#you WILL see my discourse post and you WONT have a choice

[saturnssz]

Reposting :3 the angry anon asks are funny if they didn't prove me right everytime

Just a little observation!! Being a fan of this ship for 3 years is draining and you learn things and change your viewpoint. I enjoy them in a bubble now

[sparklecareforrealjustice]

hey mods, whats the ship that you most hate or dislike? caroom, hemeruni, what ships?

I am stuck between two choices, the first is rather obvious. Carroom is a ship that is abuser x abuser and the entirety of kisswas "I loved him too" reveal came from the depths of Tartarus as it was new showed nor even implied once, in fact quite the opposite was implied before so It is completely an enigma where this ship came from and even more a mystery why KC though they would be a good pair. The second choice though is a bit more, controversial and much less obvious though. That being Barruni, allow me to explain. Uni has shown on multiple occasions that she does not respect Barry's boundaries about magic and even actively seems to intentionally use magic in front of him on occasions despite knowing that he dislikes her use of it, Uni has gotten away with far too much for me to believe that Barry would still actively engage in a proper relationship with her after all of this. I also fear that after all of this, KC wont even know how to do Barruni that well without horribly mischaracterizing them on both ends in a way that leaves all of their previous personality traits behind and just makes them previous husks of their former self. Thank you for the ask anon. - Mod Sunny

carroom. there's a post explaining why i hate it so much. abuser x abuser trope? fucking disgusting. plus, it's shitty writing of a cliche that doesn't even make proper sense to me. -🚬

personally, i don't have one ship i hate. it's a whole genre of ships - anything with side characters in it. on the wayback machine, on the faq for the site, we're told some of the official ships are kills x shortnick, jean x orange, and caroline x kiki. but (obviously except for caroline), what do we know about these characters in order to ship them? we know maybe a sentence or two worth's of information about them! that's not enough!!! even with the more popular small ships that are also canon: mood x rem, pinata x funfetti, mel x cyn, jay x caroline... we get scraps of interaction and ship moments in the comic, if anything at all (seriously, jay x caroline? where is that coming from? they're two major characters but there's still nothing!) i wish characters were elaborated on more before they're shipped, which is also why i don't understand any ships with the chunklings. they've been here a while but we don't know anything about them. and yes, before anyone asks, this does apply to polly as well. they're a major comet parent, and yet... there's nothing actually there. -mod polly 🧊

personally i agree with mod sunny with carroom tho i dont have much else to commentate as the shipping discourse doesnt interest me too much as i feel more frustration at the handling of some characters sexualities and romantic preferences - uni

Carroom. It's just romanticized Stockholm syndrome and I fucking HATE that kc seems to romanticize the worst shit ever. -🧪

I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT ELSE TO ADD THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS ALREADY SAID BUT IT'S CARROOM. WE ALL HATE CARROOM IN THIS HOUSE. -🐁🩸

I wouldn’t mention Hemeruni if I were you- BESIDES that! Uh.. Camera is probably going to be my pick, mostly because it just… doesn’t make sense to me! My brain ain’t big, but I know a weird ship when I see one! Of course time is still involved with deciding those factors… but right now? Camera is a no go. -mod hemmy

[calowlmitygoddess]

thinking about the miguel ohara genderbend discourse on twitter and while there i wont say anything here i wanna rant about it cuz its so dumb

I want more body diversity, i too saw the original drawing and tought it was kinda boring taking the original character very triangle shaped silloute and turning it into generic anime babe n 23783647 was a dumb choice, thats why i engaged with the artist who drew genderbent miguel the way i wanted to see, and not with the one i tought was boring. But twitter being twitter it escalates to insane degrees.

Some people go on moral cruzades because it cant be just a personal taste matter, it has got to be representative of a larger moral failure of society. And then go on to harrass the artist for it. I understand there's a major trend of making female characters the same sexy conventionally attractive shape is reductive and boring, but also some people just wanna draw the fun shapes yknow??? its not that deep, and most people dont think about the higher impact of whatever they create can have. And also i find that instead harrassing people over interpretations you dont like, its better to put out what you want to see, instead of wanting others to do it.

I know its just twitter being twitter, but i was thinking about it, specially since im someone who draws mostly conventionally attractive women,i know how to do other body shapes i just dont do it often because the other ''standart'' type is simpler, more 'confy' if you will, you hit the autopilot and go, no higher brain activity, so mayhaps my interest in this discourse is fueled by my own fears about posting art online

[blueeandyellowmakesgreen]

Holy fuck thank you for saying it!! I come to the Byler tag to see cool analysis or funny posts about Byler, not people constantly answering homophobic asks or screenshotting Melvin/anti Byler posts to argue with them or talking about crappy ignorant GA takes. I DON'T CARE.

I do understand the urge to respond to criticism, and if people want to argue against antis then that's their choice, but frankly I don't give a shit what Byler antis think and I really wish these fans would at least stop putting that kind of negativity in the Byler tag!!! They can tag it as anti Milkvan or whatever as long as they don't force Bylers to see their discourse.

no yeah exactly 😭 in my personal opinion i just think these antis are either trolling, or too prideful to change their opinion so theres honestly no use to counterargue. the block button is so easy to use, guys. and its even easier to scroll down. theres even a filter system to adjust your algorithm

i know its difficult for some people bc a lot of people care about ships and the value of characters, and i get it! i feel that way too, and even responded to certain anon hate earlier when i joined.

but the hard truth is so do they; they think their opinion is superior, just like we do with ours. so theres literally no point in trying to counterargue and waste time because they WONT. LISTEN TO US.

and when their clear intention is to spread negativity, i think we’re capable of being bigger and smarter enough to ignore it and be confident in our own depictions.

theyre not worth the time of day. they have their own opinions? they wanna start shit? let them try and disregard them. agree to disagree, simple

[liquidstar]

hi with this post going around i wanna copypaste some replies i left in response to another reblog too. the rebloger was saying that its also okay to enjoy problematic content (which, to be clear, i agreed with on a base level, but felt it needed more context since that can often be code for something much less nuanced)

this one should come with a bit of a disclaimer about whatever the thing youre enjoying is and in what way though. thoughtcrimes arent real, but actively choosing to watch lolicon hentai is a conscious decision. though ik thats not what youre talking abt here, i just feel like its something important to bring up, bc of how these types of discussions can get warped to mean "my frozen incest fanfiction is actually totally ok and if you disagree youre harming ppl w OCD" which i dont want the take away to be. i dont want ppl to use vague stereotypes of my disorder as a talking point to justify that kind of shit- because thats not the point and also doesnt help people with OCD at all! esp with POCD to be lumped together with... that crowed. again ik thats not what you mean im just saying it to clarify the slippery slope before someone takes it there for real! critical thought is important at all turns and such. and people with OCD are not incapable of critical thought, or understanding when media can actually be harmful in the real world. we still know how to separate the two, as should most people. that's what i mean by the response to it mattering more than the act of consuming. we might struggle a bit more with aspects of this, usually in the mental side (ruminations and obsessions) and thought crimes arent real! but actual actions are!

unfortunately, you wont actually see these replies if you check the comments (which is why i added them here). because i was blocked seconds after leaving them. apparently, even though i gave the responder the benefit of the doubt with the whole "slippery slope" of "yeah! fiction doesnt effect reality! lets all draw explicit content of children!" i checked and they... actually did in fact write what seems to be voltron pedoincest fanfiction and had "antis dni" in their bio (i missed that somehow, honestly thats on me). i think they also deleted their reblog, so i doubt people will find them. which is for the best because im not trying to get harassment sent anyones way either.

but this is still exactly what i was afraid of- our disorder being used as a talking point for the same stupid pedantic tumblr discourse that was the issue to begin with. being used as if we're not autonomous people who can make our own choices regarding media consumption, but rather an objectified hypothetical to get a moral one-upping in the black-and-white view of the outgroup. stop that shit. if youre here to do that either way YOU are part of the problem. you are not helping those with OCD this way. and the second that is pointed out you will delete the post supporting them and block the op? fuck you!

and the thing is, in terms of OCD, ANY mentality with a set of morals presented as all-or-nothing black-and-white is harmful. if youre seeing this and thinking it "dunks" on the other side of the discourse, youre missing the point. because the other side does the exact same shit. in this case, the argument with that "pro" crowed is basically "either all media depictions of xyz are good, or all media depictions of xyz are bad, and since i enjoy some depictions of xyz then they must all be good, and anyone who says otherwise is an evil anti" (aforementioned black-and-white thinking).

so with that, you posit the idea that anyone who has any sort of critical thought or issues with certain tropes of depictions of sensitive topics in any piece of media ever, must be an Evil Puritanical Conservative, ergo you have to never voice critique in media or the way it's engaged with. HOW THE FUCK IS THAT BETTER FOR PEOPLE WITH MORAL OCD? YOU ARE JUST AS BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

dont you dare use this shit as a talking point in your pedantic discourse when the whole point of the post is THATS THE ISSUE TO BEGIN WITH! this shit is just as much the root of the problem as what i was talking about in the post. dont use this shit to outright tell us that we cant think for ourselves and have to go by your stringent unnuanced discourse as a guide. thats the issue. thats the problem i was talking about to begin with. YOU just as much are the voice of the fictional tumblr discourser inside our heads, youre just using different buzzwords. and this site continues to be awful to people with OCD. fellow OCDers do yourselves a favor and, like me, get the fuck out of these groups.

look this site really is awful for ppl with OCD so i just wanna reassure anyone that you are not Tainted Forever for consuming a piece of media with questionable content. the fact that youre able to recognize it speaks to your critical thinking skills, which is good, certain depictions should be critiqued. but you dont need to ruminate on it to the point where you begin to feel guilty for simply witnessing gross or creepy writing choices. you dont have to vindicate yourself to the fictional tumblr discourser inside your head, saying that youre now a bad person bc you watched the wrong anime. your actual response to it still matters of course, but thats that and this is this. just seeing it is neutral, you didnt commit a thought crime. its literally fine.

[kiwinatorwaffles]

hi guys

now that ive been using tumblr more why dont i make a real intro?

hi im kiwi and welcome to my blog!

i also go by fels/waffles and nathan/nate, but kiwi is generally preferred unless you already know someone named kiwi and need a way to distinguish.

as you’ve probably guessed, i’m aroace!

i use both she/her and he/him pronouns, but honestly use whatever’s funniest. like call me bro if you want. my gender is The Bit. (but i only use gendered terms/honorifics)

i am a multifandom... kinda? i mean i rb stuff relating to my interests

but my main fandom for now is hermitcraft + hermit-adjacent SMPs, and on the side there’s legend of zelda, ace attorney and cookie run ovenbreak. also i never shut up about the loathing games so if youve played any of them.... put your fingers in my enclosure i wont bite i prommy

feel free to use my art for icons, banners, edits, dubs etc as long as you credit me.

i’m also a mod for @thelinkconvention (although i can’t check notifs very often) and i’m totally not a mod for @evilxdoodles but you should check it out wink wink nudge nudge

a lot of my art ideas and fics are co-written by my best friend and partner in crime @skyspersonalhell :D

i try my best to write image descriptions for my art (which i put in the alt text) but i’m not always consistent :’] i appreciate any IDs people write for me!

VDHAU masterpost for those who want it!

check out my store on etsy!

please don’t tag my work as ships if i don’t tag/specify it myself 👍 i can’t stop you but i would prefer not to have my works misinterpreted. you can check under the cut for my more detailed stance on shipping!

please do not bring discourse to my page. don’t make me tap the sign.

open up the cut for my tags, page content warnings, boundaries/full shipping stance, and other socials!

my tags!

art- #kiwi’s scribbles random thoughts- #kiwi’s calls writing & headcanons- #orchard’s library asks- #birdhouse inquiries homemade memes- #kiwi’s shitpost central oc content- #kiwi’s ocs (individual stories are tagged with the "original story: __" and "fandom ocs: __" format but you can check out my toyhouse for more actual stuff)

a masterpost of silly misc tags on my page can also be found here!

IMPORTANT NOTICES FOR MY PAGE!

i might end up drawing possible triggering content! here are some things i draw:

blood, gore, and violence

dark and heavy material

general spooky content sometimes

gay people /j /j /j /j

my page also includes lots of swearing and all caps! if you dont like that then it probably isnt the best choice to follow me.

i filter any triggers with # ___ tw and keep in mind i do also use the #cursed tag for filtering those type of posts if you know what i’m saying just a heads up

i also use #ship filter tag in case you don't want to see any ship posts/art i make!

BOUNDARIES—

here is my full stance on shipping! please read it if you are wondering about my boundaries! but the tl;dr of that post is that while i am not against shipping, please do not take it to my page if i don’t mention it myself 👍

there are certain ships i am really not comfortable with, so please don't take it personally if i block you for that reason

like i said earlier, please do not tag any of my works as a ship, unless i specify it myself! i mean you CAN i can’t stop you but i’ll probably end up blocking you for my own comfort. nothing personal

as mentioned before, do not bring discourse topics onto my page! any asks or comments about discourse will be not be dignified with a response and promptly deleted!

if the discourse pertains to something i posted, then please do inform me with a reason why i was wrong! however, if you phrase it like a callout or discourse, i will be treating it as such and deleting it!

if you want to learn more about me, here’s my carrd! it includes other socials as well as a (kind of loose) byi.

i don’t have a specific dni, but i do block people who make me uncomfortable. i also don’t interact with people if they’re weird.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE ART

i'm kind of on a hiatus on instagram but if you still want to check it out -- @ kiwinatorwaffles for my main and @ kiwisnotgay for my doodles/alt. you can check out my original characters in more depth on my toyhouse, which is also @ kiwinatorwaffles!

THANKS FOR READING! FEEL FREE TO CHAT OR SEND ME QUESTIONS!

[thegrapeandthefig]

Why personal devotion matters

(Listen to the audio version)

This week's post is a commentary of K. A Rask's article titled "Devotionalism, Material Culture, and the Personal in Greek Religion" published in Kernos, 29 in 2016 (you can read the whole thing here). 

This 15-page article explores the notion of personal devotion in Ancient Greece and highlights the issues of academia on the matter. Yet, this article unintentionally puts a finger exactly on what modern practitionners of the religion argue about. I won't be summarizing the whole thing, instead I will be using here only what I consider to be key notions. Thus, I encourage you to read the complete article yourself for the information I won't be covering.

1. Plato would disaprove of the way modern pagans worship

Because he already disaproved of the way his contemporaries did. The main issue here is the notion of reciprocity. When we look at the way the Ancients worshipped, we find an important presence of reciprocity (offerings to make a prayer happen and/or votives in thanks of said prayer). Plato knew that his contemporaries worshipped this way and absolutely despised it. To cite the article:

"For Plato, human overemphasis on reciprocity went beyond into the realm of asebeia (‘impiety’).  Furthermore, a major concern for Plato was the unmonitored and unsanctioned religious activity of individuals; he firmly supported institutional jurisdiction. Ostensibly this was because it was not possible to scrutinize para-institutional activity for religious incorrectness and it was thus a potential danger to the surrounding population at large. Undeniably, fear of divine repercussions resulting from the impiety of others is a recurrent theme in Classical discourse. Plato proposed laws to curtail individual religious autonomy, since he deeply distrusted, and was in fact rather exasperated with, personal religious activities of the type he describes thus: yet it is customary for all women especially, and for sick folk everywhere, and those in peril or in distress (whatever the nature of the distress), and conversely for those who have had a slice of good fortune, to dedicate whatever happens to be at hand at the moment, and to vow sacrifices and promise the founding of shrines to gods and demi-gods and children of gods; and through terrors caused by waking visions or by dreams, and in like manner as they recall many visions and try to provide remedies for each of them, they are wont to found altars and shrines, and to fill with them every house and every village, and open places, too, and every spot which was the scene of such experiences. (Laws 10.909e–910a)"

Sounds familiar? Have you ever turned to the gods in time of need? If you answered yes to this question, Plato disaproves. Needless to say, the practices Plato describes as impious here never stopped being practiced and if anything, became stronger over time. To the point where, today, personal worship is very much our only option.

2. Kharis is crucial to personal worship

That is, the relationship between the devotee and a deity. Kharis means "delight, pleasing thing" in the sense of a favor (see how it links back with the notion of reciprocity):

"The sense of reciprocity so evident in literature and epigraphical sources, however, often went beyond the ‘transactional’ towards exceptionally intimate and sentimental attachments."

The author uses Sappho and Aphrodite as an example here, but one could argue that the relationship between Aelius Aristide and Asclepius is of a similar nature. That being said, this is something most, if not all, modern practitionners experience. Geniune affection between a deity and a devotee is something we have traces of in the sources:

"Equally close were those gods who came in dreams, described hovering at the shoulders of the dreamers with gentle smiles; in inscriptions, they were parastatai, gods who ‘stood beside’ their worshippers. Not only were such interactions marked by genuine affection, but there could be a physical aspect as well, with the divine figure touching the human figure with a hand. Anja Klöckner comments, “the closeness of the human-divine encounter finds its clearest expression when a god touches humans."

This way of approaching the relationship between deity and worshipper makes it that we find in the people's worship things that a philosophical approach to the gods doesn't accept. Mainly, showing your discontentment with a god when a prayer hasn't been answered to by ignoring the deity. On a larger scale, this also happened in response to tragic events where worshippers thought they were being punished or smiten by the gods.

What Plato addresses when trying to regulate personal worship comes from the fact that the presence of priesthood is not necessary for worship:

"Abundant evidence reveals, however, that on many occasions individuals were capable of accessing sacred powers on their own, without institutional interference or mediating figures. Instead, people might set their own terms of engagement with invisible powers."

The authors gives several examples but it comes down to the idea that personal worship was free by nature. They did not necessitate a priest or an institution to sacrifice to a god or a hero, they had their own religious routine which could vary from a person to another and the participation to certain rites could be a matter of personal choice.

This makes the religious structure outside of the city-regulated rite very diverse, as we can see here:

"Yet men and women kept holy figures close and present in a variety of ways, beyond the clearly defined confines of sacred space. Images of the gods travelled with humans in the form of rings, seals, and other amulets, while the gods could be called upon whenever humans needed assurance, regardless of where they might be. Prayer seems to have occurred in all manner of locales, since “it was perfectly possible to pray on one’s own wherever one happened to be.”"

I'll summarize this point with this: the emotional engagement and intimacy between worshipper and deity is not a "modern pagan concept", contrarily to what some who have only read philosophy will tell you. The way the ancients experienced divinity through personal worship is actually not too far off from what modern worshippers experience today.

3. Devotional activities have always existed.

This post is getting long, so I will keep my commentary to the minimum:  

"Many of the examples just presented showcase religious experiences that occur outside of the public stage or in moments that are not highly ritualized in the manner often associated with festivals, processions, and explicitly monitored situations. While women, men, and children negotiated and developed relationships with divinities in a way that was directly relevant to their own personal affairs, they also publicly declared their devotion and great affection for sacred figures. Beyond traditional votives, one could honor the gods through other media and expressions, such as labor or storytelling, whether verbally or visually. [...] I argue that one could show one’s devotion not just with material offerings but with the work (and results) of one’s own hand. Daily maintenance of shrines is a prime example of personal piety without overtly public, communal, or formalized elements. [...] His establishment of a garden also served as an offering. Cultivating gardens in shrines physically and materially manifested affection; the garden’s maintenance, as a form of repeated devotional activity, deserves much greater study."

I’ve made important cuts here so I urge you to go look at the article but I hope this gets my point across. I’m well aware that academia has not treated personal religious experiences with the same attention and study as official city religion and philosophical debates but it is necessary for us, as modern worshippers, recon or not, to pay attention to what was actually done by our predecessors. Not just what they wrote. 

[bluewinnerangel]

I am here to cry. I'm not trying to make everything about Larry and I'm most definitely not trying to downplay the importance of everything Liam said, his friendships within the band, his struggles and his courage or anything like that. I really really respect him and appreciate him saying these things out loud and I definitely want to support him in every way possible. It's just that the podcast brought about so much of Lirry and Lilo on my feed that I just had this moment where I once again realised the stark contrast between any interaction between ot4 with that of L and H. There were sooo many instances after the hiatus began of Liam and Niall mentioning their recent interactions with the rest of the band, even the most trivial of things. Even Louis has discussed about his friendship with Liam and Niall multiple times since. But there are like 5 instances of Harry even mentioning Louis' name and a little more of Louis mentioning Harry ( one of them being the ObVIOuSLy interview 🤮, which , under normal circumstances would have atleast mentioned something like we are still good friends or just good friends or SOMETHING OTHER THAN A DISTINCT BLAME GAME) . The contrast is fucking unbelievable and imo one of the biggest pieces of evidence that something is not right. It is just so sad when it hits you in the middle of the day what an amazing human Louis is and Niall and Liam get to gush about him all the time and all Harry can publicly do is sing Sweet Creature and IICF with all his heart and I'm 🥺🥺🥺 No but SERIOUSLY this is up there with 1D day, as deliberate, as evident as that seperation! How do people never see that? Even the media never publishes anything with their names together but I'm sure 54 outlets will pick up how sweet Liam was about his bandmates in the podcast. It is SO EVIDENTLY FISHY I-

Ughhh

You don't even have to post this, I know you are wary of discourse ( as you have every right to be, I love how unique and fresh your blog is in this fandom, you do youuu♥️) I just wanted to cry here because I just now saw the post you made about Harry acknowledging Louis publicly :''')

Hi! This is a lovely message. Thanks for choosing to fly with Not A Discourse Blog But Who Am I Kidding airways, I mean you can't just throw this in my inbox and then go "ignore me lol" <3

I kinda rambled on and I think the ask is already a scroll so under the cut:

It happens sometimes that the dash throws 2 things at you back and forth and you can't help but go some places again. I mean we all kinda got punched in the face again about what they went through.

Also wanna leave this link because I love it.

I kinda view things from 2 angles here and they somewhat counter each other. I don't think I have to pick which one it is, it could be some shades of both. None of us know what's really going on, we just fill in the blanks with whatever makes sense to us, this is just something I think to be seeing, but you have to kinda pay close attention and have certain ideas of what they're like (for good reason) so it's different for everyone, anyway:

On one hand I feel like it's deliberate, either something that just happened naturally or being an approach to really have seperated public images. No matter what it is it's just a fact, it's clear as day, that publicly their images have been drifting apart for years. Maybe, hopefully, possibly with the hinting of new era's we get a punkrock and a glamrock couple pls universe pls I know your ask is just talking about mentioning each other but like their whole images, the parts that seem reinforced. How they act. How they look. The things they do and don't mention. The vibes. There's a choice of which parts of them to show and bring along to the public view, to emphasize, and other parts that are just kinda shoved under the carpet. Sure these other bits come out sometimes but you wont find them in the TM powerpoint you know. (don't take that literal pls) And to me it almost looks like they both picked one side of the things they're into and stuck with that. Like Louis took the the england boyo football man arctic monkeys loving sweatpants laddy lad let's watch a movie about cars things side and harry took the ... well the soft shit, older music, the romantic comedies, the stereotypical queer, lol. Not saying they're one and the same person and everything one likes the other does too, but if you just pay close attention you see they're not that one sided and they're both both of these things. Yet just when one is loud about one thing, the other's subtle. But the point is that with the image you see at first glance, nothing overlaps. Nothing. (I guess with the exception of ABBA. With abba they just said you know what? We share. I imagine a passionate debate on who gets to have abba and just being too stubborn. like nobody danced in the kitchen that day) And that's suspicious. That's hella suspicious.

So if that isn't a deliberate strategy, it feels like over time they both just kinda snowballed into it, like being on their toes not to mention the things the other is (publicly) into to the point where it's become out of character (I mean do take this literally) to go there. And then we can bring that to other behaviors too, like one is active on social media (to the point where he has the most? is it the most? interactivity on twitter? like son can tell he just farted and half a million people will be hitting that like button with the speed of light), the other went for being a vague mysterious lil siren. It would be quite out of character for Harry to drop vague shit on social media in the way Louis is doing, or for him to casually mention details the way Liam or Niall can. And I don't just mean about Louis, about anything and anyone. His image is absolutely based around mystery.

So all in all with The Contrast so great I feel indeed there's some level of awareness and deliberate choosing to show/not show some parts of them based on what the other's publicly showing, you know?

And no it's not that black and white, they're not one person and it's always been the case that Louis answered interview questions more directly and the kinda I'm a simple man with a girlfriend, which contrasts harry just sitting there and at most just not denying things, again they're not one and their willingness to say/not say stuff has always differed.

That kinda bleeds into the other viewpoint that maybe Harry just has a bit of a "what's it to you" attitude towards mentioning who he's close with, loves, cares about to the public. He's definitely big on confessing his love don't get me wrong it just shows he's full of it in everything, but he's not saying it, not in a literal sense. He hasn't said a word about Mitch and Sarah's baby publicly (and rightfully so, why would he), his TM instagram doesn't even follow his own mom and that's probably a bigger statement than we give him credit for, he remains silent on... well... pretty much everyhing. I think he decided a long time ago it's no need, no use, to try to have that be part of his public image. That it doesn't do anything at the end of the day, and that to try and push that onto his public narrative just.. isn't worth the energy. Like that it's best to just sit back and let the wild world just run off with whatever little thing whatever interviewer is projecting on him because it's not gonna matter anyway and just lemme film my little gay movie and do my little gay dance and sing my little deep songs and lemme go home the the blue skies byebyenow. yaknow? He's said that somewhere, that he only let's those parts of him kinda cross over in his music anyway.

Also I recently watched cosmic leeds' 2019 timeline and I believe there's quite some positive Harry mentions from Louis in there so I'm just gonna plomp that here because ~happiness~:

(context: the very few times harry acknowledged louis publicly post-hiatus)

[ayrenn]

i feel like tumblr has always had pretty terrible discourse in so many places about so many different things. but in recent years, i swear to god, its gotten so much worse. i see so many "well actually" type posts that go on to explain that something ethically or morally dubious or outright bad is okay and healthy and totally normal and common because of, usually, farfetched reasons.

but so many of these things arent actually healthy, nor at they normal, and hardly ever are they as common as they say. its just OP trying to absolve themselves of something they have acknowledged to themselves is something they probably shouldnt do. but instead of stopping, or hell, even having the guts to say "yeah you know what, i do this thing. i recognize other people dont like it or have pointed it out as being unhealthy, so i wont subject them to it or tell them to do this or that and instead stay in my lane." its "actually ive judged myself and everything ive ever done is good so if you dont like this, YOURE the bad person. and if you also dont do this thing/think the same as me, youre evil."

it actually outright blows my mind that people think this way. that people refuse to take accountability or refuse to accept the reality that not everyone is going to think every choice theyve ever made is "good"

i will maintain my hard limit of never discoursing on this website but holy shit. one post i just saw nearly broke me. for the first time in like 13 years on this website, i nearly broke

[casualotptrash]

Sorry, but [REDACTED] Doesn’t Matter

Spoilers for Persona 3 after October and the ending, and for P4 and P5 “choice moments” or endings

I’m keeping this intro very vague just in case this pops up for someone who hasn’t gotten to this point in the game, or beaten it, but I will go into full spoilers mode under the cut. To give the most basic overview of what this is, it pertains to the loss of a party member in Persona 3.

Now with that over with, welcome to me complaining about a really big issue I have with the whole debate between saving Shinji or letting him die.

Whenever this debate comes up, the number one complaint against the option to let him live is that it “goes against the meaning of the game.” Personally, I find this claim to be untrue for two major reasons. One is that I don’t think it really goes against the meaning of the game in the first place, and also that the game does a very bad job at...making any difference between the two at all?

For my first point, I’ll clarify what I believe the meaning of the game to be. Obviously there are tones of death, and moving past death. However, I don’t believe the message is just “Everyone will die one day, and we need to accept that.” The message is “Everyone will die one day, so we need to make the most of our lives.” This is why Akihiko and Ken find their resolve, because Shinji is gone but they can still continue living their lives for him. This is why SEES continues to live their life to the fullest, because it is what the MC allowed for when they sacrificed themselves. I’m not sure how some people seemed to miss this, or maybe they just didn’t make the same connection, but it seems like it would be hard to miss.

The reason that saving Shinji’s life does not go against this message is because he will still one day die, probably still young because of the drugs, so he still has time to live his life to the fullest. Perhaps you could connect it in a certain way that he is also living for the MC, because they saved his life. The fact that he didn’t die does not take away from the weight that he was willing to die, and thought he would, by saving Ken. It could even go to show that even if you are ready to die, and you somehow get a second chance, that second chance should not be squandered.

That being said, I find the second reason to be a bigger issue for me personally. Before I played P3P, I knew it was possible to save Shinji. I played the Male route first where you cannot save him, so I experienced his death. While I liked the impact, I decided to see the other side of the coin and saved him in my FeMC playthrough. When I actually got to the point where this happened, I was legitimately shocked by how....meaningless it all was?

What I mean by meaningless is that outside of the different scene with Akihiko mourning over his hospital bed instead of the tribute, and the very end of the game where one person who is optional to talk to who says Shinji woke up from his coma (also the NG+ scene but that’s only if it’s NG+ and you romanced him), all of the dialogue is the absolute same. Don’t get me wrong, the two mourning scenes do have a different “feel” to them and are both executed well, but legitimately there are no difference outside of those 2/3 instances, and 2 of those 3 are completely miss-able. Everyone else acts like he is dead. I don’t know how Atlus messed up so bad with not changing any of the dialogue (which is not even voice acted most of the time), but I’m guessing that they just didn’t want to spend the time on it. Even after one quick search on google, I found another person who asked if they actually saved him because everyone was talking the same.

As I mentioned earlier, I knew it was possible to save him and I also knew it was kind of a divisive topic in the fandom, so after figuring out the real “impact” of saving him I was....so confused. I thought “All of that discourse, over nothing?” I at least suspected that maybe the group would visit him, or he would show up in the base game at the end (not NG+ scene), or at the very least Akihiko or Ken would talk about him as if he was still alive, but nah there’s nothing like that. Obviously the player knows he survived and can imagine maybe what the rest of his life will be, but the game does a shit job at actually making the choice mean anything. Both scenes with Akihiko talking to him are sad and impactful, and the dialogue with Ken’s resolution doesn’t change in the slightest. Honestly, like I said outside of those 2/3 possible scenes, I see absolutely nothing to gain in doing one over the other unless you want to see Akihiko cry in an auditorium or in a hospital room.

On top of all of this, there is also the sentiment that this person wrote, and I believe many others also agree with (in relation to FeMC and P3P. I took out the rest of the post because it wasn’t relevant to this topic at all).

Now, they didn’t elaborate much on this, but after what I just said about how the game doesn’t really make any changes at all and sorting out the “meaning of the game” I’d be really interested to see what their reasoning is. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine how this “literally ruins Akihiko and Ken” when their dialogue, cutscenes, and growth are 99.9% the same. That part alone is a bit frustrating, but what really gets me is how they don’t like the FeMC at all (or p3p, which was said earlier in another comment by them) because she can do this optional choice?

Obviously, anyone can dislike choices that are optional in a game. That’s just how it goes if you have multiple ways of doing things. Some you’ll like, and some you wont. However, why is it that basically every time I see someone say they don’t like the FeMC it’s because of a choice in the game and not something about her actual character? I really can’t stress enough how insane it is (to me) that people cannot disconnect what you as the player can choose in a game from the actual character. Because, do you know....believe it or not...there are people who play the FeMC route and don’t save Shinji? Or don’t romance Ken? Baffling, I know!

Is the FeMC somehow a better character if Shinji still dies or Ken isn’t romanced? Not to these people, I suppose. Somehow she’s still just as disliked, because the option was there in the first place. I honestly don’t know why this happens, but it’s also complete hypocrisy on their parts. Do they not like Yu for being able to murder Namatame? Or how about Joker, who can enslave all of Tokyo (the world? I don’t know if it’s made clear) if he accepts Yaldy’s deal? It’s very likely they still love those two, or at least one of them.

“But Casual, those don’t matter because they’re not canon!”

Neither is saving Shinji or romancing Ken, so kiss my ass :)

.

.

Anyway.

Just to make this clear, this post isn’t meant to bash people who dislike saving Shinji (or perhaps the implications of doing so) or dislike FeMC, but to point out how the game really takes none of this into consideration and that it’s a bit ridiculous for people to dislike FeMC for reasons that they seemingly don’t take into consideration for the other protagonists.

It’s kind of hard to put into words, but I’m just utterly baffled on how much trouble this causes when it’s really worth nothing. I can understand how people who only experienced his death could be affected, but only in the sense that they either think it goes against the “everyone will die” message and/or comprehend Shinji’s impact even after the game/story is over (which is done by their own volition and the game does not hint to at all).

However, at least as far as the game is concerned, both choices result in essentially the same outcome. Sorry, but Shinji’s death doesn’t matter (to the game).

[bellybiologist]

The current situation is indeed a "some of column A, some of column B" situation (with there being many columns). When discussing this situation, there are things that absolutely need to be considered (including, but not limited to): -The fact whiteness is favored by society at large -The fact that everyone's preferences and kinks are influenced by what they see in media and what they grow up around. -The fact that BIPOC representation in media is rarer, and even when present, isn't always the main character, in the main cast, or done very well. -The fact that BIPOC people are rarer in kink spaces both because of the aforementioned reasons, AND because it's notably less safe for them to exist in those kink spaces. AI is trained off of (stolen) content it scrapes, but because white guys and other specific depictions oversaturate media, both in terms of content of real people and of fictional characters, it's going to be HORRIBLY biased, whether the user is aware of it or not. (and unfortunately, after doing what I do for over a decade now, i do not trust the average kink enjoyer to be self aware enough to know that they are only fapping to white guys!) It's ALWAYS more difficult to find characters of any other ethnicity in both canon and fanon... especially since "whiteness" is so favored by creators and fans alike, regardless of whether or not they are aware of it. (Heck, a lot of people are VERY MUCH attracted to things like, blonde hair, very specifically, which is found predominately on white dudes and is very rare or requires alteration to be found on anyone else. (and people just throwing blonde/white hair onto brown people causes other Discourse that I won't go into atm!)) Very early into my work years (around ~2017), I used to say flippantly on streams and discord that "Haha, everyone mostly pays me to draw basic anime boys and scruffy white dudes". It was hardly a lie, and that has always been, and still is, the case! Now, I don't blame people for being into the White Boy of the Month, or the Blonde Anime Blorbo from their Shows, because we can't help what we're attracted to! However, people need to be VERY aware of the things stated at the beginning of this post, because we CAN help how we go about expressing it. My work catalogue VERY MUCH demonstrates and, I would admit, even exacerbates the problem, but I put a LOT of conscious effort via my OCs and character design choices to try to counteract that. But a bitch needs to eat, so I gotta cater to what people like while I pour out my black and POC OCs and fandom interests (when they do happen to appear, and when i have the scant free time to do so.)

In terms of gainer content, like youtube videos and twitter gainers, you are very much going to have to work harder to find content of BIPOC people. They exist, yes, but they are fewer because it's less safe for us to present ourselves openly (sexually especially), and also because it is THAT much harder for us to gain traction amongst kink spaces people because most people prefer traits found in white people. It's very much a reason a lot of non-white gainers find it frustrating trying to get traction in their spaces, and they WILL notice that the new white twink on the block who gained their first 15 lbs will often get popular VERY quickly. (granted, that encompasses another problem, but I also wont go into that in this post either! THERE ARE SO MANY COLUMNS!) like, if you're on grommr, it's so fucking easy to see using the search that you get 31k hits on white/caucasian people, and if you click EVERY OTHER CATEGORY, you get only 12k!!! thats a HUGE difference!!!

so YEAH, people who talk to me personally know that im all about paying fucking attention to these things. Because like??? the people who DONT are the ones who end up hurting me or other BIPOC with their "brain empty, fap only" approach to kink circles. I need people to be at least a LITTLE aware!

People SURE are just AI creating a bunch of white men.

idk why people feel the need to do that. Fat white men are 99% of what you can find! and without the stealing of art/images!

[hearthandgnome]

Warning, long post. TL/DR at bottom.

Okay so I've got a real hot take about the primaries.

And I'm just gonna stress this now. This is by no means fact checkable and is closer to a conspiracy theory than like, an actual reality we need to worry about. So please don't come at me for spreading false news. This isn't news. Its just a theory.

But I high key think our elections have been rigged again.

In short: my theory is that the obscene number of people that were running for the primaries who have since dropped out, never ACTUALLY wanted to run. They were just there to collect and hand over votes to Biden.

And I know that sounds nuts but let me walk you through my thought process here.

1- Not a single person I've spoken to or heard of, either in person or online, has said they wanted to vote for Biden. He was literally no ones first choice. Even the more conservative centrist end of people were saying Bloomberg before Biden.

2- a common joke amongst late night hosts has been just how ridiculous it was that sooooooo many people were running and how no one was willing to back down or quit, even when they had no chance.

3- Beyond just your pride, which will hurt either way, dropping out after voting has already started makes no sense. Spending all the time, money, and resources, on a presidential campaign for months if not years, just to drop out in the first week of the primaries makes no sense. At that point it's not like you can get your money back. So why drop out at that point?

Dropping out just before, when you see your polling low, makes sense. Cause it means not splitting the vote. But after? That means people that already voted for you don't really get the chance to vote their second choice. Their votes are basically just given to whoever you endorse.

Which brings me to

4- Pretty much every candidate who has dropped out after voting began has given their delegates to Biden. Like, even the ones who had basically nothing in common with his campaign. Even the ones who said they hated him the whole time they were "against" each other. And even the ones who claimed to be more progressive and aligned with Bernie when discussing their views and plans.

And I know I'm not the only one who has noticed this cause I've seen the memes, as well as the serious posts, all talking about how ridiculous it is for the media to claim Warrens delegates should go to Biden "cause he was the 2nd choice for most of her voters". Like no. He wasn't. She was Bernie's direct competition. They had incredibly similar campaigns. Warren and Biden had NOTHING in common policy wise.

5- The web domain for Bernie sanders currently redirects you to a donation page for Biden. Like You click the link thinking its for Bernie, and the only way to figure out your actually donating to Biden instead is to scroll up first or see it after you've already donated.

These above factors, mixed with a variety of other little things that just don't add up, have me pretty convinced there's something shady going on.

And the most probable cause in my opinion is a rigged election.

I know that seems like it would be hard to do. But honestly its pretty simple.

Copious choice splits the vote. Which makes it easier for them. So that was step one.

Then step two. Misleading voters into thinking these planted candidates are more progressive, which seeds false security by making them think they will endorse Bernie or another progressive candidate if they do drop out.

Step three is collect votes and delegates early on then drop out and give them to Biden. All of a sudden Biden has all the delegates and is somehow winning despite a huge portion of that being votes he didn't actually earn himself.

Step four will be people giving up and letting him win the primaries. They are literally already trying to end the primaries early and hand the win to Biden as I type this up.

And honestly.

I don't think step 5 will even be giving Biden the presidency. I don't think he's involved at all actually. I wholeheartedly think it'll be giving it to trump.

I think rigging the primaries in favor of Biden is jist phase one in a two part plan to get Trump re elected. And here's why:

1- Our last elections were hacked by the russians in trumps favor and there was literally 0 backlash for that for either of them.

2- Trump and his team just learned that they literally can get away with anything including trying to rig elections. He literally was impeached for this and got away with it. Soooo why shouldn't he do it if he knows its allowed for him?

3- There's no real know incentives for anyone with the ability to rig elections to rig them in the dems favor. The agenda of rigging elections is gaining power and money and it can only be done if you have some of that already. And who do the rich powerful people want to be in charge? Not Biden. And for SURE not Bernie.

4- Speaking of the impeachment trial.

Remember way back when the whole impeachment case story broke? Remember people making jokes about the fact that trump chose Biden of all people to get dirt on? Remember people thinking it was ridiculous cause there was no way he was gonna win the primaries?

Well. This is adding an extra layer of conspiracy to this conspiracy theory. But what if the plan to rig the election was already being formed back then?

What if Trump knew that Biden would eventually be the one running against him because he knew it would be rigged as such?

And I know your wondering why they would want Biden to be the one against trump as opposed to any of the other guys.

Well. Have y'all read the responses to the primaries so far? Everyone hates Biden. Like yeah we hate trump more. But I've already seen posts of people saying voting for Biden would be "just as bad".

I'm seeing people lose hope in Bernie winning or their voices being heard. And I'm seeing in fighting amongst people who are mad their first choice didn't win. All of this means potentially low voter turn out.

Especially amount younger more progressive voters who have taken a "Bernie or Bust" mentality.

And we know what happened when we take that stance. Cause its the same one that happened last time.

I know Hillary wasn't a perfect person or candidate either. And I too would have preferred Bernie in the last election.

But all that: "she's just as bad" "my votes don't count anyway" "id rather vote 3rd party than her" "Bernie or Bust"

All that.

Is how he won last time.

So all I'm saying is. Them rigging primaries in favor of a candidate they know most of the democratic voter base actually hates, makes it a lot easier to secure trump gets re-elected.

And the people potentially being pissed that Bernie lost primaries twice in a row wont help.

Even if my whole crazy theory is wrong. Even if their is no real evil plot being done here. That last point still stands.

If by some bizarre twist of fate. Biden wins the primaries. Be it honestly or by stealing delegates from the drop outs. He's still better than Trump.

Be prepared for that other shoe to drop.

Be prepared for the memes and social discourse trying to convince you not to vote or to throw away your vote on a 3rd party.

Be prepared for what ever dirt trump was trying to get on him to be released.

And know that he will STILL no matter what. Be better than Trump.

And in case I am right. And we are in the middle of an attempted coup.

Then this next part becomes twice as important.

If you live in a state that hasn't voted yet. PLEASE show up for Bernie.

I hate telling people how to vote. But mathematically speaking the only possible outcomes at this stage are Biden or Bernie. So for the love of god stop wasting votes on the other guys. Its almost as bad as voting third party for the actual election.

Plus if I'm right there's a 50/50 chance of those underdog votes being party of the conspiracy and going to Biden in the end.

If Biden really is your 2nd choice then fine. This doesn't apply to you.

But if you hate Biden and you prefer the more progressive stances, and your hoping for someone similar to Bernie, then just fucking vote Bernie.

Cause we learned from Warren that we cant trust ANYONE to give their endorsement to Bernie when they drop out.

So vote Bernie.

And if y'all don't, and we end of with Biden. I don't wanna hear any complaints.

If we get Biden then we gotta vote Biden. End of story.

Cause if Trumps re elected its game over.

He's already talking about extending his term limits or straight up erasing them. He wants to be a dictator and he's WELL on his way to achieving that.

He's proven above the law. And when the system fails the only hope left is the people.

Its 100% on us to make sure trump dosnt win. Its 100% on us to stay vigilant and not fall for the BS designed to turn things in his favor. It's 100% on us to show up, speak up, and carry a big ass stick of democracy.

Sorry for the long ass post. But I've been getting more and more suspicious/nervous by the day.

TL/DR: The primaries may or may not be rigged in Biden's favor. And that might be part of an even bigger plot to get Trump reelected. Don't waste your vote on 3rd party or underdogs. Please fucking don't inadvertently hand the election to trump.

And remember that I'm not a news source. Just a concerned citizen who worries too much and is hoping to inform/ warn people about a possible threat to our democracy.

[midnight-fox-boy]

More About me/Views/Etc.

Hello everyone~! This post will explain more about me, my views, and anything I flnd important to add. This will be kinda long so please buckle up ;3 

General Information

Age: 19 

Gender: Demifluidflux trans guy 

Pronouns: He/him, they/them is cool too

Sexual orientations: Gay, Demisexual

Romantic orientations: Gay, Demiromantic

Alterous Orientation: Homoalterous

Other: Polyamorous

Relationship status: Taken

I love anime, video games, drawing, singing, and just browsing the web. I like to learn new topics, and explore new ideas and sciences. I want to be a therapist someday, but if it doesn’t happen, that’s chill too. I’m polyamorous currently in a monoamorous relationship. I don’t usually participate in discourse but I do have opinions/views on different topics. I am mentally ill and prefer not to be attacked. If I do something wrong or say something offensive, I don’t mean it, or I’m simply uneducated on the topic when I thought I was. I’m happy to take polite criticsm and never mean to do harm to others. So nothing I say is ill-intended. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Views on certain discourse topics

Aspec Discourse: I believe that aromantics and asexuals are inherently LGBTQ+ and should be welcomed. However, it’s up to them if they choose to identify with LGBTQ+ or not. 

Nonbinary discourse. Yes there are more than two genders. And no it doesn’t mean “Neither male or female” Nonbinary means: “Not explicitly a single binary gender” Which can mean someone can be both binary genders, one binary gender and other nonbinary genders, no binary gender, etc etc. So yes. I CAN be a guy and nonbinary. 

Xenogenders: I may not be able to comprehend it 100% But I KNOW that gender is diverse and confusing and you can label your gender however you want. Just be you! You have my support.

Nonbinary Gays/Nonbinary lesbians: YES nonbinary people can be gay or lesbian. Many of them are nonbinary women or men. Meaning they identify with womanhood/manhood no matter how that is. Maybe they have a primarily woman or man gender, maybe they’re man/woman aligned. Whatever. You do not get to dictate who is gay enough or lesbian enough :) 

(NO)MAPS: Are scum. Do not interact, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.If you support them then get the f**k off my blog please! I am a CSA survivor and will NOT tolerate pedophilia.

Am I a transmed/truscum? Am a tucute?: Well, no. I’m none of those. I do not believe dysphoria is required to be trans. As many studies show gender incongruence is all you need, dysphoria manifests in some trans people as a result of incongruence. Gender euphoria also exists. This is not a topic I would like to debate. However, I do believe that dysphoria or incongruence should be medicalized in SOME form in order for trans people to be able to get gender affirming treatments. (Hormones, surgeries). I would love to live in a world where those things are free regardless, however :/ (P.S. I am dysphoric)

Kink/BDSM: Well. I participate in BDSM and kink, but I do not post about it or discuss on my blog. I have spaces for that and this isn’t one of them. So no worries about running into any kinky posts on my blog. That wont happen. If it ever does, it was an accident. 

Transtrenders: I DO believe that RARELY, some cis people will pretend to be trans, not necessarily as a “trend” but to gain something in return, usually online. They may use it as an excuse to chase other trans people, or to have more “power” in a trans based argument. However, when people are accused of being trenders, they are usually not, they are just not what YOU feel gender should be. And people who fear they’re trenders? Impossible. You would know if you were faking. 

Self Diagnosis: I’m divided on this. You shouldn’t self diagnose many things. Like a heart condition, or cancer, or other extremes. But if you know you’re depressed all the time and can’t see a therapist, you probably have depression. If you haven’t been diagnosed with PTSD but experienced something trauamtic and show symptoms of PTSD, You probably have PTSD. If you were confirmed to likely have a certain mental illness but perhaps didn’t fit the “age requirements” for said diagnosis, you can probably take that as an unofficial diagnosis. As long as aren’t flaunting it to seem “cool” (and most don’t) and are using those self dx’s to find help resources online and such, you’re probably good. 

Fujoshis: Touchy topic I know. I do not agree when this word is used in specific contexts.

1) when girls think MLM relationships are “hot/sinful/sexy/dirty” , especially IRL MLM relationships, I think that’s fetishization, much like how many cishet men view WLW relationships  2) when it’s directed as a hate word towards gay trans men. I’ve been called a fujoshi for being a gay trans guy, and many of you probably have to. It’s wrong y’all. Gay trans men are gay men. Gay nonbinary men are gay men. 

Pansexual vs. Bisexual: Both are valid labels. All multisexual labels are valid. Labels are for you to feel comfortable with, and as long as you aren’t choosing one over the other due to biphobia/internilized homophobia, you’re probably good. Bisexual attracted to all genders? Valid. Pansexual with preferences? valid. Bisexual attracted to many genders? Valid. Pansexual and feeling attraction regardless of gender? Valid. Bisexual and identify the same way? Valid! 

Genital preference: Another touchy topic! The sad truth is that genitals DO matter to many people. Maybe it’s from truama, or an actual repulsion to a genital set. However, it should never EVER be used to excuse transphobia. You can not want to date a trans person who is pre-op, that’s fine, your loss not theirs. However, you cannot use that genital preference to see them as lesser, or as not “real” men/women. I personally have a preference for penises, but it’s only a preference. I would still potentially date a trans guy who is pre-op or never-op, but I prefer penises. But as I’m also gay, I likely wouldn’t date a trans woman who is pre-op/no-op. Because well, she’s a woman. So to summarize, genital preferences are OK as long as you aren’t a dick about it, or transphobic. :) 

Trans people and gender conformity: Alrighty. This is a favorite topic of mine. Do trans people owe gender conformity? Do nonbinary people OWE people androgyny? Nope. Cisgender people are gender-nonconforming all the time without dysphoria. We see butch cis women and Fem cis dudes all the time. So I say, why do trans men and women owe something different? While it is true that early in transition being GNC CAN cause dysphoria, that isn’t always the case. Early in transition I usually avoided feminine things and interests unless I was in the comfort of my home, but now I’m open to, and embrace my feminine and androgynous side. I’m in no way a woman, I just happen to enjoy some stereotypical feminine things. Many trans men do. As for nonbinary people, they can present however they want. Androgynous, feminine, masculine, fluid presentation, mixing it up, genderf**k, whatever. Their body, their choice. Sometimes you may be able to “tell” someone is nonbinary by looking at them, and that’s totally okay. There is no “looking nonbinary”. All looks on a nonbinary person are nonbinary. 

Anti/Anti-Anti?: Honestly I’m still confused in all of that stuff. Fiction CAN and HAS affected reality. That’s not to say that you can’t enjoy certain thinsg seen as “taboo” but there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed. PEDOPHILIA. You should not write, nor consume, fiction that presents a CHILD with an ADULT. It’s true that some pedophiles will write these to bring minors in and harass them. Even then, it gives stories for those sick f**ks to read. Do you REALLY want a pedophile reading your story? I guess I’m anti-ish. You can enjoy things that are otherwise problematic as long as you don’t let it affect how you treat people in the real world. Maybe you liked reading that fictional story about kidnapping and got off to it or something weird like that, as long as you aren’t trying to kidnap anyone or shit like that, I guess you do you, keep it to yourself though.

“NB” - Nonbinary or Non-black?: I went with POC voices on this. I will no longer use “NB” to mean nonbinary on my blog. You will likely just see “nonbinary” or “enby” used by me. 

Aspec, autistic spectrum or Asexual/aromantic spectrum?: I’ve seen very little evidence or claim on the side of “autistic spectrum” being the term. Many responses ive seen and sources claim it means asexual/aromantic spectrum, and has even been echoed by autistic people, a lot of them. If I see evidence suggetsing otherwise, I’m happy to change my language. I don’t want to be ableist. 

Butch/Femme, lesbian terms only?: I say no. I’ve seen a lot of articles, personal accounts, and history on the use of butch and femme. And none suggest they were terms only used by lesbians. From what I can tell, this idea seemed to be spread by “radical” lesbians and TERF’s. In history, many lesbians tried to distance themselves from all men, and encouraged non-lesbian women not to associate with men. This is obviously just a small tidbit of what they did in that time. However, I personally don’t use butch or femme, and don’t really plan to.

Specifically “weird” or crazy seeming kinks/BDSM styles: All I say is, you do you. If all parties are adults and consent to it, good on you. Just, keep it to yourself or in spaces dedicated to those things. As long as you don’t get off to ACTUAL CHILDREN, or try to bone or jerk it to an animal, you’re probably okay. Also don’t do incest, that stuff is bad. 

!!If there’s a discourse topic you’d like to see here, you can PM me or send me an ask. I’m happy to shed my opinions on stuff, but they will go here!!

[luxexhomines]

S

Ahhh, thank you guys so much for asking!! I just compiled them all into one post so I don’t clog up your dash with several posts. Here we go! I’m going to tag this as discourse and put a cut because my answers to the letters might not please everyone, aha. It’s long, too. Major spoilers for NDRV3.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

Honestly, I’m not super sure at this point. Surprise, surprise, I only just recently finished watching the rest of NDRV3 and started writing for it. And I haven’t thought about tropes that much, though I’m sure I’ve written plenty of them into my writing at some point, even if not posted on here. 

If we’re going to go Danganronpa-centric, as this is my side blog for Danganronpa writing, I’d say that I fall in love with characters that are contradictory and with seemingly bipolar or gray morals despite probably having morals as straight as an arrow myself, i.e. Nagito or Kokichi. The characters playing “straight man” and relating to the reader’s perspective are also my favorite; in a wacky situation, they offer reason and normal reactions, which I would peg Hajime as (maybe Kazuichi, too, although he’s more of a crybaby). In fanfiction, I just love hurt & comfort fics, especially involving–you guessed it–Kokichi. I am particularly partial to the Oumota chapter 5 and chapter 5 trial rewrites, which, lucky for me, both of which are quite often rewritten by spectacular writers.

If we’re going in general, I always end up reading manga with an independent, strong and decisive character that crosses worlds and/or bodies by accident or death and becomes incredibly powerful/influential in the world and dominates over other characters with skills ranging from cooking to fighting. I guess I read a lot of manhua with martial arts or other manga with game aspects to it.Writing-wise, I love reading slow burn fics, even if I haven’t read one in quite some time. 

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

I have a feeling this is going to go into highly controversial areas, so if you ultra ship Kaito x Maki, please turn away now...

I just hate that “man saves woman” from herself or traumatic past trope. Don’t get me wrong, I love hurt/comfort like I mentioned, but to specify, what I mean is when a strong and independent woman needs saving by a man. I realize Maki has a lot of issues from her past as an assassin and that Kaito is a viable, good option for helping her out and facing those issues, but the fact of him being a man and the way he just swoops in and fixes things forcefully by pulling her along for training just irks me. And before you ask, yes, if Kaede did it instead as a woman I would have less of a problem with it, even if I don’t like that somehow after a couple days of training together Maki somehow is better able to get along with others and most notably Shuichi despite having spent the previous entire time cooped up in her Ultimate room alone, is willing to use her experience as an assassin to help out with the investigation when she just walked out in the past, etc. Problems from a past like that would never be so easily faced in reality; people and their minds are much more stubborn than we’d like to think, too. 

In general, I am also highly averse to the Women in Refrigerators trope. To some extent, I feel that Kaede fits this trope, as a.) she is an important, pivotal, incredibly fleshed out female character and even the initial protagonist of ndrv3, b.) she dies arbitrarily for a murder she did not commit, c.) a big part of her death is written into Shuichi’s character development for making him grow as the protagonist (he sheds the cap, faces the truth, and the memory of Kaede’s last wishes serves as his support to reveal the truth several times in trial), and of course, d.) her death in the execution is grotesque as befitting of a Danganronpa execution. Kaede deserved so. much. more.

There are probably more out there, but I won’t mention them for the sake of length & time. 

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Okay! So don’t hate me for this, but I haven’t been really keeping up a bunch with fanfiction writers or specific ones that much. It just hasn’t ever been a habit of mine in the past to follow one writer–ironic, I know. There’s one that immediately comes to mind, but she’s not part of the Danganronpa fandom, so unless someone asks, I’ll leave her out of it. However, there are a couple of writers that I recently discovered through the Oumota weekend event and which I follow on my main blog, and I thoroughly enjoy reading their work. Their work also contains mentions of NDRV3 spoilers!

1. @kirastrations

I recently reblogged her work on this blog because I have so much love for the Oumota fic she wrote (which deserves more love!). It’s called One by One, One After Another, and I simply adore the way she writes Kaito’s character and experiences with the other characters throughout the game and the overarching feeling that comes across as a result of the situation and what ensues. The diction choices she makes is absolute art; I see the imagery so clearly in my head, and not a single word of hers is wasted. It’s concise while being aptly and most beautifully descriptive. Even though I’m not a huge fan of Kaito, the way she writes him and his actions make me love him. I would describe the work as a futile yet desperate and exquisite struggling, an embodiment of angst that is so beautifully painful that it appears to be an illusion. I haven’t had a chance to check out other works from her just yet, but that’s on my to-do list!

2. @golden-redhead

I love, love, love their work too. They recently posted Lavender, a Kirumi x Kaede (Tojomatsu? Kaerumi? Kirumatsu?) work for femslash Feb, and it is a post-reality Virtual AU short fic. The way they write the interaction between Kirumi and Kaede offers such a delicate, carefully constructed image and story while creating some tension between the two. They also format the story with Kirumi’s thoughts in a simple and straightforward way that is just so delicious to read. Aspects of Kirumi explored are small things that unravel into a bigger statement about her character and the nature of the killing game and the impact it has left on her. It reminds me of the way a player might gently stack up a house of cards–attentively, with a sharp eye and feel. 

3. @starlightwritesalie

They wrote these two Oumota fics for the weekend that I fell in love with, especially the one for Day 1: Heroes/Villains. Sometimes when living in the world of Danganronpa, you forget that these tragic situations and the killing game are experienced, in essence, by children. You can argue that they’re older than high schoolers for the first two games, but mentally they are still high schoolers, and let’s face it–a couple years above the legal age of being an adult in America, 18, can hardly be counted as an adult, either. They reminded me of that sickening fact so poetically yet bluntly, and the story they write only serves as a further reminder of that fact. They write statements about the situation and how the pair act in the situation that are so agonizing yet irrefutable–as is the situation that they’re both trapped in. The ending is so unbearably cruel, packed with pain, but the way they create it is so decisively soft and snatches away my breath with the truth at the heart of the game, the situation. 

So there you have it! Sorry that my answers are so long... I have too much to say, and especially about the people whom I adore. Since it said to pick 3, I didn’t get to include these two, but I also love aroseandapen and mystic-mints dearly. If you ask, I’ll write a whole paragraph on why I love them, too, although I suspect by this time you all are getting rather tired of all my talking, haha. I also didn’t include imagines blogs, but if you’re curious, feel free to ask about that since I am still kind of a imagines blog! I guess at this point I’m kind of a fusion of an imagines blog and normal fanfiction writing blog.

Thanks for asking, and if you have any more questions, feel free to shoot an ask!

[pclungs]

ok talked to a friend abt the pan stuff i think ik how i feel now. the pan label has an inherently biphobic past that im angry about but if you are someone who agrees that bi/pan mean the same thing and ID as pan, i need you to understand that bi ppl have the right to be angry about the label and you should not speak over them. at the same time it sits wrong with me when i see ppl harassing ppl who use the pan label like suibaiting or clogging up their asks/messages because the whole point is to discuss its problematic nature isnt it? like i get it im angry too i would talk about this more if it didnt make me feel gross but what are you really doing whats the end goal ? just like express that anger through your own posts and if ur able to, discuss to pan ppl why the label is an issue. it can uproot a lot of uncomfortable biphobic stuff so ik thats hard to do at the same time esp if ur like me and having to discuss ur own rights feels degrading. and you should be allowed to be openly angry but harassment is a waste of ur own time that ur spending on someone you dont like! take care of yourself instead. im ok with ppl who dont like the pansexuality label following me. if you're pansexual and following me i still recognize you as another queer person and i'm not gonna run you off for that ONLY if you agree that bi/pan mean the same thing. and even then you need to look within yourself and ask if you are choosing that label because you think it is somehow better than bisexuality in any way. and if at the end of the day you are truly a loud advocate for bisexuals then you can stay but im still side-eyeing you for your choice. i'm not going to talk shit about pan ppl as a whole personally because i would feel like i am talking behind the back of ppl close to me like my brother who i genuinely believe actively helps bi ppl speak out for themselves. he's like my best friend and he was the very first person to not only accept me as bi but to encourage me to talk about it and in turn i unintentionally helped him come out to my parents. im not here to spend my whole discourse online esp if i got loved ones who ID as pan. you can talk shit abt pan ppl you have right to that anger but i wont participate in it myself

[crypticarus]

yeah so because of recent events and all regarding sh/adam here comes this:

This is my last post on this topic.

Either way I tag them as #discourse from now on. I know I am personally very uncomfortable with discourse generally and this blog is dedicated to my art and I actually wanted to actively avoid any discourse. But this is a topic that hits closer to home I need to vent it out.

But mt opinion, long story short is: I pretty much despise Adam because he expected Shiro to choose Adam over his own happiness and so far hasnt done anything to redeem himself. Explanation under the cut.

So, as I mentioned in previous posts: fuck Adam. I'm not gonna dip any deeper into how I think Shiro deserves someone who will be able and happy to unconditionally support him and how I think that person is Keith and how much I love Sheith because of it. I'm not even gonna mention what Shiro deserves or Keith after this.

So, I watched episode 1 of the upcoming season and finally i feel better making a post about Adam now.

In the end, though, it didnt change anything on my previous opinion.

Adam's decision of not waiting for Shiro and leaving him because of the Kerberos mission and because he simply didnt have the mental energy to seeing someone he loves deeply suffer, is selfish but understandable. And there's nothing wrong in being selfish. Although even if obviously the stress people who have disabled beloved ones is nothing compared to what the disabled person has to go through, it doesnt change the fact that it's still stressful and everyone, whether disabled or not, has to decide for themselves what is best for their mental stability and health and if they want to put themselves through such stress or cant. Deciding that you cant doesnt make you evil. Wanting your loved ones to be safe and alive and well isn't wrong.

Still I cant go all "I love Adam!!!" and "he did nothing wrong!!" not because I'd be prioritizing Shiro anyway, but because of Adam's ultimatum and how Adam saw one option as the right and one as the wring one.

"Takashi, how important am I to you?". That's what Adam said. I dont remember how exactly Adam phrased it but after that he outright told Shiro that Shiro would have to choose between having Adam in his life or the Kerberos mission. Between someone who Shiro loved and wanted to be with for the rest of his life or a dream he obviously had devoted his whole life to, the dream of his life. Between Adam or winning the fight against his disability by not going down without a fight. Because we know that there was no hope for Shiro no matter how much he rests and all Shiro could do was decide what to do with his remaining time. (I have an idea of what Shiro's disease is, and if it is then I have some experience with it, which makes it all the more personal to me and makes me all the more angry at Adam and anyone who sides with him.)

And I know some people are okay with giving up their dreams or ambitions to be with their loved ones. Shiro obviously isnt that person though.

Shiro was disabled. Shiro knew it was a miracle he had come this far anyway despite his disease (Adam did say Shiro already broke all sorts of records) and he wanted to go further. He didnt want to stop already. To Shiro it probably felt like giving up to his illness if he had stopped. As a disabled person giving up to your illness is the ultimate defeat. Personally, I'd much rather die. Adam KNEW how much value the Kerberos mission had, that this is the last chance Shiro would get. Yes, it was a life-threatening mission, but Shiro would rather die than give up to his disability, or so it seems to me.

Think about what a miserable life that would be to Shiro. Think about how depressing that would be. Adam would rather see Shiro alive but miserable with no real chance of recovery than what? Dead? No, because no one would want Shiro as a pilot if they thought he wouldnt make it back alive enough and able enough to safely pilot them back. They wouldnt even have considered him, but obviously they did. So Adam would rather have Shiro in regret and miserable surrender for his last few years before the disability kicks in full than achieving his ambitions and being happy and proud. And all because of being selfish? All because ADAM didnt wanna be alone? I would get it if Adam's concern would be that Shiro wouldnt pilot them all back safely, but that obviously isnt Adam's real concern here if he starts iff1 with "Takashi how important am I to you?".

That's what rubs me so wrong with Adam, that's why I really hate him, to be honest. I'm not saying he's evil or a person you should hate and demonise. Adam is just human. But honestly? What does it tell me about you if you absolutely adore Adam after thats all we get from him and you think he did nothing wrong in wanting Shiro to give up his ambitions for him? What does it tell me about you that you'd want Shiro to come back to earth to Adam, who gave up on Shiro? That you'd want Shiro to regret leaving Adam, regret not giving up on himself? If you dont think Adam needs to apologise and redeem himself, if you think Shiro is in the one in the wrong-

If it weren't for the ultimatum, I wouldnt hate Adam. If Adam had just said he couldnt bear seeing Shiro suffer then I would let Adam go like that. If Adam had said he thought the mission is too risky and he couldnt bear waiting for Shiro to come back, I wouldnt judge Adam. If we meet Adam again and he apologises for his outburst to Shiro and means it, Adam redeems himself in my eyes. I still wont like him and I still dont think he's deserving of Shiro. I still wont want them to be together because I think if Adam didnt have the strength to be with Shiro with his disability until the end, then how can Adam be sure to be able to be with Shiro now that he's scarred (both literally and figuratively) from a galactic war Adam hadnt been there to experience and therefore couldnt ever truly comprehend the consequences of?

Adam isnt truly evil for what he said. Evil is a much stronger word I reserve for truly evil people. Because people say bad things under stress, say things they dont mean or regret, voice their thoughts in a wrong way all the time. Or sometimes they mean what they say but think better later, realise their mistakes and make things right. Stress does that to you. But owning up to it is what counts. Owning up to the consequences, owning up to people not liking you for that anymore or leaving you or outright avoiding you and despising you, that's what makes you a good person.

You can tell me all you want how Shiro should think about how his actions make other people feel. That he should have considered Adam's feelings and think twice about the Kerberos mission. Amd I hope he did. If not that was wrong of him too. But we all have to make our choices and decide when to be selfish or not. When to prioritise ourselves over other people. When you have to leave people for the sake of ourselves. Being selfish all the time is obviously not a good way to go, but leaving your life completely up to others and only living for other people's sake and be miserable for it isnt either. If you're going to live to make others happy then do it only if it actually does make you happy, too. Shiro wouldnt have been if he had. He knee that. Or maybe he would have been anyway, but neither decision would have been wrong of him.

Shiro risking his life to achieve his ambitions was part of his fight against his disability. It was part of not giving up. Adam couldnt respect that. He disrespected Shiro's struggles not by leaving Shiro but by forcing Shiro to choose between him, or winning that fight. Thats why I think Adam did something extremely wrong. I hate Adam because I hate people who prioritize themselves over people's recovery and happiness, expect people to, and then have the nerve to not even regret it.

In retrospect it wasnt really Adam giving an ultimatum to Shiro that was wrong. It was Adam expecting Shiro to choose him and get angry at Shiro for choosing his own happiness over Adam's.

Again, if Adam regrets it and owns up to, apologises, then I will hate him less. I will still dislike him, but I wont think he's a bad person. But so far that's not what we got and until we see that I wont think Adam did.

So miss me with all your pro-Adam and Sh/adam or A/dashi posts. Miss me with all the "voltron better end with a reunion and a wedding between them!". It makes me truly uncomfortable to see it. Im not bashin on the pairing either, you can ship whatever you like. I dont think people who like Adam or want him to get together with Shiro again are bad people because of that. I dont think people who understand and not dislike Adam because of his actions are either. I wont hate on people if they dont understand why this is my opinion or simply didnt take the step of spending all that much thought on the morality and seriousness of it. But man am I uncomfortable with people who take Adam's side.