#this is how they like to portray themselves

[bestrongbebrave49]

I think a lot of people don’t seem to realise that every book does teach you something but not necessarily from a moralistic point of view; books with unreliable narrators and shady characters teach you that the world isn’t kind and that perception can be warped. That two truths can co-exist simultaneously and that people either intentionally or unintentionally lie to themselves and/or others as a means of self-preservation, gaining something for themselves, and/or simply because change and self-awareness are difficult when you lack the desire (for whatever reason) to do so.

However, let’s say you love the twisted character and you’re enjoying their deceptive nature, their manipulative engagement with others, and the self-centred actions they take. What does that say about you personally? The answer is way more simple than a lot of people assume; you enjoy learning about the darker aspects of human behaviour in a safe environment where that characters actions can never harm you.

You enjoy the violence because it’s not being directed at a real person. You cheer on the character because through the power of words you’ve found them compelling, exhilarating, relatable, disturbed, fascinating - they are a fictional lens of darker aspects that you can cheer on because they are solely comprised of words, or are portrayed by an actor, or are lines drawn on to a page.

Books can and do teach you empathy, injustice, a difference in perspective. They broaden your mind and give you comfort with the parts you may relate to. They push you out of your comfort zone and wrap you in a thrilling experience whereby you can escape from your troubles whilst seeking enjoyment.

But they are also fictional depictions and if you cheer for the villain that doesn’t mean you have failed morally. It means you found a fictional character compelling. If you enjoy the morally reprehensible events in a book, it means you like the fictional depiction of events - not that you condone those actions in real life.

I love Ramsey Bolton - from the shows granted haven’t yet finished the books - I cried when his character was no longer a central figure. That doesn’t mean I would go up to a real life perpetrator of such violence and congratulate them, cheer them on and demand they suffer zero consequences. Books teach you a lot about what you do and don’t like in fiction; what tropes, characterisations, themes and plots you prefer from ones you don’t. They can teach you right from wrong but that doesn’t mean they necessarily have to or that every book should. Many stories expect you to already understand morals before you crack the spine open.

Every book you read will be a journey of self-discovery, but that’s all every book should teach you really - more about yourself. What aspects intrigued you, excited you, and drew you in? Which repulsed you, and why were you offended, scandalised and uncomfortable during the reading process? Was that the fundamental purpose of the story or was there something in the text that hit a nerve?

I certainly have a purpose for what I personally write, but equally I write things for fun. When I write a morally reprehensible act it’s not because I want the take away to be - go forth and do these things - but simultaneously I want people to enjoy reading the scenes and find enjoyment in them.

I want whoever reads my stories to come away with some sort of understanding of themselves; whether it be a comforting aspect or an unsettling one - an understanding of new knowledge they didn’t have before the reading experience, or merely the cemented fact that they enjoy something they already knew they liked. I want them to learn they like my writing or for my writing to help them understand that something in the text - heck, maybe the whole book - just wasn’t for them.

Every piece of art we interact with will help us uncover something about ourselves however minor or major that discovery may be, and no matter or how brief or long our engagement with said artwork is.

Yes, books are teachable moments where morals are concerned, but if you’re using them purely as a moral testing means then I’m sorry (truly) but you’ve been unintentionally engaging with the art form in a damaging way.

“it sounds like you’re justifying their actions-“ i am. they’re a fictional character. i’m okay with anything they do all the time. hope this helps.

[thermodynamic-comedian]

i have so much to say about how affection between people who grew up with no idea what human relationships look like is portrayed in alien stage.

mizi and sua would probably never describe each other as "girlfriends", they don't know what that word means. instead they're each other's universe, god, reason to live, clematis. these intense feelings that they're fundamentally unable to express in the ways that we, as the viewers, are used to, must then be expressed as exactly the way they themselves experience them, instead of being shoved into boxes of specific relationship titles. it's a lot more honest to mizi's actual feelings to have her describe sua as her god and her universe than it would be to have her say "i love her" or "we're lovers" or even "we're in love" because all of those phrases only have the meaning we as humans have given them through societal norms and expectations. those words wouldn't mean anything to children raised completely outside of those norms and expectations.

in a similar way, the concept of "crushes" is so heavily woven into our culture as humans that i genuinely don't think that what till has for mizi or what ivan has for till could be described as a "crush". again, that word wouldn't mean anything to them. to till, mizi is his idol, his muse, and his best friend. to ivan, till is his purpose, his responsibility, and his obsession. not a crush, because "crush" is a forgotten word from a forgotten culture in the past. all they have are their feelings, which reveals the different nature of their feelings as compared to each other.

we as humans often dumb these complex feelings down when we give them just one word. "love" is just one feeling, a "crush" is just one feeling. when actually the way we experience these feelings is infinitely complex and diverse, different feelings are given the same name and that difference is cast aside, but not in alien stage. every dynamic is given the complexity it deserves, every dynamic is unique, no two characters experience "love" the same way.

[olderthannetfic]

Quote from a post: "the things created within fandom aren’t real - an individual fic can’t cause actual, material harm to a reader, even if it contains tropes that would be harmful or distressing if they happened in that reader’s real life; an author’s use of certain tropes or interest in certain characters is not indicative of their actual morals and values in real life; thought crimes are not real crimes - but fanfiction is produced by human beings who are themselves products of the societies and communities in which we all live, and these societies and communities all have flaws and failings.

which is to say, those of us who prefer to read male friendships as romantic do need to be aware that, no matter how enlightened on gender and its foibles we think ourselves to be, we are nonetheless influenced as modern humans by a modern tendency to discourage platonic physical and emotional closeness between men - especially straight men - on the grounds that two men having this sort of relationship is inherently queer and, in being queer, implicitly sexual [an understanding of queerness which is another powerful societal influence on our thought, even if we know we don’t agree with it.]"

Okay this is from a big post from a big fandom account here please don't speculate who it is this is not about them specifically and has nothing to do with them i genuinely respect this poster and they are nothing but a supportive space and don't have any anti-nonsense. But I wanna talk about this point that they are making "the society is queering straight friendships" which is something also the anti-fujoshi crowd is saying and honestly I can't agree with that point.

I don't think its us the people who make fandom are queering the relationships between two straight men but the patriarchal system we live under and straight men themselves are doing it to themselves. They can't show love and affection to each other lest other dudes will call them gay not because there are secret fujoshis around that sexualize them. They can be vulnerable period lest everyone calls them whiney like women. I feel like (and most of the things I say here are vibes, not facts) men having close friendships with other men are green flags, and most women are excited to see men who have exact the strong relationship that are portrayed in media.

I'm confused by this talking point to be honest. I also understand that by saying everything I said above I sort of said the same thing as the original poster. In a sense that society is the problem here and we live in a society as we know, but... idk I feel like what they say is "we live in a society where everyone by default is sexualizing male friendships" which sounds like the standard anti-fujoshi talking point to me.

And regarding the point of romantic relationships being prioritized over platonic— I feel like is a complete bullshit to be honest.

Romantic relationships are prioritized over platonic ones across the board. Straight couples leave their straight friends behind when they get further into relationship too! I don't understand this impulse to constantly talk about romantic vs platonic thing when its about queer ships, and maybe there is somewhere straight ship discourse about romantic vs plantonic but its not as big as with mlm or wlw ships.

And honestly even with this take I feel like romantic relationships are also not prioritized but rather are more encouraged. And there is difference between encouraging and actually prioritizing I think.

(I want to add here that I'm not aroace so maybe its a blindspot and from that identitys point of view the dynamics might be different)

In reality I think both are equally hard to obtain and maintain. I always felt like the fandom being so shipping focused was not about people being hellbent on romance but just the fact that good love stories are few and far between both in fiction and IRL and we can't help but try to make something at least remotely good, or interesting or satisfying.

Again, my main problems is: 1) I don't agree that romantic relationships are prioritized to that high degree over the friendships like everyone claims. 2) I don't think that every single person is actually a secret fujoshi waiting to make any straight male friendship gay. 3) Fandoms are romantic ship centric because people just want more narratively satisfying romantic stories that are underrepresented in media (or they don't get to experience it IRL) rather than they are vehemently against platonic ships.

I don't know this hopefully came out coherent.

--

The person who wrote that sounds like a pretentious twatwaffle, and I am so sick of seeing otherwise reasonable people spout that crap. That's been true since the 90s and probably before.

The reality is that Western culture enshrines male friendship as the highest form of affection possible. This goes back to the Classical world. And, yes, they were probably fucking too back then, but the thing that all of the media is about is friendship.

The entire backbone of Western culture is built on the idea that men are spiritually, biologically, inherently more capable than women of this highest form of relationship. Romance is the big thing for women because we're not eligible for The Pure And Holy Friendship Between Two Men.

The epidemic of male loneliness is real, but we haven't gotten any less "Bros before hos". Fandom and m/m shipping behavior are irrelevant to this.

--

Furthermore, fandom has plenty of people who don't focus on shipping.

AO3 was built by slashers, so ship type is a top-level category, and the site obviously signals that it's about shipping and particularly non heterosexual shipping since you can filter out het.

Past sites often had more metadata that wasn't around ships (e.g. FFN's genres that work like bookstore genres) and almost never let you get rid of het. You might have been able to filter in The Gay, but straight stuff was literally unmarked.

~We do need to be aware of~

Bite me.

This naggy phrase is everywhere, and nothing good comes of it.

The only thing we need to be aware of is that Blorbo is great and s/he should be mashed together with Other Blorbo. If that's in gen adventures, you do you.

[revelboo]

Your writing is phenomenal! The way you portray each character and expand on their personalities within the Transformers universe has me hooked from the first word. I am so glad you made a blog and thank you so much for sharing your works with us!!! I’m ashamed to admit how often I come back to check and see if anything new has been posted; and I just found your blog maybe two days ago. Thank you again for writing for us all!!!!!!

Thank you for reading my silliness!

Last Night Pt 5

Bumblebee x Reader

• Little steps forward, day by day. Figuring out that questions about your day are safe. About you, less so. Wanting to ask about everything, but trying so hard to not remind you that you’re here against your will, because it upsets you. And that upsets him. But you don’t flinch away if he brushes a servo against your shoulder or lightly touches the back of your hand to get your attention anymore. Little steps. “There are other humans here, right?” You ask him and he hesitates in scrolling through topographical maps. It’s not exactly a secret, though, so he nods. “Are we allowed to see each other?” When he doesn’t immediately answer, you hesitantly walk closer across the top of his desk and lay your little hands on his arm. Willingly reaching out to him for the first time as you look up at him with wide eyes. “Please?”

• Hands resting on his arm, it’s a surprise how warm he is under your palms. And he’s just staring at your hands on him, lips parted like you’ve shocked him. “I can ask,” he finally says, optics shifting to your face. Because even talking to strangers would be better than sitting here alone when he’s doing whatever secret alien things he does during the day. He’d volunteered that he was a scout, so you assume he explores. Maybe makes maps? You honestly have no idea. “Do you know what this is?” He asks and you lean against his arm to see the data pad screen.

• Freezing as you almost drape yourself across his arm, he’s afraid to move in case you realize what you’re doing and stop. It’s the most contact you’ve allowed so far and he can feel you breathing against him, the beat of your heart and your warmth. “Is that the old mine?” You ask, leveraging yourself even further on him to reach for the screen. Mimicking the gesture he uses to enlarge the image and he’s surprised you’ve been paying that much attention to him while he works. “It is. There was some sort of disaster years ago. I think they tapped into natural gas or something and blew themselves up.” Your little head turns to look up at him questioning, before you inhale, face reddening and slide off of him as if you’d just noticed what you were doing. How you were sprawled on him.

• “Energon,” he mutters as you fiddle with the hem of your shirt, face hot because you were draped across his arm, butt in the air to reach the data pad screen. It’s not like he cares or is the least bit interested, but still. “We’ve been picking up traces, but haven’t been able to pin it down. But raw energon is highly reactive,” he pushes up from his desk, smacking the data pad against his palm as he paces. Energon is that glowing goop he drinks, but why would it be on Earth? You’ve never even heard of it before him. There’s no time to try to scurry away as he turns and picks you up in his hand and lifts you, doing a nauseating little twirl and laughing like an excited kid. Dizzy, you fall on your butt when he sets you back on your feet, but he’s already headed for the door, calling out over his shoulder that’ll he be back as you try to figure out what that was and why his excitement spreads warm through you, a smile pulling at your lips.

Previous

[indornaga]

The Transitory Nature of Identity

it's natural for one's identity to shift, to reimagine itself through the years, especially as one begins to understand themselves more as they age.

we talk a lot in the community about "what if the id is temporary--!" and there's a lot of folk who are scared that things *are* transitory, when it shouldnt be a scary thing!

it feels a little like baring my soul, but i want to share my identity progression with y'all as an example that even those who seem to have figured their shit out, only look that way because they've had time to get a grasp on who they are!

(cut because it's long lol lots of images)

before i was daski, i was Sewreel. a wolf/dragon hybrid shapeshifting goddess of destruction. for reasons that are way too long for this already long post, we Split--she was her and i was me, and yet we were the same person, an alter ego if you will. and yet, you can see where while i've always been a dragon, a canid, a shapeshifter, and a goddess in some faculty, the form it took was very different!

this is the very first iteration of me as daski, i'm the orange canid.

due to a change in how my phantom limbs felt, i changed what "i" looked like, sort of rapid style.

..tbh i dont remember why i started using the kyuubi form, other than i liked it? lol

in amongst the stumbling through forms i enjoyed being portrayed as, i found the one that y'all might be most familiar with: the destructor dragon, the serpentine goddess that led me to finding the alterhuman community.

who, even then, went through some "form finding" to figure out what felt like me!

but i didnt stop there. the signature on most of these you see is based off of my incorporating the odd instincts of wanting to be fluffy with being a noodle

during all this time, i was still messing around with other forms as well, ones i didnt realize until later that were incredibly important to my identity.

i still cant believe how close to an indoraptor i got with this one. it's incredible.

i tested out my affiliation with water as a dragon, as well

Until we get up to today!

the ultimate culmination and understanding of where i've come from, and what i've found i've liked through the years. you can physically see how each transformation has lent itself into the next iteration.

each and every step of the way has been important, and while i may not currently identify with the steps i took to get here, they were all intrinsic and important stepping stones to understand how and why im me. i thank each form for the comfort and understanding that it gave to me, and i would be less of myself today had i not had each and every one of these forms as a part of my journey!

[loulovingho]

Representation is not about picking one and being unable to like another couple. Representation DOES NOT mean we cannot be rightfully upset when they mess one queer couple, even if we still have one. And representation isn’t one for all.

And by this I mean. Henren is a lesbian couple. And that is great, and I am SO glad lesbian women have this type of representation, especially women of color.

But that does not mean everyone sees themself represented in them. That they will relate to them. And the fact is that the show severely lacks in gay representation. We had Michael and David, but we haven’t seen them since Season 5, and we’ve barely had a few mentions of them. We have Josh, but he hasn’t had a proper storyline since Season 5 as well, and he’s stuck on being Maddie’s gay bestie.

BuckTommy means a lot for the representation of queer men. They were a gay man and a bisexual man, both coming out later in life, both masculine and macho. And I refuse to listen to people who say we should just be happy to have Henren as representation, when it’s not the same.

Representation isn’t one for all. And the audience can feel upset at how it’s being done. Queer audiences can feel upset at how they are being portrayed. Queer men deserved to see themselves on screen and they have a right to feel disappointed and upset at how it’s being done.

It truly isn’t that hard to understand.

.

[circletakingthesquare]

this is so stupid and far fetched

ok so i went ahead and searched DRAAG on google and found out about this 1973 science fiction film "Fantastic Planet". DRAAG on this planet, Ygam, are basically blue creatures with pretty long-life spans who can alter their appearances during meditation ceremonies led by the Grand council. So, the DRAAG society is governed by the Grand Council, they represent the hierarchical pinnacle of legislation and direct the spiritual life for the entire Draag civilization. They're kind of the leaders of the planet Ygam. This Grand Council consists of five members.

this is a picture of the Grand Council (which looks prettyyyyy familiar). Also i have no clue where the fifth council member is at in this, this only pic i could find. ANYWAY basically, the Grand Council are cruel and apathetic to the suffering of the Om's - who are a sentient species like themselves however smaller in stature. Oms are not originally from this planet but were brought from the planet Terra.

So, i think they may have taken some inspiration from certain aspects of this storyline. Like maybe The Black Parade was taken to MOAT, similar to how the Oms were brought from Terra to Ygam. On Ygam, Oms are kind of forced to act as pets and inferior beings to the DRAAGS. You could definitely draw a connection to how the dictators portrayed in MCR's recent posts are forcing The Black Parade (IN THEORY IN THEOOORRYYYY), to perform for them (or like perform for people idk just performing maybe not necessarily for them) in MOAT, similar to the role of Oms in the planet Ygam. In short, they both have that inferiority role in the hands of authoritarian leaders, kind of kept captive sort of part in the storyline. They're both captured from one place to another (Ygam and MOAT in this case) for captivity and control. I still don't really know what MOAT means but it could be a different location where The Black Parade has been forced to go?? Idrk

If I wanted to go supppppppppperrrrrr far i could say that IF they used some inspiration from Fantastic Planets, you could predict some things that might happen next. In Fantastic Planets, Oms eventually rebel against the DRAAG dictatorship, which could maybe sort of kind be possible with the Black Parade too? The Black Parade could come together (as the Oms do) and rebel against the DRAAG dictatorship and gain freedom again. This is SO far tho im just thinking. In Fantastic Planets, very similar to MCR's new lore, there are obviously some political undertones about oppression, elitism, and fascism. I cant say what these are exactly in regard to MCR's recent posts, but in Fantastic Planets, these themes are portrayed through the authoritarian rule of the DRAAGS and subjugation of the Oms. So, you could use your own theories and interpretation of the MCR lore to make connections to these themes.

Im honestly not super sure about this AT ALL this isn't like a crazy theory or break through or anything, but I found the connections kind of interesting but ik this is so far-fetched so don't take it too seriously at all LMAO. Also, I've never even watched the movie and there are some parts of it I'm leaving out I just kind of wrote down what I thought related to MCR's new lore. But the general idea of Fantastic Planet kind of struck me as a little similar. Also, it makes A LITTLE bit of sense since Gerard Way is really into sci-fi (not confirming anything just an observation). Who knows tho

[evercelle]

Wait! What does it mean that if KDJ reply to YJH, he becomes a character?? Wait how? (I read it long ago and I don't remember it😭)

the text is from chp 370, when kdj and yjh fight after the existence of TWSA has been revealed and yjh "kills" hsy.

yjh forgoes speaking out loud and has been thinking at kdj, knowing that kdj can hear his thoughts. this is just my interpretation, but i think kdj refuses to answer at first because replying to the unspoken questions would be proof positive for yjh of the act itself: that yjh is a character kdj is reading even now.

it's an interesting bit of mental gymnastics, because the quoted text comes right after kdj's narration in which he (1) begins doubting [kdj's] own core identity and (2) states that yjh has become someone who won't be controlled by anyone, including kdj himself. yjh has become more "real," but there's a part of kdj that doesn't seem to always like that--seen in past chapters when yjh acts differently than his novel counterpart had/would, and kdj thinks stuff like "this is wrong, it isn't the yjh i know." novel!yjh is an existence that's portrayed as larger-than-life to kdj, so important to him that he was kdj's literal reason to keep living, so he can't just be a "mere character" to kdj... but at the same time, kdj struggles to give up the certainty of a known quantity. kdj comes off as a bit (or a lot lol) of a control freak who's really uncomfortable when the story diverges from his knowledge, so i think his reluctance to leave behind the story he cherishes and reconcile these identities is mirrored by the fourth wall thickening continuously during this fight... ultimately, though, he states that things will never be the same again, and kdj/yjh introduce themselves in their own words. feels like a big turning point in both of them navigating who "yoo joonghyuk" and "kim dokja" are as "characters in a story" versus "a person here in this moment"

you can take my yapping with a lot of grains of salt though, since i've been on pause with continuing the novel haha! this is just my read of the divorce fight. but i really like the themes of control and impersonation (played both for laughs and for real) throughout the novel culminating here and falling away to the stripped-down rawness of finally seeing each other and properly doing a self-introduction... good stuff

[tanadrin]

re-listening to season 10 of revolutions, since i never finished it the first time around, and the retrospective on the emergence of socialism in the 19th century is probably the most interesting part so far. it seems to me that 19th century "liberalism" (which was scarcely worth the name) is really a very different beast than 21st century liberalism, which has in its more left-liberal strains incorporated a ton of criticisms of 19th century socialists, and is in many ways actually a pretty good synthesis of both political heuristics. certainly not perfect, and certainly still wedded to capitalism.

but a lot of early socialists were, even if they were social scientists, first and foremost utopians. it was easier to dream what might lie in the possibility-space of useful ways of organizing an egalitarian society when very little of that space had been explored, and the burst of 19th century utopia-building was part of an attempt to explore that space and put many unabashedly utopian ideas into practice. but many of the most ambitious ideas like proudhon's anarchism just weren't super workable in the end, either in the conditions that then prevailed or in the conditions that have prevailed since. liberal democracy--especially as it was refined into something actually worthy of the name--proved both durable and flexible enough to be quite egalitarian in some respects (e.g., it supports universal adult suffrage just fine! and consolidated democracies are pretty robust and quite stable, compared to competing systems). it feels similar to the high-flying hopes of early science fiction becoming tempered as we learned more about what the possibility space of future technology would really look like across the 20th century, you know?

and so i think it's natural that a lot of that early revolutionary energy went into doing politics in a liberal-democratic framework; it turns out to be a very useful framework for liberatory social projects (much more useful than either the halfhearted liberal constitutionalisms of the mid 19th century or the reactionary monarchies they usually contrasted against). but it also seems to me that a ton of the discourse in the rump left that has resulted is stuck in a very early 19th century way of thinking.

and maybe some of this is ideological distillation, with those sufficiently convinced by the virtues of the modern liberal-democratic system naturally falling out of coalition with those who aren't, so the remainder is a concentrated nucleus most likely to see fundamental continuity between the proto-liberalism of the 1800s and the more fully realized liberalism of later eras like the 2000s. plus people who are simply never going to be on board with, say, any system that is capitalist in its arrangement, no matter how prosperous or free it manages to be otherwise. but also i wonder how much of this is because for like 70 years you had a major militaristic, hegemonic state, the USSR, which was really very like the militaristic, hegemonic system it was opposed to in important ways, but which for reasons of its legitimating ideology needed to portray what differences did exist in the starkest possible terms. and the solution to that was to portray liberal democracy as of the 20th century as being functionally indistinguishable from the liberal constitutionalism of the 19th, while making themselves out to be the sole inheritors of the more egalitarian thinkers from the left. despite the fact that the USSR was pretty conservative in a lot of ways, and was basically authoritarian in a way that i don't think any of those original utopian socialists would have endorsed.

so maybe you have to keep 19th century political categories static and unchanging in order to make the dichotomy that supports your state still have meaning. even if, once you have established yourself as the ruling class of a large, powerful state, you act in ways that are actually pretty darn similar to the ruling class of other large, powerful states. and of course trying to maintain those categories even as the world continues to evolve, including the faction you have opposed yourself to (and the third leg of what is really a trichotomy, the actual, unabashed reactionaries, also continues to evolve) leads to further tensions and absurdities, which is why the most ardent defenders of the USSR like the tankies tie themselves into knots of campism and conspiracism and even frequently back directly into bog-standard reactionary ideology, because the framework they are trying to use to understand the world hasn't been updated since the 1840s, and was already having to be heavily distorted by the 1920s to make it work.

[amaryllis-sagitta]

And through the parallels to Varric and the Inquisitor in the "good ending", the game continually drives it home that Solas won't get "softened" at the behest of his friends or even recent lovers. I'm not mad that Solas had to learn something about Mythal specifically to change his mind. I'm mad that he didn't get the chance to break free mentally before he was so graciously forgiven and let go. When from our previous encounter with Mythal's shard, it seems more likely that whatever remains of Mythal doesn't give a shit about Solas's principles, or the memory of those sacrificed for their cause. Since Solas has been consistently portrayed as practicing self-abandonment for the sake of duty, I feel that his showdown with Mythal should have been centered on her memory becoming a cynical, vengeful husk, to make an opening for an organic disappointment on Solas's side. Then, once he got disappointed in Mythal, a favorable Inquisitor could say: it's fine, I can see you changing, let's move forward.

Otherwise, if BioWare so insists that Solas would not change his mind for anything, that indeed paints a very grim and fatalistic picture of our chances to overcome the abuse patterns and the guilt of complicity. But it seems they wrote themselves in the corner by making Solas absolutely obstinate as he came so close to fulfilling his plan.

So, while the portrayal of Mythal throughout the ages tried to be somewhat nuanced, that nuance died with Flemeth. Everything about Morrigan's arc and Solas's arc in DATV ultimately validates Mythal as the person still entitled to dispense moral judgment and forgiveness as she pleases because... *checks notes* she was driven by Benevolence in the beginning? WHAT?

What is the most infuriating, Mythal from the shard has nothing left. We saw her dragon fly one last time. Rook plunged the dagger into Elgar'nan's heart five minutes prior. They don't have to cower in fear from some terrible punishment from her. Nothing stopped them from giving Mythal a piece of their mind and calling out how she trash talked Solas in the Crossroads when he wasn't there.

Veilguard—The Apotheosis of Victim Blaming

I am an abuse survivor. Part of the reason I empathize so heavily with Solas is because of this. I’m not the first person to point out that his behavior in DAI has all the hallmarks of an abuse victim, and everything we know about Flemeth/Mythal from the first three games and all supplementary content has characterized them both as abusers. Because victims becoming abusers is indeed a real and tragic phenomenon.

I was so hoping they’d handle the subject with the nuance and maturity we’ve come to expect from BioWare. Instead, we spent all of Veilguard combing through the most painful and traumatic memories of someone who was coerced and abused by a person he trusted, all the while the characters we’re meant to view as good and empathetic people mock him and glorify his abuser, who among other things willingly owned slaves.

Because there is no grey area, Mythal abused Solas just as Flemeth abused Morrigan and her son, and Justinia abused Leliana. And it’s clear this was the intention. It was always the intention. The foundations of it were too strong to remove entirely from the game, but I guess someone higher up wasn’t comfortable acknowledging that women can in fact be abusers, and men can in fact be victims.

So instead we get a group of relative strangers rubbernecking the tragedy of an abused man and going out of their way to heap the blame on the victim. At one point Lucanis literally says that he ‘should have just said no’ which is the kind of talk you hear about victims of assault and abuse all the time from the worst kind of people. I should know, because I’ve had the exact same experience.

It’s not just a disappointment. Disappointment doesn’t begin to touch it. I feel sick and I feel betrayed. I came to Dragon Age with DAI. It remains my favorite (or was, now the whole thing just makes me depressed) because, despite how dark things got, compassion and empathy were always there. The abused always had a voice, however singular, to stand up for them and defend them. Not so here.

There’s a sense of callousness and mean spiritedness that permeates Veilguard. Not sure if that was the intention, but that’s what we got. I couldn’t even finish the game—‘just say no’ was the last straw for me—but against my better judgement I looked into the endings, and really that was my mistake. Because the ‘good ending’ essentially boils down to the abuser oh so magnanimously releasing her victim while a group of strangers gaslight him into submission. I don’t really understand how we got here, but I hope the Devs understand just how damaging a message they ended up with. I know what it’s like to be judged with malignant bias by people determined to hate you while your abuser is lauded and praised. Because abusers are often charismatic and excellent at keeping up a saintly appearance to hide their monstrosity and further alienate their victim. That’s what this feels like.

They can try and retcon it all they like, maybe new players won’t notice, but anyone who remembers the last three games knows better. Flemeth and Mythal may have been victims once, but both went on to use and abuse the people closest to them. Sugarcoating them in the interest of ignoring/making their victims look worse is genuinely vile.

I don’t know who let this change happen, but they’ve contributed to an already skewed public perception about what abuse looks like and how abusers get away with their crimes.

[modernmanblues]

familial dynamics of 10cc

[hildegardladyofbones]

all the yt film snobs were kinda right about saltburn being a tumblr movie since apparently everyone on all other platforms thinks it's an "eat the rich" movie?? like girl did we watch the same movie

[momentomori24]

Surprisingly, hearing Vox and Val technically (I love how technically needed to be added) aren't dating didn't upset me as much as I thought it would. It did... for like a minute until I thought about how painfully much it fits them.

Val throws tantrums and is ready go out and kill people to let off steam, but decides to stay put in his room and sulk instead while he waits for his flat-faced prince to come and comfort him before he does anything drastic. He's killed and abused people for the slightest hint of non-compliance, which he sees as giving him an attitude or questioning his authority, but he doesn't so much as flinch when Vox raises his voice and starts shaking him in frustration more than once. He doesn't lash out or get angry when Vox tries to talk him out of marching towards the hotel, but instead listens to his points and takes his words to heart even when they weren't what he wanted to hear. He's not interested in Alastor, but is willing to sit through watching the extermination broadcast because Vox is a passionate football dad about his one-sided rival getting dunked on. He doesn't even act jealous towards Vox's obsession, just weirdly amused and supportive even tho he hates not being the center of attention any other times. And then there's Vox, who acts like he's annoyed to have to put up with Valentino but still does it anyway. He acts disinterested about Val's ranting over Angel until he hears that Angel might've quit because he's an jealous, insecure loser that wants that mf's attention to himself. He lights his cigarette and decides to call up their lowest earners for him to terrorize without being asked just to lighten his mood a little (unrelated but i feel for their employees). He keeps his eyes on him both in his room and when he's at the pub through the cameras he's got everywhere. He takes his hand like one would with a princess and smiles fondly at him before disappearing when noticing they're being watched. He's the only person that Val trusts enough to calm him down when his temper gets the better of him. And Val-- despite his volatile temper and obnoxious quirks-- is someone he respects and cares about, both as his business associate and romantic partner.

And they aren't dating. Val and Vox clearly have a connection and understanding and attraction yet are unable to confront those feelings in fear of being vulnerable. So they aren't dating. Val obsesses over Angel and Vox obsesses over Alastor to distract themselves of the other only to fall back into each other's arms at the end of the day. Even tho they aren't dating. They celebrate, dance, sing, support and shamelessly make out with each other. They're the only ones that would put up with each other's bullshit no matter what-- but for some reason, they're still not dating. They are two of the worst Overlords in Hell, capable of committing so many despicable acts and jumping to immoral tactics for their own gain without any regrets, but opening that door into genuine emotional vulnerability? Acknowledging their softness for each other? That's where they draw the line. They're clearly made for each other, but neither of them dare to step over that line to commit to something more.

Which means that we could get to actually see these changes take place. We could get to see more sides to these two we still haven't seen before. We could get to see them actually start dating and the complicated journey it took to get there. We could get to scream and kick and seeth as these two morons continue to dance around admitting their very much requited romantic feelings for every stupid reason under the sun episode after episode. We could get to see these two fix each other and make each other worse simultaneously. Mostly make each other worse. We could get to see them have a romantic duet. We could get to see them be happy together-- officially together-- while they make life worse for everyone around them.

All this mumbo-jumbo, sleep-deprived ranting will likely not happen, but the potential character growth, the dynamic development, the resolved romantic tension, the SONGS we could get??? I'm clinging onto this hope for dear life until it's ripped from my cold, dead hands.

[lunarharp]

more phoenix wright situations

[momotonescreaming]

One day Dustin walkie talkies Steve, asking to host DnD at his place, and Steve answers back that dude no, he's busy and hangs up the walkie.

Dustin responds in a huff, flipping off the walkie, before packing up his DnD stuff and angrily biking over to Steve's place anyway. He's got the biggest place, he loves him, and he's probably not even busy anyway. He goes on a million dates, he can cancel.

So Dustin arrives, throws his bike on the front lawn, and angrily knocks on the door. He can hear noise from inside - Steve isn't busy, the bastard - and frowns as the door opens to reveal Steve. Hes wearing a button down shirt and dress pants, an apron tied over top. Before he can say anything, Steve looks at him, and frowns.

"Dustin? What? Dude, I told you I was busy." Steve says, placing one hand on his hip and the other resting on the open door.

"Come on Steve," Dustin says, rolling his eyes. "It's one date with a girl you're never gonna see again. Just tell her you changed your mind. Hellfire is more important."

"Hellfire is more important?" Steve says, and before he can say anything else, a voice echoes out through the Harrington house.

"Steven?" A feminine voice calls. "Have my guests arrived yet?"

"No Ma," Steve calls back. "It's one of the kids I babysit."

Oh, Dustin thinks, he's busy at a party with his mom. And something in Dustin coils, frustrated. Why did he hang up the walkie then? And why did he say he's Dustin's babysitter? He's not a kid anymore, he's a teenager now. He can handle himself. He's way more mature than most adults out there.

Steve turns back to Dustin, hand still on hip, eyebrow raised.

"Well why didn't you say something Steve!" Dustin replies, gesturing exasperatedly with his hands.

"I did." Steve says firmly. "I told you I was busy. It's not my fault you didn't listen."

And Dustin flusters. "It wasn't- I just- I thought-"

"You thought?" Steve prompts, raising an eyebrow at him, and Dustin shrinks under his gaze. He's never felt so small.

"I thought you were lying to get out of it." He replies, basically a whisper. "Or just going on one of your dates."

"And what? You thought I didn't want to host badly enough that I'd lie about it, and showed up anyway? You thought I'd abandon a date last minute to host a game I don't even play?" Steve says, and Dustin can feel the pressure behind his words. "Or I'd let you host a game in my house without me there? Fat chance."

Dustin looks down at his feet and tries not to let his lip wobble. To repress the urge to stamp his feet and yell. Instead he clenches his fists, tight by his side, and feels his stomach churn. He just wants to play his game.

Steve sighs, runs a hand through his hair, and looks down at Dustin softer this time.

"Dust, you know I love you right?" He says, placing a hand on his shoulder. Thick, and warm, and comforting. "But you've got to learn some fucking boundaries, bud."

Dustin snorts, weak and watery. "Okay.

[beanghostprincess]

Usopp's constant negativity and anxiety are something useful and "positive" at the end of the day (eg: fight against Perona) because he doesn't necessarily need to change his views, he just needs to trust himself and his abilities more and he just uses what he has at the moment which is, you know, negativity. It is not something positive but it does keep him safe from danger and he will end up being proud of himself and stronger than he could ever imagine, but that doesn't mean he'll stop being negative. It's just another personality trait a lot of people have, and Usopp using it for his advantage is something great, I feel. He takes pride in being like that. He's loud and shameless about it.

Unlike Sanji, who dwells on his negativity on his own. Quietly. And lets it consume him without having any power over it. His self-sabotaging and self-sacrificing behavior often comes from a place of giving up out of fear of others getting hurt to save him because that's pretty much his core fear. Being a burden/Not being able to save the people he cares about from himself and his past. It's not something the manga shows that much in comparison to Usopp's negativity, but Sanji's pessimistic views are pretty much one of the reasons why WCI happens and why he puts himself in the worst situation in Wano.

And I think (this is why I'm writing all of this) that they're perfect for each other because Usopp could show him that being afraid and negative isn't something so bad. After all, at least Usopp is aware that if he can't do something, the crew will help him out no matter what. Usopp's negative, yes, but it's alright because he doesn't go through it on his own. Even if he does look shameless and "selfish" when desperately asking for help (he isn't, by the way. It's actually pretty reasonable to act like that). Sanji needs to learn to ask for help shamelessly too and he needs to stop putting all the weight of the world's negativity on his shoulders. They need to carry it together.

Like- There's just something so personal in Usopp going "Yes! I am scared. Frightened even. Please, help!" because he might not like that part of him and he's trying to be stronger and more independent every day, but he acknowledges that things can go south and his reaction is very fight or flight but pretty mostly flight to be safe. While Sanji's response is always to fight because he refuses to let others know he needs help in case something happens to them (and also because he feels ashamed of feeling weak). Usopp shares the responsibility and accepts that he's kind of a loser sometimes but Sanji refuses to do so.

This is just a thought about Sanji learning that being a coward and asking for help isn't bad because they're meant to do stuff like that, and Usopp growing to be stronger and independent but not necessarily stop being pessimistic because sometimes you just... Are like that. Sometimes you're scared. Sometimes you have anxiety. And that's alright. You can be strong anyway.