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#But do we really need to disregard an actual culture for that
asteria7fics · 3 days
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I am absolutely in the mood to read an essay about Kyle's portrayal in fanwork 👀 i could read South Park analysis till the cows come home
Alright alright I’m ready to get into this haha.
A couple of things before I start, everything I’m about to say is just my opinion, yeah? I’m no expert, I just think that the way the fandom treats Kyle in a lot of circumstances is… questionable :)
Oookay, let’s GO!
So believe it or not, I don’t actually read a ton of fanfiction. I don’t really have time these days, and when I do I’m so painfully picky about the way certain characters are portrayed that it’s very hard for me to find fics I really vibe with. That being said, I see a lotta shit on this fine website.
Let’s get the obvious shit out of the way. I do not think Kyle should be the default bottom in ANY ship. If we wanna really get into it, my personal take is that this is a holdover from yaoi/fujoshi culture that is so painfully steeped in heteronormative bullshit of one person needing to be the ‘dominant’ and one needing to be the ‘submissive’ even outside of the context of kink. Essentially, one character has to be the ‘girl’ and one has to be the ‘boy’, even in a homosexual relationship.
I’ve blabbed about this before, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about why I don’t think that Kyle should be the default ‘submissive’ in his relationships.
First of all, Kyle is just not submissive. At all. Or I should say, he isn’t often. I think the only context where he tends to submit is with his mother, and if you really want to sit here and defend your choice based on him having ‘mommy issues’, I guess you can technically say that.
Personally, I see Kyle as being very headstrong and, honestly kinda intense. While this hasn’t always been super consistent in his personality early on in the show’s run, it’s certainly has been now. I mean, he was willing to shoot at his friends’ moms in The End of Obesity because he believed so strongly in what he was doing, and why he was doing it. Kyle’s stubbornness and unwillingness to waver on his morals and values is a driving force for conflict in the show, like, all the fucking time, whether he’s correct (as in, the creators agree with his stance) or not.
I bring up his personality in the early run because I do think a lot of the issues I have with his characterization now comes more from early fandom portrayals than anything that’s actually currently supported by the source material. As an example, Kyle being the weakest physically of the main four makes a lot of sense in the context of those early seasons, but it doesn’t really work with his current characterization, if I’m being honest.
This isn’t to say I dislike him being sickly, mind you. I actually think that can be really compelling if Kyle has to grapple with the fact that his physical weakness is at odds with his mental strength.
Hoooowever, I think this has to be done in a really specific way, and this sorta brings me to my next point.
Why are we out here victimizing Kyle so damn much? Like, I get it, bad shit happens to him in the show (don’t talk to me about Humancentipad) but why are we just tormenting Kyle for seemingly no reason? Are we in the middle of a dead dove arms race?
I do think this ties back to this idea of Kyle being a default submissive, and I’ve certainly not always been kind to the kid in my own work but damn you guys are fucking mean to him. What did he ever do to you??
I suppose tormenting characters is sort of… par for the course in any fandom, but man I just don’t see the appeal of it being Kyle that’s getting the brunt of the abuse, especially when he ends up being reduced to a helpless, pathetic little thing. Like at that point just pick a different character, I mean Butters is right there you guys.
I’m not going to act like any one ship leans more or less into these tropes either, I think all sides of the fandom are guilty of disregarding a lot of what makes Kyle’s character compelling in the show. I will, however, take a moment to complain about some of the popular ships that Kyle is in.
Kyman: You know how I feel about these two. A stellar dynamic with so much problematic shit bubbling under the surface. Let’s disregard the inherent discomfort around an open anti-Semite and a Jewish person being together because… I willingly ignore that to ship Yentlman in my main works (rip self read). Even without that bit of their relationship, these two are just too goddamn similar. Both stubborn, both going to extreme lengths to prove the other wrong, OR enabling one another to do some pretty shitty things.
I think Post Covid did it best by showing how they BOTH bring out the worst in one another. While I enjoy these two platonically, I don’t personally enjoy romantic ships that are this toxic.
I’ve also expressed before that I think a fic lives and dies on how Cartman is written, so while this post is about Kyle’s depictions in fan works, I do think we have to consider the way the other half of a pair is written as well.
I got some really lovely tags on that one post I reblogged and word vomited all over that brought up how Cartman, supported by canon, is a severely traumatized individual, and how that can support a more sympathetic view of him (I’m not tagging the person in case they don’t want to be involved in discourse like this but I appreciate your insights and you made a very good point, if you are reading this).
This does, however, bring up a whole other host of issues with their dynamic. If we’re romanticizing the idea that Kyle is some kind of moral savior for Cartman then… man, idk. You guys are gonna have to help me on this one, is that common in the ship? Is Kyle playing therapist with Cartman, and that’s how we’re justifying sanitizing him?
Also, say it with me now, there is no way in sand hell that Kyle would let Cartman top him. I know, I’ve read it, and I can see where the idea is coming from but come on. Kyle is too prideful for that shit. Now if y’all start giving me Kyle topping Cartman and making him fucking beg for that hot Jew sploog then MAYBE I’d be able to get behind this ship.
Style: Oh you thought my preferred ship was safe? Haha no ma’am, because Style shippers are the fucking WORST when it comes to feminizing Kyle.
I respect the Style shippers that came before me with their football star Stan and pissbaby twink Kyle, I really do. However it’s time to move on. I made this point in a previous post (that I know you’ve seen my friend, much love for your support on my hot takes) but for those who didn’t see it, I really believe the thing that separates Kyman shippers from Style shippers is that Kyman shippers tend to treat Kyle like an equal to Cartman, while Style shippers really lean on Kyle being weaker than Stan to make their dynamics work.
What’s really funny to me is that what I think makes Style work in its best iterations is when they are truly treated as equals, because they absolutely should be.
Now I may sound like a hypocrite here because I know I play around with power dynamics in my Styles quite a bit, but I think I make it very clear that even when Kyle is technically bottoming, he is not necessarily submitting.
I also can give credit where credit is due, Kyman shippers do not shy away from how much of an asshole Kyle can be sometimes. Style shippers though? Man, I understand wanting to lean more on Kyle's positive traits (he IS a very empathetic, friendly, driven person that always wants to do the right thing) but he can become 'too good' very quickly when you don't balance those things out with his negative traits.
Kyle is pretentious. Kyle thinks he knows best even when he really doesn't. Kyle is quick to anger and sometimes cares TOO much, to the point of getting carried away and making things worse (rip to Canada).
The only negative trait Style shippers are pretty consistently on board with is him being hotheaded, which is fair! But also? To stay consistent with my current branding, that's like seasoning all of your food with just salt and pepper. Like sure, it adds flavor, but we all know the dish could taste so much better if you sprinkle on a little something more.
K2: I am... Utterly indifferent to this ship. Like, I've seen some cute fanart? But I've never partaken and it doesn't really interest me, sorry gang.
Cryle: Another ship I've never really partaken in, but that makes significantly less sense to me. It's giving crack ship, which is fine? But from what I have consumed a lot of people sort of approach them with all the worst aspects of both Kyman and Style. Craig is not as compelling as Cartman as a foil for Kyle, so when people do lean into the evil Craig headcanon that was common in early fandom, it seems they also lean into the pathetic, victim Kyle tropes that are common in Style works.
I'm sorry if y'all love this ship, I'd never really paid it any mind until recently and while I have read works that included them that I thoroughly enjoyed, I don't think I'll ever root for them to be endgame.
And if your favorite Kyle ship isn't here, sorry to say I don't know enough to speak on them (in fact I shouldn't have even brought up K2 for that reason, but I figured someone would probably mention it since it seems pretty popular).
Look, this is a mess and I am certainly not the authority on characterizing any of these goobers. But you asked, and I hope you enjoyed my silly little opinions. This is in no way meant to be constructive, but if you guys want something more organized and constructive breaking down how I characterize Kyle or any of the kids, you know where to ask!
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lil-gae-disaster · 5 months
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(TW Holocaust/mustache man/Nazi mention)
Sigh
Repeat after me non-german(speaking) folks:
German culture isn't ww2.
Because I saw under a post about white culture a comment going along the lines of "and German culture is being a Nazi!" (Germany wasn't included in the post for some goddamn reason)
And, no. Ew. Don't. Please.
yes, the time has affected our cultural traditions. (Like Easter and Christmas leaning way more to it's pagan origins since mustache man was anti-christianity in addition to the obvious)
But please for the love of everything holy, our culture isn't just that.
Our culture is already watered down to just one sixteen of it. Yes, Germany ≠ Bavaria. Just like US American ≠ New York / Alaska / Texas.
The watering down and disregard to the culture has gone so far that I, as someone who's spent all their life in Germany, don't know much about my culture. I owned ONE traditional dress when I used to be a girl. But no one taught me how to wear it properly so I probably wore it the wrong way.
I'm sorry if I make anyone uncomfortable talking about this, but I think it needs to be addressed.
This piece of history is a dark chapter in the history of my country. It's important that it doesn't get forgotten what has happened to prevent that. But please, for the love of anything holy, don't try to play ignorant to my culture by comparing it to my country's biggest mistake and biggest regret.
German ≠ Nazi
Please learn that.
I'm at times ashamed of my nationality and ethnicity because others always have this chapter of my country's history hanging over my head if they won't admit they're wrong. Or just simply when they find out I'm german.
Thank you for listening.
PS: the war, or at least the wall, also affected my culture because if you look at vote-results or any other map in that matter I can guarantee you to 90% that the past ddr and brg (brd) will have vastly different results
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demigodofhoolemere · 4 months
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Me through most of Boom: Wow, this is a really solid dramatic episode.
Me when Moffat needlessly sprinkles in anti-faith sentiments without specifying that it’s blind faith in bad things that the Doctor doesn’t like, which makes it come off like the Doctor is just against religion generally:
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#doctor who#dw critical#spoilers#dw spoilers#i get it edgelord you don’t care for religion. you don’t have to alienate religious members of the audience.#i at least appreciated that the doctor agreed with splice that gone and dead are different things and told her to keep the faith#but like. he immediately thereafter still tells mundy that he doesn’t like faith and spent the whole episode disparaging it.#which just feels so wrong for a show that’s supposed to be open minded about the beliefs and cultures all across the universe#i hate when writers gratuitously make the doctor take a hard and broad stance on something that he would NOT#reminds me of s8 when twelve suddenly hated all soldiers#as if some of his closest friends haven’t been soldiers? brigadier? benton and yates? sara?#big difference between corrupt military and literally every soldier#the same way there is a big difference between a corrupt religious organization or individuals who use religion as an excuse for cruelty#and like. ALL faith and the idea of having a faith that you live by whatsoever.#just because his comments were aimed at something corrupt doesn’t mean they weren’t WAY too sweeping as if he meant it on the whole#i definitely enjoyed the bulk of the episode but that just felt like it was done in bad faith and made me uncomfortable#and i just read moffat’s comment on the thoughts and prayers thing and UGH#i get why there are circumstances in which that can feel hollow — usually if it’s coming from a corporation that could actually do somethin#but can we not villainize all the normal people who genuinely mean that with love?#people who often CAN’T do anything but say prayers for you?#that IS a legitimate response and a legitimate action#someone can’t physically aid you but cares to take the time to talk to the God of the universe about you and your need and plead for you#don’t tell me that isn’t love or that it’s not really doing anything#sometimes that’s all you CAN do and it’s more than people give it credit for#blatant disregard and willful misunderstanding of faith like this just rub me wrong#it’s painting with a broad brush and it’s close minded#and yes i’m gonna post this. i’m feeling controversial.#my love/aggravation relationship with moffat continues#in the wise words of kira nerys. if you don’t have faith you can’t understand it and if you do then no explanation is necessary.
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dalishious · 1 month
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About Davrin's little blurb on the official website for Dragon Age: The Veilguard...
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"Though he was raised in a Dalish clan, he craved excitement and adventure. He'd rather make history than reflect on it."
There's actually a lot to unpack about these two sentences.
First off, placing the word "though" in front of being "raised in a Dalish clan", gives such a thing a negative connotation. The word "though" is used in a way that sounds like "despite", as in, somehow wanting excitement and adventure must go against being Dalish. This correlates with sentence that follows. "He'd rather make history than reflect on it." The word "rather" is yet again used to separate Davrin from his Dalish origin. All together, this promotional description of Davrin is insisting that he is "not like other Dalish".
Now, obviously the game is not out yet, so we do not have total confirmation on what the nature of Davrin's relationship to his culture is really like. But there is absolutely something to be said about promoting the character this way, regardless of however he actually turns out in game. There is absolutely something to be said about how, as @/the-eldritch-it-gay put in their tags here, why do writers feel the need to make fantasy minorities hate or distance themselves from their culture? As a selling point?
Maybe this is completely misleading bullshit, maybe it isn't. All we have to go by, is what BioWare chose to say here, and their past track record with elves:
Zevran may talk about his mother in a font way, but he still has the line, "Too many of our kind think we deserve pity simply because we have failed to defend ourselves."
Velanna is one of the two elves we've had who is overtly proud of her culture, yet she is treated like she is unreasonable and too angry because of it.
Merrill too, is proud of being an elf, and of being Dalish. The story punishes her left and right for this, treats her like a child, and in the end she is either ostracized from her clan or they end up dead because... she cared too much?
Fenris has pretty much zero engagement with elven cultures, and spends his time ridiculing Merrill for being proud of hers.
Solas complains about the Dalish from the start, and says plainly that he does not see himself as having anything in common with elves of current time. "Oh, you mean elves" he says, when the Inquisitor asks how he feels about his people; the thought does not even occur to him.
Sera is... Sera is a character who could have been a really interesting examination of overcoming internalized racism, if she was written by someone competent with the subject. Instead, she just cringes at everything "too elfy" through the entire main game, and only has a single line in Trespasser that hints that she may have a personal struggle going on. But it's still left unresolved.
That's a lot a lot of negativity. So of course seeing a suggestion that more is to come with Davrin has people wary and tired.
Let us also consider the fact that Davrin is overtly Black as well, and what that means. Acting as if one must disregard history in order to make it, as his description so claims, is bullshit. It sounds too much like promoting gentrification/assimilation in my opinion; the idea that you cannot keep your culture if you want to be successful.
I also think that it goes even deeper, on a meta level - I think that BioWare is afraid people will not be able to like or relate to Davrin, if he is "too ethnic". I think that BioWare is taking this Black character and instead of questioning how he can best represent marginalized fans - particularly Black fans - they are questioning how to make him more relatable to white fans. And the only answer to that is to, of course, make him seem like he is an exception to marginalization through separating him from his people.
I am still holding onto hope that Davrin will overall be an interesting, well-written character. And I sure as hell will still be defending him from the people who are already hating on him or ignoring him completely because of their racialized biases. But that does not exempt BioWare, and specifically his writer, John Dombrow, from any criticism. This is not about Davrin the character, this is about BioWare the company's handling of Davrin the character. And in that regard, they're not off to a great start with this.
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Listen, me and most people don't have a problem with you if you like Taylor Swift's music, some of her songs even I like and they aren't my genre or thing at all. We have a problem if you like Swift as a person. Becauseeee she is not a good person.
First point, she's a billionaire. Billionaires don't care about regular people. She does not care about you. Stop saying she cares about her fans. If she did her tickets wouldn't be overpriced as fuck.
Second, she is not a feminist. Unless it suits her needs. She is the opposite of a feminist. But she can claim its sexism whenever she gets her feelings hurt. To her feminism only applies if you are a skinny, white woman. If she were a feminist she would not be constantly trying to undermine other female artists who actually have worked hard to get where they are, which leads to my next point.
Third, she is a liar. She lied about being poor when her family was and still is extremely well off. She lied about many things other than this. And people have yet to hold her accountable for most of it.
Fourth, her refusal to talk about Palestine, Ukraine, and just any of the shit going on in the world. She has one of the biggest platforms on the Internet. If she talks about it just once, she can help hundreds, maybe thousands of people. But no, instead, she is hugging a very active Trump supporter and then a week later comes out with her support for Harris. Suspicious, don't you think?
Fifth, her constant cultural appropriation and romanticism of colonisation, of all things. Not to mention her disregard and romanticism of mental health too.
Sixth, and no, I will not stop talking about this, her carbon emission, just so she can see her boyfriend. When she got called out, she sent a cease-and-desist to and attempted to sue the teenage student who revealed this information.
So yeah, listen to her music, go right ahead. But pirate it or something. Don't let her get more money than she already has. I don't really like the separate art from the artist's mentality, but if you like her music that much, do whatever, but make sure nothing from the listening to that music gets back to her. God knows she does not deserve it
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eevees-hobbies · 3 months
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Sext Me Like Ya Mean It - NSFW (Fem!Reader x Haruka Sakura)
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Author’s Note: This was inspired by this Haruka Sakura Nendoroid, where he’s blushing and looking at his phone. "But, Eevee, how did a cute little figure inspire a fanfic that’s 8-pages long? " I can’t stress enough how down bad I am for this man. Like I would let him put it in my ***, and I’d  *** his *** off of a plate. And I’m not even fucking sorry about it. I might buy this thing and purchase a *** jar, to be fucking honest. Also, if you see any debauched shit with Haruka, tag me cuz I’m Jonesing (I’m dead fucking serious). 
Synopsis: Sakura and technology don’t mix, and now you’re telling him there’s this thing called sexting?! It’s a no from him…unless you can convince him that sexting can be fun for all involved! How will you manage to do that? I dare ya to guess.
Content Warning: Fem!Reader x Haruka Sakura. Sexting in the form of text and video, Togame sees your breast, masturbation for you, public masturbation for Sakura, pet names including kitten, sir, and daddy. Tis smut. Minors Do Not Interact.
Word Count: 2.7K
Dividers by Saradika. Banner by me.
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“What’s…sexting?” 
Sakura looks defeated as he poses the question. He had just grasped the concept of texting, and now you were throwing more terminology his way?
You shake your head, amused that someone who grew up in the age of smartphones is so pop-culture illiterate. “Sexting is just texting, except we send sexier, more suggestive messages through words, gifs, or pictures. It’s really hot.”
Sakura runs a hand through his dichromatic black and white tresses, “that sounds dumb and not sexy.” 
Even saying the word sexy has a persistent shade of pink stretching over cheeks. 
“Don’t knock it until you give it a try, Sakura! Anyway, have fun with Suo and Nirei tonight.” You give him a peck on the cheek, which results in a grumble and him pulling you in for a kiss on the lips.
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You couldn’t stop thinking about your earlier conversation with Sakura. He was always so quick to disregard things he didn’t think he would be good at. 
You can think of all the times you suggested something new: baking, binge-watching Bridgerton, and volunteering at a cat cafe, and how all those things were immediately met with complaints from your boyfriend. 
It wasn’t until you forced his hand by involving him in those activities that he started to warm up to being someone who can bake a mean cake, enjoy a good cuddle session while enjoying the latest season of Bridgerton, and is actually a talented cat-whisperer.
So much like those situations, a little push might be warranted. 
You pick up your phone, enter the passcode, and flick past the home screen displaying a picture of you leaning up to kiss the chin of a blushing, scowling Sakura. 
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Across town, Sakura sits at a bar with Nirei and Suo—a bar is usually not their typical meet-up place, but it’s Togame’s birthday, and they needed a venue that could accommodate the size of all the rowdy Bofurin and Shishtoren alums. It also doesn’t help that Kotoha also said, “Fuck. No.” to hosting the party at Cafe Pothos.
A light buzz vibrates in Sakura’s pocket; he leans over, pulls his phone from the back of his jeans, and looks at the screen. He’s pleasantly surprised to see a message from you; he thought you’d be half asleep by now.
God, I miss her. Hope she hasn’t started a new episode of Bridgerton without me.
As he taps on the text bubble icon to open the message, his eyes squint, needing some time to take in the message and then re-read it.
8:20 PM: Hey, baby. I miss you. Thinking of you sooooo much.
His heart thumps aggressively in his chest—a common result of simply thinking about you—as he stares at the text before him, already overthinking what he should send, but you beat him with a follow-up message. 
I hate back-to-back texts. Never have time to respond. 
8:22 PM: I’m lying in bed. Don’t worry…not watching our fave shows without you, kitten. 
He rolls his eyes at the pet name you gave him. You told him that he looks like an angry kitten when he scrunches his nose and bears his teeth. Wiith little complaint from Sakura, the pet name stuck. It’s so stupid and emasculating, but he kind of loves it. 
“You ok, Sakura? You’ve been staring at your phone for like five minutes.”
Sakura looks up at Nirei. “O-oh uh, yeah. Just texting.”
Suo looks over Sakura’s shoulder, trying to peak at his phone screen, “but you aren’t typing anything?”
Sakura tilts the phone away from his friends’ nosey eyes. Your conversations with each other are personal for him, and he’s committed to keeping you all to himself.
“Stop being fucking nosey!” he growls. Sakura decides this is becoming too much of a hassle, but as soon as he’s about to put his phone away, he receives another text from you.
He pauses to consider that he could wait until he is alone to read your messages, but who knows how long that would be? What if you needed something? He would be pissed at himself if he missed an opportunity to do something for you. He decides that the risk of getting caught being called a pet name by his girlfriend isn’t that big of a deal, so he flips his phone over to read your latest commentary. 
8:25 PM: Read receipts are on, so I know you’re looking at your phone. Party must suck.
What the fuck is a read receipt? 
8:26 PM: A read receipt means I can see that you’ve looked at the text message. 
He smiles, loving how you can read his mind even when you’re not physically in front of each other. He’s almost ready to make a pass at typing those exact thoughts out until the following message has him clutching the phone to his chest out of fear that someone could read it over his shoulder. 
8:28 PM: I think I’m…ovulating? I have this craaaazy desire to lick your balls all the way to the tip of your dick, kitten. 
Sakura gradually pulls the phone away from his chest, checking that Nirei and Suo are too engrossed in their conversation to notice the deep-set blush on his cheeks and how he’s peaking at the phone through his fingers. 
His thoughts are frantic; he has so many questions about a situation that he’s never been in before. Why would you send something so filthy through your phone? What is he supposed to do about any of this information when he’s so far away? 
8:30 PM: I’m drooling just thinking about it, baby. Remember when you fucked my face so hard that my hair had my drool in it? I want you to do that again. Fuck my cute little mouth. 
“Ok, this is ridiculous.” A hand reaches past Sakura’s face and takes the phone from his grasp. Sakura immediately stands up, the barstool he was sitting on making a loud scraping sound as it drags against the floor.
But the perpetrator is tall, and Sakura may have beaten his ass before, but they’re friends now, and it’s looked down upon to abuse your friends. 
Togame looks down at Sakura, shaking his head. “You’ve been on your phone every time I look over at ya. What is more important than spending time with me on my birthday?” He punctuates each syllable with a swing of Sakura’s phone.
Suo, ever the instigator, happily chimes in. “He’s texting Y/N!”
“Oh?” Togame’s brows furrow as he looks around the bar, realizing he hasn’t seen you all night. “Hey, yeah, your shadow is missing.”
In what feels like slow-motion, which it probably is because it’s Togame we’re talking about, Sakura watches as Togame’s eyes look down at the screen. He watches as emerald irises quickly scan the text—obviously a faster reader than Sakura—and his eyes widen. 
“Well, damn. That’s hot.”
Another text comes in to Togame’s delight. He lets out a whistle and hands the phone back over to Sakura.
“You sure you know what to do with a girl like that? I could take her off your hands.”
Sakura shoots him a murderous look; his fists clench as he steps toe-to-toe with him. “Wanna run that by me again?”
Togame chuckles, knowing that look in Sakura’s eyes. It was only a few years ago that he and Shishitoren had inspired that same look, which resulted in Sakura and Togame becoming close and saving his best friend’s life.
But somehow, the look Sakura harbors is more intense—protective—now than back then, and it’s all because of you. Togame fully believes that Sakura would be willing to swing on him for you and to protect your honor. Relenting, Togame pats his head, “Kidding. Y'all are cute together.”
Sakura looks down at the phone, curious to see what you’ve sent this time and what Togame glimpsed. What he sees is somehow worse than you calling him kitten or saying you want to gargle his balls down the back of your throat—it’s far worse. 
This time, you sent an image of you in front of a mirror, clad in only your bra and panties, legs folded underneath you as you pulled a bra cup down, exposing your breast.
His eyes dart up to Togame and down to his phone in quick succession, short-circuiting in a matter of seconds. 
Togame chuckles at Sakura’s reaction, “Yeah, she’s real pretty. Lucky guy.”
As Togame shuffles off with the image of your full breast sitting heavily on his mind and wondering what it would feel like for that same breast to sit heavily on his tongue—Sakura stomps off to the bathroom in hopes of regaining his composure.
Suo and Nirei exchange shrugs, assuming Sakura is experiencing one of his usual moods.
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Sakura enters the furthest stall from the door and immediately texts you, with your picture still sitting enticingly at the top of his messages.
8:35 PM: Togame just saw that picture. 
Elipses in a bubble appear on the screen, signifying that you’re in the middle of typing. While he waits, he can’t help but look at the picture you sent, his thumb rubbing over your dark, perky nipple as he swallows thickly at the bulge straining against his jeans. 
8:37 PM: What did he say? Did he like it lol?
Sakura shakes his head. You are a ridiculously massive pain in his ass sometimes, but you’re also so…hot. 
8:39 PM: Send me another picture. But with less clothes. 
His heart is once again pounding in his chest, hoping you comply with little to no backtalk for once. He doesn’t even care that people are shuffling in and out of the bathroom as his foot taps against the shiny tile of the floor in impatience.
Another image appears on his phone in what feels like an eternity. This time, your legs are bent in front of you, with two fingers spreading your folds, allowing him to see every bit of your sex in the reflection of the mirror.
Before Sakura knows it, his hand is reaching down into his pants and palming his hard dick while zooming into the picture, inspecting every inch of you that he’s already previously committed to memory. His eyes dart over your clit, that cute little nub that makes you grip his hair as he sucks and licks at it. His eyes move down as he zooms into the image as much as it will allow, looking at your tight hole, which, despite image quality, he can tell is already shining with thick moisture that gives it that glazed, glistening look that makes his mouth water. 
Sakura unbuckles his belt, letting it drag his pants and boxers to his ankles. 
8:43 PM: Baby? Where’d you go? Or should I be saying hi to Togame instead?
Sakura grunts, not realizing that the logistics of sexting and jerking off can be so troublesome—you really have been teaching him a lot. He picks up his phone and shoots you another text.
8:45 PM: Shut up. Keep going. I like what I’m seeing. 
8:45 PM: Yes, sir.
His cock twitches at your use of that honorific. Yeah, being called kitten is lovely when you’re being sweet, but he also likes it when you call him sir or daddy when your naughty side comes out.
Sakura goes back to stroking himself and looking at the previous picture you sent him. The message is pushed up as you send a new image; he doesn’t have to scroll far to see something that makes him leak precum onto the toilet seat below him.
You’ve moved away from the mirror and are lying on the bed; your soft, thick thighs spread far enough to give him a clear view of the two fingers you have shoved in your pretty pussy. He can tell by the white coating near your knuckles that you must have been pumping the absolute hell out of her. 
His mind is racing. Were you thinking about him as you finger fucked yourself? What did you imagine him doing to you? How close were you, and could you hold off until he got home? 
Sakura squeezes his eyes shut, feeling like this entire experience is overloading his senses. He had just learned how to text, and now he’s sexting you? And you’re sending the dirtiest, filthiest messages to him as he jerks off in a public bathroom during his friend’s birthday party?
What the actual fuck..
He licks the palm of his hand and brings it down to stroke himself, imagining that it’s your slick being rubbed into the pores of his dick. He can’t even manage to start slowly because you’ve already done such an excellent job with these pictures—already making his cock hard to the extent that his balls hurt, and if he doesn’t cum soon, he’ll have to punch someone. 
Sakura begins mumbling under his breath as his strokes quicken and increase in intensity. She’s such a good girl for me. Perfectly needy and so into me. She’s so pretty and sweet, and I’m her Daddy.
He’s picturing you in every single position he’s ever had you in and every position he wants to try in the near future. 
He’s imagining sucking on your nipples, biting them as hard as he’d like to without you squealing that it hurts. 
He’s imagining pinning you underneath him while folding your ankles behind your head so he can hit that spot that makes you squirt on his stomach. 
He’s imagining you begging him to pull the condom off and fuck you raw because you “need every last drop of his baby batter” He shivers at the thought of you saying something so slutty and out of character.
The hand holding his phone vibrates, and he enthusiastically pulls his phone back in front of him. This time, you’ve sent a video; he’s never pressed play so fast in his life. 
The video is shakey, but when it beings to play, it focuses in on you fingering your pussy—-his pussy.
“S-SAKURA, FUCK,” blasts through the speakers as you breathily moan his name and your favorite expletive. 
He quickly lowers the volume but not too much so he can still hear as he presses the speaker to his ear, savoring the sound of your moans and the sound of your fingers being stuffed into your hungry cunt, mixing and squelching your juices noisily for him. 
It reminds him of that ASMR shit that you sometimes listen to–if he could have an ASMR recording of just you, your moans, and the sound your pussy makes for him, he’d listen to it every single day.
Sakura feels his hamstrings tighten and a burning sensation in his abdomen; listening to you is bringing him closer to his orgasm, and it feels like it’s going to be intense. 
God, and everything you were saying was just perfect.
“Your pussy misses you, Daddy.”
“I love the way-”  gasp “love the way you fuck me, baby.”
“Haru, I need you, baby. Please come home.”
“I’m so close, but I can’t cum without you, baby boy.”
“I want to squirt on your dick, sir. Please, please, please.”
Sakura hunches over and lets out a deep, guttural moan that can’t be stopped even as he grits his teeth. His balls clench violently, and his nut shoots out onto the toilet seat, toilet bowl, and on the floor. Even when he thinks that his cum is done spilling from him, more bubbles at his tip and dribbles down the length of his cock and along his knuckles. 
He leans against the stall wall and stares at the mess he made—all over himself and everywhere his airborne spunk could reach.
He’s convinced that he’s never come so hard in his life, and it was all because of you. Fuck! He hasn’t messaged you since you called him sir, and that was—he checks the clock on his phone—ten minutes ago!
He types out a message, sneering in disgust as cum smears on his phone screen.
9:05 PM: I just fucking came. Coming home. Don’t clean yourself up.
9:06 PM: CAME?! In your pants….? Or…?
9:08 PM: SAKURA?!
He doesn’t reply because he’s already on his way home to you.
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in-kyblogs · 2 months
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Devil’s Minion hints - Part II // link to Part I
Part II Ep 8
- what to say of the whole ‘disregard’ debacle, well. Why do you have such an antagonistic relationship to the former house servant Daniel? What is it about him that makes you even more uncomfortable than Louis, the vampire you actually remember attacking you and almost killing you, does? Arguing as foreplay, as you say. Also clearly the memory wipe doesn’t totally erase feelings: he is angry at him even if he doesn’t remember the psychological torture, but at the same time there’s no fear. Only a need to rile Armand up. (Also Armand are you trying to look extra slutty for Daniel sitting like that? What are you doing with the unbuttoned shirts, really.)
- Mr. Molloy count: 3
- Armand is so sick and twisted btw for that little smirk when Daniel says he’s ‘a bright young reporter with a point of view’. No remorse in sight none. He’s like ‘yes you are. Do you remember who said that to you? Because I do’. My favourite sicko
- When Armand says that journalism is Daniel’s drug, wow he did really clock him. Have you seen that post about Daniel chasing an high from the adrenaline of interviewing dangerous people? Yeah. Armand really does understand him on an intimate level, like the comment in the season 2 finale also reveals. Probably too good an understanding for a superficial-I tortured you once-acquaintance. On the other hand torture sure is an intimate experience to share with someo[gunshot]
- the little wistful smile he has when he talks about ‘the boy we met in sf’.
- the way Armand can’t help but smile at Daniel’s sassy comments directed against him. Like he should want to kill him for the disrespect alone why does he seem almost fond of this insufferable human?
- I am so impressed with this episode by the way. Before seeing this season I was like ‘one hour of ww II Europe? Grim.’ I though I wouldn’t like this one and in the end it ended up being one of my favourite episodes. It’s really a character study and I loved that. Also great job at woveing in European politics (the soldiers saying ‘speak Russian’ and Emilia refusing and speaking romanian, the complex intermixing of cultures in Eastern Europe with the whole urss situation is a big thing we still see the effects of today). Usually I don’t trust at all US shows to talk about eu politics and history without making it usa centric in some way but they proved me wrong here. 9/10 episode all in all
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buddhistmusings · 14 days
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Thinking about how the concept of cultural appropriation is sometimes misused by people to reinforce cultural conformity.
Cultural appropriation is real, involves elements of exploitation and lack of acknowledgment, but there really is a lot of disagreement about what constitutes cultural appropriation. A lot of people basically mis-define it as "x cultural group doing *something* that is normally associated with y cultural group."
Trouble is, this approach is often based on racial, ethnic, and cultural stereotypes, demands conformity, and fails to acknowledge the dynamic nature of culture. I've had people unironically say, "I want to convert to Buddhism but don't want to culturally appropriate." Using this understanding of cultural appropriation actually seriously harms the source cultures Buddhism is rooted in, who genuinely do want to have people of all races and cultures engage with Buddhism. Another example might be when people are told not to wear certain kinds of clothing or eat certain kinds of food. Unless the clothing or food has a particular symbolic significance, it's likely totally ok to use, so long as you're not doing it with the intention of mimicry or mockery. When people avoid engaging with these kinds of things for fear of cultural appropriation, it can harm the livelihoods of members of the source culture, who directly benefit from authentic engagement with their culture.
There are times when adopting cultural practices might actually be more appropriate than not doing so. A convert to a new religion probably should intimately engage with the source cultures that practice their new religion. A Muslim convert might pick up some Arabic, perhaps they should adopt some Middle-Eastern styles of dress if they believe that they should start wearing Hijab (though of course many Muslim converts might not choose to wear a Hijab). A Buddhist might adopt certain artistic practices associated with Asia, start cooking certain dishes due to dietary practices, learn a language to better communicate with their coreligionists, or decorate their home according to new conventions, as legitimate outgrowths of their new faith. Here, converts can act as culturally in-between because taking on the new culture of a religion can involve adopting practices from the cultures in which that religion is rooted. Refusing to engage for fear of cultural appropriation could actually be disrespectful, as is the case with some Western Buddhist movements who disregard traditional conventions associated with people from Asia.
There are also cases where converts become fully integrated into the source culture. Somebody who converts to Judaism becomes fully Jewish, for example.
These are just some of the reasons I think that when we present the concept of cultural appropriation, we should highlight the aspects of self-benefit, failure to acknowledge the source culture, exploiting people in the source culture, or the use of culturally reverent practices in inappropriate contexts. When we make accusations of cultural appropriation without understanding the whole situation, we are doing actual harm to both the individual we're accusing (who might be engaging in an appropriate and authentic way) and the source culture (who we might actually be isolating or demeaning). I think one really good indicator might be how they acquired a particular object or where they learned a particular skill or practice, though even that's not foolproof.
Are you learning to do yoga from somebody who knows enough about Indian culture to be qualified to teach it, or better yet, somebody who has been immersed in Indian culture? Did you buy that Native American jewelry from a Native American artist? Etc...
You genuinely need a lot of information to understand whether cultural appropriation is happening, and I see SO many people using the concept as a way of policing other people's lives, and doing so in a way that really does not promote a healthy crossculturally engaged society.
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rei-ismyname · 1 month
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Ororo, how did you get here?
I wonder if we'll get a solid, in character explanation for why Storm would become a cop (Avenger) again. I'm writing an analysis on From The Ashes (so far) and while I'm clear-eyed about where most characters and books are at, I really need to know if they're even going to bother explaining why Storm would leave Arakko (oh yeah, there's still a million mutants on the red planet) and if they do to what degree. Sure she can just bail off screen but it'd be deeply out of character. She's a member of the Great Ring (or at least she was, occupying Magneto's empty Seat of Loss after she yielded the Regency to Lodus Logos.) She's the most impactful political and cultural figure in a generation. She was the leader of the winning faction in the Genesis War. She had a lover, who was caring for two orphans. I think they were living together. She was happy. I can't recall any ties to Atlanta, but it doesn't really matter. Without serious explanation she's going to look fickle, like she's shirking her duty. A duty she chose, too. Fought multiple wars over. She's getting a solo book, there's totally room to do it properly.
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The other big ting for me is Magneto. The First Krakoan age put him through the ringer - his character arc was objectively given the most attention and subjectively the most satisfying. Even without Uncanny X-Men #700 he was poised to shake up the status quo but when you include his chat with Charles that's a promise. A promise that needs to be paid off. Not just any old promise either - it's an ideological breakthrough five decades in the making! He's been kept in the background so far and I haven't really been able to judge whether that promise is being kept or not. I hope so but my expectations are low. It would be such tonal whiplash I can't even think of an analogy.
Interestingly both Max and Ororo were Of Arakko last time we got a close look. Magneto died defending Arakko, he has friends there. He is literally one of the society's heroes for slaying Tarn the Uncaring and The Hour Of Magneto/Judgement Day.
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Yeah, that's right. *AIR HORN* *PUMPS FIST* He cares about the Arakki and they care about him. He'd want to pay his respects to the Fisher King and generally see how it's going. He lost his place on the Great Ring when he died and Vulcan blew up his house, but neither are especially important. Both planet and culture are dear to him. After X of Swords, in that brief period when the Arakki were on Earth, it was Magneto meeting with Isca about teething problems. 'Twas Magneto who spearheaded the Terraforming Operation, handling the communication/logistics and harvesting enough iron to bring the planet to life from the Khyber Belt. While he was doing that, Ororo was fighting Nameless to the death for the Noontide Seat.
I could honestly go on, but my point is these two especially are invested. (Roberto Da Costa too, but it seems the New Mutants are represented by Magik alone and Cypher looking like an idiot.) If that continuity is disregarded I'm going to have a problem with it. Honestly, if Arakko is there and not being used in any stories I'll be scratching my head. How do you go from terraforming planets to hated and feared on Earth as anything other than a regression? The geopolitical implications of it being there pretty much break the world they're selling us. They're telling us it's so dangerous for mutants that they're developing secret hand signals and Underground Railroad'ing. At least some mutants would move to fucking Mars. All countries would be at Defcon 1. Did the entire galactic council just forget Sol exists?
I'll stop there, save some for the actual essay instead of the rant lol. If you're enjoying it I couldn't be happier for you. I am struggling to, though, and I'm very wary of heartbreak. Maybe that's on me for how I manage my expectations. We shall see.
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spinnyspinnyspinnnn · 2 months
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Since there's an off chance all us Americans getting nuked in November, there's one last thing(not really) I feel I have to share with you:
I do not understand why antis harass proshippers. Really, I don't. I don't see a real point in the matter. And here's some potential arguments I see, and why I think it might be wrong, aside than the morals of harassment.
"But they're all kid diddlers-"
Most of them are kids, from what I've seen, and the ones that are actual kid diddlers who intend to do the diddling are typically shunned from their community.
"But it's a harmful coping mechanism-"
What if they don't have anything else, huh? I'm not trying to really defend the shit but I'd rather see proshippers post incest and age-gap stuff than watch someone else fall to much more graphic coping mechanisms that might end up killing them. And even if it isn't a coping mechanism, why is that our business?
"But proshipping is bad-"
Bad? Maybe. But antis have also watered down their terms. From the research I've done, it's being anti-harassment. Not caring what people do in fiction. It's a stance a lot of us could and should take on, because being against harassment is a good thing. If you bring that shit into real life, then yeah you're a piece of garbage, but I don't see the point in bringing it into fandom spaces and being shunned for it. People have mentioned how proship used to be a default, that us antis are basically the fandom version of purity culture. I don't get it.
"But it's so graphic and-"
That's plain hypocritical and you know it. So many of us antis enjoy dark and graphic media. Hell, I'm writing something with multiple graphic, violent scenes and awful relationships that, since I'm nearing 18 the more I write this project, may end up mildly n$fw at some points if the shoe fits. If we can indulge in our yanderes, in our torture scenes, in our "toxic yuri/yaoi," and all those other things.. the stuff they do seems not that much different, other than maybe the sexual points. Then again, so many books and movies exist that are graphic and s3xual that antis enjoy that it really doesn't matter. If we can indulge in that fucked up stuff, why can't they indulge in their fucked up stuff? What's the real difference here?
But {insert obvious rage bait-}"
Clearly, you've fallen for stuff you shouldn't. You don't need to "fix their headcanons," that's their whole point. People who post shit like that just want attention. And attention you constantly give them. Same with the art posts. You don't need to fix the bait, dude. It's nothing to get angry over, there's bigger fish in the sea.
From what I've seen, most actual proshippers just want to be left the fuck alone, to stop being harassed by us. If we're the "good guys" in fictional, fandom spaces, why do we go out and tell those people to die, to get assaulted, to get abused and harmed, and how to do awful things to themselves, all because of their stance on fandom spaces and the things they may or may not even ship? Are we really being "good" there? Or are we just under the guise that we're good by protecting those characters while we completely disregard how disgusting and horrendous it actually is to say things to real people and real kids?
By the original stance that proshipping and profiction meant(anti-harassment, leave people be, etc.), what proshippers actually claim to be nowadays, most of us could, in a technical sense, be considered proship/profic. That includes myself. If we use the definition most antis who harass proshippers use, that being those who enjoy problematic ships and condone these things IRL, that wouldn't fit. And only one of those things, the problematic ships part, could be considered under the profiction stance as either comship(complicated ship, from what I can tell), or darkship(which is the really messed up shipping tropes that you'd see headcanons of in rage bait posts, but actually taken seriously and thought of instead of being used for attention).
If you read to the end, this is just food for thought. Feel free to block me if you don't agree with any of this. Or, if you have something I'm missing, feel free to engage in some casual discussion with me. I'm not asking to fight or stir up drama, this is just how I feel about things and if you have a different opinion you want to talk about, go ahead and mention it.
Be civil, people and creatures alike. I'll be using tags from both communities to allow a healthy debate on this post. You'll be blocked if you start fighting people or myself.
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azuresins · 8 days
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What character do you think is most misunderstood by the fandom or casual watchers/readers?
Agni. *Edit: the people he assaulted weren't actually dead, that's my mistake-- But the point is he should have been in jail, and our!Ciel and Sebastian "redeemed" and pardoned him in England. * I'm of the opinion that newcomers or people who want the full picture of what's going on in the story, need to disregard SI entirely and are better off just reading up until Book of Circus. I don't feel like SI makes the events clear enough. In fact? I'd go as far to say SI FUCKED up the curry arc immensely? And chapter 23 never got animated the way it was supposed to. Bits and pieces but not the way it should have been, we missed the best parts. Even in Book of Circus! It's such a shame! It's one of my favorite chapters and so many people are missing out. Agni post-events of the curry arc DESPERATELY tries to turn himself into the police to atone for his crimes because scotland yard is in the manor at the same him he and Soma are, ... and Sebastian literally wont allow it. Some highlights:
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A lot of casual watchers and readers I find get really, really confused and somehow miss the point that during the Curry Arc, Agni was betraying Soma and going behind his back to protect his well-being and his feelings, yes, but... he was willing to go SO FAR to do that, that he went back to his first "sinful" nature (before meeting soma) in order to do so and dirty his hands again... And yet, Sebastian still considers him an excellent butler and sings nothing but praises. Regardless of why, Agni *assaulted, stripped, humiliated and hung people-of-import upside-down on display on the East End, and was one responsible for a lot of tension between Indians and British at the beginning of this arc. Even though he accepts he's guilty and in a sense "relapsed" back to his old ways and betrayed Soma (and his own culture and race), someone who he considers god-like in his eyes. ... he's given a second chance, but not only that, Sebastian (and Ciel) go out of his way to try to protect him. Of course it's under the guise of "Don't inconvenience us!" but they COULD have turned him in, and they didn't do that. I know a lot of people chant HE'S A CINNAMONROLL AND DID NOTHING WRONG (and Sebastian is one of those people) but I sincerely think it's beautiful that even though he "fell" and "betrayed" Soma and went back to "Sinning"... he still possesses his right hand and is forgiven and seen as good, he gets his second chance and not only does Soma consider him still a good person and declares him "redeemed" but this time, our!Ciel does the same thing for him and declares him "redeemed" and covers up his crimes, too. To me that's a really big deal?... but I rarely if ever see people talk about it, and when I talk to new readers or anime-only-watchers they seemed to miss that he LITERALLY assaulted those people and should be in jail, he didn't merely "help" or was running errands or anything like he ...literally committed a string of crimes in England for Soma because he was being blackmailed. Not just any people either, specifically British Lords of import that had come back from India. -- The East End is also Lau's territory, and one very final and important detail that never got animated or talked-about in the anime was that Lau and Ran Mao KILLED Mina and her husband, Harold West Jeb, because of what they were doing... and also, curiously, Lau spared Agni even though he was the one who was actually physically did the crimes and made problems for him. Agni got not a second-chance but a third-chance and I think it's very beautiful in the most tragic of ways that he continued to spend his life protecting Soma ... but it's also very, very sad because unfortunately... it makes a case for Real!Ciel's bizarre doll, because if he was truly 'watching' as close as he claimed the entire time and knew what Agni had done, all he has to do is say "He shouldn't have been allowed to live anyway he was anti-british a trouble maker, violent and terrible person! 💕" prompting me, personally, to jump into the manga like steve from blues clues and strangle him myself,,,,, But you get the point, basically what I'm trying to say is Agni is even cooler than he seems and more complex and I think people miss it.
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edenfenixblogs · 8 months
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The Jews who argue against the word “genocide” do not do so because they support what is happening; they do so because they are arguing that what is happening is better described by the term “ethnic cleansing,” which is also a horrifically bad and inexcusable thing. It just also doesn’t have the antisemitic connotation here.
Hey, need to point out using Ethnic Cleansing (which i only saw used by slightly less radical left) is just as bad and inaccurate to use as Genocide- Jews have experienced Ethnic Cleansing and to label this war as such disregards the actual ethnic cleansing Jews experienced for centuries- most recently SWANA Jews! And I would argue Ethiopian Jews too. Individuals willingly and temporarily leaving their home because it is a war zone (due to a war their leadership systems!) is not ethnic cleansing. We can look to what is happening to Armenians, and Afghans in Pakistan- that is ethnic cleansing.
I really need people to brush up not only on their dictionary terms but on the legal definitions that help determine something. Definitions and the correct usage of them matter! Languages matters- when we use definitions wrongly we water them down.
This is why we have people screaming genocide at something that isn’t one! Because their definition of genocide has been watered down- because every war is suddenly a genocide and every bad person I disagree with is a Nazi.. You get my drift. I’m very sensitive to correct usage of words and definitions.
I absolutely understand this perspective and I refrain from using either term personally with regard to this conflict.
I respect your sensitivity, which is one of many reasons I urge people to try to understand the impact of these words on the Jewish community.
That said, I am sensitive also to the fact that there are dictionary definitions of things and legal definitions of things and scholarly definitions of things. I try to keep in mind that everyone is approaching this conflict from their own cultural context so I am not as intense personally about correcting people's usage of these terms, simply because I'm not expert enough to determine which definition is "best." I think legal definitions should definitely always be used in the context of legal discussions, but I don't know if the legal definition is best in a sociological context.
I want to be clear: I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just respecting my own limitations on this subject matter.
Rest assured, we agree on the main point here: It is important to be specific and accurate in the usage of terms. We cannot allow emotions running high to justify the watering down of such serious terms.
People of all identities affected by this conflict should approach discussions of terms in the same way they approach everything else about this conflict: with good faith, an open heart, and a goal of peace.
I respect that you also disagree with the use of the term ethnic cleansing. However, I personally do not agree that it is "as bad." This is not me trying to tell you that you're wrong. I just think this particular discussion point has a lot of equally valid takes. Your take is absolutely valid. But allow me to explain my take on the situation, which I consider to be equally valid:
I think there is a lot more wiggle room in the term "ethnic cleansing" than there is in the term "genocide." When I use the term ethnic cleansing, I am referring to the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.
The key takeaways I have from the United Nations here is that ethnic cleansing is not actually a crime under international law. The two very loose definitions offered here are:
… rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area.
a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”
I consider Palestinians to be a an ethnic group. I know some critics do not, but I disagree with those people. So if you do not agree with me on that, I doubt we will agree on the specifics that follow. I think recognizing Palestinian identity is vital to fostering a peaceful future for all currently residing in the Levant. However, I know that there are also politics and political realities in Israel between those who call themselves Arab-Israelies vs. Palestinians. I do my best to stay informed about topics, but this is too fraught for me to parse with any authority. I believe in Palestinian ethnic identity because of several reasons I won't elaborate on here, but can elaborate on upon request.
I am not particularly swayed by the first bullet point. I do not believe that Israel is trying to render Palestine as ethnically homogeneous, even though they are using force on the area.
The second bullet point has merit to me. I do not believe all Jews or all Israelis wish to eradicate and remove Palestinians from the Levant, so I do not consider Israelis in general or Jews in general responsible for the cleansing. Furthermore, even though I am personally a pacifist, I am also pragmatic. I believe there are much less violent ways to eradicate Hamas than the heavy bombing currently taking place. I also know Hamas has been firing rockets into Israeli civilian areas for quite a long time and Israel has every right to treat Hamas like the hostile, terrorist organization it is.
But I do hold Netanyahu and the Likud party responsible for their affect on Palestinian civilians. I was disgusted when Netanyahu justified his violent actions by invoking Amalek. And I believe that by invoking Amalek he did in fact cause all of his actions as commander of the military to be in support of ethnic cleansing. I do not deny the parallels between the Amalekites relationship to the ancient people of Israel and Palestine's relationship to the modern state of Israel: namely, repeated attempts to destroy Israel, repeated attacks on Israeli civilians (including the taking of hostages and the attack of women and children and the elderly as a terror tactic). However, what I cannot and will never endorse is the implication that we should treat Palestine the way ancient Israel treated the Amalekites.
G-d ordered the people of Israel to blot out the living memory of the Amalekites from the earth--to eliminate every living Amalekite as well as their city and livestock so that they would only be remembered for the horror they inflicted.
We cannot and must not treat modern Palestinians in this manner, and by invoking a religious precedent in this manner as justification for the modern assault on Gaza, I cannot really conceive of a way in which this is not a specific, religious directive to violently target a civilian population on the grounds of their ethnic identity.
Before anyone uses this as an excuse to demonize all Israelis or Jews, I want to explicitly shut that down as well. I know for a fact that not all Israelis or Jews support or agree with Netanyahu here. And while Netanyahu's horrific invocation of Amalek must be rejected, that rejection does not mean that there should be no consequences for Hamas terrorists and those who support their terror. What it does mean, is that as long as Netanyahu is directing the military response, he is, in my personal opinion, carrying out an ethnic cleansing. And we must be able to criticize him for that and respect Palestinian civilians enough to give them the grace to use the phrase "ethnic cleansing" to describe the horror they are experiencing. Criticizing this does not mean Israel has no justifiable military response. Hamas has been engaging in antisemitic terror and mass violence against Israelis and Jews for a long time, even prior to 10/7, in a way that must be stopped by force. However, the main goal for all people of good faith affected by this conflict should always remain peace, not retaliation or attacks on ANYONE (Jewish or Arab) based on their ethnic identity.
I fully respect that you may disagree with this. As there is no legally widespread accepted definition of ethnic cleansing, you may be operating under a different set of criteria to define the term "ethnic cleansing." That's OK, too. I would not call myself uninformed on the topic of the i/p conflict. I have been actively affected by it for over 25 years. That said, I'm also no scholar or international expert on the topic either. I would rate my knowledge and familiarity with the conflict and relevant terminology to be much higher than average and steeped in years of observation and personal experience. So, if I still view his as a matter up for a variety of interpretations, I cannot fault others for feeling the same way, even if that means they disagree with me. I hope this makes sense, and you are able to see my stance as legitimate, even if you disagree with it.
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greatqueenanna · 8 months
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Delving into Hans' Sociopathy
Prince Hans is canonically a sociopath. Jennifer Lee intentionally wrote the character with specific behaviors and traits that align with this label. Within this analysis, I wanted to do an observation of Hans’ overall character and talk about his sociopathic behaviors.
The purpose of this essay is to only talk about his first film appearance. I do not mean it to be an analysis of whether he will return, if this will remain a canon aspect of his character for future appearances, or if he is capable of redemption. This is also not a post that is trying to get you to hate the character or use it as leverage for whatever opinions you may have. It is simply an analysis.
I am also writing about a fictional character, so a lot of his personality is over-exaggerated. Please refrain from using this as a tool for diagnosing yourself or others or as a general representation of these labels and disorders.
I want to emphasize that I am talking about a character who is both a villain and a sociopath. However, please avoid confusing these two things as one. Not all individuals with ASPD (sociopathy) are bad or engage in criminal behavior. For more information, you can read about it here. If you want to know the thoughts of someone with ASPD (sociopathy) on this topic, I asked a friend and you can read their response here on various related subjects.
Now that all that is out of the way, let's dive in.
Part 1: When Was This Confirmed?
Jennifer Lee first confirmed that Hans was a sociopath during an interview with John August and Aline Brosh McKenna of Scriptnotes, in Episode 128: Frozen with Jennifer Lee.
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Jennifer: Hans is a villain from the minute he hits her with the horse, in my mind. Aline: Really? Jennifer: But I am slightly a sociopath, I think. He’s just calculating from that moment.
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John: But clearly he’s a very talented sociopath. Jennifer: He’s very talented. He’s charming. He mirrors everyone. And actually, the original story had a lot to do with mirrors. In many iterations of the story we talk about mirrors and we bring them up. And so I held on a little to that, what Hans is is a mirror as a lot of charming, but hallow or sociopathic. Aline: And she’s (Anna) also so lonely that it’s like she’s falling in love with her reflection in the pond. Jennifer: Yeah, exactly. And he mirrors her and he’s goofy with her. He’s a little bit more bold and aggressive with the Duke, because the Duke is a jerk, so he’s a jerk back. And with Elsa he’s a hero.
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She later further confirmed this during a Q&A event with fans on Twitter (X), in response to a fan asking if Hans was ever a good guy during the early productions of Frozen.
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Santino Fontana, Hans' voice actor, also confirmed this in an interview. You can see this interview here, the Frozen segment lasts from approx. 15:35 - 19:35.
Santino Fontana: Yea, He's a good-looking guy. Also, a sociopath, but yea. - Broadwaycom, Show People With Paul Wontorek Interview
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Part 2: The Traits of ASPD (Sociopathy)
According to the DSM-5, those with ASPD are described with some of the following traits.
Ego-centrism; self-esteem derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure. Failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior. Lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others. Frequent use of seduction, charm, glibness, or ingratiation to achieve one’s ends.
To summarize, sociopaths are those who - lack empathy for others, have self-esteem that is based on personal gain and power, disregards social norms and manipulate and charm others to get what they want.
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There are also some anecdotal traits that are not directly referred to in the DSM-5, but talked about within ASPD communities and from those who know those with it. One trait is the concept of mimicry or mirroring. The idea here is that a sociopath will mirror the behaviors of another person in order to either charm or intimidate them - or in some cases, try to fit into social norms.
M.E, a person with sociopathy, describes this behavior as “métier, or bread and butter” for those who have sociopathy.
I think mimicry is interesting, and I think a lot of empaths think it's freaky. What I find more freaky is what constant mimicry suggests – that you have no baseline "you," that you are always just reactions to outside stimuli. I have a good friend who was initially very frustrated that I didn't seem to have defaults: no default understanding of right and wrong, no default beliefs, no default personality even. Everything had to be reasoned, everything had to be constructed anew. It can be frustrating for me too. It's time consuming. And sometimes it disturbs me how impressionable I am. Being a blank slate, sometimes I can surprise even myself with non sequiturs or unpredictable behavior. It's sort of scary. – M.E. Thomas - Sociopaths, Mimicry, and Blank Slates – Sociopath World
Part 3: Hans' Behaviors Throughout the Film
Lacking Empathy
Hans shows this behavior directly during and after his reveal, and more subtly before the reveal. The reason for this is because, obviously, they wanted to keep Hans' true intentions secret as much as possible, mostly due to John Lasseter's insistence to make the reveal more shocking. However, Hans' true nature does shine through in subtle ways throughout the narrative.
Let's focus on the more direct portrayals first.
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Direct instances of Lacking Empathy
During the reveal, Hans realizes that his 'True Love's Kiss' will not work because he doesn't love Anna. What makes a lot of this scene especially unemphatic and cruel, is how Hans actually looks like he is enjoying Anna's pain. Hans looks straight into Anna's eyes, smiling and slightly laughing, as he verbally insults her and tries to quicken her death. In this scene, he is simply enjoying telling Anna how he actually feels, and seems relieved to be rid of her.
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Later on, Hans reveals to Elsa that Anna is 'dead'. When Elsa falls to the ground in anguish, he walks behind her with a smile on his face, ready to decapitate her until Anna intervenes.
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Later on, something that my sociopath friend also mentioned, was how uncaring and completely nonchalant Hans was when he realizes that Anna is still alive and that he has lost. He just seems confused that Anna is alive. He seems very unemphatic even towards his own situation - that he's in trouble now.
The director says that her stand-out moment for him was when he questions Anna’s comment of being ‘just her’. For me, it’s when he stands up after being knocked out by the blast, without even acknowledging that he’s in deep shit, and just says ‘but, she froze your heart!” I laughed so hard. Only sociopaths would do this shit. “Anna, how dare you. You should be dead.” - "B.G."
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Subtle Instances of Lacking Empathy
The subtle instance of Hans showing a lack of empathy is how he lacks genuine awareness for people he supposedly loves. Hans says a lot of things, but doesn't really show it.
For example, during the scene after Elsa runs away. While Hans and Anna are walking towards the Duke, Anna is visibly cold. Hans notices that she is, but instead brings his jacket closer to himself. He asks after the fact if she is ok. Anna replies "No". Hans responds by immediately asking her if she knew about Elsa's magic.
In other words, after hearing directly from Anna that she is not ok, Hans disregards her feelings to ask about the situation. He doesn't offer his coat, a hug to warm her, or even asks her if there isn't anything he could do to help her. While yes, there is a crises going on - Hans supposedly loves and cares for Anna. Yet, he is not really showing that care, only asking an empty question.
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Another instance that shows this idea of Hans saying things but not showing, it is during the Castle Siege scene. Hans tells Elsa "Don't be the monster they fear you are!" But then immediately plans to kill/incapacitate her with the chandelier. He is trying to give off this impression of trying to help her, but does something completely contradictory to his words.
As a small side point before moving on, I recognize that some disagree that this was his intention. I feel that the scene pretty much speaks for itself, with little room for interpretation.
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Here we have Hans looking directly at the Weselton's Henchman, and then looking towards his crossbow.
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Then, you see Hans change his gaze towards the ceiling, way above the henchman, straight at the chandelier, and keeps staring at it as he moves towards the henchman.
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As we see here, in a different angle, he is directly aiming that crossbow towards the chandelier.
I would also like to point out, that although I do not feel A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick is entirely Lore Friendly (but apparently is part of the Book Canon Universe now as of All is Found: A Frozen Anthology), it is good to note that this scene was also acknowledged in this book.
Hans looked around the room desperate for a plan, and noticed the giant chandelier directly above Elsa. (...) True, it might kill her, but would that be so bad? One less obstacle to the throne.” - A Frozen Heart, Rudnick, Pg. 226
Thus, if this novel recognizes the intention behind this scene, then it was something present in the script and/or character notes at the time the author was writing the novel. Keep in mind, this scene is never actually mentioned by any of the creative team. Thus, the author had to be made aware of this to include it in her book.
If you are a fan of A Frozen Heart, and include it with your personal canon, I have an fairly old analysis where I go into a lot of these concepts with the novel as well.
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Another big thing that shows Hans' lack of empathy is something that is foreshadowed in Love is an Open Door. I'm going to quote some lines from my Meant to Be analysis on this song, that show how Hans actually doesn't really show any empathy towards Anna and does not focus on her at all - he instead is more concerned with himself and his goals.
Both Anna and Hans mirror each other - both felt neglected and underestimated by their families and thus want something more from life. However, the focus on how they go about mending their pain is very evident in the first few lines of this song. Notice how Anna focuses on people - she references Elsa closing doors and losing connections with her. Hans comes and gives her the attention she craves, and in turn, she focuses on him. She says - I bump into you. I see your face. Hans, on the other hand, focuses on Arendelle. I've been searching my whole life to find my own place. But with you, I've found my place.
Many fans have also pointed out this specific lyric here - Hans: You - Anna: And I - Hans & Anna - Are just meant to be. Pointing out how Hans never actually referred to himself directly. He and Anna only really refer to Anna herself. Hans says you (Anna) and Anna refers to herself (and I).
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Desire for Power
This one is fairly obvious - as Hans himself explains quite clearly his intentions for being kind to Anna and the people of Arendelle.
As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere - As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course. But no one was getting anywhere with her. But you - You were so desperate for love you were willing to marry me, just like that. I figured, after we married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa. But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her. All that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer. (...) No, you're no match for Elsa. I, on the other hand, am the hero who is going to save Arendelle from destruction. - Prince Hans, Frozen (2013)
Hans makes it quite clear in his tropey villain monologue here (haha) that he wants to be a King. It didn't matter to him where he went or who he married, but he was determined to make it happen - even if it meant having to murder someone to get them out of his way.
Hans also shows a complete disregard for social norms in this way of thinking. He believes that murder and manipulation is an appropriate way to achieve his goals, and feels no remorse for his actions, but instead (as stated by B.G) confusion when he fails.
There are many theories as to why Hans feels he needs this power, to the point of hurting someone - A Frozen Heart tried to give a background for this, giving the blame to his father and brothers for abusing him. The novel is not entirely far off, as Jennifer Lee herself has stated that Hans is a product of being raised without love.
However, while the details for Hans' background is still fairly mysterious, we can conclude that Hans canonically had a rough childhood whether you choose to only use the film's clues and Jennifer Lee's words, or go by A Frozen Heart.
I think Hans is a tragic figure because he's a consequence of being raised without love. - Jennifer Lee, Reddit (2014)
When it comes to ASPD, while the direct cause is still currently unknown - environmental factors, such as child abuse, are believed to contribute to the development of this condition. Thus, Hans was raised in a home without love, and it led to him developing ASPD and valuing power over anything else.
Manipulation
This is the biggest aspect of Hans' portrayal, and also the biggest hint through out the film, is how he manipulates and mirrors people. We begin with Hans' introduction - before and after the infamous "just you?" line.
When we first meet him, he is much more panicked. He just caused a scene and hurt the Princess after all, and then they started awkwardly tumbling around on a boat. He's not interested in Anna at this point, and doesn't want to get in trouble. When Anna falls on him in the boat, he just says "um..." and ignores most of her comments, including calling him "gorgeous". He goes straight into trying to apologize and smooth things over.
However, right after the "just you?" line, suddenly things change.
He smiles after her when she leaves, he stares at her during the Chapel scene, and seems to be following her around to the point where he is confidently able to catch her when she trips, and knows exactly what to say to get Anna to like him.
"I would never shut you out." - Seriously, how does the awkward guy in the beginning of his intro that didn't respond to Anna's silly advances, suddenly feel confident enough to just proclaim to the same girl he just met that he would be an emotional support for her? The sudden shift in his demeanor is actually a bit jarring when you think about it. Someone cannot go from awkward guy to confident prince charming so suddenly.
It goes even further than this when he starts to mirror Anna. Here, I am exploring Love is an Open Door again from my analysis, with how Hans mirrors Anna.
The rest of the song is them directly mirroring each other, representing an almost robotic relationship between them - the cover image for this analysis directly shows this robotic aspect on the clock tower, when they mimic the gears.
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A funny thing actually happens during Anna's announcement of their marriage. Hans is actually switching between trying to appeal to Elsa while also keeping up with Anna. Let me show you what I mean.
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Hans is trying to act stoic and reserved in front of Elsa, to match her tone. However, Anna keeps interrupting him and making him trip over his words. Hans eventually gives into Anna's goofiness and just loses his composure completely and just copies Anna, basically becoming her clone in her behavior. You can see here how he struggles to keep up with both women at the same time.
You can also notice how Hans keeps trying to look at Elsa to see her expression and reaction to their relationship. Anna, on the other hand, while she does look at Elsa occasionally, she is shown to be more infatuated with Hans and looks at him most of the time. Hans is trying to appeal to Elsa, while Anna just wants Hans’ support.
Later on during this scene, he completely sheds this goofier persona and goes back to trying to be stoic, like Elsa. He is even adopting her more serious and disinterested expressions, opposite to Anna's expressions that he was just mirroring moment ago.
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He completely stops mirroring Anna here, and goes straight into trying to appeal to Elsa and match her tone. Right after this, he goes back to expressing Anna’s sadness again.
Since the beginning of his introduction, Hans has shown three different personalities that contradict each other. His awkward self that forgets to introduce himself and rams into people with horses, his charming self that is charming, fun and sensitive, and his stoic and reserved self that appeals to royalty.
This mirroring behavior and personality shift continues later on the film.Hans is shown to be kind and generous to the people of Arendelle, not having a mean bone in his body. This persona matches how he acts for Anna after their first encounter. However, Hans adopts the Duke's personality to threaten him, that is confrontational and even a bit childish.
"Do not question the Princess. She left me in charge, and I will not hesitate to protect Arendelle from treason!"
Hans literally starts yelling at the Duke, and accusing him of treason, which is an extreme accusation - just as the Duke is yelling and making accusations against Anna. He is pretty much copying the Duke to get him to back off in a way that he will understand.
Remember what Jennifer Lee said in the Script Notes interview?
Jennifer: Yeah, exactly. And he mirrors her and he’s goofy with her. He’s a little bit more bold and aggressive with the Duke, because the Duke is a jerk, so he’s a jerk back. And with Elsa he’s a hero.
Hans pretty much switches between these three personalities throughout the film. Goofy and charming with Anna, stoic and heroic with Elsa and Arendelle, and confrontational with the Duke.
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Other Hans Analyses
New - These I have written recently and have updated info.
Irredeemable Monster - Should Hans Make a Return?
Meant to Be - Frozen's Secret Villain Song
Frozen in Fear - Comparing the antagonist's reactions towards magic.
Old - May have some ideas that have missing info and overall needs updating
Different Perspectives - Why a Frozen Heart does not Support a Redemption for Hans.
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Hints that lead to Hans' Betrayal
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cowpokeomens · 5 months
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Ayfuckingo, who’s stealing work👀👀👀 (Who thinks stealing someone’s hard ass work is fun? Wtf)
Yknow I thought abt deleting this ask and my post but I’m feeling feisty and fed up today, actually! This is not directly specifically at you anon 🫶 anyways read at your own risk lol
I’m not dropping names because I’m not a gossip blog, but I think the tendency of certain celebrated “authors” to dip into other people’s creative endeavors for their own work is gross and completely diminishes the whole point of fandoms. Like, this is supposed to be a community. Instead it’s turned into a competition that literally no one wants to be a part of where people say “oh yay, another _____ AU!” Instead of “wow, that’s awfully hyper specific and pretty flagrantly rips off of soemthing I’ve seen before?”
I think we, as members of fandom, have become soooooo wrapped up in the culture of needing to “consume content” that we disregard artistic integrity. We don’t care that the idea is stolen because we love the idea so much. I’m not talking about tropes (ie; enemies to lovers, grumpy!character x sunshine!character, fake dating) I’m talking about the actual creative thought that goes into making a fic. I understand loving someone’s creativity; I’m an artist, and I am constantly absorbing and thinking about art from other people. It’s inevitable that some ideas will trickle into your own work. But there comes a point where there is a clear difference between “inspired” and stolen.
I’m not trying to say this as some kind of writing authority - there are SO MANY talented and hardworking writers on this platform who make beautiful work leagues better than my stupid horny rambles. And like I said, I’m not naming names- the plagiarizers are fully aware of what they’re doing. But the way in which y’all treat fic is really disappointing sometimes. It’s not all about the next update, y’all. This is someone’s art. It’s not just a “good idea” in public domain for you to pluck and use in your own work as you please. It is someone’s art.
I just can’t help but feel like it circles back to a deeply ingrained need to devalue artists. If there was any respect for author’s and their work, this wouldn’t even need to be a conversation. Don’t fucking steal from people. Why do you value the work of an author so little that you feel it’s okay to take something they’ve worked incredibly hard on? Obviously you like it enough to try and pass it off as your own, so why steal at all? There’s a reblog button, you can add comments to let them know how much you love it. What are you gaining?
I’m coming from the position of an artist, not just a fic writer. This has nothing to do with my writing personally (as far as I’m aware, no one is trying to pass off my ideas as their own.) But as an artist, I cannot put into words how saddening and downright violating it is to have someone look at a thing you made, something you put your experiences and thoughts and emotions into, and think “it’s completely fine for me to take this idea and run with it.” That is insurmountably shitty.
Y’all are too damn smart to not notice. I think too highly of y’all as readers and creators to chalk it up to misunderstanding. You probably already had a fic in mind as you were reading this! I think we, as a community, really need to work on our intentionality and integrity with regards to art making. Stealing ideas is not conducive to making art or maintaining any semblance of community in fandom. Anyways this was long, I apologize for nothing, byeeeeeeeeee
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utilitycaster · 1 year
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I'm still thinking about The Rain Road from Worlds Beyond Number in like five different ways, particularly in how it relates to a bunch of other actual plays, so I'm cramming them all into one massive post:
There was a NADDPod D&D Court case in the live show they released this week in which the DM invented a language for Thieves' Cant and put it in a packet for a new player who was playing a rogue but did not make it clear this was required reading, and then in-game answered the rogue's investigation check in this language, which the player had no ability to understand, and it shut down an avenue of story. Absolutely wild case but the point here is that this sort of energy needs to be directed into writing in-world songs or poetry and not a conlang your player has to pick up in their spare time.
In the Fireside, Aabria talked about how the song was inherently political despite being religious and not having any political lyrics (comparing it to some of the spirituals of enslaved African-Americans). We do know that the people who knew the song were older; we know that Galani and Suvi felt a certain way as members of the imperium about it, and that Morrow did not recognize the greetings of Port Talon derived from the worship of Naram and Orima. It's unclear precisely what the Empire's attitude is towards religion. It does not appear to be outlawed and Steel indicates a non-religious degree of respect towards Great Spirits; it seems it's simply not respected by the Empire on the whole, perhaps broadly discouraged. Even a fairly neutral attitude of disregard could erode it culturally among younger people who are always eager to reject the older ways. A cynical person would say any of these could be the path to eventual harsher legislation; wear it down first for a few generations, then come in when the opposition is weak. What's interesting to me is this relationship between religion and Empire, especially against the backdrop of Critical Role. There, we've seen it several ways - religious institutions using the tools of empire (Othanzia), empires that blur the lines between the two (Kryn Dynasty), but also empires that outlaw it (the Dwendalian Empire going after casual worshippers of the Changebringer, leaving their children to fend for themselves). My own feeling here is that religion is conceptually neutral and can be used for either good or ill, and empire is not given that it relies on conquest, but it is interesting to see the vast differences in the fandoms for the two works - which have decent overlap - re: religion when we have mostly seen the two in opposition vs. when we we have seen many different perspectives worldwide.
To that point I'm really excited for the next arc because while I think empire is, again, always going to be about subjugation and conquering and cannot ever be a good thing, I also think that individuals within it are going to be complicated. I can't remember if it was Brennan or Aabria or both who pointed this out, and that right now we mostly just have the word "empire", but even then, we've seen people seeking the favor of the Imperium but not high up within it do terrible things, and people who are in its military and abused by those in power died to save civilians. The Empire is on the whole going to be a bad force, but I'm looking forward to seeing all the very human reasons why people might support it. (This isn't about the song but it's a natural thought from the previous one).
Back to the song, I know much of the lore of the campaign is taken from Brennan and Erika's cultural backgrounds, but a hymn for rain is something very common in Judaism - the upcoming fall holidays especially center around this. Not much to add there other than that this does feel very true to liturgy that has a basis in the natural and the agricultural; good job Brennan on that.
Bouncing back to the song as it exists as a quiet form of something that is perhaps not explicitly anti-empire, but shows a way without an empire (after all, few things are more of a quiet threat than reminding people the empire did not always exist), Ame is of course the one who makes an effort to learn and spread it; she's the one who builds a shrine during the fight and who knows how to communicate with the spirits (sidebar what the fuck is up with Suvi's necklace). It is interesting to me, among various fandoms, seeing which character is pinned as the Moral Center because it is almost always one vague description, which Ame fits (wise; provincial; vague nature vibes), but the thing is that archetype does not really have a moral code associated with it and I wonder why that's the archetype, particularly since that immediately sticks out to me as a valuable but very limited voice. (It's also interesting that when there isn't an obvious character who fits this type, the Moral Center character - and to be clear I think the idea that one character is the moral center is fallacious and simple thinking to begin with - people gravitate towards, if I can be a bit dismissive about characters I genuinely like since I'm really just dismissing the fandom perception, sob stories, more than anything else).
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aikoiya · 8 months
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LoZ - Gerudo Misandry Is Not Funny Or Okay
I find it really damn odd that so few people talk about misandry when they bring up the Gerudo or the societal norms of other Amazon-esque races.
And even when they do, it seems to always be done with a tone of levity behind it.
As if it isn't every bit as terrible as misogyny.
As if their biological situations don't make men absolutely vital to the continued existence of their people & culture.
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So, treating men as less than is as terrible as men treating women the same.
And, honestly? I can't help but see this disregard by fans (especially the feminist fans) as very spiteful.
Like, how do these people not see how this isn't okay?
I mean, no wonder Ganondorf always ends up such a sack of shit!
Seriously girls, imagine what it would be like growing up the only female in a society of all guys.
No maternal figures, no female role models, no female friends, or even acquaintances. And you're unlikely to ever even see another woman until you reach 18-20.
Separated from the most important woman in your life at 3-6, if not birth. To be raised by a pair of warlocks who despise their neighboring kingdom & are intent on turning you into a vile, tyrannical witch.
And every guy around you knows nothing about actual women, just misogynistic stereotypes, so all you can do is apply those same stereotypes to yourself & there's just this general consensus that women are basically unnecessary beyond producing children.
They don't have a single clue about what it means to be a woman. They don't know anything about women's health. No one to explain things to you when you need them most. So, in the end, you're mostly left to figure it all out on your own.
And the only real examples of women you have are people that your adoptive fathers say are oppressing you & your people. So, all you can do is quietly just assume that all women = bad. And that includes you too.
So, all you can do is frantically do everything you can to make yourself useful to these people who, knowingly or unknowingly, look down upon others of your sex.
And therefore, unconsciously, you as well.
And you're expected to rule these people. To lead them into a golden age.
I can't even imagine how damn isolating it must be. I can't imagine the pressure. These are your people, yet even so, you are still alien to them. Still other. Still "not one of them."
And in many ways, a commodity.
Based entirely upon something that you have zero control of.
And upon reaching 18, you're likely used as a breeding mare.
And the only people who could ever truly understand your situation & the pressure that comes with it... are all dead...
Now, switch the sexes & you basically have every Gerudo Voe's reality.
It's no damn wonder that Ganondorf always becomes evil.
There's also the ridiculous superstition that "men bring about disaster."
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And then we get into the detrimental affects this shit has on the Vai!
Look at how these women react to just seeing a dude!
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And this chick can't even look a man in the eye!
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Because, apparently, she's never even seen a real man in person before! So, Link has to freaking wear a full-face mask in order to get her to manage to speak to him!
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And let's not even get into what the little Vai wear! The sirwal are fine, it's the tops that need to be changed.
Kids aren't supposed to show that much skin!
LoZ Cultural Masterlist 2
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