#I don't. really know how to tag this?

[musical-chick-13]

Barbie Movie = White feminism

I do genuinely get what this movie was going for. And I think what it was going for is genuinely admirable: the idea that, as a woman, even if you do everything """right""" according to prejudiced society, if you are thin and white and young and stereotypically pretty and personable and not intimidating, you will still suffer the effects of misogyny. No woman is immune.

However, I think that message got...muddied. This is probably going to get really long, so I'll put the rest under a cut.

The narrative focus is on how different the Real World is from Barbie Land regarding the treatment of women, but in Barbie Land, there are WOC in positions of political power. Racism and transphobia don't seem to exist (at least, not in any way that we see). These things, as we know, do exist in the real world, so if the intention is to highlight the disparity between locations, the fact that other forms of prejudice are never even MENTIONED is a little odd. I don't think this was done with malicious intent, but as you said, the discussion of feminism in this movie is...very white.

Especially since our female co-lead is a Latina woman. She gives a very vulnerable, deeply personal account of what it's like living in the world as a woman and all the angles of oppression she faces for that (something so emotionally weighty it is the key to the plot's resolution), and there is...zero discussion in any of that about what life is like for her as a woman of color, or any of the expectations that are placed on her because of that. If Gloria's experiences with misogyny are so integral to the movie's themes and to her relationship to the world at large, why not include...anything about racism or racial identity?

I also feel like there's just...a very simplistic view of how the patriarchy works. Which, no, you can't break down the intricacies of an entire oppressive social system in the space of a two hour movie. But to suggest that just...acknowledging? Misogyny? Is enough to successfully fight back against it is...the most charitable thing I can call that is "overly-optimistic."

(Like. Trust me. We're aware of the expectations placed on us as women and how much those suck. We can't "rob the patriarchy of its power" just by talking about the patriarchy.)

And the idea that...just coming into contact with patriarchal ideas will completely brainwash you? I get that everything is exaggerated in Barbie Land and that it's not a one-to-one representation of real life, but that sat...weirdly. With me. Yeah, people are absolutely going to internalize some negative or inaccurate things about women by virtue of living in a patriarchal system, but plenty of women (as well as people of other genders) go through life without falling all the way down the misogyny rabbit hole. Outside of Stereotypical Barbie and Weird Barbie (who both had plot reasons for being "immune"), this was every woman. To the most extreme degree. And, again, I just...kind of question why. What is the implication supposed to be here? Are women inherently comically-susceptible to propaganda? Is it impossible for them to de-internalize misogynistic ideas of their own accord, to the point where someone else who is miraculously free of misogyny needs to "debug" them? The optics of this confuse me a little bit.

And there's some other stuff, too, that fell flat for me. Barbie Land is supposed to be a place where the men are treated like women are treated in real life, but we don't...really see that until much later in the movie, when they talk about how the Kens don't have places to stay and have no political representation. (And, sorry, but the solution to "the Kens have no home" is not "the Barbies need to let them stay with them." It's "build the Kens their own homes and make them accessible." You are entitled to safe and secure housing by virtue of being a person. You are not entitled to sharing housing with someone you're romantically interested in.) And the way that Barbie handles her unwanted relationship with Ken is...pretty much exactly the way women try to navigate unwanted advances from men in real life: avoiding explicitly romantic activities by saying she has social obligations, keeping a physical distance in the hope that he'll give up on trying to kiss her, making her annoyance as clear as she can in the hopes that he'll take the hint and leave her to her own devices. Women in real life do these kinds of things to avoid actively rejecting men (because sometimes actively rejecting them means they hurt us, or worse) and although Barbie's behavior isn't done as a defense against potential misogynistic violence, she's still acting in exactly the same way in exactly the same context as people who do have that fear. Ken is the one instigating this relationship, and Ken is the one who keeps trying to reestablish the relationship's boundaries. So even in the face of all of this, the specific takeaway is supposed to be, "The solution to oppression is not to make men oppressed the way that women are because look how equally horrible it is." But between the way Barbie and Ken's relationship is framed and the lack of specificity in how the Kens are treated, we don't actually have a consistent depiction of men being oppressed in the way that women are, which throws that whole message off.

But mostly...maybe this is just a me thing, but I question why we need a story about how It Would Also Be Bad If There Was A Matriarchy. We can barely even get people to discuss the misogyny that currently exists and admit that it's still a problem; we are not in danger of replacing the current system with the inverse by Going Too Far In The Other Direction, not any time soon. I just don't think that discussion is valuable right now because there's no chance of that outcome--of elevating women so much they become Oppressors Of Men--even happening. (Note: I am aware that some r*df*ms/t__fs are VERY much pro-subjugating-men-because-they're-inherently-evil, they are the minority, the general population is not anywhere NEAR that point of view.)

There were some really good things in this movie. America Ferrerra's monologue about how no matter which way you live as a woman, you're "doing it wrong" was incredibly true and incredibly relevant. The Mattel executive being SO insistent that he Loves Women but has exactly zero of them on his board. The fact that the Ken Movie sold out in-universe and made a bunch of money pre-release just because it was about a man. Making fun of the "Just take a girl's glasses off, then she's Pretty™" trope. THE DEPRESSION BARBIE WITH PANIC-ATTACK BARBIE SOLD SEPARATELY. I laughed a lot and there were a lot of genuinely emotionally-resonant moments, including from the standpoint of "Oh hey, I see/suffer from this type of misogyny too!" But I don't think this movie was saying anything particularly new or profound about feminism. Which it's okay if a movie isn't profound! I like plenty of things that exist just to be fun or enjoyable! But I got the feeling this movie was trying to be profound and make some sort of grand, revolutionary statement. And even if it wasn't, a lot of people are acting like it's the key to solving sexism and I just don't think that's merited.

[luwha]

Not telling y'all that you should be able to identify AI slop (but it is a valuable skill, you totes should), but if you're to be accusing artists of being AI left and right at least go and do your homework, or at least do the bare minimum and use AI identification tools like Hive Moderation, so you 1- don't ruin someone's lifehood 2- don't make a clown out of yourself maybe

Like, i get it, AI slop and "AI artists" pretending to be genuine is getting harder and harder to identify, but just accusing someone out of the blue and calling it a day doesn't make it any better.

The AI clowns shifted to styles that have less "tells" and the AI arts are becoming better. Yeah, it sucks ass.

They're also integrating them with memes, so you chuckle and share, like those knights with pink backgrounds, some cool frog and a funny one liner, so you get used to their aesthetic.

This is an art from the new coming set Final Fantasy for MtG. This is someone on Reddit accusing someone of using AI. From what i can tell, and i fucking hate AI, there is NO AI used on this image.

As far as i can tell and as far as any tool i've used, the Artist didn't use AI. which leads to the next one:

they accused the artist of this one of using Ai. the name of this artist is Nestor Ossandon.

He as already been FALSELY ACCUSED of using AI, because he drew a HAND THAT LOOKED A LITTLE WEIRD, which caused a statement from D&D Beyond, confirming that no AI has been used.

Not to repeat mysef, they're accusing the art above, that is by Nestor, to have used Ai.

REAL artists are not machines. And just like the AI slop, we are not perfect and we make mistakes. The hands we draw have wonky fingers sometimes. The folds we draw are weird. But we are REAL. We are real people. And hey, some of our "mistakes" sometimes are CHOICES. Artistic choices are a thing yo.

If you're to accuse someone of using Ai, i know it's getting hard to identify. But come on. At least do your due diligence.

[uurru]

My first post on Tumblr!

I wanna start with this cute sketch. Ghost and Hornet just peaceful sit and talk. I missed this so much in the game, really.

[egophiliac]

ANNIVERSARY GROOVY BOYBAND! THEY ALL LOOK SO GOOD, I also love the hades reference with idia! Ik ur probably really swamped with the book 7 brain rot but I wanted to know ur thoughts. I also wanted to mention that I am so card deprived I feel like I need a replacement event to take tsumderlands place

AUGH NO I LOVE THEM. 😭 UGH now I really have to think about if I want to try pulling for Grim again. dangit. heck. I already got his little pedestal to add my guest room shrine, but...now I kinda need the boss himself...

also, the implications of it not being an OB thing, Idia can just. Do That? apparently? do you think he ever just sometimes does it by accident? what am I saying, he absolutely sometimes does it by accident.

gosh though. this event has been SO cute in general! I was wondering who'd get the focus for year 5; I could not be happier that the answer is apparently EVERYBODY. :D all the dorms get their own special songs! so many cute little scenes!!! the lowest of stakes bringing out the highest of pettiness in everyone!!!!!! it's excellent.

(also, because I will make literally anything about my diaboys...I know these events are typically sorta, let's say chronologically unmoored with regards to story. but the further implications that this takes place pre-episode 7/Malleus' Big Existential Crisis, and yet...some of these lines?)

[larkinna]

He's the King of Antiva to me

Inspired by this post by @vigilskeep because they opened my third eye with it.

[umblrspectrum]

happy solvermas

[makingshortstorieslong]

A little zine about how I (still) have trouble saying the word aromantic.

I've never made a zine before! I was inspired to try it because @queerliblib mentioned a zine making night in an email. That hasn't happened yet - its on June 26th - but once I had the idea, I couldn't wait, lol. It was nice to put something down on paper and have the finished product to hold onto.

Image descriptions under the cut:

Page 1: Three tiny speech bubbles say: "Do you have a bf? Do you like anyone? What's your type?" A big speech bubble says, "Oh, I don't date." The big speech bubble comes from a heart colored like the aromantic flag. 

Page 2 says: I could say: "Actually, I'm... ...aromantic." ...aro." ...aromantic asexual." ...aroace."

Page 3 says: But there are a few problems:

aromantic: Has been misheard as "A Romantic".

aro: Opaque if you don't already know the term.

aromantic asexual: A mouthful! And sounds...scientific?

aroace: shares The Big Problem: it may require a vocabulary lesson!

Page 4 says: It doesn't actually come up too often! Which is fine. My coworkers, my neighbors, and strangers don't need to know I'm aroace. I just wish I could say it sincerely when I do want someone to know. 

Page 5 says: I always have to smile - laugh - hedge. "Oh, well, actually, I'm kind of like, aromantic? Basically just not interested."

It's been more than 8 years since the first time I said it out loud!  I'm certain of it, but I still can't say it like I mean it!

Page 6 says: The most memorable time I said "I don't date" the guy I was talking to asked "Oh are you asexual?" and I said "Yeah, actually. And aromantic." And we moved on.

That was nice. 

Page 7 says:

The times I've lead with "I'm aromantic" -- well, there's only one I really remember:

"I didn't use to think that was a real thing." 

Other than that time -- even if I use the word, I always explain what it means first! 

Page 8 says: I just hope that one day I'll feel like I can say, simply, confidently: "I'm aromantic" and "I'm aroace."

The words "I'm aromantic" are big and dark green, the color of the top stripe of the aromantic flag. The words "I'm aroace" are big and bright orange, the color of the top stripe of the aroace flag. Three hearts below the words are colored to look like the aromantic, aroace, and asexual flags. 

[bacchuschucklefuck]

class swap design masterpost for convenience (from top to bottom: bard!riz, cleric!gorgug, sorcerer!kristen, barbarian!fig, artificer!adaine, and rogue!fabian)

[northstarscowboyhat]

Outlaws in the Wild East ⋆｡°✩

(AKA, The Habanero origin comic!)

[svtskneecaps]

FUCK IT!!!! I MISS WHEN MY MINECRAFT SERVERS HAD CULTURAL EXCHANGE IN THEM!!!! I MISS WHEN MY MINECRAFT SERVERS HAD LANGUAGE BARRIERS IN THEM!!!!! I MISS WHEN WE WERE ALL CRAMMED IN A PIT TOGETHER SCREAMING AND SHAKING AND SOBBING AND CONFUSED AS ALL HELL SITTING IN THE TUMBLR LIVEBLOGS HOLDING HANDS AS WE ALL EXPLAINED WHAT THINGS MEANT, WHAT THE REAL WORLD CULTURAL CONTEXT WAS, WHAT WAS GOING ON IN BITS THE TRANSLATOR COULDN'T GET!!!!! FUCK IT!!!!!!! I'LL TAKE ANOTHER GODDAMN PURGATORY!!!!! GIVE ME A BUNCH OF PEOPLE FORMING SIX PERSON FAMILIES OVER THE SPAN OF THREE TO FIVE DAYS!!!!!!!! GIVE ME THE EVIL SHADOW GOVERNMENT THAT NEVER MADE ANY GODDAMN SENSE, GIVE ME THE STUPID FUCKING EYE WORKERS THAT WERE AGGRAVATINGLY UNBEATABLE, GIVE ME THE CONFUSING ASS BLACK CONCRETE STRUCTURES THAT WENT BASICALLY FUCKING NOWHERE!!!!!! I'LL TAKE IT ALL IF IT MEANS I GET A FRENCH MAN AND A GUY FROM LUXEMBOURG AND A WOMAN FROM SOUTH KOREA SHOOTING THE SHIT IN A MINECRAFT PIT STARTER HOUSE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! I'LL TAKE IT IF I GET BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE AND FRENCH AND ENGLISH AND SPANISH SITTING AT A FUCKING TABLE IN A SECRET UNDERGROUND MEETING ROOM THEORIZING ABOUT A MINECRAFT CHARACTER WITH AN APPEARANCE BASED ON A JOKE ABOUT A GUY'S DOG BEING AN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE!!!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

[s4ltedcod]

gif-ing endurance dogs to deal with all my current problems

[ittybittyfanblog]

Ok, so another fic blurb! (loosely inspired by the recent banner hehe) | press here for filth

What if...... Sylus, the beast tamer, the liberator of the caged and broken, has a pet of his own? 

What if, in this scenario, you are the beast in question—his wild, fickle, untamed little plaything?

He doesn’t mean for it to happen. He caught wind of a trafficking ring auctioning hybrids of varying types; a setup he knows all too well, having freed countless creatures from similar fates on planets far away. And it's only supposed to go about one way, bringing along the kind of chaos he excels at: quick, efficient, brutal.

He will play the instigator, the matchstick to the pyre, and watch as the oppressed tear their captors apart. Blood will spill, chains will break, and he will revel amidst the pandemonium, a spectator to the glorious enactment of rightful vengeance.

But then—he sees you.

The runt of the pack, small and unsure, trembling in the eye of the storm he unleashes. Hackles raised, little fangs bared – not in defiance, but in fright.

You don’t fight. You don’t flee. You only flinch at the sound of slaughter, shoulders drawn tight, tail coiled around yourself like you can somehow disappear from it all. There’s something about the way you cower at the roar of violence, how you huddle in on yourself even as freedom crashes down around you, that makes something in him snap. Something visceral ignites in him.

An unfamiliar, wretched need to protect curls inside his ribs.

He can’t leave you here. He won’t.

And before he can even think to stop himself, his body moves on instinct, eviscerating anything in his way, cutting a clean path to where you stand frozen in fear. His hands find you, steady. Certain. 

He doesn't let you look – doesn’t let you see the finale of the insurrection that has made you shake in fear. The next thing you know, you’re in his arms, pressed against the unyielding heat of him as he makes a swift exit.

And the next thing he knows, you’ve already claimed him as yours.

It’s different this time, you think. You barely know this man, your unforeseen savior, but something about him calms the noise in your head, stills the frantic pulse in your throat. An inexplicable sense of security settles deep in you, and you swish your tail in contentment, loop it possessively around his leg. Pressing your face into his neck, just breathing him in. Marking him in your own way. 

Warmth. Steel. Something sharp beneath it all.

Something dangerous. 

Powerful. 

Safe.  

And when you burrow deeper, seeking, instinctive, Sylus exhales like you’ve punched the air from his lungs.

He knows he can’t let you go.

His pretty beastie. His precious, skittish thing.

He doesn’t call you a pet. That word is foreign on his tongue, wrong, too close to what he stands against. And the last thing Sylus wants is for you to feel like you’ve simply exchanged one owner for another. No, never that. 

But then you look up at him with those wide, trusting eyes—innocent and somehow sly at the same time—pressing your body against him like you want to nestle under his skin.

You, his restless little distraction, his playfully insistent creature; always demanding his time, expecting the infamous leader of Onychinus (not that the title means a thing to you) to indulge you.

And he does.

Because he never gives you a reason to think otherwise, never denies you anything. Always so willing, so devoted to your happiness.

____

It starts small.

Or maybe that’s what he tells himself.

Maybe it starts when he catches you preening in front of the mirror, grooming yourself with little licks, arching your back, testing the stretch of your limbs... and something about the way you move makes him clench his jaw and avert his gaze. 

Maybe it starts the first time you crawl into his lap without a second thought, tail curling idly around his wrist as you press close, heedless of the tension thrumming beneath his skin.

Or maybe it starts when you purr for him, soft and endearing and so achingly sweet, whenever his hands find themselves mapping the smooth expanse of your back. 

He shouldn’t touch you the way he does.

It’s indulgent, the way his fingers trace your spine, stroke the soft patch of fur at the base of your tail.

It’s indulgent, the way you stretch beneath his touch, arching, sighing, rubbing yourself against his palm like you need more.

It’s indulgent, the way he lets you.

And it only gets worse.

Because now, you’ve started seeking him out.

It’s innocuous at first. Always pressing against him whenever (and wherever) he’s seated, stealing his warmth, basking in his protective embrace. Curling around him like you belong there, lazy and spoiled, like you already know he won’t push you away.

And he doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t. 

Because when you tuck yourself against his side and let out that soft, pleased little “mrrr,” it does something terrible to him.

(It snaps his unraveling restraint, thread by thread.)

-

-

-

His adorable, darling kitten. His. The moment he laid eyes on you, he knew. And oh, there is nothing he wouldn’t do for you.

His sweet little thing….. who’s getting bolder with each passing day. Pushing. Teasing. Learning exactly what makes him falter.

His baby, who goes into heat at certain times of the month and expects him to help, because he always helps, doesn’t he?

So it’s not your fault when you arch your back so shamelessly beneath his touch, when you shudder as his fingers find that sensitive spot on your tailbone.

It’s not your fault when you grind needily into his lap, rubbing yourself against his hardening cock in slow, lazy motions, feeling the change in his breathing, the sharp exhale through his nose (something that excites you to no end).

It’s not your fault when you whimper so prettily, let your tongue flick over his pulse, nip at his skin in playful challenge.

And it’s certainly not your fault when you feel it—massive, hot, and unmistakable beneath where you’re situated on top of him. 

The air between you shifts. Thickens.

His fingers tighten, grip bruising as he stills you.

His breath is slow, painstakingly measured, and he knows he’s fighting a losing battle.

Sylus, torn between the animalistic desire to give you everything you ask for, and the absolute immorality of wanting to render you useless, to force you down on all fours and thoroughly fuck you, breed you on every surface in this damned house, and the last, fraying threads of his restraint wavers.

Then his precious little pet mewls for him.

And it’s like a switch flips inside him.

A breaking. A liberation.

That’s all it takes.

Because when you whimper his name, voice desperate and pleading, hips pressing forward so insistently—when you beg him, hiccuping, to do something, please, please–

Sylus gives in.

[s2pdoktopus]

COMBINE!!!

I'm so so sorry ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

[thornedarrow]

tried out @lotus-pear's dtiys! i've never done one before but it's a neat composition and was fun to do. congrats on 5k!

[egophiliac]

EGO EFO EGO OVERBLOT SSR ANNOUNCED OVERBLOTS SSR ANNOUNCED MALLEUS' HAS BEEN SHOWN BANGS POTS AND PANS EGOOOOOO

OH NO

[whenthelightisrunninglow]

how's the other guy holding up