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monster-disaster · 1 day ago

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Ask is inspired by the other anon ask about monster marriage rituals…

Do you think any monster baby shower rituals exist?

For humans, there’s stuff like gender reveal parties, maternity photo shoots, etc. So what do monsters do to celebrate the arrival of a new monster?

I love these questions!

Back in the day, in tight-knit monster communities, waiting for a baby wasn’t all that different from how humans did it. A lot of times, it wasn't just the parents getting ready, it was the whole village. There was this strong sense that a new baby belonged to everyone in some way. It was just in their nature to care for the young as the future of their kind.

Elders were always nearby, telling stories, giving advice, and knowing exactly which herbs helped with sleep or what foods to avoid. Younger adults made sure the expecting parents, especially the mother, had everything: food, comfort, safety. If the father was away hunting or busy with some task, no one worried; family, neighbors, everyone stepped in without a second thought.

And when the baby came, that care didn’t stop. Elders helped with the little one, older kids fetched things and learned by doing. Children didn’t grow up with just their parents, they grew up with everyone. There were always hands to catch them, voices to guide them, eyes to watch over them.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. For monsters, it really did.

And as the years went on, and these old clans, packs, and villages started opening up to other kinds of monsters and humans a lot of those traditions stayed the same. The spirit of community, of everyone coming together for a new life, didn’t just vanish.

But there were surprises...

Orcs, for example, were absolutely stunned at how vulnerable human women could seem during pregnancy. Orc women are strong, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, so when the orc husbands saw their human partners going through all the discomfort; fatigue, nausea, and other changes, it was a full-blown panic. And not just from the dads, the entire clan went into protective overdrive. It took time (and some very firm conversations) for them to accept that just because human women didn’t look as tough didn’t mean they weren’t strong. Eventually, they learned that their wives were warriors too just a different kind.

Minotaurs were downright horrified when they found out that, in some human cultures, the men didn’t stay for the birth. They couldn’t wrap their heads around it. Among minotaurs, and honestly, among a lot of other monster folks, it was completely normal and expected for the partner to be right there from the first contraction to the first cry. Not just for emotional support, but for protection, for presence, for love. The idea of leaving felt not just strange, but dishonorable.

The nesting instincts hit the wolf-shifters like a freight train. The moment they knew a baby was on the way, it was all about the den. Comfort became the top priority. If the house needed fixing, expanding, or completely rebuilding, no problem. The women often find half the pack outside, hammering away, building a new room, dragging in furniture, or crafting handmade decorations. It was all about making sure their mate had the safest, softest, warmest place to rest. And rakshasas were pretty much the same. I mean, they’re big cats as I said so many times already. Of course they love cozy spaces, blankets, plush pillows, warm fires, and everything soft. Their partners were treated like royalty; pampered, adored, and surrounded by every comfort imaginable.

Goblins, though? They were a bit of a different story. For them, it was all about planning and information. Is that food safe? Should you be sleeping on your side? What’s the backup plan if labor starts during a storm? They always had plan B, plan C, even a plan Z if it came down to it. Charts, notes, books, little magical contraptions, whatever it took to keep things under control. If something went wrong, you could bet a goblin had already thought of it and written down a solution three weeks ago.

But this big shift (monsters and humans mixing more, communities becoming more open and connected) was the biggest game changer for the monsters who had always lived solitary lives. For some of them, it wasn’t just about starting a family, it was about finally finding one.

Most of the time dragons, nagas, incubi, and succubi lived alone by nature. Some drifted, some guarded their solitude like treasure, and some just didn’t know any other way. So when the world started changing, and they found partners from different cultures, it wasn’t just about welcoming a baby. It was about discovering what it meant to belong to something bigger.

And now, let’s jump into the modern world and focus on these monsters because I’ve got thoughts:

A part of them is still a little shocked by it, even after all these years. Their ancestors lived alone for so long that the instinct to rely only on themselves is still there.

For dragons and nagas, this shift is honestly a huge relief. Having family and friends to lean on, people they trust to help and share in the joy means the world. They don’t have to stay on high alert, guarding their partner like treasure. Now, they know there is a whole circle of loved ones ready to protect, care, and celebrate with them.

Dragons love baby showers. Not just for socializing (though they enjoy that too), but let’s be real; it’s the gifts. Even if they are technically for the baby or the mama, their hoarding instinct kicks in hard. Soft blankets, tiny clothes, bottles in every color? Treasure, and they organize it all with pride. No one blinks when a dragon shows up with a cart overflowing with baby gear. Their oversized car is already packed to the roof with more anyway. By the time the baby arrives, the family has everything, and then some. It’s not unusual to find piles of unworn baby clothes because the little one outgrows them too fast.

Nagas, meanwhile, adore the days after the birth when friends and family visit with warm food and open arms. They are so proud to show off their baby, letting loved ones coo and fuss while they bask in the joy. And if it’s baby number two or three, even better. That just means more love, more laughter, more warmth in their home. Nagas just want to belong, to feel supported through all that change, and not go through it alone.

For succubi, it’s not just about starting families, it’s about not being left behind anymore.

There was a time when no one imagined them settling down. People saw them as desire, not devotion, certainly not "mother or wife material". Back then, desire didn’t always come with loyalty or love.

But things have changed. Now, they are pampered, cared for and seen. Not because someone wants something from them, but because people genuinely care.

And they absolutely love gender reveal parties. Not because of the surprise, really, but because everyone gathers just for them. To celebrate their moment. To share the joy of something real and personal. It’s a room full of smiling faces, laughter, maybe some tears, and for once, they’re the center of attention in a way that’s loving, not lustful.

For incubi, it’s about learning how to be a dad and how to be a real partner, someone who shows up beyond charm or desire. In the past, settling down and building a family wasn’t just unexpected, it was almost unthinkable. No one saw them as the type, and honestly, neither did they.

But now they are all in. They thrive on the structure, the shared life, the steady love. Being a dad gives them purpose in a way nothing else ever did.

And like nagas, they cherish that sweet time after the baby arrives; visits, gifts, loved ones cooing over the newborn. They are proud of the life they’ve built and the role they’ve grown into because now, they have something they never thought they’d get: a family of their own. And it turns out, they’re damn good at it.

So like I said, for some monsters, waiting for a new life wasn’t all that different from how humans did it. But for others, the way their world has changed, the shift in how they live and love, meant everything.

#monster romance #monster x human #monster x reader #monster boyfriend #teratophillia #terat0philliac #sweet asks #terato #monster lover #monsterfucker

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sweetcardamom · 2 days ago

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Looking at the original screen-cap post, I would be inclined to clarify that a lot of "good" in this case has to do with social norms: there are a zillion nuances to culture that can be confusing and frustrating, but aren't inherently moral, and can be cleared up. (Example: some cultures, it is polite to offer to help your host clear the dinner table, while it's rude in others. This stems from a different way of looking at the situation.)

Other things, of course, have morality involved. A culture that allows sexual harassment will cause far greater conflict when melding with a culture that doesn't. Many of us, myself included, consider sexual harassment inherently wrong. Someone who thinks they have the right to this behavior with impunity is not going to mix well in the U.S. (and other places, of course, but I'm speaking from my own pov here). A large group of people with this belief will have to be re-educated, which generally falls to charities or the state. Otherwise they become criminals.

This reminds me of people coming to the U.S. from eastern Europe after communism fell - they had to learn about deodorant. Not particularly a moral issue, just stinky.

It also reminds me of people moving from countries with high population densities, to my old town, and builders taking advantage of that (but also the state forcing it) by building to that expectation. Most locals would consider the very high-density housing a major decrease in their standard of living, while the immigrants didn't know any different. This did not help with housing costs for anybody. And the way the immigrants were (probably still are) treated by the employer who sponsored them definitely turns into a moral issue. Not addressing that because typing on my phone is a dang nuisance, and hurts a bit.

So, yeah. Mass immigration causes problems. Historically it has caused wars and lots of death. A less divisive example would be the Anglo-Saxons migrating to post-Roman Britain.

I am not touching the biblical discussion aside from agreeing that God is the ultimate decider of right and wrong.

#immigration #culture #and if people are going to get all upset about something that happened over 1000 years ago i cannot help that

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unsolicited-opinions · 2 days ago

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I Am ➜ I Identify As

Maybe you already know all this, but I'm just now working my way through it and it's helping me understand some aspects of the culture wars.

So...when I don't understand something, it gets under my skin and I tend to bang away at it until it starts to make sense. I need things to make sense.

I think this is because I'm autistic, and I suspect it can be very annoying to the people who love me, but:

If asked, most people my age (Gen X) or older will describe themselves (as I did above) by saying things like:

"I'm autistic"

"I'm bisexual

"I have a disability"

But if you ask a Millennial or member of Gen Z, you're more likely hear things like:

"I identify as autistic"

"I identify as bisexual

"I identify as a person with a disability."

So we changed how we express the same idea...So what?

It's much bigger than a shift in popular idiom, and understanding it sheds some light on the culture wars.

Think of it this way:

"I am [X]" = a statement of being.

This is essentialist. It's a statement of being. You are [X]. It's inherent, it's your nature, definitive, objective, fixed, noumenal - perhaps permanent and inescapable. It has nothing do with how you feel about [X] or how you wish to seen as [X], it's a rigid, objective fact.

"I identify as [X]" = a statement of perspective.

This is existentialist. It implies that [X] isn't innate to your being, but something you choose - and that choice is meaningful to you. It centers your relationship to [X], how you feel about [X].

It's a claim about self-perception and a recognition of membership or affinity that leaves room for complexity. It acknowledges that identity might be contextual, contestable, even changeable - while it also recognizes that someone else might not see you the same way. It's subjective and it's highly personal.

That's...kind of a huge difference - and the more you examine that difference the bigger it gets.

So...why did our identity language shift from essentialist to existentialist?

Four things:

Academic Theory

Person-First descriptive ethics

Therapeutic Self-Help Culture

The (In)visibility of Identity Online

1. Academic Theory

The seeds of "identify as" were planted in universities in the late 20th century.

Thinkers like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, or Stuart Hall challenged the notion that identity categories like gender, race, sexuality, or disability were biologically fixed or politically neutral.

Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity, for example, argued that gender isn't something you are, it's something you do - a set of behaviors, performances, and social scripts. The idea took off not just in academia but in pop culture. Soon, identity was widely seen as not something you inherited, but performed, resisted, or chose.

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"Identifying as" emerged as a way of expressing this new, post-essentialist view of the self. You weren’t just born into an identity - you could name it, reshape it, and inhabit it in a self-aware way.

That's amazing, right?

It's empowering and nuanced - and it shouldn't surprise us that it took off.

2. Person-First Descriptive Ethics

The same idea also found expression in person-first language, which introduced many to the ethics of description.

The disability and health communities of the 1990s and 2000s saw a push for "person-first" language. The goal was to emphasize humanity first, not diagnosis. In their thinking, their loved one isn't a cancerous person, but a person with cancer because the diagnosis doesn't define them.

The same well-intentioned folks insisted that I was not an autistic person, but a person with autism, telling me that this was more respectful because it didn't allow autism to define me.

"Thanks," I said. "I hate it."

I don't know about you, but most of the autistic people (not people with autism) I know have rejected this.

I don't think I'm a neurotypical person with an overlay of the illness of autism, or who is being acted upon by an outside force called autism. I think that being autistic is intrinsic, and not an illness.

Put another way: I believe that being autistic is an essentialist identity, that's the only acceptable way for me to talk about it...and that's how I prefer others speak about me in my presence.

But this general idea - that the way we use identity language shapes ethics, respect, and dignity? That stuck, and it's mostly a good thing to be conscious of the way that how we describe identities isn't value-neutral.

In this framework, "I identify as" is meant to be a respectful way to assert identity without reducing oneself to it. It can be especially useful for people with multiple, intersecting, or non-visible identities - and this aligns nicely with Kimberlé Crenshaw's original concept of intersectionality.

3. Therapeutic Self-Help Culture

Since the 1970s, American (and increasingly global) culture has been shaped by what sociologists call "therapeutic individualism." Self-discovery, self-expression, self-definition, and self-actualization have become central to how people understand their purpose. The self is no longer something you are - it's a lifelong project you're working on. That's what it means when someone called themselves "a work in progress."

This ethos was spread at first through self-help books and Oprah-era daytime TV, then moved to Instagram bios and HR workshops.

It blends seamlessly with "I identify as" because it centers subjectivity and affirms lived experience while allowing space for growth, self-redefinition, and personal evolution.

4. The (In)visibility of Identity Online

Social media didn't invent identity discourse, but it definitely popularized it.

We've all seen tags like #demisexual or #neurodivergent without thinking about the way they're announcements of identity.

These aren't tags defining a topic or interest - those would be be #demisexuality or #neurodivergence.

And it makes sense that we do this!

Many identities are not perceivable online unless explicitly announced, so we identify ourselves explicitly with the badges of the identities we wish to communicate, especially if we want to find our people.

In the chaos of algorithmic culture, clarity and discoverability can be powerful. Saying "I identify as [X]" functions like a keyword and a homing signal - it helps others know where you stand and how you'd prefer others relate to you. Identities online become things we collect, badges we wear, and userboxes we display.

So...this is good, right?

Yeah, there's a lot of good in all of this!

Contrary to what seems like common Boomer belief, this shift hasn't happened because younger people are confused or fragile.

It's happened because many are trying (sometimes awkwardly, sometimes beautifully) to live more authentically in a world that doesn’t always know what to do with us.

What's not to love about that?

The rise of "I identify as" reflects:

Greater awareness of social context. It lets people signal that identity is complex, multifaceted, and sometimes contested.

More room for self-determination. For people who’ve had their identities imposed or denied, the phrase opens up space to reclaim power.

Increased inclusivity. It makes space for people who don’t fit neatly into categories—or who don’t want to be boxed in at all.

In this way, identity talk is evolving in the same way society is: It's messier, more fluid, and more responsive to people on the margins. That's not a flaw - that's progress.

So why the #$&% are you writing about it?!

Because it also comes with some tricky issues we're SO SHITTY AT TALKING ABOUT.

[Deep breath]

There are a lot of small issues, but I see two very large ones: the Erosion of Solidarity and the Structural Issues of Non-Negotiable Identities.

First, Hyper-individualism can cause erosion of solidarity.

The emphasis on personal identity - especially framed as self-identification - can sometimes fragment what used to be shared political or social struggles. If identity becomes purely subjective, then who gets to belong to a community? Who decides who speaks for whom?

In some leftist activist circles, identity has become a kind of credential or prerequisite for speaking, even when the speaker's experience may not reflect a wider group or come with actual expertise. At its worst, this can lead to what some critics call the "Oppression Olympics," where the politics of recognition replaces the politics of change.

The politics of change seek to influence policy and real world outcomes. The politics of recognition...are mostly about language.

As I look at the last 10-15 years in the US, I find myself asking these questions:

Have social liberals been more focused on the politics of change...or the politics of recognition?

How effective have we been at realizing positive social change through policy advancements? Have we made progress...or has our society regressed?

How have those of us who identify as social liberals/progressives potentially contributed to the regression by sacrificing the politics of change on the altar of the politics of recognition? Did we alienate people who otherwise could have been allies if we'd focused more on changing policy?

Language fatigue and cultural backlash are real and I think we underestimated them.

The second and more difficult issue is how Self-Labeling can create Structural Issues when colliding with Non-Negotiable Identities.

When everyone can "identify as" anything, the risk isn’t just confusion, but potentially a dilution of meaning - and I don't mean that as a emotional or social problem, but a practical one.

What if a person with no history, heritage, cultural connection, or community with peoples who are indigenous to North America says "I identify as Native American" ?

Is that valid self-definition...or is it appropriation?

Who decides?

This is especially thorny in categories of identity that are both social and material - like race, ethnicity, or disability. Identification without recognition can sometimes feel like role-play with real-world consequences.

And when it comes to race or ethnicity, sometimes it is role-play.

Does anyone else remember Rachel Dolezal identifying as a black woman and hiding for years that she...wasn't black?

CNN - Rachel Dolezal – fresh off of stepping down as head of the Spokane NAACP chapter over criticism that she’s portrayed herself as black, even though she was born white – stood by that self-assessment Tuesday, insisting, "I identify as black."

Dolezal would later call herself "trans-black" and still promotes the idea of transracialism.

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This did not (and still does not) go over well with black folks.

George Washington University History professor Jessica Krug claimed first to be Algerian, then Afro-Puerto Rican. She was none of these and nobody appreciated having their ethnicity, their culture, their experience, and their identity used as someone else's costume.

In an interview, Figueroa said she did not know Krug personally. But she said discussions about Krug’s background were sparked in part by the recent revelation that late Cuban writer H. G. Carrillo was not actually Cuban at all, but rather born to a non-Latinx Black family in Detroit. “I do know that she’s a very well-respected scholar who has done really incredible work, so this is not an issue about her not being a talented academic or good at her job,” Figueroa said. “But she did it all in this guise, building on the worst types of stereotypes, calling herself a hood academic, taking on accents and talking about specific kinds of trauma.”

These were scandals - and they would be if they happened today, too because transracial identities are not generally welcomed.

(Sure, there are RCTA people who aren't getting the help they need, but most people seem to loathe this behavior and call it race-faking. It's still not socially acceptable, despite Dolezal's best efforts.)

But if identity is exclusively a subjective and personal matter of choice...Why can't Dolezal identify as black?

Thought experiment:

Imagine a 16-year-old Norwegian boy named Kjell Stenberg, the child of two old and respected Nordic families who raised their son as a good Lutheran, in church every Sunday.

Kjell does some reading, watches a lot of TikTok videos, and decides that he feels an affinity with the Jewish people. Kjell tells his parents that from now on, he identifies as a Jew.

Kjell doesn't contact a Rabbi, he doesn't begin studying, he doesn't attend services, and he has no intention of seeking conversion. He just...identifies as a Jew and does a passable Larry David impression.

Is he a Jew?

No. Not by any definition. Identifying as a Jew doesn't make it so.

Our society finds identifying as another race or ethnicity wholly unacceptable because those are essentialist identities.

If racial/ethnic identities are not identities one can claim by identifying as...what other identities are off-limits in the same way?

If we agree that Rachel Dolezal can't identify as black and Kjell can't identify as Jewish...what stops assholes like Candace Owens from arguing that an AMAB person cannot identify as a woman?

Nothing. It turns out that's a really common rhetorical trick used against trans folks - I just hadn't seen it myself until recently. It's gross.

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Candace is wrong and making a shitty analogy.

Transgenderism is fundamentally different from Dolezal's transracialism, and understanding that difference helps us clarify why Dolezal's transracialism is wrong.

Race is a social construct tied to lineage, history, and group identity often shaped by shared experiences of systemic oppression (e.g., the transatlantic slave trade, segregation, colonization). Dolezal inserted herself into a marginalized racial group without having any shared history or the consent of that group.

Gender is also a social construct, but one tied to individual identity, roles, and embodiment, and it varies across cultures in terms of expression and roles (e.g., hijra, Two-Spirit, fa'afafine). Being transgender is about aligning your gender identity with your lived sense of self.

Race/ethnicity are essentialist...and gender is existentialist.

We know that because we can see wide variance of social constructs around gender across time and geography. It's nearly impossible to argue, therefore, that gender is something other than existentialist.

...and this is at the core of the arguments from TERFs and people like Candace Owens.

In order to condemn trans folks, in order to claim transgenderism is as wrong as transracialism, they have to dishonestly redefine gender as both essentialist and binary - and we know beyond any possible doubt that it is neither.

This is what those arguments always come down to. This is their fundamental logical error.

So what's the most effective short response to someone who makes the Dolezal comparison in attacking trans people?

If I wear a doctor's coat and say "I identify as a surgeon," that doesn't make me qualified to do heart surgery - and I'll hurt people if I make the attempt. Rachel Dolezal didn't just 'identify as' - she lied, misrepresented, and appropriated for her own benefit.

Transgender people aren't stealing someone else's story - they're trying to live their own.

Race is about how society sees you, usually from birth. It's tied to ancestry, history, and how people treat you in the world. Rachel Dolezal wasn't treated as a Black person growing up. She didn't face anti-Black racism. She chose to perform Blackness later in life and benefited from the inauthentic, dishonest performance.

Trans people, on the other hand, don’t 'decide' to be another gender for clout.

They usually always knew who they were, even if their bodies didn't match. Many risk their jobs, families, safety, and lives to live as their real selves. That's not inauthentic performance - that's seeking authenticity - that's reconciling their essential identity.

So no - being trans and being Rachel Dolezal are not the same and pretending they are just shows Candace Owens and TERFs don't understand either one.

But that's easy for me to say, isn't it?

I'm looking at this through a linguistic/philosophical/sociological lens. I have have no lived experience to inform my thinking about this kind of identity issue. I've never been trans, I've never lived as a woman, my gender expression has always been sufficiently aligned with my anatomy and the social expectations of others.

Lived experience, though, can change one's views of what is or isn't essentialist.

Since I have no relevant lived experience, here's a story from a friend who does:

[Fran's Story Time]

My friend Fran is one of the kindest, most broad-minded people I know. We used to wait tables together in the 90s and I once had the pleasure of tossing out an asshole restaurant patron who called her a "dyke."

Fran is good people and I adore her.

So Fran calls me and tells me she's having a meltdown.

At a community event, she'd met this really delightful young trans woman named Betty who had just recently started transitioning. They were laughing and enjoying getting to know each other until Betty told Fran that Betty identifies as a dyke.

Fran stopped laughing.

Fran explained to me that she'd previously believed that lesbianism might be the most singularly female experience there is, something which could only belong to women and couldn't be taken from them.

It was, in her mind, essentialist. That identity was shaped by how society saw her for her entire life. It was tied to history and how people treated her. She felt that she and other lesbians had a shared history of systemic oppression.

Fran is in her 60s now, she'd been called a dyke as a pointed, vicious slur for decades. It had taken years of work to acclimate to the way some younger members of her community had reclaimed the word, but she did it because she understood the power of that reclamation and wanted to have solidarity with all of her community. Fran felt she had earned the right to reclaim that term because it had been weaponized against her. She didn't like it, but she could cope with it.

Now Fran was encountering a 20-year-old AMAB person whose life and gender expression had been that of a man until a month previous, identifying with a slur which was still embedded like a blade in Fran's heart.

Fran is adamantly in favor of trans rights and supporting trans people, but despite wanting to support Betty, she told me she felt hurt, attacked, and subverted. It felt to her like something essential about her identity had been appropriated by someone who didn't share it. Betty, Fran said, had started identifying as a dyke on the first day of starting to transition - but Betty had never experienced the hostility or specific kinds of oppression lesbians like Fran had endured for their entire lives.

Fran was upset, so I gave her the retort I'd give Candace Owens:

Betty identifying as a dyke isn't an attempt to steal Fran's story - Betty's just trying to live her own..!

Fran gave me a withering look.

Then why is she using my words? Why is she appropriating my experience, my persecution, and my pain? Where does she get off using the word 'dyke' when she was a man last month? Why is it so important that 'trans women are women'? If they're trying to live their own story and not appropriate mine, shouldn't it be 'trans women are trans women'? Is there nothing which can't be taken from me by someone who chooses to appropriate identities from me?

[/Fran's Story Time]

I've always been categorically dismissive of TERFs because they appeared hateful and the suggestion that they oppose trans rights because trans women are a threat to their safety always smelled like bullshit. It's a non-existent problem and trans women are far, far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. Letting people use bathing/dressing/restroom facilities which match their gender expression harms nobody in any material sense, so their argument just seemed hateful, hysterical, dishonest, or some combination of those three things.

Fran made me reconsider. What if the way some of them feel about trans women is analogous to the way that black folks feel about Rachel Dolezal identifying as Black...and how I'd feel about Kjell Stenberg identifying as a Jew? What if they're driven by a terrible feeling that something precious, something tied to their lived experience and pain, is being taken from them and worn as a costume which doesn't respect their lived experience?

I think Fran's feelings are not only valid, but an inevitable result of a culture which is still navigating a transformation in how we talk about essentialist and existentialist identities.

This post isn't about trans rights. It's not about race, ethnicity, sex, gender, orientation or public policy- it's about the language of identity and trying to understand better how we can grapple with conflicting, non-negotiable identities in an increasingly post-essentialist world. It's about recognizing the shift taking place for what it is and the need to consider all the potential implications of that shift thoughtfully.

It's about looking for a way for Jane and Betty to both feel validated and respected. Fran missed a chance to have a conversation about it, and it seems like that's a commonly missed opportunity with everyone having strong opinions about what an identity word means to them...and little allowance for it to mean something else to someone else.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

I don't know. Thankfully, I'm not required to have a firm position on all things. I'm still reading about sex and gender studies, sociology, and linguistics to try to wrap my head around all the complex issues at play.

What I do know is that I don't want to throw the linguistic baby out with the rhetorical bathwater...because I think we're moving in a positive direction.

"I identify as" is part of a broader cultural project that aims to help people name themselves with more care, complexity, and honesty...and that's fantastic.

But maybe we also need:

A renewed focus on community, not just selfhood. Identity isn't just personal and subjective, because it's always relational. It's not just about how I see myself, but how I am seen - and how I show up for others. They're called "social constructs" instead of "personal beliefs" because they are created and sustained not by individuals, but socially - by networks of interconnected people.

Some humility in how we talk about belonging. Not every identity claim needs to be treated as sacred, nor every misstep as heresy, cruelty, apathy, or bigotry. Change is hard, and we can help each other through it. (I find myself wishing Fran had been able to sit down and talk with Betty about Betty's experience and why that particular identity word was important to Betty.)

A recognition that language is a tool, not a destination. The goal isn’t a perfected, permanent terminology - it's mutual understanding, dignity, and kindness.

As culture continues to evolve, we'll keep finding new ways to talk about ourselves and that's great- but I hope we don't mistake the talk for the work. The talk should serve the work- not the other way around.

Language shouldn't just express respect - it should connect people, building bridges through understanding which we then actually cross as we learn to appreciate the particularism of others as much as we value our own.

---

My teens, as they coach me in pronouns, genders and other linguistic changes which are still not intuitive to me, seem to think that they're at the end of linguistic history and that the language habits of their generation are permanent.

One day they'll be in their fifties and they'll feel a little out of touch, a little confused by how people in their teens and twenties talk about themselves.

If they're smart, they'll ask those younger folks to teach them the newest lexicon.

---

Some Further Reading:

Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990).

Charles Taylor, "The Politics of Recognition"

Yascha Mounk, The Identity Trap (2023)

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elainemorisi · 3 months ago

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every couple months in one of the larger local fb groups some transplant complains that people here don't smile at you

a) yes they do?? if you smile at them first??*

b) as a Midwestern transplant. the people who make those posts. are bad people. like. I'm. half joking. but that's one of the sketchier relatively apolitical things you could say, actually, imo

#*ymmv I suppose but half these posts come from fellow white ladies like c'mon now #dudes maybe that's less of a lifehack but... I don't actually believe that nine times out of ten #at least this time the replies are resoundingly Correct lol #I know I know it's... in many ways... just cultural difference #but like. I moved here and was IMMEDIATELY struck by the fact that randos in line for coffee WILL ENGAGE AUTHENTICALLY WITH YOU #(if they wanna engage at all)#as if you might be a human person akin to their also being a human person #(while nevertheless being human persons who have no relationship except shared proximity WHICH IS FINE??)#this does NOT happen in Minnesota (or California) do not lie to me #SOME people are not interested in doing that and it is REALLY not hard to figure out who. they just won't really engage at all!#and that's fine? let them live their dang lives they're not being unchatty AT you they're just unchatty that day??#anyway there's definitely some style of performed sociability that I am fully blind to #and its absence really really wigs some people out. and god bless I guess but also. no #like it is not sociability or approachability by any definition of the term that I can even begin to grok #I really do not have an explanation better than 'you gotta initiate man. pull some weight'#you lift just one tiny finger and... people will socialize? like?

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love-takes-work · 1 day ago

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One hundred percent, @citrusella-flugpucker --Padparadscha has Future Vision! But it's operating on a delay, meaning she is still able to relay her observations with unusual insight, even if they're late. I made a comic about that a while back. Fluorite describes it as "she can predict things that just happened." I think that's accurate! She's a Sapphire still.

And @novantinuum, I too don't need "concrete" answers about the Diamonds! I know that's kind of an unpopular viewpoint--there are a lot of people out there raging that we "never got answers" about certain things, but how small that universe would seem if we could literally answer everything about everything! I think it's WAY more interesting if the Diamonds have their "quasi-religious" origin story that we can understand as part of their cultural heritage while understanding that it's not, like, scientific--like many human stories of creation around the world have different beliefs about how deities were involved in humans' genesis.

Oh and one thing I can't believe I forgot to say I need in the spinoff:

WE NEED LARS USING HIS PINK ZOMBIE POWERS

WE NEED TO SEE HIM MAKE ROAR PORTALS AND WALK ON WATER

I'm so hype for finding out what the music will sound like and if there's any cool new food to add to my cookbook! Having most of the action going on with Gems who don't eat and Lars who doesn't really seem to need food makes it less likely I'll have as many fun recipes to attempt, but a girl can dream!

Lars of the Stars spinoff wish list:

The current synopsis, for reference later on:

"Steven Universe: Lars of the Stars explores the past, present and future of the universe. The sequel follows Lars Barriga, eternal teenager and space outlaw, as he and his pirate crew smuggle contraband, evade the authorities and uncover the darkest secrets of the fallen Gem Empire."

This is just a personal list of things I would be interested in seeing, even If it would (tragically) debunk my precious headcanons and OC riddled post canon universe:

I would most like this to be set post SUF, tbh. I feel like it Will be, given the line "fallen Gem Empire."

TV-14 rating like Fiona and Cake was so there's a smidge more leeway in the topics they could explore, and to what Depth they can be explored. Also I want Lars to say at least One swear, lol.

Fluorite's components would be fun to see! Perhaps they have to unfuse for a recon mission, or something.

This may finally be a good time to do the plotline with Rhodonite's components and her OG Morganite. Maybe she gets kidnapped by her original "owner" and has to be rescued?

I would love for Lars and crew to be a shining light towards all numbers of fusions and mistreated Gems who are still caught under the rule of Era 2 sympathizers who haven't yet conformed to new Era standards.

Re: the above, I just want to see more juice on what old Era 2 elites are thinking in this new Era. Which ones are begrudgingly conforming? Which ones are ready to throw a coup?

In fact, who got elected to be Homeworld's new leader? How are they doing? Are Gems listening to their authority, or are they struggling to keep the peace?

I am VERY curious to know what "smuggling contraband" means in the context of this show if it IS set post SUF, as... what kind of contraband are they stealing that would be illegal to the new Gem leadership? Perhaps they're stealing from old Homeworld elites Robin Hood style, or something. Or... perhaps the new Gem leadership itself gets hijacked by old Era 2 sympathizers and they have to push back on that.

It would be interesting if one of the crew happened to leave mid show because they found a genuine calling somewhere else, and someone new joined the gang in their place. Specifically, because I'd love to see how a new personality meshes with all the other characters.

More Padparadscha content where she isn't always the butt of the joke- the comics did a nice job at finding ways to make her ability very useful to the plot, so more of that in this show would be cool.

It would be cool to see more twinned Gems like the two Rutiles.

I kinda feel like a Steven appearance is unlikely bc I don't know if Zach Callison is down to be involved, but he COULD show up in spirit through Stevonnie. That would be cool for a midseason "event" episode.

It would also, of course, be nice to see the Crystal Gems again. If they make any appearance, I have to imagine it would be in a bombastic season finale.

Hessonite, please. Bring Hessonite to the main show.

I'm sure I will think of more things later.

#steven universe #lars of the stars #padparadscha #myblog

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julijbee · 1 year ago

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girlbossing too close to the sun.

#art #ive literally just been treating this game as a library simuator #i walk from bookseller to bookseller opening up all of their books #vivecs sermons are either a highlight or the point at which i stop reading #ive been trying to convince the ordinators that imitation is the highest form of flattery but it hasnt been working #let me wear your helmets please theyre so funny..#posting morrowind in 2024 isnt a cry for help but youre not wrong to be concerned.#morrowind #almalexia #vivec #im going to explain the chitin armor give me a moment #so the bonewalker nerevar on the shrines is adorable and it was only after drawing it however many times that i realized #it looked relatively close to a modified chitin armor #and so i modified chitin armor a few times and this was probably the cutest result #i also know i drew almalexia relatively pristine and untouched by years and vivec not so much but my thought process was #vivecs role as if not a favorite then the most accessible divine or the most “hands on” in a manner of speaking #acting in ways visible to the general population or actions explicitly brought to their attention #like not that almalexia isnt doing anything she is #but the dissemination of information regarding that is very different etc etc etc #anyways to a certain extent a god is the face on a shrine or in art or upon a statue or carving #but vivecs presence is interwoven with the geography of vvardenfell especially and his actions and writings with pubished materials #and the arts and culture and customs etc etc etc #so to me the face of a god you know and feel a commonality with or a god that walks alongside you is a face you would recognize #and vivec is already otherworldly looking enough #the simple mark of the years on his skin in some way grounding him in reality felt more right #that and i think the ways in which he and almalexia care about outward appearance are slightly different- they prioritize different things #and the ways they present outward power and their embodiment of their respective attributes share some similarities as they both have that #important preoccupation with physical power and physical strength to a certain degree #oh my god nobody read this i am yapping so bad.#tes

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ranahan · 7 hours ago

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So the headcanons,

You know the popular canon? fanon? that mandos have to exaggerate their body language to compensate for not being able to read each other’s faces? Well, I think the kabuki comparison might be spot on in that on stage—where the audience is quite far away from the actors—the actors would have to exaggerate even more. Which would naturally lead to big dramatic gestures, perhaps even codified ones.

Of course, most Mando characters are dressed in armour. Which leads to popular characters being very recognisable by their armour paint. Which may or may not be historically accurate, but nevertheless, even millennia later everyone and their uncle thinks they know how Cassus Vhett and Canderous Ordo painted their armour. Because they’ve seen them dozens of times. For other characters, colours are used symbolically.

Characters from other cultures might also be codified/exaggerated in their gestures and costumes. Maybe everyone wears some kind of a mask, helmet or otherwise? Sometimes—especially in the older plays—it gets somewhat xenophobic, with no clear line between fictional monsters and members of other civilisations. I’m thinking of basiliskans, nevoota, etc. Much as I love mandos, historically I can’t see them treat e.g. basiliskans as fully sentient or nevoota as much different than vampires/werevolwes/alien monsters. Newer playwrights would have tried to rewrite those plays and grapple with that baggage in other ways.

Not all of the dance numbers are based on martial arts… but a lot of them are basically choreographed fights. The dancers pull red (or whatever colour of blood is appropriate) ribbons and scarves out from under the armour of their opponents and from the handles of their weapons, which will continue to whirl around as they dance until they are dramatically killed.

And yes, characters usually take many hits before they finally succumb for extra drama. Also there’s dramatic dialogue, which always causes some groans and jeers of “just kill him already” from the audience, because mandos don’t much hold with the western convention of audience sitting still and silently and only politely clapping at the end. There’s cheers and boos after just about every scene, and people only sush others during the most suspenseful moments. Also there’s beer, and skraan’ikase, and perhaps gambling. Just look up Italian opera houses during the heydays of 1700s—they weren’t the sit still and quiet kind of affairs either.

The most common role that the Mandalorian opera choir plays is the army, or the ori’ramikade of whatever Mand’alor stars in the play in question. Which naturally leads to there being a lot of rhythmic stomping and beating of stage weapons and each other’s armour. There’s at least as much percussion as there’s singing or chanting; gauntlets have plates/strikers on the palm to make more sound. And a great deal more actual acrobatics than vocal acrobatics. Audience joins in during the most popular and beloved scenes/songs.

The second most common choir is a troupe of children, usually from the local community or a local school, that perform one number or song. Sometimes it’s not even a song from the same opera, but no-one cares. They’re everyone’s favourite and kids get to learn about theatre, it’s a win-win!

Opera usually involves more showy mythosaur axes and glaives and swords than blasters. Jetpacks are only involved during outdoor shows though. Because they’re a fire hazard with the sets. But opera is also performed outdoors especially during festivals, and then you really get acrobatic/aerial duels and pyrotechnics. Pyrotechnics and fire dances with their callback to the fires of stars are terribly popular. Theatre is a surprisingly common hobby among the demolition experts. Sabine is a genius, but maybe she also had some stage manuals to pull from when designing artistically colourful explosions.

There’s at least one haunting bes’bev solo, or sometimes a duet with a singer. Sometimes lovers separated by time and space sing duets where one of them is on the stage and the other is either represented by a bes’bev or signs from somewhere off-stage. Sometimes making a dramatic return from the behind of the audience, walking through the audience while singing, and then climbing on the stage for reuniting with their lover. It’s a whole motif.

Sometimes certain songs or battle numbers become so popular that they get copy-pasted into different works wherever the play needs “a dramatic battle” or “a tearful reunion.” Sometimes they become so iconic that they will always be identified as the duel of Mandalore the Indomitable and Ulic Qel-Droma though, and can’t be reused anywhere else because they’re too recognisable.

Mandalorians don’t much hold with storing their works of art unchanged in naphthalene either. Sure, there are classics that have more or less attained their ultimate form already, but it’s expected that each company and actor puts their own spin on their performance. What art is there in exactly copying something that’s already been done, after all? Copying is for apprentices, creating is for artists. No two performances are alike, at least not any good ones. Improvisation is considered a vital skill in arts like singing, playing, acting and dancing.

I think that jaster mereel fucking loves both the concord dawn blues or whatever they’re playing with their beskar instruments there…but he also got autistically into mandalorian opera as a little kid and thingy absolutely hates that shit and as jaster died he’s like I never should have trusted him, he has no taste in music

#you have unlocked a secret fact about me:#i’m an opera buff #now look at what you’ve done #you’ve unleashed the beast #admittedly i know most about early 1700s Italian opera #but after i stopped singing i’ve been getting more into eg chinese opera and classical music and other traditions around the world #not that i know much about them but i really really enjoy it #bc as much as western classical music is lauded #it’s also very narrow in its views of music and performance #tho coming from baroque music i also feel like the later traditions are doing opera wrong 😂#i think it was originally more like broad street musicals #with gambling and drinking for the audience 😆#and stars singing their favourite arias regardless of the opera #what do you mean I can’t make my own ornaments and otherwise adjust the piece so it showcases my voice?#anyways thanks for all the videos i loved them!#The Fall of the Great Zhell #or #Ori’Tsel’trattok’or #lit. Great Zhell’s falling/collapse?#jaster mereel #mandalorians #mandalorian headcanons #mandalorian opera #mandalorian music #mandalorian theatre #mandalorian culture

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persona-2-daily-reminder · 20 days ago

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Daily reminder that Ulala is very insecure about her femininity

#P2 daily reminder #persona 2 #persona series #persona 2 eternal punishment #persona 2 innocent sin #ulala serizawa #i find this interesting because a lot of the motifs and theme of persona 2 eternal punishement certain around adult problem #there are many ways you could interpret this insecurity #like her jealousy of Maya despite knowing she also has it somewhat rough #her need to be perceived as pretty due to the cultural significance of it in Japan at that time period #her want to get married. not necessarily out of love because it's expected #a lot of societal problems that end up pushing her into certain things #like the marriage scam she went through #and i can understand why she isn't everyone's favorite since a lot of her moments are chalked down to 'dumb' by the other party members #well mostly baofu #but it still gives a very interesting perspective over how women in general are pressured a lot by a bunch of different things #not saying man arent #its just that there are very different issues that both of these genders dont usually want to see due to either ignorance #lack of empathy #or just missinformation #i like this kind of meta commentary games do

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ranchwamen · 27 days ago

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You mentioned something about becoming human/taur being spells in the tags, what's stopping non-taur humans from learning it?

Thanks for the question! Same thing with Waterspeak, nothing really! In fact I think Sirpa was born as a two-legged human, but spends and has spent considerable amounts of time in the water as a mermaid because her mother is a mermaid. I guess you could consider her “half mermaid” as a result! She could’ve very well been born as a mermaid but her parents had to think long and hard about what form would be easier for her to live in as her original form, given their location and fears about water pollution it was undeniably two-legged

Sirpa tangent aside, anyone at all can learn the spell that makes you a mermaid, or the spell that makes you a terrestrial taur, or the spell that makes you a taur that can fly, so on so on! However, it can be seen as really weird if someone who was born as a two-legged human to a family that’s pretty much always been only two-legged humans to suddenly start living life as a taur. Taurness is not only just a body shape, after all, but a culture. Several cultures! Even if taurs are humans with human sensibilities, they’re shaped so different, they wear clothes that are different, they move differently, they can do things that two-legged humans can’t and can’t do things that two-legged humans can, they specifically have had many many stories about how they could’ve come to be (two-leggeds not so much), they need their own furniture, sometimes they’ve even lived separately from other types of humans. Merfolk are the most extreme cases, since they quite literally live where terrestrial humans can’t go naturally and every bit of their life has been adapted to an aquatic environment. Even if it would be very cool to live as a taur in theory, it’s fundamentally a very different experience, a more difficult experience sometimes, and people would probably give one many glances if they decided to become a taur one day for no other reason than “just cuz”. You may have the shape of a taur, but are you really even a taur if you’ve never experienced the culture?

Nuance exists, of course, like if you have a lot of taurs in your family and ever since you were a kid you’ve lived your life as many forms that are all equally “you”, or if your taur friend was like “lol wanna see what your true animal form would be” one night and you tried it out once and that was it, or if you have lived for a while now with many taurs — usually taurs are a minority on land but there are exceptions, for example in a very mountainous, difficult-to-traverse region a good bit of people might just be taurs for their better balance — and eventually decided to become a taur to fit the customs of the community better, or if you paid one billiam dollars at an exotic recreational center where they “Let [You] Feel the Wilderness Inside You (TM)” by having folks explore like a wildlife area as taurs, then like, yeah lol those are some random examples where no one would bat an eye! Also ironically, even though merfolk are definitely the most removed from terrestrial humans as a whole, it would be most acceptable to become a merm if you have an extended stay underwater (work, vacation, whatever) and need accommodations for breathing and moving in the water and things like that. It’s simply seen as the easiest way to do things, however true that may be! Similarly merfolk on land have a lot of pressure to “simply become two-legged” even though accommodations like wheelchairs for merms exist (and all merfolk can already breathe air). It’s a little… sad. A lot of merfolk don’t really like that their own selves are treated as unimportant and disposable and that the “best way” to go about moving in a foreign environment is to literally ditch your own body away to become something else. Many taurs never become two-legged because it would remove a big part of themselves, so why are merfolk any different? These are unfortunately some societal problems of the Sirpaverse.

TL;DR: Any non-taur can learn the spells that make you a taur, however there are societal and cultural implications of doing that and it might not be very appropriate in all situations.

#if you could tell from the description of the one billiam dollar recreational experience theres a slight problem of making taurs seem -#somehow wilder than two-legged humans. as if they have a more animalistic brain or are more in tune with nature or let their instincts run #wild. their instincts which dont differ in any way from two-legged humans mind you #so while the recreational center experience is by all means legal and popular among tourists and vacationers #there are some people — many people! — whose reaction to you going would be “…………really now…????”#ahti is a pike merm but hes in no way an opportunistic aquatic apex predator in human shape that hunts anything he can grab #karleeen is a wolf spider taur but i think the only patrolling and rushing down prey shes doing is in spore #she doesnt want to have anything to do with such things #karleeen does like to climb a lot but she would like it anyway as a two-legged human. her upbringing is the main driving factor there even #if her many legs do make climbing much easier and faster #then again her mother is a spidertaur too so this kinda raises questions if they wouldve even practiced so much climbing if it wasnt easy…#but you know! thats a good example of taurness being related to culture in some way #nature vs nurture except the nurture ties back into your nature. funny that. but karleeen WOULD love climbing even if she wasnt a taur #and sirpa… sirpa likes fishing and eating fish but thats more just merfolk culture again. her family ate a lot of fish when she was a child #asks #thatonegaycactus #sirpaverse #sirpa #because thats her lore!#taur hour

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garrothromeave · 1 day ago

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gotta lotta different thoughts on this but i will preface this by saying that i agree with your initial/primary claim - that of, shipping ruined mcd for a lot of individual people. i know this to be true because i let shipping impact my own personal experience with some of the characters and the capacity of which i could actually enjoy the media, though that was more because of the fandom rather than shipping itself. your post, at least through implication, outlines that this "focus on ships" is a disservice to their consumption of minecraft diaries as a media. and that is its own argument, of which i'd love to dissect here. (also clarifying: i'm not saying this is the exact intended meaning of the post, just a possible interpretation that i find interesting and something i want to dive in to.)

first, as to why i mainly agree with what’s being said: minecraft diaries focuses on many different characters, themes, and stories - there's a lot more than a couple of "ships" to the series that gives it its depth and enjoyment. you don't have to like shipping to enjoy minecraft diaries, in fact you can frankly detest it and still get something out of mcd. while i can't say all of the potential imagery and more nuanced story takes were completely intended by jess, you can still find some really beautiful stuff in the story regardless. what makes mcd so fun and stupid is that it's an unconventional method of telling a deeper story, even if done so sloppily in a lot of aspects. sometimes, this can go under the radar in favour of particular dynamics, and can go on to undermine the main focus of certain parts of the story (i. e. that laurmau and garmau were not meant to be endgame within the narrative - the story was built with the intent for them to NOT become canon, stated by jessica herself). with shipping also comes a level of complaisant mischaracterization, or at least suspension of some canonical actions/feelings of characters - which can leave some fans disregarding canon content entirely in favour of dynamics. through art, fanfiction, headcanons, etc - it can even lead to fabrications or complete retellings in order to favour a particular ship. this disloyalty to the baseline media isn’t accepted by everyone, and can lead to disagreements with other fans.

however, i think this can be applied to almost any media, if there's an ability to ship its going to happen that's just fandom culture. but i think it's also important to analyze what shipping means to many people to fully understand this initial post and why i don't fully agree with it; as shipping isn't always "surface level" types of enjoyment. what shipping is, at least in my own theory, is an invitation to what is typically vulnerable. this dives even deeper into societal expectations and the general consensus of what "romance" is. i won't go too in depth here, but the allonormative perspective would be that romantic relationships are ways to express a deeper vulnerability with a person or persons that you wouldn't express with a connection such as a friendship. (NOTE: I am NOT saying this is how everyone experiences relationships, simply that it is the one accepted and expected of by society.) With this in mind, a lot of people who do experience (some level) of romantic attraction might want to express this vicariously through characters and dynamics. this idea that you cannot/won't open up with someone unless there is a romantic connection or interest, and that this is inherent to progress emotionally (this can also tie into physical vulnerability and inherently sex as well). I would argue that most people think this way, at least in regards to ships - though i would also argue that is a subconscious intention. it's just what's expected (romance i mean) in societies so of course, you'll naturally see romance throughout medias, even in medias that don't actually have any romance. this idea that a character needs to be romantically invested in another character in order for them to have a deeper connection is very prominent and is what i feel shapes a lot of storytelling. Of course, this also leads to shippers having that same intuition.

bringing this back to minecraft diaries, let's use garroth as an example (big surprise, i know). garroth is shown to be reclusive and keeps his thoughts and vulnerability quite secluded throughout season 1. Though, if you look at art or fanfictions, it is not at all difficult to find ship content surrounding garroth that takes place in season 1 where he might be more vulnerable, either romantically or sexually. And while there is a huge distinction between romance and sexuality in mcd (created by Jess herself), it is common for popular culture to intertwine these two aspects into one thing. We can see art of him and aphmau kissing, or of him and laurance, or hell all three of them (more power to you). Point is, shipping gives that excuse to allow characters to reach certain mindsets/points of character development without progressing in an overarching plot. Sometimes, people want to see vulnerability in a relationship, and a lot of people don't see that as possible without romantic influence. It's not even a matter of disregarding the plot either: it's just to see characters that you love interacting and connecting on a deep level because that is a dynamic that appeals to you.

(side tangent: I know that not all shipping looks like this either. but in the broadest, multi-fandom inclusion way of what shipping might look like. written or drawn scenarios highlighting the romance between two characters in some way. Also something I also saw in the previous tags is that a lot of shippers enjoy the romantic AND platonic dynamics of their respective ships and that’s already a great barrier to push past!! But this is tumblr so if any audience is going to understand more nuance with relationships its people on tumblr)

while some people stick around for ships alone and the dynamics of those characters, there are other fans who are aware of the deeper themes you could potentially pull from minecraft diaries, and expand on those through ships. To say that focusing on shipping means a fan isn't exploring all of the themes of minecraft diaries is actually more of a disservice to the capacity of fans; as, a focus on a dynamic does not mean they did not watch the rest of it. It's just like having a favorite character - you're more likely to consume, create, and focus on stuff relating to a favorite character, same with a ship. People are multi-faceted. even if they enjoy a ship and only produce content of a ship doesn't mean they're not aware of deeper themes. I've seen so many artists and creators build symbolism, imagery, allegory, foreshadowing - all of these things into their ship pieces. Not only are they curating their own experience with their preferences, they're still telling something about the larger story and the place that a specific ship might have in that media. Does it always align with the intended meaning of the original series? No. But I ask you this: does it have to in order for it to be meaningful to the story? And is that necessarily a disservice?

personally, i have a heavy focus on garroth and aphmau right now, as a dynamic. Do I ship the two of them? no, not in the slightest, but i think they have a really deep connection and its that connection that im really into. does my focus on and appreciation of garroth and aphmau mean that i may not be appreciating the entirety of the media? No, of course not - I'm simply appreciating their place in the story and how their relationship impacts it. This can be said with ships, too. by focusing on dynamics and characters, this actually shows a deeper appreciation for this media than someone just watching it and moving on. There is potential in ships, an ability to flesh out bigger ideas the media may be getting at. Garmau, Laurmau, and Aarmau all have distinct themes that you can choose to pursue and apply to the entirety of what is being said over the course of the story.

Now, if we look at this in a more fandom-heavy sense and it just boils down to ship wars again and it's "my ship is better than this one because of xyz" then yes, I completely agree with the original point. Fans are jumping hurdles to prove something that has no basis outside of their own personal interpretation, and that is a disservice to minecraft diaries because that is not what this is about. Enjoy yourself, but don't put down other people while you do it. If shipping discourse consumes your feed, then I encourage one to revisit the series itself and find what really brings you personal enjoyment. Why this ship stands out to you. its role in the overarching plot and what that can mean.

of course, most of a fandom is shown through ship content, and for an enjoyer of the world rather than specific dynamics, that can be frustrating. But there are still plenty of people out there who are writing about the world, its themes, different perspectives. and that's enjoyable! there are people who do both, write about shipping and the story, either together or as separate entities. Again, it’s about curating spaces. I think some of the biggest world appreciation I did of minecraft diaries is when I was in a ship roleplay that went on for 4 years (rest in peace) where I was able to focus on the politics, the history, imagery, geography, and the themes. This was a simultaneous appreciation of both of the world and the ship, which is very possible and very common. Even if you don't see an outward appreciation for something, doesn't mean it's not there. While i don't personally enjoy ship content, at least in the way i used to, it did serve a purpose in helping me understand the characters and their roles in the story in a much more deep way. (While any roleplay can do that, it still goes to show that a ship roleplay had the capacity to do so too).

I think really what i'm getting at is that consuming and creating based on ships, fans are not only enjoying themselves, but also appreciating the media it derives from. This is one of the biggest services a media can have, is fan creation, adaptation, and enjoyment. To imply that someone is missing the point says that you indeed have the point - and if you can tell me what "The Point" really is of minecraft diaries, then I encourage you to do so. but don't forget that no matter how much you might try, it's going to boil down to one thing: Personal interpretation. And that's what everyone's doing.

thank yew

Potential hot take but i think shipping genuinely ruined Diaries for a lot of people. And i dont mean it in fact that we destroyed the mental health of a woman because of it (whoops, sorry Jess). But in that diaries is such a compliacted, long story with so many intresting themes about power, responsibility, community and sacrafice that people just miss.

The romantic subplots are just that, subplots. They supplement the main story and add to its themes, but they arent meant to be the whole ass point. And i feel like if you soley focus on them your not really consuming diaries as a whole and more so just parts of it.

I dunno it just feels like a disservice to the series.

#re: THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK ON OP its barely even a disagreement as much as it is an expansion of thoughts #i really like what op said - and i really like the idea behind it. mcd has some incredible themes #im just saying that shipping culture doesnt really take away from mcd as a media as much as it expands upon it. a little love letter #aphmau #aphblr #minecraft diaries

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