#but it is not inherently healthy either

[slayerdurge]

Sacrifice (A Post-DA II Sebhawke Two-Shot)

Summary:

Marian Hawke had always lived her life for her family—but magic took them all from her. Her mother killed by blood magic, her sister by the Blight that the magisters of old unleashed upon the world, her brother now a templar who no longer speaks to his apostate sister. She tells herself that if she can just be the perfect Andrastian, maybe one day it’ll make up for the fact that she’s a mage. Maybe then she’ll feel clean. She falls in love with a Chantry Brother who's also the most selfless man she's ever met, the only person she knows who carries as much guilt as she does. And though they’re both desperate to atone, when they look into each other’s eyes, neither can imagine why someone so wonderful should feel so damned. She knows there’s no real precedent for their chaste marriage. An apostate joining the Chantry in the first place is revolutionary. But Sebastian's enthusiasm makes her believe that maybe the Maker might actually let them have this. Then comes the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry and the invocation of the Right of Annulment. Afterwards, nothing at all is certain.

Notes:

This is basically a one-shot with two chapters (a two-shot?), but I do plan to write more about this Hawke in the future (she has a very, very interesting dynamic with Meredith that I'm exceptionally keen to explore).

Chapter 1: Home

It’s odd, she thought, all these templars kneeling in front of a mage. 

Now that the heat of the moment had passed, Marian could tell that many of them were starting to realize it too. There were more than a few apprehensive twitches and shuffles, but none dared stand while Knight-Captain Cullen remained kneeling. Knight-Commander Cullen now, she supposed. She was glad of that. He deserved it.

She did wish he would stand, though. She wanted quite desperately to go home. 

Maker, please let them let me go home. 

She kept silent. Her companions did the same. She knew they were right behind her—Sebastian, Aveline, even Carver—but she was barely aware of them. Her gaze was fixed on the templars in front of her. 

Several tense moments later, the Knight-Commander rose. The rest of the Order rose with him. He walked towards the center of the courtyard and stopped about ten feet away from her. She was grateful that he didn’t come any closer because she was suddenly hit with the mad urge to flee. She clenched her fists and rooted her feet firmly in place. 

“Champion,” the Knight-Commander began, then paused. He took a moment to clear his throat. Marian steeled her nerves in case he had some kind of grandiose speech in mind, but Knight-Commander Cullen was a Ferelden. Earnest. Straight-forward. He embodied the best of their shared homeland. He simply said, “Thank you.”

She nodded at him. Her usual flair for diplomacy had abandoned her tonight. “Of course.”

He nodded back and gestured towards the Gallows exit as if to say ‘permission granted’. Thank the Maker. She turned, but as she did, she felt a fear so intense that it froze her body where it stood and so familiar that it flung her mind back into its earliest memories. 

[read more on ao3]

[jinxed-sinner]

the effort that Stolas, Ozzie, and Beelzebub go to in order to minimize any power dynamic between them and their romantic interests isn't discussed enough tbh. There's inherently a power dynamic between a Sin and an imp, or a Sin and a hellhound, or a Goetian prince and an imp, not just socially but also just in terms of inherent abilities. However:

Ozzie assures Fizz that he loves Fizz for Fizz, and it's made clear that he's protective over him because of what the Greed Ring is like, as well as the kinds of merchandise Mammon sells of Fizz. It's not that Ozzie doesn't want Fizz to be independent; in fact, he very much seems to want him to be independent. It's that there's an inherent concern for his safety because Fizz is a celebrity in the Greed Ring that has sex dolls sold of him.

Stolas is afraid of there being a potential power dynamic between him and Blitz beyond the one that comes from him being more powerful than Blitz, and actively seeks to mitigate it by going to Ozzie and asking for one of his crystals so there's no potential for Stolas to be taking advantage of Blitz.

When Bee transforms into her full demon form to get Loona to check on Blitz, when she changes back to her regular form the first thing she does is apologize to Tex, who doesn't even seem to mind, but because that is a show of the inherent power imbalance between Bee and Tex, she apologizes anyway ("Sorry. Sorry, I know, I got a little spicy there. I just hope everything works out."). She even looks apologetic towards Loona.

I love how Helluva Boss treats these power dynamics. There's inherently a power imbalance in these relationships which should make them unhealthy, but the party with more power in each relationship makes an active effort to minimize the power imbalance. It's one of the reasons Ozzie and Fizz's relationship can be as healthy as it is, and it's one of the reasons Tex is so relaxed even after Bee transforms into her full demon form. Stolas and Blitz's relationship is currently toxic because they're stubborn oblivious boneheads who refuse to acknowledge their own feelings or each other's feelings, not because of the power imbalance (at least not inherently, or entirely). I think we should talk about it more tbh.

[ranger-danger]

It does genuinely upset me how few character creators in games actually let you have moles. Also no, freckles don’t count those are different things.

[overexciteddragon]

I need to fucking talk about this scene BADLY

The fact that DunMeshi actually depicts starving dwarves as ripped muscular anime boys is, to me, absolutely incredible. I can't stress how often fat people starving are depicted as either skin and bones or ✨️beautiful and healthy✨️ (the latter being a body shape that they are encouraged to maintain), it's straight up a trope in so much media for skinny people to be depicted as fat in the past as if it's some "dirty secret", or for fat people to be depicted as unhealthy/ugly until they starve themselves enough to become "attractive", and on top of that the depiction of the Dehydrated Adonis Protagonist has become more and more present in our day-to-day media

Meanwhile, it's becoming more widely known that this isn't how bodies work at all; that fat isn't inherently unhealthy and that ripped bodies aren't just impossible to maintain but often quite dangerous. All of that put together, the depiction of more actors and characters that are fat, chubby, large, etc and not used as comedic relief has been so, so important to really hammer home that lean, dehydrated muscular bodies aren't necessarily something to aim for

But especially, dwarves being shown to have the same physical features as these ripped muscly characters (lean, bulging muscles, sharp cheekbones, defined pecs and neck muscles, etc) when they're starved, and that being depicted negatively is such a huge deal. This is also coming from the same anime in which one of its male protagonists is the epitome of the hero-- an athletic tall man in a shining knight's armour with a big shiny sword-- and he isn't shredded, he's got a tummy, he's got soft arms, he's clearly strong and muscular but it's all protected by a healthy layer of body fat

I'm never gonna shut up about how Dungeon Meshi has been such an incredible vehicle of body diversity with neither insidious fatphobia/queerphobia/racism nor performative (and frankly harmful) allyship behind it. I'm excited for how many young people (and older too!) will be made to slowly but surely question their internalized and ingrained fatphobia or general medical misunderstandings about weight as they watch/read this series. These are such important details and not enough media addresses them in such subtle but clear ways.

Bless Ryoko Kui but also bless Trigger for not doing what a lot of studios do (thinning characters and lightening their skin colours)

[jinxed-sinner]

People on Twitter freaking out about Alex Brightman saying Fizz and Ozzie are in an open relationship (which he clarified as non-canon and something he made up on the spot btw) is so funny to me lmao. I'm not saying their relationship is open, but the majority of the claims are that open relationships are inherently less loyal or something.

Personally, I am asexual. I don't experience sexual attraction. I also flip between sex-repulsed and hypersexual. I don't have a parter right now but if I wasn't able to fulfil my partner's desires (whether I wasn't able to fulfil them long-term or short-term), I'd be open to them having other partners besides me. My only ask would be regular STD testing, which is something I think anyone who's sexually active should be doing, not just someone who's in an open relationship.

Aside from the fact that Alex literally clarified that he was essentially kidding about Fizz and Ozzie being in an open relationship, it doesn't inherently make their relationship any less healthy or anything. Fizz and Ozzie's relationship can be just as healthy as an open relationship as a closed one, it's up to them to figure out if it'll work for them (and I can see it working once Fizz works through his self-esteem issues).

I think Ozzie is 100% loyal to Fizz and Fizz is 100% loyal to Ozzie, and as of now the only things I see as barriers to them being in an open relationship is neither of them trusting probably anyone in Hell due to Fizz's celebrity status, and Fizz's self-esteem issues. 100% I think if Fizz were to ever lose his celebrity status and was able to work through his self-esteem issues they'd be able to have a pretty healthy open relationship. I don't think they will though because I don't think they'd ever see a reason to open their relationship.

[genderqueerdykes]

as someone who has been scarred for life by experiences at gay bars, i need people to understand it's beyond tacky to mock people who want queer spaces beyond queer bars- it's dangerous.

let me explain. i went to 2 of my local queer bars a lot last year, as much as i was able to despite being poor. i witnessed a fist fight that was so bloody that ended up with a transmisogynistic drag queen getting hit in the head with a metal baton. the sight caused me to uncontrollably throw up in the bathroom of the club because of how gruesome it was. they had to close down the club and forard people out the back door because of how out of hand this person got- he was screaming transmisogynstic slurs and phrases at the bouncers were were transfem.

i was also sexually assaulted at these places, i was repeatedly groped by several people who i was not interacting with in the first place who found me attractive and decided physically grabbing me on numerous occasions was the way to get my attention. being femme in a queer bar is dangerous even if the people groping you are gay men.

i am also a recovering addict who dealt with alcohol issues in the past and could be considered a recovering alcoholic. i don't want to be around alcohol. i don't want to smell it. it triggers awful memories and also sometimes makes me consider getting a drink, but i can't have one, because the medications i take will cause a fatal reaction- i don't want to be tempted to drink, because it will kill me.

it's not right to mock someone or call them childish or whatever for not wanting to go to a club. whenever alcohol is involved, people's inhibitions are gone and they will do whatever. this includes fighting. i witnessed several other fights. just because it's a queer bar doesn't mean there won't be fights. and it especialyl doesn't m ean that you won't get groped or assaulted because, like i said, since alcohol is involved and it's a bar, there's a high chance this can and will happen.

queer people are not inherently safe angels to be around by virtue of being queer. there are still transphobes in queer bars. tranny chasers come to these bars. homophobic lesbians show up and lesbophobic gay men show up. drag queens and performers bring their cishet friends and family to support their shows. these are not perfect havens. they are not safe. we should not force other queers to interact with inherently dangerous spaces if these are supposed to be our safe spaces.

also these spaces are not friendly to people with disabilities; wheelchair users have nowhere to go especially when it's very crowded. other mobility aids get kicked and knocked over. neurodivergent people can get overstimulated by the deafening music very quickly. photosensitive people can have seizures due to the strobing lights. people with emetophobia like me run the risk of running into those types of triggers. people who are overstimulated by intoxicated people have no choice but to deal with it. dancing is one of the only activities to do other than drink and not many disabled (or even abled) people can dance for extended periods of time comfortably.

not to mention these spaces are not geared toward aromantic or asexual people at all, either. there is a long list of reasons why bars should not be our primary venues of interaction with one another. they serve a specific purpose- for people who want to cruise- but for the rest of us, it's really crucial that we have spaces that provide meaningful interactions with other queers on other levels of our identities.

some people just want to hang out with other queers in a quiet environment and craft, or shop, or drink coffee, or read books together, or just about any other activity on planet earth, and that's not "lame" or "cringy" or bad in any way- these are extremely normal and necessary parts of human interaction that we all require and crave and it's normal to want to do healthy, domestic things with other queers. we need this in our lives.

please take it seriously when people attempt to create queer spaces that don't involve alcohol and bars. it's necessary for our survival and well being as a community.

[danmguido]

On Lovecraftian Horror

Happy Friday!

There you are sitting at your desk, maybe you're working longhand or your fingertips are tapping atop unpressed keys, and BAM! You have an idea that involves a monster that could've oozed its way right out of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Before you begin, pause a moment.

I get it. I like stories of the vast unknowable myself. I grew up playing Mass Effect and I'm particularly fond of the way Jason Pargin was able to nail it in his John Dies At The End series, and in such a way that I cared about the characters and their humors in spite of the overwhelming, multidimensional terrors that hunt them, but that's because I prefer heavily character driven stories and that's a diatribe for another day.

I've read a lot of aspiring fiction in this genre, and my main critique, the most common pitfall I see within cosmic horror, has nothing to do with character, setting, worldbuilding, or language. It has everything to do with writing that which is inherently unknowable, assuming you're trying to follow convention.

In other words: The monster has to be as alien to you as it is to the reader and characters. Forty page character sheets won't work here because at this point your "monster" isn't really a character. Remember, it isn't a being you can intelligently understand, and that's where the horror lives. It's a reckoning force defying nature, physics, and our fundamental understandings of science. Novels like The Three Body Problem by Cixin Lu illustrate this sense of scale and terror through sheer confusion and technological advancement.

Recall that Lovecraft's most popular story, The Call of Cthulhu, is epistolary. It's told through loose fragments, rumors, journal entries, it's never directly handled. Your job isn't to portray a gigantic, globular mass of eyes descending over New York City to deliver it's final judgement on humanity out of a thin blue Thursday afternoon. It should instead be the effect it has on the characters, or maybe second person to the reader itself, a virus in which just speaking or reading the name of your creature puts you at risk of harm.

One other issue I've come across in reading from a litany of fledgling unpublished fictioneers who take a stab at this genre is that it doesn't seem to be understood. The genre strongly echoes condemnation, damnation, the price of obsession, the price of knowledge, the price of ignorance, yes, but also the warning in bland optimism.

"Yeah, I'll just pledge my eternal soul to this unknowable deity 40,000 eons older than me, and then I will wield all the power."

That sounds dumb out of context, doesn't it?

It's not just about feeling earned or not, either. At this point, whether our earthly brother understands this or not, he's simply a vessel unbolting the latches of an old door sealed an unknowable amount of time before he existed. If we haven't been following him, haven't seen his transformation from upstanding citizen with a healthy few indelible and mortal sins to a hunched over, hooded lunatic who hides his deeds away from the very sun he orbits, this often lands flat and assumes stupidity on the part of your audience.

That's what makes this particular brand of horror so difficult, in my opinion. The balance from describing an unknowable, unfathomable monster that shifts through dimensions so as not to be physically described vs. making sure the audience knows that said impossible, indescribable force is destroying your character's mental state. Anyone can write, "I looked at the monster and it's very essence shattered my mind, scrambling it into a dark and forbidden wind, and even now trying to recall it sends shivers down my spine and vomit up my throat". It works. But it's flat without knowing who this character was beforehand. A slick talking lawyer bursting with personality? Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

So:

Before you start make sure

Your main character isn't your deity

Your main character is fleshed out well

Writing/reading is about the only time cosmic horror can work because it blends on disengaged senses. You're not really seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, touching, but you are feeling. It's why hardly any games work in the genre without over explaining themselves or coming off cheesy, same with certain films in my opinion.

Leverage that.

Leverage Plato's allegory of the cave, your readers have only known shadows.

Make us see more than shapes. If you’re into horror, cosmic dread, or writing craft talk like this, feel free to follow... I post often.

[wheelie-sick]

"supporting disabled people is fine but we shouldn't support fat people because it's unhealthy!"

fatness is not inherently unhealthy

do you think chronic illness somehow is healthy?

it's such a double standard and this is part of what I mean by ableism and fatphobia are intertwined. health gets equated to morality and to worth. you cannot have disability rights without fat rights alongside it- in part because if you're not moralizing health you're not moralizing fatness.

either healthiness determines your worth therefore chronic illness and fatness* both make you less than

or

healthiness is irrelevant to your worth therefore chronic illness and fatness* are both neutral factors in a person's life.

*see point 1

by crying in my notes about how you can support disabled people but not fat people because "fat people aren't healthy" you show you actually don't support disabled people because your support for a person is conditional on their health.

the two will always be intertwined

[autopsyfreak]

Homicidal Ideation

homicidal ideation is the term for having active thoughts about murdering others. these thoughts can be intrusive, however they can also often be voluntary.

misconceptions:

‘people who have these thoughts either have killed someone or will kill someone in the future’ - this is false. most people who have these thoughts usually have disordered behaviours (most commonly as a result of personality disorders) and struggle to find healthy ways to cope with their emotions, therefore provocation and stress can easily cause thoughts of inflicting harm onto others. this doesn’t inherently mean these people are dangerous, nor does it mean that they’re going to act upon these thoughts. most people who experience homicidal ideation never act on it and use it more as a way to process their distress/frustration internally.

‘having these thoughts about people in your life means you can’t possibly care for them’ - also false. caring for someone doesn’t make them an exception to mental illness and it doesn’t stop your mental illnesses from existing. to think that someone’s love for you is only valid as long as they’re not displaying traits of mental illness is unfair and is hugely misinformed. to love and be loved by someone who is mentally ill is to accept that they will display symptoms of their mental illness. you are not the exception and they do not love you any less by showing traits of being unwell.

‘so you endorse murder’ - no. that’s not at all what this means and if you seriously think this then your grasp of severe mental health issues is too limited to be commenting on such topics.

‘you’re evil’ - for being unwell? don’t be a cunt. if you seriously think that having a disordered manner of processing emotions internally makes someone ‘evil’ then that sounds more like an issue with you being too sensitive and having a lack of understanding, not an issue with the mentally ill person experiencing these thoughts. don’t make your inability to understand mental illness into someone else’s problem.

as someone who does experience homicidal ideation, it’s also important to not make the mistake of assuming everyone who is mentally ill experiences these thoughts either. i had an anonymous ask earlier today that directly associated the fact i’m mentally unwell with murder and homicidal thoughts, to immediately make this assumption just because someone is mentally ill is disgusting.

[yes-no-maybe-soo]

There's been discourse going around the LADS fandom about BDSM, how it's abusive (it's not), and how Sylus isn't into it.

My sisters in Christ, how can you look at a card like NDZ or at this image

and claim that the man isn't into BDSM? He was even officially marketed in CN as a BDSM Dom.

Everyone is entitled to have their own feelings on BDSM in itself, to be uncomfortable with it or not into it or whatever but it baffles me when I see claims like the ones above. It's so nonsensical.

Real BDSM is not at all abusive. It's 100% consensual and safe. It's fundamentally about autonomy and trust. And so much more than sadism and rough play etc. Also, I promise that even though Sylus is into BDSM, he would never force it upon you/MC. If his partner doesn't want to do it, then that's fine. What he cares about is pleasing and pleasuring his beloved. He'd sooner deep throat a cacti than make you/MC uncomfortable.

I also think it's a shame to see Sylus — and by proxy real people who practice BDSM — be shamed for enjoying it. Luckily I haven't seen this behavior here on tumblr though, and I hope I won't ever have to either. We're all grown ups here, and open minded I hope, or at least tolerant.

I myself am not practicing BDSM and I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it, but I can see the appeal and I absolutely realize the inherent mutual trust and strength of bond required between practicing partners. Which is a beautiful and aspirational thing imo.

Also, genuinely? I think it's super hot to know that Sylus is able to wield a single tail whip. It takes years of training and an incredible amount of experience and precision to use it accurately and safely. Just knowing the sheer amount of control that Sylus is able to exert to wield such a tool makes me shiver and tingle tmi lol forgive me. I have always found his mastery of control to be one of his sexiest traits ngl. And also just realizing how he spent years practicing it just in case MC would ever be into impact play, so that he would be able to give her the maximum amount of pleasure... that is such dedication.

From what I've read and learned about BDSM, Sylus is pretty much a perfect representation of a soft pleasure dom, and his dynamic with MC can be viewed as an example of a true and healthy dom/sub dynamic in that whilst Sylus is the dominating figure, the true power lies with MC aka the sub. As it should. Sylus always emphasizes MCs autonomy and her freedom of choice, and he always makes sure that she sets the pace for their relationship. She decides what she is comfortable with and how far she wants to go. And that is how BDSM works.

So if anyone wants genuine BDSM dom representation look to Sylus. Not Christian Grey.

[bo0tleg]

One thing I like about Top Gun (1986) is how believable the development with Ice and Mav's dynamic is.

I've seen a lot of the "Rivals suddenly become buddies after traumatic event together" in media, but I don't think I've seen it done better than in Top Gun. Mostly, I attribute it to how much build up it has.

Most of the time, the 'Rivals' hate each others guts throughout the entire movie/series and then they go through an extremely traumatic event that binds them for life and shifts their entire concept of each other. Ice and Mav never once changed how they saw each other, it just changed their understanding of it.

Ice saw Maverick as dangerous and Mav saw Iceman as stuck-up and commanding. And they weren't wrong, by any means.

From the beginning, they have tension between them because of how different they are. And it ends up in the audience seeing Ice as the 'Antagonist' because that's how Mav sees it, and we're seeing it from his perspective as the protagonist. But Ice was never inherently wrong, in fact he was right.

Other than his first scene, Iceman always has a point in what he's saying. He's criticizing Mav, not insulting him. Sure, he does it in a brash way because masculinity, but he's not trying to insult him, he's trying to knock him down a peg and wake him up to reality. All Ice wants is that he starts to act as a team player, start caring about everybody's safety AND his own, rather than being reckless for the sake of being reckless. But Mav sees it as an insult because he can't process criticism in a healthy way (due to how he grew up). The same thing happened with Charlie, for the record.

And so the strife between the two begins. What I like about it is how it bleeds out of them over time, becoming more settled as the movie goes on. In the locker room "You're dangerous" scene, the tension is palpable. It's obvious they're agitated by each other, and feel the need to prove they're the correct one.

If you pay attention, this whole... demand for superiority goes away as time progresses. They're fine with each other's presence, it's not like they're constantly at each others throat all the time. In the shower scene, Ice dropped all of the aggression and competitiveness from his tone and is instead just laying out what he thinks. He's not undermining Maverick, he's not lecturing him like a child. Iceman is just telling Maverick exactly how he sees the situation in hopes that it would make him realize what the fuck he's doing, but with little hope that it'll actually work.

That doesn't mean Ice is always correct either, he doesn't understand why Mav acts the way he does, thus fails to take into consideration the emotional trauma behind it. Which only causes even more strife.

The entire time, Iceman isn't being a dick for the sake of it, he just wants Mav to stop being stupid (by his standards). And Maverick doesn't understand it because all he gets from what Ice says is insults.

Maverick isn't good at understanding what people mean to say if it's implied, you need to say it to his face. This is the reason he stayed quiet in the shower scene, because Ice finally laid everything out in simple words that he can understand without making it sound like a dick-measuring contest.

Thing is, the tension mellows out. At the beginning, you could see the tension and cut it with a knife. By the middle you can see them getting used to each other without jumping to constantly trade jabs (namely: the volleyball scene, it's just a bunch of guys being dudes, and the scene where Charlie says that Mav flew recklessly in front of the whole class, Ice doesn't comment on it in any way). Over time, they've settled down into their tension without needing to address it all the time.

Then Goose dies.

And the tension between them is still there.

Just because Goose isn't there anymore, doesn't mean their whole dynamic vanishes all of a sudden. You can see their hesitation towards each other (especially Ice), and that's great! It demonstrates that Goose dying doesn't magically resolve their problems with each other in solidarity.

Ice tried to give his consolations to Mav, and is awfully awkward about it. You can see on his face that he wants to say more, but doesn't because he knows it's not his place given their history. And not much is said, but a lot it communicated. (Val Kilmer is a killer actor for this, OH MY FUCKING GOD BLESS THAT MAN)

Even in the graduation scene you can see how out of their depts they really are with each other. A stilted congratulations, that was it. But they're trying, and that's what matters.

A scene I think gets overlooked a lot is the scene right before the Layton, where Ice expressed his worries about Mav to Stinger, and Mav heard him. Because I feel like that was a shift that was more drastic than the Layton itself for them.

What Ice was doing in that scene wasn't doubting Maverick's flying abilities, it was his mental health. Sure, he passed the psych eval, but that means next to jack shit when in a real combat situation so close after his backseater dying. And Ice might be worried that he's gonna be left hanging, but with the way he was speaking I'm more inclined to believe he was more worried about Maverick's wellbeing than himself. Ice almost looked resigned. He knew it was gonna get dismissed because that's the military for you, but he still wanted to try to vouch for Mav to stay groundside, if only to keep his mind at bay.

But Maverick heard him, and as usual, he read it as an insult. He wasn't wrong to assume Ice didn't believe him capable of flying the mission, which wouldn't be a lie, but failed to realize that he had more than one reason to want Maverick on the ground rather than in the air. And for the first time, Maverick believes him.

Up until this point, Mav dismissed all of Ice's so called 'insults' because he was certain in and of himself. But now he isn't anymore.

And it affects his performance in the air. I'm not saying he was as shitty as he was at the start of that combat because of what he overheard, but I am saying that it certainly didn't help matters in the slightest.

So their weird 'stepping-on-eggshells' situation is all over the place by that point. Because they started to care about each other despite not being what one would call proper friends yet. It's establishing a potential friendship by implying that 1. Ice cares about Mav's wellbeing and 2. Mav cares about what Ice thinks.

On the ground, they have the wingman exchange, and their suddenly buddy buddy. Thing is, it wasn't sudden at all.

They've been setting this up the entire fucking movie.

Going back to what I said at the beginning: Ice thinks Mav is dangerous and Mav thinks Ice is stuck-up and controlling. After the Layton, they still think those things because they weren't wrong to begin with. What changed was that instead of seeing it as something that pitted them against each other, it was seen as something that simply was about the other, and that there was no changing it. It could be good.

Mav being dangerous could be good and Ice being stuck-up and controlling could be good, because those were just traits of who they were. By the end of the movie they didn't change how they saw each other, just how they interpreted each other.

And it was built up during the entire fucking movie.

There was a reason to why they acted the way they did with each other because of the stilted interpretation they had of each other. From rivalry to friendship (and perhaps more later down the line), it's glaringly obvious throughout that it wasn't a sudden shift, it was exponential.

That's why I think it was so well developed, because you could see it coming.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Sorry if you've already covered this, but I was scrolling socials and saw that the San Antonio zoo got a large donation to expand their savanna habitat. The only thing that jarred me as I read through their expansion plans was apparently they're going to be outfitting some 'safari' vehicles so guests can be taken into the habitat to feed and interact with the animals (from within the vehicle). I was always under the impression that this kind of interaction wasn't necessarily good for either the humans or the animals-- is there a way it can be done ethically?? Anyway, I just thought it was interesting!

Ooo, okay, your question aligned with a thing I've been chewing on for a while, so let's talk ~ethics~ and ~philosophy~ aka this is gonna be a bit long. I do promise I'll answer your question, though!

The first thing I want to note is that you're really asking about two different things, which are almost always conflated these days when it comes to talking about animals: welfare (is the animal happy / healthy / safe) and ethics (is what's happening good / moral / acceptable). It's really important that we distinguish between the two, because welfare is an objective measure of physical and mental wellbeing, and ethics are a human construct that involves subjective interpretation.

A useful but highly oversimplified example of this is the bothering of cats for online videos. Pestering a cat to get a funny reaction once in a while may not impact their overall welfare. Welfare is the cumulative impact of an animal's experiences, which means that single acute moments may not weight heavily on the entire balance. If the cat is healthy, fed well, enriched, and has a good and positive bond with their humans, those momentary irritations for videos might not matter much. That doesn't mean that you or I, as viewers, might not still find bothering an animal for internet clout ethical. We can believe that humans shouldn't ever unnecessarily put their pet through negative experiences, and we can think that doing so just because it brings the human money or fame is distasteful. But! We have to recognize that as used in this example, those ethical stances aren't inherently tied to the animal's welfare state. Many people I know who dislike cat-bothering don't care if the animal has good welfare outside of that situation - they don't like that the situation occurs at all, ever.

So, back to your question. You're wanting to know if it's okay for a zoo to have a drive-through aspect of an exhibit where people get to feed the animals. You're asking if it's safe for the humans and for the animals (which is a welfare question) and if that type of interaction is ethical. I could just tell you that of course it's fine, San Antonio is an AZA zoo and their accreditation only allows them to do "good things" but that's now how it works here (nor is it the reality of accreditation).

The safety aspect is one I'm not worried about. It's actually a pretty common thing for reputable facilities to do some sort of vehicle tour in savanna habitats, whether in the guest's vehicle (safari parks) or on a hay-ride type vehicle (zoos). Many of those allow guests to feed out specific parts of their animals' diets. Offhand, I know Tampa and Fossil Rim both have feeding tours like this in a staff-driven vehicle. It's not specified from the zoo's press release, but I can guarantee you that guests will not be driving those vehicles - which means the interactions will be proctored by staff and what people are feeding out will be carefully regulated. The habitat is going to have rhino, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, and antelope/gazelle, and I'd guess that the drive-through is going to stick to those latter two and maybe additional species. Those are animals where a car is an appropriate safety barrier.

As to if it's ethical to do? It's spiny question, because it depends very directly on the ethical perspectives of the person you're asking. I think it's fine - you may not. Let's break down the different things that come into consideration on the ethical side, and my responses:

"The zoo is commercially exploiting animals by letting people pay to get closer." If the issue is that people paying to get closer to animals is using them for money, well, that's the business model of a zoo (non-profit or not, they still need revenue to operate). So IMHO it's not like it's "less ethical" than anything else the zoo is doing, using that framing.

"Zoo animals should be allowed to be wild and undisturbed by guests driving in their habitats." Zoo animals aren't wild, and their entire lives revolve around humans and the human work schedule. As long as a vehicle entering the habitat doesn't have a negative welfare impact (e.g. they're not scared of it), it's not very different from the rest of the routine of managed care.

"Feeding zoo animals will encourage people to try to feed wild animals." Thanks to obnoxiously viral content creators, people are going to try to feed wild animals no matter what. Doing it in a proctored situation where a staff member can try to do some education at the same time is probably the best possible scenario.

"People just do those tours to get close to cool animals." People are always going to want to touch the animals. If being able to pay for a tour keeps them from jumping the fence to try to pet a rhino, great.

There's one more that I want to talk about separately, because I think it's where a lot of confusion gets generated. It's this idea that "Humans shouldn't be interacting with animals at all, any interaction is unethical and bad for the animals." This is a welfare crossover, but not one actually informed by welfare science in a captive situation. And I think it's because the internet lacks nuance. Yes, it is absolutely correct to say that with wild animals, you should never ever try to feed a deer out of your car (or similar). It is incredibly harmful to those animals on both an acute and chronic timeline. But thanks to the rage-bait algorithms on social media and people endlessly justifying doing stupid, dangerous, bad things (and getting pushback for it), there's been a lot of bleed between the public's understanding of what wild animal welfare is and what captive animal welfare is. Combine that with the reality that captive animal welfare cannot be assessed or diagnosed from a single context-less clip, and that people with strong beliefs and no practical experience with the field/species/individual will pass judgement loudly to their audiences...

The result is almost a reflexive believe in many sectors of the internet that any human-animal interaction that isn't couched as a "rescue" is inherently unethical, for reasons people often can't articulate. Which is why, I think, so often people want to support certain aspects of captive animal management but feel guilty for doing so. I see this a lot in the questions the blogs gets, and I'm glad people feel comfortable asking, because it's important to think through not just the individual instances but the patterns leading us to question them.

So yes, I'd say that a staff-led experience in a vehicle chosen for safety is an ethical way to proctor an interaction between guests and certain savanna species. It will vary by facility - I'm always more wary about guests driving, although many drive-through safaris are fine - and by setup. I think what San Antonio is doing will be fine, though, and will be interested to see / hear about the setup when they start up.

If you've got a question about ethical captive management, I'm always happy to talk about it - but I'd invite you to poke around in your head a little and send me not just your question in the ask, but your thinking about why or why not something might be concerning. It's great practice for understanding why you relate to animal ethics the way you do, and where those beliefs come from.

[saintshadow]

“ URANIAN ASPECTS & PEOPLE

#001 sun & moon

Author’s Note: This is a deeper breakdown of my own personal experiences as a uranian individual and what I’ve witnessed in others with this aspect.

I’m starting w a couple of general observations, things that have REALLY stuck out to me pattern wise.

I’ve met so many ppl strongly influenced by Uranus & I rlly feel like it’s bc uranian ppl tend to flock together 😹

Bc I’ve noticed that in a friend group or in real electrical stimulating connections you’ll find that most people share the energy. I believe it’s simply because they tend to share a deeper sense of camaraderie especially because it can be a very alienating energy.

Another big one is violent outbursts, hysteria, or outright instability. Feeling threatened by authority, or being perceived as a threat by authority.

Bi-polar disorder is something I’ve seen be pretty common amongst those who carry this energy. Being vilified, outcasted, exiled, abandoned, or running from commitment are also super common themes.

I don’t inherently consider Uranus to be a trauma indicator, because while it is chaotic and can be difficult it ultimately is an incredibly potent & powerful energy. In my observation it has the most difficult time and is the most difficult in childhood. The “trauma” is usually alienation, abandonment, or some kind of rejection or exile from social groups even including adults, teachers, and general authority figures.

Uranus - Sun : HIGHLY intelligent people, very outgoing and eccentric depending on the signs. For fire you see someone who is very flamboyant & who can become very aggressive if they are challenged. We also see someone who naturally goes against the status quo- The attention it brings depends on the individual of course; but what I find with Uranus is you just tend to be polarizing. Some could feel offended, upset, confused, or even challenged by you. Perhaps being torn down by the father or having a father who does not take well to being challenged. I find that uranian people are often plagued by the expectations and desires of others.

On the flip side, people might admire you for your uniqueness- you could be ahead of your time. Humorous, even very optimistic and perhaps a bit flighty or restless. Ive seen tendencies towards ego mania, as well as complete isolation- being disliked being judged, accidentally TRIGGERING others. Something about Uranus just pushes not only the natives but others to the brink.

Uranus - moon (mento illness aspect frfr)

But either way, HIGHLY intelligent ppl, very erratic tho. Can be nonsensical or prone to hysteria, can become obsessed with patterns/symbolism/imagery. Very visual feelers in a way, they may also have highly fluctuating sleep schedules.

One month you’re waking up at the ass crack of dawn the next year you sleep almost uncontrollably to moon.

Instability in the childhood or in the mother, mood disorders, bipolar, psychotic delusion, you name it- but in other cases it can look like extreme apathy- detachment from others. Deeply introverted existence for some, can be driven to emotional outbursts if healthy expression isn’t found.

Children w this interaction can have meltdowns akin to that of an autistic person as a child if they are not taught emotional regulatory skills. Common sense may be harder to grasp, and there can be tendencies towards unpredictable behaviors, emotions, and internal worlds.

Very creative, very psychic, prophetic visions, telepathy & psychic phenomena

Uranus is CONFUSING, outsiders & natives themselves often can’t seem to pin down or label themselves accurately either.

Blessed with extreme intellect, and seemingly otherworldly gifts and ideas. Many uranian people can feel trapped by their humanity, their emotions, identity, etc and struggle to feel comfortable or safe in the world around them. Uranian people can tend to feel as if they are at the whims this cosmic roller coaster, however the energy can be wielded. 🫶🏻

[minyard-05]

‼️moderate tgr + rainbow crate bonus content spoilers below‼️

u know sometimes i think about the specificity of aaron and andrew's deal. thinking about what he says in the bonus chapter when aaron says he won't give up katelyn

technically, yes, the deal is nobody except each other. but all of the monsters are exceptions, kevin most of all as the notable first non-family to make the group. it's specifically no partners, a rule andrew gets around by saying he and neil aren't dating (lies) and aaron hides katelyn for the most part by just being 'unofficial', which does work to some extent. but i wonder what actually made them get to this point. what happened that made andrew say no girlfriends at all, if this rule was possibly edited/reinforced the longer they spent in high school together. we know aaron broke that first deal, enough to make andrew resort to (implied) violence in order to keep people away from him, but in the bonus chapter andrew specifically says they were using him.

so. stay with me here but i am going to once again bring back the parallel between jeremy knox and aaron minyard. we know from TGR that the way jeremy handles his 'relationships' is inherently self destructive– he keeps seeing leo after the guy chose BMW over him, he justifies it when he comes back visibly hurt from faser, and he pushes away any attempts to talk through what's happening and why. it's a form of self harm, whether he realises it or not. given what we know about aaron's past, about his reaction to his mother's death, and what andrew tells us in the scene above, i think it's fairly likely that his early relationships could've been similarly toxic/abusive. with that and his mother's abuse and a budding addiction building, we can infer that aaron probably either couldn't identify an abusive relationship when he was in one, or he could and he just didn't care. like i said, it's inherently self destructive. there's a lot more to be said about this with the added context of the time period, toxic masculinity reinforced by the (false) ideas that men couldn't be abused in relationships, and in terms of comparisons, aaron didn't have a lot of healthy structures to look to at that age.

with all that said, i think it recontextualizes the twins' deal a bit. from aaron's perspective it feels like andrew's being controlling just for the sake of being in control, but from andrew's it's much more about protection. initially, yes, it's from his mother, but i think andrew sees the way aaron dates these girls who ruin him, maybe even tries to bring it up once but aaron doesn't care that he's getting hurt, and i think that's part of why andrew continues the deal. he doesn't trust aaron to recognise when he's getting hurt or not, and that's why he keeps him away from katelyn. andrew doesn't know exactly if katelyn's bad for him or not, he doesn't know enough about the two of them to know, but he knows aaron, so he's doing what he thinks he has to in order to keep him safe.

but i think katelyn is the first genuine relationship aaron is in, she's the first person who's actively there for him and puts effort into being with him, and so she shows him how they're supposed to work, how relationships feel when somebody loves you. that's why aaron fights so hard for her.

so, when they break the deal, that's not andrew deciding katelyn can be trusted, it's aaron asking andrew to trust him.

[dimlylittorch]

18+ drabble MDNI

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley x pre-op!transmasc!sweetheart!reader

My Masterlist🌱

small synopsis: so.. hear me out. reader with daddy issues x simon ‘ghost’ riley with mommy issues (2k+)

the dynamic between the two of you was like night and day. He was big and broad and rough around the edges. Meanwhile you were a sweet, pretty little thing that had fallen right into his lap. He wasn’t sure what to do with you at first- you seemed breakable. And he wasn’t exactly known for his gentleness.

The way you met was.. a little less cute than a typical meet cute. It was slightly on the creepy side- but hey, neither of you objected. You had been riding the subway, hand wrapped around one of the poles since all of the seats were full. At one rough stop in particular you’d lost your grip, landing right into Simon’s lap. On instinct his arms had wrapped around you, and when you froze he just.. didn’t move. He would’ve pulled away if you’d moved away- but you hadn’t. You just- sat in his lap. Like you belonged there.

Now, little did he know you had a bit of a fawn response in situations. You usually submitted to what the other person wanted, it taking a small while to gather yourself and work past the anxiety surrounding confrontation. When you felt his arms around your waist, you couldn’t help but go with it, sinking into his grip. You were already touch starved- why not let some big guy on the subway hold you for a minute?

The two of you were at a loss for words, and no one seemed to notice you were out of place. No one could see the flush on his cheeks under his mask, and no one seemed to care how you squirmed in his lap ever so slightly, making him take a deep breath. Anytime the car jostled he held you a little tighter, one of his hands gripping your thigh to keep you nice and steady in his hold.

When it was time for you to get off at your stop, you gently moved to get up, heading for the doors. It wasn’t until you were on the platform that you realized he followed you. Turning and looking up at him, you can’t bring yourself to say much, shying away from the embarrassment of it all. Maybe you just happened to be heading in the same direction?

Well.. next thing you know he’s at the door of your apartment building with you. You finally stop and look up at him, the shyness clear in your eyes.

“You sat in my lap.” He said blankly, his eyes on your own.

A pause, followed by your small voice. “You let me.”

Another pause.

“You were warm.” You whispered faintly.

Was it healthy to get this easily attached to the large, hulking man you just met? Probably not. But that was kind of hard to think about when he was on his knees, face buried against your boycunt on your couch in your apartment. His mask pulled up, arms wrapped around your thighs to keep you within reach. Your pants and underwear were thrown somewhere onto the floor, your dignity no where to be seen either.

Christ, here you sat letting some big strong man take care of you, giving you exactly what you’ve needed for months on end. Getting eaten out was nice enough, but feeling protected? Cared for? Fucking hell. Dad sure did leave you with a hell of a lot of unsolved issues, didn’t he? Settling for some stranger who probably didn’t give a damn about you- but fuck did he feel good.

Meanwhile Simon was going through a very similar thought process. His mommy issues were a mess, not easy to explain and not easy to work through. Constantly grappling with an inherent need to protect someone, almost to make up for how his mother never protected him. He’s felt emotionally stunted compared to his peers, struggling to show affection in a ‘casual’ way, always going all or nothing. It’s hard to understand something you lacked for a large portion of your life.

And now that led him to kneeling on some guys apartment floor, eating his cunt like there was no tomorrow. He just wanted to make someone happy- to make someone feel good for once. He could never satisfy his mother- he was never good enough. But with how you seemed to be enjoying this? Fuck, consider his ego stroked. Which arguably felt better than having his cock stroked. What he never expected- was how fucking good it felt when your fingers trailed along his skin, finding the patch of hair that was now exposed at the base of his neck and tenderly combing your fingers through it. That gentle touch? That he should’ve gotten from a loving mother, and has been ever so deprived of? Fucking hell. You were not good for him- he could already tell.

You tried to hold it in- you really did. It had turned a few guys away, and it wasn’t like you had very many sexual encounters. Successful ones, anyways. Your thighs clamping around his head, muscles spasming as you start to babble. “oh f-fuck- d-daddy” you hiccup in a weak voice, trying your best to keep that embarrassing dirty secret hidden away. You hadn’t seen his face, but you could tell just by the scars on his neck that he was a good bit older than you, satisfying that little empty spot in your chest that craved the care of an older figure.

Hearing your words he groaned against your boycunt, letting your thighs tighten around his head. Nothing felt as good as this- knowing he was probably corrupting some sweet little thing from a nice family, making that sweet boy cry out for daddy like he was all he could ever need. He was completely roped into this now, letting his inner urges get the best of him, simply wanting to keep you safe and in his arms. “fuck me.. good boy” he grunted against your cunt, his eyes rolling back slightly from how good you tasted.

You choke out another whine, tensing up in his arms at his words- praise. The one catalyst that really sent it all into motion. Quivering in his arms, pleading for your daddy as tears start to form in your eyes from pleasure and pulling him as close as his mouth can get to your pussy. He takes it all with stride, getting you to your peak as quick and dutifully as he could.

After you had cum he sits back on his knees, looking up at you with his chin covered in your slick. He’s fully prepared to go another round, wanting to fuck you until you can’t walk. But he watches as you tiredly sit up, eyes hooded from trying to come down from your high. You look down at him for a moment before leaning forward and gently kissing him, your hand on his cheek. “Was.. that okay?” You murmured softly. “For you?”

He looks up at you, body frozen as he tries to process your words. He’d never been touched this softly. And you’d never had someone big and strong to dote on. He nods ever so slightly as he gazes up at you, trying to calm himself down. He quickly snaps out of his haze when he sees you try to stand up, heading for the kitchen on wobbly legs. He shoots up after you, grabbing your waist and pulling you against him. “What do ya need?” He asks quickly. “Don’t- don’t do that” he stutters out when you try to push past him, so he simply holds your arms a little tighter.

“I’m just gonna get you some water” you murmured softly, looking up at him for a few quiet seconds. “And some pain killers. Either your jaw or your knees will be hurting soon.”

He stares at you blankly for a moment before bending down slightly, pressing you against his hulking form and picking you up. When you squeak with surprise he lets out a faint chuckle, walking you down the hall and stopping when he sees your bathroom. “Yer wet.” He murmurs, more to himself than anything. He wanted to care for you- but he wasn’t exactly well versed in how to do that. “Do ya want a shower?” He asks lowly as he sits you down on the toilet lid. “Or just.. ya know. Dry off.”

You smile at his words, pointing to one cabinet in particular. He quickly stands and opens it, his face being met with different medicines- not the towels like he wanted. “Take some of those pain killers.” You muse softly. He grunts, closing the cabinet back and looking for towels in one of the other ones. You sigh, head tilting as you look over him. “You’re silly.” You smile faintly. “All big and tough.. it’s cute.”

As he reaches for a towel he pauses at your words, sighing faintly. “Can tell yer still all fuzzy.” He mutters. “Made you cum so good yer calling me silly? Christ- ‘m better than I thought.”

You giggle sweetly, gazing up at him as he rolls up his sleeves, his muscular forearms on display and littered with different tattoos. You smile faltered when you brain started to feel a little less hazy, realizing everything he was doing for you- and you hadn’t even returned the favor. You quickly felt that pain in the pit of your stomach- you weren’t kind enough. Polite enough. Sweet enough. “I’m sorry.” You whisper faintly as he shifted to stand in front of you, a towel in hand.

His head cocks to the side in slight confusion as he stares down at you. “F’r what?” He mutters as he sits you up slightly to get the towel underneath you.

“W-well-“ you stutter softly as he gets another cloth, running warm water over it. “You didn’t cum.” You spit out, eyes downcast with slight embarrassment. “I didn’t.. help you cum.” You reiterated.

He hums as he shifts to sit on the edge of the bathtub, his hulking form taking up a good bit of the space. His eyes trail over your form, a hint of a smile on his lips as he hands you the warm cloth. “Looks like w’re in quite tha pickle now, ain’t it?” He muses.

You can’t help but laugh when you look at him, seeing the playful smile in the corner of his lips. It wasn’t hard to make you laugh- not by any means. But it was hard to make you truly laugh.. not just a fake one to appease others. “Okay- okay, I kind of see how stupid that sounded.” You smile as you take the warm rag from him, cleaning yourself up slightly. “I just.. you know.” You murmur. “Do you want me to buy you dinner? Or- I don’t know.. take you out?”

Simon’s heart stops for a second. No one had ever offered to buy him dinner- not a friend, not a date. Half of the time his mother didn’t even bother to feed him. “I.. don’ think yer in much shape ta go anywhere, love.” He murmurs, gesturing to your legs. He could already tell you still would have trouble keeping steady for the next small while.

You glance downcast, nodding slightly. “Yeah.. yeah.” You murmur. After a small moment of silence, you shyly glance up at him. “You could.. stay. For a while.” You said softly. “We could order something- watch a movie. Just- just if you want to. If this is a one and done kind of thing for you- I get it.” You ramble.

He hums thoughtfully, glancing downcast. He’d never stayed after a hook up before. It wasn’t really his style- he’d give someone a mind blowing orgasm and then disappear, never to be seen again. He’d always vanish before they could ask for more- which would eventually turn into asking for too much. But you.. you felt different. “I reckon I could stay for’a while.” He murmurs.

You smile sweetly as you clean yourself up, tossing the towels into the hamper and opening the cabinet to grab the bottle of pain killers, your legs still wobbly. You toss them to him and he catches them in an instant, an amused smile on your face before you move across the hall into your bedroom. He huffs, standing up and following you, sitting on your bed while he watches your ass as you bend over.

Shifting through your dresser drawers, you pull out a pair of briefs, followed by a pair of sweatpants and two sweatshirts- both noticeably oversized for you. You hand one to him and his eyebrows narrow, looking down at the design on it. ‘Hopeless Romantic’ it read in red letters with a little heart. He grunts, looking up at you with disbelief. “Tha’ fuck is this?” He mutters.

You grin as you look down at him, putting on your briefs, followed by your sweatpants. “I figured you didn’t have anything to sleep in” you chuckle. “And you’re a big guy- that’s like the biggest one I’ve got, alright?” You muse as you turn your back to him, slipping off your shirt and putting on your own sweatshirt. Simon very begrudgingly put it on, and he hated to admit it fit him quite well.

The two of you ended up on the couch with a pizza and drinks, watching some crappy rom com you had picked out. Before you even got half way through you dozed off against Simon’s shoulder, and he swears he’s seen heaven now. This was it. Good luck getting rid of him in the morning <3

[transmutationisms]

https://www.tumblr.com/transmutationisms/755692968433909760/lotta-weird-takes-on-here-about-parenting?source=share

this is the motherhood post i didnt really understood :/

i rewrote that one here hopefully more clearly but to sum up in fewer sentences: the economic and social forces that create pressure for certain people to reproduce are, seemingly paradoxically, the same forces that also punish other people for those same actions. this is because the underlying biopolitical calculus that a state makes is that its wealth and power depend on having a population (=labour force) that is 'fit', healthy, and neither shrinking/degenerating nor growing too fast and 'draining resources'.

in a very obvious example, immigrants and racialised women in the us are subjected to involuntary sterilisation and are considered to be having 'too many' children, even as people who say this will also turn around and fearmonger about birth-citizen white women's birth rates declining and causing 'demographic crises' (the way that these processes happen is ofc more complicated and often contradictory than this; states also don't always act rationally or consistently where biopower & reproductive policy are concerned).

so, when people try to argue that 'motherhood' writ large is either universally praised or demonised, enforced or prevented, they inherently produce a lot of nonsense discussion because they're failing to understand that these seemingly opposite goals (make people reproduce more, vs prevent people reproducing so much) are rooted in the same underlying capitalist interests and goals.