modern, the characters probably don’t know what autism is! They just know that Laios is weird about monsters and doesn’t do well socially. All the characters have problems, many of which are accentuated for us by how normalized a lot of things are in a modern world, and a lot of things not being acceptable/normal. Obviously these are still issues for the characters, and are addressed/resolved as such, but we need to put it in perspective just a little bit.

Toshiro lashed out because A) he had just gone through some CRAZY ASS SHIT, which I feel like no one brings up. He just learned that his party companions used illegal magic that pretty much everyone agrees is dangerous on the woman he loved (yeah the way he proposed to falin without any previous communication was weird but that’s a whole nother can of worms), and it ended horribly for her! and B) he was exhausted. He had just gone days with little to no food, very little sleep, and there’s Laios, well fed and rested and to toshiro, not at all treating the situation with the seriousness it deserved. And it just hit home with how much he and Laios had clashed, how Laios was so open and honest about every little thing, and oblivious to what toshiro thought was extremely obvious. Toshiro had been raised to be quiet, polite, respectful, etc. and as a result learned to bottled up his feelings, so when he saw Laios being able to say whatever was on his mind, he understandably envied that. Even though we know that it’s difficult to be on Laios’ end, toshiro saw it as a privilege. Not only that, but he had been trying to signal to Laios (not exactly effectively but) how he felt for YEARS. And his point never made it. Everyone talks about Laios being misunderstood, but what about toshiro? What about his years of trying to communicate in the way he knew, and not being understood? I think everyone knows exactly how frustrating it is to feel like we’re being SO obvious, only for it to still cause miscommunication. So why not extend that understanding to toshiro?

Aside from all this though, it’s still clear that he does care about Laios, even though he’s annoyed by him. He literally gives Laios a bell that, when rung, would ring a matching one and be a call for help. Another example- which albeit anime only’s probably won’t know, I only know because I saw the panel- is in the finale I think, toshiro defends Laios to the elves. He sticks up for him and places his trust in him, even after everything.

Neither side was really in the wrong, but people are bashing toshiro like crazy. Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of big scenes with him outside of that meeting in the dungeon, so most of our opinion is formed off of that one moment, but that moment tells a much bigger story than just, “toshiro bad and ableist, laios poor autistic puppy.” It’s been said countless times on this hell site and beyond, but I am BEGGING people to please have a little critical thinking as a treat. Like Ryoko Kui wrote this story and the characters so much more complex than good guy and bad guy. (Slight spoilers maybe) Not even the BBEGs are really all bad, when you get down to it. Everyone’s feelings and experiences are shown from their perspective and contextualized to the audience extremely well IMO, which is one of the reasons I love dungeon meshi so much. Anyway point is think deeper folks.

[cauqhtz]

GALLY X READER!TINY

DISCLAIMER: i’ll be substituting "y/n" for "tiny" if that’s something you struggle with digesting? Keep scrolling! I dont need to be harrassed bc of it. Its not that serious. (No its not a oc. It’s literally you with a nickname. Instead of typing all ridiculous (y/n/n) i gave it a different word. Thats it and thats all! Also i’ve seen other writers do this without being harrassed so please just respect me and my choices. DO NOT READ IT IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT. I removed the option to request anonymously because of this. But my requests are open!

SUMMARY: Thomas and Tiny talk about Gally and rejection.

"What do you see in him?" Thomas askes sitting down beside Tiny, motioning towards Gally.

The only girl in the glade and his best-friend. She’d only joined a couple months before he did and yet for some reason she drooled all over Gally. The builders chief. Going out of her way to please the guy. Though from everything that Thomas has witnessed, he wasnt giving her the time of day. Its pathetic. Though he wasn’t in any position to be judgemental.

"Excuse me?" Tiny hums in acknowledgment her. Her attention unwavering.

"Gally, hey-" Thomas calls turning her head in his direction before continuing. "He treats you like shit and you kiss the ground he walks on. Does it not bother you? Why not move on?"

"Of course it bothers me Tommy. I have feelings just like everyone else but i dont know. I could give you a million and one excuses and it still wouldnt explain how he makes me feel. You know? Yeah rejection hurts like a motherfucker but all it takes is a smile, a kiss to my cheek or forehead, his skin on mine in general and its like the pain was never there." Tiny rambles on grinning, eyes as bright as stars as she shakes his shoulders in excitement.

Thomas nods in understanding. He understood. He didnt know when he’d fallen in love with the girl who was in love with the guy who hated his guts. It was pathetic… but he couldnt find it in him to be mad at it.

"And i mean come on. Moving on? If it were that easy. Heartbreak wouldnt hurt as bad as it does. It doesnt help that he treats me like an absolute princess. He’s such a sweetheart. You know im very peculiar with how i eat my food? It has to be a certain way or i’ll starve. It’s not like we have many options in the glade but i just cannot force myself to swallow the food if it isnt a certain way and i’d die before offending frypan. So i’d end up starving until Gally realized and started to go out of his way to plate my food for me?" Tiny sighs leaning her head against Thomas shoulder, her gaze trailing back to Gally who was rough housing with the guys.

"He built me a shack, so i’d have my privacy and be alone. God his hugs are the best. He’s always so gentle with me. I mean just look at him-"

"Alright! Alright. I get it. You’re in love with him." Thomas huffs playfully shrugging the girl off. Trying to ignore ache in his chest.

"Yup! And he’s in love with me. He just doesnt know it yet!" Tiny grins, pressing a kiss to the boys cheek after having heard Gally call out to her. "Welp my husband calls! Later Tommy!"

Tommy hums, watching Gally hand the girl a plate of assorted food, that doesnt touch with a kiss to her forehead. The two walk from Thomas’s sight.

Thomas understood the girls words. More than he liked.