#''it's just a joke even though it's happening and i support it. it's funny! feminists are anti-fun!'' - alleged feminists

[butchgtow]

I'll say it because no one else will. Feminism doesn't end where fun ends. Seemingly gender critical but not once considered beyond a single layer of dust's surface, feminist does not make.

[gabicastillo]

I need to talk about this.

To begin I want to clarify that I am Swiftie since the 1989 era, I defended Taylor prior to his reputation era, I have been in this fandom for a long time and I can say regarding the "relationship" of matty and taylor that I am disappointed but not surprised . Although (as far as I know) I don't belong to any group that matty heally attacked in his stupid comments, I know first hand how it feels when you receive this kind of comments, I am Latina and believe me the kind of comments that I get said these types of people are horrible. “He's just a character, as long as Taylor is happy everything's fine” GIRL if he's playing a certain character anyway IT'S NOT FUNNY, it's a serious topic. His "jokes" show the person he is, what he thinks, his values ​​and even though Taylor Swift has not explicitly said that she shares the same ideology and thinking as Matty, she supports him THROUGH HER SILENCE. We can't let this go by and pretend as if nothing ever happened, we need to talk about this, you're literally dating someone who says racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic comments, Taylor is supposedly against all of this, she herself said in the documentary of repetitive miss americana times that she disagreed with this class of people. She declares herself a feminist but is dating a person who makes demeaning comments to women and she herself recently supported a director who has been accused of sexual abuse and harassment of women, her speech IS CONTRADICTORIAL, we have to learn not to put the famous on a pedestal and not be blinded by fanaticism. I'm not interested in her being in another relationship immediately after breaking up with Joe, I'm not talking about that, in fact she can do whatever she wants with her love life, but going out and supporting this kind of person is crossing the line knowing that MANY OF YOUR FANS belong to the minority groups that your boyfriend denigrates. She herself wrote the phrase "YOU ARE WHAT YOU LOVE" we have to accept that she is wrong, the world is not going to end, we have to accept that her feminism is false and that she only declares herself a feminist when the problems affect her.

[dylanobrienisbatman]

The main problem with the whole mal vs the darkling thing in regards to being possessive (or really when it comes to any of their traits) is the fact that throughout, the darkling is clearly framed as the villain and his actions reflect that, whereas Mal as supposed to be the good guy and best romantic partner for Alina, and yet he has all these awful character traits and tendencies. So its less about how awful the Bad Guy is (since he's supposed to be), and more about how awful the person that we're supposed to believe is the best option for Alina is. I don't ship either, just my two cents.

Okay well... two things. First, your comment about "its less about how awful the bad guy is, since he's supposed to be", takes every comment I've made about Darkles out of context, which seems fitting since everything Darklina's spout about Mal is out of context. Him being the Bad Guy is fine, and if you like him AS A VILLAIN, and acknowledge all the bad shit he does, then my posts aren't for you. I think he's a very interesting villain, and a lot of the terrible shit he does that I have to keep making posts about make him a good villain, the problem is when the terrible shit the "Bad Guy" does is romanticized and viewed as the reasons why Alina SHOULD have picked him. So, don't assume everyone gets that "hes supposed to be awful". The point my post was making is that Darklina's love to call Mal possessive, but then turn around and act like Darkles literally enslaving her in somehow sexy and romantic. It's fucking not, and it's transparent as hell that y'all romanticize and sexualize the actually possessive character, and then project false character traits onto Mal. It's so transparent, it's almost funny.

But, more importantly, to your second, very wrong point, I wonder how much of the narrative about Mal having "awful character traits and tendencies" is actually a commentary on Mal as a character, or is it just Darklina's lying about things Mal has done and everyone accepting that misinterpretation as canon. Because, if were making a list...

Fuck boy - False! Mal was not a fuck boy! He was an attractive teenager who hooked up with consenting girls his age when he could, and he was not in a relationship during that time. Alina had never told him how she felt, so he is not beholden to her. (Also, nobody seems to have an issue with the fact that Darkles hooked up with Zoya in the show, that doesn't make HIM a fuckboy... interesting) (also also, nobody seems to discuss Darkles literally sexually assaulting Alina, and lying and manipulating her to get her to be physically intimate with him so he can use her... double interesting).

Slut Shames Alina - FALSE! The ever favourite callout line from Darklina's "He's all over you" isn't him slut shaming her. First, he has no idea what their relationship is like at that point, but more importantly, he is making an observation of her status in the little palace and how she has become his tool. He has dressed her up in his colors, made her put on a show for his benefit, and has created a situation where Alina appears to be his. Mal is noting that after months of searching for her, believing she was being hurt, tortured, or worse, when he arrives to save her, she looks like the Darkling's pet. (and, even if he WAS angry because he perceived them to be romantically involved, boy just spent months fighting for his life, lost multiple friends, and almost died to find her, all while coming to the realisation that he was in love with her, and then he shows up, after not hearing from her for months... I'd be pissed as hell too.) Important Note: He even acknowledges that what he said was wrong and tries to apologise, before Alina tells him that he was right. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 286). He also then apologizes, completely unprompted, for what he said. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 297).

Fat Shames Alina - False! This one is particularly laughable to me, because its one of the Darklina arguments that falls apart the second you actually read the scene. They are running for their lives in the forest, and Mal has to hunt and gather to feed them. He is noting that Alina's appetite has increased since he last saw her, and he makes a joke (ya know, how you do with friends) about how it would be easier to keep her fed if she still had her more meager appetite from before. He makes no comment on her weight, or her size, and he is not actually commenting on her appetite in a negative way, he is just acknowledging that it's a lot more work for him now that she eats more. Right before he says the line, the quote even proves that he isn't shaming her or thinking badly of her: "With a bemused expression, he watched as I gobbled down my portion and then sighed, still hungry". He is noting a change in her, and complaining that its made more work for him. If you think thats the same as fat shaming, well... thats a you problem.

Hates Alina's Powers - FALSE!!!! How to begin... do we talk about it was Mal's idea to hunt the stag in S&B, because he knew she needed it to be more powerful so she could stop the darkling? Do we talk about how he vowed to find the firebird for her, even though he was terrified of what all that power would do to her? Do we talk about how he literally died so she could achieve the power she needed to save the world? Or maybe we could talk about how he believed in her power more than anyone else, like when everyone was making bets about her abilities with the Cut and he knew she'd go further and better than anyone else expected her too, or when he tells her that he was never afraid of her powers, only what seeking all that power would do to her (which is literally the theme of the books, that power corrupts and seeking unmatched power can destroy you)? Mal being afraid of what is going to happen to Alina, being protective of her and worrying over her, is not the same as him hating her powers. He exists to help remind Alina of the themes of the story, and to guide her into maintaining her humanity.

Abusive - ... Do I even need to explain this one? Must I deign an explanation as to why this favourite Darklina lie is so fucking stupid, and also totally hypocrisy? No? Because we all know Darkles is actually the abusive one and they're trying to project their own shit onto Mal to further their abuse apologist agenda? Cool. Moving on.

Possessive of Alina - False! Throughout the entire series, Mal is quite literally the opposite of possessive, but yall just cant read. Not only does he quite literally step out of the way and allow Nikolai to court Alina without argument, which is the most direct example of him not being possessive, he also spends two full books believing, and repeatedly saying over and over and over, that they can't be together because he is not good enough for her. Mal believes, fully, that Alina deserves more than him, better than him, because he's just a tracker and a soldier, just a regular man with nothing to offer her but his love and his protection, and she is a Saint and should be a Queen. Possessiveness is the wish to own and control someone, it is literally the opposite of Mal believing that he's not good enough and doing everything he can to ensure that Alina achieves everything and gets everything he believes she is owed. A possessive character would not tell her to tell him to leave because he has nothing he can offer her, no title or land or country or crown. A possessive character would not promise to be the blade in her hand, because he believed he had nothing but the blood he could spill to offer her.

Angry - True! Yeah, omg, you caught us, Mal is ANGRY! Heaven forbid a teenager who is traumatized beyond belief and has to give up everything in his life, his position in the military (he deserted for her), his friends and the job he loved (Mikhail and Dubrov died for him, and he can't be a tracker in the army... because he deserted... for Alina), and, most importantly, he has to give up Alina (she should be Queen, he believes, and he has to give up the future he imagined with the girl he loves, who he was pretty sure loved him back, because she's a saint and queen and he's just a man), and more, is ANGRY. He has to be the one to find the amplifiers that he knows will end up hurting her, because thats what she needs to save the world. He has to sit by while Nikolai treats him like the dirt on his shoe and tries to woo Alina for his own personal gain (because Nikoalai did not love Alina. Maybe he came to care for her, but he proposed and spent all of S&S trying to get her to marry him when it was obvious they were not in love. He straight up says its so that the next King of Ravka can be married to the Sun Summoner. It's a power grab.) and he can't do anything about it. So yeah, Mal is angry. And yeah, sometimes he's even angry at Alina, just like sometimes she's angry at him. But they always find their way back, always apologize and try to be better for each other, and if you think anger is a toxic trait, and not simply a natural human emotion, might I suggest touching some fucking grass?

Idk why you thought I'd stand for Mal slander on my blog, cuz I will not. So, I'm gonna stop there, because I have shit to do today, but I really do wonder how much of Mal's 'toxic' or 'terrible' traits, that make him such a 'bad' love interest for Alina, really comes from Darklina's who refuse to actually read the text critically at all, and instead take everything he does and says out of context to further their agenda that Alina should have ended up as the Darkling's fucking slave forever, because thats the "girl power feminist" ending somehow. Mal supports her, loves her, sacrifices for her at every turn, and does everything he can do, to the point of literally dying for her, to ensure that she can defeat Darkles and save the world. He protects her, and when they end up happy and safe together on the orphange that they've rebuilt to help the children that were victims of Darkles war and genocide, he spends his days bringing her tea and cakes and flowers, kissing her silly under the stairs in the view of all the teachers, and calling her names like beauty, beloved, cherished, my heart for the rest of their ordinary life together, if love can ever be called that.

[chibimyumi]

Hi, I hope you're doing well and staying healthy. I've read your post about how Elizabeth attacking ciel is sexism. What about Sebastian getting bully by Frances? Frances is a noblewoman grabbing a servant's hair in front of other people. And fans (including me) are like: oh! What a lioness! Even the devil himself is terrified of her! what if it was the other way around? The idea of a nobleman grabbing a governess's hair calling her nasty and indecent makes me uncomfortable and even angry.

【Response to post: Sexism against men and Kuro Sexist jokes】

Dear Anon,

I’m doing well, thank you very much. I hope you too ^^

Your question is a very good one, and it really had me thinking for a while! I myself admittedly do laugh very hard at Sebastian getting a hard time from Frances. But indeed, like you said, it is still bullying, and bullying is bad. In this post-feminist era, we have been so trained to see women bullying men as ‘funny’ or ‘empowering’, but women getting bullied as unambiguously bad instinctively, that sometimes we forget to check our double standards.

Feelings are feelings, we can’t help what we feel. But how come then that to many of us, Frances bullying Sebas is so funny, but Lizzie almost murdering O!Ciel and Nina bullying men not? This post is merely an attempt to explain this feeling for myself too, but hopefully we can all reach SOME explanation together as well???

Let us first look at in what ways Frances has been making Sebastian’s life hard. From all the interactions we have of these two so far, her main points of criticism seem to be his hair and his lack of professionalism.

Slovenly Hair

Sebastian’s hair is something we’ve gotten quite used to now after more than14 years. In Sebastian’s time however, his hair really would have been the height of impropriety for his profession.

Just like I translated O!Ciel’s looks to 2020 standards, I quickly translated Sebas’ hair to 2020 standards as well. Very clean, innit?! Very professional, innit?!

Even without the translation however, if we look at the worst of wigs from the Kuromyus, we can also see how Sebastian’s hair would be atrocious in any formal setting. Look past the fact that these actors are supposed to represent a drawn character. Just imagine being in a fancy restaurant and encountering a dead-spider feather duster on your waiter’s head.... erm....???

Something that is objectively bad on Frances’ end however, is that chapter 14 is not the first time that Frances has seen his ‘slovenly hair’. If his hair really is so unacceptable, as an authority figure Frances has the right to say something about it. However, as it seems, until this point she has never communicated at all (no, “hinting” is not the same as communicating), so Sebas had no way of knowing what he “did wrong”. She immediately grabbed for Sebastian’s hair without mercy, probably because her crept up frustration got the better of her. This is indeed entirely too harsh for a first time call-out, and entirely on Frances.

Much later in the story Frances criticises and touches Sebastian’s hair again, and this time in public while he was infiltrating as a teacher. Here Frances is even publically humiliating Sebastian in front of his students and other high ranking guests.

Especially when you keep in mind that Frances is a noblewoman and Sebas a mere servant, Frances is indeed abusing her power against a servant who cannot strike back at all.

This is indeed power play. However, though it does not justify anything, in the very least her criticism does have ground; Sebas’ hair is by all measures inadequate for any professional setting. Just be nicer about it, Frances.

Useless Butler

Now, let us look at the other reason Frances disapproves of Sebas. Sebastian is a very competent butler according to most people. To Frances however, this claim is empty. When she arrives, parts of the estate have been destroyed and something very literally exploded in her presence.

Even though Sebas is not the person actively causing the explosion or the destruction, as the senior servant of the household, it is literally his job to manage the other servants. So yes, here too, the fact that things can be destroyed in the household because he either hired inadequate staff or because he mismanages his household, DOES INDEED prove he fails at his job. As the aunt of O!Ciel who cares about her nephew AND her paternal home, Frances is in her right to be concerned and call Sebastian out for NOT doing his job.

In chapter 14, Sebastian’s schedule was all over the place and kept changing the plans for Frances. It is no wonder that she would be quite annoyed and doubt Sebastian’s adequateness. When you know your 13 year old nephew’s household is in the hands of somebody so apparently inadequate, anybody would probably be concerned. However annoyed though, Frances does not overstep any boundaries about this specific issue; she is simply supremely unimpressed. Fair enough?

Compliments where due

Something that is quite interesting though, is that despite disapproving of Sebastian, Frances does also know when to compliment him when due. After Sebastian has saved Lizzie’s life without boasting, Frances recognised how the butler does indeed have some value and the correct attitude as a servant.

She says “though you look indecent what you say is true,” and it is yet another jab at the demon’s expense. But here she is also showing that she is willing to acknowledge somebody’s achievements, looking past appearances.

Before Frances leaves, Frances jabs at Sebas a bit again, but she really is not doing anything dickish this time. Instead of making Sebas think she’s simply chosen him as target to be a prick towards, she concretely states why she doubts his professionalism. She mentions the smashed tea set, bare garden and burnt food; mistakes that are objectively unacceptable. Instead of yelling at him, she actually gives him constructive criticism. So here too, Frances is quite stern, but her grounds are solid.

In the Campania arc Sebas shows up again with the hair Frances disapproved of. Frances clearly wants to do something about it again because in her eyes, the butler simply won’t learn. But given the circumstances and Sebastian’s proven usefulness, Frances actually does shelve her agenda. Just like above, here too Frances shows that she is capable of acknowledging somebody despite their looks.

Later when the zombies dramatically outnumbered the living humans, Frances sends Sebas - who had come to her aid - back to her daughter and nephew. By sending Sebas back, Frances also shows that she in fact trusts this ‘slovenly butler’ with the lives of two children she loves deeply. Sebastian protests, but Frances immediately replies: “don’t you trust our ability as swordsmen?” Here what Frances is functionally saying is: “I trust you with your abilities, so you can trust us back.”

In short, Frances is harsh and doing power-play against a servant, but she can shelve her agenda, and does acknowledge Sebas when due.

Contrast to Nina and Lizzie

So now we have seen how Frances bullies Sebastian, and her motivation behind all her points of harshness. As we have seen, Frances’ only points of criticisms are concrete ones; Sebastian’s lack of professionalism in looks, and his lack of professionalism in management. She goes about them too harshly, but all points are legit criticisms, and something Sebas CAN and probably SHOULD work to improve.

Nina

This is in stark contrast with the way Nina bullies her victims. As far as we have seen, none of Nina’s victims have offended her in any way, nor does she ever give any concrete criticism. She has just decided that because men are men, they don’t deserve proper treatment. Even when providing clothes for men is literally part her job, she refuses to provide the ‘professional service’ she is being paid for. And because she is AN EMANCIPATED LESBIAN!!!!!!! #FEMINISM, it’s FINE (!?!?!?)

Unlike with Frances’ criticism of Sebastian’s inadequate hairdo and managing, being ‘men’ is not something any of these men can do anything about (except Sebas, but Nina doesn’t know). Bullying is always wrong, always low. But it’s EVEN lower when you bully somebody for who they are, and not what they do wrong. What does not help is that Nina seems to only be capable of treating people nicely if they happen to be sexuality-wise compatible with her... but if you are, you’ll get molested. What is wrong with you, Nina????

Yes, Frances is saying: “you are a man, and yet your fringe is so long”. So on the most surface level, it is a woman saying this to a man because he is a man. As we later get to know Frances a bit better though, she would be harsh to anybody who looks slovenly. She just has different hairstyles which she considers appropriate for men and women respectively. Had Sebas been a woman and his hair was the ‘feminine equivalent of slovenly’, Frances would most likely have acted exactly the same. So in this sense, unlike with the jokes using Nina and Lizzie, it is not purely: “Haha, girl bullies boii, lol.”

Something else that is terrible is that what Nina does seems to be systemic. Logically it checks out too; it can’t be that only since the past few weeks she’s decided only women and young boys deserve her kind treatment. For all we know, Nina’s been treating the male Phantomhive staff like this for 2-3 years. Sebastian’s comment about Nina thoroughly ignoring men again with “as always” further supports this theory.

With Frances in contrast, in chapter 14 (so barely a year ago in story time), Sebas seemed to have no clue whatsoever about Frances’ terrors. Sebas announced Frances’ arrival to his master and is very calm about it. It was not until O!Ciel alerted Sebas about his aunt that anybody even guessed what hurricane was headed for them. As such, we can safely conclude that Sebas had only been subjected to Frances’ criticism a couple of times, unlike having had to bear with Nina for years.

Yes, Frances still should have communicated, but I already addressed the details above. Still, the point remains that even though Frances is overstepping boundaries and abusing her power, her criticisms are at least not empty.

Lizzie

Lizzie too just like Nina, had zero grounds for showing that much aggression. She did not give anybody the benefit of the doubt, did not communicate, or even so much as give O!Ciel any chance to explain the situation. So far O!Ciel has given Lizzie no reason to think he’d cheat on her, and yet she hurled so much aggression at him Sebas had to intervene.

Still, Lizzie is marginally better than Nina because she is not systemically bullying O!Ciel. It is a one time event. However, this one makes me more annoyed with Yana because it means that even Yana had to use this stale, stale trope of “LOVE TRIANGLE COMEDYYYY”. Have I ever mentioned how MUCH I hate love triangles and jealousy???

Conclusion

Feeling wise, the most important reason for why Sebas being bullied by Frances is funny is probably because of who Sebas is. Sebas is otherwise an all-powerful demon, but to see him inventing colours to shit at Frances - a human Sebas could crush between his fingertips like a cookie - is just hilarious. Had Sebas been a human though, I would not have laughed so hard personally.

Rationally however, Frances is doing power play against a servant who cannot talk back, so it is still bullying, and bullying is inexcusable.The only bit of “right” Frances has is that she does not seem to be systemically bullying Sebastian, and that her criticisms have some ground.

So if Nina and Lizzie’s behaviours played for jokes are like... a -7 and -9 respectively, Frances’ at least scores a -2 for me?

(Yes, as we’re talking about bullying anyway, I just have to make a jab at Vincent.)

Afterword

Something not really related to why “Frances:Bad”, “Nina-Lizzie:Worse”, but I do wish to mention is Yana’s improved drawing skills. I have no proof, but I think it MIGHT have been where this Frances-joke originated.

Yana’s time in the more traditional mindset of manga-worldview really showed, especially at the far beginning. Besides, she was still in the process of finding a way to draw handsome men. In the more traditional mindset of the early 2000s, handsome men were just not supposed to have slicked back hair - “that was reserved for old men and nasty dudes!!” Yana’s discomfort with drawing handsome men with slicked back hair was clearly visible in Sebastian’s early appearances, and making the ‘”hair, back!!! says old-fashioned lady” was potentially even a way of Yana to laugh at herself.

I don’t know who else is old like me and grew up with 80s to early 00s manga, but at the time, hair for handsome men was a BIG deal. In that world ‘slicked back hair’ just carried a certain laughability about it; a “rule of not-cool”. To me at least at the time this ‘laughability’ really resonated with me, and Yana probably also trusted this same ‘unspoken rule’ to resonate with her audiences.

Much later though, Yana clearly grew more comfortable and  maybe even fond of slicked back hairstyles as she confidently chose to portray Sebas as ‘appealing’ while wearing his hair in the style Yana previously disliked.

Again, I have no proof, but I can’t help but think that if Kuro had started 10 years later, the running gag revolving Frances might look altogether different.

What do you guys think? ^^ Cheers, and stay healthy!

Character analysis Nina Hopkins

Character analysis Vincent Phantomhive

Sexism against men and Kuro’s sexist jokes

MASTERPOST Gender in Kuroshitsuji

MASTERPOST Analyses & Info

[what-even-is-thiss]

I’ve been thinking a lot about shock humor and how a lot of folks that make shock humor seem to just assume that everyone watching has the same morals.

Which... is probably true for some instances. John Oliver comes to mind. One instance I can think of is where he pointed out that people with cancer can absolutely steal things if they want to. That is shocking to say, but as a society we all generally feel support for people with cancer and don’t condone stealing so the juxtaposition of those two things next to each other are shocking even though it’s technically true.

Where it doesn’t seem to work, I think, is when it’s used constantly and it shows bad things happening that some people do agree with. Like yes. Showing a sexist gross thing is something that most people should find repulsive and it may seem funny to feminist men that anyone would think that is okay. But like... there’s a depressingly large segment of the population that will take the joke seriously. And women watching might know that and wonder for a second if you’re on those people’s side. And even if you aren’t, you made a joke they can easily interpret to make them think you’re on their side.

That’s why I’ve never been able to finish even one episode of South Park. I do think a lot of these shock humor shows are mostly appealing to cishet white men because they aren’t affected by the jokes. A lot of them probably know the jokes are wrong and that shock factor creates a sort of discomfort within them that leads to laughter. They probably assume that everyone is consuming the content this way so they don’t understand why people are offended by it. Surely we’re all good people here. We know this is bad. That’s why it’s funny! We know good decent people wouldn’t say these things.

But like for a lot of other folks we know there’s a lot of people who aren’t decent or who appear to be decent on the surface but actually aren’t. And those people are seeing these shows too and the writers are often cishet white men as well with the same assumptions as the more decent sections of their audience so they’re basically writing jokes blind.

This is part of why we need diversity in Hollywood. In the writers rooms as well. Because if Family Guy is making jokes about black culture and there’s either no black people in the writing room or just one black person that might feel pressured to agree with the white people because of whatever factors that leads to problems. It leads to white supremicists liking shows that supposedly weren’t made for them and every other bigoted group to flock to “shock humor” as a shield against criticism.

I watched through a lot of Family Guy in my teens just to try and understand the appeal. I think I got it, but I never liked it. And I think most of why I never liked it was summed up in my reaction to the episode “Quagmire’s Dad”. And my reaction to that episode even as a baby closeted trans kid was “Yeah, if there was even ONE trans person in the writers room none of this would’ve happened.”

So that’s why I don’t like most shock humor.

[feiquacker]

I genuinely don't get why people say that Sokka and Zuko are gay and Katara is a token straight. Toph is a lesbeen and Aang is pan; I have seen people be like: "Zuko is gay; Sokka is gay; Toph is gay" and I have nothing against it, but could you please consider the fact that Sukka is a better ship than Zukka (in my oppinion!!!) and that it is canon, stripping Suki out of Sokka's life leaves us with a sexist bitch and Maiko did happen, they were in love and probability still are; (it does not mean I don't respect your fave ship though; be gay do crime)

I headcanon Sokka as bi because he is very feminine and he is amazing and gentle and he just gives me that vibe, but I think he preferes girl more since he did in fact communicate with girls only and had like 3gf (Yue, Suki and the girl from Toph's metalbenders who isn't really a girlfriend but a kid lmao)

Let me stay with the water siblings: Katara. I generally think that saying she is a token straight is like saying she is firenation. (cs it's the opposite) Katara falls in love with Aang because of how cute and childish and nice he is. She loves him cs he is wise and cs he helps her as many times as she helps him. Think about this for a moment: what if Katara wasn't darksinned and wasn't asian/inuit, we have a white girl, ok and now tell me her sexuality... My friends in rl say she would be a 100% pansexual (or bicon) Why? Cs it just fits. They literally say she is straight bc she is inuit. Wtf?!?! (we aren't friends anymore :D) If you still don't see the point let me tell you that Katara is pan. Just. Pansexuall, and no this is not a pun, don't tell me that she likes pans because she cooks, grow up - that's stupid and rasist and sexist

...Toph, people often make her ether a buch le$been (this is a joke and you spell it ledollarbeen, I thought it was funny...) or weird straight but that is rare, and I have mixed feelings about that, Toph is blind, she is disabled, please don't forget that; she doesn't know what the people look like, she will have to fall for their caracter if she even was interested in romantic love. In my oppinion I think Toph is ether asexuell and bi romantic, or she is just bi. Please don't forget that she did in fact have a crush on Sokka and also had two daughters with two different men. That doesn't mean you can't hc her as lesbian. You can hc her as ace/pan/straight/gay/a melon/omni if you want to.

And the same goes for Zuko. He is interested in girls, he had Mai and he loved her with all his heart. Please don't say she was the reason he found out he was gay. Zuko may give you gay vibes (idk how but k) but he is bisexual or demisexual, it just. feels right; See... he is not pan... He just isn't.

Azula: She is, in my oppinion, a le$been but I often forget about... Chan... So a) she is in fact hella gay cs no heterosexuell could be so scary and hot at he same time, here Chan was her gay awakening or b) she is bisexual but with a preference for girls (you know 1% boy and 99% girls) I like a more :D

Since we're here let me continue with the rest of the angels (they are not Ozai's angels they are just the angels I don't know who had the idea calling them after Ozai it is discusting; if they needed a name Azula's angels is more fitting or the best one is just fire angels)

Mai is the bisexual/demisexual. She was in love with Zuko and they were and are in love (I refuse to be ive the shit the comics tell us)

Ty Lee is bisexual but with a preference for boys since she did like Sokka, and she liked the boys in the beach episode simping for her (untill it got to stressful)

Ok our king and queen. Let's start with Aang cs Suki is my favourite and I will save her for last. Aang is a cool dude. He is amazing and soft but also badass and sassy. I think that hcing him as pan or straight is ok. Because it both fits. I personally hc him as omni. With a preference for girls (if that's how you call it) because he did only have a crush on Katara the whole time

Before the grande finaly of my baby and the cutest person alive let's talk about the goddess: Yue for a bit. Princess Yue. The moonspirit. The imoral spirit. The one that sacrificed herself. Yes. Bi with a preference for girls. She would just be a cottagecore le$been if Sokka wasn't there. Like. He was the only one she actually loved. And being the moonspirit is pretty gay you know... Or pan. Bi would fit her more. But pan is also good. Since she likes Sokka cs of his caracter.

Ok the queen herself. Badass warrior, preasonbraker, feminist, girlboss and all the other good stuff... SUKIIII. First of all: Suki would be so gay of not for Sokka. She litherally dressed him up like a woman and kissed him (even Sokka sais it when he explaines the invasion!!!) But since she does actually like Sokka I was thinking about pan Suki. She would never have fallen in love with him if he stayed a sexist bitch. She would have just killed him if Katara didn't interfere. I just. The facs tell me that she is pan. But my brain tells me that she is bi and I constantly don't know what she is. Plus she is the she/they highness. (But I will continue using she/her :c cs not everyone agrees with that and I totally see it and respect it.) in ny conclusion: Suki is queer, she doesn't care about her gender nore her sexuality so she just tells people she's queer and let's them guess never telling them what she actually is cs she herself still hasn't figured it out and isn't planning to uwu

Oh wait my bad Suki's gender is warrior and her sexuality is adorable badass.

!This is my oppinion! And I don't mean to harm or hurt anyone. I used examples as arguments for why I hc them like that. If you hc them as something else it's totally fine. I support it! (just not straight Katara, lmao)

(PS: Please tell me if I was/am disrespectful to any culture or rasist in any way!!!!)

[bookobsessionxxx]

I have a lot to say about Soprah saga, but I am still watching things unfold. There are some quick things that I NEED to talk about though.

“I was trapped and didn’t know it, until Meghan told me.” - Prince Harry

This has to be the most telling statement from the Soprah saga. It speaks of a man who didn’t have these so called epiphanies until his beautiful and amazing wife TOLD him. In other words, none of the things he has complained about his family and nation, would have ever been realized had it not been for M. So my question is, how is this being glamorized as a feminist slaying the dragons to save this poor man from his evil family? Had the genders been reversed, there’d be pitchforks calling H abusive & controlling. Just check out this moment in which H tried to talk, and was again, shut down. This is a perfect example of how far gone H is in Meghan’s cult. He is an obedient puppet who can’t even dispute her ridiculous lies in front of a camera. Can you just imagine how much worse it has to be in private?

I will admit that I have a weak stomach for false victimhood and BS, so I did not watch the 2 hour whinge-fest. However, I did see several clip highlights that people have shared on twitter and tumblr. It’s honestly worse than I could have ever imagined. Just reading the transcripts were already cringe-worthy and cheesy, but actually watching how it was delivered is even worse. Hearing her compare herself to the little mermaid gave me goosebumps in a Norman Bates kind of way. It also made me laugh thinking that this has to be proof that she lurks on tumblr too. I mean she already admitted to going on social media and getting hurt, so why not peruse the blogs on tumblr. @thefraudess was the one who pointed out how she is making sure people stop comparing her to ursula, so she says she’s Ariel. “I lost my voice when I found my prince” 🤢🤢🤢

Lastly, the assassination of Catherine’s character was the most predictable, yet still most heinous act of the entire lie-athon. If I had participated in the drinking game, I would have been sent to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. All the things we expected were there: Diana parallels and how she would have approved, mean old toxic palace staff, racist family, and of course, Catherine is at fault! Look, I actually believe it when she says she cried, but before you get mad at me, hear me out. This is a classic narcissist and an actual actress, z-list and a bad one, yes, but still an actress. I can easily picture her crying to H how K was mean to her and made her cry when all she wanted is to make everyone happy. What I obviously don’t believe is that the reverse happened. If we look closely at her words and how she said it, you can tell that she is once again lying in order to be the “gracious and innocent victim.” Here is the transcript: "A few days before the wedding, (Kate) was upset about something — the issue was correct, about flower girl dresses — and it made me cry and it really hurt my feelings," Meghan, who's expecting her second child, said. "I thought in the context of everything else that was going on those days leading to the wedding that it didn't make sense to not be ... trying to be supportive." Ok, so an unbiased journalist would probe and ask, what made K upset in the first place? It is telling that she herself drops that tidbit, isn’t it? Could K be upset that she literally just had her third child and is still being kind enough to involve herself in your second wedding, Rachel? Or could K be upset because you were being your ridiculous self towards an innocent child? Then she goes on to say... "It wasn't a confrontation, and I don't think it's fair to (Kate) to get into the details of that because she apologized and I've forgiven her.” Seriously??? How can anyone believe this act??? Oh I forgave her, but I’m still so kind by not explaining further because it may accidentally that I was in fact the evil and unreasonable one in this scenario. Funny how she always talks about how emotional being pregnant or a new mother is, yet she always conveniently forgets Catherine was pregnant when they got engaged, then just had a baby in the weeks leading up to her wedding. What a joke! Some feminist! For those who can see through her act, it is very obvious how much she hated that Catherine will always be above her in the hierarchy. However, as a proud royal watcher, I’m also pleased to know that Catherine is also above her in character. She is a true Queen!

Overall, I couldn’t believe anything that came out of these two twats’ mouth because of their empty actions. I will have more to say about her dismissing Catherine’s experience as just “rude” whereas hers was supposedly way worse. So stay tuned 🍵

[recurring-polynya]

I have to say I knew that at one point renji, ikkaku, yumichika and iba were in the same squad with kenpachi but good god you managed to paint a beautiful picture for me. I simply assumed that for them it was simply party time all the time along with a few bald jokes but this is much better. Emotionally healthy squad 11 which still love fighting more than anything. I always cringed when someone would just describe them as hooligans that do nothing but fighting. I mean they do that too but I love the idea that they are all emotionally healthy and mature, a loving and supportive family to their own - in their own wakka doodoo kind of way thats endearing - and of course they are in my opinion they single capable force against sexisim. Because they don't care about anything else - gendere, sexuality, gender performances, race, mentality or anything - other than if you fight good you respectable and if you fight good in squad 11 you family. ( like when kenpachi just became captain he made yachiru his lieutenant and no one was against it no one thought it was beneath them, sure thru nag at her sometimes but that's mostly in a banter like way because she call them stupid nicknames but no one hates her for being unrightfully their superior. One day they got a new captain and a new lieutenant that's a child and they just went with it.) I admit their disdain and disrespect to squad 4 is still frowned upon but I do believe some squad 4s can handle their own, it's just that we saw the really peaceful ones. Anyways sorry for ranting. Just wanted to say that yeah, I really like how the past squad 11 with iba and renji in it was a great place in general. I think if they found out some one was being sexist - for whatever reason - they would be there right next to nanao - or iba's mom protesting. Kenpachi and yachiru as well. And that makes me want to be squad 11 ,despite not being much for fighting, so bad.

So, for starters, thanks! I try to have fun whenever I write Squad 11, and I’m glad you enjoy my take on them.

My Squad 11 is just... really not very canon, though. Canon Squad 11 is actually pretty gross and sexist. Yumichika is transphobic, Kenpachi makes homophobic remarks about Yumichika, they bully Squad 4, there’s a filler episode devoted to a guy that Ikkaku bullied for, like 100 years because the guy lost his reiatsu saving Ikkaku’s dumb ass.

When you write fanfic, you occasionally run into these more problematic aspects of the source media, and you can choose to dig in and analyze them, or just... remake them in your own way. Take for example, Gin. If you read fanfic about Gin, there are some people who will peel away the layers of him and his fears and insecurities and still make him be a horrible gremlin, and it’s really stellar writing. Other people prefer to write him in an AU where maybe less bad stuff happened to him, and he’s more mischievous than sociopathic, and this is a less meaty interpretation, but it’s also more fun. Sometimes fanfic is a meal and sometimes it’s candy. It fulfills different needs and different fantasies and all of it is welcome.

Yumichika, who for me is the fulcrum of Squad 11, presents this problem. I really don’t like the way his “appreciation for beauty” plays out in canon. He doesn’t actually appreciate beauty, he just likes telling other people they’re ugly. I don’t think he’s ever pointed out beauty in anyone else aside from himself or his zanpakutou. I remember the first time I watched his fight with Charlotte and it struck me as so off -- why wouldn’t he find her beautiful? I mean, I know it’s a transmysogynistic joke, that’s why, men dressed as women is funny, hurr hurr, but Yumichika is gender nonconforming himself. This was an opportunity to make a cool character point, and Kubo took the cheap laughs road instead. Going back to what I said last paragraph, a skilled writer could, in theory, write about his insecurities and his brittleness and meanness and write a pretty compelling story, but a) Kubo certainly doesn’t, and I have never actually found a Yumichika-centric fanfic of this nature, and b) this doesn’t fit the role I need him to play in my stories. I am rarely really interested in writing about Squad 11 for its own sake. I like to write them as a backdrop for the period of Renji’s afterlife where he hit absolute rock bottom and bounced back up again. We already know the role Ikkaku played in this, except that Ikkaku is a complete moron in terms of mental health, and I really, really felt like this is where Yumichika needed to come in.

I like to massage Yumichika’s character a bit, but I do want to keep the flavor of some of his character flaws-- he’s still shallow and mean and judgy, and I love that for him, but I like to add in a positive side to his appreciation for beauty. Having Yumichika make fun of Izuru’s pores is funny but it’s even funnier if he’s just given Renji a compliment on his hair first. The idea that a Yumichika compliment is attainable makes all his drags the more vicious. Yumichika also judged people by their beauty instead of their moral character, which is humorous to me. He dislikes Byakuya as a person, but is obsessed with his haircare regime. I like to have him treat Rangiku as an equal, beauty-wise, and a person whose opinion he respects based on her aesthetic. Rangiku is actually a pretty savvy and very emotionally intelligent person whom many people write off because she likes to present herself as a lazy airhead, so in an extremely convoluted way, this all works out. I like to think that Yumichika’s ideas of beauty are also caught up in boldness and risk-taking and having one’s outward presentation ring true to their inner self. To me, this is the core of why he loves Ikkaku. To him, Ikkaku’s devotion to doing the most Ikkaku thing at all times, no matter how stupid, is irresistibly sexy. 

Aside: At some point, I decided that the fact that a lot of people in Bleach have colorful marks on their faces and elaborate hairstyle and accessory games implied that make-up in Soul Society is gender neutral. I like to think there is actually more of a divide between the nobility, who like their make-up to follow rules and be classy, and, well, Squad 11, who like to get make-up ideas from Jem and the Holograms. I don’t even wear makeup (I don’t know how and it’s expensive and I am ashamed of myself, we can talk about my own gender presentation later) but I like to write about both my male and female characters wearing make-up. I don’t actually know how my readers feel about it, but it just falls under the “Is that what people want?”/“It’s what we do” philosophy of all my writing.

I think one of the theses of my writing is that middle management is more important to the character of a squad than the person at the top. Captains sort of act as ideals to strive for, but they are generally unapproachable for one reason or another. Yachiru is more like her captain in this respect (which makes sense, since she is, in fact part of her captain). Ikkaku and Yumichika present this dual idea that 1) strength is awesome, fighting and being the best is awesome, and 2) part of strength is presenting yourself to the world in a bold and confrontational way. (The fact that both of them are hiding huge parts of themselves is laughably ironic). Kenpachi and Yachiru are shining examples of Do Whatever You Want and Be So Strong That No One Can Stop You. 

What really makes this work is that you need someone one layer down-- does anyone actually subscribe to this nonsense, and that’s why Iba - Abarai Squad 11 is Best Squad 11. I really, really enjoy the genre of Reddit posts where a total bro will find out that his girlfriend is trans and react by becoming a vehement advocate for trans rights. I love the bodybuilders typing encouragement to each other meme. Our world is flooded with disingenuous messages from concern trolls trying to tell us why being kind and inclusive to one another is bad or that you should reject help because struggle makes you stronger and the idea of a Himbo looking at something like that and saying “that seems dumb" is delightful to me.

I actually feel like there are a lot of awful people with bad ideas in Squad 11, it’s just that Renji and Iba don’t put up with their shit, and over time, that becomes the culture of Squad 11. I think that Squad 11 has incredibly turnover, but the ones who stay are the ones who subscribe to the ideas you mentioned-- fighting is what matters, if you wanna go argue about shit, go join Squad 5. In the IkkaYumi story I wrote, which happens shortly after Zaraki takes over, a ton of people leave. The Bount Arc (which I know a lot of people skipped) features a dude who was extremely pissed off because he had liked the old Kenpachi and thought Zaraki sucked and was so mad about it that he betrayed Soul Society. You might think that this arc would feature Zaraki caring about this in some way shape or form, but he really didn’t. So, I think there are a lot of Soul Reapers that took issue with serving under a little girl as a vice captain, they just aren’t in Squad 11 anymore.

Oh, one last note on Iba’s mom. I am of an age where a number of my friends have mothers who were Second Wave Feminists. The moms in question are a real mixed bag, because they Came From a Different Time, and on one hand, you have to respect what they went through, and on the other hand, they are very difficult to get along with. I liked the idea that Iba has always chafed against his mom and her big personality, and then Renji comes in, and is like, “hey, your mom is strong as hell and she has a lot of ideas that I never thought of but they make sense” and Iba realizes that, even though she’s still a huge pain in his ass, his mom is the person who made him who he is. Moms are complex.

Uhhhh, I have definitely lost the thread of wherever I was going with this post. Thank you for enjoying my Squad 11, which is nothing like canon Squad 11. Hopefully maybe this year, I will actually finish my Squad 11 Self Care story, where Renji stops being a drunk disaster person after Yumichika teaches him how to fill his brows; I got stuck on a part where Rangiku gives Renji a talk on ethical sluttery.

[synthmusic91]

thoughts? kjfhlkjdfh asking bc i rb'd the original post from u a bit ago because i agreed w/ original poster but i just saw this rb of it and wanted to know what u thought. ciaran(.)tumblr(.)com /post/652413157345820673/there-is-a-genre-of-posts-thats-obsessed-with-the

well first of all i hope this isn't a bait ask. this reply really doesn't deserve the time and effort i put into refuting it, but there was a point in time when i was emotionally confused by these..."arguments", so whoever u are, anon, i hope this is helpful. i also recommend some distance - literally, "go outside and touch grass", which is a lot more difficult than it sounds, but it needs to be done. anyway, here's my "analysis":

for context, here's what the post in question said:

and the tags:

at a high level, we can see that what ciaran is saying doesn't really respond to what OP was talking about. for this reason, i'm not going to bring in much of what OP said, because it's uncontested in this context, and look at ciaran's reply. i'll try to break this up...

EDIT: i had a long-ass response here, but then i realized it was dumb because the source material is dumb. i cut out most of it, but here are the highlights.

"there is a genre of posts that’s obsessed with the notion that fandom is something much larger, more prevalent, and more able to affect the way media is processed and consumed, than it actually is in reality."

so, as we can all see on tiktok and, indeed, on the electronic lore olympus billboard that takes up a side of a literal skyscraper, fandom is no longer the niche thing that "fandom olds" make it out to be. also, we can't ignore how many (white) fandom players go on and work in the industry (cassandra clare, whoever wrote 50 shades, man idk much of anything so there's probably many more). so this comment is sort of myopic. and since this is what characterizes the rest of the reply, well...it's not great.

also don't look up lore olympus; it's basically a dd/////lg fanfic that happens to be one of the most popular series on the line webtoon app, which is rated for teens...and for $1 to the creator's patreon, you can view not sfw p*dophilic art, so. also obviously i didnt do that; there was a video essay about this. i can't find it though

"ironically but understandably, these posts are made by people who are so terminally fandom-poisoned that they ascribe phenomenal power to it, and think of it as some great evil that must be defeated (by making posts on tumblr, which is obviously a very influential thing to do)"

"fandom-poisoned" is such a nebulous term, especially since it appears to mean "has had some really significant, (in this context) bad experiences with fandom." this is, first of all, a huge assumption to make about a stranger, and second, not the own they think it is. i'm just going to link this post, and hopefully you can see how it relates.

anyway, the "making posts on tumblr is meaningless" is um...interesting, seeing as off the top of my head i can think of two very influential tumblr blogs that talk about really important issues, Gradient Lair and Red Light Politics. I don't know as much about Red Light Politics, but Gradient Lair is frequently cited by academics (not getting into academia nonsense now but... -_-). also, they sound more pissed that the original post did gain traction, but whatever. this paragraph doesn't really make sense, but nothing here does, because i wasn't given much to work with.

"...and then because these people have basically no imagination and unfailingly pick on others for their own faults, they project their own experiences on everyone they perceive as being more ‘in fandom’ than them,"

jesus christ. i'm going not say anything about the tone of this because i put too much effort into this for some rando to call me a cyberbully.

i think what they're thinking about is how there appear to be some "fandom critical" people who try to, holistically, "ruin everyone's good time" by "stirring up drama" about popular fandom artists/writers/whoever else idk. oftentimes these people will also make jokes about fandom whatever, seemingly picking on random people's interests.

however, if you look at the long history of fandom racism, fandom's normalization of p*dophilia, and even general fandom harassment, and then you look at fandom's visceral, unwarranted reaction to criticism regarding these things, you can quickly see that disillusionment towards fandom is entirely reasonable. as for the joking, well...this an oversimplification but not everyone needs to like what you like. it sounds like they just need to get over themself.

and go “You, a 27 year old queer blogger who is into [tv show/anime/movie] an embarrassing amount, are now going to be the face of Capitalism” with no self-reflection or critical thought given to how fucking cringe it is-"

so, i'm regretting putting so much effort into this because this is so fucking long and i have to analyze this nonsense...it feels like i'm back in my feminist thought class. nightmarish. but anyway, this seems to deal with- [CUT FOR LENGTH. nothing important was missed].

EDIT 2: actually here's a summary of what I had. it deserves better than to be a response to this nonsense, but first it detailed how this took 1. the op's post and 2. a comment that we don't even know if op agreed with and misinterpreted that, and threw quite a fit about this- and i hate to say this because this term is misused so often by redditors, but- strawman.

I then went on to discuss how, for example, PoC can uphold systems of white supremacy. while obviously no person of color is going to be the "face" of white supremacy, the discussion still needs to be had, especially within that group. similarly, while fandom constituents may not be the face of capitalism, there needs to be a discussion, within fandom, on how they support and are defined by capitalist (and other) systems.

it was really too good of a point to be making for this trash reply. I could go say more, but I'm still trying to stay on topic, unlike ciaran.

"to act like random people on the internet, end users with no influence over corporate decisions, are the ones personally responsible for the fact that late-stage capitalism has destroyed popular art and culture in an increasingly sordid attempt to make money."

we've been over the "no influence" bit - because in fact fans do have influence, especially since media creators are literally fans, etc etc. i'm tired of people acting like they have no power and using that as an excuse to support and perpetuate harmful, easily avoidable behavior.

also, to act like the nebulous system of late-stage capitalism is the only cause of bad media is ludicrous. first of all, someone has to make these so-called "corporate decisions", and the people making artistic decisions are, again, overwhelmingly members of "fandom." this comment is really trying to keep marvel trash and lore olympus-esque nonsense in the same atomic, indivisible category lest someone catches a whiff of nuance.

"the above post is a great example of this phenomenon because op admits freely that they only think fandom is destroying media because they have been spending more time in fandom and thus have an over-inflated sense of its importance in greater culture. posting your own Ls indeed."

i'm so tired. this person literally has 120 works on ao3 like...who is spending more time in fandom.

and the tags:

#i assure you that fandom has no bearing on my actual real life #and if it does on yours. then that is your problem #it's also a very funny problem to

now this is just egregiously tone deaf. you do not need to do more than a cursory google search to find a bottomless well of examples of fandom harassment, threats, doxxing, and violence, much of which is racially motivated. you can see why it would be bad to make fun of this. 

also the way that “fandom has no bearing on their actual real life“...120 fanfics on ao3. 120.

conclusion:

the reply clearly misinterprets of op's point, and as such, does not refute it. they responded to another issue altogether, which is that of the sanctity of their ~coping mechanism~ or whatever it is. their argument in this respect was, in my opinion, delusional and pathetic, especially given that they wrote it on someone else's unrelated post.

FINAL NOTE: i cut out lots of this because the reply went in so many different directions, so some stuff might not make sense. let me know if you have any questions.

[thisiswhatascientistlookslike]

Spies in Disguise: A Feminist Perspective

Fia – 15/07/2020

Last week, I watched Spies in Disguise, an action comedy animated film that came out in December 2019, with characters voiced by Will Smith and Tom Holland. Before I begin criticising it, I should say that I absolutely loved it. The characters were interesting and well developed, the story was easy to follow and fun to watch, and most of the jokes made me laugh out loud.

As an aspiring scientist myself, I was especially pleased to see the way science was brought into the spotlight (something which unfortunately doesn’t happen often in entertainment media) by Tom Holland’s character, Walter. I loved Walter. He was probably my favourite character of the film. Not only is he always passionate about science (which probably made me very biased in his favour), he is also wildly different from your typical action film male character. Walter is not physically strong and relies entirely on his brain to get him out of dangerous situations. He is also very close to his pet pigeon Lovey, adores pigeons in general, and enjoys Korean romance dramas. And most importantly, he repeatedly refuses to fight fire with fire and always seeks the solution that involves the least violence. Basically, nowhere near the traditional masculinity often depicted in this genre. He sets a precedent. I feel a tremendous joy for all the little boys and all the men who watched this film and came out of it having found a role model in Walter, knowing that they did not have to aspire to yet another representation of toxic masculinity, and instead could find joy in being kind, in being weird, in being themselves.

But I can’t help but wonder – what if Walter had been a woman instead of a man?

This is not to say that there are no inspiring women in important roles in this film. The spy agency itself is led by a woman, Joy (Reba McEntire), who keeps her cool in the tensest of situations and who recognises her mistakes. There is also Marcy (Rashida Jones), a BIPOC woman and funny, cat-loving badass who strives to fight for what’s right and refuses to allow corruption in the agency – although she does spend a large part of the film wrongly accusing the main character of being a villain and thus accidentally becoming somewhat of a villain herself.

Furthermore, Walter’s “tragic backstory” is centred around him being bullied and belittled by his peers for being a “weirdo” due to his passion for science and his creative, out-of-the-box approach to design weapons made to destabilise the enemy rather than harm them; he finds himself marginalised due to his open-minded pacifist views that the spies do not share. But now imagine how much stronger a female Walter’s backstory would have been. For every scene in which Lance (Will Smith) tells Walter that he has no place in the fight, we could have had Lance tell her to be a good girl and go back home – and of course her calling him out on his sexism and refusing to be treated like that. Because she would be a girl who grew up hearing and experiencing the stigma and stereotypes about women not being smart enough to go into STEM fields. A girl who has been through years of not being taken seriously, whether this be as a woman in science or as a passionate pacifist. A girl who has had enough of all of this and is determined to prove her ideas are worth listening to.

Another one of Walter’s character defining aspect is his close relationship to his mother, Wendy, who supports his ambitions for a less violent world – it would have been very interesting to see Wendy supporting her daughter’s aspirations knowing what it will be like for her as a woman in a largely male dominated field. Similarly, at one point of film Marcy has a conversation with Walter in which she tells him she knows how much it’s hurt him to be viewed as a “weirdo”, and she promises to help and support his work at the agency. This is another plot point that could have been made more interesting had Walter been a woman – Marcy could have directly empathised with her, woman to woman, which in my opinion would have given a lot more depth to both characters and to their relationship (we love to see women supporting women!)

And of course, as a role model, female Walter would have inspired so many. Seeing a woman in science would have been crucial not only for all the little girls watching, but also for all the boys to understand that science is not just for them, as is unfortunately illustrated by the astonishingly disproportionate ratio of male to female scientists that children are exposed to in their education (of course, there are and always have been women in STEM fields, but it is not enough for them to only exist if they are never actively talked about and presented as role models). It would also have been amazing if the film addressed the discrimination that women face in science – not to mention, action films in general are an extremely male dominated genre, so to have a woman in a main role would also have been very important and empowering from that perspective.

However, although it features a very diverse cast of characters, Spies in Disguise never once actually addresses sexism or racism – perhaps the film exists in an alternate universe where these have been eradicated, or never existed in the first place (this universe already gives humans the possibility to shape-shift into pigeons and back, so who knows)? But regardless of whether or not it is an alternate universe, the film was made to be viewed by an audience that lives on this version of Planet Earth, where these problems are unfortunately very much real and present in every aspect of our lives – so really they should have been discussed, even without a female Walter.

And even though I do love Walter as he is and think he already makes a huge difference, even though the film did not address the systemic social prejudice that most of the characters would have encountered in our universe, I still believe that seeing a woman as a confident, passionate, and dedicated scientist would have sent a very necessary message to all members of the audience and would have no doubt inspired many.

But in the end, Spies in Disguise remains a wonderful film as it is – and hopefully in the future we will have greater and better representation of science in pop culture, and especially of women in science.

[velveetacrackncheese]

Hey, Rad... Alex... Alexlememe? I know that's the name you used to go by and I know you've kinda disconnected yourself from Viv's fanbase after ZP ended, and I remember your memes and such but I kinda just wanted to get your take on the Hazbin drama since you reblogged the headcanon blog's post on the subject. More or less regarding the issue of her being uncharitable to fans and non-fans alike, plus that one callout post on twitter?

So this is weird. I wasn’t expecting to get asks on the subject since like you said, I’ve generally been disconnected from the fanbase aside from the few reblogs here and there retaining to Hazbin and its more recent developments. But yeah I guess I could give my take on this since I mean.. old fans still follow me. Idk why, but they do!So, really. In regards to that callout post (which is now deleted) I really, really don’t care that much. For one thing, Initially I did because I really hated to see someone be slandered so viciously with inaccurate and uncharitable attacks, but I kinda just stopped because even when I linked the addresses from both Viv, and the Ken dude regarding all the drama mentioned, it was either ignored and resulting in me being called a “pedo sympathizer” or “It wasn’t even an apologyyyyy weh” and like, whatever. I stopped giving a shit.

Terms of the traced animation thing... Lol, ok. I mean homages do exist, and her animation thingy was based on a meme so whatevs.

Anyways,I knew from the very start that the whole “tracing” and “stealing designs” stuff was nonsense since there was an entire like, tumblr drama arc on the issue, and albeit Viv’s post is gone, there’s evidence of legal contracts regarding Jiji and that whole nonsense that was years ago. In regards to her drawing pictures of Blaire White and Shoe… Eh. I mean, yeah, fuck em, but she’s made it clear that she doesn’t support those views anymore, and she wasn’t even really aware of the other things they’d done at that point, and I see no real reason not to believe her because what does lying about that gain her? Yeah her comment on the “blackface” thing if you wanna call it that was dumb as shit, but considering 2016 was a rough year for her in terms of trying to find where she fell in the political sphere, I can relate because I was in the same boat. A lot of sjw cringe comps, shaming feminists, and purposely misgendering transpeople… Not a good time for me either! Course I’ve changed. I went from being a reactionary alt-centrist to an anarchist so. Whether that’s an improvement is up to you.

As for the whole pedo/zoo shit, I really don’t see it. I mean like, look, obviously porn art portraying people fucking feral animals is disgusting right. Not saying it isn’t problematic or anything, but to be fair, she did draw this shit like 8 years ago. I’ve seen worse from even more well-established artists and I don’t see people trying to cancel them? Also, the art was suggestive for one thing and not necessarily 100% porn. I mean it’s still creepy and gross, and I’d understand scolding them if they continued to do so but a lot worse, but I haven’t seen anything like that from Viv past those 2 drawings. As for the pedo shit… The relationship between a 17 year old and a 19 year old is… hardly creepy and reminiscent of pedo shit. So yeah no fuck that. Now with the drawing of Mirage and Kestrel and the tag that said something jokingly like “Mirage and her pedo tendencies” or whatever… Yeah idk, I can’t defend that lmfao. Again, Viv said she disapproves of those drawings and doesn’t care to think about them, but that one piece of artwork definitely had some baggage to it that made me feel uncomfortable after reading the tags.Only issue I took in terms of her addressing that, is that she was very adamant about it being an inside joke… Which if that’s true, you must’ve had some fucked up friends like damn.

I would also like to state that cub art is legitimately disgusting and I am of the belief that it can cause harm depending on the context since I assume the consumption of cub art can reinforce the urge for pedophiles to act on their desires instead of finding healthy coping mechanisms for it through therapy. There have been stories from younger users on the internet that older people have tried to groom them and have the notion of pedos preying on them be normalized by sending them art depicting kids in sexual acts with adults. Of course in isolation cub art isn’t as harmful as the actual act of raping a child, and I would argue that people have their priorities kind of messed up since the illustration being acknowledged should be part of combating pedophiles preying on children. However, people, typically twitter wokescolds tend to focus on the art solely and I don’t know why. There’s a lot of MAPS trying to find their way into LGBT spaces and it’s fucking gross.

Now with Hazbin itself… It’s meh. Initially I watched it with rose-tinted glasses and loved it. After watching it for like… the 3rd, 4th, 5th time? It’s alright. I don’t hate it, but it’s far from perfect. Now ofc I know it’s a pilot but a very lengthy pilot I’ll say. My biggest gripe with the pilot is that the editing is really fucking weird. Like the editing where Angel tells Alastor “I can suck yah dick!” and the scene that followed was really off. It seemed like too many cuts were made in that instance and seemed very cluttered. It also feels that way during Charlie singing “Inside Every Demon is a Rainbow” and how many little animated bits were like almost wiped off the screen by how fast it came by, and ntm there was just so much happening all at once on screen as well. I had to pause at points just to process everything that was happening. The palette is also very, very, verrrry red. There’s so much red going on and like… I get it, it’s in hell. But lemme rest my eyes on something else besides red, please. The palette they use needs to be better diversified, and the same goes for the characters too. Every character seems to have red on them. Whenever Baxter shows up later he’s gonna look really out of place. Some of the jokes were ok, and others seemed non-clever. I didn’t think Angel’s joke about sucking Al’s dick was funny. I did like the joke with Pentious and Angel though. “SON??” Some of it could’ve been written better too.

Regarding the drama with the show itself… Personally I don’t get it. Like, I don’t feel as if Angel is homophobic as a character since his queerness isn’t at the face of the jokes he makes? He just happens to be sex worker which… sex workers are fine? Support sex workers y’all, seriously. There’s also nothing intrinsically wrong with being sexually active either? As long as it’s within reason and you’re being trustworthy.The issue lies in the fact that people viewed the things I just mentioned as negative, and associate it with gay people as said negatively portrayed thing to push the sentiment of “Gay man do sex a lot therefore the gays bad” or that sort of thing. Also there’s a bit where it shows there’s more emotional depth to him and I’m hoping they’ll expand on that later. Honestly though, the criticisms in regards to that have been pretty uncharitable. Same with the criticisms for Vaggie. Apparently Vaggie is racist because… she’s loud and angry? Again, this is a case where people assume those traits are negative, and because it’s assumed to be negative, the negatively portrayed thing pushes the sentiment of “Being a loud fiery woman made, and latina women are that, therefore latina women bad” or some shit.  There are stereotypes that are bad no matter what the context is like sambo-esque caricatures of black people. Then there are tropes that are applied to certain demographics that have the capability to be written well into characters without it being offensive or disrespectful. Vaggie is literally angry because she’s protective of her gf. Like. C’mon.

So, I think that settles what I think about that? It honestly seems like superficial shit to me tbh, and I’m saying this as an sjw-y beta cuck anarchist.

The only REAL gripe I have, is with what the mod from @zpheadcanons posted. Because I know this is probably true as much as it hurts me to say it. Faust def has a history of being pretty petty and bully-like to people she deems undesirable, and Viv harbors it by not criticizing it, and if anyone else within their friend group does it then you’re scolded vehemently and treated like garbage. Her attitude also stretches to harboring an audience full of white knights that I personally don’t approve of.

There’s also this

Faust has hurt distant people I personally know and… yeah. Maybe I’m biased but I can’t vibe with that. Sorry. If you don’t make an effort to criticize abusive behavior within your own friend circles then that makes you just as bad, because then you’re just a bystander to things you could have prevented.

This isn’t to say Viv herself hasn’t dealt with bad faith actors, or people who had the intention to hurt her, or very uncharitable criticism. Particularly from the badwebcomics forums which is honestly 4chan like in how they operate. It’s vicious as hell, and a lot of their criticisms boil down to insults and personal attacks, which serve to be nonconstructive. That’s not to say Viv has been kind to even the more charitable criticism though. I know because when I happened to send an ask to the zoophobia criticism blog (where did it go???) regarding something relatively minor and superficial, she blocked me from her blog. I’m still blocked lmfao. I’m not blocked on twitter though! (not yet anyways). Faust has me blocked there though, and I have no idea why. She’s had me blocked for years even though I haven’t spoken out against her till recently. So, there’s that.

As for her apology itself, I feel like it was fine. I think it could’ve been worded better? The take I disagree with in terms of that is like… If I made a mistake in the past, and I make it clear that I don’t care for what I did, I don’t feel as if me explaining why I felt compelled to do certain things negate me from still not caring for my past actions? That’s just me providing context. That’s a really weird take, but I guess that could be viewed as an excuse idk. Personally I think people are holding the bar super high to a state of irrationality.

*sigh* So yeah there’s that. I miss the old days where honestly I could be ignorant about this, but at the same time I look at my old obsessive posts and I kinda just… cringe. I was such an irrational stan I almost hate myself for it. Fuck XD

Edit: I’d also like to point out that I’m not saying Viv or Faust are totally awful or totally good people, and I know they’re capable of being better. It’s a matter of whether or not they wanna be better.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

Alvareider + Pen telling Lydia and the kids about her and Schneider being in a relationship. Bonus: “You’re not good enough for her. I’m sorry, but you’re just not.”

this one was a fun challenge!! because my immediate response was resistance to the idea that anyone other than Victor would react this way, and then i thought i could make it work with Alex–but this fic already wrote that exact scenario really well. so i went in another direction…but i like it.

Penelope x Schneider & Lydia & Elena & Alex, One Day At A Time. Also on AO3.

Penelope knew that however they broke the news, they would have to tell her Mami first. If Lydia found out anyone knew before she did, that would become the entire story–she was already guaranteed to be annoyed that they had kept it a secret for two weeks.

Beyond that, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Her Mami had been trying to adopt Schneider for years now, so that might be a little weird…but while she knew Schneider was terrified of what Lydia would say, Penelope was more worried about the kids.

The divorce and being single again was one thing. Her dating Schneider was much more complicated.

She couldn’t blame Alex if it freaked him out. And Elena might whip out feminist statistics in support, or she could just as easily take offense over some turn of phrase–Penelope never knew what might be coming her way from her eldest anymore, but she usually ended up confused.

While part of her would have been happy to keep sneaking around, and avoid the drama entirely, Penelope was ready to face reality.

They had been on three official dates, plus the first one that only sort-of-counted in her book, since she hadn’t realized it was a date until Schneider kissed her goodnight.

But it wasn’t like she and Schneider had just met–though this stage of their relationship might be new, what they felt for each other wasn’t.

As soon as they’d broken the news to the family, Penelope was going to rip off the next Band-Aid and tell Schneider she was in love with him. She didn’t need more time to sort out her feelings, and it was dumb to worry about scaring him off. This was Schneider; he told her he loved her at least once a week, even before they started dating.

But first, this. She let Schneider in on Saturday morning and waited while her Mami poured his coffee.

He took a seat next to Penelope on the couch, and she raised her voice over the music in the kitchen. “Mami, can you bring your coffee out here? We have something to tell you.”

Lydia half-walked, half-salsaed her way to them without spilling a drop of her coffee, gracefully settling into the chair next to Schneider.

“What is it, Lupita?”

“Well.” She hesitated, and turned to him. He patted her leg reassuringly.

Lydia’s eyes darted between them, widening over the mug in her hands. “Oh…”

“Schneider and I, Mami, we’re-”

“Dating.” She nodded sagely, then aimed a finger at her daughter. “I knew it.”

“You did?”

“Si. I knew you were keeping a secret, Lupita. I just didn’t know what it was. And I did think maybe, when Schneider took you to see that Marvel America movie…I could see something was different.”

Penelope looked at Schneider, at a loss for words. They had seen Captain Marvel together more than a month ago–just as friends. But since they were dating now, arguing over the details didn’t seem worth the trouble.

She could let her Mami have this one. Schneider’s little head tilt told Penelope that he agreed.

After all, Lydia had a mother’s intuition. If she saw what was there before they had admitted it to themselves, it wouldn’t be so surprising.

“You got us, Mami. We didn’t want to tell you until we knew it was serious.”

“And is it–serious?”

Schneider jumped in to answer, sincerity filling his words.

“Yes. Penelope and I…we’re exclusive.”

****

Ideally, they would have told Elena and Alex at the same time, but Elena’s debate team meeting kept her at school past dinner that night.

She and Schneider were waiting when Alex walked in the door.

Even with his eyes glued to his phone–while walking, how did he do that without falling on his face?–her son was good at reading a room. He froze just inside the apartment as soon as he felt them watching him.

“Oh, god, what did I do? The school called you, didn’t they?”

“No.” Penelope frowned. “Should they have? What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Alex, you’re not in trouble. Not at the moment, anyway, but if I get a call from St. Bibiana’s you’re going to wish–”

Schneider bumped her shoulder with his, and she let out a slow breath. Right. Not today.

“We’re not here to talk about that. But we do have something to talk to you about.”

He sat in the chair closest to her, sparing Schneider a glance that was only mildly curious. Some days Penelope was certain that she could light her hair on fire and her newest teenager wouldn’t even blink.

“What’s up?”

“Well…I guess I don’t know how to say it except to just say it. But I want you to remember that I love you and I will always be here for you, no matter what. Nothing could change that. Okay?”

Alex tucked his phone into his pocket, finally meeting her gaze. “Am I dying?”

“What? No! Papito, why would you even–”

“I don’t know, all that stuff you were saying about being there for me was really weird. What’s going on?”

“Suddenly this feels anticlimatic.” Penelope rolled her eyes and caught Schneider grinning at her in her peripheral vision. She reached for his hand.

“I’ve been on a few dates lately, and I didn’t want to tell you and Elena about it until I knew I was going to keep seeing the guy. But I am, so. Schneider and I are dating.”

His gaze flew to their joined hands. “Oh.”

Penelope waited for what came next, comforted by the feeling of Schneider’s fingers laced through hers.

“Cool.” Alex pulled his phone back out of his pocket and prepared to check out of the conversation.

“You don’t have anything more to say?” Penelope asked after a moment.

Her son thought it over, then added, “Congratulations?”

After all her anxiety, it felt too easy.

“Alex, I meant…do you have any questions for us?”

“Oh! Yeah.”

“Great.” Penelope braced herself. “Go.”

He turned to Schneider. “Can I go use your Xbox?”

“Uh, sure, dude. You know the code.”

“Thanks!”

Alex saw Penelope gaping at him as left. “We’re done here, right, Mom? He has the giant TV.”

“Yeah, okay.” She gave up looking for trouble where apparently there was none. “Be back in time for dinner.”

As soon as the front door shut behind Alex, she sank back against Schneider’s chest, letting him wrap an arm around her.

She felt him press a kiss to the top of her head. “That was too easy, right? He’s probably not ready to deal with his feelings yet. He’s gonna end up in therapy when he’s thirty-five, talking about how I abandoned him during the most complicated years of his life to hook up with the guy upstairs and he won’t be taking my calls.”

“Breathe.” Schneider chuckled. “By the time Alex is thirty-five he won’t be taking any of our calls. Kids nowadays don’t use their phones for calls if they can text. Get with the program, Pen.”

“Right.” She tipped her head back to look at him. “You really think he’s okay?”

“I do. I think if he was upset, he would tell you.”

“Okay. Well. Great. Elena will be home after dinner–you’re staying, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Then we can wrap this all up with her.”

Her mom hadn’t been nearly as judgmental as Penelope had expected, deep down. And Alex had barely seemed surprised. She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, feeling better about the day already.

Maybe she had been worried over nothing.

****

“You’re joking.” Elena looked between them that night, brow furrowed, searching for a punchline that didn’t exist.

Okay, not the most promising start. Penelope felt Schneider’s fingers twitch in hers and held on a little tighter.

“This–this is a joke, right? One of those jokes that isn’t funny?”

“No, Elena, this is not a joke. We’re together. I understand if this is a shock, that you may need time, but I’m completely serious right now. Schneider and I are a couple.”

“I don’t need time, Mom. Time won’t–this can’t be happening.”

There was a dull ringing in Penelope’s ears as she watched Elena turn away from her to address Schneider.

“You’re not good enough for her. I’m sorry, but you’re just not.”

Penelope flinched as though she’d been slapped. “Elena!”

“No.” She continued, apologetic but firm. “I love you. We all love you, Schneider, you know we do. You’re family. But…”

Elena sighed, switching her attention to Penelope. “Mom, you tried to keep us out of it, but I remember how it was, with Papi. The drinking, and the fighting. It was so hard. Schneider hasn’t even been sober for two years yet. You’ve already been through so much. You deserve the kind of love that’s easy.”

Schneider was gripping her hand more fiercely now, just shy of turning her knuckles white. She knew him well enough to know that it wasn’t because he disagreed with Elena. It was because he agreed, and he wasn’t going to argue with her daughter, and he didn’t want her to, either.

Schneider never wanted to be the cause of family conflict, no matter how much his silence cost him. That was who he was.

But she couldn’t sit there and let him absorb Elena’s words without standing up for him. That was who she was.

Penelope nodded, squeezing Schneider’s hand before speaking.

“You’re right, mija. I do deserve that. I deserve a love that isn’t a constant struggle, one that feels like roses on Valentine’s Day and breakfast in bed and winning the lottery. A love that makes me feel safe, and happy, and at home.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

Penelope turned and looked at Schneider, who wasn’t watching her while she spoke. His gaze was glued to the floor, resolutely fixed there, like even now he expected the worst.

He should know better than that, after all they’d been through together. After all they had become to each other. But could she really blame him, when she’d never used the words?

Penelope smiled at Schneider, waiting for him to look up. “And that’s exactly what I found.”

His eyes locked on hers, blinking owlishly like they had the first time he’d confided in her about his sobriety. She knew that Schneider wasn’t having trouble seeing her; this wasn’t about his glasses

No, he was having trouble believing what he was seeing. The dummy, Penelope added fondly in her head as he stared.

“I love him,” she told Elena.

But it was him she didn’t look away from. She didn’t want to miss the moment when it clicked. When he understood that she meant it.

“I love you too, Penelope,” Schneider said, and neither of them heard Elena’s little huff as she watched them both forget she was in the room.

He said it like he was in awe of her. Like he was grateful to be allowed to say it.

And she knew that was the real reason Elena huffed a second time, softer now, and got up out of her chair.

This wasn’t the end of it. Penelope wasn’t stupid enough to think that it was. Elena would have more to say, there would be long talks and probably some tears and she was pretty sure she’d have to learn about some of it secondhand because her daughter and Schneider had their own, separate relationship to manage now that hers with him had changed.

But not even Elena in battle mode could miss the way Schneider looked at Penelope. Or the way his voice caressed her name, different than it used to sound. It might not have been a surrender, when Elena stood and tucked her hair behind her ears, but it was at least a white flag.

“Well, since clearly neither of you are going to listen to a word I say after that, I’m going to my room. But Schneider?”

He cleared his throat and straightened up. “Yes.”

“I know that recovery is hard. I read all the literature I could find, when–you know.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m really glad you’re trying, though. I don’t want to see anybody…get hurt.”

“Elena, I promise you–the last thing I want to do is hurt your mom. Or you. Ever again. But you’re right, I don’t deserve her.”

“Hey!”

He shushed Penelope, in such an exaggerated way that even Elena cracked a smile.

“I don’t. And I wake up every day wondering how I got so lucky, that your mom loves me back. She’s the most amazing person I know. Y’know? She’s a hero.”

Elena nodded, serious again, taking in his words along with the emotion in them. “Yeah. She is.”

Penelope watched her daughter hug Schneider hard around his neck–a rare display of affection from her eldest, who had become so much more cautious since the divorce.

“Besides,” Elena added cheerfully before she left them alone, “if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that if you do hurt her…Mom can kick your ass.”

Schneider gulped hard, and Elena headed to her room with a lighter heart.

“She was just teasing,” he told Penelope, voice tilting up at the end. “She-she was teasing. Right?”

“Schneider, of course she was teasing you!” She kissed him, then pressed her mouth into a firm line as she pulled back. She couldn’t resist. “Probably.”

“Penelope!”

“I just had to see you turn that color.” Her grin faded as she ran a soothing hand up the nape of his neck. “Keep being you, and you won’t have to find out.”

“Right.”

Schneider tipped his face down to rest his forehead against hers. “Hey, Pen.”

“What?”

“We did it. We told them. And we’re okay.”

“You’re right. We are.”

She drew out the last syllable happily, pulling away to look him in the eye.

“This calls for a celebration, don’t you think? Tomorrow morning, how about we all go out to breakfast?”

“Ooh, at a restaurant and everything? Classy. It’s a date–but only if it can be my treat.”

“For all of us? No. No way.”

“Pen, we talked about this.”

“Yes we did, and I did not agree that I was just going to sit back and let you throw your money around…”

Elena caught the end of their argument when she went to the kitchen for something to drink, pausing to watch them through the cutout.

They didn’t seem like they knew she was there, but they still sounded like…them.

If part of her had been not just worried for her mom, but worried for all of them–worried about what this was going to change–she could feel that part of her relaxing.

In her experience, change mostly sucked.

For Schneider and her mom, though, she was willing to hope that this time wouldn’t. Maybe this time, they’d be lucky.

Elena heard her mom laughing as she took water back to her room, and let herself believe, too.

Maybe this time they would all be even happier than before.

[dahvangogh]

It seems the Skam Austin fandom is always mad about something. It’s something pretty normal now. So with that in mind and what happened in the last clip, I want to talk about a few things. This long ass post is not only about today’s clip, but the whole season.

About today’s clip? It was pretty accurate with what happens in high schools. Even me, a Spanish girl who doesn’t live or study in the USA, has heard things like this or said many stupid and shitty things. 

1. Kelsey freaking out about university hit home for me. I remember how anxious and the many panic attacks I had while thinking about not getting into collage. But what I loved the most was her conversation with Grace. How sweet and supportive she was. She told Grace about how she would be there and to take her time. Kelsey might have her flaws, she is pretty naive, but she is a sweet loving girl. I loved it!

2. What Grace said, not only about Kelsey, but the “not every lesbian is in love with you, Megan” is pretty shitty but also super real. Grace feels like a real teenager. She fucks up. She thinks she knows everything and even though thinks of herself as a feminist and open-minded girl, she slips many times and fucks up. 

It’s something very normal and we all have been there! Perhaps not now, but in the past I’m sure you said or did things like that. We weren’t born woke!

Obviously, it wasn’t a good joke (not funny to me right now, perhaps it would have been if i had heard it a few years ago when i was in hs) and even less the best place to make it. 

3. What we love about Skam is how accurate it is in portraying teenagers and their lives. Teenagers say so much shit, we all have said things that if we think about them now we would be ashamed. Teenagers fuck up, but they will grow up and change for the better. People learn from their mistakes, you know. Every character in Skam OG fucked up, did something shitty and made many shitty comments. Stop being so woke for a second and chill.

4. Shay. Oh god, I felt so sorry for her but at the same time she did something pretty shitty to Megan and it was obvious Megan would tell her best friend. It is a cause and effect thing. As someone who is, and was back then, still trying to figure out her sexuality but still said and heard things like this, it is brutal and hurts like a bitch. But it will be alright, she still needs to come to terms with her sexuality and much more. I will enjoy her season a lot! I can’t wait for it!

5. The whole Daniel thing. Daniel has many flaws and is a jerk, but he is much more than that. He is not a villain or a bad guy. Just a teenager who fucks up and has behaved like an idiot. Marlon and Tyler are also jerks and have made many fucked up comments (Tyler treating Megan like shit with many comments and actions, Marlon allowing his friends to downgrade and shit on her gf). BUT he is not an stalker or creepy guy. If he is all of that, then so is Noah, Edoardo and Alexander. Stop hating on the William guy, some of you talk about him like his is the Antichrist. Jesus, relax. The dude will fuck up and grow up. Grace and Daniel will challenge each other to be better.

6. THE HATE. Stop posting hate on the tag. Not only for us, the viewers who are trying to enjoy the season but also for those who come here to look for theories, gifs and edits. Who want to enjoy a series as other fans do. You are bothering people and i’m sure you wouldn’t like that if they did it in your favorite season or remake.

You don’t like what you see? Then don’t watch the damn show. Click the X or red button on your window and do something else with your life. I’m sure it’s even tiring to you, the one who post all the time about hate and hating whatever, to be all the time like that.

Also, the actors are real people and very into social media. Have you thought about the possibility of them looking into the tags and seeing all this hate and negative shit? It breaks my heart just thinking about it.

By the way, english isn’t my native language so i’m sorry for any spelling mistakes or if i’m being too harsh. It isn’t my intention. Feel free to send me a message to discuss this or to give me your opinion, i’m all ears and it won’t bother me. 

Now i’m out.

[nothingunrealistic]

oof hey i hope i'm not bothering you, and i asked jury this already (and deffo got a good answer but i need all the info i can get because i am crushingly insecure)- do you have any tips on characterizing/writing the deh characters? i struggle with it immensely and I have no idea why, and you're one of my favorite writers for this fandom. so. no pressure to respond i was just curious!

sure! the only characters i write regularly/feel confident in writing are evan, jared, and alana, so those are the characters i’ll talk about the most, but i’ll try to say something for all of them. also this will feature a good number of quotes from writers’ notes (here) and interviews because those are the main sources i draw on for characterization after, you know, actual canon

evan

Smart, sincere, and cripplinglyself-conscious, Evan prefers to hover in the background, asupporting player in his own life, too afraid to step forward into thespotlight and risk ridicule or, what might be worse, no one noticinghim at all.

this description captures a lot of the things i think are key about evan, but one big thing it’s missing is that he’s kind of an asshole. he usually has good intentions, and he tries to be inoffensive and considerate and Nice, but he sucks at that because it’s just not how he naturally is. he’s bitter and angry about a lot of things - his lack of friends, jared (ostensibly) not caring about him or taking him seriously, heidi rarely being present, and perhaps most of all, his own perception of himself as “broken” and a burden, which he genuinely believes that heidi agrees with and that everyone else would if they knew what he was truly like. he’s frequently sarcastic and occasionally pedantic (see: “president” “co-president” and “it’s sula” “what did i say?” “sulu”). but these are things he doesn’t like about himself, which is why he tries to be either Nice or invisible, especially when he feels uncomfortable. the times when he’s most comfortable acting like himself are, in my opinion, when he’s just with jared, who in turn finds it most fun to spend time with evan when he’s not putting up a front.

major pet peeves in fic: being written as a ~delicate anxious bean uwu~ or anything along those lines; dialogue with stuttering that doesn’t resemble his actual speech patterns at all; making a big deal out of him using profanity; portraying his relationship with jared as evan just letting himself get pushed around until someone (usually connor) comes in to bravely show evan that He Doesn’t Deserve That

jared

Droll and sarcastic,Jared claims to be forced by his parents to hang out with familyfriend Evan, for whom he ostensibly has nothing but disdain.Jared covers his own obvious insecurities with a well-practicedbraggadocio and a know-it-all arrogance.

I think this is the playlist that Jared puts on in the morning on the first day of school to pump himself up for the day… Ultimately he’s terrified of going back to school, but he’s trying to psych himself up. … Every one of these songs is a JAM. No ballads here. And they’re all slightly sarcastic or tongue-in-cheek songs about unrequited love. Jared can relate to that. [x]

Jared Kleinman is too cool for the music of the times. He is proudly a walking 90’s movie… but he doesn’t mind sneaking a little of his parents Manischewitz and listening to a dusty Bette Midler record. [x]

(there are like a dozen interviews with will roland that i could cite here but that’s practically a post unto itself)

the best way i can sum up all the major points of jared’s characterization is that there’s always a reason for the things he says. he doesn’t make harsh remarks to be deliberately cruel or mean; he’s either pointing out an uncomfortable but important truth, or he’s aiming to make a joke and inadvertently crossing the line. when he does make jokes, it’s often another way of delivering the truth, an attempt to get people to laugh and thereby validate that he’s clever/funny/worthy, or an effort to deflect something that makes him uncomfortable or scared. redirection, derision, and showing off are some of his major defensive tactics; he doesn’t do self-deprecation out loud, but he is, as will has said, repressed and self-hating. he and evan are similarly asshole-ish, but where evan tries to hide it, jared tries to hide behind it.

he wants people to be impressed by him in general, but he really wants evan in particular to think well of him and be his friend and openly care about him - the problem is that jared can’t bring himself to openly care about evan, because that entails emotional honesty & vulnerability that he’s just not prepared to deal with. hence their interaction on the first day of school, and then jared agreeing to help evan more and more with his increasingly complex lie despite claiming not to care. (the key word in that first quote is “ostensibly.”) when he is actually is at ease (which is pretty rare, at least in canon), he’s a bit of a drama queen, which evan may pretend to be annoyed by but quietly enjoys.

major pet peeves in fic: being written as straight and/or homophobic and/or leaping to make jokes about how evan and connor are Clearly Doing It immediately after finding out that they’re becoming friends (as if he isn’t utterly convinced that evan is 100% straight); making excessive/forced references and jokes to modern pop culture/memes (everything he shouts out in any form of canon is at least ten years old and usually decades old, and that doesn’t happen often anyway); relentlessly treating evan like shit/being incredibly domineering in their friendship; constant bickering with connor; calling evan “hansen” all the time when he only ever addresses him as “evan” (or, like, “dude” or “bro” or “son”) and even only does THAT when he’s especially emotional or letting his guard down; just generally giving him dialogue that in no way resembles his actual, very distinctive speech patterns

(i have. a lot of thoughts and feelings about jared)

alana

Alana is an incredibly genuineperson. Everything she does comes from a place of deephonesty and tremendous feeling. All of the characters inthis musical put up masks of sorts. For Alana, it’s a façadeof cheerfulness. She is always ready with a smile, a note ofencouragement. This hides the loneliness underneath. 

often prone to melodrama, high school senior Alana has few friends but lacks the self-awareness to understand why; beneath her extroverted demeanor, Alana is in fact haunted by a terrible and abiding loneliness; tired of always being an outsider, Alana seizes the death of a classmate as an opportunity finally to find a sense of belonging. [x]

Study break! … Alana spend a lot of time in the books. This playlist allows her to either kick back, have a lip sync battle, or a jam session. … We have classic up beats like ‘Uptown Funk’ by Bruno Mars cause she loves to dance and be silly. She’s also a romantic. Girl reads Jane Austen, so a nice healthy batch of love songs to daydream to. She’s also a feminist! So naturally Beyoncé has the perfect perfect pump up jams for the feminist in us all.

alana has Big Feelings, and they drive all her actions. she wants to achieve great things and succeed in life, yes, but more importantly, she wants to help people and make the world a better place. when she commits to a course of action, it’s because she truly believes that it’s the right or most beneficial thing to do in the end, even if the means themselves are questionable. much like jared, she struggles with vulnerability and connection with other people, and often tries to form connections with other people by making herself seem more impressive, but unlike jared, she also tries to build up and support other people, rather than tearing them down. she’s also committed to supporting Truth in a general sense, and struggles when this comes into conflict with Doing The Right Thing. this is especially obvious after good for you, when she resigns herself to continuing the fundraiser even though she’s certain it’s based on a lie.

all of this makes alana seem incredibly serious, but that’s not the entire picture. she strives to be upbeat and optimistic, and even when she’s not trying, she loves to have fun! she likes to be silly and tell jokes and laugh at other people’s jokes and daydream about finding a great romance! she thought “fuck finn” was the height of comedy! she’s not a killjoy!

i also hold with kristolyn lloyd’s theory that alana was very close with her grandmother and struggled with feeling unable/not allowed to openly grieve her death, or to express any kind of loneliness or other strong negative emotion. however, i do not hold with kristolyn’s theory that alana had a crush on connor, because alana is a lesbian.

major pet peeves in fic: being written as pedantic and joyless; overly formal dialogue (she’s perfectly capable of using colloquialisms and slang) in which she is never sarcastic, ever (she absolutely can be when she’s frustrated) 

zoe

a sensitive, sophisticated high school junior; cool without realizing it, Zoe could care less about the status games and popularity rites of high school; funny and bright, she has grown up in the long shadow cast by her volatile older brother, Connor, tyrannized along with the rest of her family by his out-of-control behavior; few rooms are as familiar to her as the inside of a family therapist’s office; Zoe compensates for her brother’s darkness by striving to be warm, nice to everyone, the kind of person who goes out of her way to learn the names of the kids who sit by themselves at lunch; she feels a terrible ambivalence over her brother’s death, finding it difficult to forgive him for all he did, and at the same time forgive that part of herself that feels nothing but relief in the fact that he’s gone.

this sums up just about everything i could say, but i will add: the disembodied voice calling zoe a “stuck-up bitch” during ywbf reprise is NOT a voice you’re supposed to agree with.

major pet peeves: anything that states/suggest that zoe is a bitch; those connor/evan fix-it fics with background zoe/alana where the premise of zoe and alana’s relationship is “they’ve actually been best friends this whole time!!” even though this contradicts canon on multiple levels

connor

An angry, disaffectedloner, Connor has been a troubled kid for as long as anyone canremember, an enigma and a source of endless consternation to hislong-suffering parents and sister.

i honestly don’t have much to say about connor, because i don’t think about him very often, but i will say that:

- if your portrayal of him can be described as “edgy,” you’re probably doing something wrong. he’s just as awkward and anxious as evan, it just manifests very differently

- him addressing evan as “hansen” all the time is admittedly much more plausible than jared doing it, but still just as annoying

heidi

Overworkedand stretched too thin, Heidi loves her son fiercely, but fears theyhave begun to grow apart. She is prepared to do anything to repairthe damage.

heidi’s torn between trying to connect with evan and trying to provide a better life for him, because for her, achieving the latter currently requires spending too many hours away from home to really achieve the former. that’s why she’s so upset and demands to know what’s going on in evan’s life when he seems to be acting out of character and doing things she doesn’t expect him to do - she feels she’s being left out of the loop. much like alana, she strives for optimism, trying to find the bright side of any situation. and, as steven levenson pointed out in the annotated script (regarding the line about fabulous tips that evan’s stepmother may or may not have made from cocktail waitressing), she doesn’t have a fully developed sense of healthy boundaries, which is an interesting nuance that tends to get lost in fics that flatten her out into a generic Cool Mom. she’s trying to raise a teenager while not wanting to fully grow up herself.

cynthia

To Evan, she seems to be the perfect mother, nurturing, available,and willing to talk about anything. To her own children, it’s a bitmore complicated.

evan idealizes all the murphys, and cynthia is no exception. she tries her hardest to be a good and accessible mother, but she’s deeply dissatisfied with being just a mother. she works to support and empathize with connor, and to remember him positively after his death, but she frequently neglects and minimizes zoe and her problems in the process.  

larry

Though often tense and taciturn, Larry shows a different face tothe world, representing for Evan the dad he always wished for:strong, confident, and, more than anything, reliable, someone to becounted on.

is larry going to call his children slurs or disown them/kick them out of the house for being lgbt? no. is he going to research How To Interact With Your LGBT Child and drive connor and zoe to the local pride parade? also no. the once-popular (and possibly still popular?) characterization of him as a demon straight from the ninth circle of hell is just as inaccurate as evan’s perception of him as the World’s Greatest Dad.

i hope this helps! and thank you for asking - i really enjoyed answering this, and i’d be happy to expand on most of these points if you want.

[thisguyatthemovies]

A sweet slice of life

Title: “Breaking Away”

Release date: July 13, 1979

Starring: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley, Daniel Stern, Paul Dooley, Barbara Barrie, Robyn Douglass, Hart Bochner, Amy Wright

Directed by: Peter Yates

Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Rated: PG

What it’s about: Four male friends growing up in Bloomington, Ind., in the late 1970s try to decide what to do after high school while clashing with Indiana University students, leading to a showdown in the school’s annual Little 500 bicycle race.

How I saw it: The pivotal, definitive moment in the sweet, optimistic 1979 underdog coming-of-age story “Breaking Away” is both enlightening and heartbreaking. The scene’s emotions will ring familiar to anyone who has lost their innocence or helped someone cope with such an important life change. It is 1 minute and 37 seconds of movie magic in a film full of charmingly observant moments.

First, a little background. “Breaking Away” is the story of Dave Stohler (Dennis Christopher), a 19-year-old “townie” in Bloomington, Ind., home of Indiana University. He and his friends – Mike, the tough-guy high school jock; Cyril, the gangly, nerdy cut-up; and Moocher, the short guy with a chip on his shoulder – spend most of their time together and ponder life after high school. They also clash with IU students, who look down on the native “cutters,” so named because their families have worked in the limestone quarries in the Bloomington area.

Dave is a champion cyclist and, much to the chagrin of his father, Ray (Paul Dooley), has adopted the personality of an Italian cyclist, listening to Italian opera records, speaking the language and even shaving his legs. Dave goes so far as to convince a beautiful sorority house resident, Katherine (Robyn Douglass), that he is an Italian exchange student and has a large and loving family back in the home country. A romance blossoms between the two based on Dave’s deception.

Dave is ecstatic when he learns a group of Italian bicycle racers will be competing in nearby Indianapolis, and he enters the road race. The Italians easily break free from the pack, but Dave eventually catches up. For a moment, he is riding alongside men he has idolized. But then the turning moment: One of the Italian riders takes his bicycle tire pump and jams it into Dave’s front spokes, sending him and his bike into a ditch. His buddies drive the battered and bruised (and disheartened) Dave home. He is not the same person he was when the bike race began. He is a cutter, not a wannabe Italian cyclist.

Fortunately for Dave, he has supportive parents (he is an only child, at least for the moment). Ray Stohler is typical of fathers of his generation – caring, but gruff. He is about 50, overweight (and with a penchant for fried foods) and stopped working as a stonecutter because of a heart condition. He is tough on his son, and he doesn’t know what make of him. Dave’s mother, Evelyn (played beautifully by Barbara Barrie), is a homemaker who has given up on her dreams of world travel, though she carries a passport just in case she needs it to write a check at the local grocery. She mostly tries to get her husband to eat right and is a calming influence when her husband is exasperated with their son.

After his crash, Dave walks into the family’s living room. Ray Stohler has recovered from a nervous breakdown brought on when Dave, working at his father’s used car lot, gave a customer a refund for a broken-down car. Ray immediately knows something is up when his son addresses him as “dad” instead of “papa.” Ray starts getting worked up again about nightmares of handing out refunds to all his customers, and Dave, now seated on a coffee table, apologizes to his father and says quietly, “Everybody cheats. I just didn’t know.” His father, still puzzled about what is taking place, says matter-of-factly, “Well, now you know.” A sobbing Dave hugs his dad, who at first does not know how to reciprocate. “I didn’t want you to be this miserable,” Ray says. “A little bit’s all I ask for.” The elder Stohler pats his son on the back and asks his wife to again say just the right words. But she can’t; her eyes are puddles of tears, and the scene ends with her offering a sad smile that seems to say her husband has done well and that her son, despite his heartbreak, is going to be OK.

Like in the rest of the movie, the dialogue here is spot-on. Steve Tesich, who attended IU in the 1960s after moving to East Chicago, Ind., with his family from his native Yugoslavia, earned an Oscar for the screenplay, and deservedly so. The conversations in “Breaking Away” seem so natural; at no point does it seem like actors imitating small-town Hoosiers. Credit also goes to British director Peter Yates. Great, comfortable performances abound (especially among Dave and his buddies), and Yates keeps the movie moving at a properly leisurely but steady pace. “Breaking Away” also is genuinely funny, and Yates and Tesich strike the perfect balance between laughs and sentimentality.

After learning his hard life lesson, Dave and pals decide to take up the school president’s offer to compete in IU’s annual Little 500 bicycle race – an effort to resolve the differences between students and townies after a brawl between them broke out at the student union. This is an underdog story, so everyone knows what is going to happen at the end of the climactic race scene. That it is predictable matters little. When the expected outcome arrives, it’s a stand-up-and-cheer moment, whether you are seeing it for the first time or 10th time.

Younger viewers won’t recognize the world of 40 years ago. No one stares into a phone; no one takes photos of themselves. No computers are to be found. The Stohlers don’t even watch TV; they listen to records and radios. The fashion is decidedly 1970s, right down to the bushy hair, short shorts and white tube socks. The under-35 set might also be shocked by what they see. “Breaking Away” offers almost nothing as far as diversity. Cyril briefly imitates a Native American, and he yells at young coeds from Mike’s car and wonders out loud about the relationship between college and the size of women’s breasts. A stereotypically gay man, dressed in a pink shirt, makes a joke about (bowling) balls. And feminists might wonder how Evelyn could be content cooking and cleaning up after her guys; she doesn’t seem to have a life outside of home.    

But the late 1970s were a different time, and whether they seem better or worse likely depends on your age and perspective. Though “Breaking Away” might seem dated four decades later, its coming-of-age themes and sense of optimism are timeless and will resonate with all ages.

My score: 93 out of 100

Should you see it? Yes. “Breaking Away” is the kind of movie that will leave you feeling happier and more hopeful than you did before you started watching it.

[thesydneyfeminists]

6 Kick-Ass Women on International Women’s Day

March 8th is International Women’s Day, and what better way to celebrate than to share a few of my favourite women in pop culture? Fictional and non-fictional, because the heart wants what it wants. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, because there are millions of kick-ass women out there doing their thing, but these are some of the first women who spring to mind for me.

Image Description: A photo of a white, wooden block calendar set on a light pink and white floral fabric background. A longer, rectangular block with the word “March” written in all capital letters in dark grey is on the bottom. A larger, square block with the number “8″ written in the same dark grey is on the top.

 Cristina Yang (Grey’s Anatomy)

I grew up in a time where there weren’t many prominent Asian characters in TV shows or movies. If they were there, they were relegated to background extras or secondary characters that are supposed to be a passing joke or a harmful stereotype. And truth be told, Cristina does sometimes fall into the overachieving Asian trope. But the way Sandra Oh played the character made her likeable and not an over-the-top, offensive stereotype that we’ve seen countless times before. Seeing Cristina on Grey’s was so new, so fresh - she was a character I could look at and go “oh hey, someone who’s written for me”. Not to mention, I hadn’t really seen too many Korean characters before, especially one played by a Korean-Canadian actress, which is a bonus. So, here was someone who looked a little like me, and was smart, sassy, and real. She was funny for the right reasons, not at the expense of herself, but because she was quick and witty (it also helped Sandra Oh’s comic timing is impeccable). Cristina also had some pretty excellent advice (regardless of some of the storylines, Cristina Yang is ride or die, and I won’t hear anything else) some of which are summed up nicely here: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/11-times-cristina-yang-gave-best-advice. Sandra Oh’s portrayal of her character came at a time when I desperately needed to see representation, and Cristina definitely left her mark on my life.

Image Description: A photo of Korean-American actress, Sandra Oh, with her hands in her pockets. She is in costume as her character on Grey’s Anatomy, Cristina Yang, with dark blue scrubs and a white lab coat. She is looking directly at the camera with a slight, closed-mouth smile.

Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars)

Honestly, I don’t know many people who have finished watching Veronica Mars without thinking Veronica is cool as hell. She’s this badass, teenage girl who went through some traumatic experiences but came away from them tough, strong and ready to fight back. Which, admittedly, viewed through a 2019 lens comes across a little clichéd and tired. But, back in 2004, I hadn’t yet learned about the trope that’s far too common when men try to write female characters. Lazy or not, I think what makes Veronica one of my favourite characters is that even though the whole situation is unrealistic (she’s a teenage private detective), the way she reacts to her circumstances is realistic. She makes mistakes. Oh boy, she makes a tonne of mistakes. But Veronica has a good heart and, if I had to sum her up, I’d say “she’s trying her best”, a saying I always strongly related to. And, listen, the girl has a taser and isn’t afraid to use it. I respect that.

Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel)

Anyone who knows me in real life can attest I will go down swinging when it comes to defending Faith. Right from the moment she stepped her biker boots into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was a fan. Faith was the slayer from the “wrong side of the tracks”, less fortunate in life than the show’s heroine. She was the “dark/evil slayer” and she was the best character that ever happened to that show. I think my pattern of favourite characters is becoming clearer … if you’re rough on the outside with a soft interior, that’s apparently my jam. Faith had a tough childhood and then made mistakes when she was 16, mistakes Buffy and her friends punished her for. She was so deeply unhappy with the path she’d taken but thought that was all she was good for. She even begs Angel to kill her because she’s “evil”. That scene is still my favourite scene in the whole BtVS universe, not going to lie, and Faith’s redemption arc is beautiful. At any given time, she proved she could’ve broken out of prison. But she stayed because she was trying to atone and be better than she was. Honestly, Faith is a blessing.

Anna Akana (YouTube)

I found Anna fairly late in the game - she had already been making videos for a few years when a friend linked me to her video Why Guys Like Asian Girls. I thought it was hilarious, relatable, and summed up everything I’ve ever thought about dating and my experiences as an Asian woman. From that one video, I was hooked. As I watched more and more, I learnt about her life. Her videos play out as comedy sketches where she plays different roles. Through them, she tackles every day advice and shares stories about her life. When Anna was a teenager, her younger sister committed suicide. Since then, Anna has been a strong advocate for suicide prevention. She’s talked about it in various videos, as well as in her books. She is upfront and honest about the aftermath of the suicide and her reactions. More than just a “YouTuber”/content creator, Anna is a wearer of many hats. She writes, produces, acts, directs (not only in her own YouTube videos, but in external projects too). And she’s written two books. One was a series of journal entries she wrote after her sister died, and the other was a memoir /guide to life that she wrote as a series of letters to her younger sister. There’s no doubt what happened in her family influences the way she views the world and has made Anna who she is today: an upfront and honest woman with a big heart and the gift to make people laugh.  

Jenna Marbles / Mourey (YouTube)

Apparently, all I do is watch TV or YouTube, because one of my other favourite women is Jenna Mourey (more commonly known by her YouTube alias Jenna Marbles). Although she is one of the “OGs” of YouTube and found her success after going viral, Jenna’s video style has changed over the years. What I’ve always loved about Jenna is she’s undeniably herself. Especially lately, she’s taken to making videos she jokingly refers to as “me time”, which include things like painting herself to look like her armchair, covering herself in green paint to blend into her green screen or gluing rhinestones all over her face, just to name a few! She credits her success to being genuine, to being herself, and to releasing content that makes her laugh. In my opinion, she succeeds. Jenna’s been one of my favourite YouTube creators since the beginning, and I was lucky enough to meet her a few years back. She’s every bit as humble, sweet and funny as she comes across in her videos.

Image Description: A photo of Jenna Marbles’ head and shoulders against an off-white background. Marbles is a white woman with brown hair pulled up in a ponytail. She is wearing a neon pink, snakeskin-patterned shirt and has silver rhinestones glued to the bottom of her face in the shape of a beard. She is looking just beneath the camera lens and her mouth is slightly ajar.

Tee Linden (Writer)

This one may be cheating a little, but I couldn’t in good conscience write a list of my favourite women and not include my best friend/platonic life partner and soul mate. Tee scrapes into the pop culture theme on a technicality by being a talented poet and writer, able to create whole universes within a few sentences. We’ve known each other for 25+ years now and have gone through the many ups and downs of life together. Tee makes me laugh in a way no one else does - the kind of laughter that physically hurts because there’s so much of it. The smartest, fiercest and most supportive woman I know, she makes everything she does look easy. In that way, and many others, we’re complete opposites. I feel as though I struggle through everything and that it shows. But our differences have always made our friendship stronger. When everyone else lets me down, I know I can rely on Tee to pick up a conversation we had five years ago and continue on as though no time has passed and nothing has changed at all.

Honestly, I could go on forever and list so many more women. But these are the ones that immediately came to mind when I tasked myself with coming up with women who inspire me. I have countless women in my life who I’m so incredibly blessed to know and even more that I’m yet to meet. So, this International Women’s Day, take a moment to acknowledge the women who shaped your life, who you admire and look up to. The ones who fought for us before we could, the ones who are still fighting and the ones who are paving the way for a better future. Support your sisters, not just your cis-ters, and remember women are magic. When we get together, we change the world.

By: Vee H

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sydney Feminists. Our Blogger and Tumblr serve as platforms for a diverse array of women to put forth their ideas and explore topics. To learn more about the philosophy behind TSF’s Blogger/ Tumblr, please read our statement here: https://www.sydneyfeminists.org/a