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thebroccolination · 2 years

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Key I think you can help me. I’ve only just got into Thai BL . 1st being Between Us as it took over my TL and then Even Sun, 7 projects once upon a time (yes a Bounprem theme here) then cutie pie and love in the sky. But I’ve noticed that the leads are always normally paired actors? As in, they do a lot of work together in other roles/works too. Is this a Thai industry thing? for example I only knew about Bounprem working together and being close friends a lot but then in these other series other actors have also done lead works together before. Is this just in Thai BL?

Be interesting to hear if you know anything about this as I love that they pair up.

Awww welcome, Anon! \:D/

This can be a fun li'l corner of the internet, and I hope you enjoy your stay. <3

I'm not sure I'm the best person to explain this, but I'll do my best.

When I joined the fandom in 2020, I noticed the same thing, and the way it was explained to me was this: "The series are incidental. The actors are the money-makers." I don't know how much that's changed in the years since, but I'm willing to bet the answer is: not much. They make a lot of money off this system.

If you follow BL actors on their socials, you'll notice a ton of sponsored content. Convenience stores, skin products, plastic surgery clinics, bottled teas, snacks, etc. Essentially, if pretty man + product = capitalism, then TWO pretty men + product = Thai BL marketing machine fuel.

Take Boun and Prem as an example.

They were cast in Until We Meet Again in April of 2019. Boun was 24, and Prem had just turned 21. Prem was on the brink of giving up on the industry, and so was Boun, who'd been trying to land a major part for seven years without much success, running into shady practices and outright scams that deprived him of his pay. UWMA was basically their last shot at a career.

UWMA was produced by Studio Wabi Sabi, a relatively small agency/studio owned by New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul. He's not just the CEO, he's also the director. He has his own socials, and he's regularly in contact with fans and viewers on Twitter. When UWMA was airing, BounPrem fans complained to New that WinTeam were hardly in the series. And there was a good reason for that: they're side characters in the novel UWMA is based on (The Red Thread), and they had their own entirely separate novel where their relationship is explored (Hemp Rope, the inspiration for Between Us).

So why were WinTeam scenes even put into UWMA if they have nothing to do with the main story? Isn't that bad writing? It depends how you look at it. If you're judging UWMA only by its writing, then sure, WinTeam's scenes are randomly placed and jarring and, again, have nothing to do with DeanPharm or InKorn's story. Win and Team are Dean and Pharm's best friends, and apart from group scenes, their love story really doesn't belong.

But if you understand that the industry's strongest money-maker are paired actors, and that New and Sheep included WinTeam scenes to promote BounPrem to potential fans and entice sponsors to financially back the eventual production of Between Us, then it makes perfect sense.

Basically, that's what side pairs are for. I think of them as little "teaser trailers" within the series. "Oh, you like these two? You want to see them in their own series? Then support them on social media and trend their hashtag so potential sponsors notice them and give them more exposure."

When the pandemic spiked soon after UWMA finished airing, Between Us was announced but put on hold along with everything else. BounPrem were in a unique situation where they had their own series guaranteed, but they didn't have a main series behind them, so they were stuck in a horrible limbo for two and a half years where they were essentially dependent on sponsorships and promotional work to keep their "brand" relevant and in people's minds. They regularly talked about how nervous they felt about losing fans because of the long wait (especially Boun, who, again, had waited seven years for a break just like this).

They never knew when the pandemic would ease up enough that they could film Between Us without interference from the government, so they had to stick to bit parts and cameos in other series. But that's where being a pair really helped them out.

So, Between Us is airing now, and thankfully it's doing really well, so BounPrem's joint future is more stable now than it has been since I became a fan. Big sigh of relief. <3 They're also able to do their own solo projects now without fear of becoming irrelevant thanks to their pair work. And that's a very good thing, because Boun and Prem have very different interests, and I think it's very healthy for them to be able to explore different genres.

So yes! From what I've seen and been told, paired actors in the BL industry make a lot more money than the actors who go it alone. Which makes sense, right? BL is literally Boys Love, so it's, y'know, about romance. And the paired actors who tend to do the best are either the ones with natural chemistry (BounPrem, TayNew, OffGun, ZeeNuNew, etc.) or the ones who go in hard on the fan service ([redacted], [redacted], [redacted], if you know you know).

If you watched Cutie Pie, you'll know ZeeNuNew (LianKuea), and you may also know that they have another series airing later this year called The Next Prince. They're one of the most successful BL pairs out there with a ton of promotional couple work, and NuNew is a talented singer with his own line of songs that he's had produced, and Zee does other acting jobs in heterosexual-leaning series, aaand he's also one of the co-owners of Domundi, the agency they're both part of. Basically, they're a good example of a pair who've successfully diversified their joint and individual careers and don't keep all their eggs in one basket, so to speak.

Most of the successful ones are like that. OffGun (Not Me) and TayNew (Dark Blue Kiss) of GMMTV are BL Royalty since they arrived on the scene early, and their work in BL helped launch their current fame and various eggs in baskets. (Gun might be an exception, though. He was a successful child actor, if I'm remembering correctly.) KristSingto (SOTUS) were another juggernaut who officially disbanded recently since Singto's disembarked from the Great Ship GMMTV, but the two of them have scores of solo work (a restaurant, theatre roles, music production, etc.), and Krist is due to appear in a BL series this year with Gawin (Not Me, Dark Blue Kiss), a true delight of a man who's been secretly collecting BL Royalty Costars like a li'l acting sniper. <3

Basically, BL series promote the actors, not the other way around.

There are pros and cons to this system, of course. Series have been churned out like mad to capitalize on the BL boom, and most of them suffer from budgeting issues. Some have real heart that compensates for the lack of money, and those are the ones I enjoy. Even series with a major budget usually have tight postproduction windows, which means sound engineering problems or painful editing decisions. Amid all these series, there are are tons of BL pairs vying for a piece of the spotlight, and it's hard to keep people's attention as a newbie when there are multiple series airing at once.

Fan service is a thorny issue, but it's becoming less of an implied mandatory thing as time goes on and (I presume) fans are more and more vocal about not wanting actors to feel they have to flirt with their coworkers to remain employed. Some of them, like BounPrem and ZeeNuNew, are just genuinely like that, but that shouldn't be a requisite aspect of the job. They're actors, after all, and their work shouldn't extend past the set. (And there are many stories of actor exploitation in certain studios.)

However! I'm sincerely happy that actors work with each other on multiple projects. I was just watching National Treasure with my sister the other day and said, "It's a shame the leads in this didn't do more together, because their chemistry is fantastic." I also love it in movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood when studios had, like, their own stables of actors, and the same leads could get paired together more than once.

It's very hard to find two actors with talent and chemistry. BounPrem had chemistry from the word go, and they had raw talent, but it took them time to get to know each other and experience in other projects for them to get to the level they're at today. And it must be nice for them to have a partner to lean on when the industry is putting them through some heinous fuckery.

I mainly follow BounPrem, and Wabi Sabi (Boun's agency) and Starlatiz (Prem's former agency) have historically been very respectful of them individually and as a pair, so I think as long as that sort of respect is emulated, it can be a great system.

ANYWAY, thank you for reading my thesis if you got this far! If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them more concisely. :)

#kiranokira answers #bounprem #thai bl #thai bl actors

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 4 months

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16 episodes into the Peacock and Gamble podcast, if I'm honest there were a few episodes very early on where I found myself slightly less into it than I was into the previous Ray Peacock Podcast, and that seemed like cause for concern about my own character, if I liked the objectively awful one better than the slightly more reasonable follow-up. But it's okay, it was only a few episodes, probably caused by the fact that I was re-listening to stuff I'd heard before. The last five episodes or so have been excellent, right back to the way it's felt before, which is that I'm always surprised when I get to the end of an episode because it was so entertaining and easy to listen to that I hadn't noticed the time passing. Like eating junk food. It's a lot like eating junk food.

Here's a fun clip from episode 12. I annoyingly haven't found exact dates for each podcast episode, which means I have to date it just to "spring 2009", and I'd like to fix that. I don't suppose anyone out there has a list of release dates for all the Peacock and Gamble podcast episodes? Or the Ray Peacock Podcast ones, for that matter. Seems like a long shot but I thought I'd ask.

Anyway, they decided they wanted to parody the rise of prank calls in comedy shows. Remember that trend from the late 00s? That sure was annoying. I'm really glad that smarter comedians ruthlessly lampooning it put that whole idea in its place, stopped it from gaining further traction, and now no one thinks the idea of a prank show is funny.

I have checked, by the way, and this episode would have happened about six months before the Andrew Sachs situation.

You know, I had actually found myself briefly wondering about this a bit before. Specifically, I wondered how Ed Gamble's life worked while these podcasts were happening (which is why I even said I wouldn't mind reading his autobiography to find out, though I was then told that he didn't mention Ray Peacock in it at all, which surprised me, I mean I knew they'd had a bit of a falling out and he'd re-invented himself pretty hard, but I hadn't realized it was bad enough for him to delete a massive inciting incident for his career in the story of his life, seems like not a great thing to do in terms of giving credit where it's due, but anyway I'm getting off topic), because if even 40% of the stories on those podcasts are true, that was a weird fucking way to live. Pretty much every story either of them have about what they'd done in a given week involved them doing something together and Ray Peacock (or Ian Boldsworth, the name change being relevant there as it seemed to carry over outside of comedy characters) really fucking with Ed's life. I had specifically wondered, at one point, what that must be like for the other people who were friends with Ed Gamble then, and saw him start spending nearly all his time with a guy 15 years older than them who was offering him more career exposure than most people could get right out of university, but was also kind of ruining his life, and was possibly really, really annoying. If even 30% of the stories are true, that had to be fucking weird.

This is why I'm very pleased that they've called up Nish Kumar. Partly because I think spring 2009 is the earliest recording I have of Nish Kumar's voice, so as a fan of obscure historical relics of my favourite comedians, I'm glad I came across that. And the other reason I like this phone call is I think the tone of voice in the words "Oh good, it's both of you" answers all my questions at once about how that situation looked to other people.

There was another prank call a couple of weeks later to Chris Ramsey, and I won't post a clip because of certain issues with the content (2009 sure was a fun time for casual transphobia), but I did get to hear the Geordie accent say, "This better not be on your fucking shitty little podcast," which was pretty funny.

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beautifulpersonpeach · 2 years

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On BTS's Success Being Inorganic (Repost)

Anonymous: Hi BPP, Apologies in advance for a controversial topic but hopefully we can buckle in and have a civilized discussion.

What are your thoughts on 'organic' success? As a Dope Old Person, I am finding myself a bit nostalgic for a time when high charting singles appeared to represent current popular music. I say 'appeared' because we know payola has always been there. In the real world, though, you actually heard the song a lot, probably knew people who liked or owned it, etc. A Billboard Top 10 hit was part of the US zeitgeist and essentially 'organic'. With the advent of technology over the past 20 years, people now have the opportunity to flood the streaming and purchasing channels with numbers to support their favorites. If you can amass a decent online following, you can essentially guarantee a hit, regardless of how many people actually like the music. (Aside: What is the point of a chart? To gauge popularity and trends as of old? Or to see how fanatic a fan base is? Just count $?). BTS have made incredible music and ARMY's desire to get them noticed is warranted. It speaks volumes that they have managed #1 hits in both English and Korean (only the 23rd most spoken language). And while the music is great and the messages behind it inspiring, we should consider that some portion of that success is actually excess. People streaming 24/7 and buying multiple physical copies drive up numbers and takes away from the 'organic' growth. (Aside again: ugh the environmental wastefulness of physical sales and the shipping of the multiple copies.) As the excess has finally started to pay off over the last few years with #1s, real media coverage, and rapidly expanding fandom, I think we should start to think about easing up to let the organic growth return. I love the exposure of the #1 or another record getting smashed but if it doesn't have staying power because it is due to this excess, it doesn't feel as good. I'm not saying this retreat needs to happen immediately given the likelihood of a mainly Korean album will once again need some targeted support. But someday, I'd like to know they've grown enough to enable us to get back to casual enjoyment and watch the locals everywhere bop along to their new favorite BTS tune that they discovered organically.

***

Hi Anon,

I found your ask very interesting, because you start by acknowledging “…...'appeared' because we know payola has always been there…” but then you end your ask like this, “I think we should start to think about easing up to let the organic growth return”. You start your ask by questioning the ‘organic’ distinction even back then, but then you end your ask longing for an 'organic’ success you weren’t sure even existed to begin with.

I’ve actually written about this tangentially before in a reblog on the recent change to BB’s rules, linked here - it’s a bit longwinded but I also link in some articles that offer more insight with facts and figures if that’s something you’re interested in. But I’ll summarize my views here again and directly refer to a few statements you make in your ask.

I’m generally uneasy when people try to apply the 'organic’ or 'inorganic’ labels to minority artists. Generally speaking. Because we all know the barriers to entry are just not the same for them compared to their White/Western counterparts, in a system that has never been organic.

The way I see it, the charts and the system that creates those charts has never been ‘organic’, at least not in the last two decades (which you admit to), but what was different is that the people who determined what was popular were the ‘middle men’ i.e. record labels, radio DJs, streaming platform playlisters, etc, through their own version of ‘excess’ i.e. payola, ‘auxiliary promotions’ on radio, and opaque playlisting criteria for playlists that artists have said they sometimes need to pay money to be added on (at least in the case of Spotify). You mention how “In the real world, though, you actually heard the song a lot,” but the reason you heard the song a lot is because it was always played on radio, an industry notoriously plagued by payola, which would then boost the song or artist’s reach, and lead to people you know liking it and buying that music.

What has changed in the last two decades is that it is no longer the Middle Men who have total control over what is determined to be popular. It is now fans, the people who actually listen to the music, who have found ways to make their streams and purchases (or demand) show, to become too big to ignore, to give artists they view as having ‘organic’ demand, a real chance to actually show up on charts that are supposed to measure sales equivalent units.

Because that’s what those charts are actually supposed to measure: sales as a proxy for popularity, and as I’ve said before, outside of concert ticket sales, direct music sales are the most transparent way to actually support an artist and to determine demand or popularity of an artist. Streaming and radio are too opaque as mechanisms to weigh the most in that equation, but they’ve been given more weight by the industry because otherwise those mechanisms will be less profitable to the Middle Men. Al that's changed recently is that the demand from fans now partly determines what shows up in charts. And doesn’t it follow that it is whoever has more fans for a piece of music, not whoever has a bigger/stronger music label, that should show up on a chart that’s supposed to measure sales?

Let’s look at two different artists and I’ll speak very generally about them here: Bad Bunny and Olivia Rodrigo. One artist is American, the other is Puerto Rican and has mostly a Latam fanbase. Both artists have ‘amassed a decent online following’, and both artists have had their songs dominate on the charts. Do you know what happened when Olivia was first announced to have a concert (with several other ‘big’ artists) for iheartsradio last year? After several weeks of near constant promoting (I was seeing ads at least twice a day), there was so little demand that iheartsradio started offering free tickets to people who wanted to bring a plus one. Think about that. They were essentially paying for people to come see an artist whose songs were consistently in the Top 5 songs on the Hot 100 for roughly a year. Bad Bunny on the other hand, doesn’t struggle to sell out concerts (though of venues smaller than for BTS). He has a somewhat grassroots fanbase and in the last year I’ve become good friends with some people in his fb, to know they’re totally grassroots, but organized (and able to get away with some illegal methods that ARMYs are under too much scrutiny to try, and most ARMYs aren’t interested in those methods anyway tbh). Perhaps contrary to Olivia’s case, for Bad Bunny it’s not a record label that’s inflating his demand, it’s actual fans who will show up to see him live, to hear that music, that are maybe multiplying their purchasing power by 2 or 4 times to beat the ‘excess’ from the other artist’s record label. Because excess is something you’ll see on the charts in any case.

Why is it more tolerable for middle-men (record labels) to control the way music is consumed and ultimately valued, rather than consumers (fans and supporters)? As I’ve said before, fans buying music is really not the end of the world though BB and other industry gate-keepers act like it is. Every artist hopes an ever increasing number of people buy their music, and BTS happens to have an ever expanding fanbase.

Personally, I use concert showings as a good rule of thumb to determine how ‘organic’ an artist’s demand or popularity is, and it’s a fact that no artist on the planet right now is doing as well as BTS in that area. Literally the only person in recent history who has done better than BTS’s recent concerts has been Bruce Springsteen, and even then he’s only above BTS because he had a longer tour period than BTS’s four-night shows. And you can recall how back then, you’d hear Springsteen‘s music all over. Heck he’s now hailed as belonging to the canon of classic American pop/rock. BTS should technically have as much if not more recognition today, and in a sense they do (I sometimes hear BTS's songs in the gym, cafe, random spots all over my small Western city), but BTS sing primarily in Korean, not English and not Spanish (that American radio tolerates more), but in Korean, and the charts ding them significantly for it.

As I said, I use concert showings as a sort of rule of thumb or litmus test, so the day I see BTS concerts lose demand, is the day I’ll start to think maybe ARMYs should ‘retreat’ a little, as you say. Because I suspect the reason you’re sending me this ask in the first place is because you’re concerned people buying/streaming the way you think they do, is unsustainable, and that people will burn out in some way. And if this is true, it would necessitate a “retreat”, as you’ve put it. You’re not wrong. If people were indeed putting in labour to levels you seem to imply, it would be extremely unsustainable and tiresome. My issue with this point is that people have been saying this about BTS and ARMY since 2017… and the fandom has only grown, the boys’ reach only further expanded… the complete opposite of any signs of burn out or unsustainable consumption of music and art. And maybe it’s only coincidence that BTS’s concert showings have only increased as well, more than tripled in fact, all the things that would happen if their popularity, demand, and success was actually… wait for it…

Organic.

Even with all this said, many of the the things you mentioned as indicative of 'organic’ success (“you actually heard the song a lot, probably knew people who liked or owned it, etc. A Billboard Top 10 hit was part of the US zeitgeist and essentially “organic.””), actually apply more to BTS than to many Western artists and certainly more than to any k-pop group, period. Whatever we think about the Pandemic English Trilogy, what it certainly accomplished for BTS was that it did exactly that - I heard Butter in my gym yesterday almost a year after its release, My Universe still gets ridiculous airplay in Germany, France, and Japan according to the radio charts, and I’ve seen more than one reactor mention how they’ve heard Dynamite before without knowing it was a k-pop song. BTS is now at least as mainstream (or part of the US zeitgeist) as Bad Bunny is, if not more. BTS is now more of a household name in more countries in the world than any k-pop group ever, and in some cases are even more known (and loved) than some Western artists even in the US. BTS is now the reason most people have even heard of something called k-pop.

Payola in all its forms, is excess. But the only excess being obsessively hunted down and punished by the industry, is the excess generated by fans or the people actually consuming the music. And the reality is that though ARMYs aren’t doing anything other fandoms aren’t, there’s disproportionate scrutiny on ARMYs because a lot of people (k-pop fans, Western music fans, k-pop record labels and agencies, Western music producers and labels, etc) are sick and tired of seeing BTS on the charts even though concerts and sales show there is at least as much demand for BTS as there is for Bruce Springsteen and Drake. And these other parties think it is in their best interest for BTS and ARMYs to be rendered obsolete. That’s not meant to sound alarmist, it’s just what it is. So even if ARMYs continue playing by the rules, people will continue to characterize ARMYs and BTS’s efforts and success using the most uncharitable language, selectively applying the rules, and basically the industry will give ARMYs a hard time this particular comeback, and probably many more comebacks in the future. It doesn’t matter that the ‘mass’ applied to ARMYs is more a consequence of huge absolute numbers of fans sharing, listening to, and buying music, than relative effort per fan in streaming/buying a shit tonne of music, as it is for most k-pop fans. And it’s not like BigHit is paying a huge amount for payola either when compared to agencies that boost MV views with paid ads/playlisting and mediaplay, which continues to place BTS at a disadvantage compared to labels that have been under investigation for payola in an industry notorious for its practice.

The core of the fanbase will probably always support BTS, regardless of the medium. They have adapted to changing rules over the last six years and will try to keep adapting, despite a changing music landscape for BTS and a new influx of fans who might not really understand why ARMYs support BTS nor see the need to. I don’t know how successful the fandom will continue to be in this regard, but I think for most fans, the placement on the charts hasn’t ever been the primary goal. The main goal for ARMYs has always been to make the artists they love feel seen and supported by the people they make music for.

Originally posted: May 8th, 2022 7:33am

#bts and media #kpop industry #music industry #music asks #bts #bts fandom #bts army #fandom behavior #repost #chart

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sunstranded · 1 year

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S-Types vs. N-Types

This isn't a which type is better, this is how to differentiate them, why there are more S types than we think, and why tests don't represent them well.

First and foremost, S types include all MBTI who have S on their 4 letters same goes for N types. Another thing is that these types are capable of being the opposite. For example ISFP can use Se and Ni but they find Ne and Si weird or unorthodox; like writing with their foot.

I think itd be better if I explain the functions but I I dont wanna yet so I'll go straight to the rant

Difference

Their difference is more so their bias, what they pay attention to or what detail they'll light up when faced with.

S types will notice apperances, environment, sensory things, present moments first than anything. This is also something that gets them energized, being exposed to the things and doing the things.

N types will notice ideas first, from how they connect or how theyve thought about it, imagine scenarios, think about abstract concepts, more so than S types. Being in their head, imagination, and using their intuition to make connections energizes them.

The introverted and extroverted subcategory of S and N is a discussion for some other time.

More S Types

Most people take exams/tests to know their type. The most known one isn't very Jungian (doesn't follow the original purpose and interpretation of MBTI).

I also hate how S types specially SP are seen as dumb and SJs as uptight. It's insulting. Because of these overly vague meanings that sometimes feels like the Barnum effect takes place, dangerous stereotypes and short sighted conclusions happen.

The reason there are less S types in the digital space as well as in the MBTI community is because they need to be out to the sensory world more and in first glance S types don't see the point of MBTI.

One proof is how several sites and apps became a lot more deserted after the worse waves of pandemic. When the world opened again only few remained. And most users are either too young to be out and about on their own or just N types. Or at least, I have noticed. But that's an assumption on my part. It makes sense why S types would prefer outside world and be less active. However, they can be in the gaming side since that is still eensory stimulating.

This all adds to the point that the larger percentage of people being S types is backed despite the lack of input or easily ready sensory data (interviews, testimonies) fron them as a Sensory type compared to their counter parts.

Tests Don't Represent them well

Could be so many reasons but I think only 4 is most plausible.

1. They interpret questions that disjuncts N and S types as dumb and superficial or smart and deep. These could cause them to lie to save face.

2. The questions are hard to answer without needing some more context. So they would want to answer "depends."

3. Being tested puts someone in a specific mindset then have answers that may not reflect them at all.

4. Interpretations outside researches intent; language barrier.

None of the reasons are really bad on the person trying to learn themselves. Esp for S types they need exposure to 8 cognitive types first but stereotypes and trends only EXPLAIN and START the discourse NOT DETERMINE THEM.

Just because someone thinks about the future they are INxJ and if they think about the past it is an xSxJ.

#mbti

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mimigianfala-blog · 2 years

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Authentically (Not) You

If you are an avid Snapchat user like myself, you would have noticed a new (kinda scary) feature rolled out this week that allows users to communicate with an AI like a real person. Snapchat is promoting it as your own personal AI where you can chat, ask questions, and “have fun with your unreal best friend.” You can learn more about the feature here if you’re just as confused as I am. Basically, from what I’m gathering and what i have learned in this course, Snapchat is fostering a sense of inauthentic relationships and lack of social skills. I thought this was a rather interesting yet creepy feature to tie into this week’s readings that all fall along one central theme: the effects of authenticity vs. inauthenticity on social media.

First off, I would like to give a large shoutout to Jordan Foster, author of “Its All About the Look,” for imploring a qualitative method approach to this research. Many articles I read on social media include research conducted through quantitative methods, and I find it doesn’t fully represent users’ habitual use of social media. This article highlights how mainstream media content, specifically on Instagram, reinforces a narrow set of ideals surrounding beauty and appearance. Foster argues that “hegemonic ideals surrounding appearance and attractiveness continue to shape who is (and isn’t) perceived as worthy of visibility online (Foster, 2022).” This can then lead to negative body perceptions in users that are consistently exposed to this type of content. Influencers constantly strive to create and present content that will distinguish themselves from others while ensuring they still fall within the aspired “look” of influencer social media. This is often achieved through filters and editing content to align with social media's hegemonic norms and ideals.

Recently, social media users and influencers are moving towards a more “authentic” approach to the content they promote on social media. But how can we truly know if these users are being authentic and “real” when photo filters and editing applications exist? Tiggemann et al. (2020) investigate the detrimental effects on women’s body image from exposure to “idealized images" in the media. Specifically, the authors focused on the effects of the Instagram trend “Instagram vs Reality” where users post side-by-side shots to show how they like to be portrayed to the public vs. what they “actually” look like. Social comparison plays a large part in this research, where individuals exposed to cultivated images are dissuaded into thinking those are the social standards, instilling a negative self-perception of one’s body image.

Burnell et al. highlight the application of lenses on Snapchat to enhance one’s physical appearance in relation to body image concerns and if it influences appearance satisfaction. In my experience, users that apply filters in their Snapchat posts will obviously have higher body image concerns. They use filters to achieve the looks they are constantly exposed to on social and traditional media. Meanwhile, the influencers and prominent social media figures are not too keen to expose their “hacks” for looking the way they do, aka, consistent reconstructive surgeries to attain a particular look. I feel as if the only way to appear “authentic” is by remaining transparent in your actions and being truthful to how you look the way you do.

I found it rather interesting that Kreling et al. (2022) honed in on the Instagram features of posting to one’s story vs. posting directly to one’s feed to determine authenticity. I see more people becoming comfortable posting to their stories rather than a hard post to their feed. But is this a good determination into authentic vs inauthentic? Users can apply filters and edit their appearances as easily as for a hard post. But according to Kreling et al. (2022), it is the spontaneity of posting to one’s story that attracts users the most, which I fully agree with. However, I still do not see how that is a good determination for authentic usability. I would look more at how users post to their stories vs. how they post to their stories and their feed. For example, did they post this directly using the story feature or upload it directly from their camera roll? Are they simply reposting content from other users or producing their own content? I see social media stories as their own entity to be explored in the habitual use in relation to one’s body image perception.

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public-trans-it-deactivated20240 · 2 years

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What is empty spaces? Google only shows some Pink Floyd song.

this post sucked actually

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tainted-wine · 4 years

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Caring For Your Hormonally-Charged Bird

Hawks x Reader (NSFW)

(I didn’t mean for this to turn into a monster with over 7k words, but I finally finished it. This is based off of my mutant headcanons and also takes some inspiration from user kazooli’s awesome thirst posts about Hawks. Happy Springtime, everyone!)

Edit: Now there’s a Part 2!

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The songs of lovestruck birds rang across the streets. Freshly bloomed cherry blossoms rained petals down onto the pavement. Butterflies and bees hovered around the flourishing flowers. It was undoubtedly a beautiful day. Too bad you had to spend it in an office with an oncoming headache. A familiar voice spoke behind you.

“Wow, look at that. I don’t know what’s more gorgeous; the scenery outside or the lady staring at it.”

Hawks’s charm doesn’t affect you when he has pissed you off so many times in such a short span.

You’ve had the ‘privilege’ of working for the Hero Public Safety Commission for several years, from supporting public events to endless desk work. The pay was generous and life was overall more comfortable. All you had to do to stay on their good side was comply with every demand, ignore the condescending tones of the bigwigs, and turn a blind eye whenever you witnessed the occasional sketchy practice.

When they offered you a job as the personal handler of one of the top heroes of Japan, you almost fainted. You have always been a fan of Hawks. Fast, handsome, charismatic, he may not have the godly strength of All Might, yet he still felt just as flawless. You’ve been helping and guiding the winged young man since last summer and learned that he’s even more than what you imagined. He wasn’t just good-looking, he wasn’t just a sweet-talker…

He was also a fucking nightmare to work with.

You turned around to see said man ogling you a bit more than you were used to, his trademark crooked smile on his face, but you ignored that and went straight to business. “Your carelessness is trending again for the third time this week, Hawks.”

He drew a sharp breath in an exaggerated gasp. “Again? Oh, what could they possibly be on my ass for this time? Was I smacking on chicken wings too loudly in public? Did they catch the moment I almost flew into that crystal-clear window?”

You whipped out your phone, already prepared to show him a news page with a rather shocking photo. A man with an elegant and sleek appearance was beaten and bruised, his dazzling peacock tail fanned out behind him. The attacker was none other than Hawks, who was gripping the other man by the collar, his wings fully spread out with several sharpened feathers floating around his victim as an unnecessary precaution. It was a very aggressive display.

‘HAWKS LAYS SMACKDOWN ON PERVERTED PEACOCK’ was the headline.

“This is beyond excessive force. You could have just as easily restrained him with your quirk.” You scolded, fixing him with the steely authoritarian stare that you’ve been working on.

Hawks flinched, but you couldn’t tell if he was just playing with you or not. “Ma’am! I was simply defending the girl’s honor! She was very clearly uncomfortable and besides, wouldn’t flashing his tail like that be considered indecent exposure?” Yeah, that tone told you that he was clearly not intimidated.

“No, and even if it did, indecency and harassment wouldn’t excuse such a violent subduing. Furthermore,” you gestured at his threatening wing display in the photo. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were demonstrating similar behavior.”

He simply shrugged. “Just showing him who the bigger bird is around here.”

Your eye twitched. “For God’s sake, Hawks, you’re not an animal. Part of my job is ensuring that you maintain a friendly image that will keep the public at ease. This is not friendly. Shall I go through some of the comments for examples?” You scrolled down and cleared your throat in preparation. “Anyone else put off by how violent Hawks looks here? I didn’t know he had it in him to beat someone down like that. He’s usually all about being quick and efficient.” You scrolled down to the next one. “What’s the deal with Hawks? I was there and it was like watching a cockfight.” You clicked on a reply to that particular comment. “I know, right? I always wanted to meet Hawks in person, but after that, I was honestly too scared to-”

“Hold on, babe, I know you’re cherry-picking here,” Hawks, the little bastard, had taken out his own phone while listening to your reading. “Because those are nothing like my personal faves that I found on my Tweeter page.” You watched with silent frustration as his eyes scanned his phone until he found what he was looking for. “Ah, here we go. ‘Oh my GAWD, that look, those spread wings, he looks like such a beast!” He had raised the pitch of his voice for a mock feminine tone. “Leave it to Hawks to make all of us women feel safe. That pervert deserves to lose a few more teeth.’ Oh, and here’s the winner right here. ‘Just as I always expected, that hunk of a bird knows how to dominate. I can just imagine him towering over me, giving that same look while I take his big fat-”

“Hawks.”

He paused, but his shit-eating grin didn’t fade when he noticed your head being held in one of your hands. You hoped he didn’t notice that you were trying to hide the red that crept into your cheeks.

“…cock.”

You groaned loudly enough to most definitely be heard outside of the office. There truly were days when he would cut you some slack and be easy to deal with, but he has become downright unbearable for the past few weeks. His teasing has increased ten fold, yet he’s also been keeping his distance from you for whatever reason. It had taken you a while to notice, but he was normally more than happy to get in your face and ruin your professional act, but now, even when you’re the one trying to approach, he would casually step back to prevent the gap between you from closing.

And then it hit you.

Shit, it shouldn’t have taken you this long to connect the dots. You had even noticed how his wings appeared to be a shade brighter for the past few days, but dismissed it as a trick of the light. No, he had grown in his spring plumage.

“Uh, babe? You still there? Did the ‘C’ word break you?” Watching you stare into space was getting him a little concerned.

“You’re rutting,” was your simple reply.

Hawks’s face flashed into something more serious for a split second before giving a ‘tsk’ and looking away. “Took you long enough,” he scoffed. “Surprised the Commission hasn’t fired you for letting me go wild for so long. They must not have any replacements available right now.”

“Watch it,” you ordered. You pondered for a moment before asking, “Have you not been taking your hormonal medication? I know that you’ve been prescribed some for this time of year.”

He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck, as if he was the one who should be feeling annoyed right now. Bitch, please. “Sometimes,” he muttered.

“Sometimes? They don’t work if you only take them sometimes, Hawks. I know you’re a busy hero, but you can put some effort into keeping track of your dosage.”

“Look,” it was the first time you’ve seen a genuine scowl on his face, the expression taking you back. “I just really hate that stuff, okay? They sap all of my energy and I put on a few extra pounds.”

You shook your head at his complaints. “Is that really worse than what you’re dealing with right now?”

“Yes. I’d rather be a horndog than a slug that doesn’t even have the will to move. It wouldn’t even be so bad if I could just sleep around every now and then, but that’s more trouble than it’s worth. I don’t wanna make your job that miserable.” He eyed you up and down for a minute, while you tried not to shy away from his piercing gaze. “Or I could find just one loyal partner that will help me scratch the itch?”

You stepped back, your heart racing at the unspoken request. “E-excuse me?” you stuttered.

Hawks raised his hands harmlessly. “Hey now, it’s just a suggestion. I’m pretty into you, you’re obviously into me, this could work out pretty well.”

An array of emotions were flowing through you, but you were more upset than anything else. “And what exactly makes you think I’ve been ‘into you’, as you’ve said?” Denial. You’re pretty sure that’s what this is. You know that you’ve been attracted to him since before you even met, but you weren’t going to let this overgrown brat have his way.

His sudden burst of laughter startled you. “You’re kidding, right? I still remember that look you had the first time we were in this room together, and it wasn’t the innocent ‘I wanna support my favorite hero’ look,” He was willingly approaching you for the first time in what felt like forever, every step sounding like thunder to your ears. “It was a ‘bend me over the desk and fuck me’ look.”

You were the one stepping back this time. You wanted to remind him not to use such foul language, to berate him for making such vulgar claims, but your voice was caught in your throat.

“We’d be doing each other a favor, right?” he continued, wings slowly expanding. “Keeping me in top shape is part of your job, isn’t it? I promise you that I’m gonna feel a lot better after this.”

You bumped into his desk, leaning back slightly as he finally closed the distance. His wings draped around each side of you, filling your peripheral vision with pure red. His face was only inches away from yours as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“You’ve been smelling so damn good lately. Been afraid that I just might pounce you if I get too close.”

A thickly gloved hand reached out and cupped your face with such a surprising amount of tenderness, you couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel bare. You were so entranced by his lustful gaze that you couldn’t find it in you to resist as he leaned in, feeling his hot breath as his lips drew closer to yours.

The door busted open accompanied by a shout. “Hawks sir! Your help has been requested at-OH!”

A genuine growl rumbles through Hawks’s throat and damn, that makes you tremble. By the time he turns toward the stumbling sidekick, he was already back to his cool and friendly self.

“Don’t stop on my account, buddy,” he beamed the younger man with an unwavering smile. “What’s the request?”

———

The next day, you tried very hard to pretend that little office incident never happened. You were not going to let something so unprofessional ever happen again. That was a promise.

Hawks, on the other hand, was being a persistent bastard. You were determined to win this battle. If he wanted the urges to go away so badly, then he can take his damn medication like he always has, not use your lack of authority and experience as an excuse to rebel. The only reason you haven’t informed the Commission about this is because you know that your head will be on the chopping block as well as Hawks’s. You will most definitely be in some shit once they realize that you can’t keep their most prized possession in check.

And to be fair, as the week went on, you really were wondering if you were cut out for this job. With his wings getting more vibrant, his advances becoming more frequent, and his feral rivalry against other men growing more severe, Hawks has officially become too unruly for you to handle, and you’re the goddamned handler. You couldn’t lose this job! What if they terminated you completely and you couldn’t get another position from the Commission?

You paced back and forth in the empty office. Hawks was late this morning, leaving you alone with your endless worries. He may act lazy, but he was never actually late for his meet ups. Looks like you’ll have to call him and pray that nothing serious has happened.

You jumped when your phone vibrated before you even reached into your pocket. Ah, looks like Hawks reached out before you did. You held your phone up, prepared to answer, and froze.

It wasn’t Hawks. It was the deputy, the very man that was kind enough to give you this job. He hasn’t called you since your first few days here to help get you started. With your progress, you doubt he was calling to give you a raise.

Well, as much as you wanted to throw the phone out of the window and find an appropriate place to bury yourself, you didn’t make it this far by cowering from these guys. Taking a deep breath, you picked up and greeted the man on the other side with a steady voice. “Good morning, Deputy.”

He addressed you with the same bored and unimpressed tone that you hear from every member in this cursed organization. Jeez, if you keep working here long enough, are you going to eventually sound as soulless as them? “I assume you are aware of Hawks’s current condition?” he asked.

Dammit. “My apologies, sir. I know that I have been neglectful of Hawks’s health and his behavior during this time. I have been doing my best t-”

“That isn’t the issue I am talking about, but thank you for confirming that you have indeed failed in keeping Hawks’s unsavory habits under control.” You flinched. Way to rat yourself out. “Hawks had managed to find and subdue the troublesome villain Libido.”

“Ah, of course. I have been informed of that, sir.” Libido was a cunning little criminal that has been causing trouble all over the city of Fukuoka. His ‘Love Breath’ quirk gave him the ability to exhale fumes with powerful aphrodisiacal qualities. The guy even made his own gas bombs, releasing them among unsuspecting crowds in the public. He was less of a villain and more of just a chaos-loving hoodlum that was too slippery for his own good.

The deputy carried on. “One of the sidekicks has told us that Hawks was exposed to his quirk.”

Oh. Oh dear. That’s some strong stuff to be subjected to.

“We have ordered Hawks to go home immediately and wait patiently instead of heading to a hospital. We will be sending treatment his way.”

Some of the tension left your body. “That’s good to know, sir. May I ask what kind of treatment he will be taking? I know I haven’t convinced you yet, but I want to do anything I can for his well being.” You hesitantly asked. Please, oh please let me make up for everything that has been happening.

You heard a faint chuckle from the other end. “That’s very good to know, because the treatment is you.”

You’re glad he couldn’t see the confusion on your face. “I’m sorry, sir. Are you saying I’ll be the one to doctor him? I’ll need to know what medicine he needs and how much rest he’ll be expected to-”

“Do you know how people affected by aphrodisiac quirks are normally treated?” he interrupted you for the second time. He didn’t even give you a chance to answer before continuing. “Given your questions, I’m assuming that you don’t. We can indeed offer drugs to weaken the effects, but Hawks will still be in great distress and will take a long time to recover, especially since he’s neglected to take his hormone medication with the help of an incompetent handler.” Ugh, you get it already. You screwed up. “But the quickest and most efficient remedy is, without a doubt, sexual contact and allowing the quirk to run its course. That is what we expect you to provide for him.”

What.

You took a full minute to collect your thoughts and ensure that you heard everything correctly. The deputy waited patiently. How kind of him. Once you gathered yourself, you conjured the most constructive response you could think of.

“Huh?”

An overly loud sigh sounded in your ear. Hey, it’s his fault for dropping this bomb of a request on you. “We can’t have the number two hero out of action for too long. The alternative is to strap him to a bed and sedate him for an uncertain amount of time. His rut has enhanced the quirk’s effects; this may even strengthen his arousal for the rest of the season.”

Your face paled. That sounds ten times worse than the way Hawks was already acting. “So, if I were to…be with him,” you blushed at the very thought. “That would provide the best relief?”

“That is the gist of it. You told me you would do anything for Hawks’s well being. Can I hold you to that?”

Your pounding heart was almost drowning out his voice. You didn’t mean to corner yourself like this. “O-of course. I’ll see what I can, um, do.” This discussion was getting uncomfortable.

“I didn’t expect you to be so hesitant. You’re a loyal fan of his, aren’t you? You should be thrilled. Few fangirls get this opportunity.” He laughed at his own joke. You sure as hell weren’t laughing with him.

“Yeah, of course, sir,” you grumbled. “I suppose I shouldn’t leave Hawks alone for too long. I’ll be on my way soon.”

“Excellent,” he said. “You’ll need to take some precautions, of course. Here’s what you need to keep in mind…”

———

You walked out of the local pharmacy, cradling the pills tightly to your chest like some sort of security blanket. The deputy’s advice echoed in your head.

“It’s best that you take contraceptives. Hawks’s mind will be clouded with feral cravings, such as the urge to breed. He is not going to accept condoms.”

You tossed the pills onto the passenger seat in your car.

“Again, Hawks is suffering from both the magnified effects of Libido’s quirk and his annual rut. It’s possible that he will not be of sound mind. If things get out of hand, you have the right to protect yourself.” the deputy paused for a moment. “Just try not to leave any marks on him, if you can. Hawks must look presentable at all times.”

Well, you did have a stun gun that you thankfully never had to use, and hopefully it will stay that way.

The deputy’s help made you way more anxious than before. Were you about to have sex with a horny man, or tame a dangerous beast? You still didn’t know what to make of this predicament.

You take your phone and select Hawks’s number. It’s probably best not to surprise him at his door. Hopefully he wasn’t too riled up and ignores your call.

The phone rings once, then twice, then you hear…whimpers? Shit, was it getting that bad?

“Hawks? Are you there?” you asked calmly.

“Babe.” Goodness, his voice was rough. He sounds like he just ran across the country. “Oh thank God. Talk dirty to me, baby.”

“Wha—no.” This was a mistake. You really weren’t prepared for such levels of horniness. He just blurted that out like it was nothing! “Look, um, I heard your urges are becoming too much to handle. I’m heading on over there to…help you.”

For a while you just heard what sounded like breathless laughs and weeping. Hearing him in such a fragile state had you genuinely concerned. “Y’serious? We’re-ah-we’re gonna fuck?” He was panting heavily between words.

Heat was gathering in your face. “Yes, that’s the plan.”

“Oh, fuck yeah. Get over here-fuck-so I can stuff you, babe. You’re gonna be mine. Oh I can’t wait to fucking have you.” This sounded like a goddamned porno and you couldn’t handle it. There was a strange sound in the background as he rambled, something like wet smacks. You kept hearing it in sync with his grunts and…

Oh.

“Just hang in there, alright?” You said quickly, wanting to end this call right now. “I’m coming.”

“Well, I’m not. My hand’s really not doin’ it for me. Gotta be inside you, babe. Gotta cum in that tight-“

You hung up.

You banged your head against the steering wheel harder than intended, but at least the pain got your mind off of…whatever all of that was. You can’t believe you just heard your favorite hero breathlessly talking about how he wants to bang you while jerking off. You didn’t know it was possible to feel this mortified, but that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was the tingle between your legs.

Hawks, one of the top heroes of Japan, the heartthrob of the generation, was lusting for you. It had you both excited and on edge. You remember the deputy’s comment.

“You’re a loyal fan of his, aren’t you? You should be thrilled. Few fangirls get this opportunity.”

You probably would indeed be thrilled if the circumstances were less dire. Your fantasies normally involved something simpler and more romantic, not saving him from his own sex-hazed mind. You still weren’t sure what you were walking into, and that was admittedly a different kind of excitement.

There was no time to waste with the state Hawks was in. Calming your nerves, you started your car and began taking the route to his place.

———

Here you are, at the doorstep of Hawks’s house. His place was surprisingly humble for a top hero, it made this encounter just a little less nerve-wracking. Pressing a finger to the buzzer, you waited anxiously, rocking back and forth on your heels. You really hope he’ll be dressed decently when he answers the door.

Your heart skips once you hear a click and the doorknob twists. It feels like it takes an eternity for the door to open and reveal…nobody.

Instead, you were greeted by a small flock of feathers suspended in the air. They slowly floated a distance away from you before stopping, as if they were waiting for something. You cautiously stepped inside, some of the feathers closing the door behind you. You don’t know what type of welcome you were expecting, but it wasn’t this. The feathers guided you, drifting up a flight of stairs and into a room with its door hanging open. You can hear harsh breathing inside, reigniting your fear. “Hawks?” You hesistantly called out without getting any closer.

A cracking voice cried out your name. “Help me. It fucking hurts. I’m so hot. Make it stop.” He sounded like he was crying. The desperate pleas prompted you to mask your fears for the umpteenth time and approach the room, taking in the sight of the man that has been waiting for you.

Hawks was naked, not to your surprise, but still to your absolute horror. He sat on his bed, skin glistening with sweat and a deep blush spreading throughout his upper body, making him look more feverish than aroused. His chest heaved with the irregular breaths that left his hanging mouth. His hair was even more unruly as usual, some of his locks sticking to his damp face. Your eyes locked onto his, pupils dilated and looking right through you.

He looked awful.

You came closer, trying your best not to stare at the very swollen and throbbing member between his legs. “I’m sorry,” you said softly, stopping right in front of him. “I didn’t think it would get this bad. I-I want to help. Just tell me what to do.”

He was on his feet the moment you finished, nude body just inches away from yours, but you kept your feet planted where they were. As his large wings slowly opened and enclosed around you, you noticed how brilliantly hued his feathers have become, practically glowing a vivid scarlet. It was captivating.

Two clammy hands came up to hold your face, the same hands he was furiously pleasuring himself with just a moment ago holy shit, and his mouth was on yours before you could even react. You gasped in shock of it all, allowing his tongue to slip past your lips. It was less of a kiss and more of just him hungrily ravaging every inch of your mouth, your own tongue wrestling with his to keep him away from the back of your throat. One of his arms lowered to wrap around your waist and pull you flush against his bare form, making you yelp when you felt his erection pressing against you. Hawks’s dick was on you.

You were too overwhelmed by his restless mouth and his DICK to notice the stray feathers hovering over you. A tug and a loud rip made you jolt. Hawks held you still, the sound of expensive fabric tearing making you flinch as your skin was slowly being exposed. The feathers were shredding your clothes.

You pulled away from his suffocating mouth just enough to take a breath and attempt to speak. “Hawks! Wha—” only for him to smother you once again.

“Don’t move,” he uttered between kisses. “Don’t want to cut you.”

With a few more slashes, your cherished suit was now scattered on the carpet in tatters, revealing your body to him, but the feathers weren’t done. The floating blades carefully slid under your panties and bra. You stood completely still, Hawks kissing you with less aggression in an attempt to soothe you as the feathers sliced through the last of your clothes. You were now just as bare as him. He simply held you tightly, face rubbing against yours with the occasional lick against your heated skin. Your eyes were closed shut, unable to process his frantic tongue, his surrounding body that felt like fire, his cock that was now pressed to your stomach you were going to drop dead holy shit.

“Smell so good. Tastes so good.” he groaned, still sounding short of breath. His mouth went down to your neck, sucking at it hungrily and giving the occasional nip, forcing a faint moan out of you. He continued his descent and reached your breasts, molding them roughly and attacking your nipples with hard sucks. Despite the rough treatment, a tight heat was building up in your abdomen, your hands cradling his head as he explored you. He ventured lower, now on his knees with his face right at your womanly mound.

Your heart was pounding when he leaned in, his nose lightly touching you as he drew in a long breath and giving a pleased sighed. His nose pressed in further and poked at your glistening pussy, your thighs clenching in surprise while he happily took in your scent. Fuck, he was really just kneeling between your legs and smelling you. You were ready to protest and tell him that this was getting too embarrassing before something wet and hot slid against your folds, replacing your planned words with a yelp.

Hawks apparently approved of your taste, strong hands grasping the back of your thighs as he brought you in closer to fully devour you. Your cries were impossible to hold in while he lapped at you, mind becoming too clouded with pleasure to stay modest. He moaned loudly into you, the erotic sound vibrating against you, tongue fondling every inch of your folds before his lips closed around them, sucking greedily and almost making your knees collapse. You were getting close, grasping onto his head in a desperate attempt to stay balanced, his mouth now assaulting your sensitive bud. Your blissful whimpers joined the filthy sounds of his feasting when your orgasm washed over you like throbbing magma. Once your legs lost the last of their strength, Hawks set you down gently on the floor, still licking your sensitive lips.

“Ah, Hawks…too much…” You whined weakly.

He got the message and pulled away to immediately climb over you, giving you a clear view of his face glistening with your juices. Bright wings were fully spread out once more; it feels like you were about to be taken by an angel, the most savage angel you could ever imagine.

He came down for a sloppy kiss, spreading your own womanly nectar all over your lips. “Hope you’re nice and ready now. Ready to take everything I’ve got.” He mumbled against your mouth. You couldn’t help but smile and feel grateful that even in such a frenzied state, he was still kind enough not to jump you the moment you were within sight.

You brought a hand up to caress the side of his face, watching his eyes flutter shut as he leaned into your touch like the needy animal that he was at the moment. His body was still unnaturally hot and he was still breathing harshly. It’s time to finally give this poor man some relief.

“Go ahead, Hawks. I’m all yours.” You were indeed ready for everything he has.

Hawks said no more, gripping himself and aiming right for your opening. The moment his head was pushing past your lips, he thrust forward, filling you completely and knocking the wind out of you.

You honestly thought he came right then and there with the totally profane howl that left him. “Fuck…!” he choked, looking on the verge of tears. Despite the seemingly paralyzing pleasure, he wasted no time in moving, his pace quickening at an alarming rate. Your pussy was still sensitive from his wonderful licking, his dick currently sending painfully powerful shocks that you just weren’t ready for, and yet heat began to pool within your core for a second time. Your arms were wrapped around his sweaty form, nails biting into his skin and forcing rugged grunts out of his throat.

The wet slaps of your bodies rang throughout the room, your limbs quivering as he pumped into you faster, his heavy balls slapping against your ass, full and prepared to pour every drop of its contents into your womb. Hawks had buried his head into the crook of your neck, letting you feel every breathless moan right against your ear.

All you could do was hold on and take the increasingly rough pounding. His rhythm was sloppy from the start, but the thrusts were becoming even more irregular as a sign that he was already reaching his peak. Not surprising, given the state that he’s been in all day. One well-aimed thrust hits your sweet spot, making you moan loudly against him.

The sound eggs him on, driving his hips at a bruising pace and fuck it feels so good it hurts. Your eyes shut tightly as another orgasm breaks free, your feminine walls clamping around Hawks, squeezing his own climax out of him. You gasped at the powerful throbs of his cock as it shot out stream after stream of cum inside you. The purely animalistic growl that rumbled through him had you shaking in the best way while you watched his wings twitch and flap, hitting you with a light gust.

After an impressive amount of spurts, Hawks collapsed on top of you. He was heavy, but having his weight on you like this was pretty nice. You rubbed soothing circles around his back, listening to the rather inhuman cooing sounds he made in response.

You just had sex with Hawks, your favorite hero and the very man you were paid to look after. Oh man, how badly have you screwed up your relationship? Not that you two had much of a bond in the first place, but now things will most certainly get even more awkward.

A twitch inside you interrupted your thoughts. What the hell? Hawks’s breathing was accelerating again as he suddenly lifted his weight off of you, and that’s when you realized even though he came, he was still hard.

With newfound energy, he pushed your thighs towards your chest and rammed into you before you could even register what was happening. His new angle had you seeing stars with each thrust, hitting you even deeper than before. The sensation was dizzying, your overstimulated body beginning to throb all over. Hawks had the most obscene expression on his face, glazed eyes watching your tits bounce while his mouth hung open, drool trailing down his chin. You didn’t know such a look existed outside of adult videos, and having it aimed at you was enhancing your stinging pleasure.

Looking down granted you the view of his drenched dick pushing into you, each slam of his hips rocking you into the carpet, which honestly burned like ouch. Thankfully Hawks was reaching his tipping point once again, his hips moving at a bruising pace before one final smack. You were spoiled with another wonderful image of his head thrown back as a choked moan escaped him, another round of cum shooting into you.

He finally slid out of you as he sat back to catch his breath, wings limply dropping to his sides. Finally. You didn’t know how much more your womanhood could take. The strain of moving your legs made you wince. Did he have to pin you so roughly?

Hawks watched silently as you pushed yourself up. You felt behind your back and…dammit, you really did bruise back there. Maybe you should go find a mirror; hopefully it didn’t look too bad. You noticed that Mr. Horny Wings continued to just stare, pupils still enlarged and his dick was still hard what the fuck. He suddenly shifted onto all fours and crawled behind you. The light brush of fingers over your blemished skin made you shiver. They weren’t big enough to be that painful, but you still hissed when he applied a little too much pressure, making him pull away.

“Sorry.” His voice was still raspy as he apologized.

You shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Could’ve been wor—AH!”

Hawks shoved you forward, manhandling you until you were properly on your hands and knees. Fuck, your entire lower body was starting to ache, and here he was, ready to go another round. The head of his still-swollen dick was already pressing at your entrance. Grasping your hips, he pushed past your puffy lips and re-entered your heat. You bit your bottom lip and took the limitless strength in his hips, his balls sometimes smacking right into your clit and bringing you closer to your next climax.

His pace slowed down briefly in order to lower himself and suck at your bruises. “Nnngh, fuck, Hawks!” The combined pain and pleasure had your insides burning. He moaned and panted into your back, kissing up to your neck and sucking there as well. A pair of strong arms wrapped around your torso, pressing your body against his in an intimate embrace as he plunged into you more deeply.

It was impossible to not moan after each stroke. His face rested on your shoulder, and you reached behind to bury a hand in his hair. Shit, this was all getting so intimate. He was holding you and was so close, you could feel the ripple of his muscles as he caressed every inch of your inner walls. Your third burst of pleasure had you quivering against him as he continued to chase his own orgasm, stars appearing in your vision with each thrust. Hawks sank his teeth into your neck before bottoming out and releasing more cum inside you.

Both of you were lost in your sensual spasms before you collapsed. Hawks didn’t lay on you completely this time, his sweat-soaked form crouched over you, close enough to still be inside of you…

And rock hard.

You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.

You stayed as you were, your face down and your ass up, as you felt him humping away at you again. You could barely whimper as your tender pussy took another pounding. Christ, why wasn’t he getting tired? If the quirk was getting any closer to wearing off, it sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

It wasn’t long before he came again, grunting with each hard buck as he filled you with his apparently endless supply of cum. Was he done? Please be done. You turned your head just enough to check the state of his erection.

Nope.

Hawks had enough mercy to carry you to his much more comfortable bed before continuing. He took you again.

And again

And again.

You were positively ruined, no more strength left in your body as he repeatedly claimed you with fervor. Whenever it appeared you were getting uncomfortable in a certain position, he would simply switch things up before carrying on. Despite how utterly exhausted and raw you felt, your orgasms kept coming, every surge of pleasure clouding your mind more and more.

You had lost track of time. Was this his fifteenth go? seventeenth? Keeping count was becoming a drag. It didn’t help that Hawks was in too much of a trance to even speak, giving you nothing but moans and growls. At least he didn’t sound on the verge of tears anymore, so maybe he was making progress.

Another orgasm was approaching; could your tired body even handle it? You were laying on the edge of the bed as Hawks stood and fucked you. Even through all of the overwhelming passion, you never got tired of staring at his wings, the dazzling red never failing to mesmerize you. They fluttered rapidly as the tension in your core spilled over, your mouth opening in a silent scream and a blackness closing in on you with every blink.

Your body was finished.

———

Everything hurts.

That’s the first thing you noticed when you woke up and made the mistake of stretching. Your arms and legs ached, a sharp pain shot through your back whenever you shifted, and between your legs…well, the throb down there didn’t at all feel pleasurable anymore.

Still, you fought the pain to sit up and examine yourself. Your nether regions were surprisingly clean, almost as if someone had already taken care of it. With all of the cum Hawks pumped into you, it should frankly be an awful mess down there.

Speaking of, where was the guy?

“Hey.”

Oh, there he was leaning in the door frame. He had obviously tidied up, no longer a flushed and sweaty wreck, and was now sporting a pair of loose pants and a tee. You had never seen him looking so casual. It was probably a privilege very few had, and knowing that ignited something in your chest.

He glanced around before looking back at you. “You alright?”

Realizing you were just gawking at him and haven’t said anything yet, you coughed to ensure your voice was still clear and functioning. “I’m fine.”

He snickered. It was a sound you were used to whenever he knew he had the upper-hand in some way, but something about it felt softer this time. “I just fucked you into high heaven for a whole day.” He could’ve acknowledged it in a less shameless manner, dammit. “I just wanna know if you’re alright. You look pretty stiff.”

A jolt shot through your lower back in perfect timing with his statement, making you flinch. “Yeah, I’m—I’m pretty sore. Very sore,” you admitted.

“Ah,” He stood up straight. “I’ll go get some, uh, pain relief. Be right back.” And with that, he was out of your sight.

You waited patiently for his return, actually observing his bedroom for the first time. It was surprisingly bare, the room of someone who didn’t spend much time at home. There was a window that you didn’t notice and holy shit he was right. It was nighttime; you spent the entire day in Hawks’s bedroom. The fangirl in you was squealing in delight. You told her to shut the hell up.

The man returned with a glass of water in one hand, a pill in the other, and a set of clothes draped across his arm. “Here,” he handed the water and medicine over before sitting beside you on the bed. You gulped down the capsule, sputtering a bit as the cold water flowed down your dry throat. “I’ve got some clothes that might fit you well enough. Sorry about your suit. I’ll give you some money for a new one.”

He’s never sounded so wooden before and you couldn’t stand it. You let out your best good-hearted laugh as you took the offered clothes. “Stop that, Hawks. You sound as bland as your bosses right now,” you joked.

He laughed along with you. “Heh, sorry babe. Just worried that I came on a little too strong at the beginning there.”

You simply hummed in response. His clothes were so warm and smelled like him. Despite being surrounded by his strong scent for hours, you still welcomed it.

“So…looks like you’re feeling better.” You took in his appearance again now that he was closer. There was still a tinge of red in his face, but he seemed overall back to his usual relaxed self.

“Oh yeah, much better. The feeling’s still there, honestly,” he saw your eyes widen and instantly blurted out, “Just barely! I can ignore it and think clearly just fine now.” A boyish smile spread across his face. “Looks like I’ve got a hero. You really saved me back there.”

A ridiculous snort left you after hearing such praise. “Is that all it takes to be the great Hawks’s hero? I’m flattered.”

“Hey, I’m serious,” He looked you square in the face, and you couldn’t look away from his sincere expression. “It’s never been that bad before. Not gonna lie, I’m embarrassed you saw me like that. That was worse than all of my teenage ruts combined. Damn villain’s quirk really messed me up, felt like I was going fucking rabid. I don’t know what state I’d be in if it weren’t for you.”

Your mouth opened and closed, unsure of how to respond to his gratitude. “You’re welcome,” was all you could say. “You don’t need to feel bad about it. It’s…” You looked down at your feet. “It’s not like I didn’t like it. It was very draining, honestly lost track of time at a certain point, but it, uh, it was an experience.”

Hawks nodded in response. “Sure was. Never thought I’d rail a girl so hard and for so long that she’d pass out. I’m impressed with myself.”

“Hawks.”

He hung his head in mock shame. “My apologies, ma’am! I completely forgot that such vulgar language isn’t tolerated around you.” And there’s the infuriating grin that you were beginning to miss.

Both of you were laughing, slowly melting away the tension and stress that filled the room since morning. This…this was nice.

“So, you probably still don’t feel all that great, sooo…” Hawks rubbed at the back of his neck. “You wanna stay for dinner? Already ordered a chicken pizza with some wings.”

“Oh?” You raised your eyebrows. “Taking me to dinner after the sex?”

“Hey now, you know me. ‘The hero who’s too fast for his own good.’ Sometimes I miss a step or two.” He winked before getting up to leave. “You just lay there and rest, and go pee already. Don’t need an infection on top of everything else you’re going through. I already cleaned up the horrifying scene between your legs.”

You shuddered at the crude comment before falling backwards onto the poor mattress that had endured so much today.

Tomorrow, it will be back to professionalism. Back to pretending that you’re Hawks’s superior. Back to sucking up to the Commission. You’re going to cherish every minute of tonight, enjoying the company of Keigo Takami, not Hawks.

A shout echoed from downstairs. “The bathroom’s still empty, babe! Get your ass in there and pee!”

#bnha #hawks #smut #hawks x reader #takami keigo #i applaud you if you read the whole thing #this fic had a mind of its own

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thevalleyisjolly · 4 years

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Ok, I’ve rewritten this post several times because I really want this to be a productive and respectful discussion, but this is a conversation that does need to be started. I’ve been thinking about the whole cultural appropriation story line in this season of The Unsleeping City so far, and of course I think it’s great that Cody is starting to realize why that’s wrong and that Murph is making it explicitly clear that it is wrong, but I want to reorient the conversation away from Cody now and talk about Ricky as a Japanese-American character.

Because when Zac went “Just to paint a picture for you...” during the museum fight episode, there was quite a bit of surprise from non-Asian people in the fandom that this was really a serious issue, and one that Ricky would be bothered by or speak up about. But why wouldn’t he? I mean, the character is Japanese-American, and so is the player. Doesn’t it make perfect sense that he would at least be a little bothered by a white person appropriating Japanese culture? Asian fans certainly noticed and pointed it out before that episode aired. Ricky/Zac certainly noticed - go back through the episodes and observe how every time Cody pulled out a kunai or threw a shuriken, Ricky was cringing or facepalming with an uncomfortable laugh. Even with seven different camera perspectives to watch at the same time, it should have been pretty clear in the fandom that this was an ongoing issue that would bother and was bothering Ricky.

And I think there are several different facets to this, but the one I want to address is how there’s a tendency in fandom to ignore or erase Ricky’s Japanese heritage. Not literally (although there is a particular sting every time I see another Ricky fancast where the actor is of another Asian heritage than Japanese - Asian people are not interchangeable). But especially prior to Season 2, there was a general trend in the fandom that liked to simplify Ricky’s character and overlook him as a complex player character because of traits that are very common in East Asian immigrant cultures.

Perhaps it’s because my heritage is East Asian and I’ve had more exposure to general cultural customs and behaviours among East Asian immigrants, but Zac’s portrayal of Ricky has always read as a very obvious Asian-American child of immigrants to me (and, y’know, Zac and Ricky are actually Asian-American children of immigrants). Not expressing negative emotions out loud, not verbally articulating thoughts and feelings but expressing them through actions, deferring to other peoples’ needs first instead of expressing his own wants because it’s not about him. With the caveat that I’m Chinese and not Japanese, these are common practices that I’ve observed in my own family, among friends and acquaintances (of various Asian heritages including but not limited to Chinese), in broader experiences with other East Asian immigrants.

(Asia is not a monolith and I’m not familiar with the immigrant cultures and experiences of people from other Asian heritages. I specify East Asian here because that is broadly what I can speak on and because Ricky is Japanese, but other Asian people please feel free to discuss your experiences as well)

And obviously, these are not monolith traits observed at all times, I’ve definitely met plenty of East Asian immigrants who did express their emotions loudly, who used their words, who were assertive about their own needs and wants (this is not the post to be getting into different generations of immigration and the culture differences between those generations). And it also depends on the context - from my own experience, in private within families, both emotions and words can get extremely loud (if you dare to risk the wrath of your elders by arguing with them!) But my point is that the habits I pointed out above are still relatively common in East Asian immigrant cultures, even if not all individuals follow them at all times.

Particularly prior to Season 2, there was a common perspective in the fandom, usually couched in “uwu, I love that Zac is playing a hot dummy!!” that would go along the lines of “Ricky doesn’t have a character arc, he doesn’t get into conflicts with other people, he doesn’t say anything and is just happy to be there, he’s a shallow character who’s just a himbo.” All of which I’d dispute, (*insert post here about Ricky as a character reclaiming Asian masculinity*), but I want to focus on how the main traits -refraining from overt emotions, remaining reserved in speech, not bringing up his own needs and wants- that were brought up and used to simplify and dismiss Ricky’s character were traits which are commonly found in East Asian immigrant communities. The whole “remaining reserved/trying to avoid conflict” is something a lot of East Asian-American kids pick up at home because what you say or don’t say isn’t as important as what you do or don’t do.

And I mean, so much of Ricky is about doing things for people, showing his feelings through his actions, not his words. Just because he wasn’t getting into PC conflict in Season 1, or expressing his emotions in the same ways as other PCs, doesn’t mean he was just a silent, cheerful himbo. Which there’s nothing wrong with being a himbo, and it can be particularly empowering in Ricky’s case as an Asian man (see above linked post about Asian masculinity), but that’s not all there is to Ricky’s character! And don’t get me wrong, I personally love that part of his ongoing character arc in Season 2 is speaking up about his feelings and expressing to other people what he wants (because there’s the “American” part of the Asian-American experience that’s not just about having Asian heritage but is also about negotiating that relationship in a place with different norms and customs). But it doesn’t negate the “Asian” part of “Asian-American” either, which does impact and shape the way Ricky interacts with people and the world.

In hindsight, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that interest and meta in Ricky skyrocketed once he did start being more vocal and assertive in Season 2, which are common traits in many Western cultures. And it’s not the only reason that there’s a deeper interest in Ricky now (shout out to all the Asian fans and allies who’ve been really diving into Ricky’s character this season!) and I choose to believe in good faith that it isn’t intentional or malicious (audiences do tend to gravitate more towards tangible moments of conversation and conflict rather than background acting). But I think we as fans need to start questioning why as a whole, we really didn’t start giving deeper thought to Ricky until he began displaying more typically Western traits, because I think it’s emblematic of how, very subtly and unconsciously, we are used to privileging white “American” behaviour and ignoring or glossing over Asian (immigrant) traits.

In many ways, Ricky prior to Season 2 (and very arguably up until the museum fight), has been perceived in the general fandom as a sort of post-racial American-melting-pot character. Fans don’t wholly ignore that he’s Japanese-American, you can’t really do that when his family name is “Matsui” and when the Season 1 finale showed that his interactions with the American Dream pretty strongly involved his parents’ immigrant experience. But knowing intellectually that Ricky is Asian doesn’t always translate to actually perceiving him as an Asian person with all the implications and racial dynamics that entails.

An example of how this manifests: Ricky and Esther become a canon couple. Numerous posts begin to appear (and periodically still do) that express opinions along the lines of Ricky/Esther being the only tolerable “het” couple. Ignoring the fact that we don’t know Esther’s sexuality and we only have an offhand Ztream comment for Ricky, Ricky/Esther is a canonical interracial relationship between two non-white people, a Japanese man and a black woman. Interracial relationships are already extremely poorly represented in media, to say nothing of interracial relationships between non-white people. Yet we overlook the racial dynamics and only focus on the perceived queerness (or not) of the ship.

Or, for another example, taking the discussion on cultural appropriation and making it all about Cody’s flaws and character development, rather than considering how it affects Ricky as a Japanese man to see a white man disrespecting a part of his cultural heritage.

Anyways, I really urge D20 fans, especially if you’re not Asian, to start questioning and challenging how you really perceive characters, what kind of characteristics you tend to privilege and be drawn to and why, and what kind of fandom environment you shape in your interactions with the show and with other fans. This is not to say that Ricky should be everyone’s favourite character or that you can’t dislike him, but it is important to think about why we have the preferences that we do. I especially urge you to remember that Ricky Matsui is a Japanese-American character, that this was a deliberate choice which has been repeatedly brought up by Zac (who is a Japanese-American actor), and that you cannot and should not ignore Ricky’s heritage when you think and talk about him.

(And if you think Ricky is being an “asshole” to Cody just for being, frankly, mildly perturbed in his direction because Cody spent most of the season so far being very offensive to Ricky’s cultural heritage, I really encourage you to think critically about your opinions and why you hold them. And if, after thinking critically, you still don’t see why they’re wrong, please don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Your conscious racism is not something that is welcome in this fandom, and Asian fans are not here to teach you better)

((White and non-Asian people can and should reblog this, but don’t clown around. Productive, respectful discussion is welcome. Asian fans are more than welcome to add their perspectives/agree/disagree, especially people with Japanese heritage))

#dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20 spoilers #tuc ii spoilers #ricky matsui #diversity in fan spaces #asian rep #white people can and should reblog this but don't clown around #non-asian people can and should reblog this but also don't clown around #productive discussion is absolutely welcome but please be respectful #asian fans are more than welcome to add their perspectives/agree/disagree; especially fans with japanese heritage #i really love tuc but being an asian fan in the fandom is just like *avoids twitter* *avoids discord* *curated list of blogs to follow*

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msgrumpygills · 2 years

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Social Media Anon Here!

Firstly, obviously very glad Jared and others in the car accident seem ok, but did you notice how this was stage managed by both Jared and Jensen...both of whom have new projects?

The cancellation with no explanation. Normally, its scheduling conflicts or some announcement...here...nothing.thus settingup a buzz of WHY is Jared not attending? This caused a "thoughts and prayers" trend for Jared on Twitter, when there was an assumption this was a mental health issue. If he'd have announced the car crash here....he'd have had one trend.

The second spike is when Jensen announces the car crash...along with his interpretation of the severity and a plea to WISH JARED WELL ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Not to have him in your prayers...but to trend him. The cynic in me says we actually know nothing about the crash and its severity other than airbags deployed. Here Jared and Jensen get a second social media and internet news spike.

The third peak is the news media picking up the crash and Jared THEN posting on social media that he's okay. So he tends 3 times and Jensen once on the same event.

Both Jared and Jensen played this for maximum exposure. Not surprising since they both have pilots and NEED buzz to draw curiosity viewers to the CW. Expect more drawn out stories in the future and attempts to trend on social media as both Jared and Jensen try and get their own profile higher to draw fans to their shows.

Ps. They must have been pee'd off with Misha confusing the limelight lol.

stay well Grumpy and...never change..🙂

Those sneaky sneaky brothers! I'm gonna be honest here, my first thought when the cancelation was announced and the vague information surrounding it was that it was being used as a stunt. I'm not saying that Jared made up the accident, but I do think all parties involved milked it. I felt like a jerk for thinking that but it seems like I wasn't too far off!

As dramatic and silly as the Misha debacle was, I'm kinda glad it happened because that man managed to skyrocket to the trends with one sentence, far less work than the Js pulled.

I'm disappointed in Jensen for playing into that and hope that he was just being respectful to Jared's privacy, but I've been wrong and disappointed before.

Never change a single bit, Social Media Anon!

#grumpy answers #con stuff #jared padalecki #jensen ackles #social media anon

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thedeadflag · 3 years

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I’m so confused! I know it’s not your responsibility to educate me but in your post bringing awareness to the negative aspects of g!p fanfic you say

“Why do these g!p characters rarely if ever involve experiences reflective of trans/intersex women? Why are they so utterly cis and perisex-washed? Why do nearly all writers have zero idea that tucking is a thing? “

Doesn’t that answer your original question? The reason they don’t reflect those groups of ppl is bc g!p isn’t trying to represent those groups of people or else it WOULD be transphobic to limit them to one specific fetish right? it just refers to a canonically female character with the addition of a penis (I don’t argue the name “g!p” should be changed bc that’s a no brainer why that could be offensive). But the fanfic in general, how could it be harmful? I’ve noticed in my time reading it as a non binary person it’s given me great gender euphoria reading a reader insert where reader has a penis while being a femme representing person just bc that’s a reflection of my personal experience. I don’t see anywhere where g!p fanfic ever references or tries to emulate the experiences of trans or intersex people so how could it be offensive?

Sorry this is way too long I’m just very confused

I'm going to try and lay this out as politely as I can. It's after 3:30 in the morning here, so this could be a bit disjointed and rambling. More under the cut:

In real life, ~99.999999% of women with penises are trans women. Which puts us in a tricky situation of (A) being the only women with penises around for media involving women with penises to reflect back on, and (B) being in the lovely position of precious few people actually having had meaningful real life exposure to trans women, meaning (C.) all those stigmas and all that misinformation are going to purely affect us and it’s going to be uncritically gobbled up by the masses, since they don’t have any meaningful information to fill in the blanks with instead.

When we peer into the depths of femslash fandoms and see all these folks who aren't trans women writing about women with penises, and using cis women’s bodies as platforms for these penises, it’s the simplest thing.

I mean, some of those folks might actually be struggling and confused about why they’re into it, what the real appeal is, why they get off on it, why they might have some feelings about wanting a penis of their own…

…but from our vantage point, it’s really easy to gauge 99.99% of the time. We can generally see valid, legitimate yearning to have a penis pretty damn easily in a piece of art/writing, and we can also see when people who create this media are just hung up on a boatload of baggage and fetishization.

And 99.9% of the time, the creators are just hung up on a boatload of baggage and fetishization, and see trans women’s bodies as a perfect vehicle to tap into that, generally due to deeply held cissexist views that link us and our bodies and genitals directly to cis men, to maleness. As if penises are rooted in maleness and masculinity (which is absolutely not true).

And I have sympathy for NB folks (certainly TME ones who have reached out to me in the past about this) who might be struggling with that, but just because they’re non-binary, it doesn’t mean they get to appropriate our bodies and reproduce transmisogyny and trans fetishization in their attempts at feeling better. Shit doesn't work like that.

Because again, the only women with penises in this world, essentially, are trans women. Meaning any woman with a penis in media is a trans woman, implicitly or explicitly. Meaning that when people who aren’t us want to write us, intent doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if it’s just the writer’s fantasy, it’s still going to attach a variety of messages directly onto us.

And more often than not, due to cissexism, those messages are linking us to maleness, to toxic masculinity, etc..

While I do want to believe they're a fairly small minority, a lot of NB folks in fandom spaces like g!p characters in part because they see penises as male and the rest of the body as female and think that duality is interesting and would be comfortable, and is a nice balance of “both worlds” or a nice position “between male and female”, but that’s a wholly cissexist, transmisogynistic view to have, and it’s one that absolutely cannot be supported without directing sexual violence against trans women and invalidating our entire existence. Certainly not all NB folks into g!p like it for that reason, but holy shit a fair bit of them do and it’s weird and wrong and fetishistic.

g!p emerged from the idea that women can't have penises, and drew on the transmisogyny and cissexism of tr*nny porn to structure that frame of desire and the core patterns and trends within these works. It's always been trans women's bodies being used as a vehicle, whether or not the writers of these fics are explicitly aware of it, because the trope itself still holds true to its original patterns and cissexism. It's not the name that's the problem, it's the content; changing the name would be a surface level change that wouldn't affect anything.

g!p objectifies women with penises (trans women). A woman with a penis is more than just a woman with a penis, but the use of the term and trope is literally to (A) remind people that women don't have penises, otherwise the g!p term wouldn't be needed if people actually accepted women with penises as women, and that (B) this is a story centered on a scenario where there's a woman with a penis, with key focus on that genitalia specifically. it's the drawing point, it's the lure, it's what everything is centered on. It is a means for folks to write lesbian sex while also writing about penis in vagina and getting off to it. It's also no surprise that the penises so clearly emulate cis men's penises in these works, that is by design.

As I’ve said many times before, if you’re only writing trans women’s bodies to showcase cis men’s penises, you’re not respecting the womanhood of trans women, and this ultimately has nothing inherent to do with penis-owning women, it has to do with (cis) men and their penises, because trans women are just being used as a vehicle to emulate them. When NB folks do the same thing, and imagining themselves as those g!p characters, they are ultimately embodying cis men, their maleness, and often toxic masculinity, in a way that feels safe and distanced enough for them, a shell that they often code as cisnormative due to their own unprocessed cissexism.

And trans women don’t deserve that.

You seem caught in the idea that if something doesn't directly perfectly reflect trans women, that it can't be linked to us., which ignores the long long history of media being used to misrepresent marginalized peoples and cast us in insulting, dehumanizing lights. You show a lack of understanding of the g!p trope and the long history of its usage across a few other names, even if the content and patterns remained the same. It shows a lack of understanding of tr*nny porn and transmisogynistic stigmas, which the trope draws heavily from.

I think we can all recognize that most 'lesbian' prn that's made does not represent actual lesbians, it's overwhelmingly catered to the male gaze. We can also recognize that this category of porn has led to a lot of harassment towards lesbians from cis men who at the very least want to believe lesbians are just like they are in the porn he watches, that lesbians just need the right man. Lesbians are being used as a vehicle for a fantasy that was created externally to them, and doesn't represent their realities.

It's the same kind of situation here. The way g!p fics play out overwhelmingly doesn't reflect trans women's realities, but they are inherently linked to us regardless, as we're the vehicles for those fantasies, as unrealistic and harmful as they may be.

g!p characters are built in our fetishized image that’s based on a deeply cissexist misunderstanding of us, of the gender binary, and of bodies in general.

I mean, when 99% of cis folks don’t understand how trans women tend to be sexually intimate… when they don’t understand what dysphoria is and how it works and how it can affect us physically and emotionally…when they don’t understand almost any of our lived experiences…then they’re not going to be able to accurately portray us even if they wanted to.

And I’ve read enough g!p fics where authors wrote those as a means of trying to add trans rep, but because they didn’t understand us at all, it wasn’t remotely representative, and it was ultimately fetishistic, even if there was an undercurrent of sympathy and a lack of following certain common g!p patterns there that differentiated it from the norm.

If g!p fics were at all about reducing dysphoria or finding euphoria, then it wouldn’t be explicitly tied up in the performance of very specific sex acts, very specific forms of misogyny and toxic masculinity, very specific forms of sexual violence and exertion of sexual power, etc.

But it is.

So the notion that creating g!p fics helps NB folks? Nope. It CAN certainly prevent/delay those folks from facing a whole boatload of shit they’ve internalized, and coddle them at the expense of trans women.

Because if it was really about bodies and dysphoria/euphoria, there would be a considerable push (allying with out own) to end our fetishization and to represent us in and out of sexual contexts with accuracy, respect, and care. Because they wouldn’t care what sex acts were performed and what smut beats were hit, they’d just want to see someone with a body like their ideal being loved, being sexual, connecting, being authentic, etc. Which very much is not the case in the overwhelming majority of g!p fics. That's what we want, and it's not what g!p writers want, it's nothing they give a shit about.

Like, a ways back I started doing random pulls of g!p fics from various fandoms and assessing them for certain elements to provide some quantitative clarity. I started on The 100 here, and did OuaT here. Never finished the 100 one since the results leveled out and stayed pretty consistent as the sample size grew, so I didn't really see the point in continuing any further after about 140 fics when the data wasn't really changing much at all.

Lastly, media influences people. I've read countless posts and comments from people who use fanfiction as a sex ed guide, in essence. Which is ridiculous, but I also know sex ed curricula often isn't very accurate or extensive in a lot of areas, so people take what they can get. Representation in media can be powerful, and when it overwhelmingly misrepresents people, that's also powerful. Just because fandom is a bit smaller than televised media, it doesn't make that impact any lesser, certainly not for those whose primary media intake is within fandom.

Virtually all trans representation in f/f fanfiction is misrepresentative of us. That has a cost in how people understand us, how people react to us, and how people treat us. Not just online, but in physical spaces, and in intimate settings.

I invite you to read that post you referenced again, or perhaps this longer one which is a response to a trans guy who seemed to feel something similar to you with this trope.

All I can do is lay it out there and try to explain this. It's up to you how you handle this. All I know is whenever there's a big surge in g!p in a fandom, trans women generally leave it en masse, because it's a very clear and consistent message that we're not valued, respected, and that people value getting off on us over finding community with us.

#g!p #creative responsibility #trans fetishization #trans representation #intersex fetishization #intersex representation #genitals tw #genital mention tw #intersexism #transmisogyny #fandom meta #long post #cissexism #t slur tw #media representation #media literacy

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liam-93-productions · 4 years

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Liam’s full interview with Tings Magazine - Part 1

Note: the interview was recorded in may 2020.

Justin Campbell: What is the weirdest YouTube/Instagram trend hole that you’ve fallen into? Liam: One that always gets me is putting Mentos in Pepsi or Coke. We all know what happens, but we have to watch the ending. I’ve seen it about fifty times, and it doesn’t change. But it’s weird finding out what things are interesting when you’re stuck inside. It’s a crazy ride watching the world react to this. It’s almost like everybody’s become a street performer. You see these people on the street who have a special skill like magic and the internet is now the place for that and everybody does it.

Do you feel pressured to participate? Is there currency in that? Does that keep you relevant? I think artists have had to change a lot to fit in. There used to be mystery where you didn’t know too much about their lives, whereas we are in my living room now for all the world to see. I think that’s the biggest change of these newer platforms. I think you have to join in if you want to stay relevant. If you look at someone like Jason Derulo, he has 19 million followers on TikTok and he just started. His old songs are re-charting because of the TikTok chart. So, you can’t just make music and expect it to go well anymore. There has to be a personality and a story. It’s not quite the same anymore.

There’s so many differente avenues to keep up with. There’s Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. It used to be you did radio, tours and late-night television. Now there seem to be a dozen things to do. It’s crazy, this last promo schedule for me, having to do it indoors. I had to learn how to do a bunch of different jobs for the people that couldn’t be here. We put up a green screen in my lounge. We moved all the sofas, me and the camera guy that is staying with me set up the green screen and then you have to film it as well. It’s just crazy the amount of different things that you have to get involved in right now to stay relevant. And that’s all it is. The majority of the stuff isn’t really doing anything, but it’s doing loads at the same time if that makes sense. It’s a difficult thing to get used. And also, things have gotten jovial. So, you have to learn to make fun of ourselves. You can’t be Mr. Serious pop-star anymore. People aren’t really attracted to that anymore. People like the fun side of you, your personality and your humor come through on these things. It’s crazy. I thought about when I joined TikTok the other week, there’s a pressure to film something fun. But then if you are not having fun filming it, you’re not going to film a fun video. And I didn’t want to live my life every day thinking I got to film a video or nobody is going to care. I spent an hour trying to think of stuff and I don’t want to live my life like this. I enjoy then. I like going on TikTok and getting lost in a little TikTok rabbit hole, we all do, but I don’t know if I’m that way inclined mentally.

With the need to share more, to share a comedic side or a vulnerable side, where do you draw the line? When do you stop sharing? How much of it is constructed sharing and how much of it is authentic sharing? It’s difficult. I’m very prone to enjoy a moment rather than take my camera out and film it. I’m always one of those people who take a picture of a sunset and then never look at it and say why did I bother taking the picture. I’d rather enjoy the moment. We live in a day and age where the camera phone is people’s first thought for things. And I’m just not one of those people. Humorous stuff will happen and it will be off the cuff, but we didn’t film it. And it will be like “aw, should we recreate it?” But we don’t want to recreate it. It just feels stupid. It always feels forced in that sense. So for me, I definitely struggle with sharing moments. And you have those people out there, who are literally willing to do anything. There’s a trend for people who are shaving their eyebrows off at the moment. I’m not going to shave my eyebrows off so people will care a little more. That just doesn’t register with me. You have Jake and Logan Paul, who do a lot of crazy, crazy things to get noticed. And it’s like where do you draw the line.

These platforms make it challenging to carve out a private life. People expect more and more of celebrities’ lives to be shared. They feel they have ownership of every aspect of people’s lives. What are your thoughts on that? From the start of this lockdown, the first James Corden TV performance was filmed in the lounge and we went through my whole house. I can remember back in the day when a newspaper sent out the photos of my house. I don’t like people knowing where I sleep because it’s a security problem for me. I had a big complaint about that. Now fast forward 5-6 years and the world has changed to where nothing is really a private or intimate moment. It’s strange. As One Direction, we were in an era on the rise of Twitter. I think Twitter helped us a lot. It was the way we trended on Twitter that actually made us famous. But being on the cusp of that internet stardom, we didn’t really care about how many followers [we had]. Now, it’s become a currency. I just struggle to take those things seriously, that it is part of the job because it feels so foreign. When we had apps as kids, there was no way to becoming MSN famous. Now kids want to be an Instagrammer or a TikTokker. It’s crazy. We never had that.

You said something about people chasing the currency of liked and follows. Kids are thinking about that validation when they are creating content. How much of that are you thinking about it when you create music or social media/video content? I think, for me, I don’t often pay attention to how many likes thing gets. As a pop star, you have to have an average amount per post. We have to have meetings now where people will go through posts, and tell you why this works. Which for me, it seems insane, but you have this persona that you have to keep up online. And definitely, when posting certain things, you are gauging whether it’s going to get a reaction or there’s no point in posting it. And that’s always been the problem for me. I’m hoping for a big reaction for stuff which limits the amount you post because you think there’s no point posting this. Often the people who do the best in these scenarios are the people that didn’t mean for it to happen. Someone makes a little challenge like The Ice Bucket Challenge. Someone thought I’ll do this. It will be fun for us to film and because they are having fun, everyone is like we will get involved. If you think about it too much, it will overtake you. For the longest time, I didn’t post a lot. I got off of Twitter because of the backlash and the fact that you are always going to annoy someone with a post. I was like, I can’t deal with it. I might as well keep it to myself. There’s no disappointment.

I think that’s part of the condition of being an artist. You crave a certain amount of validation. When it’s work, you can take that some people won’t get it. But because everything has become so personal now like it’s about you. You sell your personality to people. It’s like if someone asks you “what five things do you want people to know about you”. And everyone goes, well, I’d like to be... You suddenly think, what we are doing every day online is trying to sell ourselves. It’s a difficult balance. You have to have the right amount of humor and humility and the right amount of this. It’s so difficult to find that person. And you see people who become caricatures of themselves online. They overdo it. You don’t know what works any why it works. The internet is such an untested experiment. The public decides. It’s so crazy.

You just said that it can feel so personal, which I think is such an honest statement because when you are putting yourself out there, it is hard to celebrate the work and you. When people don’t like something, it can feel like they are personally attacking you. It genuinely scares me sometimes. Even to post a selfie, because you just don’t know what the recipe is. I’m not trying to impress anyone. I’m just trying to stay around if that makes sense. I don’t know, it’s difficult. The fact that you just let it go and it’s gone and people either take it or leave it. It’s like jumping on stage every time you post, which scares me anyway.

You’ve spoken pretty openly about dealing with depression and anxiety. How does this level of exposure impact your ability to manage your anxiety? Before all of this started, the first day of school would probably be when you are your most anxious. Or it’s your own clothes day and you don’t know what to wear. That feels like what everyone is going through every single day online. It’s like the teen generation has so many more questions to answer that we had. I know as a kid I was quite stressed. I can’t imagine how these kids feel these days. The only way I can relate is by how I feel in this scenario. Obviously, being a little bit older, you are a little wiser with it. I thinks it’s a different kind of pressure these days. It’s a worldwide pressure. The fact that anyone can become a superstar overnight or also the most embarrassing thing in the world and the line is that thin. I can’t imagine what is like for kids growing up in that scenario. For me, it’s raised a lot of questions about my mental health and having to deal with these things. I’ve been running a pilot with someone for people in my position, people who struggle with fame, with the position that they get themselves. You don’t really realize the playbook you’re pressing. Once you’re in it, you’re in it. I started from 14-16, were my two start years. And the only answer that people had for you was that you’ve got have thick skin. But I don’t think that’s really the point because once you are here, you have to find out if your skin is thick enough. You have to learn. For the longest time, if somebody wrote something about me in the press, I’d rise back up and bring back up. I didn’t realize they were trying to bait me out because they knew I’d do that. Then they’d write three more articles about the scenario that I didn’t want them to write about. You can only know that with years of experience. If something comes out now, I just leave it to die and go away and that’s it. I just think it’s difficult when people say the only answer is that you have to have thick skin to do this.

That’s not really a solution. That’s just saying you asked for this. This is just part of it, which I don’t think is fair. Is fame something that you struggle with a lot? For me, there’s different periods, severe highs with different things and a lot of questions about stuff. I’ve been going at this now for ten years, which seems insane. I’m only 26 as well, which is quite a long time to be doing anything. And to be in this pressure cooker for that long is quite difficult, but I say I’ve learned to deal with it better now. Age and time are wonderful things. And we were buffered as teens. We had each other in the band. When I look at someone like Justin Bieber, I think no wonder he went completely mental at some point because there is no one in the world that knows what is like to be Justin Bieber, but Justin Bieber. He had no one to share it with. We had each other to share it with, to remember it with and be reminded how to behave, how to act. You shouldn’t do that. It was tough at some points, but for the most part it was helpful growing up in that team exercise rather than be let off on your own and you’re the most famous person in the world. It must have been pretty crazy for him.

#liam payne #liam's interviews #tings magazine #05.11.2020

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