#you sound like white men who are so into japanese culture that they say they are when they’re NOT !!!!! DIE

[5qu1dink]

wait transrace and transage aren’t jokes?🙁

[laufey-delia]

New Ways To Dark Academia

In the dark academia side of the internet, there is an over-representation of Medditarrean + English culture/litterature, which saddens me. In most posts, as I think you’ve noticed, almost everything refers to English litterature, Italian painters, French architecture and/or language as well as Roman and Ancient Greek mythos. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love those aspects of history and culture, but I think there is so much more in other parts of Europe, Asia, America and Oceania. It is my goal to shed light on a different way to Dark Academia.

LANGUAGES

A big part of the dark academia aesthetic is on the learning of a new language. Most blogs/Pinterest boards/discord server say: French, Italian, Latin are perfect dark academia languages, and thus skip over beautiful languages with rich cultures. So here are two languages I find have deep dark academia values:

German • Deutsch • West Germanic Language

When I think dark academia, I think of German as THE perfect language for it. It is quite difficult, as they have a unique way of indicating cases and have a deep vocabulary with words indicating emotions in our life, that most country don’t bother adding to their dictionary. Allow me to demonstrate:

Torschlusspanik : “As one gets older, the feat that time is running out, and important opportunities are slipping away.”

Arabic • العربية •  Semitic Language Arabic sadly has a negative impression on most European countries and in the US, tied to unfortunate events. Despite this, Arabic is a beautiful language that holds a history with poetry and art. Historically, Arabic was considered a language of science, and art, as the first scientists spoke Arabic.  Even today, Arabic is a poetry language, and we can find a lot of beautiful poems which were written by Arabian poets.

Important Note on languages

It is crucial to note that you can learn any language that you want for a variety of reasons. What matters in the end is not if the language sounds dark academia-esque, it is how you link learning this language to dark academia activities: Go on, my friends, learn the language you like by writing a journal in this language, writing poetry, watching a play in your target language. At the end of the day, it will make you happy, and I am thrilled that it does.

THINGS TO LEARN

Mythology/Mythos

In most dark academia post, the number 1’s mythology recommended is the Roman and Greek mythology. It gives the idea that other mythologies are inferior, which is sad. Strictly speaking, a mythology was a way for our ancestors to explain the unexplainable, and to give morals and figures, heroes to look up to. In other words, a mythology is a religion.

Here is my personal favourite mythology to learn: Norse Mythology: despite the white supremacists who took the mythology to  “justify” their way of thinking, the Norse mythology offers a very interesting way of thinking. It is dubbed with realism, as the gods are not immortal, and have flaws.  A way of learning about said mythology is through Norse poems, called scaldic verses. If you’re lucky, you can find some explained for free on Internet. It puts violence on a pedestal though, but considering how Scandia was a very hostile environment where men had to fight for resources, it shows this tense climate very well. So go on, and don’t stop on Greek and Roman mythology. Learn about Aztec Mythology, Japanese mythology, African mythologies, Polynesian mythology etc…

What is important isn’t if the art is subjectively beautiful (like is often seen with Roman and Greek mythology in dark academia posts), it is how you can analyse it and use it to understand how the population used it and the traces of said mythology today in those country and culture. 

Poetry

I can’t stress this enough: Arabic poetry is beautiful, and talks of forbidden love, wine, and small pleasures in life. I also love an Arabic poet who wrote about death, and its sweet embrace.  It is quite difficult to find good translation of Arabic poems, especially of Abbasid poems, but I can provide a thesis on the translation of two Arabic poems.  Of course, I realize that strictly talking of Arabic poems is restricting diverse and important cultures as one. There is also Kurdi, Iranian, Turkish poetry that deserves to be read and appreciated. 

Poison and toxic gas

A big part of dark academia is the passion for morally grey things. One such things is poisons, or toxic gas. Of course disclaimer, do not use this knowledge to actually try and replicate it, it is very dangerous, and I do not condone the use for your personal ways. 

Either to survive in the forest or to learn about the limits of the human body, it can be interesting. Why does X react that way in contact to human skin? What molecules are to play? Why does X is denser than the air ? Does medicine against X or Y exist ?

When I was a younger lad, I wanted to be a forensic pathologist, learning about such things was fascinating and bought me a sense of accomplishment. Even though no one wanted to hear about the effect of chlorine gas on the human body. Bummer.

Here is the end of my little post about aspects of cultures the Dark Academia Community sometimes brush over. Of course, Dark Academia isn’t activities only, but also a way of thinking. And I think it is good to keep that in mind.  If you think I missed some parts that should be enlightened, don’t hesitate to tell me.

Laufey

[elektrasimp]

Watching a YouTuber (Dan Murrell) review Oppenheimer and he made a great point about how movies are not content made to be consumed but art made to be digested. And I think that social media and the MCU has trained audiences to see everything as content which I think helps to explain some of the backlash that Oppenheimer has received which I don’t think it really deserves.

I think it’s valid and I’m not trying to speak over anyone who says that a Japanese voice should’ve been included or to show the people affected by the trinity test.

But at the same time, I think that speaks to how people consume movies as content instead of art. Because art is about perspective, not about telling the true or full story.

Oppenheimer was not a good guy. The US fucking sucks. The atomic bomb was not a good invention. And many people were victimized by it.

But, these are things people should already know. This movie isn’t about these things. It has a story to tell and it has emotions it wants to make the audience feel. Sometimes those emotions are to confuse or fill you with dread or suspense or joy or nostalgia — unlike content, the point is not always to convince you or inform you.

Oppenheimer is not about telling you if he was a good or bad guy. This movie is about making you feel the perspective of one man. And like the beauty of art, even though it’s not personal, it still feels universal.

Oppenheimer was a man who went back and forth on his convictions. Never truly seemed to believe them, but wanted the credit of believing them. He used left-leaning politics not so much because they were his own, but because he liked the women who had these politics.

And the movie clearly reflected that. It showed how he went back and forth. How there’s so many interpretations to who he was. How he might not even be that “brilliant” but that he was a good organizer and a good pawn.

Just as a side note this is a good thing to remember when neoliberals act like politicians can save us. I digress, but again that’s the point of art. Obviously, Nolan did not mean for this movie to reflect on neoliberal vs class-conscious politics, but I can take my experiences to interpret this movie and see how it reflects on my own world.

Also, I think this movie does speak to real life politics and power. The way that petty, vindictive men are making decisions about our lives without any care of the casualties. That so much of politics is a pissing match. That the government makes decisions, discards people, and hides it behind lack of information and propaganda.

Also, movies like any art, tell a story and make you feel emotions through methods that aren’t explicit. This movie uses perspective really well. Everything is told through the eyes of Oppenheimer. And we can quite literally sense and feel how the women in his life, his friends, the background people in Los Alamos, and the possible victims are not as important to him as his own personal dilemmas.

We see that through the use of color (everything in color is largely his perspective, and everything in black and white is outsider perspective), through imagery (when he sees water ripples on the map of possible locations), through acting (the script was written in first person, so Cillian Murphy’s acting reflects how this is purely Oppenheimer’s perspective), and sound (we feel the tension build up to the trinity test through the score because this is such an important moment to this character).

And by showing the people who were victimized explicitly, then you would be falsely showing that Oppenheimer and the US govt cared about these people.

In movies and art, there is just as much importance in what you don’t choose to show.

So, not to sound like an English teacher giving you a worksheet on a mandatory reading assignment, but art is meant to be interpreted.

What is the perspective? Is this narrator relatable? What devices is the author using to show these ideas? When this piece was published, what was the cultural and societal context like?

We shouldn’t treat art like a marvel movie or an infographic that’ll tell us everything we should feel. We should interpret it, criticize it, and analyze it for what it is.

Movies are met to make us feel. Even shitty movies. You can take as much a way from a Michael Bay Transformers movie as you can from Citizen Kane.

[stellamancer]

You should’ve known better, really. 

When the words “trust” and “me” are placed side by side in the same sentence, that alone should be reason enough to sound the warning bells in your mind: it’s a sure sign that you should do the opposite of what you’re being told to do, especially when the person uttering those words is your best friend, a girl whose obsession with biseinen draws her to butler cafés during the day and host clubs during the night. How she manages to fund this particular addiction of hers, you still have yet to discover. Butler cafés are a bit more affordable -- or so you’ve heard -- but spending even a single night at a host club is like buying a one-way ticket to the snowballing train wreck known as financial instability.  

But it’s worth it -- again, or so you’ve heard. 

Your experience with that particular subsection of Japanese culture can be summed up in two words: never been. You’ve only ever passed in front of one butler café, back when you were in high school, and that once had been one time too many. One glance at the high school boys dressed in pressed white shirts and black slacks, chatting up any girl within hearing distance as they promoted their business, had been enough to turn you away. 

Maybe it’s worth it. Maybe it’s a good way to pass the time. Maybe it’s a relief, having a reliable escape from reality. And maybe it’s thrilling, spending a few hours with a guy who will treat you like a goddess, who will whisper sweet nothings into your ears, but that’s all those words will ever be: nothing. Sweet lies like spun sugar. Coffee grounds. A web of saccharine threads -- one touch, you’re trapped. Bittersweet chocolate. A shot of whiskey. 

What good is a fairytale without a happily ever after? What happens when the clock strikes twelve and you realize that the façade you’ve fallen in love all that it is? That every look, every touch, every word -- lies, lies, all lies. You’ve left your glass slipper, but Prince Charming won’t come. Will never come. And that slipper will join other broken halves, tossed to the side, unwanted. 

If that’s what passes for love these days, then you don’t need it. You don’t want to be a part of it. Not now. Not later. Not ever. But if your friend wants to waste her life chasing waterfalls, then that’s on her, that’s her choice. She’s an adult. She can think and make decisions for herself. There’s no point in telling her how to live her life: that’s what parents are for. It’s not like she’d listen to you, anyway, so interventions would be a waste of time and effort. 

But, “Trust me,” she said, a couple of hours ago. “You’ll have the time of your life.” 

Doing what, she didn’t say, didn’t see any reason to elaborate. And you, not having anything better to do on a Saturday night, didn’t ask, just stupidly agreed to go along with whatever she had planned. To be fair, you should have seen it coming. You should have known better. Trust me, she had said. You should have said no. 

But you didn’t. You said yes, and so here you stand, just outside the double doors leading into one of Japan’s most talked about host clubs. Even as your eyes narrow in annoyance, your friend is all smiles and excited giggles, and no matter how much you glare at her, no matter how much ill will you wish on her, she doesn’t appear to notice. In her hands is a coupon, a silly piece of paper that must have cost her a small fortune to obtain. Tonight’s grand opening, if the sign on the left door is to be believed, is a special event open to only a handful of lucky patrons. 

“I didn’t know who else to ask,” she says, and that is all the warning she gives you before grabbing your hand and pulling you forward. The doors open automatically, and at first you think it’s motion activated, but quickly realize that that’s not the case. There are two men standing on either side of the doorway, each with one white-gloved hand holding open the door closest to them. Both of them are wearing suits, like those boys from that butler café, only these are grown men.  And they, you have to admit, are pretty damn hot. 

“Welcome,” they say in perfect unison, and their voices are low, send an unwanted tremor down your spine. The one on the right, the one standing closest to you, has impossibly silver hair that is reminiscent of moonshine. He bows, and when he straightens, he offers you a wink and a charming smile, actions that successfully draw a deep blush to your cheeks. You calmly avert your eyes, and promise yourself revenge. Another night, though, because you can’t quite bring yourself to ruin this, not when she looks so pleased, so painfully eager. 

And then you’re being dragged down the hall, stopping in front of another set of doors that look comparably less elegant than the building’s exterior. A woman is standing off to the side, balancing what seems to be a menu on the upturned palms of her hands. She smiles, welcomes you with a honeyed voice, and there is something unsettling about this whole experience. 

“Normally, we would have you designate a host before entering, but because of tonight’s grand opening special event, we will be choosing for you. The drinks are complimentary, of course.” You almost roll your eyes. So that’s what they’re calling it these days. The woman gives you a sharp look, as though reading your thoughts, but continues to smile as she motions towards the doors. “Your hosts are eagerly anticipating your arrival.”

“Let’s go,” your friend says, and you have no choice but to follow her. It’d be too embarrassing to leave through the front doors on your own. If you’re walking next to someone, it will be easier to convince yourself that you’re just stepping out of the department store or something. 

As the two of you leave the sparse hallway, you hear the receptionist call out behind you, “Please enjoy your night.” Those words hint at something more, at something beyond a few hours spent downing shots of vodka or a glass of brandy while some hot guy pretends to be in to you. They suggest things that you don’t want to think about, things that you can’t unthink, no matter how hard you try. How many times has your friend enjoyed her night with a stranger? How many times has she invited one of them into her bed? And you feel sick to your stomach, just a bit, because this is not how the world is supposed to work. 

Ironically enough, stepping through those doors is like stepping into a different world, and the imposter who greets you is impossibly handsome. He stares right at you, eyes cutting into your very soul, and a small smile tugs at his lips. The lenses of his glasses flash. "Oh? Onii-san is lucky to have such a cute girl to keep him company."

okay i'm glad i waited until i was fully conscious to read this. i saw it pop into my ask box last night when i was getting ready for the sleepsies.

HOST CLUB AU. YOU HAVE REALLY OUTDONE YOURSELF THIS TIME MYSTERIOUS YAMATO ANON.

so i wonder, is this friend who prances into butler cafes and host clubs.... based on anyone LMAO. maybe? furTHER MORE WHO PUT THIS IDEA IN UR HEAD.... or is this a mysterious yamato anon original

maybe not. i am most definitely the cynic friend. but GOLLY. the building up into entering the club... so captivating. i hope you don't think you've lost your touch, because you most definitely have not.

moonshine hair... adding this to my repertoire. i like this description. who's that guy... it can't be sou-chan.... unless your intent is to hit me with a double whammy....

AND THE LAST BIT. THE IMPOSTER WHO GREETS YOU.... the imposter... like, it's so fun to be aware that it's fake and it's lies... i suppose this is actually rather fitting for yama-san, but aughhhhhh gnawing at my desk. how will this turn out I AM SO CURIOUSSSSS AUGHHHH. like there is just so much fun in like.... writing a story with double lives and becoming the mask it's AUGHHHHHHH i could eat it all up AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

continuing to SCREAM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[fortressofserenity]

Strange

If you wanted me to be honest, western beauty standards are kind of strange. Strange in the sense that there’s a tendency to regard blonde women very highly as if they epitomise beauty a lot, it should be noted that blond hair is just as rare among Asians or even rarer among them yet they don’t necessarily tout it as a beauty ideal the way it is in the west. They’re much likelier to see straight black hair as the beauty standard for women instead, with blond hair being a very odd trait that’s not even popular among Japanese men. Western beauty standards get stranger still because there’s a tendency to prioritise smaller noses over long, straight ones. Not that the latter are unattractive, but many westerners tend to see button noses and upturned noses as attractive.

Western beauty standards become really strange if they’re not the things espoused by your culture, which makes me wonder if more and more Filipinos turn to Korean culture because it feels more relatable on some level. Right down to the similar beauty ideals, whereas in the west it’s going to be tan skin, ski-slope noses and blond hair for women. That’s not to say there aren’t any Asian women who bleach their hair blond, but it’s not exactly the thing touted as beautiful in Asian media. Especially on an Asian woman because it looks odd, so I think blond hair’s kind of othered in Asian cultures in a way it wouldn’t be in western cultures. Like it’s the thing you’d associate with certain people, especially foreigners, those of another ethnicity, delinquents, those trying to be fashionable or those with albinism.

There are Asians with natural blond hair but it’s such an odd trait that it’s never going to be part of the Asian beauty canon the way straight black hair is, which is saying because it’s not something you see in Asian beauty magazines, television adverts and the like. Especially on Asian women that it’s never going to have the same cachet like it does in the west, same goes for ski-slope noses that the preferred nose among Asians would be a straight, long nose. The latter kind of looks more elegant and refined, in my opinion, but this should give you an idea of what Asians find attractive. Ski-slope noses aren’t necessarily unattractive, but it’s not something that’s popular among Asians as a beautiful trait.

Tan skin is another thing that’s not widely regarded as attractive among Asians, it’s been said that tan skin used to be considered unattractive because of its association with manual labour. But for some reason, many Asians never hopped onboard for the tan skin beauty ideal, despite undergoing industrialisation themselves. We never really had a Coco Chanel to popularise it for us, so it’s not particularly popular among us for whatever reason. If you wanted me to be honest, if somebody were to pair blond hair with tanned skin, it starts to look kind of ‘promiscuous’ to me. Not to mention, kind of dumb and needless. But then again tanned skin on westerners tends to look kind of promiscuous to me anyways, especially when paired with skimpy clothing.

I don’t think white people look good with tans anyways, it looks odd and too sexualised on them. It sounds kind of harsh, but I don’t think western beauty standards are really this widely accepted among Asians, let alone in their entirety because it’s frankly odd. Why on earth would you bleach your hair blond hair? Why would you tan your skin, without knowing the risks of skin cancer? It’s weird, let’s be honest about this. It’s really weird, the more I think about it.

[j-exclamationmark-l]

Community for me is a weird topic.

I grew up always feeling like I didn't belong - too Asian for the white community, not the "correct" type of Asian for most Asians (Korean people were especially cruel to me in Washington). Even now, I'm too white to be accepted in Asia, which was something I wasn't really expecting before I came here. My dad even made me feel very not at home. I guess what I'm saying is, I had no feeling of community.

My partner is showing me the British drama Doc Martin and the thought of everyone in a small town knowing and recognizing you sounds absolutely mortifying to me. I freak out when my favorite shop says "long time no see." I feel uncomfortable knowing staff at a supermarket notices and comments on the fact I drink a certain type of coffee. On a weird level I kind of proudly held myself to a Parks and Rec Ron Swanson standard - ah, here's a character who knows just how I feel, and he's an admirable and independent man with many characteristics I admire, so clearly being afraid of community is good. I openly told my partner walking into a shop and being greeted by name sounded like a nightmare to me. I said I like Tokyo because there are so many people here that I feel it's easier to not be of enough notice to interact with.

Sometimes my partner browses Tiktok. Today I was just watching his timeline with him when I noticed there were a lot of foreigners coming here complaining about the way they're treated. It's not just Tiktok, for example yesterday on YouTube he started playing a long video by a white girl complaining that Japanese people don't want to sit next to foreigners on trains. There are so many of these videos of foreigners coming here and either thinking they'll immediately be accepted into the community, or worse, think that being foreign makes them a kind of unicorn that's allowed to break these understood social norms and get away with it. My "favorite" is white men who get upset that Japanese women get mad when they cheat, they think they should get away with it because they think they're the only white man in Japan. I've even been messaged by men from the Yokosuka navy base (who didn't clock me as foreign as well) immediately treating me like shit because they think Japanese women are more likely to put up with it (think passport bros).

It struck me today that it bothered me because these people who are complaining have probably never experienced never fitting in to a community before. They don't bother to learn the rules and accepted behaviors here, a lot of them don't care or think it's fine because everyone should understand they come from a different community with different rules. I know there is some leeway we should be granted but a lot of the complaints I see I think could be solved by just being more aware and polite. Don't get me wrong, I hate the police as much as anyone, but I know better than to start a fight with cops and insult them to their face when they're holding your ID.

I see foreigners come here and say there should be more western food and fewer izakayas. I knew a girl who cried once because we didn't want to go to McDonald's for dinner with her. I have low tolerance for people who come here because they like anime and then make fun of Japanese food (don't get me wrong disliking just natto or being uncomfortable with raw fish is fine but when you meet people who hate everything except McDonald's and expect you to go with them every time to get the same food you can get anywhere else it gets obnoxious).

It just feels like foreigners are coming here and not respecting the culture here and wanting to impose their own culture... I came here because I liked this culture. I came here knowing I'd have to adapt and learn a language and learn a different set of social skills, I accepted all of that when I made the decision to move here.

I like the architecture. I like the art. I like the music. I love kanji. I love the flow of the language. I love the food, I love the fashion, I love the beauty in the nature here. I feel safe. I've tripped on the sidewalk and had people rush to help me. I had a man chase me down because he saw me drop my phone and he gave it back to me. When I first moved to Osaka, an old lady dropped everything to help me navigate the trains. I love how I can take the last train home, the first train at 5am home, and despite having had bad experiences here before, I'm not scared to walk home by myself.

In America, I remember owning fu dog statues that were stolen off our property. How? Each one was hella heavy. We also had fish statues. We had to hide them after a while because despite being up the driveway, up the porch and in front of our door, people always stuffed garbage in the fishs' mouths. I accepted as a teen I would be sexually harassed by my neighbors on the short walk from my bus stop to my house. I had a friend from Mexico here in Japan marvel how people felt safe enough to leave things like chairs outside of restaurants because in Mexico leaving things out was an invitation to have it stolen.

I'm so glad I don't have to deal with those things! I'm so glad in Japan there isn't really a culture of stealing or littering and I feel so safe most of the time. I don't want other cultures imposed over this one.

This is getting long and I have a lot to say on this subject but I don't know how to articulate it properly. But it's also 1am so I'll wrap it up here.

[alexissara]

A collection of Short Yuri Manga reviews I Wrote Recently

5 Star SHWD is an exciting action yuri series which features something most manga and comics typically do not feature, women with actual muscles. There is a good diversity in the range of muscles on women but the story has so far only 4 women in it and like 0 men who matter at all. It's very focused on the characters who matter to the story it's telling.

The story it's telling it a world where eldrich horrors that were made during "the war" appear driving people into killing frenzys and consuming them. Our heroes work at SHWD a private company that disposes of these monsters. The monsters are like ugly slime things they at present exist as a thing for the people to kill and aren't like "villains" they are the nature of the world stained by war.

Politically I am not sure if I am connecting to the plot or theme but I am not totally sure what the story is trying to say other then wouldn't it be hot if a slammer buff woman and a big buff woman kissed on the lips on the battle field and to that end, I agree, whole heartedly and I want to see it. I look forward to future volumes, I am not totally sure if the series will be for me but I am super glad I Picked this up and supported this very original piece of art.

5 Stars Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games is one of the most beautifully drawn manga's I've read. There is fantastically stunning ugly moments for the girls and captivating panels aplenty.

The manga's story follows assimilation, desire, growing up, and more all in fun fighting game action, sparks of romance between the two lead girls and more. There is nothing explicitly, openly gay, yet in this volume but there is many many moments that do read as next and not subtext.

The setting gives them a reason to hide their shared passion for each other, well fighting each other at fighting games. Aya's deep dive into conforming hoping she'll feel the joy she felt as a kid again by becoming a proper young lady is sad, heart breaking and exciting to watch break as she falls for Shirayuri.

I need to read the other volumes stat.

5 Stars Princess Anisphia is a ridiculously charismatic protagonist able to lend emotion, humor and excitement into every scene of this manga. Euphyllia is immediately capturing but the depth they give to her makes her a compelling romantic lead and character for the plot. It feels far beyond the bog standard Isaki story where one's past life makes them uniquely equipped to deal with the world but instead Princess Anisphia is likely actively having her dreams hindered by realizing her past life in the modern world. I think the story has really interesting hooks for later conflicts and great romantic hooks for that building relationship between the two women. It's very good.

4 Stars Black and White: Tough Love at the Office is a wonderfully drawn manga, the tension between these two very fake women as they show their real sides to only each other is fantastic. There is a lot of chemistry in their heated just off screen violent sex scenes. They are the stars of the book but the story does focus on the stakes of their jobs or potential promotions or whatever else and I just can't get invested in that. Regardless, I Would read Volume 2 just for them but I would hope that we would zoom in even more on them, get to know them internally better to understand them. I am detached from office culture and for sure not attached to Japanese corporate culture, like the dorms sounds dystopian to me in a way that I doubt the reality of this fiction, even though it's probably a perfectly normal thing. Regardless, I enjoyed my read of the book and I think there is a particular flavor of sapphics that will have this be their favorite series.

------ That's it for this selection of reviews. If you liked this I wrote some twitter thread reviews I could make presentable for several other manga and a few GNs I read this year. I'll also be writing more of these over time, I decided I like doing little reviews on Good Reads after I finish something, helps with my bad memory.

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

I did actually get a hint of the racism angle from some of the Dekugate posters. The ones discussing Inko being a "traditional Japanese beauty" and how "conservative" Japan is especially gives me vibes of "Western anime fans who dismiss Japan as a whole as conservative and without any liberal politics or social movements (ex feminism or anti-imperialism), and who's only knowledge of queer culture is Western queer culture + yaoi produced for straight women."

Basically, I'm saying your Dekugate fic really is amazing because it so effectively captures both the overt horror of fandoms centered around these conspiracy theories, as well as the subtle way these homophobic (biphobic specifically in this case), misogynistic, and racist biases appear even in supposedly "woke" spaces.

Misogyny and gay fetishization justified with progressive language are a huge feature of real life celebrity conspiracy counterparts. The most common refrain is the way the actual girlfriends of the center ship are treated. They are not merely women dating men, they are gold-digging influencer wannabes hired by a marketing team to push a narrative that the guys are straight. And because they are willing to participate in ‘closeting,’ it means they are evil, homophobic pieces of shit and anything said about them is fair game. Their weight, their sense of fashion, their bone structure, whether or not they put the man first, how often are they scene without the man present, the way they touch the man, did they ever have sex with someone in exchange for something, what they eat, the way they dance, the way they walk their dog. In the real world, it’s not misogyny to criticize a women for questionable behavior, but you’re supposed to stick with the behavior itself. In conspiracy fandoms, saying that a woman has ‘evil eyes’ is just an extension of the totally reasonable criticism that she didn’t like her boyfriend’s instagram post.

Then there’s the way queerness is used as a justification of misogyny against other, non conspiracy fans. Anyone who doesn’t believe in the conspiracy must be straight, homophobic, stupid teenaged girls without any real life experience. It’s so gross that they think a conventionally attractive person is attractive, unlike the noble pursuits of editing their faces onto gay porn and speculating about what position they have sex in. The reasons they like or connect with the celebrity are totally shallow and insincere. How can they relate to these totally exclusively queer and not all generic lyrics about finding hope through hard times? Oh what’s that? You’re a queer person who doesn’t believe in the conspiracy? You’re not a fan of the celebrity? You must not actually be queer then.

And like i said in the other post, I’m not the most qualified person to talk about racism, but i have seen some shit. A common refrain in some corners is saying that if marketing is going to set the dude up with a fake girlfriend, the least they could do is give him a woman of color who might steer him away from his less-than-progressive image. (I’ve only found one fandom where the focus of the conspiracy is around a non-white celebrity, and even then there is a lot of discourse within about his ethnicity.) Correct me if I’m out of line, but the way they talk about it really sounds like they want a token so their dude looks more progressive in the eyes of people outside their bubble. Especially since that often, when the dude does actually date someone of a different ethnicity, the fandom bends over backwards to ‘prove’ the woman is actually white, ‘white-passing,’ or otherwise not actually ‘enough’ of their ethnicity so they can justify the shitstorm all over again. It’s the same bullshit as when someone wants to make some old school misogynistic joke about women being irrational and annoying, but throw ‘white’ in the front so it can play in pseudo-progressive spaces. And that’s when they don’t just drop the pretenses and start throwing around dog whistles and slurs.

TL;dr: shitty people will often try to come up with moral justification for their shitty beliefs and behaviors, and progressive language is just one of the tools in the toolkit.

[afro-elf]

fine, i’ll elaborate on my thoughts about tylor sift but they will be disorganized

disclaimer: i know a few people will read this and be like “op is a hozier fan can she really talk about the cultural obsession with mediocre white art?” and the answer is yes because a) i’m black and i have an english degree so can do whatever i fucking want, b) hozier is a better artist than taylor objectively, like his mediocre tracks would be considered her great ones, and c) the comparison of taylor to hozier is part of the problem Genuinely because i don’t even think white people like half the music they listen to, they just don’t wanna be left behind, we’ll get into this later. i’m sorry to everyone who is tired of hearing about him but hozier will be returning later in this post jsfglsjlgldsjlfd

second note: read this

i don’t just dislike taylor because she’s white. i don’t dislike taylor because she’s a woman. i don’t dislike her because she writes mean and petty lyrics about past relationships and people who wronged her. i don’t dislike taylor because her public circle of friends is almost exclusively blonde white celebrities with their own laundry lists of issues that includes ryan reynolds and blake lively who are poster children for white privilege and pseudo-excellence if i’ve ever seen them. i dislike taylor because the amalgamation of all of those things is so exemplary of a huge problem i have with the music industry in general but also like american society

fuck it, numbered list!

1. taylor swift consistently releases the same mediocre album but in different colors. every album is the same lyrically and tonally. her body of work rarely goes very far above “good for taylor swift”. folklore as both title and musical aesthetic is irrelevant to the actual content of the album, which is just every taylor swift album except set to folk pop and with a bit more cussing, congrats for baby’s first swear. i’ve seen folklore compared to much better bodies of work and even propped up by stans as album of the year, a distinction that rina sawayama and chloe x halle will be battling it out for if there is any justice in the world at all. the fact that she is allowed to do this and still be considered great when this is something that even white male artists are butchered critically for... astounds me. like we all know how well received all of coldplay’s similar sounding albums are.... Come on. 

2. i don’t think taylor or her work is particularly feminist and yet for some reason every time she frowns an army of white women brings her kleenex. i’m not saying taylor’s anger has always been unjustified, but her feminism to me has always felt like “i can do whatever a man can do” feminism, which is utterly fucking useless to me as a black woman. it’s only useful to her because as a wealthy, white, straight, cis white woman her ONLY obstacle in life is her gender. and if she just didn’t have that tricky little bitch then maybe people would take her seriously. like, just think about her music video for the man... what was the thesis of that? what was the point of that? with all of her privileges she’d just be gaining a single extra privilege. she’s a blonde blue eyed thin white girl, the world kisses her feet. i have no interest in proving myself any better or any worse than white men, they are not the standard for how a person should be treated, they’re cautionary tales, and white women are too. i think taylor capitalizes off of white woman victimhood, and it’s all over her writing style. even when she’s trying to be empowered, like in mad woman for example, there is this tone to it of victimization, poking the bear, unleashing the beast if you will. she invokes the imagery of salem witches and even more boldly chooses a noose to write about in the song which is..... surely going to be a white tumblr staple for many gifsets to come but holy shit is it hollow. she also tends to come back to teenage memories in her music and she’s thirty. i don’t think about being seventeen unless i’m being held at gunpoint but she seems to think about it All The Time. and part of this is to keep herself young, at least in her music, which only further ingrains this image of fragile teeny bopper taylor into the mind of the listener, fueling her victim image. this imagery and language means nothing because the world always rallies around taylor. even when she was the butt of jokes for not being beyonce (which she is not and never can be) and writing about her exes (which she does), she was largely supported by the industry and by critics. look at how many fucking awards she has!

3. folk and indie and alternative music is in a moment of transition, where musicians of color are getting the chance to really speak about how they’ve been treated in these overwhelmingly white circles and create their own standards and their own voices. and for taylor swift to swoop in with aaron dessner and jack antonoff fantano and almost reassert that mid-2010s indie sound as The Sound of folk pop in the popular consciousness.... it makes me violent! it! makes! me! violent! 

4. back to hozier! finally, i wanna talk about white standom, fandom, bandom, and womandom. i often see these very superficial comparisons between hozier and taylor (and hozier and florence and hozier and stevie nicks and hozier and whatever other white woman in fashion) and they frustrate me for more than one reason. i know that hozier has met taylor and said she’s cool, which is nice of him and he’s a nice man, but i’m not a nice man so i’m going to just say it: none of the people who have made those posts have listened to more than four hozier songs and it shows. the reason why this matters is because these posts catch on and create an image and preconception of hozier’s music that is divorced from reality and divorced from his influences and most importantly divorced from the deliberate and reverent blackness of his musical style. hozier has his white male privilege in the industry for sure but he’s not as towering of a giant as taylor and taylor’s music is an unsalted chicken, plain oatmeal, white paint drying on a white wall, a stick of unflavored gum. her music is so white it told me that its dad is a cop. i am, as a black hozier fan, exhausted with having to share space with white women who don’t know why hozier’s music kicks me in my lungs sometimes and think that taylor mentioning a tree ONCE in her 3 minute acoustic guitar slog about whatever suburb is the same when it simply is not. i swear some of you are pretending to love taylor because your friends love her and you don’t wanna be left out of the hot new musical discourse but she’s only the hot new musical discourse CONSTANTLY because she’s a white woman, she’s almost the Perfect white woman. like if someone asked me to describe a white woman, it would be taylor swift. her position at the top of the musical pyramid among people who eclipse her musically, vocally, and lyrically is only allowed because she’s The Perfect White Woman. she’s an ideal. white girls relate to her immediately because of it and now we have this unshakable mob of unbearable white women who think that the world has wronged someone who literally wrote fanfiction about the rich oil heiress white woman who owned her rhode island mansion before her aklghlghdhlgs it drives me fucking NUTS 

anyway that’s all. if you made it this far, listen to adia victoria, kaia kater, samantha crain, valerie june, kelsey lu, corinne bailey rae, brittany howard, kimya dawson, japanese breakfast, cold specks, left at london, rhiannon giddens, aisha badru, shea diamond, nadine shah, xenia rubinos, karen o, mirel wagner.... Anyone

[thatgoblin]

In Which Emery Sees Discourse and Does a Deep Dive on Resident Evil 4 (SPOILERS)

So, the whole reason this is eating at my brain is because of the back and forth that I've seen over 'Is Resident Evil 4 Leon Misogynistic?'

It never really crossed my mind that it was to the point that I would change my mind about how much I liked it. In fact I never thought that about any of the main characters being particularly misogynistic. The concept sounded foreign to me because I had grown up with these games. I was 7 when the first game came out and was thrilled to see a badass like Jill as a playable character. (I had no business playing those games, but not the point.)

I was equally as thrilled to see Claire Redfield appear in RE 2 and to see Jill come back for RE 3. I never got the chance to play Code Veronica, but I did recently watch a play through of it and wish I had gotten to play it. The last RE game I was able to play was RE 4 on GameCube.

My older brother had owned the games and I wasn't able to really make saves so only when he was away could I get a chance to have a whack at the game. Which meant trying to play through it all in a weekend. RE 4 came out in 2005, I was 16 at the time and liked playing those games along with Mario and Spyro and Blood Rayne.

At that time, media was pretty weird with feminism. Since I grew up in the 90's there were always plenty of badass females for me to follow, even if they weren't as butch as I would have liked them to be. Girl Power was poked fun at a lot, not taken very seriously, but a lot of my childhood heroes always made a point to say girls are awesome and can do anything they want just like boys or even better than boys.

What does that have to do with RE 4 Leon being misogynistic though?

Well, let's take a look at the year that the game came out. It was released in January of 2005 exclusively for GameCube. It was at the end of the year that Capcom added Playstation 2 to it's playable consoles. That means it was years in the making by the time it was released, approximately 3 years of work. For simplification, it was started in January of 2002.

Any media at the time would have definitely been an influence on the creation of the story.

Still doesn't explain if Leon is a dirty misogynist or not.

I'm getting there.

The writer of the game itself was Shinji Mikami who also was the director of the original Resident Evil, helped produced Resident Evil 2, 3, and Code Veronica, was an advisor for Resident Evil Gaiden, directed the Remake of the original, was an executive producer for Resident Evil Zero, and wrote/directed Resident Evil 4.

Mikami wrote the script that would be later translated by Shinsaku Ohara into English. There of course would be changes because of cultural differences. While the Japanese version is written as a serious piece, the English version isn't. Something else that isn't in the Japanese script is the blatant anti-American-ese of basically everyone in the game not American.

For the English translation that's not surprising as The Twin Tower attacks in New York had happened very, VERY recently in time frame of this game being made, about 6 months give or take. It was a time where toxic patriotism was running rampant and all the bad guys had to be anti-American even if they were American themselves. The American media pushed this one ideal of a while, male hero hardcore. While there were still other shows/movies/books/etc. that featured POC leads and female leads, the hero was mostly a white guy.

But, does that make someone misogynistic?

Not necessarily.

Misogyny by definition is a dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.

There's also such a thing as passive misogyny, the 'here let me help you with that little girl' type. It's not aggressive or violent, but puts women down.

Which is in a lot of Japanese media. It's not being mean or harassing, but creating this set of rules that women/girls are fragile and need to be cared for by men. Even the most stubborn female leads need a man to help them. A lot of the shows that I enjoy have this in it.

Ouran High School Host Club is a good example of it. While Haruhi is supposed to be 'one of the guys' Tamaki constantly chastises her for not asking for help because she is a girl. The tone and the wording and the music make it out to be a sweet, caring gesture, but at the end of the day, Tamaki doesn't think Haruhi can take care of herself. He's always rushing in to rescue her even when she doesn't ask for it or even necessarily need it. The entire host club does this, but it's treated as romantic.

And guess what year it was created? 2002. Originally a manga, it was translated into English and then made into an Anime shortly after in 2006 while the manga was still being published.

That's nice and lovely information, but what about LEON?

I am finally there! I promise!

So, let's go over the events as a whole for RE 4 now that I've explained the era that it was made, the background, as well as who helped create it.

In short RE 4 is about STRATCOM agent Leon S. Kennedy, one of the few survivors of the Raccoon City outbreak, is sent on a mission to protect the president and his family. Before he starts, Ashley Graham, the president's daughter, is kidnapped. Leon sets off to find and rescue her with the help of fellow STRATCOM agent Ingrid Hunnigan as his eye in the sky and handler. His leads take him to Spain where he finds a cult called Los Iluminados who kidnapped Ashley to infect her with Lost Plagues. The plan was to send her back to the President to spread the cult leader's, Prophet Saddler, powers.

Leon runs into Ada Wong and Jack Krauser his ex-partner whom he thought was dead, but really had been infected by Wesker who wanted a sample of the parasite. Lots of running around, losing Ashley, getting Ashley back, sparring with Ada, 'flirting' with Ada, and fighting Krauser, all to end with Ada getting the parasite sample as the now healthy and parasite free duo of Leon and Ashley ride off into the sunset on a jet ski.

The lines are cheesy and fun, the game play is awesome, Leon's legs are a character of their own, an all around good game.

I actually went back to look at the lines of the characters to see what could possibly have set people off on whether or not Leon is a misogynist.

For the first hour or so of the game, it was just the story not the full game paly, I honestly didn't see a lot. There was one quip with Hunnigan about 'being lonely' because she was worried about Leon after he hadn't responded for six hours, but it was oddly placed and not even acknowledged. It also wasn't very targeted in my opinion. As in it was specifically meant to be a slight at a woman. You could have Hunnigan be a man and that line would still be awkward, but still just a sarcastic remark that's quickly dropped.

The other instance was after rescuing Ashley and she and Leon are running from the church, there's an area that has ladders that the player would climb up and down. If you knock down a ladder and put it back up as Ashley stands at the edge, she'll yell at Leon for being a perv as he puts the ladder back up. Apparently because he's looking up her skirt? Except he doesn't.

The next bit of the game, Leon is caring and concerned for Ashley. He's not making random one liners that would suggest he didn't like her or thought she was a burden or annoying. He reassures her that he'll get her home and he'll make sure she doesn't turn into one of them. After she's captured he has to find a way to get her free again, running into Ada Wong.

This is where I can see people getting an impression of Leon being less than thrilled with women. Except it's aimed at just one woman, Ada. Ada's character is very independent and very self serving. She doesn't care about people as a whole, but has a soft spot for Leon. He knows this, but it doesn't make them friends. It's written to have them be mirror images of each other. Ada on the 'bad side' and Leon on the 'good side.'

His line of 'Sorry, but follow a lady's lead just isn't my style,' isn't a jab at women. It's a jab at Ada. They didn't leave on good terms and he knows she's not there to be the hero. Leon understands Ada will always have another agenda, one that earns her money, and he doesn't think for a second that she cares more about him than that. She's someone who can't handle being in a regular relationship or have any type of constraints.

A lot of people get upset at the pairing of Ada and Leon because it's toxic, but that's the point. The end game with those two isn't happily ever after, it's the continual clashing of Leon sacrificing himself for the greater good and Ada looking out for Ada. I personally enjoy this because it's not done often, Batman/Catwoman comes to mind, but those two do eventually get together. It also makes things interesting and not in a 'will they or won't they' trope. They never will in cannon and that's okay.

In this scene in this moment, Leon isn't being prejudice or looking down on women, he's dealing with a specific woman who has hurt him and used him and left him with complicated feelings. If someone came out of the woodwork after doing something similar to you, you wouldn't exactly be pleased to see them. While he may make small jabs at her, Leon does care because that's who Leon is. He cares about people, even the ones who betray him.

Fast forward some more and Leon gets Ashley back. They have a small moment of hugging where Ashley actually starts to apologize for making this hard and running away, but Leon doesn't let her. He knows she has nothing to apologize for. She's a scared kid, 20, who was not prepared for something like this AT ALL. He's been through hell and hates that someone else has to go through it too and that someone isn't equipped to handle it in the least.

Ashley is captured again. (Pretty sure there was a damsel in distress kink happening here, but that's my opinion >.> )

More of Leon trying to save Ashley, we see Saddler order Krauser to get Ashley and deal with Leon, then Ada shows back up again with the speed boat to get to the island where Ashley is being held. As they get near it, in true Ada fashion, she takes off like Spiderman with a grappling hook while sending the boat, STILL GOING FULL SPEED WITH LEON IN IT, towards the cliffs.

Cue my gif at the top.

Leon manages to keep from dying and stops the boat in time with a sigh of relief and a tired 'Women.'

It's not really meant for his disdain of women in general, it's aimed at Ada. Ya know, cause she kinda almost killed him. It's not meant as a 'all women are the same and complicated,' type of response. In the late 90's to mid 2000's it was a pretty common thing to heave a heavy sigh and say 'men/women' after a particularly troublesome encounter with that gender. It's not meant as a generalization, but as a response to that particular person in the situation.

Ada also isn't helping too much and sending him towards jagged cliffs and break neck speeds would warrant a heavy sigh and grumble.

Once he has rescued Ashley, again, they run to escape down a garbage chute that Ashley refuses to go down.

She gives a very Valley Girl 'No way!' to which Leon gives his surfer dude 'Way.' before dragging her down the chute with him.

She screams as they go down and both land unharmed. She yells at him about being crazy because they could have gotten really hurt, he says 'I'd knew you'd be fine if you landed on your butt.'

She get's huffy at him and follows him out.

That's a pretty standard way of flirting in media at that point in time. Up class girl with down town boy trope where he makes a 'sexual joke' about her and she gets upset or pretends to. This one isn't really even that deep. Leon's making a joke and possibly doing a bit a flirting. He's gotten used to her being herself and is even trying to lighten the mood.

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING ASHLEY IS KIDNAPPED BY SADDLER!

Girl can't catch a break.

Then we go through Leon fighting Krauser the first time, Ada coming in to talk, Leon running off to fight Krauser for the 2nd time, Mike the helichoopy pilot making a brave effort before getting blown up. Saddler leaves with Ashley to another part of the island.

Ada shows up again and under the control of the parasite in him, Leon attacks her. He tries to strangle her before she stabs him in the leg and he's able to regain control of himself. He and Ada team up/split up to find Ashley to get rid of the parasites in them. Leon finds Ashley with Saddler, he goes to rescue her as Ada shows up to offer cover fire.

Leon takes Ashley to the machine they need to get rid of the parasite, they take turns in it and make a run for where they need to go to get off the island. They get to the FINAL BOSS stage where Saddler has Ada tied up. He does his big boss speech, Leon frees Ada, kills Saddler, and then just like in RE 2, Ada takes the parasite sample and leaves Leon.

She does toss him a teddy bear keychain with a jet ski key on it though as a means of escape. Leon grabs Ashley and runs for the jet ski where he tells her 'Hang on, Sweetheart!' before zipping out of the pip they're in and out into the ocean. Ashley falls off, but Leon quickly scoops her up and they're heading back home.

Ashley casually asks if Leon wants to go back to her place for some overtime and Leon chuckles and says sorry.

She asks who Ada is and he explains she's a part of himself that he can't let go and they leave it as that as they ride into the sunset.

There's an epilogue as well where Hunnigan is able to get back in touch with Leon. She's relieved that the line is jack free, he makes a comment about how she's not wearing glasses and confirms he rescued Ashley and is on his way home. She's glad to hear that then Leon says she looks cute without her glasses and asks if he can have her number when he gets back. Hunnigan gives him a sigh and reminds him he's on duty to which he replies 'story of my life.'

The epilogue was kind of odd, but also funny and cute. It's not really calling Leon a ladies man or making him look like one. Again, it's Leon trying to forget about the shit he just went through and if he could get a date or something a pretty girl why not?

Also, I'm pretty sure he said no to Ashley because 1. Presdent's daughter. 2. Her father ordered Raccoon City nuked. 3. He doesn't have that kind of chemistry with her.

So, to say if Leon is indeed a horrible misogynist is not true. He's not written like that at all. To argue so would mean you either didn't play the game, took things out of context, or didn't understand the media from that time period. Also, to argue that he's a perfect little bean isn't okay either. Leon has flaws and flawed characters make for good stories.

Going over the script, which I will link, and seeing what instances may cause that speculation or opinion, there really isn't anything to back it up. He's not even in passive misogynist territory really. He's kinda flirty, but he's never inappropriate or makes comments about women in general and each time it looks like he is, it's taken out of context. Put back into context, it makes a lot more sense and clears things up.

At the end of the day RE 4 Leon just reads like a tired guy that wants to keep people safe, do his job, and maybe get some dinner with a cutie.

I dub RE 4 Leon NOT misogynistic.

At the end of the day, things are not black and white. While Leon was not misogynistic, some characters were and were written that way on purpose, I.E. Luis, who would comment on Ashley's body a lot in the game. That extends to all media. There's shades of misogyny everywhere and while it's not the best, it's not the worst either. We've come a long way from where women weren't even allowed to be in theater to where queer female representation is starting to get more and more wider and in depth.

The Resident Evil games aren't perfect in representation, with only two or so POC characters that are a lead and the rest white as starters, it doesn't mean the whole thing is bad.

To say the whole thing is bad and unredeemable because of a few parts isn't healthy. Not everything is going to be the most inclusive, feministic, master piece, and that's okay. You don't have to make a stand and say 'I would never consume this media!' and also you don't have to force people to like it.

The whole discourse about whether or not Leon is misogynist is pretty new to me, considering the fact that the game came out in 2005. Media from the past isn't going to be the best and people need to understand that. I still watch shows where POC actors would never be featured or gay people were punch lines. I watch them because I like them and they make me nostalgic. Resident Evil makes me nostalgic as well because I grew up with it.

I'm always going to have a soft spot for this franchise and while people will make wide assumptions about it or take things out of context knowingly or unknowingly, I'm not going to let that ruin things for me. The same for if people disagree with me entirely on this. Discourse can be healthy because it makes people think, but when it gets out of hand and sides are taken in a black and white state then it gets toxic. You can agree or disagree on things, but you should also make informed decisions for yourself. Making it a big deal of picking who you agree with or don't to the point of being rude and hateful to one another doesn't make you sound like you have all the information let alone know what you're talking about.

Get the facts, look them over, take time to study them, then engage.

After all, at the end of the day, even though it is my special interest and I adore it, Resident Evil is just a game and there are much bigger things to worry about.

Take it from your local, 32 year old goblin, this isn't a hill to die on. Now go drink some water and have a snack and if it's that time for you, get some fucking sleep.

[talkingbl]

Popular BL opinions

Here's a running list of popular bl opinions so y'all can stop saying they're unpopular just for clout. Also, gonna include my own perspective on some of them in red.

Thai BLs are quantity over quality (or, alternatively: Thai BL sucks). Most of the time when people say this, they're also kpop stans, hype up anything Korean, Japanese, or Chinese and reek of colorism. Either way, Thailand has some of the best BLs out there. And while there is a lot of trash, you can literally say that about any other industry.

Korean BLs are the best. I have not been impressed thus far.

Trapped is the best HIStory story. lmao no.

Stop ordering ship names by top/bottom or using those labels in general.

It's bad/annoying/harmful/etc. when a one guy in the pairing is referred to as the "wife" in the relationship. On the one hand I understand this take, but on the other it just seems like a lot of folks are performative activists who want to seem 'woke' and just say shit just because it sounds good. This point is very nuanced b/c while there is a problem w/misgendering, 1) that's not your place to say something if the character in the story doesn't care, and 2) most of the time y'all just hate it b/c you don't want men to be associated w/femininity.

BLs need more LGBTQ+ representation.

We need more GLs instead of BLs. We do need more GLs but I never understand why these takes come up in unpopular BL opinion threads...

BLs should stop catering to straight women (or, alternatively: straight women who watch BLs are gross/disgusting/etc.). This is a tough topic b/c 1) I don't think all BLs cater to straight women specifically, 2) it's okay for anyone to consume any media as long as it's not harmful (could you imagine telling people they can't watch Asian dramas b/c they're not Asian??), and 3) it again comes from either internalized misogyny of LGBTQ+ women or outright misogyny from MLMs (yes, gay men can be misogynistic). At the same time anyone who fetishizes any media should definitely be called out, I just don't necessarily think this is always the case.

Most BL actors can't act.

Taiwanese BLs are underrated.

Only Philippines has good LGBTQ+ representation.

BLs should stop using actual LGBTQ+ actors as comic relief.

Fanservice is cringey/is bad/should stop.

BL producers should stop pairing the same actors together time and again. I will watch OffGun in anything they make together. I also will watch Gun in anything he does without Off. In fact, one sign of a good actor is that they can act w/the same people in different roles and still convince me that they're a new character every time. Gun can be Third, he can be Rome, he can be Black/White--him acting alongside Off in those roles only amplifies his talent for me. It's cool to see him in other roles, but I don't think he has to stop acting alongside Off if he doesn't want to.

BL producers should stop casting homophobic actors.

Non MLM people shouldn't have opinions on/need to stop consuming BL b/c it's problematic for some reason or another. This is one of the most ridiculous takes to me. I understand if people are being problematic but to categorically deny entire groups of people from consuming a certain type of media b/c they don't represent those characters is idiotic at best. Imagine if we could only watch things where we identified with every aspect of the characters' identity? Not only would all industries besides ones that represent majorities (for example Cishet white couples in the west and Cishet Chinese or Indian couples in the east) die off, but it also denies the complexities of human experience and, ironically, others the very groups we're meant to be embracing into the larger culture. It doesn't help that a lot of MLMs deny their misogyny, racism, colorism, etc. which informs their opinions on these things.

We need more LGBTQ+ BL producers.

Tharntype is bad.

2gether is overrated.

Most BL pairs hate each other. I honestly feel like most of them don't care one way or the other and do it for a check. Speaking specifically on Tay and New, I truly don't believe they actually hate each other. People who hate each other are more subtle in their beef than Tay and New. But more on that another time.

There is a distinct difference between BL and LGBTQ shows.

There needs to be less heteronormativity in BL.

Cherry Magic/ITSAY/Trapped are the god-tier BLs and nothing else touches them. Also, no.

All GMMTV BLs are bad but somehow at the same time Bad Buddy was a subversive masterpiece. GMMTV is what I like to call a mixed bag. They have My Gear and Your Gown but also produced Theory of Love. They give us absolute garbage-tier material but then turn around and produce Not Me. Besides, what other studios have consistently produced bangers? The answer is none. None of them have. Folks act like GMMTV needs to be on the 2000-2010 Pixar type beat when that is a difficult bar to reach. Also, Not Me and Theory of Love are the best GMMTV BLs.

BL shows need to stop demonizing female characters.

BL fans are toxic.

"I can't wait until [INSERT ACTOR HERE] steps out with his wife of 10 years and four healthy children!!" (or, alternatively: "let BL actors have girlfriends!") This opinion is not unpopular and never has been and also reeks of insecurity to some extent (more on this another time). We get it, you support actors as people and don't care about their sexuality/ships. You're a subversive king/queen who wants to see all the delulus weep blah, blah, blah. I 100% agree that any human being should be able to live their life and shouldn't be afraid to lose their status b/c of their relationship. I just think the people who constantly complain about this are annoying. It's a weird double-edged sword where I want actors to feel comfortable living their lives and want the immature fans to stop harassing them for it but I also want the complainers to stop putting bl fans (especially straight women fans) into one group as if everyone is harassing these actors when it seems to be a very small but unfortunately loud group.

University-set BLs are boring (or, alternatively: we need more *mature* BLs).

Let actors leave BL.

If you watch BL and enjoy the sex scenes/physical intimacy, you're toxic/homophobic/fetishizing/etc. lmao do people watch romances for anything other than this? Now this opinion would be heeded if most BLs weren't explicitly romance-based in nature and had plots outside of the romance. But most BLs don't have plot outside of the romance. And while asexual homoromantic people exist, most BLs are explicitly about homosexual romances. Like, do you say the same shit to people who watch other types of romances for the sex? Because 90% of all romances have strong sexual themes. I can't name a single one that doesn't involve or heavily feature sex. That said, fetishism is a real issue in BL. But I don't think this is the right way to frame the issue. We need to find ways to tackle fetishism without assuming that anyone who enjoys any romance for sex is automatically a fetishizer.

Brightwin don't have chemistry. They do, it's just not the chemistry you want to see. See, this is where real fetishism comes into play IMO. People think BW don't have chemistry b/c you can't imagine them having sex (b/c in these people's eyes if 2 men don't look like they wanna bone, they can't be compatible which ruins their fantasy). That said, even Brightwin's bro-chemistry isn't as natural as, say, OffTayArm's chemistry.

No ships are real. Hot take but we'll never know anyway. People who say this typically fall into a few categories (to be discussed at another time)--all of which point to some insecurity they have internally. Either way I don't really care much. I watch dramas for the shows themselves, not necessarily the actors behind them.

You're delulu/cringey if you ship pairings. I honestly do not care if people ship actors as long as they are keeping it out of the actors' faces and not allowing the fantasy to blur reality.

BL is holding Gun/BkPP back. Likewise, GMMTV is holding Singto/Tay/Gun back. This is simultaneously homophobic and incorrect. If these actors could get roles outside of BLs and they wanted to take them, they would. Also, BL is not some lesser industry where actors should aspire to "greater heights" such as straight lakorns/dramas. That's such a fucked way of looking at BL and contributes to the lack of quality BLs w/esteemed actors. As for the GMM take, it's kind of 50/50. Gun and Tay have done some amazing work under the GMMTV brand. But at the same time, it would be interesting to see what they can do in international work or even with other Thai studios.

[chibimyumi]

Redesign Prompt RESULTS!

Alright, thank you everyone who has voted, the results are now in! Overwhelmingly our winner is Ranmao 🐈!

First of all, I need to insert a few caveats here. Unlike with Victorian fashion, I do not have years and years of studying of Qing dynasty-fashion behind me. So whatever results I show here are the product of a fortnight of reading up and meticulous studying of contemporary photographs. a.k.a. I am merely scraping the surface here. But! I do promise that everything shown here is done to the best of my ability to be responsible as a content provider.

Now without further ado, let us dive into Ranmao’s current design, the blatantly obvious inaccuracies, and how I propose to redes...ign... her outfit while keeping the original intact as much.... as possible????  Heck, this is not even worthy of being called a ‘redesign’, this is straight up designing from scratch!

Hair

Let us start with her bangs. Her bangs are in fact surprisingly accurate, as late Qing dynasty women would wear their bangs in a variety of Bettie bangs trimmed well above the eyebrows. Having sides of the bangs growing longer framing the face was usual too, though they would be cut slightly thicker than Ranmao’s. Though, we don’t know how much hair Ranmao has, so I see no reason to alter it.

Twin braids are very much associated with the “China doll look”, but they seem to have been branded into our image of the “Chinese Girl” because it was the go-to look for unmarried women in Republic China (which is many years later than Ranmao’s time, and also has more surviving images.)

In Ranmao’s time, unmarried girls would either wear the bottom part of their hair down, or have everything tied into a single braid behind them. Girls who preferred a more feminine look would often decorate the sides or the top with flowers or other ornaments depending on their wealth.

Yana’s notes say that the flower in Ranmao’s hair is a Chinese peony, which is also called the Empress of Flowers in Chinese as well as Japanese culture. I could find sources on how the peony was the symbol of the Empress of China, and how one better avoid wearing any type of peonies around the Empress herself for fear of being suspected of disrespect. But I could not find any evidence of such flowers being banned for other people, so presumably it was more an ‘unwritten code of politeness’ rather than fashion law.

Hence, I kept the pink peony design for Ranmao, and decorated them in the way Qing women would have.

Neckline

By far the most interesting thing I learned from this redesign attempt was that the “mandarin collar” - the thing that pops up first in most people’s minds when thinking about Chinese fashion - was in fact not at all common.

In this academic work on Chinese fashion history, Finnane writes that the ‘high collar’ was “not a common feature of costume before the twentieth century.” Instead, most costumes would have had a round neckline.

Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 93

The ‘high collar’ gained popularity in early 1900s in China after the Europeans brought with them the beauty standard for high collars, as well as slim-fitted silhouettes. The Chinese increasingly adopted this type of collar and the slim silhouette (the well known ‘china dress/qipao/cheongsam’), and the relatively many early photos that survived helped engrave this stereotype into our minds.

Sleeves

I do not think it requires any mention, but 19th century Chinese fashion did not include boleros... For many of the original designs of Ranmao I can sort of see where Yana got that image from, but this bolero-look truly beats me.

The sleeves worn in the late Qing period were relatively wide, though they were starting to slim down over time. Late Qing women enjoyed much more flexible clothing rules than earlier Qing women, and the width of the sleeves was in great part determined by personal preference, season, but mostly one’s wealth.

Needless to say, the larger the sleeves the more fabric and embroidery it would require, and thus more expensive. Also, the wider the more it would get into the wearer’s way.

I don’t know how much thought Yana put into Ranmao’s original design in relation to her function as elite bodyguard, but considering how the original has zero practicality and only serves to maximise Ranmao’s attractiveness, I have no qualms about giving Ranmao fairly large sleeves too. Besides, let us assume that Lau is responsible for providing Ranmao with clothes. Illegal money tends to fill the pockets quite deeply, I don’t think he can’t spare a few pounds for big sleeves.

Wider sleeves would expose much of ‘a lady’s precious skin’, as such a more fitted layer would have been worn underneath. (The sleeves under the wider sleeves obviously did not have to be orange-ish. This was merely coincidence that both my redesign and the visual source have this colour.)

Silhouette

The figure hugging silhouette x Chinese clothes was - as mentioned above - not at all a thing in Ranmao’s time. In fact, the accentuation of the “female curves” was considered very inappropriate if not downright ugly in the Qing dynasty.

Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 94

Yana’s notes mention that the thing Ranmao wears is just an European corset and that that is the only thing ‘English’ about her attire.

Well... I don’t know where the idea that Victorians wore corsets on the outside comes from, but I myself admittedly was fooled by this a few years ago too... I promise you all now however, Victorians decidedly did not wear their ‘bras’ on the outside. I think even now this look is considered rather ‘questionable’ by most people.

Instead, Qing dynasty clothes were mostly cut wide and straight, loosely dangling around their bodies offering maximum comfort and space. You feared Ranmao killing you in her corset? Now tremble before her now blessed with maximised agility.

Trousers

Well... I considered ‘translating’ Ranmao’s attire to 2020 standard like I did for O!Ciel, but that would not be Tumblr-filter approved. Skirts so short they could be mistaken for a belt are nothing too surprising today, but wearing one with a split that deep is probably a bit too revealing even by today’s standards.

By the late Qing dynasty, men and women, rich and poor alike predominantly wore trousers. Long robes (skirts) were definitely in fashion too, but they were reserved for those who could afford to not have much agility. If you were a farmer, robes would not have been your first option. Perhaps the way long skirts were viewed by the Qing Chinese was not unlike the way we see them now; ‘more classy’ ‘more feminine’ and ‘less convenient’, but not the only way to express femininity.

In these pictures below we can see relatively rich women, married and unmarried alike, all wearing trousers.

Ranmao is predominantly a fighter, and as trousers are plenty feminine in Chinese fashion culture, I don’t see why she would not choose to wear trousers instead of a restricting long skirt. Hence I gave her a pair of trousers.

Shoes

Like I said before, “the shoes are correct...” But the anklets definitely are not!

Golden or silver anklets are something that are worn by very, VERY young children in China. Even to this day it is customary among many Chinese people to gift newborn children at least one piece of pendant, bracelet or anklet, for it is believed to bring the child luck. More practically, this piece of jewellery will become the child’s first piece of property then, which can be sold later SHOULD they ever run into a financially difficult situation.

These anklets or bracelets would not be removed from the child unless they have outgrown them, which happens fairly quick. Ranmao who is probably full grown should have outgrown them at least ten years ago. Hence, seeing these things on Ranmao would probably make it look like she is still wearing diapers or bibs.

Chinese people would likewise not have worn shoes barefoot. Instead, they would have worn cotton socks which were mostly white.

DOUBLE HAMMERS

HERE COME THE WEAPONS! Luckily Yana wrote the following note or I would never have guessed what they are for my knowledge about Chinese weapons is next to nothing.

“These are【SUPER】heavy. They are weapons called 双錘 (double hammers) and they in fact exist. I heard these were used by power-type warriors.”

So, I googled 双錘 and it turns out that the type Ranmao is holding do indeed exist! But... only in fiction and theatre.

The hammers that were used in actual combat were either very thin and long, or short and plump. Such hammers were one of the most primitive metal weapons in China, and quickly fell out of favour among Chinese warriors when more practical weapons such as the metal spear, sword and bows were invented. The hammers mostly retained their value because of their weight in heroic tales and myths about legendary warriors and deities.

I don’t have the full details, but apparently according to some legends or myths, one of such big-ass hammers could deal a force of 200kg, and thus 400kg combined. Regardless of this being realistic or not, it sure does sound very cool! It is therefore no wonder this primitive weapon retains its popularity even today.

Nowadays when these hammers are used, they are either the blown up theatrical versions, or the smaller versions for the sake of preserving martial arts.

I had a bit of a dilemma as to which version to give Ranmao, but in the end I settled with the short and heavy ones because I wanted to keep the idea of this small and innocent looking girl wielding solid metal balls. Two cheer-leading sticks would simply not have the same weight, figuratively and literally.

Alright everyone! Did you enjoy my response to your votes? I hope you did ^^ Non-European fashion history really is not my strong suit, so my deepest apologies if I messed anything up.

Pray tell if I did, I am always happy to learn ^^

[seattlesea]

bad representation in the riordanverse

Racism:

-Gave Hazel and Piper gold and ‘kaleidoscope’/brown-blue-green changing eyes and pretty much went ‘Let’s add some characters of color but they cANT HAVE BROWN EYES THAT’S NOT PRETTY ENOUGH’ as if whitewashing isn’t more than just the skin.

-East Asian characters: Riordan pretty much went 'Here are my East Asian characters- one of them looks like a fat baby on steroids and is super undeveloped, his mother is strict and cold, and all the others are just described as 'Asian' because different countries in Asia don't exist and there's obviously no difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean'. His portrayal of East Asian characters went like this: Frank: Chinese, chubby, hates himself, underdeveloped, described to look like a 'Chinese Canadian baby man' and a 'panda' as if that's not stereotyping, and only learned to love himself when he looked hotter.  Drew: Asian, villainized, rude, shallow, vain, and selfish. Ethan: Asian, rude, evil, a traitor, and deceased. Grandma Zhang- rude, strict, cold, traditional, and deceased.

-Hazel: Has gold eyes. Has 'cinnamon brown' hair even though dark brown or black hair would be way more inclusive and realistic. Had a mother portrayed as a rude and selfish witch who sacrificed, used, and trafficked her own child. Was the only character called or described as a witch while African-Americans were usually accused of witchcraft just for their skin color. Was the only character who was cursed. Had a mother who literally practiced voodoo. The only African-American character in the series before ToA who isn't dead (but she also died). Was paired with a sixteen year old guy even though African women are constantly forced with older men and that's blatantly racist stereotyping. 

-Piper: Had 'chocolate brown' and then 'mahogany' hair? Has kaleidoscope eyes. Put a feather in her hair (which is stereotyping)- and it was an eagle feather, which is also wrong because eagles are extremely sacred to First Nation tribes and only spiritual leaders or warriors can wear it or it has to be gifted by an Elder of the tribe, and Riordan basically went 'Feathers are very important and it's racist to make a character wear one at inappropriate times but I'm going to make my character wear one as a cute accessory to make her look cool, pretty, and headstrong and to add to her 'Aesthetic'’ even though Cherokees didn’t wear feathers (which proves he did the bare minimum of research). Constantly oversexualized (56% of First Nation women are sexually harassed and Riordan had the audacity to put Piper in an 'embarrassingly low v-neck' and to have her constantly drooled over by a WHITE MALE and have her sexualized by her 1000+ mother without her knowledge or consent).  It's said that her father was from a reservation in Oklahoma...but there are no reservations in Oklahoma, only cultural centers (which also proves that he did the bare minimum of research).  She's the only First Nations character and she's the only character (besides Nancy Bobofit) depicted as a kleptomaniac (First Nations people are constantly called thieves by racist assholes). “The week before, he’d turned down several million dollars to play Tonto in a remake of The Lone Ranger. Piper was still trying to figure out why. He’d played all kinds of roles—a Latino teacher in a tough L.A. school, a dashing Israeli spy in an action-adventure blockbuster, even a Syrian terrorist in a James Bond movie. And, of course, he would always be known as the King of Sparta. But if the part was Native American—it didn’t matter what kind of role it was—Dad turned it down.” (The Lost Hero, page 165). So her father is fine with playing an extremely racist and stereotypical Middle Eastern role but not a First Nations role. Uses a cornucopia as a weapon (how she got it- cutting it off a half-bull- is disrespectful to her culture as hurting an animal is banned and she used a cornucopia- a symbol of Thanksgiving- as a weapon). Cut her hair, which is basically taboo in First Nations culture.

-Samirah: Had an arranged marriage (at age twelve, and she believed that she was groomed to be married to a rich and respectable family and nothing else). Ripped off her hijab in front of tons of male characters. The only Muslim character. The only Muslim character and she's the only character who married her cousin (you're supposed to break stereotypes, not enforce them).

Thomas Jefferson Jr: Said that he was thankful to the British for not siding with the South during the American Civil War even though they needed the South's cotton (but they didn't side with the North either). AKA a black man and son of a freed slave was thankful to Britain for not openly oppressing him? And at the same time he was named after a racist slave-owner.

Reyna: She's brown and her entire story revolves around her being independent, strong, alone, and self-sufficient but also desperately needing love and support but then Riordan says that she can't get her heart healed AKA she went through an abusive home, killed her father, left her sister, felt alone her whole life, worked a two-person job alone for months, and had to put on a brave face for others throughout all this then was literally told 'Shut up no one wants to hear about your struggles, just suck it up and deal with it’ and have you seen all the shit brown girls have to go through and keep silent about it? 

Extra: -Latino, Puerto Rican, African-American, Chinese-Canadian, East Asian, First Nations, etc. characters and the two most powerful, best, and most skilled characters and who the stories mostly revolve around are two white guys AKA white supremacy.

-"Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason" and that World War II was caused by a child of Zeus and a child of Hades fighting very blatantly erases the shit those people went through and Riordan just went 'Let's use these racist movements as little easter eggs in my story'.

-Thanatos, who was chained and enslaved, is described with dark skin.

-Riordan writing the characters went a little something like this: Drew: You get common Eastern Asian features like dark hair and eyes because you're arrogant, selfish, conceited, and rude, and because you're an antagonist and you're going to be used to make one of my protagonists- who has unique traits- look good so you're going to have the basic, 'boring' physical traits so the readers know who's the more superior of the two of you. Leo: You get common Latino features like curly dark hair, dark eyes, and light brown skin cause you're the weird, hyperactive unattractive one who's very flirty but constantly gets rejected and you're the only main character without a love interest and the only way you can get a girlfriend is when she's forced to fall in love with you through a curse. Frank: You get common Chinese features like dark hair and eyes cause you're the fat unattractive loser who catches the eye of the African character who already has unique and 'special' traits so you don't have to be super attractive. Reyna: You get common Puerto Rican traits like dark skin, hair, and eyes cause you're the stoic, lonely, intimidating, and cold one who wants all the guys (two white guys for that matter) but none of them want you and they both have girlfriends with traits like blonde hair and gray and kaleidoscope eyes so the readers know who are the more interesting couples.  Piper and Hazel: You two get eurocentric features because you're the main characters I have to set apart from everyone else- including other females whom I'm going to make one of you rivals with- so the readers know who's more superior so I'm giving you unique eye colors that literally cannot be found in humans so I'm going to try to validate it by saying that it's from something mildly associated with your godly parent even though neither of them have those traits. Riordan basically said that the common features are bad and boring and that unique and special features- aka features not found in those ethnicities- are good and cool. Also- if gods don’t have DNA how can their traits be passed down to their demigod children checkmate Riordan.

-Cecil Markowitz is the only Jewish character in PJO and the first thing used to describe him is "That kid, always thinking about the potential payout".

-Lavinia said that she was going to bring her date to her bat mitzvah even though you don't bring dates to bat mitzvahs or bar mitzvahs and she said that it was 'awkward' to tell her rabbi that someone was going to be her date even though you don't explain your guestlist to your rabbi, and they're most likely not even going to be at the party.

-Only three Latino and Puerto Rican characters (Leo, Reyna, and Hylla) and all three came from abusive households.

-Leo said 'Mamacita' as if that's not stereotyping.

-Made Nico ‘pale’ even though he had olive skin and gave him black hair and dark eyes despite Italians usually having light hair and eyes just to add to his ‘Goth Boy Aesthetic’.

-Hazel described Pluto to look like Adolf Hitler.

-Carter Kane said that Elvis took African-American music and made it sound like rock 'n roll and described it as cool- like no it’s cultural appropriation. 

-Leo was abused and Riordan thought that it'd be funny to make all the other characters line up to punch him and then try to make it look funny. 

-Gave almost every single POC character a white name and sometimes gave them white first names and POC surnames, and Reyna and Bianca are the only POC characters with names from their culture/native language and one of them is dead and reborn as someone else and the other’s full name wasn’t revealed until the fourth book in her series and she hates using it.

-Made two POC characters with names from their culture- Samirah and Olujime- go by white nicknames (Sam and Jamie) to make it ‘easier to read’ despite having white characters with the same amount of syllables in their names (like Annabeth) that didn’t go by nicknames.

-Never actually described the characters of color with physical traits from their ethnicities (Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with big eyes, thick eyebrows, brown hair, wide noses, full lips, etc., Piper with almost-oriental eyes, shovel teeth, high cheekbones, black hair, etc., Nico with light or brown hair and eyes, olive skin, a narrow nose, etc., Hazel with a wide nose and lips, dark brown eyes, black or dark brown hair, big eyes, thick eyebrows, etc.).

Anti-LGBTQ+:

-Nico was forcibly outed by Cupid and Riordan and the fandom didn't care and the only thing they thought was 'Aww, he has a crush on Percy! So cute!' AKA romanticizing a forced outing. 

-Riordan said that he didn't want to make Reyna lesbian or bisexual because he thought it'd be stereotypical making her LGBTQ+ because she didn't want men anymore even though she could've been bisexual all along but Riordan casually dismissed the idea of that saying "Having a girl end up with a woman after dating men is a bad stereotype" and basically said that real bi girls don’t exist.

-The Hunters of Artemis were made so Artemis/Diana could protect those girls from men and their behavior towards women but Riordan dismissed lesbian relationships- even though nothing about that was said in real Greek mythology- meaning that he thinks that women need protection from other women just as much as they need protection from men.

-Alex Fierro is the only gender-fluid or transgender character and she/he’s seen as rude, snarky, and sharp and Magnus could magically tell when Alex changed gender.

-Riordan said that he wouldn’t make Reyna a lesbian because of stereotypes despite the reader asking if Reyna was going to get a girlfriend, not come out as lesbian AKA Riordan thinks ‘Girls liking girls’ is automatically ‘lesbian’ and completely dismissed bi, pan, poly, omni, etc. girls.

-Used a self-insert to make fun of wlw readers who saw themself in Reyna and thought she could be a cool character to relate to.

-Enforced LGBTQ+ stereotypes like the cold-hearted Asexual, the flamboyant bi/pan, the snarky gender-fluid, the emo gay, the laid-back and rebellious lesbian who dyed her hair pink and chews a lot of bubblegum, etc.

-Has one-hundred fifty-five characters total minus gods/goddesses, Titans, giants, nymphs, dryads, satyrs, monsters, etc. and only has fifteen confirmed LGBTQ+ characters (do the math, that’s exactly one out of ten regarding OCs).

-Only one character that isn’t cishet.

-Saves most the LGBTQ+ for the side characters or only confirms characters LGBTQ+ once they’ve become a minor character despite being a main character before.

-Only stated that Reyna was Asexual outside of his books and on Twitter as if that’s not exactly what J.K Rowling is doing.

-Used the LGBTQ+ community to make Piper seem like the ‘special snowflake’ and to set her apart from her siblings to make it seem like she’s better than all of them and used Hera/Juno and Aphrodite/Venus as excuses for his homophobic mindset that believes that straight is the default cause “Suddenly, much of what she and I had talked about started to make sense. Not being defined by Aphrodite’s expectations. Or Hera’s ideas of what a perfect couple looked like. Piper finding her own way, not the one people expected of her” in synonymous words is 'The expectations for love and the idea of a perfect couple are a heterosexual relationship, and anyone who 'finds their own way instead of the ones people expect' are different'. ‘Different’ and ‘default’ are antonyms AKA if he thinks that LGBTQ+ people are ‘different’, he thinks that straight is the ‘default’. Remember- an author writes their own personal beliefs.

-Josephine is the only black LGBTQ+ character.

-Reyna is said to be Asexual despite feeling sexual attraction towards Percy cause no one likes someone five minutes after knowing them and it’s anything but sexual attraction.

-Magnus and Alex are the only LGBTQ+ relationship whose growth and development is actually shown in the story (while there was also Apollo and Commodus, Piper and Shel, Will and Nico, Apollo and Hyacinthus, Emmie and Jo, Lavinia and Poison Oak, etc.).

-Riordan never canonically said the name of any sexuality and is clearly uncomfortable with the LGBTQ+ community shown by his little to no writing regarding physical affection and deep emotions in his LGBTQ+ relationships.

-Only added in LGBTQ+ relationships for publicity- Percy Jackson and the Olympians release dates: 2005-2009. 2005-2009: LGBTQ+ support was nearly at an all-time low. No LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or references in the books. The Lost Hero-The Mark of Athena release dates: 2010-2012. 2010-2012: LGBTQ+ support was still very low. Still no LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or references in the books. The House of Hades release date: late 2013. Mid-2013: the giant spike for LGBTQ+ support and allies. One confirmed LGBTQ+ character. The Sword of Summer release date: late 2015. 2015: LGBTQ+ support was good and gay marriage was legalized. A few LGBTQ+ references but no confirmed characters. The Hammer of Thor and The Ship of the Dead release dates: 2016-2017. 2016-2017: LGBTQ+ support was quite high. Two confirmed LGBTQ+ characters and the first canon LGBTQ+ relationship and kiss. The Trials of Apollo release dates: 2016-2020. 2016-2020: LGBTQ+ support was very high. More LGBTQ+ characters confirmed in one book than all the other series combined. Kind of obvious he was just following the public opinion.

-Legit said ‘Reyna can’t like girls cause she has had crushes on guys before’.

Ableism:

-It was heavily implied in The Battle of the Labyrinth that Rachel Dare had schizophrenia/psychosis but it's never brought up again.

-Grover's fake feet made it look like he was disabled from the Mist and it was said that he was bullied because of it but it was never brought up again.

-It was said that Tyson looked like he had down syndrome from the Mist covering his one eye but it was never brought up again. 

-It was stated that every character but Frank has ADHD and dyslexia but never actually showed any symptoms after Percy Jackson and the Olympians and characters like Piper and Leo were even able to read English writing throughout The Lost Hero and the only symptom of ADHD Riordan showed through his characters was ‘a lot of fidgeting’ as if that’s not a blatant stereotype. 

Pedophilia:

-Luke, a twenty-two/twenty-three year old had a crush on Annabeth, a sixteen year old. That's a six-seven year age gap. 

-The only two girls put into relationships with much older men are black (Hazel and Sadie).

-Hazel, a thirteen year old, got together with a sixteen year old guy. Hazel's crush on Frank is normal- a girl having a crush on an older guy, but Frank's crush on Hazel is disgusting- an older guy looking down at a child and thinking about making out with her.

Misogyny:

-Aphrodite's kids are seen as useless, weak, snobby, shallow, vain, and selfish just because they’re feminine. 

-Riordan portrayed Aphrodite’s kids as feminine despite Aphrodite being the goddess of love and beauty, not femininity, as if romance and beauty are reserved for women only. 

-Piper is the only 'tomboy' child of Aphrodite and she's portrayed as tougher, stronger, and better than her feminine siblings (and it's portrayed that way multiple times throughout the story like other characters telling Piper she’s "-tough for a child of Aphrodite").

-Piper immediately stereotyped and disliked every single feminine character like Drew and the rest of the Aphrodite cabin just because they liked makeup and skirts as if that’s not shallow criticism. 

-Feminine characters like Drew, Isabel, Khione, and Medea are used or even created solely as antagonists to make Piper- the tomboy- look better.

-Calypso is the only feminine character and she sucks at everything. 

-Riordan’s take on female characters: Drew: a vain, rude, selfish, snobby, and bitchy mean girl. Silena: a shallow traitor. Reyna: a cold-hearted robot. Piper: internalized misogyny that was never brought up again. Calypso: an island whore. Athena: a rude, aggressive bitch with no emotions. Aphrodite: shallow, vain, conceited, and self-centered. Hera: completely evil with no backstory added into it. Marie: an evil witch who selfishly used and sacrificed her daughter.

-The Hunters of Artemis were blessed by Artemis to protect them from men but Riordan made it only about the men in their lives (again) and portrayed the whole 'losing men' thing like it was a burden and that they're 'giving men up' even though they join the Hunters to leave men. He distorted the original meaning of the Hunters- protecting women- by making it about the Hunters hating and being forced to leave men even though they're asking to have no men in their lives, cause that's the point of it. 

-The Amazons and Hunters of Artemis despise men and literally attack them if they so much as speak as if sexism is reserved for women only.

-Portrayed femininity as weakness (and masculinity as strength, it’s even in the word- tomBOY).

-Constantly pit women against women for the sake of romance and love triangles instead of normalizing women getting along despite liking the same people and let the female’s relationships get controlled and influenced by the men in their lives.

-The men always outpower the women in powers and skills. Riordan’s portrayal of powers and characters- Percy: You’re going to have epic water powers and can even create your own personal hurricanes and even though you’ve only been canonically training for eight months total you’re going to be the best swordfighter despite multiple characters having years more training than you. Jason: You’re going to be able to fly, control lightning, create storms, and electric shock people into another dimension. Leo: You’re going to be able to create and control fire and blow shit up with just a screwdriver. Frank: You’re going to be able to shape-shift into any animal you want, even a whole dragon. Nico: You’re going to be able to control darkness and shadows, literally teleport, and raise a whole army of undead soldiers. Reyna: Powers? Nah, your only ability is to lend strength to others as if that benefits you at all. Annabeth: Powers? Nah. Piper: You’re going to be able to manipulate and seduce people and are literally going to use your body and attractiveness as a weapon and your power is literally called charmspeak. Hazel: You have more powers than all the other characters combined that can literally destroy anyone in less than a second but you’re never going to use them or even remember that you have them cause screw the female character being more powerful than the males. 

-The men always accomplish the most incredible feats and if the females ever do accomplish something great (Reyna healing the riff and defeating Orion while the Hunters and Amazons couldn’t combined, Annabeth going through Tartarus, Hazel learning to control the Mist, etc.) they are never praised or rewarded or all the credit goes to the men. 

-Ares/Mars in real Greek/Roman mythology was the feminist patron of the Amazons who loved his daughter very much and killed a rapist but was portrayed as the dumb, cruel asshole who loved nothing but bloodshed and tried to kill a twelve year-old kid who was trying to help him while Poseidon/Neptune in real Greek/Roman mythology was a greedy, short-tempered, and arrogant asshole who raped almost as much women than Zeus/Jupiter but was portrayed as the kind, caring, and gentle father figure. 

Fatophobia:

-Frank is the only chubby character and he hates himself because of it, was constantly fat-shamed, and only learned to love himself after he got rippling abs, muscles, and looked hotter (because fat = ugly in Riordan’s mind, even though it's not). 

-Clovis was depicted with a pot-belly and Drew described him as 'repulsive'.

-Dionysus/Bacchus is also depicted with a pot-belly and he's portrayed as a useless, rude, lazy, and drunken asshole. 

Lookism:

Basically how Riordan wrote his characters- Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Reyna, Hazel, Piper, and most minor protagonists: You’re all going to be super attractive, have at least one character or more pining for you, have your looks constantly commented on, and some of you will even use your looks as a weapon cause that’s not obvious sexualization cause you’re all the main characters and protagonists that readers need to know are the protagonists. Nico, Leo, and Frank: You three are originally portrayed as unattractive but at some points are described as cute and two of you are insecure about your looks cause you’re scrawny and chubby and one of you hates yourself cause of your body and only learn to love yourself once you magically gain abs cause more muscle obviously equals more attractiveness.  Luke, Silena, Chris, and Ethan: You four are going to be super attractive because you’re traitors but all of you make up for your actions and decide to help the demigods and become protagonists again. Octavian, Bryce, Michael, Titans, giants, etc.: You all are the antagonists so you have to be super ugly with multiple physical imperfections cause you’re not allowed to be attractive since you are against the protagonists and I have to set you guys apart and show the readers who’s the better and more superior character. 

-Frank hated himself cause he was chubby and only loved himself once he got skinnier and gained muscle through magic but even then was called ‘cute like a panda’.

-Leo was described as scrawny and unattractive and was insecure about being short but even then was called ‘cute in a scrawny way’.

-Piper had facial imperfections and even a pimple on her nose but once she got claimed all of those disappeared and they stayed gone even after the blessing washed off despite all the magic being gone and only then was Piper’s looks commented on multiple times. 

-Lester/Apollo hated his appearance cause he had a little flab and acne and his physical imperfections were used as comedy by making fun of it as if insecure readers don’t exist.

-Percy and Annabeth had one canon physical imperfection- a gray streak in their hair- and that magically washed away.

-None of the other characters were described with any physical imperfections like pimples/zits/acne, body hair (despite none of the characters having the care or time to wax or shave), bushy/frizzy or messy hair or eyebrows, big or small hands or noses, blackheads, super thick or thin eyebrows, blemishes, birthmarks, scars, stretch marks, braces, lazy eyes, yellow or chipped teeth, eye bags, glasses, moles, dimples, love handles, flab/fat, visible veins, freckles, etc. unless it added to their ‘aesthetic’ despite none of those being bad and saves it only for the antagonists as if ‘physical imperfections’ = ‘evil’. 

Bias:

-Riordan portrayed the Romans as cold, cruel, ruthless, strict, and overall horrible despite them being the more inclusive camp regarding family and godly parents, have multiple families and rules that ensure their camper’s safety, and hold the nicest characters in the series while the Greeks are portrayed as fun, wild, reckless, silly, and cool despite holding the most prejudiced and rude characters, outcasting and ostracizing characters of certain godly parents just for their parentage, stereotype almost every single cabin, and make some campers without siblings live, sleep, and eat alone. 

-Every Greek traitor (Luke, Silena, Ethan, and Chris) were portrayed as powerful, kind, attractive, and awesome and each made up for their actions but each Roman ‘traitor’ (Octavian, Bryce, and Michael, and only one of them are actually a traitor) were portrayed as unattractive, cruel, ambitious, ruthless, and extremely weak and never actually did anything useful.

-The Greeks were part of the Union and the Romans were part of the Confederacy (adding on to Riordan adding racist movements as fun little easter eggs in his stories).

-Four out of seven of the main Seven are Greek.

-There are at least 70+ Greek characters and less than thirty named Romans.

-The Battle of San Francisco Bay was used for the sole purpose to weaken the Romans and make the Greeks seem stronger than them and while the Greeks went through two whole wars, their camp laid almost completely untouched but the moment the Romans are introduced, half their population is wiped?

Romanticization:

-Romanticized Annabeth judo-flipping Percy AKA romanticized physical abuse/harassment (emotions, angriness, feelings of love and affection, ‘they went through a lot together’, etc. do not excuse hitting someone) despite Annabeth knowing where Percy’s Achilles Heel was and not knowing he lost it and flipping him on his back anyways (if Percy didn’t lose the Achilles Heel, Annabeth would’ve killed him).

-Romanticized Leo killing himself to see Calypso again and to take her off her island AKA a romanticized suicide.

-Romanticized Calypso yelling at and insulting Leo and Annabeth insulting and canonically lowering Percy’s self-esteem AKA romanticized verbal abuse/bullying.

-Romanticized Will trying to help Nico through his loneliness and depression as if that can’t be portrayed as someone just wanting to help another person AKA  romanticized mental illness.

-Romanticized every character kissing another character without asking first and without their consent AKA romanticized sexual harassment.

-Romanticized Piper taking advantage over Jason’s amnesia and mental state and jumping onto him despite knowing there might be a girl he couldn’t remember AKA romanticized manipulation.

-Romanticized Piper and Annabeth’s possessive, overly-jealous, and controlling behavior over Jason and Percy (even before they were canonically dating).

-Romanticized Nico being forced to confess his crush on Percy AKA romanticized a forced outing.

Rick Riordan:

-Refused to apologize for his actions even after being called out by people from the groups he was writing inaccurately and stereotyping (Muslim, Jewish, African, First Nation, lesbian, gay, Puerto Rican, etc.) and tried to make himself look like the victim.

-Claimed he was being ‘bullied’ by readers half his age who were just pointing out his books’ racist flaws.

-Showed time and time again that he is not willing to listen to the voices of minorities.

-Clearly didn’t do his research on ethnicities, sexualities, religions, etc. shown by how he got the simplest things wrong.

-Tried to say that he- a straight white man- was right when people of the actual groups he was writing about (gay, First Nation tribes, etc.) were wrong.

-Used excuses like having a ‘headstrong’ and ‘stubborn’ character who wants to ‘show their culture in their own way’ for his stereotypes. No, Riordan, you want to show the culture that way, not Piper. She’s a fictional character, you’re real. Dumbass.

-Literally said ‘Sorry I put feathers in Piper’s hair, I can’t change what I wrote in the past and I didn’t know that sensitive readers existed’ then continued to write feathers in Piper’s hair in the future books. 

The Fandom:

Note: Not to all of the fandom, obviously

-Draws Piper with light skin, light hair, and kaleidoscope eyes with feathers, hippie bands, and beads (yes, it's canon, but you're allowed to change it if it's blatantly racist, and the bead and hippie band thing was created by the fandom and that's also stereotyping).

-Almost always draw Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with light skin and Caucasian traits (props to the few artists who drew them with the right skin tones).

-Draws Hazel with gold eyes, ‘cinnamon’/light brown hair, and an adult body.

-Sexualizes female characters by drawing them in sexy and revealing clothes and giving them all the same exact sexy, slim, and perfect hour-glass shaped bodies.

-Almost never include physical imperfections, muscle, scars, stretch marks, etc. in drawings.

-Fancasts white actors for characters of color and puts actors/faceclaims of white people or people of different ethnicities in the moodboards or aesthetics for characters of color.

-Participates in cultural appropriation by wearing feathers when cosplaying Piper and wearing a hijab when cosplaying Samirah.

-Supports Riordan, tries to defend him, and condones his clearly racist and bigoted actions just cause they ‘like the books’ (if you are straight, white, and/or cishet, I definitely don’t want to see you trying to defend a fifty-five year-old multi-millionaire who is clearly racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic).

-Romanticize physical abuse, verbal abuse, mental illnesses and panic/anxiety attacks, etc.

-Ship pedophilic, manipulative, abusive, and wrong relationships.

-Barely allow others to have their own opinions (looking at you Perachel haters) without yelling at, insulting, cursing out, and/or even threatening them for liking or disliking different things than them including ships, characters, books, plots/faults, and Riordan himself.

-Straightwashes characters like shipping Nico with female characters or setting him up with a female character in fanfics.

-Whitewashes characters like drawing Hazel and Piper with eurocentric features, Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with white skin and Caucasian traits, Nico with white/pale skin, etc.

-Try to excuse and explain abusive, manipulative, possessive, and overall very wrong and toxic behavior.

-Fail to recognize and/or admit the toxic, racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, wrong, abusive, etc. faults in the books, ships, and characters just cause they like them.

The Percy Jackson franchise does not add good representation. You can still like the series as long as you don’t condone Riordan’s racist and toxic writing and actions and don’t try to ignore the horrible and stereotypical faults just cause you don’t want to admit that your favorite or childhood story is horrible. 

[siumerghe]

Hi! 16 and 26. Thanks

16. which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?

Most hated stereotype: vodka! Yeah, there are alcoholics in Russia, same as in other countries, and there are problems with alcohol in the Russian province, among poor people and especially among indigenous people of Siberia and Arctica who biologically lack alcohol-processing ferments.

However, personally, I don't know any hard-drinking people in Russia, neither among ethnic Russians nor among other nationalities. No one in my family drank vodka, even during various celebrations. People in the cities, especially younger generations, being more health-conscious, usually don't drink much. "But you are Russian! Why are you not drinking/drinking so little? Drink more!" Ugh. Me being from Russia doesn't mean I enjoy drinking or have a high alcohol tolerance!

Oh, and also Russians never say "Na zdorovie!" when toasting. It means "My pleasure" or "You are welcome" and is a response to "Thank you". A mistake I'm tired of correcting my non-Russian-speaking friends. As a toast, it sounds incredibly stupid. Thanks, Hollywood, for inventing this nonsense.

Russia is not a country of vodka, it's a country of black tea, with an average Russian citizen (including ethnic Russians and other nationalities) drinking 3 cups of tea per day. Every meal ends with tea (brewed in a small kettle from loose tea leaves and then mixed with hot water), and it’s not just tea - it’s tea with something: sweets, sandwiches, pies, blini, dried fruits... Tea without food is called пустой чай - “empty tea”. Tea is also drunk in-between the meals, with something or on its own. So, you wanna picture a stereotypical Russian? Forget the vodka, go for the black tea instead!

The stereotype I somewhat agree with: Russians are good at math. This one is true. The mathematical education in the USSR was largely shaped by Andrey Kolmogorov, one of the world's most prominent mathematicians. The Soviet education system was stellar in exact sciences, and its heritage is still alive in present-day Russia. Russian schools put extra effort into teaching math while focusing on problem-solving (not “see and repeat”), Russian math program is in general more difficult than in the West (what is a school-level material in Russia, in the US is taught in college), there are prestigious (and free) math schools for gifted children, and Russian universities have the best math courses (which are available on youtube - but in Russian). 

26. does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?

It does - unfortunately. I wish Hollywood forget that Russia exists. There are all kinds of offensive and harmful stereotypes (all Russian men are either alcoholics or KGB agents, all Russian women are prostitutes), incorrectly understood folklore and culture, crazy errors in geography, history, fashion, and whatnot. All Hollywood Russians are evil. And if not, then a typical Hollywood Russian man dies painfully as a way to atone for the crime of being Russian. A typical Hollywood Russian woman betrays her country and/or becomes the lover of the hero (who is American, of course). And all of them drink vodka like water and say "Na zdorovie!"

It’s also a bit strange when ethnic Russians are portrayed by actors with distinct White American or Western-European facial features. Native people easily notice such details. It’s like seeing a Japanese being portrayed by a Chinese, or an Afro-French being portrayed by an Afro-American. 

Western movies about Russia and Russians that I like: Eastern Promises 2007, Chernobyl 2019. The latter even got ethnic Russian and other Soviet nationalities types right (except for 1 - only 1! - actor with a rather Anglo-Saxon face).

“hi, I’m not from the US” ask set

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

[albdodaze]

blooming. y.itadori

‘i’m going to fucking cry’ (chapter four)

warnings: cursing, real slight mention of death (only in one sentence, don’t worry!)

context: IN WHICH kami gojo, younger sister of certain powerful jujutsu sorcerer, meets an idiot who makes cold barrier around her heart melt.

A/N: PLEASE READ! i'm talking a bit about japanese culture in this chapter, most importantly, about kimonos and i'm really new to this stuff so if i got something wrong, please, please tell me and educate me, i would really appreciate it! enjoy the chapter!

"We're going where!" Kami's loud voice rang out across the room where she stood with her brother.

"Kami—"

"Don’t Kami me right now! Why couldn't you say no?!” She cried out, throwing her hands in the air.

"You know I couldn't," he added. Satoru sighed and stepped closer to his sister, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This is some fucking bullshit,” muttered Kami and leaned her head against his chest.

"When are we going?"

"Tomorrow."

"Wait," Kami broke off and looked at Satoru seriously. "But tomorrow is Itadori and Nobara's first major mission!" She yelled, terrified that something might happen to her classmates. "I can't leave them like this, Megumi can't handle them alone, after all, there's no telling what grade the curse is!"

"Kami, everything will be fine, they can handle it," Satoru reassured her. "Yuuji might not know much about it, but I'm sure he'll be fine."

"But what if someo—“

"No one will die, Kami," Satoru laughed and pushed her out of the room, leading her to her room. "Go pack, we're leaving early in the morning, our parents want us to make it in time for breakfast."

"Parents my ass,” Kami muttered and went into her room, closing the door and leaning against it, sighing heavily.

‘Couldn’t be any better,’ she thought and finally ducked under her bed to pull out the pink suitcase she kept there from underneath it.

“So that means I can say goodbye to wearing any trousers for a whole week,” she sighed, opening her wardrobe and selecting clothes from it that her parents would approve of.

You see, the Gojo Clan was very traditional. Women weren't supposed to wear trousers, though mostly women, men and children wore kimono, anyway. But, however, when there was a time where the clan membership did not have to wear it, women were not allowed to wear trousers.

It was the same with the care of the home and family. Women were there to serve, to clean and cook, and men to protect their family and their clan. Well, unless there was an attack by the curses or another clan, then the strongest women were chosen to fight for their clan too. But mostly women were supposed to be a good showcase for their clan, their family. They were supposed to look beautiful and look the same at the side of their men.

Over time, this was regulated somewhat. Women were finally allowed to attend clan meetings, and not only to sit and listen, but also to talk. But clothing and other things remained.

Kami opened one of the large drawers and looked at several boxes, tied with pink and red bows. With a sigh, she looked into the first one, checking if her Komon didn't need any adjustments and if it wasn't damaged anywhere. Once she was sure everything was fine with it, she re—cubed it in the box and placed it beside her, checking the second box.

'I don’t have any idea if I need Iromuji, but I'll definitely take the Yukata,' Kami thought and pulled out another kimono, looking it over carefully.

Just as she had everything packed and was about to sit down on her bed for another sweet sleep that day, Kami heard a knock on her door. The girl furrowed her eyebrows when, a moment later, no one entered. After all, Satoru and Megumi immediately enter when they knock. Kami sighed heavily and walked to the door, opening it slowly.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw the pink—haired boy in front of her, nervously standing in front of the door and scratching the back of his head.

When Yuuji saw Kami in front of him, he panicked and jumped up, a scream limp in his throat.

"Jeez, calm down, it's only me," Kami said AND leaned sideways against the door frame. "Is something wrong?"

"Eh, um... I—I was just—I was just wondering if you would want to go and eat with us in the kitchen," the boy began, blushing softly.

"What do you mean by 'us'?"

"Kugisaki and Fushiguro."

"Megumi? Megumi’s with you, guys? What an asshole! He told me he can't do anything today because he's busy!" Kami was pissed off, throwing her hands in the air.

"Um, actually he was, apparently he's been practicing all day, he came to the kitchen because he ran out of water and decided to stay," Yuuji explained as Kami walked into the room to grab her phone.

"Don't make him excuses," the white—haired girl looked at the boy with a threatening look as she closed the door from her room.

"That means you're going?"

"And what does that look like to you?" Kami rolled her eyes and started walking towards the kitchen. "Are you coming or not?"

Yuuji shook himself out of his trance and ran up to the girl, matching her pace.

The path to the kitchen wasn't long, so the awkward silence didn't last long when Nobara suddenly ran out of the kitchen, throwing herself at Kami, who caught her to keep her from knocking them to the floor.

"Oh, thank gods! I thought I was going to have to stay here alone with them," she said quickly and grabbed Kami's arm, pulling her towards the table where Megumi was already sitting.

The first thing Kami did was walk up to him and slap him on the back of the head.

"Liar."

"It's nice to see you, too, my dear best friend."

The dinner was nice, at least for Kami. She thought it was nice to get away from reality and at least relax for a while, just talking to her friends. Well, or listening to them, as Kami was doing.

The girl didn't speak much, listening to the conversations between the three and every now and then nodding or smiling softly. And it wasn't that she didn't like it. In fact, she liked it a lot. The food Yuuji had prepared was really good and was a nice change from ordering pizza or sushi every day.

When Megumi and Nobara left after a while, saying that they had other things to do and thanking Itadori for the food, an awkward silence formed between Yuuji and Kami again, and the only sound that could be heard was Kami's chopsticks tapping against the plate.

"Don't you like it?" Yuuji asked suddenly, distressed when he saw Kami playing with the meatball on the plate. Kami raised her gaze to him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What? no, absolutely not. The food is very good, I was just thinking," she replied quietly, looking at the boy who didn't dare to look her in the eye.

"You've been awfully quiet since the beginning, are you sure everything is okay? I know we've only known each other a few weeks and all, but if you need to talk—"

Yuuji interrupted his speech when he felt a cold hand on his palm and lifted his gaze to see that Kami had leaned gently over the table so that her and Yuuji's faces were closer together.

When Itadori looked into her eyes, Kami smiled softly and squeezed her hand over his.

"Everything's fine, really," she reassured him. "I just don't feel well because I have to go to my family."

"You don't feel your best because you're going to your family? Shouldn't you be happy?" Asked a surprised Yuuji, unconsciously intertwining his fingers with Kami's fingers.

At the gesture, Kami flinched slightly, and goosebumps appeared on her back. The girl frowned slightly, not remembering ever reacting this way to someone else's touch.

'I never feel it when Megumi or Nobara touches me, then why would I feel like this with Yuuji? And why does it feel kinda good?'

"Uh—“ Kami shrugged and let out the air she had unconsciously held in. "I don't have the best relationship with my family." Kami smiled and Yuuji looked at her sadly. "Don't make that face," Kami began. "I don't care about them, I go there because until I turn eighteen, I don't have any right to cut myself off from them. In theory, I'm forced to continue seeing them."

"Oh." Yuuji replied, not knowing what else to say. "I'm sorry."

Kami laughed softly, at which Yuuji got goosebumps and his heart started beating even harder.

The two teenagers sat in the kitchen for two more hours, talking about all sorts of topics as if they had known each other for years. Their hands stayed in the same place the whole time.

When they finally both went back to their rooms, Kami threw herself on the bed and started looking at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen when something hit her. She was laughing all the time when she was around Yuuji.

Kami groaned and hid her face in the pillows, screaming into them and hitting the bed with her feet.

"Are you kidding me right now!" She screamed into the pillow and turned onto her back again, her hair tousled and her face mildly red from the temporary lack of oxygen. "No fucking way I have a crush on my damn classmate! I know him for a few weeks, for fucks sake!"

Yuuji didn't feel any better.

As soon as he closed the door from his room, he ran into the bathroom, turning on the cold water in the sink and washing his face with it.

The boy sighed heavily and leaned his palms against the sink, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Damn you and your little cute laugh," he said.

He sighed and his head hung down.

"Damn you and your cute fucking face," Kami groaned and hit the pillow with her fist. "I'm going to fucking cry.”

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

I wouldn't mind that post on VNs!

So I was gonna write three different lists, but then after writing the first part I realized this is very long and takes a while to write and nobody cares anyway so I’ll just post my recommended list only. Well, I mean, you asked, but I doubt you wanted all this lol. Thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about this stuff, though. Hope you enjoy my ramblings!

An explanation for what this list is: Sometimes I know a game isn't perfect in many aspects but I still had a genuinely good time playing it, hence why I'm recommending it. Also I should mention that I could talk for hours about some of these games so if anyone’s curious about more of my thoughts, let me know.

Alright, now that that's out of the way ...

How to Take Off Your Mask / How to Fool a Liar King / How to Sing to Open Your Heart (f/m): This is a trilogy of smaller, single-RO games where you can take one of two routes depending on how you act, and they’re all interconnected where you get to meet and interact with the previous games’ characters in the sequel games. I went into this expecting very little but what I got blew me away with how funny, charming and cute the games were. They don’t take themselves too seriously, at one point an angsty male character monologues deeply about some shit, and another one just slides into frame and starts mocking him. It was so fucking funny, holy shit. Also, a central theme is literally racism against catgirls? Which is monumentally stupid, and probably the games’ main flaw, especially in the final game where it pairs up a catgirl with a catgirl racist, but that one still ends with a literal bisexual queen literally making a man her malewife because she fell in love with his cooking, so like ... It speaks for itself. My favorite game of the three is the second one, where you get to play a punchy fake catgirl and romance a pink-haired prince. And honestly, all the female protags in these games are lovely and a breath of fresh air, and the male characters are fun and not abusive assholes either. There’s full Japanese voice acting, and two out of three female protags are literal catgirls who pepper in “nya” and “mya” into their dialogue, and it’s just treated as a quirk of their catgirl race. I AM NOT KIDDING. Yet somehow it never comes off as cringe, because it doesn’t take it self too seriously. These games are just cozy. That’s the only way I can describe them. Cozy and hilarious. Play them yesterday. Dream Daddy (m/m): Man tumblr did this game dirty. This is just a cute, wholesome daddy dating simulator with gorgeous art. Coming out on Top (m/m): So you know Dream Daddy? What if it was EXTREMELY, MAJORLY NSFW? Though I realize how bad the comparison really is, the only thing these games have in common is that they’re gay dating sims and don’t have an anime art style and oh, yeah, they’re both really well-written. Or at least, extremely funny. COOT (heh) is DDADDS’ horny older cousin, and I first encountered the game on a lesbian letsplayer’s YouTube channel. Yes I watched a lesbian play a gay porn game and it was GOOD. I was there for the cringe and fun and got surprised by how genuinely funny and sometimes actually touching the game was. I can’t give it my universal endorsement because it’s not a game for everyone, as I said, it’s extremely NSFW and the menu theme literally includes the singers screaming “SEX SEX” at the top of their lungs. There’s more to this game than the porn, but there’s just so much porn. It can be censored in the settings but it’s unavoidable. However, I still think it’s worth a look just because of how funny it is and how charming the characters are. If you don’t want to play it yourself, at least watch Anima’s playthrough of it. It hasn’t aged super well in some spots but I still go back to it every now and then. Akash: Path of the Five (f/m): This game markets itself as a more “professionally produced” western dating sim, and that’s accurate in some superficial aspects. The game is pretty poorly written, but it’s absolutely gorgeous and has really good English voice acting by actual professional voice actors. The premise is quite self-indulgent, but I genuinely respect that about it. You play as the only female elemental in a village with only men, and all five of your classmates want a piece of you. It’s clear the writers have put some thought into the lore and worldbuilding of this world, but barely any of it comes through in the actual writing and plot, which is basically just a vehicle for you to get together with your boy of choice. The ROs aren’t very well-developed either, and the plot is the same in every route with only minor variations depending on which guy you pick, up to the point where the protag has the same voice lines in some parts regardless of which guy she’s talking about. It also has one extra half-route that’s so bad and pointless I genuinely wonder why they wasted resources on making it instead of spending a bit more on the writing/adding some variations to the main plot. So why am I recommending this game? Well, it’s pretty, and it sounds nice. This game is a himbo, gorgeous but dumb as rocks. Enjoy it for what it is. I know I did. Get it when it’s on sale, I think if I hadn’t gotten it at half-price I would’ve felt a bit more cranky about it. Also Rocco is bae. Mystic Destinies: Serendipity of Aeons (f/m): Yes that’s the full title, no I don’t know what it means either. You may have noticed how most of the games so far I’ve enjoyed because they don’t take themselves too seriously? Well, this one does. It takes itself SO FUCKING SERIOUSLY. Like, way too seriously. It’s a little embarrassing at points because baby, you’re an urban fantasy dating sim. Calm down. But the game has gorgeous art and 3 out of 5 routes are very good. The last route, the one with your teacher, is both the most problematic yet somehow the one that breaks down the very concept of a dating sim within its own narrative (yes, this shit gets fucking META) and it got so wild at the end that 1) I still listen to the soundtrack for that route and 2) I still remember it to this day despite finishing it ages ago. My favorite route is Shou, he’s a sweetheart, but the mindfuck route is so buckwild that I think the game is worth playing just for that. There’s also a route that’s like a neo-noir mystery? I Do Not Know. This game is many, many things and it does them so sincerely and tries so hard, you can’t help but respect it. It doesn’t always stick the landing but man, just let this thing take your hand and wax poetic at you for a bit. Also get this one at a sale because it’s very expensive to get the full version. I got it for 9 bucks on itch.io and I felt that was a fair enough price, I’d say I wouldn’t have minded paying more for it because there’s a lot of content to enjoy and/or be baffled by. Arcade Spirits: This one’s a bit more weird from what I recall, and I honestly couldn’t tell you much about it, but I remember having a very good time with it and recommending it to a friend when she was going through some tough times and she said it made her feel better. I remember it making me feel better, as well. This is a VN about an arcade and the ROs are wonderfully diverse, with very real human conflicts that get explored in each of their routes. It can get quite existential and heavy at times, but in the end it’s a kindhearted game that I think everyone can enjoy. The main character was also, how you say, mood. It’s a game about getting possessed by a video game and then learning self-love. Ebon Light (f/m): This one’s free/name your own price on itch.io so go play it. It’s a weird plot where you play as a girl who ate an elven relic? And then the elves kidnap you because you’re the relic now. All the ROs are extremely pasty (like, literally white, as in literally the color white) dark-haired elves, except for one, who’s an extremely pasty blond elf, so ... diversity? I honestly don’t know what this game is aside from unique. I used to be a bit put off by the art style but now I think it contributes to the general atmosphere. It’s a weird game that technically doesn’t do anything groundbreaking but still left an impression of “huh. weird” in my mind and I think more people should play it. The ROs are all pretty generic dating sim archetypes but done well, with bonus points to Duliae who’s just a massive creep and I love him, and also Vadeyn who’s the only bitch in this house I respect. The worldbuilding is honestly a bit buckwild and I can’t give enough credit for how unique the elves’ culture is in this game. Definitely give it a go. Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds / Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms (f/m): These two are newer releases of an older Japanese visual novel. I wouldn’t call it a dating sim, it’s ... it’s more of a super depressing historical fantasy epic with some minor romance aspects awkwardly wedged in. It’s seriously some of the heaviest and most grimdark shit I’ve ever played in a VN/otome. I don’t understand why it’s a dating sim, it doesn’t read like one, it’s just historical fantasy based on real world events with characters based on real people, and they kill and they die and they grieve and they suffer. The games are literally about the downfall of the Shinsengumi, there’s no way of avoiding everything going to shit and you get to watch and be in the middle of it all as they struggle to stay alive and relevant in a world that doesn’t need them anymore. And there’s the protag in the middle of it all, being useless and submissive and bland just the way the usual otome protag is. I don’t think these games are necessarily fun, and the romance is certainly a lot more downplayed and deeply problematic just based on the age differences alone with some of the men, but the sheer amount of horror and sadness in these games make them stand out above its peers. It’s like watching a war movie. Since most of the characters are based on real people, they feel like real people instead of the usual otome archetypes, and they are so, SO flawed, it’s interesting to just watch them deal with the shit the world throws at them. It’s an Experience, and if you’re up for it, I think it’s worth the time. Cinderella Phenomenon (f/m): This game is free on Steam so go get it. You play as a really, genuinely shitty princess who gets cursed to be poor and forgotten and she has to help one of the ROs break his fairy tale curse so that she can learn about being a good person herself and return to her normal life. This game doesn’t look like much, but it has a genuinely well-written main character who’s actually at the center of each of the stories and in the overarching plot instead of just being around to make eyes at the real protagonists, aka the love interests. Aside from the main character, my favorite part of this game’s writing is how each route slowly but very smoothly expands upon the overarching intrigue. If you play them in a certain order, you get more and more info revealed to you that you didn’t see in other routes, gaps are filled in as you find out more about what actually happened and why, but every route also stands on its own as a full experience and none is more canon than the rest. There’s also some really heavy emotional parental abuse explored, which I found quite potent at times. The romances themselves were alright, I think Karma and Waltz were my faves.