#this isn't up for debate by the way. I am simply like. not interested

[aonomiki]

*banging pots and pans together* Blue at no point reciprocated Megumi’s feelings for him nor did he lead her on. It was a one-sided crush. I’m sorry you either have bad media literacy skills or you believed people who either had bad media literacy skills or just fucking lied to you! As someone who was a teen girl who had crushes on adults, it’s a very normal thing and it is not weird to portray it in media when it is resoundingly a one-sided thing!

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

Ever since October 7th, the amount of misinformation and disinformation about Jews, Israel, Judaism, and even just like, basic facts about reality have been so intense that it's really dredging up a lot of my gaslighting trauma.

(No, not in the memic sense that it's been distorted into, but the kind of gaslighting that leads you to detransition and think it was your choice despite drowning in dysphoria, the kind that warps and changes and erases memories, and makes it so that you dissociate for literal months at a time to escape the pain. That kind.)

And I recognized this because I keep finding myself arguing facts and trying to reason with people who say that they're part of the compassionate left and care about working on antisemitism but yet spew the kind of antisemitism that would be totally at home on Stormfront.

It's that first arguing stage of gaslighting, where the abuser keeps saying outrageous, untrue things and you're still fighting to try and get them to empathize with you and seek mutual understanding. This:

A gaslighter does not simply need to be right. He or she also needs for you to believe that they are right. In stage 1, you know that they are being ridiculous, but you argue anyways. You argue for hours, without resolution. You argue over things that shouldn’t be up for debate — your feelings, your opinions, your experience of the world. You argue because you need to be right, you need to be understood, or you need to get their approval. In stage 1, you still believe yourself, but you also unwittingly put that belief up for debate.

(bolding mine) (source)

This is a pattern I recognize in myself in personal relationships and even within communities, but what's happening right now is a lot bigger and more diffuse. It's not one abuser or even a shitty cohort of abusive people who are monopolizing a community space. This is being encouraged in a frighteningly large number of non-Jewish progressive spaces. In the same way that stochastic terrorism adds up very quickly, this type of cultural gaslighting and stochastic emotional abuse feels like a deluge.

But if you look at history, this is not new, for Jews. This is but the latest version of a very long game of Why Won't You Just Give Up and Assimilate or Die that Jews have thus far prevailed on at great cost to ourselves.

Anyway I'm done arguing with goyim about things that absolutely should not be up for debate: Jewish history, Jewish culture, what certain religious concepts in Judaism mean, Jewish lived experiences, what is and isn't antisemitism. If you aren't willing to engage in a genuine way that seeks mutual understanding, I'm not interested. I'm done.

You are engaging in violent behavior and lying to yourself about it and calling it activism. Well I am no longer going to participate. You can lie to yourself all you want, but you are a bad person and I don't forgive you, and you can do that alone.

You are acting from a mob mentality and a mob cannot be reasoned with. You are drunk on your tiny bit of power and social capital, and years down the line you'll lie to yourself and pretend that you cared about us.

You didn't. And deep down you know it, too.

Instead of arguing with people who refuse to see facts or reason and put our experiences up for debate, I am going to work on compiling a resource for people who want to actually learn.

Everyone else can fuck off.

[laroserie]

— characters : Alastor, + the hotels residents (vague mention - expect for Charlie)

— content : x gender neutral reader - reader is a baker, reader is naive (for a sinner), Alastor manipulate reader into coming to the hotel, Alastor is Alastor but he's also OOC (kinda but uh who write canon Alastor anyways)

— author note : this is the second part of an (potentially yandere!) alastor x baker reader - the first part is here (also the words count is : 1.7k ) (saying that because i outdid myself lol) (also yes i know Alastor canonically do not like tea idc this mf is gonna drink tea) ++ honestly considering doing a third part because I have so much more to say and write about this

After Alastor came back from his seven years hiatus and he came for at your bakery again, he could come so often, like once every two days.

But it could take him a while to make a 'move', try to get closer to you or talk to you about the hotel but one day, he comes to your bakery and asks for an unusual amount of pastries. You don't comment on it as it's not your place - you are just a simple baker ! But you can't help but raise an eyebrow.

Alastor meant to talk to you about the hotel, not because he wanted you to reedem yourself or because he wanted to do it for Charlie - well maybe a little but he won't admit it - but more or less to keep an eye on you. By then, he isn't sure as to why he wants to keep an eye on you - his assumption is that he feels the same way toward you as he does toward Rosie. He sees you as a friend but not quite - you are the sweet baker who makes quite good pastries and you are by far one of the less annoying sinners he ever spoke to. But he feels some kind of protectiveness over you - probably because he sees you as quite meek and weak.

So obvious what could be better than inviting you to stay at the hotel ? A place where he can both protect and keep on eye on you at -nearly- all time.

Alastor took this opportunity, 'These aren't all for me, dear. They are for ... my friends ?' he started while you were wrapping up what he purchased, 'You see ... Have you heard of the Hazbin Hotel ?' he asks.

'Uhm ... The hotel run by the princess ? Yeah I've seen a bit of talk about it, why ?'

'Well ! I am the facility manager of that, hotel ! And the ... pastries are for my fellows workers and residents.' He stopped for a second to gauge your reaction to that information - which was a simple nod and a 'ohh' - he continued. 'Hm, the goal of the hotel is to help sinners redeem themselves ... could you be by chance interested ?'

This question probably takes you by surprise. By then you already finished packing Alastor order - you push it toward him on the counter. You respond hesitantly 'Ha, well ... Is it possible ? To even redeem yourself ... ?' Your smile falter a bit and you look in the void for a bit. 'I don't think redemption is for me ... If I'm here it mean I deserve it and that it's already too late ...' Alastor didn't fully expect you to react like this - he did expect that you could say 'no' at first but not that.

'But ! Anyways, there is your order, enjoy !' You said trying to end the conversation there. But alas Alastor was not the type to give up so easily.

He took his order but continued on, 'If you couldn't mind dear, please just come and visit once, to be truthful, we haven't had a whole lot of sinners coming, you just simply visiting could be wonderful, and you could help bring Charlie mood up, oh and you both could get along so well !' As he finished his sentence he turned and walked toward the door and threw you a 'Goodbye!'.

Alastor knew you enough to know that he could pull at your heart strings to get what he wanted - you were always the sensitive type, the type to care even about strangers. He was sure that he could see you 'visit' in the near future.

And well he was right ! A mere three days after you found yourself at the doorstep of the hotel. You had been waiting for a few minutes already - you were still debating on entering or just turning on your hells and going back home.

But before you could do anything the hotel door in front of you opened in a big 'slam'. And once again before you could do anything, you were dragged into the hotel in a very enthusiastic manner.

'Hello !! Are you interested in the hotel ?' A cheerful voice asked you, as she dragged you into the hall, you recognised quite easily who is was - the owner of the hotel - Charlie Morningstar. It wasn't your first time seeing her, but it was your first time seeing her up close. You had to restrain a laugh at her over-enthusiasm, you didn't want be irrespectful toward the princess of hell.

'Good morning, I am simply visiting as it was recommended by ... a friend of mine.' You saw her be a bit disappointed hearing that. 'Oh. Is there anyways you could I don't know change your mind ? Maaaaybe ?' She asked.

You a small smile appeared on your face 'Maybe. If your convincing is good enough.'

Charlie took it as a challenge, she started by showing you around the hotel, and then made you meet the residents - you spoke a bit with everyone - at the exception of Alastor how was visiting his friend in Cannibal Town. To say you were surprised knowing that the two sole residents of the hotel were one of the biggest pornstar of hell and somekind of mad inventor could be an understatement. The staff of the hotel was also something - you knew already Niffty and Husk having heard about them from Alastor and you saw and spoke with Husk a few times when he picked up orders at your bakery for Alastor. And then there was Vaggie, she seemed to be quite suspicious of you and it feel like she could gut you out as soon as you do something wrong.

By the end of the day, Charlie asked you once again if you wanted to join the hotel - you struggled to answer her - a part of you seriously started to consider joining the hotel and trying to get redeem but the other one was still wary of the idea.

But you asked her if you could come every once in a while to visit and she was overjoyed by it - you didn't join the hotel but it was still an advances to have someone visit the hotel.

You did end up visiting the hotel a lot - at some point you could come once a week - you ended up befriending most people from the hotel.

One of those day, most of the hotel residents were out - only Alastor and Niffty were at the hotel. Niffty was running around chasing cockroachs - you were having tea with Alastor.

Alastor had finally decided to move to the next steps of his plan - to have you under his grip. He started by asking you a few questions about how you felt about the hotel.

'I told you, you could get along with Charlie !' You nodded as you sipped on a cup of tea. 'Are you thinking of joining the hotel officially ?' You sighed and shake your head, 'Alastor, you already know my answer ...'

'Are you sure dear ? I truly think it could be beneficial for you to join.' He persisted. 'But, I have a bakery to run, I, I have responsibility.'

'You can continue to run your bakery while being a resident here darling ! Honestly, why don't you want to ? Please don't tell me you seriously believe you cannot be redeem, we all know that it's not true. You by far one of the most ... redeemable sinner there is' Alastor tone of voice was serious - the atmosphere shifted and suddenly the way you were sitting became uncomfortable. 'Alastor please ... Don't.' You managed to utter, your looked down at the cup between your hands.

'What, I am simply saying the truth. I am just asking you to enlighten me as to why you don't think you should at least try to redeem yourself and join heaven.' You looked up to see Alastor with his usual smile plastered on his face - it felt wrong, you felt yourself crack. 'There is no real reasons to be frank, I just know that it's not possible, that it's not right ...'

Alastor shacks his head, 'If you don't do it for yourself please do it for Charlie, you both are dear friends now right ? Couldn't you like to make her happy by becoming a resident and attempting to cleanse yourself of your sins ? Ah, it could even make me happy ...' He pulled out the last card in his deck - once again he knew that playing with your feelings could be the easiest way to get you to stay - and so he did.

He could see you hesitate a bit, 'Are you sure ...? What if she learn that I don't believe in it truly ? I do not wish to be hypocritical ... isn't that a sin itself ?' Alastor laughed a little hearing you, 'You shouldn't worry about that darling. The important thing is the end result - not how you got it. Who cares if you aren't honest ? And if it's stay between the two of us, Charlie will never know.' You took a few minutes to think - weighting the pros and cons.

You sighed and nodded your head, 'Sure, I mean what could go wrong ... ha.'. Alastor smiles 'Exactly dear !', he took a sip of tea, 'Now, shall we do the paperwork now ?', he didn't wait for an answer and just pulled out a stack of papers and a pen out of Satan know here and slided them toward you.

You didn't brother to question him and just took the pen in hand, 'Do I really need to read all of that ?' you said pointing to the small toward of papers in front of you, 'Oh of course no, it's just good 'ol paperwork, you don't need to read anything ! Just sign the bottom of each pages and ... we should be good.' you probably didn't notice the way his smiles twisted as he uttered those words or if you did you just preferred to not question it.

Looking back you probably should have - it could have saved you from the collar and leash attached to your neck and the overall pain that was having your soul being owned by Alastor - with the added layer of being a full time resident of the hotel.

[covenofthearticulate]

Ash I’ve been bitten by the Louis!Simp bug, I need your headcanons about his romantic side please and thank you 🥹 (with specific partners or in general or both, dealers choice!!!)

JESS!!!!!! hello. in all forms but physical i am squeezing your shoulders and kissing your cheeks. welcome to the louis!simp club i am so glad you're here

anyway YEAH i think in terms of fanon, folks tend to underestimate Louis' interest/capacity for romance because he always has a bad time whenever anyone tries to show him a Grand Romantic Gesture but i just adhgdskfbhsjbfvdjhbf I think Louis is one of the most romantic characters in the series!!! he just shows it in ways that aren't obvious to those who don't know him well, but I know for a fact that this man is down so bad for Lestat and Armand and just wants to see them happy.

He strikes me as the kind of person who puts a lot of time and effort into the love he gives— whether that's spending actual time with his lovers (I always HC that his preferred love language is Quality Time) or hunting down a specific gift, or even taking the time to better himself!!

Like I know we talk about it a lot, but I think all the times throughout later canon where Louis dresses nicely for Lestat and Armand is such a great example of the type of lover Louis is. That's the closest thing to any Grand Love Gesture he'll get. We know if it were up to him, he would wear the same clothes for centuries. He doesn't care about his appearance, but he knows that Lestat and Armand do. He knows that they like to look at him, that they like to see him in fine things, just as he used to like seeing Claudia in fine things. They gift him clothes because that is their way of showing affection, and he knows he can ease Lestat's or Armand's anxiety just a little bit by accepting that affection and allowing them to fawn over his beauty, even if it makes him uncomfortable. Louis is someone who thrives with the comfort of the familiar; to step out of his comfort zone is a BIG DEAL to him, and I think we really see that reflected in Lestat and even Armand's narration any time they do see him all dressed up, like they always seem so surprised and awestruck LOL

ANYWAY yeah he cares so deeply for his loved ones like really truly, I think that Louis is the kind of lover who is just so thoughtful. Gift giving isn't necessarily his preferred love language, but he's ALWAYS thinking of Lestat and Armand, and it manifests in different ways. Some nights he'll barge into the room and read aloud an article he thinks they might find interesting, and he'll ask them questions and soak in every one of their opinions. Other nights he simply graces them with his presence and reads silently beside them.

And other nights still, Louis will revisit arguments that occurred a century ago, or even an hour ago, and will pick at old wounds not because he is truly upset, but because Louis is genuinely the kind of person who is constantly thinking about the things Lestat or Armand have said to him. He's constantly picking their words apart in his head, trying to find new meaning, and I know it's absolutely infuriating for Lestat, but there's something about Louis where, even as he's rebutting an argument from two years back, there's a passion in his eyes that's just so exciting and almost kind of sweet. You just KNOW that Louis loves to debate, not for the sake of winning (though he loves to win) but because he loves to hear his lovers' ideas and understand their psyche. Honest to god, I think Louis' ideal date night would be debating beside a cozy fire LOL

Okay sorry this is getting long! I don't have a lot of individual headcanons BUT one favorite headcanon that I've had in my back pocket and do want to turn into a fic one day is that Louis teaches himself to speak Armand's native tongue, so he can tell him he loves him with a language Armand has not heard for centuries.

Another headcanon I've been thinking about as well is like, in a similar vein to the clothes thing, Louis understanding how insecure Lestat gets at times, especially about how their relationship is perceived. So like, again with the comfort zone thing, I think Louis tries very very very hard to swallow his discomfort in order to occasionally hold Lestat's hand in public. Maybe even kiss him, who knows. He loathes being perceived, but he'll do it for Lestat.

[wilcze-kudly]

I really want to see your post about how Katara is forcefully matured by the fandom, please!

Ok, while I wasn't ready to make that post in earnest, and frankly never might be, here's some of my cursory thoughts on the topic. I'd gladly talk about it in detail more but also ✨️fear✨️

So, let's get the obvious out of the way. Katara is a 14 year old. A child, barely a teen. In fact, the entirety of the gaang is made up of children.

Now, I haven't been fully active in the atla fandom in quite some time, mostly lurking on the peripheries, because the fandom is a shitshow. One of the reasons being the fact that most fans cannot, for the life of them handle the Gaang's inherent childishness.

This isn't just a Katara problem. Other than her, Aang suffers the most for the egregious crime of being a 12 year old survivor of a genocide. Suki is, of course, mainly ignored. The interpretations of Toph can vary wildly, from her being horrifically matured to being dissmissed as a chaotic, rude child. Zuko and Sokka's immature moments are looked at more permissively, being an angsty boi™️ and a goofy goober respectively.

I do find it odd that Aang doesn't get the "boys will be boys" pass, but ok, we'll blame it on him being... bald? a nice boy? not concerned with his own masculinity?

As for Katara, her maturity is treated like... a given. She's the mom of the group, the proverbial love interest, the feminist icon, the badass fighter, the trailblazer filled with feminine rage. The trophy wife to Aang, the (Lore Olympus style) Persephone to Zuko's Hades.

And true, she is, or at least can be, a lot of these things.

However she is, first and foremost, a child. This fact is presented to us on a silver platter in the first episode, when her and Aang are penguin sledding.

Katara : I haven't done this since I was a kid!

Aang: You still are a kid!

Katara is a child forced to mature. Her circumstances forced her to try to fill her mother's place and to fight for those who couldn't do so themselves. The fandom brands her as a mom friend. Sees her purely as an icon of empowerment. Or worse, degrades her character to being a love interest.

(im talking about both sides of the kataang/zutara debate. I have my biases, but I'm sure there are kataangers who treat her like this as well. I simply have encountered very few of them.)

Her story, while yes, has many themes of female empowerment is in huge part, a tragedy. The tragedy of a young girl forced to grow up much too soon.

Sadly, this is rarely spoken about. It's not spoken about directly and therefore a lot of the fandom doesn't see this. (Or simply doesn't want to see it)

This is not to say that Katara's more mature aspects should be dismissed or buried. She displays a lot of maturity for her age, to the point of being able to go toe to toe both intellectually and physically with the (admittedly usually incompetent) adults of the show. Additionally, she evolves as a character through the durtation of the show.

But a huge chunk of her maturity being forced and therefore unhealthy is a key aspect of her character.

I think what upsets me the most is that while the critiquing the idea of Katara being treated as the mom of the group in fanon is becoming more and more common, the treatment of her as something akin to a YA protagonist is on the rise.

Both these interpretations are so insulting to the character of Katara, what is wrong with you people?

I'm currently rewatching atla with a focus on Katara as a character (while also trying to give zutara a chance I am doing my best guys) and her childishness is an integral part of her. It's sad to see her treated as an adult by the fandom. And honestly unsettling, especially with how much of like a child she acts.

I wanna finish my rewatch before I give my full ramble on the topic. I also wanna look more into the many different opinions people in the atla fandom have on Katara's treatment by the show. Though even trying to skim the surfce was like injecting lemon juice directly into my tear ducts. Also I really, really don't wanna get sent death threats again.

I want to give the topic of Katara my full attention. However I don't think I'll ever make this post, actually. The atla fandom is a rabid horrid pack of creatures and I'm not sure if I wanna engage with all that.The post would probably bash a lot of things considered key arguments for Zutara, since, looking at Zutara through a child's doesn't exactly scream 'romance' and do I really want that on my blog?

Katara's role as a child isn't valued as much as her role as a woman and I just don't want to deal with people calling me mean names for talking about a little girl being traumatised.

I'd be glad to have a discussion but I made this blog mainly to have fun and enjoy a piece of media I like. I met some truly amazing people whom I can have really great discussions with, even if we don't agree. I don't want to jeopardise that by being a pretentious dick on a soapbox.

Call this and the last few posts I made on Katara me testing the waters.

[evony256]

DRDT CHAPTER 2 EPISODE 15 SPOILERS

Another ramble because this episode was FIRE!!!!!

All of these are mental notes that I had while watching the premiere of the episode.

-calling it rn it's Ace

-I am literally kicking my feet rn

-Ace I'm sorry to tell you this but you seem kinda screwed

-NICO'S LITTLE "I'm sorry" THAT'S SUCH AN AWESOME DETAIL

-Whit this is a serious moment please

-I always found the parallels between Teruko and Ace very interesting, even though they didn't show up a lot, so I'm glad that we got more of that. It feels like Teruko was made to parallel almost every character... Interesting....

-Charles: "He'd have the element of surprise as well." Hehehe.....

-THANK YOU CHARLES THESE OTHER GUYS ARE ALL IDIOTS

-Charles: "Your input is unnecessary." Damn Charles really did tell David "Who asked"

-J: "Isn't Ace... too stupid?" Oh my GOD J- (I know most people won't agree but J has just been a bit annoying to me this trial... This line did not help)

-I'm actually starting to like Ace a lot. I liked him even before this episode but he truly is such an interesting character. How he has a hard time choosing between his dignity and risking his life seems so unreasonable, yet so humane. I always felt as though Ace was one of those really REALLY misunderstood characters (even I have mischaracterized him, I'll admit...) and I was really excited to learn more about him, although I didn't expect it to be like this.

-I love Charles so much he's literally me (close enough) Thank you once again Mr Cuevas for showing us the height of the drdt cast's idiocy.

-Even Hu had to try to somewhat help Ace (when she told him to calm down). Though I think it was more because she wanted to not feel "useless" while Ace was desperately fighting for his life

-The way the text in the Non-Stop Debate circles around J's head reminds me a lot of the Literature Girl MV

-Ace's new sprites are so pretty ngl I like them a lot

-I'm sorry but when I saw the argument armament for a split second I thought that Ace had a bowl cut.... Anyway ARGUMENT ARMAMENT YAYA!!!

-Teruko: "We determine who lives and who dies by a majority vote." DID YOU JUST SAY MAJORITY VOTE, TERUKO??????? *Not so, Sou intensifies*

-The Teruko and Ace parallels going hard rn....

-I love how Ace acts compared to Min. Min was desperate to prove that she wasn't the killer, even when she knew she was done for, but Ace just gives up. He's just too tired to argue anymore, he feels too bad about what he's done and he knows that his fear of dying has finally caught up to him and that there's nothing he can do. He was so afraid that he would get killed, so he decided to kill someone first. It didn't really matter who it was, he could have chosen Hu or Levi but he chose Arei simply because it was convenient. Ace is such a morally gray character and a very good one at that. It's very rare that you see these types of characters portrayed in such a realistic way. Amazing work, DRDTdev.

-J: "Murder is unacceptable, no matter what." Okay Tsurugi Kinjo /j

-AREI EVEN BEFORE DEATH YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL

-How we feeling Ace fans

This episode actually left me shocked... Like. WOW. Episode 13 isn't my favourite episode anymore, this is.

[yolowritter]

In Defense of Chloe Bourgeois Part 1: Who is Chloe?

Well...shit, here we go again! Hello there everyone, welcome back to the source of my endless exasperation! Before any of you pick a side to the argument, I want to make it perfectly clear that this isn't a post about whether or not Chloe should have had a redemption arc. This is not my point, and any argument for either side have been repeated so many times by now that I can recite most by memory. So, let's begin by establishing why exactly I'm even writing this post!

Chloe Bourgeois is one of my favorite characters in Miraculous Ladybug. The...the fanon version, obviously. Canon can go keel over in an alleyway, it already has more holes in it than the average swiss cheese. I've been a part of this fandom for a good few years now, and at the time of watching Miracle Queen was understandably upset at the...direction, that her character was taken. It left a sour taste in my mouth because I honestly didn't see it coming, but I'll get more into that later. Point is, I was once a defender of Chloe's redemption arc. I am not stating if I am or not still one of those at present, because that's not what the point is. Regardless of what side of the fence you're on, we can all agree that her character was horribly mismanaged in the latter half of this show. Erratic, extreme and oftentimes illogical choices that sound stupider than Lila's average gaslighting scheme, and a character who previously had an arc going for her now being defined only by the sheer inconsistency that writhes every moment she's on-screen. I'll be honest, I no longer particularly care if Chloe "should" have been redeemed or not, because either avenue could have allowed for some brilliant (or at the very least pretty decent) storytelling.

This defense strives not to strip anyone of their arguments, nor to challenge anyone's headcanons, or make a point about what the "correct" way to handle Chloe's character should have been. Again, I lost interest in the debate a long time ago. I'm simply here to examine who Chloe is as a person, what drives her, what her life experiences have been like, and where all this could logically lead from both a writing and human perspective. I care about Chloe as a person, and about a character who if nothing else, at least acts consistently, in a way where the audience can watch them and understand why they're acting like this. I'll be trying to give context to some of her actions and fill in as many plot holes as I can, as well as giving a glimpse as to how a possible Redemption or Corruption Arc could have gone. So without any further ado, let's dive right in!

Firstly, let's start by laying out some common ground. After the Gabriel Agreste post, I think it's necessary to establish some clear lines as to what exactly we're talking about here. So before anything else, let's look at what we learn about Chloe in Season 1, yeah? Without going episode-by-episode, we generally don't get a good impression of her. Chloe is clearly spoiled by her father, used to always getting her way, and has no problem pressuring others into making that happen. She treats her classmates more like annoyances if not outright minions (Sabrina and on occasion Kim), has little consideration for other people's feelings, and likes appearing superior to everyone else. A pretty bad start, all things considered. She bosses Sabrina around, and we're explicitly told that Chloe often bribes her with her second-hand stuff, or whatever she wants to get rid of. Sabrina clearly doesn't know how to stand up for herself, and Chloe seems perfectly willing to take advantage of her doormat status. She also has the roots for a sweet sweet superiority complex firmly planted, considering how she rejects and humiliates Kim when he tries to confess his love to her. I'll be damned if I ever understand such bad taste, considering how Chloe is generally disliked by the rest of the class, but the point stands. She could have just told him no, even rudely if need be, and left it at that. Instead, she actively chose to humiliate the poor guy. Something similar happened with Nathaniel, whose feelings about Marinette she made public to everyone else for what seems to be entertainment value.

All in all, Season 1 Chloe has all the stereotypical makings of a popular girl from a 2010s American high school movie, including the narcissism, bullying, strong-arming school staff into not punishing these behaviors, inflated ego, and the complimentary minion! Except...Chloe isn't popular. With anyone, actually. Most of the class dislikes and barely puts up with her on a good day. They don't laugh along or jeer at whomever she's giving trouble to. Instead we have several instances where people actively try to either push the teachers into doing something or remove her from a situation where Chloe is causing problems. Think about the filming scenes in Horrificator for example. Chloe is acting like her usual self again, and refuses to allow Marinette to be the lead actress because she'll get to kiss Adrien. A tragedy, I know! Therefore, there's a whole plot to get her out of the room long enough for the scene to happen. People actively consider her at the very least a pain in the rear, and probably someone they just don't even want to talk to.

Obviously this isn't an excuse for anything she does. My point here is that from the perspective of the narrative, even while acting the part of a "Queen B", Chloe reaps none of the benefits, and in fact only serves to make people dislike her more with every episode that passes by. Even Adrien, who I'll circle back to in a second, her childhood friend who has a good opinion of her when he first comes to school, eventually stops trying to defend Chloe's behavior. There are, I think, a lot of reasons as to why she acts this way. Precisely none of them are an excuse or a "get out of jail" free card. Chloe still chooses to behave the way she does, regardless of the motivations.

About Adrien, we know that he and Chloe have known each other for a long while now. She was quite possibly his singular friend during his otherwise relatively isolating childhood, and she's very clearly attached to him. Chloe constantly clings to Adrien and drapes herself over him, and while he seems to find it annoying, there's still never a sense of disgust like with Lila in later Seasons. She's being suffocating, but there is never a connotation of romance here. Still, Chloe does everything she can to keep Adrien close to her, and (in Origins) "teach him how things are" in school. She's the one who got him signed up as a student in the first place, mind you, so she very clearly wants him to be around her. And while Chloe does brag about him being a famous model, she could just...do that without ever actually bringing Adrien out of the house? Clearly that's not the reason why she went through all the trouble to actually get him in the class, because bragging about it would probably go worse if she did it in front of him, or in an environment where Adrien could easily hear about and react to it. Chloe is very possessive of her "best friend" (and only friend, discounting Sabrina), and constantly belittles Marinette for trying to get close to him. Mind you, she doesn't find out about her feelings for Adrien until Season 3 I think. We never see Nino get bullied for befriending him, so what gives?

I'll talk about reasoning later down the line. For now, let's move onto Season 2. Amidst the beginnings of Ladybug handing out Miraculous jewels like candy to her best pals, seriously Season 4 overdid it, Chloe also exists. And during Despair Bear, Adrien finally puts his foot down about her behavior. He tells her that he can't be friends with someone who acts like a bully, and Chloe is genuinely hurt by this, to the point where she does her best to put on a good show and convince Adrien that is capable of not being an ass. Which is actually the case, believe it or not. She holds back the snides, does her best to make casual conversation with the people she considers to be inferior to her (I'll get to that, don't worry), and makes a real effort to keep at it for the sake of their friendship. The reason why she blows up here is made very obvious by the episode itself. Chloe is in unfamiliar territory and clearly reining herself in a lot, which Despair Bear pokes fun of in several back-to-back scenes. She doesn't want to do this, clearly has mutual dislike for the people she's forced to put up with every day and has made up her mind about a long time ago, for the sake of the one person she considers a genuine friend. And mind you, Chloe never uses Adrien for something. She brags about his job in Origins, and preens about their friendship often, but she never takes advantage of him like she does Sabrina. I will get to their toxic friendship in a minute, don't worry, but Chloe chooses not to try doing this with him. Adrien is...oblivious, to put it nicely, and she could easily try and play around that to serve her own goals, but she doesn't. Keep this in mind.

Anyway, she blows up because Armand (also c'mon, if you wanted to make the joke that Chloe doesn't know her butler's name, Jean "insert today's last name" was more than enough, Thomas) keeps lugging her teddy bear and playing pretend with her in a room full of people. I'm sorry, but that may be the most relatable Chloe moment in the whole show. Are you kidding me??? Of course she'd be embarrassed by this! I mean sure, her reaction to the situation is wrong, she shouldn't have screamed at him or threatened the man's job, but Chloe has serious anger management issues. That is obvious, because she acts like this every single day! Why would Armand do this??? She's already way out of her comfort zone by even hosting the party in the first place, surely there's easier ways of reminding Chloe not to be a bitch? Just tap her on the shoulder and say "miss, remember Adrien?" because that's the whole reason this is happening! The teddy bear is completely unecessary! Especially the voice acting! It made me laugh so hard when I first watched that episode but can you blame Chloe for being pissed? Again, she reacted poorly because her self control is comparable to Plagg's when there's camambert in his field of vision! So yeah, it's wrong to scream people's ears off like that, but she was also upset. And she's fourteen mind you!

Anyway, my actual point about Season 2 is that we get to see Chloe's character development. Thank Nooroo, finally a proper arc in this damn show! And we also get to see her family life. Side note, Andre Bourgeois is a spineless coward who I'll be bashing momentarily. But Chloe's mother is horrible! Audrey Bourgeois is blatantly neglectful, if not abusive to her daughter! She treats Chloe the same way Chloe treats everyone else! As disposable, expendable things that don't "deserve" her attention because they're not good enough. Like, if this doesn't give a six year old some hefty trauma along with an inferiority complex, what will??? And the situation becomes even worse as Chloe becomes incresingly desperate during Style Queen, trying again and again to please Audrey by copying her behavior (which she's been doing this whole time) even more intensly, and acting like the entitled, self-absorbed narcissist that her mother is! And this is where we see exactly why Chloe does what she does! Again, none of this excuses her actions, but it does help us understand the behavior. Audrey constantly puts Chloe down and belittles her the same way she does to Marinette...only to later pick the kid that Chloe is jealous of (I will explain this in a second!) to come with her to New York, where Audrey had presumably yeeted herself off to years ago and never bothered to come visit! We already know that she pressured her husband into giving up his love for film to stay with her, maybe even during her pregnancy or after Chloe's birth. Only to promptly vanish and leave him (a person who never grew a spine or managed to stand up to what is undoubtebly a toxic relationship) with her miniature copy. It's obvious that Chloe's barely ever seen Audrey, but she idolizes the woman because that's her mother! Heck, Adrien idolizes Emilie even if she was arguably not a great person (see here) and Chloe is always kicked to the curb for just doing the same!

Audrey is a horrible person and an even worse role model, but when you're five years old and she disappears from your life, is it any wonder that there's a steaming hot pile of mommy issues here? If Chloe has been told by Audrey from the moment she was old enough to understand words that she isn't "exceptional" enough to "deserve" her time, then isn't it obvious why Andre tries and fails to make up for this by always coddling his daughter and giving in to her every whim? He's trying to please her and give Chloe a sense of self-importance that Audrey made near-impossible to develop, and also makes up for his own absence by basically bribing his own child! Not that Andre is innocent in this! If anything, he's even more at fault than Audrey! Because while she flew off into the sunset to fire her twenty-seventh unpaid intern of the week, he was still in Paris with Chloe! Who grew up with him, mind you! And sure, he got elected into office and had a busy job as a single parent! You know what else he did? Crime! Almost everything he does in this damn show is completely illegal! Bribery, blackmail, undue termination of Roger's position as a police officer, who Andre doesn't even have juristiction over mind you (because Paris had the National Police until like 2021-ish if I recall correctly), he's just a corrupt, scummy politian whose ideas (see Megaleech) are harmful to the people he's supposed to be serving and outright motivated by greed! And also, we are explicitly told that he taught Chloe to do these same things! Andre Bourgeois is a total idiot who's probably been committing tax evasion for all we know, and Audrey is a self-absorbed diva who bullies her own child constantly, when she even bothers to go see her! Which is never, unless she needs to be in Paris for some other event related to her job!

Thomas, what the heck do you mean Chloe is evil? Lila is an accomplice to a domestic terrorist, and a psychopath against whom the only protection is the show's PG rating! If Lila could, she'd burn Marinette's house down for shits and giggles my good man! Audrey is everything I just mentioned, Andrey is a corrupt, spineless politician, Tomoe physically abuses her daughter with fucking katanas on the daily, Gabriel Agreste is that domestic terrorist who almost fired every nuclear warhear in the USA by the way! Because that was stupid of the NYC special to do! But he still did it! Plus the genocide in Shanghai! Accident or not, Hawkmoth is still responsible! And later on he also put his son in a room! A rubber room! Thankfully there weren't any rats, as if he needs another OSHA violation! Are you people insane when you say "I don't know why Chloe acts like this"? Have you lost your marbles??? Do you want me to have an aneurysm? Of course a child is going to act the way Chloe does if this is the shit she's been dealing with since Day 0 of her life! Does that make it okay? Absolutely not! But does it mean that she deserved what happened to her canonically? Also no! I'll talk about how the corruption arc could have worked at the end, because they tried and failed to do that, so let's circle back to the "jealous of Marinette" thing from a minute ago, kay?

Note: We're doing this in part 2 because this is closing in on 3k words already. The whole rant is done, no you don't want to know how long it is, I'm just splitting it because nobody will ever read 7.5k words worth of anything on Tumblr dot com.

< next post >

[chainslobber]

<< this a genuine question and not intended to be hateful, apologies in advance if my tone comes off strange. I am trying to word this correctly. >>

I have seen that you post on Twitter occasionally about aizawa x student ships. As a former anti who has decided to take a neutral stance in the pro/anti debate, there are still things I don't understand. I'm curious as to what is interesting to you about those ships. Why does the age gap not deter you + what is appealing to you about it? This is a GENUINE question, i really truly want to know your perspective. I don't mean this to be condescending, honest. I truly would like to understand this. I see lots of teacher/student ships with aizawa, and I can't wrap my head around them. So I'm curious, truly, what is the appeal? Is it chemistry? Visually appealing? Is it appealing because of the "forbidden love" aspect, or perhaps a way to cope with personal emotional turmoil? Of course you're only one person, and you do not speak for all shippers. I hope that it's fine to ask this. If you'd rather not, then kindly disregard this.

either way, I wish you a lovely day. 🩷

Hello, anon!

Firstly, I want to say I am SO proud of you for getting out of anti circles. As a former anti myself, I know it's scary to have all your friends turn on you for enjoying fictional content. Secondly, there's no such thing as proshippers, as much as Twitter would have you believe. That was the fandom normal until about 2014 when fandoms shifted violently into puritanism. Proshipper literally just means if you find something you dislike, you simply scroll past, block, or mute, and you DON'T start dogpiling or making everyone look at whatever grossed you out. Funnily enough, I dislike a TON of 'proshipper' norms, like noncon, pedophilia, and even incest in most situations.

However, to answer your question:

To be honest, and this might not be the answer you're looking for, Horikoshi once mentioned he wanted UA to be a college. But Shonen Jump told him it would do better if it was teenagers, as most shonen anime/manga are often. That said, while I know the students are technically teenagers, I never see them as such, I always see them as older.

This isn't me going 'haha now antis can't get me!', because let's be real, antis will blame you for aging them up too. But the reality is, I never really see them as teenagers, either, and most of my favorite fics tend to age up the students as well. MOST Aibaku/Shinzawa fics have them getting together after graduation and I think most people in the MHA fandom are also in their 20s/30s and want something more 'our' age and speed.

My most popular fic for MHA is Cynocephaly, an Aibaku fic, where you probably found me. I also am not shy about RT Aibaku, Shinzawa, and Dabibaku (a personal ship of mine I adore but there's hardly any food. Boo.)

However, I think the appeal for me is that Aizawa just 'works' with the students. I know that might sound strange, but considering he's now canonically their teacher for 3 years, he's seen these kids at their lowest. He's seen them get kidnapped, mutilated, disabled, even /killed/. And we all know they trust him with their lives, as he's put his own on the line for them.

In my own experience, I see Aizawa as a gay man. He doesn't act all grossed out around Nemuri, and while Miss Joke is played for--well, laughs--he just seems more comfortable and vocal around men. And obviously, I don't see Bakugou as straight at all, I ship him with men. In my mind, they work together. I don't really see it as taboo. I've been a teenager learning about my body and had a gym teacher with melon-sized biceps and pecs walk in. I've seen my teachers wearing low-cut blouses and their cleavage on display. I've had teachers show me more love and support than my own parents, and while I can't say I've ever had the 'my teacher is hot' thoughts, it's anime. EVERYONE IS HOT.

I can't speak for everyone; there are student/teacher shippers who even age UP Aizawa and make the students younger but that grosses me out, tbh. I guess the long and short is, I think they're very hot people, they work well dynamically, and it's all fictional anyways. I'm just playing with barbie dolls the way people play with their OCs.

I do want to thank you for being very kind and wondering 'why' instead of immediately pointing fingers and screaming like most other people do. Fiction is just that: fiction. None of my ships are the golden rule and squeaky clean. There are SO many fic writers and artists I've befriended because I saw a WEIRD ship and went 'why do they like this?" and now they're a fantastic friend.

Asking 'why' and gaining insight is how fandoms stay fun for everyone. You might not like student/teacher, or even agegap stuff and that's 100% okay! But I do think it's really cool and brave of you to ask me why *I* like those things. Maybe you'll learn something from it. Maybe other people can put their own insights into it?

But the long and short is that Aibaku, for me (and Shinzawa to a point) feels really comforting. Having someone you love who loves you wholly in turn and understands your struggles is something I think everyone wants in their life. Stability and safety.

Stay curious, my friend, and thank you again for stepping out of the anti zone. I promise you'll be okay. It's safer and happier here than people realize.

[sophieinwonderland]

Some notes on lateral violence and bigotry

Lateral violence is a theory that is used to explain why members of a marginalized community might harm other members of that marginalized community.

The theory is basically that because of the systemic oppression that certain people face, they become angry and will often take out their aggression on their peers in that same community because of an inability to fight their actual oppressors.

Something that is really important to understand about this is that it doesn't assume that there is an intentionality behind these actions. You aren't necessarily hurting other members of your marginalized community because they are a member of your marginalized community. They just end up becoming a natural outlet.

A member of a marginalized community ends up hurting their friends or their family or their spouse, and this isn't because the people they are hurting are [insert marginalized identity.] They are just angry at the world around them and take that anger out on the people closest to them.

So when I see people saying that it's not bigotry, it's lateral aggression, I need to note that these are not mutually exclusive. Because while lateral aggression does not imply that bigotry is present, it definitely can be in one of two ways. (Which can overlap.)

Internalized bigotry

This is bigotry that is a result of a member of a marginalized community hating people or seeing people of their own community as inferior in some way.

If you want an example of what this looks like, you can look no further than Mark Robinson, a black politician recently outed for incredibly racist comments, including stating that he wanted to bring back slavery.

Mark Robinson is but the latest in a very long line of self-hating members of marginalized communities that conservatives love to prop up.

These are explicitly bigoted against their own race, gender, sexuality, etc.

Bigotry towards the out-group

This is bigotry that is based on divisions within a community, having a group that is bigoted against another related marginalized community. An example of this might be the LGB Alliance, a transphobic group that is opposed to inclusiveness of other queer advocacy groups.

And here we get to a section where it's... Questionable to me how much this would even be considered lateral violence. Because generally these are subdivisions of groups. Members of the LGB Alliance are probably not going to be sharing much of a community with transgender people. Nor do they view transgender people as part of their community.

Is it actually still lateral violence, when the people you are targeting are not part of the communities that you are in? When you have subdivided yourself into your own community that supports and enforces bigotry against another?

I don't really know the answer to this.

Back to sysmeds

When you are defining yourself by opposition to a marginalized community, even if that is a subgroup within a larger umbrella, that is bigotry.

I am shocked that this is being debated at all.

The only thing that I think really warrants debate here is whether this bigotry actually qualifies as lateral aggression or not.

Are we even part of the same community when anti-endos mostly reside in their own servers that ban anybody who is endogenic or even just pro-endo? When they insulate their blogs with DNIs to protect themselves from the horror of an endogenic system liking or reblogging their content?

To me, this feels outside the scope of what lateral violence was made to explain. Or at least, on its edge. It is not simply showing aggression towards peers around you. It is targeted hate towards a subgroup that you do not identify with and view as outsiders.

I would be interested in hearing what other people have to say about this. About whether this technically counts as lateral violence or not when anti-endos do not view themselves as part of our community.

I would not be interested in hearing somebody trying to argue that hate against endogenic systems isn't bigotry though.

[crush3dmary]

A public explanation of why I will not be tagging Philosophy with dead dove, do not eat:

So this has been on my radar for a while now, between me debating whether to add the tag, especially with the increase in violence in the last few chapters, and someone outright suggesting it to me recently. I've given it a lot of thought, and here is where those thoughts have ended up.

So, anyone well versed in fandom is well aware that dead dove: do not eat is just a way to say "heed the tags, because I mean it". I know this, and most avid writers know this, but unfortunately there are certain connotations to that term that I don't feel comfortable applying to my fic. Because, by its strictest defition, yes, it IS a dead dove fic. I am very serious when I say it contains violence, sexual content with occasionally dubious consent, and other content that people might find disturbing. I do want people to understand that when they see my tags and the warnings in my author's notes.

However, DDDNE has, objectively, also been sort of co-opted by the average fandomgoer to mean "this is a fucked up fic, it is extremely explicit and is meant to display gore and sex in ways that romanticize this kind of content". As much as I and anyone who has been around for a while knows that's not what the tag means, the reality is, that's what most laypeople think when they see it.

That is objectively the connotation a DDDNE tag carries, and I think looking at the optics of that is important. That's why I've decided I'm not going to use it. Philosophy, at the end of the day, is not a fic about gore and sex. It's a study of Ryou's declining mindset and descent into Zorc's corruption. It does contain sex and violence, but they are used as narrative tools to further the story. The story is not ABOUT the content warnings, it contains them to further the narrative, and that's where I think there's a discrepancy between the optics of a DDDNE tag and what the fic is actually about. The idea of people looking at my fic and thinking "guro porn that's shocking for the sake of being edgy" genuinely upsets me, regardless of what I think of that kind of content (I enjoy it, I do seek it out on occasion), and it upsets me because I feel like my story being seen through that lens is a huge disservice to what I'm trying to do with it.

Yes, my fic does contain questionable content, and I won't deny that, but it's absolutely not a fic that's specifically about sex and violence. Those are simply tools I am using to tell the story from the perspective of a teenage boy with debilitating OCD who is being strung along by yugioh Satan to essentially destroy the world. And yes, there are very disturbing scenes (some people didn't like the belt scene, though it's actually one of my favourites, and I'll admit the scene at the end of ch13-Bark like a God was intense on the violence even for me) but the disturbing scenes are meant to add to the character study rather than for the sake of shock value or anything of the like.

So, I've decided that based on those optics, it's not the right tag for this fic. However, in the interest of making sure nobody gets genuinely upset by the graphic content or feels like it's been sprung on them, I HAVE added the tag "exactly what it says on the tin" which has essentially the same intent as DDDNE without the connotations. I also a few months back added "the dove is not quite dead, but it sure isn't walking or flying" to the initial authors note in chapter 1, mostly because I saw that on twitter and thought it was funny, but it does help emphasize what you can expect when you start reading the fic. Just in general I might go back and assess my author's notes and skip lines on my next reread to make sure everything is accurate and there are no discrepancies. It's going to be impossible to tag for everything that could possibly trigger someone, and I've been trying to be very clear with the direction this fic is heading, but at least I can potentially stop people from being blindsided.

Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Time for bed.

[nicolesainz]

Within the limits (Ben Chilwell x Jenson Button x OC) Chapter 4

warnings: minors dni, 18+, sexual themes, angst and a hint of fluff

author's note: here is the debate: I still don't know who Chelsea is gonna end up with (spoiler, its gonna be mason, jk no)

Next chapter

"She's good, isn't she?" Mason nudged me while my eyes were still fixed on Chelsea's figure. She was looking nervous and anxious when this Jenson guy came up to us. Should I have intervened anyhow? Help her?

"She seems very friendly and sweet. Can't create a full opinion about someone I barely know, but I feel like we will get along." Last night before we came here, I was watching clips of her with Gary and Micah, fully blown away with her wit and knowledge when it comes to football. Doesn't act like a 'know-it-all', willing to listen to new opinions, knows her fair share of interesting statistics and facts.

"Trust me, you'll love her. Very reliable and sensible woman." Mason praises her into my eyes, although it's not very necessary given that she has made an incredible first impression.

Chelsea walks away from Jenson back to us with a worried look on her face that is trying to hide under a faint smile. How can someone switch her mood this badly? What is he to her anyway?

“So, have you been enjoying the tour? Am I a good guide?” Chelsea asks shyly and ready for her next move.

“Very much. On both levels!” I say to her, with an incredibly high pitched voice that causes Mason to giggle.

“Glad to hear. Because I need to have the same momentum for the next two years!” Suddenly her smile becomes insanely real compared to the pity one she had to pretend.

“No doubts that you won’t have the same energy and passion for football like you do for Formula One. Plus, our league is getting bigger and bigger.” Mason winks and caresses Chelsea’s arm softly, which kinda stung me, metaphorically speaking.

"Oh what? Did Jude Bellingham sign for Liverpool after being a few months at Real Madrid?" both of the guys roll their eyes at my comment.

"How does he do that? Getting the girls on and off pitch." Mason clicks his teeth annoyed.

"He's not my type, if that's what you suggest. And he's more than welcome to stay at Madrid for the Spanish girls."

"So what's your type? Any chance you take applicants?" Mason cheekily says eyeing Ben whose face had turned into a deep red color.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Mount." I am not gonna lie, Mason is very handsome but he is not the type of guy I would normally be attracted to. On the other hand Ben has a unique type of handsomeness. One look at him and suddenly my heart beats faster. I want to be held hostage by his eyes and the way he looks at me.

"Shall we head back to the garage? Do you guys remember the way back? Lando needs to show you the set up and I need to go back to my team for the pre-race show. But I will see you during the grid walk."

"Oh yeah, we do. Thank you Chelsea for the tour. We'll see you soon." Ben smiles and says in quite a rush, patting Mason on the back, who is clearly giving him dirty looks.

I waved both of them goodbye and made my way towards the Sky Sports team who was getting ready to go live in a few minutes for the pre-race action. Natalie, Martin and Jenson were there all reading their notes and discussing with one another.

"Look what the cat dragged out of the bag. What's up missy?" Natalie says, taking me into a hug. I simply adore this woman.

"Had to give the paddock tour to some footballers, England internationals and friends of Lando." I say in the most ignorant way so Jenson doesn't get too offended by my descriptions of them.

To my disadvantage, Jenson's look rises and winks playfully at me. I feel butterflies whenever he gives me the lowed look, fuck him. Well, that's what I will be doing after the race, that's for sure.

"Meeting your new colleges I see. Aren't we enough?" Martin cheekily replies and I respond with a pout, acting as if I was offended by his comment.

"No one can replace you. Two years will go with a blink of an eye." I say while putting on my headset while Jenson coughs loudly.

"Don't worry Martin. I will make sure she won't replace us." Jenson blurts out, knowing very well that this has a second meaning besides the response to Martin. Bastard.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trying to avoid Ben and Mason was extremely difficult during the grid walk, despite it being the messiest part of the pre-race show. I tried to get my way into the pitlane with Ted but unsuccessfully.

Jenson was stuck with me through the entire time of the show, not letting go of my hand once. Well, only in front of the cameras or a few celebrities. Whenever I tried to switch my microphone hands, he could hold on to something else that I was wearing or was on me.

At some point he even tried to touch my ass, but I slapped his hand away the moment I felt his hand ghosting over my skirt. He has never acted so clingy before. Worst part is, when I looked behind to remove Jenson's hand from myself, Ben and I'd eyes locked and I turned more red than a tomato. Why? He gave a worried look and mouthed to me if I needed help but I gave him a thumbs up to reassure him that I am okay.

After that, Mason and his eyes were scanning me and Jenson the entire time, worried that he may do something like that again and prevent it as soon as possible. I couldn't possible explain to them the reason this was happening because then god knows what they'll think of me. Or even Jenson.

Thankfully the torturing part was over and Jenson headed back to the commentary box along with Nico and Crofty, as I made my way back to the pitlane followed with my huge headset and loads of notes.

It certainly was a race weekend to forget regarding the second hand embarrassment I felt but I enjoyed meeting Ben and seeing Mason again. An even better part of this race weekend was Lando getting his first victory of the season at his home Grand Prix with Lewis following in second and George in third. A full British podium.

After the post-race interviews finished, I rushed into my car and got into the drivers seat, before Jenson would steal it once again. The moment I shut my door, there was a knock on the window.

"Scoot over darling. I am in charge." Jenson eyes me and opens the driver's door.

"After how you behaved today? I don't think so sir." It ticks him so badly being called 'sir' so I believe it was very fitting at the moment.

"I hope you learn from your mistakes next time." He rolls his eyes and climbs into the car, at the passenger's seat next to me. Whenever Jenson says something like that, I tend to regret my actions. This time and especially with what has happened, I fear even more.

We decided to book a hotel closer to the circuit which thankfully means less driving for me now but more for when I have to drive back all the way to Manchester.

Silence is filling the room, with only soft music disrupting the peace. I don't really mind the quietness but clearly Jenson does and decides to take matters into his own hands.

As I am trying to focus on the road, Jenson's hand gets ahold on my thigh which is showing more than it should, caressing it softly on the inner part. I don't remove his hand, supposedly thinking it's innocent and nothing more.

The hand's movements become more fragile for my skin as his touch is sending shivers down my spine. His fingers are playing with the lace of my underwear, stretching them until you hear the cracks of the fabric.

"Jenson please" is all I manage to say as I am being caught off guard with fingers softly drawing circles around my wetness and lightly sliding them inside me.

"Please what, baby?" he coos inside my ear and I am unable to even phrase a proper word. He has a ridiculously big effect on me, something I hate myself for.

"G-give me, f-f-five min-nutes." I barely say as his fingers are being buried deeper with faster movements inside my pussy, causing it to throb and ache. Oh my god.

"Your time is over. It's time to play with my favourite toy." I gulp hardly and bite my lower lip, trying to hold the steering wheel as steady as possible. Jenson's free arm assist me with driving, something that surprises me, given he can make me finish and drive at the same time.

It doesn't take more than two minutes when I finally pull in front of the hotel and I feel Jenson's fingers free my pussy. I look at him with a fully flushed face and a smirk is being drawn on his lips. He will be the death of me.

"Take off your panties and give them to me. Pretend like everything is fine even though you feel the ache that my fingers have caused you." he commands and like the girl in love that I am, I oblige.

The wait until we finally reach the room is unbearable. I try to walk as shamelessly as possible, acting like nothing is going on underneath me. My panties are stuffed on Jenson's pocket, placed there very carefully as if he isn't in possession of anything.

Once the door unlocks, he shuts its loudly and pushes me against, his lips all over mine, kissing me as if we hadn't touched since forever. He is hungry. I know he loves me but the way he is acting now shows possessiveness and jealousy.

"You are mine and only mine sweetheart." He gasps for air before smashing onto my neck, sucking it violently, as his hands are busy trying to undo my bra. Once he finally manages to clip it off, his fingers toy with my hardened nipples and instantly earns a moan from me.

"I need you Jense." I breathe out and move my hands on his chest, undressing him from the polo that was blocking my favourite view. Jenson's body was built like he was a fucking god. He may be 43 but he looks better than any guy my age would.

"Jump" he commands once more and I wrap my legs around his waist. My body is thrown on top of the bed and with his firm arms, Jenson spreads my legs wide, revealing my throbbing and needy pussy, whilst he is unbuckling his pants, revealing an equally hardened erection.

He is standing in front of me, full blown naked and I feel like I have lost my senses. Goddamn he is stupidly handsome and I am glad to be under his mercy. I feel vulnerable under his sight and like he is about to feast, he climbs on top of me, scanning my body from head to toe.

"Oh my innocent baby. I will try to play nice, despite how much I want to fuck you raw." He growls and flicks his tongue over my pussy, causing me to groan loudly.

"Who said I wanted you to play nice?" I say in a low manner, with the neediness apparent in my voice.

[jennycalendar]

gje ask: how long do you think it takes before Ethan stops being utterly horrified by the concept that he actually genuinely likes Jenny as a person? bc i feel like that would be A While but also it would probably be very... a year in, a switch flips in his brain and she's suddenly his favorite non-Ripper person ever, but he still isn't going to SAY that so he's just. causing problems for anyone who annoys her as a weird fucked up form of affection.

so i think that initially ethan approaches his deep interest in jenny with horrified anthropological precision. like he is obsessively going out of his way to spend time with her and spying on all of her dates with giles and he is very clear to her, giles, and anyone who will listen to his loud and dramatic protestations that this is because he just Doesn’t Get what giles sees in jenny, but the reality of it is that he (like giles) got trapped in the That Woman Is Too Hot And Can’t Be Real sinkhole and (like giles) is handling it with all the maladaptive coping mechanisms that 20+ years of unaddressed emotional baggage have created. except with giles it’s all about I Don’t Deserve Jenny, but with ethan it’s I Must Undermine Jenny. he HAS to find the flaw in her code and prove that she’s not actually that hot and interesting and perfect, and OBVIOUSLY that means spending time with her because he is RESEARCHING, and eventually + inevitably he will find out the truth and bring this fakey too good to be true relationship CRASHING TO ITS KNEES. he is a genius.

meanwhile, jenny has started taking ethan to her favorite bookstores “for enrichment” and is debating him because she thinks chaos as a concept should be ambivalent to the notion of causing harm, not averting one’s eyes from it, which is what ethan does, which sure does seem like he cares!!!! so maybe he’s not that good at his job!!! and ethan starts fighting with her all the time and giles in the background is like Oh Fuck I See Where This Is Going and starts trying to frantically stop it from happening solely because he doesn’t think he can psychologically take having ethan and jenny as partners at the same time, BUT if presented the option will immediately grab it without hesitation, because something is clinically wrong with him.

in my head there is at some point an accidental kiss that absolutely fucks up both of them and both of them agonize over what giles will think. probably, because they are both so clinically stupid in the exact same way, they kissed in giles’s apartment, giles saw them, giles went “well, i really am at the whims of the universe and my two incredibly hot partners are definitely going to murder me,” and then giles went grocery shopping to give ethan and jenny some time to freak out as individuals.

i think that the switch gets flipped the instant the romantic component comes into play, but you are so right that the horror is immediate and perpetual. suddenly this is the most perfect person outside of giles and ethan would literally die for her in a way that is sorta very different from his experiences with giles??? because jenny is SO VULNERABLE in a way that means ethan’s usual brand of Emotional Violence As Romance is going to go SO BADLY and also make giles literally kill him. he knows from minute one that digging his claws into her insecurities is the very fastest way to lose her, simply because her heart is so so on her sleeve, and once she knows that you know that, if you do it deliberate and calculated damage for no other reason than Showing Her Up, you are done. i think he would be most horrified of the fact that he recognizes there are limits with jenny and feels a desire to respect those limits. (giles thinks this is fucking hilarious btw.)

there is probably this transitional period where jenny is emotionally vulnerable with ethan and he is awkwardly sweet in response and then as soon as she’s settled and it’s over he has to go outside and burn down half the front porch just to make himself feel better. giles is kinda like ok i guess i will take up gardening so you have more things to burn or something. they are developing a system.

so to answer your question ….. a year. that sounds about right. i do think that a year in someone makes jenny make a slightly hurt expression and ethan MASSIVELY overreacts and fucking stabs the guy with an actual knife. jenny is like “wow :)” and giles is like NO DO NOT ENCOURAGE THIS. NO MORE STABBING. WE DID THIS ONCE ALREADY I LITERALLY CANNOT TAKE THIS AGAIN.

[revoleotion]

I think it is a good thing that people have different tastes, so this really isn't what I am getting at, but recently I have started to notice that for the majority of people, a character being "denied" the romantic relationship of their dreams (either in favor of a purely sexual one or friendship) is something they expect pity from the reader for?

And that is SO WILD to me.

I don't even want to make this sound like an "allos are so weird" kind of thing, since one's tastes in fiction have little to do with your real life sexuality, but the amount of times I simply failed to recognize the "problem" a character was supposed to have?

"but they deserve romance!!!!" okay..... but like........ if the object of their affection doesn't want to have a relationship/doesn't like them romantically...... that's rough, buddy, I guess, how exactly is this a conflict I should be interested in as a reader lmao

and this is not just inspired by how people talk about solas on here or anywhere else but man, when a character says, out loud, multiple times, "No, I don't want a relationship" and "No, I don't want you to come with me", how is that even still up for debate?? Why am I supposed to pity your character for that??

All I feel is... the feeling you get when a child throws a tantrum on the bus. Mild rage. Embarrassment. The desire to get off and walk the rest of the way and never take the bus at the same time as that family ever again.

I also want to put a disclaimer here: this is not supposed to be a) against anyone wanting wish fulfilment from a game (but I will judge you harshly if you expect a game to cater to YOUR interests only with no respect for the writers' decisions) or b) imply that your behavior in a fictional game setting tells us anything about your behavior in real life.

But....... the crowd that complains the loudest about this already struggles to separate fiction from reality (which, by the way, is a SKILL, and being a beginner at that skill just means you have to practice more), so I have the big suspicion that anyone acting like this would 100% believe that a romantic relationship is the only correct goal in life

[shootwithintenttokill]

Why don't young people vote: A hypothesis

In the 2019 UK General Election just 47% of 18-24 yos voted, compared to 67.3% across the country, and over 80% of over-65's (House of Commons Library). The 2020 US Presidential election did slightly better, but still only 55% of 18-29 yos voted in comparison to 66% turnout. With just a few days until the General Election, where low expected turn outs mean every vote will count, and the Presidential and French Elections looming, I came up with a hypothesis why.

Long post so under the cut, the tldr is that young people are taught in schools to believe that right and wrong answers are the only answers that exist, and being wrong has a larger penalty than doing nothing, and that young people don't feel the direct affects of policies in the same way older people with families or mortgages or taxes do, partly because policies never target them because they don't vote.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE LOOKED PASSED THE HEADLINE SO ARE PROBABLY MORE INFORMED THAN THE AVERAGE VOTER. VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE POLICY. VOTE TACTICALLY. VOTE AGAINST A PARTY YOU DONT LIKE. VOTE FOR THE PERSON WITH THE LEAST STUPID HAIRSTYLR. VOTE.

(Also, if you are UK and voting on the 4th, remember to bring ID.)

Note: I do NOT study politics as anything more than an interest in current affairs. I am NOT aligned with any political party, and this is a hypothesis based on a very small sample size that has NOT been reviewed or tested in any way. This is simply me, speaking as a young person in the UK whose talked to other young people, both those interested in politics and not.

A lot of people theorise it's to do with dissatisfaction among younger voters, who feel their voices don't get heard, or they don't like any of the candidates so don't want to vote for any of them. But talking to my friends, of those I spoke to who said they didn't think they would vote, most said it was because they didn't know how politics works to an extent that made them feel informed enough to vote, rather than any kind of dissatisfaction with the system itself.

However, with young people in general having more access to social media, the Internet, and the wealth of resources both provide, it doesn't ring true that they would be generally less informed of politics to such a greater extent than the average informed voter (defined in British Parliamentary Debate as a person who reads the headlines) to skew the statistics this much.

So here are my two theories that together influence a young person to feel uninformed enough to not want to vote:

School and the education system teaches you not to vote. Work and adult life teaches you to.

When you are at school, you are taught there is a single right answer. It is correct in every aspect, and schools reward you for using the right methods, and finding it, while penalising you for not. You therefore begin to see the world in the same black and white way: every decision you make has a correct method, leading to a correct answer. A mistake can be penalised worse than not answering at all - either by losing marks in tests, or embarrassment in front of you peers for making a mistake out loud. The average person's first job, mostly part time with low experience requirement and lower pay, is the same, often having a list of rules or instructions with little free reign to get you used to a working environment while ensuring you don't make any blunders.

When you reach adulthood, and the world of work, this all but gets thrown out the window. For most people, their job isn't "i can't ever make a mistake". In a job you do get worse penalties for doing nothing than making mistakes, and decisions are no longer so black and white, often less 'what's the right way' as much as 'what's they way that will get me the answer my boss/customer/I will be happy with'.

Politics is the same way. It is making an, often fairly uninformed, desicion based on unkeepable promises and outright lies, where the decision isn't "who is right" or even "who do i agree with the most" so much as "who do I disagree with the least". It's doing exactly what you were always trained to never do in school: feeling uninformed or unsure or unhappy with an answer, but making it anyway, because this time, not making it will be worse.

The older generation sees short term effects more clearly, making them feel more 'informed'

Everyone is affected by politics and the policies the government make. I am not even trying to deny that. But individual policies, the shorter term changes the government makes in the interest of a longer term plan, are more keenly felt the older you are.

Mortgage and tax hikes, cuts to benefits, and other monetary effects are felt generally by over-35's, who are more likely to be homeowners, pay more tax, or are trying to raise a family on benefits, compared to younger people whose monetary problems tend to be less affected by government whims, (excluding cost of living crisises, of course). Meanwhile, longer term things, like investing in green infrastructure, or keeping hospitals running (sorry America), generally don't get noticed or felt on an individual basis unless you actively work in the public sector, so people in general feel less informed on, even of they have the interest in them.

This is also a failure on the part of candidates. Because young people don't feel like policies affect them so much, they are less likely to vote. Because they are less likely to vote, campaigners don't bother targeting them so don't make any policies that will really affect them, one way or another. So young people feel less 'informed' because politics doesn't seem to affect them, so they are less likely to vote....

What can you do as a young person?

Vote. Bring up the statistics and remind parties young people care, so they should care about young people too. Remember that there is no right answer. This isn't school. No one will ever know for certain who you voted for, nor why. Don't worry about reading all the 100-and-something page manifestos or watching all the debates or reading every news story if you don't want to. Your vote still matters. Pick a policy you care about and decide who says they'll solve it the best. Vote tactically if you are in the UK or another First Past the Post system and just don't like the current government (search tactical voting for more information). Decide who you like the least, and vote for the party most likely to beat them. If you really really can't bare to vote for any of them, spoil your ballot to make sure the statistic is recorded, so maybe next time, someone will have a policy you care about.

Most of all, remember that an election everyone thinks will be a landslide, is an election no one actually bothers to vote in. Your vote becomes all the more important.

[palant1r]

you disagree with buying hogwarts legacy on moral grounds (fair), but also think that nobody should be tainted by their association with ‘problematic’ media. how does that work?

i am going to choose to take this anon ask in good faith and assume you have legitimate interest in my thoughts on the distinction. under that framework, this is an interesting question i have a lot of thoughts on, so thanks for asking!

first, we need a definition for "problematic." In my post, i was specifically referring to fiction that depicts things that would be morally objectionable in real life — rape, incest, abuse, pedophilia, murder, etc. because that's most relevant to the proshipper/anti issue i was addressing in that post. however, that's certainly not the only kind of definition one could come up with. when we talk about immoral or problematic media, there are so many ways that could apply and so many things that could be talking about, each with their own ethical concerns. so let's offer up a few different kinds of "problematic" media.

fiction which depicts things that would be ethically wrong in real life -- think game of thrones, dead dove fanfiction, hannibal, lolita, etc

fiction which depicts things that would be ethically wrong in real life, but through a lens that misrepresents or romanticizes these things in a way that reflects poorly on the author's understanding of these real-world issues -- think fifty shades of gray

fiction where the content isn't the focus, but that content was produced by or with the involvement people who are, shall we say, unsavory -- pirates of the caribbean, enders game, harry potter

fiction where the production of the content involved breaches of ethics, and the art exists because immoral things were done -- the shining

and there are many more categories! we cannot have the same conversations about all of these kinds of media, because they each demand their own ethical and critical framework to assess how they affect their consumers and environment, and what constitutes responsible and thoughtful engagement.

if we view media consumption (a term i hate, but it serves our purposes) through the lens of harm reduction, then it's clear why category 1 and category 3 are different. im watching hannibal on tubi right now. this is not harming anyone. similarly, no one would be harmed and no harm would be enabled by me reading some dark fic on ao3. the objection to buying hogwarts legacy is one that's founded on political principles and harm reduction — that is, that monetarily participating in jkr's intellectual property directly enables her to use her influence and money to continue her anti-trans crusade in the UK. and that's a very specific objection. it's not just dependent on what kind of media hogwarts legacy is, but on who benefits from it and what those benefits will result in. i don't even have the same objection to fiction in the same category — i dont feel as strongly about people like, buying a PoTC dvd or a copy of enders game.

to elaborate a bit more on my objection to hogwarts legacy...my thoughts on hogwart's legacy aren't that anyone who buys it should be shunned and isn't a real ally. in fact, it's something im still grappling with, and i havent really pinned down my true thoughts. on one hand, i feel a great frustration with leftists who still buy harry potter media. but on the other hand, i also recognize that HP is still a massive cultural property, and many people in the real world simply do not recognize this concern — and that one person's purchase of a video game isn't going to singlehandedly run JKR's empire. the way i think about hogwarts legacy is far more akin to how i think about chic fil a than how i think about fifty shades of gray — it's part of the debate over ethical consumption under capitalism more than the debate over media. of course, that's not the only objection to hogwarts legacy. from what i've heard, it's pretty damn antisemitic, so i'd certainly side eye anyone i heard gushing about the plot or arguing it contains no bigotry. but that's not part of why i object to buying it, because i think that consuming bigoted media with a critical eye is a crucial part of learning how to dissect the underpinning ideologies involved.

this is part of why i reject the proshipper/anti framing, because so much of the argument seems to be based on the presupposition that a single critical framework can apply to literally every mode of engagement with every single work of art ever made, when my favorite part of media analysis is forming opinions and thoughts about specific works. like, the position of "no one should be tainted by their association with problematic media" is really only accurate to my opinion on category 1, and even then not unconditionally. part of media literacy is meeting each piece of art where it is, and forming thoughts and opinions based on that specific art and how it interfaces with reality, rather than applying a generalized template. for instance, i do actually think that how people engage with and think about art can reflect on their real world morals — but i draw conclusions from how they engage with a work of art, not the mere fact that they engage with that art.

TL:DR: the reason that i have different opinions on different things is because those things are different. nuance baybeeeeeeee

feel free to ask any follow up or clarifying questions!

[system-of-a-feather]

If you are still taking asks about your syscourse stance from anti endos (I'm a bit late) :

1. Excluding those who do not remember their trauma or do not believe it to be enough to be traumagenic, do you believe that endos are really experiencing systemhood and not some other kind of plurality or multiplicity?

I cannot understand how someone who doesn't have any dissociation could ever have alters. It just doesn't make sense at all to me, no matter what angle I look at it from, and I cannot find any sources explaining it either. I do not *not* believe that endos are experiencing some kind of multiplicity but I don't think it's necessarily systemhood, if that makes sense?

2. How do you not get jaded by some of the things you see happening in the pro-endo spaces?

I'm talking about things like people labeling themselves "trans-programmed" or "trans-RAMCOA" (and so many more), those same people often calling traumagenic systems privileged, and other people who keep spreading misinfo about OSDDID (for example, that you don't need trauma to have DID), etc.

I know this isn't the entire community but I rarely see much opposition to those behaviors, which makes me feel very unsafe amongst most pro-endos.

1. Excluding those who do not remember their trauma or do not believe it to be enough to be traumagenic, do you believe that endos are really experiencing systemhood and not some other kind of plurality or multiplicity?

Honestly, I think the only thing in this topic is a lot of arguing over semantics and if words can be shared. From what I'm getting, I think you equate systemhood / being a system to being traumagenic / DID / OSDD exclusively. From the sounds of it, I think you seem to be open to the idea that they do experience multiplicity / plurality so I don't think we disagree there much. I personally don't think "system" and "systemhood" needs to be an explicitly DID/OSDD term but its also a debate I have very little interest in. I am cool with saying that "system" is a term that people can use regardless of their nature cause - to me - it's just a way of labeling yourself.

Also, while I am not sure if it is similar or the same as DID/OSDD alters, I honestly could see how someone could have disordered plurality without being traumagenic simply due to how prolonged internet usage can cause a dissociative effect, especially in situations where roleplaying features are around and those have been documented in clinical studies - particularly around the proposed internet gaming disorder and internet gaming addiction. There is a lot of research to be done whether the experience of DID/OSDD like symptoms late in age is anywhere comparable to the more traditionally researched and understood DID/OSDD that stems from complex and chronic childhood trauma - but it's honestly a pretty false notion that dissociation ONLY comes due to trauma. (ADHD has it as a symptom, internet usage has a dissociative affect on the self, substances can also do it, meditation also can do it) So I figure with the combination of developing research in developmental psychopathology and research into other things that can cause dissociation that we might honestly find other means of developing alters or alter-like experiences in people who did not experience the extended trauma often seen in our current understanding of DID/OSDD.

2. How do you not get jaded by some of the things you see happening in the pro-endo spaces?

I just divide "pieces of shit" from "people just living their lives". //shot//

Honestly, really though, if someone is being an asshole, bigotted, extremely fucked up, etc I consider them first and foremost their fucked up group and then the neutral or positive group identities they have second.

So if someone is trans-programmed and identify as endo - I identify them FIRST as a toxic and fucked up trans-ID person who happens to identify as part of the endo community. I attribute the trans-ID shit to their trans-ID beliefs and give the overall community the benefit of the doubt and good faith that the overlap is a Ven Diagram and not a circle.

Generally I like to avoid generalizing groups as all bad based on their bad corners, especially if I've seen the community actually make efforts to improve. I personally found the latter of the that statement earned with the good faith I saw in a lot of quiogenic and endogenic systems when the tulpa-discourse came up and a good number of servers and people made the effort to leave the appropriated terms behind.

From that point I went "aight ok" and divided the endo community between racists and people with no intent of improving themselves and their community and endos that just honestly want to live their life and are doing the best in their knowledge to not harm others.

TransID people I generally put in the same group as the Tulpa people and just click my tongue in disgust and block them.

But TLDR I just honestly would prefer to give the people that haven't done anything wrong a chance to just live their lives without hurting people rather than punishing them with the people that really don't care the harm they do. Just cause some people who claim to be part of your group are pieces of shit, doesn't mean everyone in that group both 1) supports and wants those people in their group and 2) deserve to be shunned, harassed, and treated with poorly.