#Off topic but its similar to why i believe abuse of women by men and abuse of men by women are both belittled

[imperfectmind]

sorry if this makes me an evil bigot but people arent entitled to mindlessly follow your beliefs or tolerate bad behaviour/attitudes just because you have more oppressed lables than them.

People should be able to lable idiocy and cruelty when they they see it and being a minority doesnt make it so you cant use your hardships to be manipulative, spout vile horrible things or say things that are simply not true

Its honestly why sj tumblr is such a toxic mess. Its ran by crybullies who despise honest communication and constructive community building. Its just 'im automatically right when i tell someone ~less oppressed~ than me anything and they cant question me. If they do theyre speaking over me and oppressing me by disagreeing"

'Listen to x voices' should mean not automatically disregarding a female, gay, black, asian etc persons views, and not that people should grovel and defer to others because they said so.

[hyenahunt]

Saga: Rivals - 10

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Characters: Chiaki, Eichi

Proofreading: moricchiichan (JP) & Peace (ENG)

Translation: kotofucius

Chiaki: Don’t call it kiddie stuff! It’s entirely different for something to be “for kids” and “kiddie stuff,” Tenshouin!

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Location: Classroom 3-A

Time: Same day, during breaktime

Chiaki: …Lilith?

Eichi: Yes. That’s the name of the most formidable opponent you’ll face in Project-Saga — The temporary unit led by the legendary idol Hidaka Seiya.

Chiaki: Hmm. I’ve heard of such a group being formed, but I had no idea about the specifics, since they’re keeping details hidden.

Lilith… It’s a pretty cute name, isn’t it?

Eichi: Fufu. Since you're surprisingly well-read, Chiaki, you should know the name.

The Bible depicts Adam as the first man created… and Lilith was the name of his first wife.

She isn’t very widely known, though. Generally, people think of Eve the first thing when you say “Adam’s wife.”

Maybe she pops up in comics and novels, but she isn’t a very popular character in the original lore. Similar to how Berserkers in Norse mythology are treated.

Chiaki: Hold on — even if you make that comparison, I’m not knowledgeable enough about that to know whether to agree or not.

Eichi: Well, your specialty is tokusatsu, after all. There is a limit to how much information the human brain can hold, so it’s inevitable that we’d pick out which ones to absorb and ignore.

I was born frail and constantly at the brink of death… so I had many opportunities to ponder about gods and the afterlife. That’s all.

And little Keito happened to be a defiant, angsty child. I didn’t even have to ask him to lecture me on each little thing he learned about faith; Buddhism or otherwise.

Chiaki: Wow, Hasumi? I didn’t expect that.

Eichi: Is that so?

Well, we don’t look like close friends now, so it may be hard to believe that he and I had such adorable moments together as children.

We even made a childish promise.

He would ask how I want my burial to be, and tell me to choose my own heaven with childish arrogance.

Chiaki: Yeah, I can tell at a glance that you’re tied with a strong bond.

But that isn’t what I was referring to… Hasumi looks like a straight-laced guy to me, so I didn’t expect him to study up on religions other than what his temple supports.

Eichi: Fufu. He's an unexpectedly fancy-free type of boy… I guess that isn’t a pleasant way to put it. He’s so broad-minded that he can accept any ideas…

And before he realized it, he’d find himself being bogged down by unnecessary baggage… He’d have absorbed too many things and become unable to take a step from their weight.

Quite a monk, to be so easily distracted by worldly passions. Well, better than being a fanatic who tolerates no objections towards their belief, I guess.

Anyway, who cares about Keito. We’ve gotten off-topic…

In various mythologies, characters who oppose the faith or abuse the teachings of the almighty gods are often shunned.

The Norse Berserkers I mentioned were warriors who offered prayers to their god and were blessed with his protection in return, yet slayed friends and foes like beasts without wisdom.

They’re considered pests; snakes in the grass.

Lilith was the same; her very presence could shake the religion at its foundation. Actually, for those who wanted to use the power of faith as a tool, she was almost an eyesore.

Eve was created from Adam’s rib and a lump of earth.

This establishes Adam’s superiority as Eve’s creator… and at the same time, allows the assertion that Eve was not directly brought into being by the Almighty God.

Thus proving that men are superior to women — This is more convenient for certain authorities.

That’s why it’s unacceptable for there to be a woman equal and akin to Adam.

It may sound old-fashioned and ridiculous for us living in these modern times.

But such manipulations had to be made to make a shield out of the colossal power of religion.

Although based on the time she started to appear in texts, Lilith was perhaps also conceived, or syncretized, for similar ends.

Chiaki: Ah… I think Lilith defied God, fell to Hell, and became the boss of demons?

Eichi: Exactly. She didn’t become the mother of mankind — but the mother of the evil demons that lead mankind astray and kill them.

That’s how Eve and Lilith were degraded and twisted to reinforce and legitimate male supremacy.

Lilith is especially portrayed as a repulsive presence that you’re taught not to be like; you’re finished if you ever turn out like her.

A stock villain, just like Norse Berserkers.

That’s why she’s unpopular in myths, because she’s an outcast people would put you down for liking.

I think it’s a poor move to use the name of such an offensive character for Hidaka Seiya’s Project-Saga unit.

There’s too much of a bad reputation attached to it.

Chiaki: Hmm… This goes for Berserkers too, but villains and monsters of her type are popular in manga and anime, right?

In modern Japan, where the influence of religion isn’t so strong, I think those media are more reliable as a way to gauge popularity.

Eichi: True. I wonder what is it with our people’s attraction to characters who ooze an air of vile or mystery…

Evil is bound to be defeated — So is it because our countrymen like to root for the loser?

Chiaki: No, I’m sure not everybody loves evil.

The most popular figure in tokusatsu is still the hero… the one who allies with justice. It’s the sort of story these shows still portray to this day, after all.

Eichi: Well, I guess. It’s honestly hard to believe there are adults who would believe, accept, and applaud such kiddie stuff.

Chiaki: Don’t call it kiddie stuff! It’s entirely different for something to be “for kids” and “kiddie stuff,” Tenshouin!

Eichi: Well… I think that argument can go on for a while, so I’ll evade it. It isn’t our main topic.

Hmm, I wonder if there really is no deep meaning…

Do they just want to borrow Adam, Eve, and Eden’s power — Because these units have retained their popularity despite CosPro’s failure in SS?

That’s why they chose a name related to Adam — Lilith… This is the more natural conclusion, but something still bothers me.

Why didn’t they choose a more agreeable name, then? God, angels, saints, miracles…

They didn’t have to choose the name of an offensive monster, did they?

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[tyrannuspitch]

Jumping off @kidrat​ ’s recent post on JKR, British transphobia, and transphobia against transmasculine people, after getting a bit carried away and too long to add as a comment:

A major, relatively undiscussed event in JKR’s descent into full terfery was this tweet:

[image id: a screenshot of a tweet from JK Rowling reading: “’People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

Rowling attaches a link to an article titled: “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate” /end id]

This can seem like a pretty mundane TERF talking point, just quibbling over language for the sake of it, but I think it’s worth discussing, especially in combination with the idea that cis women like JKR see transmasculine transition as a threat to their womanhood. (Recite it with horror: ”If I were young now, I might’ve transitioned...”)

A lot of people, pro- or anti-transphobe, will make this discussion about whether the term “woman” should include trans women or not, and how cis women are hostile to the inclusion of trans women. And that’s absolutely true. But the actual language cis women target is very frequently being changed for the benefit of trans men, not trans women, and most of them know this.

Cis people are used to having their identities constantly reaffirmed and grounded in their bodies. A lot of cis women, specifically, understand their social and physical identities as women as being defined by pain: misogynistic oppression is equated to the pains of menstruation or childbirth, and both are seen as the domain of cis women. They’re something cis women can bond over and build a “sisterhood” around, and the more socially aware among them can recognise that cis women’s pain being taken less seriously by medicine is not unrelated to their oppression. However, in the absence of any trans perspectives, these conversations can also easily become very territorial and very bioessentialist.

Therefore... for many cis women, seeing “female bodies” described in gender neutral language feels like stripping their pain of its meaning, and they can become very defensive and angry.

And the consequences for transmasculine people can be extremely dangerous.

Not only do transmasculine people have an equal right to cis women to define our bodies as our own... Using inclusive language in healthcare is about more than just emotional validation.

The status quo in healthcare is already non-inclusive. When seeking medical help, trans people can expect to be misgendered and to have to explain how our bodies work to the doctors. We risk harassment, pressure to detransition, pressure to sterilise ourselves, or just being outright turned away. And the conversation around pregnancy and abortion in particular is heaving with cisnormativity - both feminist and anti-feminist cis women constantly talk about pregnancy as a quintessentially female experience which men could never understand.

Using gender-neutral language is the most basic step possible to try and make transmasculine people safer in healthcare, by removing the idea that these are “women’s spaces”, that men needing these services is impossible, and that safety depends on ideas like “we’re all women here”. Not institutionally subjecting us to misgendering and removing the excuse to outright deny us treatment is, again, one of the most basic steps that can be taken. It doesn’t mean we’re allowed comfort, dignity or full autonomy, just that one major threat is being addressed. The backlash against this from cis women is defending their poorly developed senses of self... at the cost of most basic dignity and safety for transmasculine people.

Ironically, though transphobic cis women feel like decoupling “women’s experiences” from womanhood is decoupling them from gendered oppression, transmasculine people experience even more marginalisation than cis women. Our rates of suicide and assault are even higher. Our health is even less researched than cis women’s. Our bodies are even more strictly controlled. Cis women wanting to define our bodies on their terms is a significant part of that. They hold the things we need hostage as “women’s rights”, “women’s health”, “women’s discussions” and “support for violence against women”, and demand we (re-)closet ourselves or lose all of their solidarity.

Fundamentally, the problem is that transphobic cis women are possessive over their experiences and anyone who shares them. Because of their binary understanding of gender, they’re uncomfortable with another group sharing many of their experiences but defining themselves differently. They’re uncomfortable with transmasculine people identifying “with the enemy” instead of “with their sisters”, and they’re even more uncomfortable with the idea that there are men in the world who they oppress, and not the other way around. “Oppression is for women; you can’t call yourself a man and still claim women’s experiences. Pregnancy is for women; if you want to be a man so badly why haven’t already you done something about having a woman’s body? How dare you abandon the sisterhood while inhabiting one of our bodies?”

Which brings me back to the TERF line about how “If I were young now, I might have transitioned.”

I’m not saying Rowling doesn’t actually feel any personal connection to that narrative - but it is a standard line, and it’s standard for a reason. Transphobic cis women really believe that there is nothing trans men go through that cis women don’t. They equate our dysphoria to internalised misogyny, eating disorders, sexual abuse or other things they see as “female trauma”. They equate our desire to transition to a desire to escape. They want to “help us accept ourselves” and “save us” from threats to their sense of identity. The fact is, this is all projection. They refuse to consider that we really have a different internal experience from them.

There’s also a marked tendency among less overtly transphobic cis women, even self-proclaimed trans allies, to make transphobia towards trans men about cis women.

Violence against trans men is chronically misreported and redefined as “violence against women”. In activist spaces, we’re frequently told that any trauma we have with misogyny is “misdirected” and therefore “not really about us”. If we were women, we would’ve been “experiencing misogyny”, but men can’t do that, so we should shut up and stop “talking over women”. (Despite the surface difference of whether they claim to affirm our gender, this is extremely similar to how TERFs tell us that everything we experience is “just misogyny”, but that transmasculine identity is a delusion that strips us of the ability to understand gender or the right to talk about it.)

I have personally witnessed an actual N*zi writing an article about how trans men are “destroying the white race” by transitioning and therefore becoming unfit to carry children, and because the N*zi had misgendered trans men in his article, every response I saw to it was about “men controlling women’s bodies”.

All a transphobe has to do is misgender us, and the conversation about our own oppression is once again about someone else.

Transphobes will misgender us as a form of violence, and cis feminist “allies” will perpetuate our misgendering for rhetorical convenience. Yes, there is room to analyse how trans men are treated by people who see us as women - but applying a simple “men oppressing women” dynamic that erases our maleness while refusing to even name transphobia or cissexism is not that. Trans men’s oppression is not identical to cis women’s, and forcing us to articulate it in ways that would include cis women in it means we cannot discuss the differences.

It may seem like I’ve strayed a long way from the original topic, and I kind of have, but the central reason for all of these things is the same:

Trans men challenge cis women’s self-concept. We force them to actually consider what manhood and womanhood are and to re-analyse their relationship to oppression, beyond a simple binary patriarchy. 

TERFs will tell you themselves that the acknowledgement of trans people, including trans men, is an “existential threat” that is “erasing womanhood” - not just our own, but cis women’s too. They hate the idea that biology doesn’t determine gender, and that gender does not have a strict binary relationship to oppression. They’re resentful of the idea that they could just “become men”, threatened by the assertion that doing so is not an escape, and completely indignant at the idea that their cis womanhood could give them any kind of power. They are, fundamentally, desperate not to have to face the questions we force them to consider, so they erase us, deflect from us, and talk over us at every opportunity.

Trans men are constantly redefined against our wills for the benefit of cis womanhood.

TL;DR:

Cis women find transmasculine identity threatening, because we share experiences that they see as foundational to their womanhood

The fact that transphobes target inclusive language in healthcare specifically is not a mistake - They do not want us to be able to transition safely

Cis women are uncomfortable acknowledging transphobia, so they make discussion of trans men’s oppression about “womanhood” instead

This can manifest as fully denying that trans men experience our own oppression, or as pretending trans men’s experiences are identical to cis women’s in every way

[themousefromfantasyland]

Fairy Tale Laws: How Fairy Tales and their Worldbuilding work

Who follows me knows I'm mega into mythology and folklore. One of my favorite pieces of folklore and fantasy literature is the Fairy Tale. Since I was a child I was always draw to the magical world of Disney films and their darker literary counterparts.

I love fairy tales, yet in my opinion they continue to be one of the more misunderstood and neglected genres out there.

So, as a Disney fan and avid fairy tale reader, in this essay I show how the genre itself generally works and which principles rule their whimsical world

Fairy Tales, Myths and Fables

The thing that fairy tales, myths and fables have in common is that they all find their origins in the oral tradition.

They were fantastical tales, not told specifically for children but deeply enjoyed by them, that were transmitted through generations.

Both fairy tales and myths don't follow real world logic, instead following their own dream-like logic, in a sequence of weird and fantastical events, that are magical and intriguing to the listener, but essentially normal to the in-universe characters.

Often than not there aren't any explanations of why these events happen and their impact of those in-universe societies, they just happen. Animals talk, mythical creatures live along with human societies just fine, inanimated objects come to life, people seem to turn into animals all the time, etc, and nothing of that seem to ever change the status quo.

The thing that differentiate the fairy tale from the myth, is that the myth is supposed to have happened in our world, but in a far off past. They are supposed to explain how our world came to be, and they have a very strong religious importance. The fairy tale on the other hand is not supposed to be took seriously. It's a fun story that the older generation tell to the younger generation. It can pass deeply important life or religious values, but that's not their main point. They are fairy tales, not fables.

The point of the fable is to transmit a moral. The point of a fairy tale is to transport the listener into a fantastical journey.

Fairy Tales vs. Oral Stories

Although many folk stories became immortal fairy tales, not all fairy tales came from oral tradition. Actually, some can be traced back to specific authors.

The Little Mermaid, the Ugly Duckling and the Steadfast Tin Soldier are all considered immortal fairy tales, yet they were all created by famous danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. A lot of his stories are authoral, and all are considered true fairy tales.

The term "Fairy Tales" actually comes from the french "conte de fées" and was coined in the 17th century by Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, the Madame d'Aulnoy, a french writer who wrote about a world where love and happiness came to heroines after overcoming great obstacles.

These stories arise from the Préciosité, a French literary style in the 17th century, from "les précieuses", intellectual, witty and educated women who frequented the salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet. Themes presented in these stories are the ideals of feminine elegance, etiquette and courtly Platonic love, all hugely popular with female audiences, but scorned by men.

Telling fairy tales was a popular préciosité parlor game, and they should be told as if spontaneously, even though they all were carefully prepared. This style served as influence for Charles Perrault and Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.

Villeneuve herself was the original author of Beauty and the Beast, and although the story is heavily inspired by older legends like Cupid and Psyche, it still is an authoral story.

Even the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, who were famous for being collectors of tales from oral tradition, gave their own twists and embellishments to their tales. For example, in many Cinderella tellings it's her mother's ghost who helps her. The Fairy Godmother is Perrault's invention.

So more than been just stories from the oral tradition, fairy tales as a literary genre are the reinvention of the old tropes found in the folk stories under a more sophisticated polish, for a new public.

Fairy Tale as a literary genre

In a way I consider the Fairy Tale a sibling genre to Magical Realism. As TV Tropes puts:

"In Magic Realism, events just happen, as in dreams. [...] Magical realism is a story that takes place in a realistic setting that is recognizable as the historical past or present. It overlaps with Mundane Fantastic. It has a connection to surrealism, dream logic, and poetry."

Both use a surreal, almost poetic internal logic with little to no explanation. Magical Realism is the occurrence of a fantastical event in a realistic setting, in a fusion between the mundane and the magical world.

Fairy Tales are similar because they often deal with very domestic topics and subjects. The protagonists often are normal people with very mundane goals. They don't want to save the world, they want to save themselves and their loved ones.

Cinderella and Snow White for example, are more concerned with escaping from their abusive families than being cultural or legendary heroes like in the myths. Hansel and Gretel are trying not to die from starvation, and Red Riding Hood is trying to visit her sick grandmother. Regardless of class status, these are people with their own problems that find in the fantastical events a escape from them, or a even worse danger.

This is not a universal rule, as some characters are more heroic and there's more in stake, but generally the heroes are domestic heroes and it's only their lives that are in stake.

The difference between the Magic Realism and the Fairy Tale, is that while in the Magic Realism you can easily point where the realistic setting ends and the magical one begins, the fairy tale goes even further, and the lines between the worlds are way more muddled.

Worldbuilding in Fairy Tales

Now, that's the most important part. Fairy Tales are a sub-genre to Fantasy, but while in the other genres the magic world is described in the minimal details, often with rich details about the in-universe cultures and their rules, the Fairy Tale maintain the magic world as vague as possible. That's because it uses what I call "soft-worldbuilding".

Part of the appeal of the fairy tale is to transport the reader in a fantastical journey, but in order to do that they use as little details possible, allowing the reader to try to fill in the gaps. That's in order to avoid the magic world of feeling too real or too close to reality. The reader needs to have a sense of wonder and intrigue, and if you started to describe your world in all its details, it will become too grounded, and the wonder and the intrigue will be lost.

Said that, you need some basic rules, otherwise everything will be incredibly incoherent. You reader needs to understand how the magic world works and their rules, but they also need to be slightly lost, discovering all the details along the way and be amazed by them, lost in a mystery that they will never find all the answers.

To illustrate this, look at the differences between the Middle-earth and Narnia. One is a standard fantasy world, the other is a fairy tale world. J.R.R. Tolkien drew inspiration from the epics, C.S. Lewis drew inspiration from fairy tales and childhood stories.

The Middle-earth is grounded on its own rules, with their own races, cultures, languages and myths. Narnia is a playground were everything magical is allowed. Greek mythology creatures? Okay. Roman gods? Okay. Father Christmas? Okay. Jesus? Of course!

One is worried about all the small details, the other wants everything as vague and simple as possible, as to ensure the wonder and the intrigue will never be lost the reader.

When you're dealing with a fairy tale world you have way more freedom than the standard fantasy world. You don't need to think too deeply in the details. You can use the Rule of Funny and the Rule of Cool as much as you want, as long as it's minimal consistent and coherent

Fairy Tale Laws

This are some basic rules and principles that I believe rule over the fairy tale genre

Establish rules of how the world works. Keep it consistent and coherent. That's your base

Not every fantastical event needs a deep explanation, and magic is not allowed as an universal explanation

Keep it simple. Don't worry too much about the small details.

You don't want your world to be too grounded in reality. A little escapism is key

Poetic logic and surrealism reigns

Have fun with all the weird and magical things that crowded your world. "Rule of Cool" and "Rule of Funny" reign

Never reveal too much to your reader. They need to constantly feel as if there is something more happening off the limits of your story

Domestic heroes (As Narnia and the old dragon slayer stories show, this is not an universal rule)

The overall tone can be darker and edgier, softer and lighter, or somewhere in the middle

[seoafin]

tbh,, i havent read the raws of the interview yet, only the translated ver from fan-translator and b4 i start, i think that this will be just me talking in circle and in no particular order AND a real mess (my brain does weird things after exams) but uhh here we go

gojou collects talented people, and by doing so he finds the people he can most probably relate to, except that he can't, not really, because something in the universe shifted when he was born. and it makes me think of how he's always known it, that he is special, and he's proven it, time and time again— he wants to take in talented ppl and he does, but there rly isn't much he can do for them. for they are talented, more talented than the world can understand,,

but they aren't gojou satoru

gojou took in megumi, bc he knew megumi was strong, and would grow up to be someone even stronger, but gojou can't facilitate or encourage his growth, bc for all they're similar, they are so fundamentally different. ALSO,, while geto was in his life, gojou rly judged everything according to his understanding of geto’s moral compass. gojou wears a human suit and geto is how he learnt to wear it well 🏃

the dragonfly analogy regarding to geto’s response to gojo, who was shown wearing a dragonfly patterned yukata in HI arc,, i’m trying to not think abt the fact that dragonfly symbolized victory in jpn....pain. i quoted from a web here for more explanation : In Japan the dragonfly is known as the "victory insect", or kachimushi, because of its hunting prowess and also because it is known to never retreat. Dragonflies are agile and fast fliers and can even hover, but never fly backwards

and bringing this up again, matricide and patricide are 2 of the 5 worst act to commit in buddhism, and it was said that if u commit one of those act u’re going to spend a real long time in the deepest pit of hell before continuing the samsaric cycle (higher chances to be born as an animal after that probs)— this might be geto’s divine retribution. held no power over his own body and could be considered that he’s the same as those “monkeys” 💀

ALSO the fact that sukuna's interest is "eating" rly drives home his hedonistic philosophy of seeking pleasure for himself. and he’s a cannibal...makes me think if he’ll just chomp on ppl with the mouth on his stomach

randomly, to date i think he hasn't really called himself a human, shaman, or a curse, and has held himself apart from all 3, and we've also the intro of the cursed wombs so i wonder if he’s trying to become, or is, a different entity altogether

so onmyoji got mentioned in the interview and what they practice is called onmyodo and abe no seimei and kano no yasunori were the notable practitioners,, and the kamo in jjk is the same as irl who served the imperial court back then

maybe i was right when i said that the relation between the govt. and jujutsu elders are similar to how the shogunate and imperial court work (ie, the former holds the actual power) but... lets see later,,

and i cant believe that i actually nailed it on the analogy of jujutsu practices by religion,,, so mahayana buddhism, shintoism, and taoism is present in jjk along with their respective jujutsu practices...but between the 3, it shld (?) be taoism > shintoism > mahayana buddhism (which could took a path to pure land buddhism)

it’s weird that the number of curses are supposedly higher in jpn comparable to other countries when taoism was brought from china....tengen sus

so the zenin family tree is sth like :

brothers: [toji's dad] ; naobito ; ougi

so toji, naoya, and maki & mai are cousins of the same generation

[toji's dad] → jinichi (probs) ; toji → megumi

naobito → other brothers, naoya

ougi → maki, mai

but yea i’d call anyone who’s within/close or below my age range as cousins and others above 30 as uncles/ aunts LMFAO,, i dont rly memorize my own family tree 😭😭 especially since most call the other by honorifics instead of names : aunt, uncles etc or attaching said honorifics at the end of a name for an older sibling figure/ older cousins [but like ppl in my country also call the other who are older with sibling honorific even if we’re strangers,,, rly similar to korea’s hyung/oppa—eonnie(unnie)/noona but some uses more genderless honorific] (1)

tw // topic of incest, mentions of abuse

if anyone got the wrong idea when reading this : i am not glorifying/ romanticising incest(uous themes),, i’m looking at this with absolutely no lenses of bias even tho im rly against it

初恋 = literally : first love, or puppy love

恋 = romantic love/ deep longing

i literally don't know how else to put this...🧍and with language barrier...using a western interpretation of the eng word "love" to explain a jpnese term is not quite that simple, unfortunately

that thread omg,, i rly do understand how exactly someone could associated kindness with love bc of my upbringing, it was when i was slightly older that i was just...oh so its not like that orz,,, so the most plausible explanation would be that

but the problem is that,, akutami never specify when exactly she had a crush on them,, and when megumi answered todo’s question she had a “♡” reaction 😶,, uhmmm there’s rly no way to look past this if its this way or be in denial

i’ve seen some of "why wouldn't mai react that way after hearing megumi say he'd like someone who's compassionate when she's surrounded by men like naoya",, well I MEAN,,, that, but also mai probs admires that megumi grew up so well out of the clan, regardless of the fact that he had the foundation (10 shadows) to do so. imo she seems happy for him the way she can't be for maki, bc maki ultimately had to leave her behind

hate to say it but yea,, the 3 clans most likely still practice inbreeding in order to preserve their power and presumably their wealth too 😀

i had an idle thought abt it at first but i filed it deep in the back of my mind asap,, bc i ont wanna jump to conclusion abt this out of all things too early. it’s probably not even in jjk, but all those elite clans in other ani/mangas that produce powerful heirs and whatnot also do the same,,, but this way of (my personal) thinking was influenced when i first got into tsukihime (type-moon),,, i read abt the nanaya family background and found out that they practice that in order to keep their bloodline “pure” (to keep it short : they have an optical power),, and i had this kind of assumption ever since so there’s that

i’m,, convinced the zenins' inbreeding made it more difficult for them to get powerful shamans bc they got 2 jujutsu technique-less children with heavenly restrictions in the same generation: toji & maki

even more convinced that maki might be a bit stronger than toji bc toji could see curses without aid while maki can't so the pay-off must be higher,,, SJJASN IDK ,,, plus naoya sort of implies his older brothers are nothing compared to him, and idk if we should take that as his arrogance or that his older brothers rly are weak/powerless. it would make sense as to why naobito had a lot of sons, ig, as head of clan

i feel so bad that if one of the factors that can caused heavenly restriction is inbreeding,, toji and maki and mai had no say in how they wanted to be born but are scorned for it,, typical asian families projecting their traumas and ideals onto their kids but get mad when they realize that those ideals are ugly...😁😁😁

since the zenin are conservative,, i wonder if they still hold onto old jpnese dining traditions. where in ancient jpn, hierarchical relationships were made readily apparent even within families. a dining table where everybody sat down and ate as equals would be unheard of. rather, each individual is given their own table that indicates their status,,, someone who is not considered “strong” according to the zenin’s views most likely have no place at the table, and probs eat when those who are “strong” finished/ serve them when they are eating

if toji was tossed into a swarm of curses,, i dont think abuse during said time is below them,,,

the zenin clan was already great, but they further amassed power and strength by, what i assume to be, marrying and adopting powerful individuals into the clan 🤔 ,,, i imagine they're like the hiiragi but without doing what they did to shinya (ons reference)

BUT after all that, i like to think that since akutami’s a big horror fan, jjk might be an outlet to explore said topics or even darker ones, so i wouldnt be that surpised abt it. given that there’s more than enough “red flags” before this was dropped : a reference to “tale of hikaru genji” when a grown woman asked for gojou’s number in HI arc (out of all things); granny who transformed into the man’s daughter, sat on his lap and man just touched her waist; mei mei and ui ui ; and...this (incestous theme is in the novel btw)

lets not start with whatever the fuck in kubo’s head in the interview otherwise i’m writing paragraphs with every curse words possible,, those big 3 mangakas are so— UGH,, a planet w out (cis) men like him sounds real good rn 😌 if one of yall out there decide to do it,, pls hmu rly cant do this shit anymore

akutami said i like my men pretty and i like women who will step on my neck and spit in my face (I REMEMBERED TATSUKI FUJIMOTO’S INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABT MAKIMA AND IT WAS SO 😭😭😭😭) but ykw,, love that for both of them <3

when i said 3 : one piece, bleach, naruto. aside from the blatant depiction/ characterize of women in those 3,, idk if some ppl arent aware yet but oda is friends with two (2) convicted pedos,, man...the major disappointment and disgust when i first find out abt it

anyways this is just my 2 cents (which i think rightfully belong to the trash can) so pls just take this w a lil to no grain of salt - 🐱

YEAH THE ♡ LMFAO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A “good answer ♡“ heart BUT NOW IM RE-EXAMINING?????

honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if the three clans practiced inbreeding. but ik people are going to be  😡😡😡😡😡 about it when the queen of fucking england is literally married to her (something) cousin. i’m not justifying it but like....love the double standards, just as always with the west 😍

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING PED* LIST THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN JAIL. JAILLLLL. it’s all so gross. that’s why i fucking hate when people look towards manga for positive representation because the chances of that are super slim to zero, especially since the industry is saturated with misogyny and ped******* and a lot of other gross stuff.

i think ppl forget jjk is a horror manga LOL so obviously it’s going to confront darker themes. the question is whether it’s going to be done tastefully or not......

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

important question that's been bugging me for a while. since hypmic plays in a female powered society.. does that make everything like..our world but reverse? so that guys are more often oppressed and girls are more likely to be predators, taking what happened to hifumi (like men are more likely to us) and stuff like that? (or like if we imagine everything genderbent and apply our society to that) sorry I hope this is not too triggering. love your work!

This is a delicate question. I am going to put my answer below a cut. Topics included: sexual predators, misogyny, assault, kidnapping, the mistreatment of male sexual assault victims

I don’t think that I’m necessarily the best person to answer this or examine this. I’m not educated enough in this particular topic. However, I have tried to give it as much thought and respect as I can.

The Question of Female Predators

This is a very complex topic. Female predators are already not uncommon in the world we live in, so I guess the question of whether there would be more or less female predators depends on what factors contribute to people becoming a predator.

I could be entirely wrong about this, but I think one factor that causes a lot of fear of being preyed upon is the size difference between most AMAB people and AFAB people. Obviously, there are millions of exceptions to this rule, but AMAB people generally tend to be taller, more muscular, and broader than AFAB people. The majority of AMAB people are also men (whereas the majority of AFAB people are women), so on average, an altercation between an untrained man and an untrained woman is not likely to end in the woman’s favor. This isn’t going to change in the world of Hypnosis Mic.

It’s the societal factors that would change. The Center for Hope and Safety says, “A sexual offender generally believes he is better than other people and so does not have to follow the rules that ordinary people do.” This is a stance the Party of Words elevates. The Party constantly practices “othering” and promotes themselves as an elite group. Only they are allowed to enter a certain area. Only they are allowed to write the name of their ward in kanji, whereas every other location must use the foreign-looking katakana. ARB events frequently feature Party members shoving characters around from place to place with no explanation, as questions are not allowed. Only the Party can know what’s going on. Using this as a guideline, I think it’s very possible for predators already within the Party to use this as an excuse for being a predator. “Men are worthless, so I can abuse them.”

You could argue that the Party is founded on the principles of safety for women and non-violence, but the Party is also very hypocritical. Its promises of safety are only for the party itself; it puts on painful gladiator battles to turn a profit and purposefully cause infighting to keep the Party safe. Ramuda even suggests (and I have no reason to disbelieve him) in TDD 12 that they have a stockpile of weapons as well. The Party doesn’t care for anything but itself and staying in power.

So yes, predators within the Party are probably more likely to abuse their power, but would the shift towards a female-dominated society create more female predators? That’s a much harder question to answer. I am not remotely equipped to speak on what causes someone to become a predator. I do, however, think that societal norms can enable predators or foster mindsets of fright against certain groups.

In the world that we live in, it is very possible for men in certain areas to sexually assault or otherwise mistreat a woman and be applauded by their communities. Think of online communities such as “The Red Pill” or “Men Going Their Own Way”. Such communities believe that women deserve this mistreatment, and while these are very extreme examples, this same mindset permeates a lot of global societies. Even on a small scale, a lot of men tend to make casual sexist comments because we were raised with the notion of this being socially appropriate. And there’s the issue - it’s inappropriate, but it’ll continue to be socially appropriate as long as we don’t continue to challenge ourselves, challenge our friends, and raise our children with better standards of accountability and respect. These social changes do not happen in the blink of an eye, and I highly doubt that a single three years with the Party of Words in power would change that.

Similarly, a lot of girls in our societies are taught (both consciously and subconsciously) to defer to their male peers or even to fear men in positions of power. Once again, unlearning this and teaching future generations more positive standards does not happen overnight. I doubt that most women in the Hypmic universe are able to make radical shifts of thinking and acting over the course of three years. Furthermore, I doubt that many men are really taking the Party’s misandristic words to heart. None of the main characters seem particularly bothered by Ichijiku calling them barbarous fools on the regular; it’s an annoyance, sure, but that’s it. We’d have to see the Party in power for a much longer time to witness any large societal changes.

Additionally, the world inside Chuuouku and the world without are quite different. While Chuuouku boasts state-of-the-art architecture and technology, the rest of Japan gets by like normal, if perhaps in a bit shabbier fashion than to be expected for this futuristic world. Men and women seem to still fit into stereotypical gender roles in much the same way that they do today. Doppo’s bosses are all men; the majority of doctors we see are men, and the nurses tend to be women. While some of Jirou’s female classmates seem to be especially assertive, male and female students get along in the same way as we would expect to see in our world. Women are still kidnapped and trafficked by primarily male yakuza. The former military looks to be exclusively made up of men. Progress moves slowly, so I think we can assume that the Japan outside of Chuuouku is approximately our modern Japan.

One of the major issues in examining this topic is that we see so little female-male interaction in regards to sex or romance. Ramuda and Hifumi are the only characters (that I can think of off the top of my head) who have any on-screen sexually/romantically charged interactions with women, but probably because this is a series largely marketed towards women, these interactions never go beyond light, impersonal flirting. To really take a look at how predators and assault may be featured in the Hypmic universe, we would need a much larger sample size. That being said, I’d still like to examine two case studies: Nemu and Hifumi.

Nemu

The two driving forces of Nemu’s character are her rejection of violence and her desire to have personal strength. The first of these is probably rooted in her childhood, from living with an abusive father, witnessing his violent murder, and witnessing the subsequent suicide of her mother. Samatoki doesn’t appear to have any resources for dealing with his own processing of these events, and he turns to violence and emotional outbursts as a way to channel his feelings. This violence continues to wear on Nemu, but she can still withstand it under normal circumstances up until the moment she is kidnapped.

Nemu cites her kidnapping as an example of her weakness, when in reality, it is an exhibition of anything but weakness. She remains calm throughout the entire ordeal, comforts Jirou and Saburou and keeps them hopeful, throws her shoe at Genchou, and offers him to cut her fingers off if that means the others will be spared. Nemu isn’t weak – she is a hero. She is a seventeen year old girl who lost both parents at a young age and has witnessed horrifically traumatic situations, yet she keeps her head during a hostage situation and acts with courage in order to keep everyone else safe.

Nemu calls herself weak not because she thinks she’s weak for anything she did during the situation, but because the situation happened to her in the first place. She is victim blaming herself for violent assault. This isn’t a logical position, but it’s a very understandable position for someone with her background. Unfortunately, Samatoki doesn’t have the knowledge or resources in order to help her process her trauma safely, and his own coping mechanisms only set her off further.

Nemu isn’t mentally weak, but she is very emotionally vulnerable. Even without the Party’s hypnosis, an offer from the Party would be too tantalizing to ignore. They can promise her a world in which suddenly she has the power over everyone else and where violence is not practiced. An offer like this is impossible for her to ignore. Even though the Party are the ones putting her in jeopardy again, they implicitly promise her that she can never be hurt again. For a young, brave, powerful girl holding in so much pain, that promise is everything she’s ever wanted.

As mentioned before, the Party doesn’t care about stopping violence. In fact, it encourages infighting among its civilians. If Nemu were not in an emotionally vulnerable position, she could see that and reject the Party’s offer, but that’s exactly why the Party targets her and not any of her peers. Imagine how many other young girls in similar situations fall prey to the same trap. These girls need healing and positive environments, but they are fed propaganda instead.

Hifumi

I don’t talk about this much because it’s a very uncomfortable subject for me, but the way Hifumi is depicted is a real tragedy.

We don’t know the details of what this particular girl did to Hifumi, but we do know that it continues to impact him over ten years later. We know that Hifumi developed his coping strategy on his own, seemingly without professional help, and that without it, he can’t begin to live even an approximation of a normal life. The illustrations of him encountering a woman show him hiding, cowering with his neck covered, or crying. He looks to be in genuine fear of losing his life. Consider being this afraid of half of the population and how frequently he must encounter women in his daily life: on the street, in the grocery store, on public transportation. Without the jacket, Hifumi’s life is a nightmare.

And yet the canon source material frames it as a joke. The humurous background music in ARB and Hifumi’s exaggerated gestures in the manga show that his fear and discomfort is a punchline. This would definitely not be a funny gag with the genders reversed (a woman sobbing in fear and running away every time she sees a man), so it is a travesty that this is the stance the authors continue to take.

The world we live in is, generally speaking, not kind to its male assault victims. Misogynistic attitudes create an environment in which it is shameful for men to admit that they were assaulted, especially by women. It should not be a punchline when one human being hurts another, and it is wrong and sexist beyond all belief to perpetuate the idea that women can’t be cruel, violent, and manipulative just as much as anyone else can.

I would like to hope that Hifumi’s case isn’t indicative of all Hypmic universe male assault victims, but I don’t think that’s the case. Hifumi definitely has access to mental health resources, considering that his roommate does, but there is no evidence that Hifumi has ever come forward to ask for help about this issue. This is probably a combination of Hifumi’s internal shame and an unsupportive environment. While Doppo does help Hifumi navigate daily life around women, Doppo’s facial expressions suggest he considers the matter a nuisance. He threatens to take away or withhold the suit when Hifumi’s coping method annoys him, and otherwise doesn’t seem to take Hifumi’s distress seriously. Jakurai appears to be more supportive, but he doesn’t ever offer additional help or resources to Hifumi beyond what Hifumi already has. In fact, the majority of Jakurai’s interest in the subject seems to be around examining Hifumi like a case rather than as a person needing assistance.

It’s also probably a result of the faux macho attitudes that are rampant within the Hypmic universe. Hypmic men are bound by a multitude of ridiculous expectations that I always feel like an idiot translating. “Men don’t cry.” “Men don’t get stuck feeling disappointed.” Absolute nonsense. Men can and will do anything, just like any other group of people. It’s far more productive to encourage men to be their best selves, respectful and helpful to themselves and everyone else, than to feed into this sort of behavior which implies the hideously false “men can’t be assaulted”.

This all results in Hifumi living a double life and only being able to remove his façade in the safety of his own apartment or with his two friends. That’s a miserable existence, and while Hifumi appears to be cheerful enough, it’s sickening to see that this is supposed to be comedic.

The Question of Male Oppression

The Party of Words does institute laws to oppress men, but this oppression is fairly ridiculous. Yotsutsuji says that men are taxed at a higher rate than women and that men aren’t allowed into certain areas (such as Chuuouku, I presume). Despite these challenges, the majority of Hypmic universe men seem to lead pretty normal lives. As mentioned above, the professional fields still appear to be dominated by men, and male-on-female violence doesn’t seem much different from how it is in our contemporary world. These laws aren’t making a significant change in male lives, so they must be made to impact women. Yet these are token impacts only, as they don’t in any way actually make the lives for non-Chuuouku women any better. By making this an “us against them” deal, the Party is able to make more women sympathetic to their cause and cause more infighting (thus distracting people from “us against the Party”) without actually having to make positive changes for anyone.

These laws also aren’t the reason why rebel groups exist. Consider the motivations each character gives in TDD 11. Ichirou mentions a lack of central law and regulations making it difficult to keep loved ones safe. The infighting that the Party promotes via its rap battles allows for power-hungry individuals like Mozuku to take over whole areas and instate whatever rules they want, no matter the cost to the citizens. Samatoki is frustrated by being directed to fight when he can’t see a good cause; similarly, Ramuda is concerned about the effects of the fighting on the neighborhoods they pass through. Even with non-lethal weapons, a country in constant conflict is not one in which its citizens can prosper. Jakurai is concerned about inequalities between Chuuouku and the rest of the country. He mentions in FP/M 15 (which we’ll have up in a few days for you to see for yourself) that he’ll use the prize money from winning the DRB to provide medical care for locations that the Party can’t or won’t supply with aid. Later in the chapter, he drives away from the spectacular, futuristic city of Chuuouku back into a Tokyo marked with graffiti and squalor. Even the male citizens don’t care about how they’re treated as compared to their female counterparts; they care that everyone is suffering together under the Party’s poor governing.

The Party has never sought to oppress men and elevate women. The Party’s goal is to elevate itself and oppress everyone else. The gender inequality is as much of a diversionary tactic as the Division Rap Battle.

[yekistraight]

Hey, could you explain what being a feminist means? I’ve heard all these terms before, and there’s this huge stigma around it. So do you think there’s a way you could clarify at least what your beliefs are, and what you believe it to be? I’m simply trying to study stuff and see what it’s become or is. Thank you.

Sorry I wrote so much i just wanted to make it comprehensive:

General definition of feminist is someone who believes in the socio-economic equality of the sexes. In the beginning this was a straightforward ideology to follow. Women needed to be equal to men. It’s only fair, there’s no reason not to be. But sharing power is not something the ruling majority particularly enjoys so there’s been some bumps in the road. Decades and decades of bumps.

The feminists of the past started this push a long time ago with one message: “we want to be taken seriously, we are humans too and we need rights that benefit us and protect us from you[men]” and they were right. Sex based crimes against women were happening at an alarming rate. So much so that it had become part of some cultures and traditions, meaning it would be defended and men would be protected while women basically died, physically and socially. Women lived in fear and helplessness, being sold a dream of subservience promoted by religion and ego in exchange for protection from men. What about the women that still, despite the odds, wanted to choose a different path? Well, they were brave enough to step out of line and others followed. They exist throughout history, inspiring other women will their bravery and confidence, proving that it was possible to have the power and authority that men had. Now imagine giving every woman that access to power? They’d have everything right? Well feminism didn’t start like that (it was racially exclusive actually) but fortunately the ideologies spread out through cities, across oceans and into continents where women wanted, no, NEEDED such power; the power to change their destinies that had been set upon them by another mere human being.

So feminism is like a sisterhood, where we’re only related by a common goal to protect each other while trying to defeat our common enemy. Here’s where the simplistic ideology begins to mutate based on strategy and cultural progression.

Feminism is a sisterhood, but not a monolith. There’s been different waves (eras) of feminism where each sisterhood used different tactics to achieve their goals for equality. Its like making a new checklist after the old one gets checked off. However there’s been one item that still needs a lot of work before ticking off and that’s dismantling gender roles. Gender roles are the root cause of every.single.thing. Toxic masculinity, performative femininity. Gender roles were created to control humans and keep them in their place. For a feminist to push her way into male dominated spaces, she must first acknowledge that gender roles have been constructed to work against her and break through it. So take note, everything is the way it is because of gender roles.

In this era, the sisterhood has been split into two major groups, two warring tribes if you will: libfems and radfems.

Liberal Feminists accept everyone. They use the tactic of assimilation, where they water down feminist ideologies to make it inclusive for everyone. They follow the lead of oppressed minorities who reclaimed slurs and instead reclaim methods tused to oppress women that past waves of feminists fought to dismantle. Remember what I said about gender roles? These women are bringing it back and think they’re reclaiming it. How do you reclaim something that hasn’t been dismantled yet?The only power they’re concerned with is the feeling of superiority that comes from thinking bowing down to the patriarchy is their idea. Their feminism tackles issues like rape, victim blaming and misogyny, things that affect them personally, while taking on the burden of other marginalised groups as their own, pushing their own goals to the backseat while feeling a self-righteous high. Basically, they’re activists who have lost the plot but would keep pushing blindly than admit it. The second group was born from libfems that wanted more than a feel good pat on the back from the patriarchy for not being too interfering.

Radical feminists are still following the original objective of their predecessors. They still have their eyes open to sex-based oppression and are aware there’s still a lot of work to be done. They don’t put the opposite sex’s needs above their own or let other group’s ideologies influence theirs and because of this, other groups as well as libfems have dubbed them as enemies to progress. Ironic isn’t it? The group that still fights for sexual equality has been silenced by none other than their own. Of course hatred for this group of feminists didn’t come out of nowhere. Radfems and their female-only values are presumed to hurt trans women, as trans women are biologically male and don’t have the same sex based experiences as biological women. Trans activists took these as transphobic fighting words and ostracised radfems, silencing them and their ideologies, claiming that everything they fought for was an attack against the trans community. Conservative americans also share some radfem values, basically the one on keeping the movement focused on female only issues, and because the right is notoriously bigoted (ironic because conservatives are the ones who uphold the gender roles feminists fight against so a conservative feminist is paradoxical) this is enough to tell people that radfems can’t be trusted. That they’re all racist, transphobic white supremacists. Because all groups that share similar ideologies are bad. The public, not wanting to be on the Unpopular Opinion side of history, shifted away and further pushed radfems into the background while libfems and their blind acceptance values were hailed as the patron saints of feminism.

So what feminism was and what it is now are vastly different. It started as a movement in different countries with different goals, then it graduated and took on more serious topics. It was like a game where every level gets tougher to prepare you for that last boss, the one who holds all the power you need to physically change your reality.

Today in the year 2021, young girls are being told that it’s feminist to enjoy selling their bodies for money. That it’s the same as working in a mine (a common comparative statement). That it’s feminist to look as womanly as the gender roles men created dictate. That it’s feminist to watch porn and be happy your romantic partner watches it to; this means you’re sexually liberated. Grown women go to Tiktok full of minors in the style of pimps to show off stacks of money they’ve made from pleasing men. They say “i did it because i wanted to and so should you”. Minors are all over twitter trying to lure men with financial dominatrix tags. They can’t wait till they become legal to start selling their nude bodies to men. They were told it would make them feel powerful. People who are skeptical are shamed into silence, because the popular crowd is always in control and no one wants to be the odd one out.

Now compare that to women who spend time researching horrifying news of sexual violence still happening today. Women still having to sell themselves to survive in 2021 is a clear indicator that we’re still not taken seriously. Sex buying, pimping and displaying women as commodities is the reason little girls are being stolen off the streets and shipped off to a disgusting dreg who think he’s owed sexual satisfaction.

Radfems want to end child sex trafficking, sex slavery, wedding night virginity checks, honour killings, femicide, sewing up little girls vaginas to avoid them exploring their sexuality before their wedding night and bring attention to way more hardcore shit being run by top dogs who are cooperating with the old powers that influence the governments.

Whose side do you think the media will be on? Whose side is worth not risking ruffling feathers?

Feminism has become many things now. You can choose the one that reminds you of the cruelty of man or the one that creates a comfortable fantasy of false empowerment while women’s violence continues. Both get stigmatised anyway.

If it wasn’t obvious already, I’m a radical feminist.

I’m an autistic radfem living in a backwards country where the lgbt community can’t thrive so there’s no pride parades, no trans movement, nothing that can be publicised anyway. I can’t create a fantasy where everything works because nothing works. Women are dying around me everyday for being female, my best friend is trapped with an abusive father who hates her for being a female firstborn (something babies get killed for), I’m not worthy of basic respect without a husband, a poor woman from a muslim state gets death threats from her fellow muslims for wearing a backless top while a rich married one gets praised and women can’t apply for anything important without a man’s permission.

Now why on earth would i want to pamper the gender that made and uphold those laws? The battle here is still greatly a battle of the sexes. Despite this stale level of progress, our movement, like many others have allies. Male allies are great, allies are great, we need them to push buttons yes but also remember they can never fully understand what we feel. All they can do is try their best to help and in return we give them acknowledgement and support; so no we’re not supposed to be misandrists or transphobes. We just hate anyone who uplifts what we and our ancestors have been fighting to destroy.

That’s all

[datesoma]

                   Why you should get into Black Clover.

I know some people are undecided on whether or not they should give Black Clover a try, so I came up with a list of reasons why they might like the series, and why I think it’s worth the time. If you have any to add, feel free to!

1. Asta is an amazing protagonist. He was born without magic in a world where everyone had it to the point that the only means of transportation are magic-based (spatial magic, brooms that you have to feed your mana to etc), and as an orphan in one of Clover’s outskirt villages to boot. Yet Asta worked hard every day anyway, and through his own efforts became the 2nd physically strongest character after Yami. Because of this, he got a Grimoire from which (so far) three swords can emerge, and which allowed him into the Magic Knights. Asta’s main sword cannot be held by anyone else both because of its massive weight (which Asta can easily endure because of his physical training), and because the sword sucks the person’s mana out of them (which doesn’t affect Asta since he has no mana).

Despite always seeming cheerful and headstrong though, Asta actually suffers from deep-seated insecurities and depression. Being the only person without magic in the world, he was subjected to ridicule, discrimination and comparisons ever since he was a young child; and in the beginning of the story he almost had his breaking point, had it not been for Yuno’s words helping him get back up, which is when he swore to never come close to giving up again, as well as made sure that his personal issues wouldn’t interfere with his self-image and relationships.

Asta also tries to understand his enemies, where they come from and what drove them to act that way, as well as tries to help them. He doesn’t like going straight into the fighting, and would much rather settle it verbally, since that wouldn’t result in any casualties. He values life, and doesn’t want to see others throw theirs away for something that could be easily resolved with words; so every time one of his enemies dies of their own volition, Asta is shaken by their actions. He also has respect for most of his enemies, and was even seen picking flowers and putting them at the enemy’s grave while being saddened by their death, even though he had no obligation to.

However, Asta does want to hold bad people accountable for their actions instead of symphatizing with their backstory right off the bat. He will understand their motivations, but if they’ve already done the evil deed, they’ll have to deal with the consequences and make sure they’ll never do anything like it again. Like I hinted above, by “consequences” I don’t mean death. Asta never stands for the death sentence, and instead tells his enemies that they’ll have to spend their lives making up to the people they’ve hurt, both by serving time in prison, and by apologizing and outright helping others. After they atone for their sins, Asta is also wholeheartedly fine with becoming friends with them and helping them be better.

Asta is a truly inspiring and refreshing character, and has come to be one of my favorite characters of all time, even though I don’t usually fall for the protagonists. He’s humane, kind and has a certain charm that drags you in; and he’s per overall a feel-good character who motivates you to be your best self.

2. Black Clover has the best fleshed out female characters in all of Shounen so far, and they’re not sexualized. It was made obvious in the latest popularity poll, where we had 5 women and 5 men in the top 10. The only issue I’ve seen from the fandom regarding Black Clover’s female characters is that “they all have a crush on someone”, but that’s wrong. Black Clover has some great female characters that don’t have anything to do with crushes and romance, and the most striking example is Mereoleona. Other than her, we also have Theresa, Puli, Dorothy, Fragil, Nebra, Grey, Mariella, Kahono, Charla, Elf Fana and the Witch Queen.

Noelle may have a crush on Asta, but it’s not her defining trait. She has her own personal issues that stem from her backstory, and she works through them as the story progresses. She gets plenty of character development, and a lot of screentime. The anime tends to exaggerate her crush on Asta for the giggles, but the manga handles it pretty well. Mimosa, Charlotte and Charmy are all strong women whose crushes only come in second place to their actual parts in the story. Their crushes aren’t there solely for the trope either, since they serve as one of the girls’ motivations to get stronger.

To top it off, the women fight on equal grounds with the men, and some of them are even stronger than the best male fighters in the series. Mereoleona for one, is done so well that even the men watching the show had to admit she’s probably stronger than Yami, who is one of the strongest people in the entire series, Asta’s mentor and one of the fandom’s favorites.

As for the sexualization, there have been three instances in over 200 chapters that I can think of, one of which was in the anime and I am fairly sure Tabata didn’t even want to add them in (I’ve read a post once that said Shounen Jump probably has an agenda of a minimum amount of fanservice they push onto all their authors, and it’d make sense if it's true).

3. Yuno is different from the typical Shounen rival in a refreshing way, the rivalries shown in Black Clover are generally healthy and the show makes a point of showing you’re always stronger when you’re supported by and working alongside your friends. Yuno doesn’t “turn evil” & isn’t on bad terms with Asta; instead, he’s supportive and genuinely wishes for Asta to thrive and become his best self. Their rivalry is based on mutual respect, friendship and trust, and they’ve known and lived with each other since their early childhood.

While Yuno does encompass the “gifted kid” trope, he never once thought he was better than Asta, and instead of gloating about his magic, he continued to work hard magic-wise and physically (which many wizards tend not to, especially the gifted ones). He holds similar values as Asta, and wishes to become the Wizard King to make the country more accepting, equal and overall a better place. Because of this, the end of Yuno and Asta’s rivalry could go either way, since both of them deserve the title of Wizard King, and there’s no way to tell which one of them will become the Wizard King for sure, even though Asta is considered the main protagonist (I sure hope Asta will, though).

Other important rivalries are Luck and Magna’s, two misfits who prank but nonetheless still respect each other and who would go to amazing heights to make sure the other is alright; Asta, Yuno and Leopold’s, which helped Leopold grow; and Nozel and Fuegoleon’s, who have a slightly more tense rivalry, but who have competed since their childhood and who care for each other despite some of their moments of animosity.

The Black Bulls are a prime example of the found family trope, and their relationships with each other played major parts in each of their character stories.

4. Black Clover deals with several issues we also face. One of the main themes of the show is classism, and the way the poor and the disabled struggle in the corrupt system made by the rich and abled. Despite being orphans from the country’s outskirts (meaning one of the poorest places with the least amount of magic in the entire kingdom) Asta and Yuno’s goal is to attain the title of Wizard King, who is the strongest and most beloved wizard in the entire kingdom. To do so, they have to gain the citizens’ support and approval, and tear down the walls that oppress the poor and uplift the rich; but because of several centuries of discrimination, most royalty and nobles believe they are superior to the peasants, and that’s painstakingly clear from the moment Asta and Yuno leave their village and head for the more noble-populated cities.

Family problems and abuse are present in a good chunk of the Black Bulls’ stories, but the blame is never put on the victims. Instead, each of them gets their own arc in which they deal with their trauma, and it’s all handled well. Their issues don’t magically stop in their respective arcs either, but rather that’s the starting point of the change.

There are also several instances thorough the show that deal with suicide (mostly from the enemy’s side), as well as Asta’s great distaste of it and attempts to stop his enemies from killing themselves for their cause. Asta’s speeches on this topic are always positive and motivational, and I like reading them since they make me feel better, too.

Another shared issue is the racism, which also delves further into genocide. I won’t say too much as to not spoil it for those of you who will read/watch Black Clover, but this theme is related to the humans and the elves.

5. On that note, there are several races in the Black Clover universe that we know of so far. They are the humans, who the series is mainly focused on; the elves, who play a very big part of the show’s first saga; the devils and the dwarves. It’s likely that we’ll also get introduced to more races as the story goes on, and so far all of them have been done nicely.

6. The art style of the manga is stunning and the anime is also getting good. Per overall, I’d say the manga has the better aesthetics, but the anime does come in clutch with some of the fights (a couple of them were also extended in the anime, which was great; and Black Clover is known for its use of different animation styles in fights), while the music also helps add a certain feeling to the scenes that didn’t hit so hard in the manga. The Black Clover anime’s openings and endings are by far one of the best in all of anime. Even if you don’t plan to watch the show, you should definitely watch those. Currently we have 8 ops & eds, and they’re all bops. They’re one of the many reasons why Black Clover has become famous, anime-wise. 

Also, since I’ve seen a lot of complaints about Asta’s voice in the earlier episodes, it does get much better. The VA was new so his voice acting wasn’t too good, but it’s really come a long way since and it now fits Asta’s character perfectly. You should give it at least ten episodes before you make an opinion on whether to continue or drop the anime version (although I’d say it gets really good after thirty).

7. The series lets you choose what kind of pace you want. If you’re into faster paces, then the manga’s the perfect fit for you. Some people complained that the story moves too fast in the manga, but I personally like it. If you’re into slower paces, you can try checking out the anime. Since Black Clover’s an ongoing anime rather than one split into seasons, Studio Pierrot had to try and stall for time so the anime wouldn’t close in on the manga too soon; meaning the original content got stretched over a couple episodes, but nothing too bad.

8. Black Clover doesn’t have many fillers. People complain that it does, but it doesn’t. As of right now (ep. 96), there have been 5 purely filler episodes, out of which some were recap episodes. Other episodes have had some filler mixed into them, but it’s not obvious and it does add well to the story. We also got Yuno’s first mission (ep. 13) and the Light Novels animated (ep. 55-56 & 85-86), and those are to be considered canon.

9. The mystery of Asta and Yuno’s backstory pre-canon. The series takes a different approach with the protagonists’ backstory, and instead of telling us everything outright, it only shows Asta and Yuno as babies, left at the door of a church in Hage village at around the same time, 15 years prior to the story. At the time, they only had their names written on their clothes, and Yuno also had a necklace. Right now, we still don’t know who their parents are, what were the circumstances of their birth, if they’re blood related or not, and how come they were both left in the exact same spot, nor why there out of all places. I’m assuming this will be important later on in the series, since one of the arcs has already teased a possibility that was denied by the end of said arc.

10. The story mainly takes place in the Clover Kingdom, but there are three others that will become a focus later on. Diamond Kingdom, a hostile country that deals with black magic, human experimentation and wars; Heart Kingdom, a neutral country rich of mana that prefers to remain unseen and whose citizens use an unique style of magic; and Spade Kingdom, the most massive of the four, and also supposedly a militant country of winter. So far in the story we have learned several bits about the Diamond Kingdom, while the information on Heart and Spade is still very new and brief. This does for a nice change of settings. 

Also, since I’ve brought up the ‘unique style of magic’, Black Clover has a great power system, based on the elements and their subtypes, and even the most bland-sounding magic you never even thought of, can do wonders.

11. Black Clover is a funny show and it has various types of humor. Not only does it have comedic relief, like with Sekke, Yami and Gordon, but in the anime we also get Petit Clover, which is a short and usually amusing chibi-styled moment at the end of each episode. This was derived from the manga’s omakes in the same style and I’m guessing it had some success, since earlier in the year we also got an entire Petit Clover-styled series, named Mgyutto! Black Clover.

I’m a fan of both the manga and the anime, so I’d recommend reading and watching the series, but it’s fine no matter which you choose, and I hope I convinced at least some of you to get into this great show!

Credits for some of the points: 1, 2 (spoilers), 3 (spoilers), 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

[gayregis]

which characters are trans this is a scientific inquiry

all of them except vilgefortz and leo bonhart

ok ok jokes, ill go more in depth... some of this is taken from things ive written before but not posted. also for anyone reading this im non bee nary so know that im not trying to describe the experiences of different identities in first-person, i’m basing this off of both my own and my friends’ experiences... none of this is “OMG YES CHARACTER ANGST >:))” but rather depicting personal struggles in fictional characters, so just know that  the more difficult subjects that may be covered are not there just to see the character in pain, but rather to think about their eventual resilience against it and development afterwards

for geralt and yennefer i have more specific reasons why i think being transgender actually fits with their canonical characters & related story arcs, and then for the rest i have headcanons and maybe some reasoning but not a lot.

geralt: geralt already represents how a struggle with toxic masculinity and expectations of masculinity can influence one who wants to be seen as masculine to deny and bury their emotions. him being trans develops upon the aspect of his struggle with emotions, ive seen my friends who are transmasculine / myself when i used to ID as transmasculine struggle with showing emotions bc of feeling like you’re going to be misgendered if you shed a single tear. in canon, we already learn that kaer morhen has a bit of a macho culture (just fyi eskel and lambert and coen are trans too now, don’t go getting any idea that those guys are cis) and i believe that the “witchers have no emotions” thing is like 5% actual biology and 95% being raised to fight and not to feel. vesemir is a good father but he just wasn’t very emotionally nurturing, it’s the caste’s way of raising kids that geralt breaks out of.

i think geralt’s self-image also speaks a lot to the feelings of harsh internal transphobia. he constantly others himself from others and feels like people view him as different, which is metaphorical for any marginalized group under the sun, but also is very common for lgbt ppl. again this is smth ive really struggled with within the past few years so im just projecting/know what it feels like and feel that how geralt sees himself in canon is similar to a view suffering from internalized transphobia.

geralt's character already redefines manhood because he has to learn what it means to be a good father. and i think him being trans would be representative of his constant learning and growth as a person, yet also somewhat involved with his self loathing and feeling like just Him Existing is an affront ... but of course he unlearns this with time and love from others and all of his character development

yennefer: yennefer’s whole backstory revolves around defining who she is and defying the people who mistreated her and told her she was nothing. canonically yennefer of vengerberg is the story of the successful self-made woman... her life as janka she would rather forget, no one calls her by that name, and no one ever would because its not who she is nor who i think she ever was. 

shes incredibly strong-willed and knows what she wanted from life but some things are terrifying to reach out for, like love and acceptance. yennefer has a conflict with love and being loved because that was never a safe topic for her ... (also sapkowski handled this specifically poorly imo, but:) yennefer canonically struggles with being loved for who she is. i think she deals so much with her previous abuse and again, expectations from parents, and coming to terms with the fact that she survived it all. also this isnt even touching upon her arc regarding motherhood. wanting to give a child your everything and everything that you never had... the love and kindness that no one gave you...

ciri: ciri hesitated to ever identify with “girl” or “boy,” she’s also i think the representation of childhood in general, she’s naturally curious about gender presentation as she ages and just never really cares to commit to gender. i think she’d say she was a girl but only reluctantly bc she just doesn’t care much.

dandelion: [from his TV Tropes page:]

he’s an artist and a musician, he’s not gonna be cishet...

ok in a more serious context i think he’s a nonbinary guy, i think him being trans might explain why he has way more friendships than relationships with family members. dandelion, like yennefer, is also someone that had to define who he was for himself, i mean for one his stage persona of dandelion is entirely an artist’s creation/hyperbole of himself, i think he also had to think abt his inner identity too

his gender is also just “your friend that comes to your house and eats all ur chips and drinks all ur beer and passes out on top of you on the couch”

milva: ok unfortunately i currently think milva is the token non-trans friend (she’s nonbinary just doesnt think of herself as trans) but it’s only because her major arc in baptism of fire revolves around her pregnancy and miscarriage and just bc she is not trans doesn’t mean she doesn’t go through her own difficult struggling process surrounding her womanhood. she struggles enormously throughout the series and in her backstory with defining herself between two rigid identities: the feminine maria and the cutthroat milva. in her talk with geralt, she reveals how she feels trapped between these two identities and feels like they cannot coexist. i feel like she’s a nonbinary/gender non-conforming butch* lesbian whose struggles with sexuality intersect her struggles with gender and what it means to her to be a gnc woman. also you have to consider that milva was raised in a small village in lower sodden so she understood gender in the very strict roles ascribed to men and women, so she felt like she couldn’t be a woman unless she was this very traditional idea of what a woman is “supposed to be like,” which she’s both been trying to shape herself to be and also running away from simultaneously. she learns to accept herself within the hansa bc they love and support her for who she is, and she doesn’t need to be strictly feminine or masculine to be understood by them

* i know the terms nonbinary and gnc and butch didn’t exist in the 1260s tyvm, i’m just saying this as how i interpret her in a modern context

regis: gender is a human sociological construct so basically don’t ask him unless you’re prepared to listen for 20 minutes. vampires can exist noncorporeally so they can exist without gender, also i hc the telepathic vampiric language is nongendered as it’s a transmission of pure thought, will, and force, so it doesn’t even use any grammar. i also hc that vampires just appear the way they feel in terms of appearance and age (e.g., regis at around 300 when he died still looked 25 bc he was as stupid as a 25 year old, now he’s calmer and understands more, so he looks middle-aged). when chilling out with humans regis will be referred to as a man bc that’s just how he appears but it’s an identity he had to learn about and adopt, not something he was assigned. most vampires look androgynous anyways bc they just feel androgynous, how are you gonna feel a gender when you don’t know what a gender is... if you HAD to understand him with human labels / put it in a modern context (like if i was making an modern real life AU) i’d say he’s a nonbinary trans man. 

cahir: much like geralt i think cahir’s story is one of living up to expectations, but cahir’s actually takes it a step further because his major motivation in his backstory is trying to prove to his mother that he can be a good son that will make her proud and gain honor for the family... he seeks validation from external sources but faces ruin when he learns that war is not the way to prove one’s prowess and skill

angouleme: shes trans and i simply say so bc shes very cool and funny and i dont think a cis person could be this cool and funny. also i think the story of a runaway teen who was abandoned by her biological family and found solace in a new family is both very good and featured in a lot of trans ppl’s narratives. she kind of exudes this “im finally at a point in my life where i’m safe and cared for, i can start HRT now, let’s gooOOoooOOooo” energy. 

[natsubeatsrock]

“Does Fairy Tail respect women?”

Oh, you celebrated Intermational Men’s Day last year on November 19th, but not International Women’s Day on March 8th? Chauvanist pig!

I remember it like it was a few years ago. I was catching up with the Tartarus arc and Erza was fighting Minerva in her "Nakama hakama". Someone walked in on me watching this part and made a passing remark on how the series doesn’t seem to be respecting to women.

I didn't know how to respond..

And that's weird. Like, given my track record with the series, you'd think I'd able to agree with this sentiment. But I can't fully agree with it, even as I don't fully disagree with it.

If you don't know, I did "reviews" (they were more like reactions) of the chapters in the Alvarez arc when they came out. At first, a rally big complaint I would regularly have with chapters is how female characters are framed in panels. At times, it's obvious that he wants his readers to be aroused by his female characters, rather than try to empathize with them. It got to a point where I got frustrated with it and had to stop making the joke as it was becoming stale to make.

Of course, that's only in how characters are framed. When it comes to the outfits, this becomes a worse issue. It's one thing when the Star dress for the water-themed spirit is a bikini and the maid-themed spirit's dress is a maid outfit. (Someone did a redesign of both and I think that's a bit too much.) But did so many outfits really need boob windows? (Also something, something bikini armor battle damage.)

And don't get me started on certain events. Consider that they didn't walk in on Erza's torture scenes only episodes before. There's plenty of other examples of this kind of thing involving several characters. Especially involving the main female lead of the series to a disturbingly high amount. It's stuff like this that makes it hard for me not to empathize with this sentiment. 

Here’s another fun story. I was on my college campus reading one of the newer chapters of Fairy Tail. When I told my friends that, one of them noted that it sounds like a title for porn. I dismissed the comment, but was kind of embarrased by my inability to defend the series on that aspect. Especially considering I had just finished reading the Christmas special.

At the same time, I feel as though some of the complaints come from the wrong outlook on things. Like, some people will say it's wrong for Lucy and Natsu to not have the same kind of fight results. While I think Lucy could have had better ends to her fights, I don't think it's good to compare the two as they have different functions and character arcs within Fairy Tail. As I often say, Lucy is to Natsu what Dr. Watson is to Sherlock Holmes (or what Robin is to Chrom for the gamers among you).

And to be blunt, some of this has to deal with Hiro Mashima being a writer for a magazine aimed at young boys. Are they interested in female characters with depth and intrigue? I'd like to hope so. But it's not like they wouldn't be turned off by sexy girls, even if they don't have much else to them. (I say that as if I don't know women with similar feelings towards female characters.)

But, that feels wrong to say about the women in Fairy Tail. I mean, Mashima's not the best writer of either male of female characters in shonen, even and almost especially in his chosen niche of battle action shonen series (an aspect of this discussion that I don't think gets enough consideration). But for as many complaints as can be levied against him, I think there is good to be said of how handles his women.

Team Natsu has a male to female ratio that puts its contemporaries to shame. By the fourth arc of the series, the team of two girls, two guys, and Happy is established as the "main group" And once Wendy and Carla join the team, the team balance is more towards female members than male.

And they're by no means just pieces or meat or pretty faces. Wendy is argued to be one of the best-written characters in the series and has one of the most dynamic growths of any member of the main cast. Comparing her during her introduction in Nirvana arc to her during one of her fights in the latter half of the series is near jarring to see. And considering we're on this side of Hero's, the idea that Lucy is weaker than Wendy has been obvious since Tartarus.

But for her part, Lucy's exploits have been criminally underrated by fans and critics alike. Some of my favorites include singlehandedly defeating Love and Lucky, figuring out the second half of the S-Class Exam and coming up with the plans at least partially responsible for defeating Zeref and Acnologia. If we're a bit looser with what counts as a "Lucy accomplishment", she shuts the Eclipse Gate with Yukino, her future self figures out how to defeat the dragons and is responsible for rallying members of Fairy Tail in the anime. Just because she isn't taking out the big bads directly doesn't mean her actions don't move the plot of arcs of effect the main story.

And, then there's that woman, Erza. When the topic of "strong female characters" in anime comes up, I can imagine Erza as the type of character one would think of. They think of the type of female character that has no flaws. She beats all the enemies that she faces without breaking a sweat. The only people that don't like her are bad guys. Many people have rightly brought attention to how, to varying degrees, these are true of Erza.

But, it would be wrong to put Erza in the same league as [insert example here]. The whole point of her arc in the Tower of Heaven, the arc that gives the greatest focus on Erza, is all about how Erza isn't as strong as people think she is. She has a personality with more settings than "stoic heroine". She's shown to soften up and even be incompetent several times.

While it's easy to look at her fake wins, they aren't always as easy as one may argue. Yes, she's able to beat Kyouka without using her senses. However, she doesn't stop her from activating Face. Yes, she punches Deus Sema with almost all of her bones broken. However, she needs help to hurt Irene after and isn't directly responsible for her death. She's not sweeping all her enemies easily and without trying. [Use your imagination at who I'm attacking with this.]

And that's just regarding the members of the Strongest Team. This doesn't go into Mirajane, a fellow S-Class mage with her own set of complex feelings. This doesn't go into Juvia who, despite all that could be said regarding Gray, is a strong mage in her own right and whose arc is also underrated. I could talk about them and how Mavis is the first master of the guild or Irene is the mother of dragon slayers or Anna is the architect of the Eclipse Project, and so on.

I could even go into some of the stuff that's happened in other Mashima works. I could go into stuff like having all four of Eden’s Shining Stars become female in his current running work. I could also just start gushing about why I like Elie from Rave Master so much and how anyone who says she’s just like Lucy or Rebecca is objectively wrong. Heck, Mashima made Starbiter Satsuki, a one-shot with a female lead, and it may be one of his best works.

Again, this isn't to say Mashima is somehow a feminist champion among writers of shonen manga. Remember that I started this post off by admitting many of the issues with his portrayal of women. It's near undeniable that Mashima treats women differently than his male characters and many of those ways are negative. I'm not here to deny any of that.

At the same time, I feel like the ways that Mashima has elevated women in his work have been severely underrated and ignored. It doesn't undo the bad he's done on that, as some would argue. But it's not absent from his work. I believe your view on this is a matter of what you want to emphasize more about this aspect.

And, thus, we return to the scene that inspired all of this. If Erza fighting in what many would consider an impractical outfit is what matters most to you, I get that you'd think Mashima doesn't respect women. If seeing arguably the strongest woman in the series fight to save a fellow victim of abuse from demonic influence, you'd probably say otherwise. Even as I see merit in both views, I lean more towards the latter.

[grindskull]

Shit that fucks me up #1 - Toxic Masculinity and being a “man”

Gotta have some way to organize my random thoughts here. I’m going with the obvious thing - Shit that fucks me up (STFMU). This is about me and my experiences. It is not my intention to discredit or question other human experiences. Sharing in the hopes of connecting with others who may have feel similar in their own skin. There are things here that others may define as triggers so read at your own risk (rape, abuse, and this fucking world). ---

Here is me being vulnerable.  I am putting myself out there by discussing masculinity and how I often do not identify with the larger concept of “being a man” in any positive way. You can call it toxic masculinity if you prefer. It’s acceptable shorthand for something that is just as nuanced and difficult to wade through as anything gender related.  I read this article on The Atlantic yesterday and there were some things that really resonated with me and my experience as a man/male (he/his/him). You can read it here (sorry there is a pay wall if you read more than 4 articles a month) but I will also be quoting some of the article below.  If you have time to read the article I’ll wait. It’s a bit long (many articles on The Atlantic are) and kind of academic at times. It’s okay if you don’t agree with everything in the article. Just read it.  Done? Okay let me set the stage a bit for how this shit fucks me up. ---

I’m male. I have always identified as a male/boy/man in my life. Unfortunately my experience with other males/boys/men has been mostly negative. It started at an early age when I had a hard time connecting with other boys my age. I was not interested in typical “male” interests like sports, violence, competition, and achievement. I had few (usually 1 or 2) friends at any one time and they typically had some kind of unhealthy power dynamic over me where I was subservient to my “friend” in some way.  I have some thoughts on reasons why this happened. The short version is I lived in poverty (often extreme) and I was searching for help and support in order to survive. At home I had abuse (mental, physical, verbal), drugs, addiction, and neglect. It was not a safe place to be so I did whatever I could to not be there. It was not unusual for me to eat maybe one meal during the day (typically what I could get from others at school or their home). Winter was the worst as we often did not have heat. Some of my “friends” used this as a way to hold power over me and make demands of my personality, time, and attention. Imagine finding yourself in this situation - you have to actively work to not be yourself in order to appease others for your very survival. Of course as a youth I didn’t identify it this way - my “friends” were just bossy or demanding. All of my male role models were basically assholes who did not give a fuck about anyone except themselves. This was a huge part of the 80′s zeitgeist in popular culture at the time as well. In some ways nothing has really changed. “... when asked to describe the attributes of “the ideal guy,” those same boys appeared to be harking back to 1955. Dominance. Aggression. Rugged good looks (with an emphasis on height). Sexual prowess. Stoicism. Athleticism. Wealth (at least some day).“ Under this common definition of “masculinity” I do not see myself. I am loyal, honest, caring, and sweet (to those I love). I love my body though I am non-athletic and have been most of my life. I am an attentive and talented lover but I have had very few sexual partners in my life and never saw them as moments of “conquest”. I was dirt poor most of my life but now live comfortably in my own home with my long term partner. So while not “wealthy” it is far beyond anything I could have imagined I would have in my life as a boy. Stoicism I have down. That one was easy. For me it’s just a nice way of saying “I have completely disconnected from my emotions and not having feelings or emotions is the best way to be a man”. I believed that for a very long time - it’s only in the past 2-3 years I have begun the work of breaking that down and reconnecting with my own emotions. It’s all tied up in trauma, depression, and anxiety so it takes a bit of fucking work but it’s very much worth it. If you are a man/male who thinks it is normal to not have emotions (or that emotions make you feminine/weak) please listen to me - THAT IS BULLSHIT. YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO HAVE EMOTIONS.

“... young men described just one narrow route to successful masculinity. One-third said they felt compelled to suppress their feelings, to “suck it up” or “be a man” when they were sad or scared, and more than 40 percent said that when they were angry, society expected them to be combative.“

Emotions are not weakness. You are not weak for having them, feeling them, or connecting with them. There is great strength in connecting with yourself and understanding your emotions. Don’t let anyone tell you different. They are delusional at best and actively trying to harm you at worst.

“While following the conventional script may still bring social and professional rewards to boys and men, research shows that those who rigidly adhere to certain masculine norms are not only more likely to harass and bully others but to themselves be victims of verbal or physical violence. They’re more prone to binge-drinking, risky sexual behavior, and getting in car accidents. They are also less happy than other guys, with higher depression rates and fewer friends in whom they can confide.”

---

How did we get here!? Have men always been this way? What about the good ole masculinity of ye olden times? It was a simple time where men were men right? A man’s man? “According to Andrew Smiler, a psychologist who has studied the history of Western masculinity, the ideal late-19th-century man was compassionate, a caretaker, but such qualities lost favor as paid labor moved from homes to factories during industrialization. In fact, the Boy Scouts, whose creed urges its members to be loyal, friendly, courteous, and kind, was founded in 1910 in part to counter that dehumanizing trend. Smiler attributes further distortions in masculinity to a century-long backlash against women’s rights. During World War I, women proved that they could keep the economy humming on their own, and soon afterward they secured the vote. Instead of embracing gender equality, he says, the country’s leaders “doubled down” on the inalienable male right to power, emphasizing men’s supposedly more logical and less emotional nature as a prerequisite for leadership.”

Take a minute to read that and really take it in. Like many things in the US (and the world) the effects of industrialization and war shaped our current version of accepted masculinity. More specifically the leaders of this country (and leaders in other countries) used their positions of power to strengthen men and this new masculinity in our institutions. Then we were taught that this was the “right way” to “be a man”. FUCK. THIS. SHIT.

“Today many parents are unsure of how to raise a boy, what sort of masculinity to encourage in their sons. But as I learned from talking with boys themselves, the culture of adolescence, which fuses hyper-rationality with domination, sexual conquest, and a glorification of male violence, fills the void.“

Here we have the core of what I experience as a man when it comes to the current socially accepted version of masculinity and why it fucks me up. I don’t identify with any of this shit! It does not feed me. It does not make me feel fulfilled and happy. It doesn’t make the world better for anyone it simply dehumanizes us all. 

“In a classic study, adults shown a video of an infant startled by a jack-in-the-box were more likely to presume the baby was “angry” if they were first told the child was male. Mothers of young children have repeatedly been found to talk more to their girls and to employ a broader, richer emotional vocabulary with them; with their sons, again, they tend to linger on anger. As for fathers, they speak with less emotional nuance than mothers regardless of their child’s sex. Despite that, according to Judy Y. Chu, a human-biology lecturer at Stanford who conducted a study of boys from pre-K through first grade, little boys have a keen understanding of emotions and a desire for close relationships. But by age 5 or 6, they’ve learned to knock that stuff off, at least in public: to disconnect from feelings of weakness, reject friendships with girls (or take them underground, outside of school), and become more hierarchical in their behavior.“

I’m not going to get into the topic of my own father (that’s another post in this series for sure) too deeply but I will say I completely identify with these ideas. Emotional distance, only expressing anger, telling me having emotions was weak. This was reinforced societal norms throughout my youth through today. Don’t talk about your problems or feelings. Ball them up inside. Wall yourself off from the world. Connections = weakness that others will exploit. You must control every situation and hold power over others. FUCK. THIS. SHIT.

---

So when did I wake up? When did I start to see through this shit in some way? When my younger sister was born. It was really obvious to me that she was treated in a different way and expectations of her as a girl/woman were not the same as the expectations others had for me. Mostly I just saw the negatives in this. It took me time (and lots of communication and experiences with my partner and others) to recognize the root of this was more fucked up socialization. 

“Girlfriends, mothers, and in some cases sisters were the most common confidants of the boys I met. While it’s wonderful to know they have someone to talk to—and I’m sure mothers, in particular, savor the role—teaching boys that women are responsible for emotional labor, for processing men’s emotional lives in ways that would be emasculating for them to do themselves, comes at a price for both sexes. Among other things, that dependence can leave men unable to identify or express their own emotions, and ill-equipped to form caring, lasting adult relationships.”

Read this carefully. Nobody is responsible for your emotional well being but you. If you are a male/man this is especially true - females/women are not responsible for managing your emotions and your reliance on them to take care of this is a form of abuse. They are not responsible for your emotions. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN EMOTIONS.

It can be really hard to see this. It was a blind spot for me for way too long. Don’t let it be one for you. Connecting with and taking responsibility for your emotions is one of the biggest things you can do to improve yourself as a human being. If you are sad you can cry. If you are happy you can laugh. You have a wide range of emotions and they don’t all lead to frustration or anger.

“As someone who, by virtue of my sex, has always had permission to weep, I didn’t initially understand this. Only after multiple interviews did I realize that when boys confided in me about crying—or, even more so, when they teared up right in front of me—they were taking a risk, trusting me with something private and precious: evidence of vulnerability, or a desire for it.“

---

Okay so putting aside all of the reinforcement we get from our parents and institutions and our lack of emotional vulnerability why do we all buy into this dumb shit? Who convinced us all this is what masculinity is? And why do we listen?

“What the longtime sportswriter Robert Lipsyte calls “jock culture” (or what the boys I talked with more often referred to as “bro culture”) is the dark underbelly of male-dominated enclaves, whether or not they formally involve athletics: all-boys’ schools, fraternity houses, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the military. Even as such groups promote bonding, even as they preach honor, pride, and integrity, they tend to condition young men to treat anyone who is not “on the team” as the enemy (the only women who ordinarily make the cut are blood relatives— bros before hos!), justifying any hostility toward them. Loyalty is paramount, and masculinity is habitually established through misogynist language and homophobia.”

Sounds familiar right guys? Don’t kid yourself. This is what being a man looks like in almost all situations in which we feel “safe” to express our self right? You are either with us or against us. Anything different or anyone questioning this behavior must be “othered” as they are clearly not “on the team”. FUCK. THIS. SHIT.

This was my entire experience as a youth. As someone who did not fit into this group (nor wanted to) I was immediately “othered” and deemed a “pussy” or “fag” or “homo” or “weirdo”. My friend group reflected this - mostly others who also were “not on the team” like women, gays and lesbians, and men who also did not identify with this version of masculinity. Which just made it easier to group us all together and identify us as the enemy. 

“Just because some young men now draw the line at referring to someone who is openly gay as a fag doesn’t mean, by the way, that gay men (or men with traits that read as gay) are suddenly safe. If anything, the gay guys I met were more conscious of the rules of manhood than their straight peers were. They had to be—and because of that, they were like spies in the house of hypermasculinity.” Without the ability to connect with and express my emotions I often reacted in anger. I started fights. I got violent (with words and writing mostly). I returned this “othering” and treated them all as the enemy. I had other reasons for this (being abused by men as a boy) but at the crux of the issue I had no trust for men. This helped me connect with women and my gay friends as they also experienced this distrust in similar (and different) ways. 

Years later I found myself in a job where I managed a group of men (100 or more at any time) working as a team (video game industry) and totally unable to connect with any of them as a human let alone a man. It was at this time that I realized this was a problem beyond my own experiences and when I started to understand my own participation in this system. 

I tried to question things as they came up. I tried to hear my teammates and help them navigate this murky sea of masculinity to find their own place in it. Most people didn’t want to participate. They learned to keep their mouth shut if I was within earshot of their typical “bro talk”. They learned to act differently around me so as not to incur my wrath (using my anger and position of power to punish them for being sexist, racist, or intolerant). I felt powerful and I tricked myself into thinking I was making a difference. I was wrong. 

---

“Recently, Pascoe turned her attention to no homo, a phrase that gained traction in the 1990s. She sifted through more than 1,000 tweets, primarily by young men, that included the phrase. Most were expressing a positive emotion, sometimes as innocuous as “I love chocolate ice cream, #nohomo” or “I loved the movie The Day After Tomorrow, #nohomo.” “A lot of times they were saying things like ‘I miss you’ to a friend or ‘We should hang out soon,’ ” she said. “Just normal expressions of joy or connection.” No homo is a form of inoculation against insults from other guys, Pascoe concluded, a “shield that allows boys to be fully human.”

It wasn’t long before my “making a difference” spread into our hiring, training, and management of the team. I brought in women who wanted to work in the game industry. I tried to shut down any of the bro culture bullshit that came up and used it as an opportunity to teach other men why it was fucked up. It worked for some (maybe 5-6 people out of hundreds) but the majority either quit or tried to get me fired. Most did not change their behavior in any way. 

The women said they knew what they were getting into. I don’t believe they knew what it was like to actually be in the middle of the situation. I assume women in the military probably have a lot of experience like this. In short - it’s fucking toxic and disgusting. Like other males/men they too have to fall in line and “become one of the boys” or risk being antagonized and ostracized for being “different”. It’s Lord of the Flies. It’s fucking mob mentality. It’s masculinity at it’s absolute worst. And this was in a “progressive” creative city working for a small company with a woman CEO. Men simply don’t give a fuck and it’s almost always easier to go with the flow. FUCK. THIS. SHIT.

My first experience with a trans individual in a work setting occurred was while I was managing this team. One of our long term employees made the transition and I had to watch how they were treated by the “bros’. Jokes were made, memes were shared, snickering and fucked up behavior was rampant. I had to talk to, discipline, and fire many individuals. These were men I thought were “on the team” and working to be good examples of masculinity. I should have known that was just part of the act - their way of surviving and showing subservience to me as a man in a position of power over them. My trust was further eroded in masculinity. 

Putting yourself over others is not power. It is dehumanization and it stems from hate. We can be different without being better or worse than someone else regardless of who they are. Not everything has to be a competition. It took me way too long to undo the damage done to me by these ideal of toxic masculinity. You can do it too - you just have to start today. 

---

Beyond the negative effects this version of masculinity has on us as males/men it also fucks up our interaction with women and sexual partners and it’s certainly done so to me. I’m actively working on unfucking my fucking and aware that many of my heterosexual ideals of sex stem from the same shit I have been actively fighting against most of my life. Connecting emotionally with your sexual partner takes things to a completely different level.

“It’s not like I imagined boys would gush about making sweet, sweet love to the ladies, but why was their language so weaponized ? The answer, I came to believe, was that locker-room talk isn’t about sex at all, which is why guys were ashamed to discuss it openly with me. The (often clearly exaggerated) stories boys tell are really about power: using aggression toward women to connect and to validate one another as heterosexual, or to claim top spots in the adolescent sexual hierarchy. Dismissing that as “banter” denies the ways that language can desensitize—abrade boys’ ability to see girls as people deserving of respect and dignity in sexual encounters.”  

This is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the term “rape culture”. As men we are taught that to be masculine is to claim “wins” in sexual conquest. Sex is property and we can collect it. Even if it’s with our long term partners or spouses. Ever tried talking to men about this? Ever questioned others on how it’s fucked up? You probably heard about how it’s all in jest. Just a joke! I’m just joking!  “When called out, boys typically claim that they thought they were just being “funny.” And in a way that makes sense—when left unexamined, such “humor” may seem like an extension of the gross-out comedy of childhood. Little boys are famous for their fart jokes, booger jokes, poop jokes. It’s how they test boundaries, understand the human body, gain a little cred among their peers. But, as can happen with sports, their glee in that can both enable and camouflage sexism. The boy who, at age 10, asks his friends the difference between a dead baby and a bowling ball may or may not find it equally uproarious, at 16, to share what a woman and a bowling ball have in common (you can Google it). He may or may not post ever-escalating “jokes” about women, or African Americans, or homosexuals, or disabled people on a group Snapchat. He may or may not send “funny” texts to friends about “girls who need to be raped,” or think it’s hysterical to surprise a buddy with a meme in which a woman is being gagged by a penis, her mascara mixed with her tears. He may or may not, at 18, scrawl the names of his hookups on a wall in his all-male dorm, as part of a year-long competition to see who can “pull” the most. Perfectly nice, bright, polite boys I interviewed had done one or another of these things.”

Let me be clear in case you are confused. This shit isn’t funny. Laughing at other people’s misfortune is a long standing human tradition yes - and it still dehumanizes everyone involved. That doesn’t make me laugh but maybe you are still amused? Why?

“At the most disturbing end of the continuum, “funny” and “hilarious” become a defense against charges of sexual harassment or assault. To cite just one example, a boy from Steubenville, Ohio, was captured on video joking about the repeated violation of an unconscious girl at a party by a couple of high-school football players. “She is so raped,” he said, laughing. “They raped her quicker than Mike Tyson.” When someone off camera suggested that rape wasn’t funny, he retorted, “It isn’t funny—it’s hilarious!”

The classic toxic masculinity force field present in my life has been the “just joking” phrase with the ultimate no consequence phrase “it’s hilarious!”. Say something you don’t want to manage the consequences for? Just a joke! People still question you or your morals after saying some heinous shit? No.. it’s cool... it’s hilarious! You just gotta laugh! FUCK. THIS. SHIT.

“Hilarious” is another way, under the pretext of horseplay or group bonding, that boys learn to disregard others’ feelings as well as their own. “Hilarious” is a haven, offering distance when something is inappropriate, confusing, depressing, unnerving, or horrifying; when something defies boys’ ethics. It allows them to subvert a more compassionate response that could be read as unmasculine—and makes sexism and misogyny feel transgressive rather than supportive of an age-old status quo. Boys may know when something is wrong; they may even know that true manhood—or maybe just common decency—compels them to speak up. Yet, too often, they fear that if they do, they’ll be marginalized or, worse, themselves become the target of derision from other boys. Masculinity, then, becomes not only about what boys do say, but about what they don’t—or won’t, or can’t—say, even when they wish they could. The psychologists Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, the authors of Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys, have pointed out that silence in the face of cruelty or sexism is how too many boys become men. 

I feel like I may have already gone too far into this dark hole of shit that fucks me up around toxic masculinity. I hope I didn’t lose you. I hope you have questions and thoughts about how this impacts your life. Perhaps ways that you make a change today to fight against this bullshit. You may be asking yourself “what can we do!?” At the end of the day its up to males/men to change this culture. It’s not about self-hate or self-abuse. We gotta name this and own it. We need more men to step up and say ‘It doesn’t have to be like this”. Our collective mental health requires us to be more flexible and connected to ourselves and emotions. We need to find ways to deal with our anger, frustration, and desires in ways that don’t hurt ourselves and others. We need to teach ourselves (especially youth) that it isn’t enough to only talk about things we shouldn’t (and hopefully won’t) do. 

If this shit fucks you too you can do something about it. Start with yourself. Question these things when they come up. And not only when you feel “safe” to do so. Do it consistently in ways that are non-confrontational (they will probably lead to confrontations with most men anyway - sorry). Be okay with not always “winning’ in these situations. You’ll be surprised who you might connect with in the process. Hopefully one of those people will be yourself. 

[comicteaparty]

May 16th-May 22nd, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from May 16th, 2020 to May 22nd, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What are you trying to show or tell with your story that you find to be underrepresented?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

-Mind control/mind reading where both people are okay with it. I like themes of trust -"Superpowers" without secret identities. Because researchers aren't always evil goddamnit! -Portraying people who hurt others not as card-carrying megalomaniac villains but as pitiful and broken people. I haven't gotten to this part of my story yet but I hope I can do it well when I do. -Queer characters but they never say that they are or talk about it in any way. Yes I know I'm probably the only one who wants this

Also, maybe the idea that you don't need to "do anything" with your life for it to be worthwhile? But I'm not sure that I believe this myself

Deo101 [Millennium]

Mostly I'm trying to write about love, and I hardly think that's underrepresented! But, I'm also trying to show a bit of my own personal disabled experience, and I find that the kinds of things I've experienced are hardly represented at all. so, I think I'm trying to show a sort of hope and positivity for things that I think are usually pitied and viewed negatively, which I wish were done more.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I just wanted a good ol' classic Eddings-style fantasy romp, but with characters that would usually be cast in the "evil" role, without going the "misunderstood" route.

Plus I wanted to write about shitty family (born, found and married) and that you do NOT have to forgive them in the slightest to move on and better your life.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Hmm... One of the main things I want to express with Whispers of the Past is that after past traumas, you may not be the same, but eventually, you can be okay again—even if your "okay" of now, is very different than your "okay" of the past. Normalcy isn't a constant. It shifts with time and becomes something new. A new stasis. A new peace. A new normal. I don't know if I've ever seen another story show this in this way. Another underrepresented theme in WotP is that of the hero choosing mundanity over the amazing. When the quest is over, and all is said and done, and the big baddie has been vanquished, the hero doesn't become ruler, or claim bountiful riches, or sail across the sea to find new lands. No, the hero returns to a world that is familiar and unremarkable. The hero would rather just be an average person.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

-Fanfiction. I’m very surprised there hasn’t been a webcomic talking about what it’s like to create fanfiction! But overall the culture involved around it and being a creator. -The relationship and hardships of having a stepparent/being one. Particularly stepdad/stepdaughter relationships -Anger as a reaction to trauma. I see a lot of trauma portrayed as mostly sad, but I want a story where the heroes feel anger, where it’s seen as both a motivator and a detriment -The hardships of dating as someone who’s both touch aversive and on the grey spectrum. Not everyone would be as wonderful or understanding, but it’s important to be around people who are and will stand by you.(edited)

eliushi [a winged tale]

This is why I gravitate towards all these stories made by independent creators I think. So many personal and poignant messages. I’m with you there on the queer characters Eightfish. I want a society where it’s fine to be what you wish and respected to be who you want to be. I think having more positive ways of showing how we can reach that sort of openness can be helpful. In AWT I further explore: - characters in STEM fields and approaches to research design - informed consent and what that means - how to live even when things are falling apart around you, when things are falling apart within you - navigating through crushes, confessions and friendships!

Wow the beginning sounds like the objectives at a science lecture and you won’t be wrong thinking so

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

For my Hybrid Dolls comic, there are several things I want to explore: - Psychological trauma and the effects or damage it can give, without proper treatment. -Writing queer characters without them needing a self discovery episode. But I know some identities are better to be upfront? But in the story, they simply live normal or exciting lives - Narcissism in a relative that one doesn't have to forgive. Being treated as invisible or judged by age, birthright. - Other Concepts of love explored. Attraction that isn't conventional romance. - Friendship bonds between girls, and my own take on an eccentric quirky girl lead. - Being unapologetically feminine, girls who doesn't need to feel like being 'one of the guys' I'm aiming for more character variety in historical fiction, instead of yet another story of a girl 'defying gender norms' by raised as a boy/disguises trope in other similar comics. So the women in my story, use their wits and charm.(edited)

DanitheCarutor

I complain about this all the time, so I'm just going to do a quick overview since I'm sure everyone is sick of it. - Abusers can be smart, popular, generous, charismatic and subtle. I'm kind of sick of them always being portrayed as really obvious, and sometimes really stupid, while there are people like that it's not very practical for them all to be like that. - General mental health stuff. More open representation of it, that it may be something you'll live with for the rest of your life and how that's okay. - Trauma, how it can change you, make you lose sight of the person you were and make you lose interest in things you used to enjoy. (this is coupled with mental health) - Non-romantic relationships with a queer cast. While this is showing up more in fantastical indie works, not very common in slice-of-life type of comics. I can only imagine this is because readers would find it boring or too mundane (can't tell you all how many people tell me my comic is boring. Lol), but being a person totally sick of romance in everything I wanted to do something focusing on family, friendship and the relationships we have with ourselves. - You don't always heal completely. I've already mentioned this, but I want to put a focus on how someone who's been through a lot of shit doesn't alway heal completely, and that's okay. I see in a lot of media where people just overcome their issues, and they live happily ever after with everything all perfect, I want something along the lines of "we still got a long way to go, but we're doing better and we're happier than before". - Not having labels for everything. This sounds like hipster trash, but I don't see the point in putting labels for every character. Like, I put labels for them, mostly during Pride, but it feels pointless in the comic. Apollo is happy to say he's a gay man, but with Julian they're not interested in categorising themselves, all they want is to be comfortable and I don't see nothing wrong with that.(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

For me, it’s the importance of communication and empathy, and the dangers of its absence. And it’s something I’ve had to think about a lot recently, being more active on social media Everyone’s got their reasons/methods for cutting people off, but I’ve never been a huge fan of a point-blank communication cut unless it’s absolutely warranted. And I’m not a fan of instant demonization when someone messes up or does something I don’t agree with. People are people. We’re all different and we all mess up and we all can change. Keeping lines of communication open is essential for allowing that change, or else we all get locked into little echo chambers where anyone outside is automatically The Worst.™ In a world where everything has gone to hell - and may go further yet - how can things heal when no one is even listening to each other? Where the other side is automatically at fault no matter what? It’s something I grew up struggling to understand (maybe because I grew up outside Washington DC, lol), and really affects me to this day. And if you do end up protecting yourself with silence, how can you still allow other perspectives to be gleaned? I don’t quite have the perfect formula for it. But unless someone is genuinely trying to cause harm, I try to at least attempt to understand where they might coming from - whether I accept it or not. Otherwise it’s so easy to see a lot of people as monsters. It’s a complicated topic for sure, especially nowadays. But yeah. Something like that

Miranda

Hmm that’s an excellent question. Well, a big thing is the varying effects of trauma and ways to handle it. Mainly how burying the past and ignoring traumatic events can affect someone. Also that villains can be people we relate to that just take an extreme way of reaching a goal that most people can understand And how shared experiences can bring people closer (not a unique one) I also want to portray queer characters that are not solely defined by their queerness and don’t have to announce it to everyone.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

- Having some talks about the implications of asking what you wish for and the potential consequences that comes with it. - Having more unappologic Vietnamese things happening in the comic. Giving representation to some common things that most Vietnamese Americans (or Asian Americans) can face in terms of relationships, roles, etc. Also since er i'm also directly affected by this, how does the Mixed-Asian Identity plays about it too.(edited)

hmmm I think another thing is that I want to bring up that men who express themselves in a more feminine form is valid and there's no shame that comes with it (positive masculinity hell yaaaa). Also same about expressing characters who are also queer but aren't defined about it either. it's just what they are along with their other interests and goals.(edited)

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

wow, this is a great question! I'm trying to be better about interacting here so I'll give it a shot. My comic is a historical fantasy set somewhat in Interwar Europe/WWII Europe and partially in a fantasy world based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. -War stories/histories that aren't about the actual experience of combat: most memoirs and diaries of soldiers I read doing research are about the day-to-day activities, meals, sleeping habits, and random thoughts instead of fight descriptions. It really bothers me when people zero in on in-depth battle maps and obsess over what kind of rifle was used by whom when, when I think it's much more interesting and important to look at the mindset of who was fighting, why they were fighting, and what emotional effect it had on everyone involved (including civilians!) -Asexuality, especially asexuality in history, bc it tends to "disappear" in the historical record as people who may have been ace before that label was widely used tend to not self-identify as it. I'm ace, people in the past were ace, it's a history I'd like to talk about more! -gryphons, they're cool monsters and I think they should be used much more than they are haha

eliushi [a winged tale]

I agree sierrabravo. I find it’s the personal, down to earth, close perspective accounts in historical records that resonate the most with me. Gryphons are also awesome!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I feel like there's two separate answers for Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R (http://sgkdr.webcomic.ws/comics/) The first is what SGKDR represents compared to other webcomics. To me, a major thing I wanted to show with Super Galaxy Knights was a new style of creating webcomics. Animation is underrepresented as a storytelling style, sure, but the main thing I thought was underrepresented in the webcomic space was a "seasonal" method of storytelling. Like, most webcomics I see are either "each page is its own thing" or "it's one big long story, with chapters mostly there to split up different scenes/locations". I very rarely see webcomics build to a major climax in the story, then a resolution, then introduce a brand new conflict. The second is what SGKDR represents compared to other action series (specifically shonen manga/anime, as that's what SGKDR riffs off of the most). I can only think of one shonen story with a female lead, I can't think of any with an explicitly LGBTQ+ protagonist (i only know of one implied one), romance is usually handled very poorly (characters usually get paired with the protagonist due to being female and in the same room, with very little actual relationship building), there aren't many varieties of character motivations besides "pursuit of power/status" of some kind, power scaling usually gets way out of whack, and I... I dunno, I love those kinds of stories, but it just gets tiring after a while. So, I wrote my own that had all the things I wanted in it.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead) I totally agree with the difficulty and importance of talking about ace representation in a historical setting! It's extremely difficult to talk about when asexuality was so unknown at the time. I'm eager to see how you handle it!

eliushi [a winged tale]

@snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) can you speak about

I very rarely see webcomics build to a major climax in the story, then a resolution, then introduce a brand new conflict.

I find slice of life/ some really long mangas with continuous streams of antagonists/web novel like formats use this too but unsure if that’s what you were referring to?

I am also looking forward to more ace representation in the webcomic world

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Yeah that format is the sort of thing I was talking about. It's out there, but I don't see it very often.

eliushi [a winged tale]

Ah gotcha! Thanks! I recall some slice of life high school ones I’ve read years ago that have that sort of narrative structure (which feels like the story can continue forever).

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

There's a recurring trope in SF/F where the robot/AI/golem learns that it wants to have free will and make its own decisions. Or there's a biological species that are assumed to be "natural servants", and inevitably you get to the reveal that they're not actually any different from humans in terms of wanting self-determination and independence. If you think of this as a metaphor for relationships between different groups of humans, then yeah, that's the obvious outcome! But one of the great things about SFF is that you can write things that aren't just "direct metaphors for real-world issues, with spaceships and dragons thrown in for flavor." So in But I'm A Cat Person, I wanted to write something about, what if there's a group of beings who really aren't going to develop free will or self-determination? What's the reasonable, ethical way to deal with that? ...also: there's a ton of nonbinary characters in webcomics these days, but at least I can say BICP did it before it was cool.(edited)

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Leif & Thorn, meanwhile, has a regular old "character forced into servitude, who definitely has independent thoughts and desires that are being controlled" situation. And there's no "Master has given Dobby a sock" loophole they can exploit for a quick fix, so they have to keep up a long-term process of double-talk and rule-bending, to communicate Leif's actual feelings without getting him in trouble. The "realistic language barriers with no convenient universal-translator to get around them" situation -- which, in this comic, is one of the biggest Underrepresented Things I wanted to explore -- makes it that much harder...

Capitania do Azar

I gotta commend you on that, @Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn) because you're out there serving my bilingual needs

kayotics

Ingress Adventuring Company is all about the hero after they've finished saving the world, which I think is pretty underrepresented. It's not a quiet contemplative story, since there's still a lot of fun questing stuff going on, but I'm trying to make it clear that this all takes place after the main character has done his big saving the world quest and is still trying to figure out his place after supposedly settling down.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I love that Kay

Toivo feels like he has so much history behind him

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I'm trying to represent orthodox/religious jews because I almost never see my community represented in media. There are orthodox Jewish characters that will be appearing in Joe is dead. In future comics I want to try to plan the story more around including more religious Jewish characters because there still aren't that many in my current project

Also mental illnesses, like trauma and intellectual disability I want to represent my own experiences with it

There isn't as much of a distinct lack of that in media but it's good to have in stories(edited)

Also androgynous lesbians

Nutty (Court of Roses)

With Court of Roses, I'm trying to tell a fantasy story that's for older audiences but proving that Mature Fantasy doesn't have to be ultra gritty. People have each other to depend on, the world isn't bleak, and not every noble is greedy, peasant is starving, etc. I know a lot of fantasy likes to take from realistic Medieval Europe, but the freeing part about making my own world is that it doesn't HAVE to be like that. Their religion is different, more accepting, and again, people are more focused on looking out for each other and having a good time.

Mature themes are still present, such as murder, banditry/pillaging, alcohol, traumatic experiences, etc. but my goal isn't to present them in a darker fashion.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I wanted to make something influenced by my culture (Korean) without heavily drawing from the mythology. Mythology is just one facet of a culture, yet a lot of people who haven't read it expect HoK to be all about Korean mythology just because it wears a metaphorical hanbok. No. It reflects the traditional aesthetics, but more importantly, the cultural values and the unspoken rules of the society, regardless of whether I agree with them or not. Related to that is body language. I don't want my non-American characters using American body language, such as shrugging, or American ways of using eye contact, etc. I want to show them using (mostly) Korean gestures, sitting, standing and walking like Koreans. I always feel like there's a huge missed opportunity when friggin' aliens use American body language in sci-fi! I understand why people do that -- it makes the work more clear/accessible to English-speaking audience. But in HoK I'm taking the other path. It's a challenge for sure, but I would not have it any other way.

On a more thematic level, I really wanted to explore deeply hurtful experiences that happen in genuinely caring relationships. It's not about good guys vs bad guys, it's not about a nice person being hurt by someone who just doesn't care. Those stories certainly are valid, just not what I wanted to do with HoK. This story is about people who love each other, but don't always know how to communicate their love or needs.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I am also looking forward to more ace representation in the webcomic world

@eliushi [a winged tale] I agree, the ace rep is a challenge I would like to take on, I'm also curious how it will work in historical times? Even tho I'm ace,I'm still learning new innovative things(edited)

eliushi [a winged tale]

It’ll be important to dig deeper and research into what things were like if you want to capture the authenticity of the period you’re writing in! I’m sure there are personal accounts or documentation of these lived experiences.

Capitania do Azar

I see all these beautiful answers and I almost struggle to find something other than those to say I guess for O Sarilho https://www.sarilho.net/en/ I wanted to write a weird love letter to where I live and how I see my country (tho I'm glad I got other places I love in it too). To my knowledge, we don't get much like that, or at least that's not from a city perspective which is not what I'm trying to go for, at all. There's a lot of tiny cultural things that I want to touch that may be invisible for people who are not from here, but I'm glad that I'm including them for those three readers in the back. Linked to this, in a way, is the fact that I get really tired of those white/gray Sci-fi stories where everything is super clean and super white and technology is absolutely overwhelming and organised. I want Sci-fis in the woods too. And finally, there's something about the way violence is portrayed a lot of times that almost makes you feel like human life just is that cheap. I really don't want to go that road, I'm doing my best to tell a story about war in which death still leaves a toll and violence affects everyone involved

TL;DR I WANTED TO PAINT MY HOUSE

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

And finally, there's something about the way violence is portrayed a lot of times that almost makes you feel like human life just is that cheap. I really don't want to go that road, I'm doing my best to tell a story about war in which death still leaves a toll and violence affects everyone involved

@Capitania do Azar This is so beautiful (and tragic). This is something I also hope to express in my work. Super underrepresented message surprisingly.

eliushi [a winged tale]

I enjoy exploring sci-fi beyond the current conventions and absolutely love your setting shizamura!(edited)

Capitania do Azar

Thank u I really love Sci-fi but I don't appreciate that it has become associated with a very specific aesthetic because tbh I find it very limiting

DanitheCarutor

@Capitania do Azar That is actually really refreshing! Horror and action are so packed with glamorized death and violence, you can get really desensitized. The only stories I've ever seen that take those things seriously are war movies based on real life events, like Saving Private Ryan, (which my grandpa, a Korean War vet, said was the most accurate portrayal of what war was like.) and even then you get flicks that totally glamorize the whole thing. I really admire you wanting to put that sense of gravity onto the violence and death in your work, also I love when creators want to tackle war in all it's "too close to home", upsetting realism.

Capitania do Azar

I really love Saving Private Ryan, it is a very nice portrayal with a great message: nobody wants to be here

DanitheCarutor

Yes! I love Saving Private Ryan too, it was nice seeing a movie that didn't make war look like some fantastical bs.

[lianors]

THIRD CHALLENGE  — character study for lianor montagu.

word count: 4006 (minus questions) / points earned: 30

tw: abusive parental relationship, self image discussion, death, miscarriage.

001. describe  your  characters’ relationship  with  their mother  or  father, or  both.  minimum word  count:  150. 

wc: 424.

like most young noble women in the early centuries, her parents made sure lianor grew aware of the duties she would one day have to fulfill--only that in the eldest beauchamp's case, she was not to be groomed for a grand marriage right away, but to continue her mother's line in the royal household. beatriz meant to use her child as an extension of herself; while the queen was to remain at greenwhich with her lady in waiting, their daughters were to remain side by side in wales, with the baroness' daughter obliged to keep her mother informed and the princess content.

this amount of responsibility made her mature faster and strained her childhood considerably, resigning her to a smaller role in the egocentric play that is youth, when you are supposed to be at its center--such views still heavily impact her current mousey personality on her eagerness to please and her mild inability to malice.

incapacity to comply to her mother's requests and demands led to insults and punishments severely kept even through distance, but accomplishments meant receiving small gestures of kindness and praise. however, the emotional abuse endured has always been misguided as motherly care and affection, and beatriz remains as a sort of goal to her eldest daughter in many instances. still, lia consciously understands her mother's flaws and the impact it has had on herself, and, whilst engaging on the occasional self-pity for that, she actively works on shifting her own children's upbringing to the opposite of her own.

perhaps because her mother has always been so strict, richard acted as a smoothening hand, keeping constant affectionate correspondence to include her as a beauchamp alongside her younger siblings. for their physical distance, they both attempted to form a bond -- it was strengthened by similar (albeit, at the beginning, feigned, solely for the goal of receiving his affection) interests such as the running of the kidderminster state and a keenness for architectural and exterior design.

the relationship has somewhat strained in the wake of her position as a mistress--her father could no longer idolize her as a wide eyed four year old when she was a woman grown, committing adultery within the marriage he had arranged for her, with a man who will never have her in a honorable manner.

though often accused to conspire to elevate his family through whoring his daughter, the baron is in fact uncomfortably against the relationship, often advising her to stick to her marital bed despite how badly that would play to their family's betterment.

002. what  are  your characters’  most  prominent physical  features?  what is  a  feature that  they  are most  insecure  about? what  are  they proudest  of?

if you are to be quite obvious, then that would be the red hair plus grey-green eyes combo--her hair is thick, in a vibrant shade of auburn that shines even bellow modest headwear, and her eyes are very big, with protruding eyelids and long carmine lashes. they beg for contact, locking on her interlocutor with an unnerving curiosity, even over the smallest, pettiest subjects.

modest, lia often chooses to be proud about the things that people compliment, so her response would match mine, only accompanied by random facts about the source of her rose water, a self-depreciative tone and a bat of eyelashes to convey a coyness that is bred on insecurity.

due to her low self esteem, there are actually plenty of topics she diminishes about herself: her body type, too lean to be considered attractive to time standards, used to plague her mind whenever she strip off her heavy garments for the night. after childbirth, her curves have been accentuated and she has gained enough weight for her to swat away this particular worry, but another physical detail continues to haunt her: her bone structure is well pronounced, with high cheekbones and full cheeks, a sharp jaw and a slightly protruding chin; her mouth is large, and her gums frequently peek out whenever she laughs or talks too excitedly -- her mother caught that once, and reprimanded her by calling her horse faced, a petty nickname that haunts her to refrain herself from expressing glee in public to this day.

003. how  vain  is your  character?  do they  find  themselves attractive?  what  is their  worst  flaw, and  are  they aware  of  it?

although lianor can not say she is unattractive, she has a remarkably low self esteem that drives her to compare herself to others, picking unimportant details that makes her stand out and deeming herself plain. one would propel themselves to rise their “boring” beauty with earthly possessions, but lia’s flares of vanity are scattered and inconstant, due to this very self-image problem she carries. her worst characteristic, if this is to be taken to the psychological realm as i believe, would be her hypocrisy, which pairs very well with her ability to delude herself -- due to the deep rooted delusion of moral superiority, she often makes herself blind to it.

004. what  is  your character’s  ranking  on the  kinsey  scale?

conditioned to both servitude under one mistress, and to fulfill her marriage duties in order to better her family's standing, lianor was thrust in a world she was to keep company of women but to learn how to please men. that lead her to seek out to comply by her curiosity with the same gender at first, but she was bound to believe any dalliance and further interest she kept on her fellow women was to be taken as platonic friendships, and any physical event to happen between her and a woman to be a test, a practice run, a way to please the prince that one time she shares a welsh girl with him, ignoring how good it felt when her lips met the wench’s. thus, i would classify her as a hesitant two, leaning towards one on the scale--interesting enough, she goes on the far opposite for her modern verse, ranking a prideful four in a clear preference towards women (harry, unfortunately, remains her hetero exception).

005. describe  your  character’s happiest  memory.  minimum word  count:  150. 

wc: 519

childhood is an age of egotism. it is the time of your life things are excused by the notion of one’s innocence, granted by the holy sacrament of the washing of sins. such notions rings truer the higher in hierarchy one is born into; while the prince of wales’ name day festivities were grand affairs, with foreign emissaries and gifts richer than our savior’s on his birth day, lianor stays by her mother’s skirts, fingers twiddling in intimidation and anxiety. she has tears in her eyes as little clem holds the prince’s hand, parading him to their portuguese relations; lianor wants nothing but to run out of the gardens, but she hesitates, scared she would be punished harsher if she ran to hide her tears than if she stayed put, red faced in the effort not to burst in a crying fit.

it was not fair her friends received a feast for the ages while she was not able to get her father to visit her in a whole year. that cloak of ignorance prevents her from understanding the demands of a war campaign, or how a landowner’s duties cannot withstand distance for a mere sentimentality.

two months and six days later, there is still war to be won and foreign men to kill, but he comes as an unmistakable figure: tall and dark, still sporting some of his battle gear. when he picks her up -- hello, my princess, whispered against her hair -- she smells the sweat, the soot from the road, the overwhelming sweat of horse and man and something that should taste metallic, but she is too young to be familiar with it. they have not seen each other in a year, but she swears father smells of home, of worcester. he must, mustn't he?

richard spends the day, hand in hand with his daughter, a curious silence as he listens to her go on about the whole year spent apart -- he cuts her only when they reach the royal gardeners who worked on rooting the plants brought as a gift with the braganza; he sends him them off and tells his daughter they will do it themselves. by the end of it they are both sweaty, her dress stained with mud and dirt and grass; he promises to get her a new one as he washes the filth out of her hands, paying close attention as he cleans her nails, as gentle as a soldier yet as attentively as an experienced ladies' maid.

the domesticity of a single day with her father should hardly pay up for years of absence and mild abandonment, but the memory remains very dear to lianor, for it had put her, a whiny child who was not even his heir, as important enough for her father to forgo his duties to appease her, even if for pity. as someone who had to learn to resign herself to a smaller position and to have her wishes disregarded in favor of another's, she sees the idyllic day of her ninth name day as a proof love matters, that she matters.

006. is  there  one event  in  your characters’  life  that they  would  like to  erase  from their  past?  why? minimum  word  count: 200. 

wc: 590.

she is granted a small leave for her mother’s lying in -- the announcement of a pregnancy this late in the baroness’ life had driven her eldest daughter to tears of laughter, a brief moment of mocking that had become a remorseful memory when she understood how dangerous it was -- which gleefully coincided with john’s fifteenth name day. to say lia had been more excited for the later would be an understatement, for she had spent the past six months looking for the perfect present. she had exchanged letters with a bride-to-be, fashioning the marriage to be a good gift for his coming of age; she had requested fine silks to work on making a suitable, rich clothing from scratch; she had even looked over every stable between ludlow to london in the search of a good stallion for the boy.

driven by her brother’s recently deepened passion for animals, she decides by the horse, a majestic mixed breed from the king’s own personal stable. a young, fierce thing, it had not yet been broken -- lianor imagined lizzie and her would have quite a laugh while watching the boy flee from the grand beast; a much needed distraction from mother’s cantankerous nature, worsened by each passing month of the recommended bed rest.

to relieve her sister from another tormentous morning, lianor assumes the position of vigil by their mother’s bedside. she recalls vividly that particular morning, when she woke with the scent of a full chamber pot and the shrieking patter of “how damned i must be at this age, with a wee one kicking at my and my daughter hell bent on making us living in a pigsty”. it was pure annoyance that lead lianor outside in order to clean the dark confinement room, and to fetch herself something to eat; her ribs ached from the poor sleeping position from the night before, papa was nowhere to be seen, and her copper haired brother pestered her to let him go outside and play with his present.

“just go already!” were her last words for john, who ran out of her eyesight before she could return to her senses.

though her patience plagues at her senses early, appeasing mother keeps her occupied enough to stop her from acting on her remorse; she imagines something sweet would do to remedy any resentment between the siblings over her curt words earlier, a cake sweetened with honey and covered in fresh fruit. the batter is not yet whipped when the boy’s body comes; the shattered bowl nearly cutting skin as it falls on the kitchen floor, where richard rushes to put the boy down by the hearth. john moaned in pain, begging for something to appease the cold and feverishly asking of the horse.

“what was that?” beatriz asks as soon as her eldest daughter enters the room, stupor coloring the girl’s cheeks and making her livid -- the only thing she felt was the lingering taste of fruit in her tongue. her mother is worry personified, eyes widen, belly swollen; it would take her one push to get up from her long confinement, one fall to end it for her. lia is by the bedside in one moment, guiding her mother back into the bed, tightening the blankets around the pregnant woman; she swallows the taste of cake and gal and the heaviness of tears, and utters a smile. “margaret dropped the bowl for john’s cake, cut her hand. silly girl. rest, mama. i will bring you a slice soon.”

007. let’s  talk  favourites! what  is  their favourite  colour,  food, and  season?   what, in  a  modern setting,  would  be your  character’s  favourite song?

the vibrancy of her hair made her find what suits her best early on, so she began to favor yellow (from pale to gold) and green (she often adorns herself with emeralds); she also enjoys earthy tones, and pale, “pure” colors such as blues and soft pink. not commonly boastful, she exempts her modesty in her culinary taste, enjoying fruits and having a very well-known sweet tooth she often indulges on. for season, it would have to be spring, when the blossoms pucker out and the air is filled with that utopic scent of life. tbh i don’t really know music, so i’ll just spitball it and say lia listens to a lot of musical tracks and movie soundtracks.

008. can  you  define a  turning  point in  your  character’s life?

she suffered a miscarriage at kidderminster in 1448, which alarmed her mother to her misbehaving and propelled her to a marriage that would happen within the next eight months.

009. is  your  character an  early  morning bird  or  a night  owl?  at what  time  do they  get  most of  their  work done?

over a decade priming herself to be the first to wake so she would ready clementine has entrenched a routine in the eldest beauchamp which causes her inability to stay and sleep in, regardless of exhaustion or a vacant schedule. so she rises early, and has only recently learned how to indulge herself a couple of hours longer in bed with her children, her lover or amidst letters that have piled up over the week.  

010 a.  what  other character,  a  npc or  someone  apart of  the  rp, is  your  character completely  real  with? who  knows  them best,  has  seen them  at  their most  vulnerable,  knows their  innermost  and basest  fears?  b. if  your  character does  not  have this  person,  why? do  they  long for  one?

over the years she has learned the value of keeping things only for herself, so this may be a bit tricky. she confides and is confided on often by harry and clementine, but she usually refrains, and watches her words carefully when it comes to her own private matters. perhaps the one she would speak the most candidly to would be her sister, whom she trusts wholeheartedly -- particularly because her secrets have already been spilled in the beauchamp household, and to attempt a facade next to her sister is not only unnecessary, but also exhaustive.

011. is  your  character a  neat  or messy  person?

incredibly neat. lianor is a bit of a freak on that subject even--out of habit, she is known for fixing portraits out of place, quickly picking up at clothes discarded and subtly nagging at those who do not meet her standards.

012. does  your  character have  any  irrational fears  or  phobias?

many, though most would fall on the psychological realm such as being left or her secrets being found out leading to herself and her family’s fall from grace. after her last pregnancy, she has been extremely careful not to fall with child, afraid that if her fertility flares up once more it will be the last she will be able to carry whilst remaining on her position.

013. does  your  character have  an  underlying passion  or  trait that  influences  all aspects  of  their life?

a trait could be her ability to compromise. when they look at her, as they think her submissive -- which, to be quite fair, she is -- but lia also enjoys seeing things going her way, lately in a manipulative manner; she does not mind being diminished and, being adaptive, she doesn't mind playing by someone else's games, as long as the results end up pleasing her somehow (i.e: letting her husband humiliate her a time or two in exchange for her sexual and emotional "freedom".)

 014. what  might  your character’s  ideal  romantic person  be?

this is probably one of the most difficult questions on this because lia is so very particular, and she has already made her mind about not trailing off in fantasies -- as a woman wed for five years, and engaged in a dalliance nearly twice as long, she feels it is wrong, kind of a betrayal for her to wish her partner(s) to be different. as she grew, like many other girls, she wanted someone gallant -- tall and athletic, of high birth to please her mother; she needed him to be understanding for she did not want to leave her position by the princess, but he should also be devoted, because she needs someone to make it known she matters for him. she would rather him not to be too old, because she wanted many children, and to raise them as a harmonious, loving couple. nowadays, she is more realistic, and would settle for the understanding bit in a man; however, she is well aware that if her husband were to pass, she would remain a widow for the rest of her days (something she wouldn't complain much about, considering how miserable she has been in a disagreeable marriage).

015. describe  your  character’s hands.  are  they small,  long,  calloused, smooth,  stubby,  dexterous or  clumsy?  do they  wear  any jewelry  and  would they  wear  polish in  a  modern setting?

remarkably petite, her hands break the consensus: large for her standard size, with long thin fingers and a translucent -- slightly reddened at the knuckles and fingertips -- skin that makes the purple lines all the more vibrant, they are a matter of insecurity for the countess. yet she can not drop the habit to pull at them, twisting her fingers nervously and picking at jewelry. her insecurities are, for most part, ill found: her hands are nimble and dexterous, well matched with quick reflexes that allow her a talented hand at most repetitive activity that would put them in the spotlight, such as calligraphy or needlepoint; when involved by another’s, they remain just as small as she is, and their softness to the touch grants her further adoration, as she is keen to give affection by physical touch.

as she displays wealth sparingly, other than on short occasions such as feasts, she only wears rings that hold some sort of meaning: a signet of the beauchamp her father had crafted upon her birth, and a locket ring harry plantagenet gifted her about five years ago.

modern lianor has trouble growing her nails for many years -- her fingers are bleeding stomps through most of her childhood to teenage hood, and she only gains the habit of properly manicuring by the age of fourteen, and that is mostly because of her jealousy over the sound of her friend’s nails tapping against hard surfaces. for most, she keeps her nails at a modest length, painting it with nude colors and pepper-infused bases (to refrain her from biting the polish and her nails off) on weekdays and sporadically indulging in her sister’s collection of dark metallic colors.

016. how  does  your character  smell?  what is  their  favourite scent?

another monster question only because i can't tell scents apart -- what is sweet? you're not eating perfume, karen. but, well, knowing lianor, i believe she leans towards more citrusy smells, luxuriously infusing cut up lemons and oranges in her rose water when she bathes; it proves to be an expensive habit seeing as she bathes with some regularly, often more than a couple times per week. anachronically hygienic, she blames it on her mother's portuguese habits, but the truth is she just enjoys feeling cool and smelling nice.

017. how  would  your muse  describe  their religious  beliefs?

the portuguese are well known for their strong faith, and beatriz is no different. she made sure her children were practicing catholics, and lia grew up fearing both god and her mother's wrath. by staying as true as she can to her book of praying, she understands that god is also love, and that she should attempt to make religion a less dull duty when she passes that around, either that be to her younger companions or, currently, to her children. despite that optimism, she is terrified of the curses she may unleash upon her own by her godless misbehavior, and promptly donates in abundance to the clergy.

018. what  rules  does your  muse  live by,  if  any?

loyalty above all. there are things to gain from remaining constant in your favor, especially when your fortunes are dependent on how higher born people feel about you. thankfully, lianor was graced with patience and willingness, but to accept her submission and to bite her tongue is at times still an arduous task she must prevail, not only for her own good now but her children's.

019. does  your  muse overshare,  or  are they  more  private?

now, that’s very dependent. lia is, by rule, very private -- incredibly quiet, she is comfortable with silence, and prefers to remain tight lipped around court. But, curious as she is, it does not take long for her to bloom into a conversation if it interests her enough; her tongue loosens by her passion on the subject, either that be in a negative or a positive light. still, her words are well measured, her speech purposefully tattered with meaningless, lovely, at times pathological anecdotes to endear the people she wants on her side. true confessions only escapes her in the presence of those she cherishes the most and are her longest standing confidants.

020. is  your  muse a  gossiper?  are they  more  likely to  argue  with their  fists  or tongue?  what  does their  voice  sound like?

due to the misfortunate rumors that seem to follow her in court, lianor abstain from gossip--however, that hardly means she is not observant and keen of the talk, especially when it involves something about her loved ones and that could be of help for them.

as she is virtually unable to protect herself physically, her few lessons in sword fighting long forgotten as childhood play, she must hone her tongue from time to time to protect herself -- truly, she is not proficient at that, and oftentimes she ends up abiding by the humiliation.

lianor is very soft spoken, with a honeyed, deep yet feminine voice. (i’m not certain how to describe a voice lmao hers is charlotte’s real voice, outside of that ridiculous accent from the spanish princess).

021. is  your  muse  a …  pessimist  or optimist …  lover  or fighter … believer  in  happy endings …  believer  in love  at  first sight?

she walks a line between both, though she is originally very optimistic and often attempts to keep herself upbeat. unmistakably a lover, though reality has dulled her romanticism and makes her cynical towards these notions of an easy love--instead, love must be kept and groomed for it to grow and remain.

022. what  sense  of humour  does  your character  have?

a poor one. lianor doesn’t consider herself particularly funny, so she often falls to depreciating, insulting jokes she is the subject to; jests about herself from other people, though, drive her to annoyance. though she is sensitive and rather particular about what amuses her, she can be efficient in continuing a playful round of tease between those she favors.

023. what  bad  habits does  your  character have?

the most pertinent misbehavior i have pointed out a few times is her growing habit to turn to deception. as a young woman whose future depends on how she keeps her honor, either that be physical or psychological, she was, in a practical, vocal sense of it, discouraged to lie, but lia caught people doing it so anyways, if only to disburden themselves by a white lie. a white lie, that is what she claims to use in her favor; it is necessary not to hurt herself and her loved ones, so she tells herself, even as she spews unnecessary fantasious tales.

024. how  does  your character  feel  about growing  old?

i believe she remains ambiguous about it, as most women do? though her power and wealth comes from a position maintained assumingly by her body, she does not fret about this so much, for if her beauty faded, she would still have her mind and, she hopes, harry’s heart. however, when she first saw a pale thread among her fiery tresses, she probably thought of her mother’s own graying hair, and how in old age she will deteriorate to the point of non-recognition and complete oblivion, souring her moods and driving her to isolation.

025. does  your  character prefer  adventure  to safety  and  security?

adventure had never been much of an opportunity, for she is of lesser noble birth, and her family’s odds depended on her ability to better herself by marriage or service to the crown. so she faithfully abided for most of her youth, but bouts of recklessness were not absent in her idyllic days at the welsh border, and whenever she felt her cheeks aching just from laughing, she imagined this was the kind of life one is supposed to lead. she always, soon enough, promptly convinced herself it was not the right life, and she strives for stability, a calm, quiet life alongside the people she loves -- it is a naive thought, though, and she brushes it off to return to her duties.

[antoine-roquentin]

The outrage expressed by various establishment figures and institutions at the decision by Cambridge University to hold a two-year inquiry into its historic links to the slave trade demonstrates the continuing sensitivity and relevance of the topic.

Critics of the inquiry claim that such focus on slavery is simply bowing to a trend, the suggestion being that there is little to be regretted and to apologise for. The Times has a leader with the flippant title “Slave to Fashion”, quoting with approval the conservative historian Elie Kedourie as saying that a common fault of the great powers is “imaginary guilt”.

A clutch of letters in the same newspaper make similar claims about the inquiry, one writer wondering if the issue is being raised “at a time when western mistreatment of the ‘colonised’ is news”. Others believe that much can be excused because racist opinions were common in the past, citing Charles Darwin as an example. Alternatively, they imply that the question of the slave trade has no more contemporary relevance than Britons enslaved during the Roman occupation of Britain or the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

The very volume and venom of the abuse of Cambridge over its inquiry is proof, if such were needed, that the British role in the slave trade remains a highly contentious topic which stirs deep feelings. Of course, it is splendidly, if absurdly, self-contradictory for commentators who accuse Cambridge of unnecessarily raising a dead issue to then write thousands of furious words arguing why Britain’s role in the slave trade has no significance in the modern world. An explanation for the near-hysterical reaction is probably that the critics view Britain’s past role in the world as benign and respond with hostility to anybody they see as besmirching it. A fallback position for them is to say that, bad though slavery may have been, it all happened a long time ago so why rake up dead embers of the past?

This defensive gambit depends rather on those who it aims to convince to be ill-informed about the horrors of slavery and unable to understand why it has left a living legacy with profound influence on the contemporary world.   

One way of evoking the terrible evils of slavery is to remember that its crimes were repeated very recently by Isis when they enslaved, raped and murdered thousands of members of the Yazidi community whom they had captured in Iraq in 2014.

Conditions endured on the slave plantations of the Caribbean and the American South were very similar to those suffered by the Yazidis. It is an insult, explained but not excused by ignorance, to pretend that Cambridge’s concern about who benefited from their sufferings is a whim of fashion, as irrelevant as the policies of the Roman emperors or Henry VIII.

One of the best-informed and most shocking contemporary accounts of the true nature of slavery in the 18th century is by James Ramsay, a Scottish surgeon formerly in the Royal Navy who became a clergyman in St Kitts and Nevis where he treated slaves on the sugar plantations. I first heard about him and started to read his writings some 12 years ago when a relative told me that Ramsay was my direct ancestor seven generations back. He had spent 19 years in St Kitts before returning to England where he wrote in detail about the appalling conditions of the slaves in a book, which he published in 1784 with the deceptively mild title An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies. It was widely read, the Dictionary of National Biography calling Ramsay “the single most important influence in the abolition of the slave trade”.

He is convincing because he was an expert eyewitness for many years to the merciless savagery with which the slaves on the sugar plantations were mistreated. He wrote how “a half-starved negro, may, for breaking a single cane, which probably he himself has planted, be hacked to pieces with a cutlass”. He speaks of his anguish at being able to do so little to help the half-starved overworked men, women and children dressed in rags who were forced to work in the cane fields. He describes how a cart whip wielded by an experienced slave driver “cuts out flakes of skin and flesh with every stroke”.

The book gives an account of the relentless routine of overwork and punishment on the plantations, where slaves were worked until they died or were disabled. Ramsay writes that “the discipline of the plantation is exact as that of a regiment; at four o’clock in the morning the plantation bell rings to call the slaves into the fields”.

The slaves, who were bought for £60 each, would then work for 16 hours or more to cut the cane, bring it to the mill and boil it until it turned into sugar. Every so often, the machinery in the mill “grinds off a hand, or an arm, of those drowsy worn down creatures”.

The punishment inflicted on slaves on the British-owned plantations in the Caribbean were all too similar to the way in which Isis murdered or mutilated their Yazidi slaves.

One surgeon was asked by a judge to amputate the limb of a slave but refused to do so according to Ramsay, answering “that he was not obliged to be the instrument of another man’s cruelty. His Honour then had it performed by a cooper’s adze, and the wretch was then left to bleed to death, without attention or dressing.”

Isis notoriously raped and sold as sex slaves Yazidi women and this again was a feature of plantation life on St Kitts. Ramsay says that slave women were “sacrificed to the lust of white men; in some instances, their own fathers”, while their mistresses earned pin-money by hiring out as prostitutes the slave girls who tended them.

It is worth appreciating, when watching a romanticised view of slavery in a film like Gone with the Wind, that a real life Scarlett O’Hara on a slave plantation might be supplementing her income by hiring out her female slave for sex.

Ramsay was born in 1733 in Fraserburgh near Aberdeen and had trained as a doctor before joining the Royal Navy as a surgeon. He first saw slavery up close in 1759 when the man-of-war he was on boarded a slave ship called The Swift sailing from Africa to Barbados. Boarding the vessel, he was appalled to find 100 sick slaves lying in a mixture of blood, vomit and excreta.

On his return to Britain, Ramsay trained as an Anglican clergyman and three years later took over two livings in St Kitts. The plantation owners welcomed his skills as a doctor but were enraged to discover that he opposed slavery and allowed slaves into his church. Strongly supported by friends in the navy, he remained in St Kitts until 1781 when he returned to Britain where he became the vicar of a small church in Teston, outside Maidstone in Kent, where he wrote his book.

Contrary to the claims by the present-day critics of the Cambridge inquiry that racist views on slaves were all pervasive in the past, Ramsay wrote that in terms of intellect slaves “show no signs of inferiority to Europeans”. There is plenty of guilt for the inquiry to explore, none of it imaginary.

[pr-ay-the-gay-away]

Someone, a long time ago, an "insider" told someone else in my group about 5H girls being total slaves to their contracts and that even sexual favors are needed to be done. They used the example from LM having to flirt with business executives and that's also a reason why Sinu never leaves Camila beside, even in PR or any kind of meeting. They said Lauren had already did it, (IDK) and I wonder what you think about this? It was a long time ago too.

Trigger warning: This post is gonna be on the topic of sexual violence. Skip this post if that’s triggering for you.

“an “insider” told someone else in my group”What is this “group” you’re referring to? How come you have someone claiming to be an industry insider coming up to this group? Can you please provide more context and background to this setting? Thanks :)

“about 5H girls being total slaves to their contracts”

I mean, it’s not really an exaggerated sentiment. Much has already been said and written about music industry contracts subjecting artists to slavery-like conditions

Prince Compares Record Contracts To Slavery In Rare Meeting With Media

“Record contracts are just like — I’m gonna say the word – slavery”

Singer-Songwriter The-Dream: ‘Artists Are Treated Like Slaves’

“Plenty of passionate owners have built record labels that ripped off their artists.That’s because artists are treated like slaves. We have terrible contracts, we have streaming services that pay one-tenth of a cent per play, we have no laws to protect us.”

“and that even sexual favors are needed to be done” 

I mean, I highly doubt that the contracts would stipulate that sexual favors are included. That would be highly dubious and probably illegal. But I have no doubt that a patriarchal industry rife with overt sexism and misogyny, with huge power disparities at play, would be a veritable breeding ground for abuses of power, harassment, and sexual violence.

Remember Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement? This man was lauded, praised and publicly adored for over 30 years. That is a fucking long time, and he was a fucking huge industry player. He was a fucking head honcho figure. Over three decades worth of professional working women were subjected to harassment and sexual violence at his hands. Some of them, many amongst them, are high profile female performers whom you’ve probably watched on screen. He blatantly abused his position of power to intimidate women into silence, and to punish and freeze women out of the industry for their rejection or for standing up to him. This wasn’t him with a knife in a back alley preying on women one-on-one. This was him holding a position of power and influence, along with his colleagues, his employees, industry partners, industry players, any stakeholder in the system who is subject to being influenced by the power and money of a huge industry player like Harvey Weinstein - they all contributed to and protected this system of abuse. This is a systemic issue. This is not a Harvey Weinstein issue. This is an issue with the status quo. The women who came forward about him - we wouldn’t even know whether they’re only a small fraction of the number of women he has abused. How do you keep that many survivors silent over a period of several decades? Shame and fear. Fear of retribution. Fear of succumbing to the trauma, the shame that comes with experiencing being a victim of sexual violence and acknowledging that pain and owning it publicly. The #MeToo movement presented a vocal platform and somewhat of a safe space for survivors to share their experiences with the public, but also with each other, to recognize that they are not alone in this and they had support.

Now consider this: the music industry hasn’t yet had anything close to a #MeToo movement. How fucking dark is that?

You mentioned Little Mix’s comments

“‘Someone from our US record label said, “Go and flirt with all those important men.” I was like, “Why have I got to go in and flirt to get my song on the radio?”’ They consider themselves fortunate they had each other as back-up. Things might have been different if they were solo and left to fend for themselves.”

Just look at Kesha and how our favorite evil corporation, Sony Music, has thrown its enormous weight and money into protecting their very own rapists

“Sony Music Entertainment is looking to get out of a court ruling that ordered the record label to tell Kesha and her legal team who it interviewed during an internal investigation into Lukas “Dr. Luke” Gottwald.”

Oh, about those “internal investigations” like the one Sony conducted? Just an example of how the industry doesn’t have safe standards for reporting sexual harassment so that it can be investigated properly by legal authorities. This is something Dina LaPolt, Fifth Harmony’s legal representative, is very conscious of given she was part of a group who drafted recommendations to address this. 

“[…] we recommend music industry companies and law firms adopt the following internal practices […] Make instances of harassment an express exception to NDAs and arbitration provisions.”

Take Taylor Swift’s case against David Mueller 

“It highlighted the underreporting of sexual assault”

Taylor Swift Speaks Out About Believing Sexual Assault Victims on Anniversary of Her Trial Verdict

“I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and the people who haven’t been believed, and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed”

“I figured that if he would be brazen enough to assault me under these risky circumstances and high stakes, imagine what he might do to a vulnerable, young artist if given the chance. It was important to report the incident to his radio station because I felt like they needed to know”

Wanna know how prevalent sexual harassment is? Very. 

A New Survey Finds 81 Percent Of Women Have Experienced Sexual Harassment

Almost every adult woman I know has been subjected to some form of sexual harassment in their life time, whether they themselves have recognized it or not. If you have yet to experience any form of sexual harassment, count yourself lucky up to this point, but you have to understand that it’s a game of probability and statistics as you go forward. If we’re playing “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” then I already know several first and second degree connections who have been victims of contact sexual violence. I am certain I know plenty more people who have been victims of contact sexual violence, I just don’t KNOW of their experiences. Because we are silent.

I am so fucking grateful that Sinu goes with Camila everywhere. I am so fucking grateful that the girls’ parents travelled with them for at least some part of their tours/work commitments. I feel that, similar to Little Mix, I am so grateful that Fifth Harmony were in a group together. I hope they were protected. I hope they protected each other. We know they’ve all been subjected to some form of  sexual harassment - most notably online, whether it’s Camila having someone say “suck my dick” during one of her live Q&As, or perverts creating photoshopped porn images of them (btw the Mattmila and Tyren accounts that do this? That’s sexual violence FYI), but also the people who make inappropriate comments or actions in person. Remember that Camila stopped doing koala hugs because people at meet and greets took advantage. That is a polite way of describing that those people sexually harassed her. I have no doubt that behind the scenes, they’ve been subjected to some form of sexual harassment in their workplace by industry staffers - I have no doubt that this could only have intensified as they got older, and probably more so once they all went solo.

“They said Lauren had already did it, (IDK) and I wonder what you think about this”

What was “it” that Lauren had supposedly already done, and who was this “insider” and what was this “group” you claim they were talking to? :\

This is what I think about sexual harassment/violence, as it pertains to the girls:

Statistically speaking, one or more of the girls is likely to have been/or to be subjected to contact sexual violence during their lifetime (Camila being groped during koala hugs actually already counts)

Just taking into account the articles shared above even, I don’t doubt that sexual violence is prevalent and underreported to the point of being almost invisible within the music industry. Keep this in mind when reading the next paragraph.

Lauren has not publicly spoken about any personal experiences of contact sexual violence within the industry. There have neither been public comments made by her or her representatives to suggest that she has definitely experienced contact sexual violence within the industry, nor have there been public comments made by her or her representatives to suggest that she has never experienced contact sexual violence within the industry (at the time of this posting)

I fucking pray (disclaimer: this is hyperbole, I’m not religious) that the girls were protected and safe from that, and that they continue to be safe and protected from that. But I genuinely believe that they have the strength and resilience to overcome and survive whatever trauma they may have been subjected to without our knowledge, or will be subjected to without our knowledge, going forward. Now let’s all go watch Captain Marvel and continue to be inspired to take down the patriarchy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a sensitive topic. I will ask this of all of you armchair WebMDs hanging out here looking to catastrophize these girls’ lives in order to come up with some tragedy porn for your idle minds: this post is not an invitation for you to theorize and hypothesize whether or not some celebrity has been a victim of sexual harassment or sexual violence based on your armchair pseudo-analysis of their body language and facial expressions in their social media posts. Please respect that this is a sensitive topic and refrain from making baseless statements about what may or may not have happened purely from your own projections.

[theswordofpens]

Political Views (From a regular guy in America)

Hey folks! I know some of us don’t like talking about politics on here, but I thought I’d share my thoughts on a few political topics in the spirit of you guys learning to get to know me. So, without further ado, here we go!

What are your thoughts on Racism in our country? I think Racism is by far the DUMBEST social construct we’ve made. There’s literally zero amount of difference between two different people of two different skin pigmentations and ethnic backgrounds. I believe Racism should be abolished in this country and I think both Nazis and White Supremacists should have to register as a “Public Offender” like sex offenders have to. Why? I can’t begin to tell you how many pictures I’ve seen of hundreds of thousands of different people being murdered in cold blood - all for the sake of saying that a stupid ideology should be the law of the land. In the almost 243 years our country has been in existence, the issue of Racism still plagues us to this day. I think that’s beyond ridiculous. What are your thoughts on Women’s rights and Feminism? This is a very similar problem when it comes to the Racism subject. The only difference is that it’s Sex and Gender Elitism instead of Racial Supremacy. To think that one sex is better than the other (ie Men are superior to Women, vice versa) is foolish and is a dangerous thought process. That kind of thinking has led to the great social division that hinders our country today. Women deserve equal pay for equal jobs and equal hours. Women deserve equality in the hiring process for ANY job or career they wish to pursue. Women deserve paid maternity leave, and it should be illegal for ANY company to fire them while they’re on said maternity leave. And last but certainly not least, WOMEN DESERVE THE RIGHT TO ABORTIONS. PERIOD.

What are your thoughts on Immigration? I think Immigration is what’s built our country today. It’s safe to say that 90% of people who currently live in the US can trace their lineage to somewhere outside of the US. Immigrants should be welcomed with open arms, not concrete walls, chain link fences, barb wire and assault rifles. If anyone comes to our country as an immigrant and wishes to help make our country a better place, I say we should let them. We should help them to find jobs and affordable housing, good education for their children, and ultimately a good life for them to live within our country. We should give immigrants the same treatment we give to ourselves, because really, they’ve become one of us. What are your thoughts on Religion in our country? I don’t believe that any one religion is better than the other and I fully believe in Separation of Church & State. Politics are NOT the proper place for your own personal beliefs, and Religion is NOT the proper place for your own personal agenda. I’ll scream that from the rooftops, if I have to. Politics should be a place of non-biased people with the goal in mind to work together to make our country better. No one religion should get special treatment, and no one of different religious beliefs should be discriminated against. Enough said.

What are your thoughts on Gun Rights & Gun Control? I fully believe in the second amendment right for American Citizens to own and possess firearms. THAT SAID! I also believe in reason, perhaps more so than I do in the second amendment. Former felons shouldn’t have the right to possess or own firearms (unless they go through a rigorous rehabilitation and reconciliation course designed to help and reintegrate former felons back into society). I believe sex offenders and the “public offenders” that I mentioned above should also not have the right to possess firearms. I believe that Americans should NEVER possess weapons that can be considered “tactical.” Tactical weapons belong in the hands of those qualified to operate that kind of equipment in tactical situations (ie SWAT, Police, Military forces, FBI, Secret Service). I think there should be “switch” program where Americans can trade in their tactical weapons to the Federal Government for similar, non-tactical versions of that weapon OR for cash reimbursement. I also think that Firearm owning age should be 21, the same age as drinking.

What are your thoughts on LGBTQIA+ community and their rights? I think they’re just as much human and deserving of the same rights as we are. What, just because somebody isn’t straight or they don’t view themselves within the confines on gender or sex that makes them less than human? The LGBTQIA+ community, and anyone who falls into that category, should have the rights of equal employment, equal hours, equal pay, equal rights, equal abilities to marry, equal rights to medical operations, equal ability to adopt, and equal treatment. Period, end of discussion. What are your thoughts on Stem Cell Research and Possible Cloning? I believe in the medical benefits of Stem Cell Research and how it could vastly improve the lives of many Americans who are suffering without it. I think that Stem Cell Research should not only be made legal, but also that it should receive government funding and that access to Stem Cell therapy should be made open to the common folk. In regards to the Cloning issue, I don’t believe that full-fledged, human cloning should be legal. HAVING SAID THAT: I do, however, believe in the medical benefits of partial human cloning in regards to damaged limbs and organs, and that such treatment and therapy should be available for the general public.

What are your thoughts on political parties? Political parties have their uses, but I don’t think they should have nearly the full endorsement they have today. Political parties and those affiliated with them should be kept at an arm’s length away from American Politics, in a sense. What a person identifies in regards to political parties shouldn’t be as important as what they want to do in order to benefit this country and how they wish to do so. Political parties shouldn’t receive federal funding, as they should be funded by independent sources. Not only that, people who wish to run for an elected office need to pass a written and a multiple choice test in order to prove that they have the proper knowledge and critical thinking skills needed in order to properly lead in the position they wish to be elected for.

What are your thoughts on education? I believe that every American deserves to have quality education from schools in which they attend. I also believe the whole “let's make our students pay thousands of dollars in order for them to take a nose dive into debt and then we won't hire them because they got a degree in something we don't like” is BS. We can't take credit in degrees in this country anymore because it's no longer about how hard you work, but rather, how much did you pay to get the degree? While free college may not be realistic in this country (unfortunately) I do think we should greatly lower the cost of a higher education. Any university you go to should only cost two times of what city or community college costs. That way, instead of driving ourselves into a debt that we can't pay, we can pay off a more reasonable amount and we wouldn't be in the same debt we’re in today.

What are your thoughts on Medical care in this country? Okay, this is a no brainer. Medical care should be free for all Americans. And this, I think, is and should be possible. One of the biggest medical insurers in our country is freaking GoFundMe.Com. (Are you kidding me?) I mean, what more do I need to say? Our medical care system is a joke. They're only interested in squeezing every last dime out of the American people while they're on their way to death. Meanwhile, other countries are living healthy and beautifully. We need a serious overhaul on the medical care system as a whole, and one that mutually benefits the American people.

What are your thoughts on the Drug and Homeless crisis within many cities in our country? Homeless people are still PEOPLE. People addicted to drugs are still PEOPLE. As such, they need our help. They need our help to become better people, or to find a home and a job. They need us to help them to get back on their feet, even if they won't openly admit it. There should be a social program that helps to rehabilitate, house, and educate drug abusers and homeless people. It'll help them to get a diploma or a GED, and it'll help them to find jobs and affordable housing within our country.

What are your thoughts on the prison system? We of our biggest problems is the number of incarcerated people per capita. There is a vast amount of people serving hard time in prison for crimes that shouldn't require them to. A shoplifters shouldn't spend the same time that a man convicted of grand arson should. People convicted of lesser crimes should have a choice of either going into a social program similar to that of the Drug and Homeless rehabilitation program or they could join the military to serve for their time in there and to be released on a simple discharge basis.

What are your thoughts on the Environment? The Earth is our home, whether we wish to recognize that or not. Therefore, we need to treat our home with respect and begin to undo the extensive damage that the Human race has brought onto our planet. We should have a similar trade in system as we should have for tactical weapons, only for the environment we should do so with cars instead of guns. Fossil fuel usage should ultimately be banned within a 5 year plan that will allow Americans to trade in their petrolium-powered cars for green energy vehicles. We can either reimburse them for their cars OR we can give them new green cars in exchange for their old ones. Every single building in the US should be either ran off of solar, wind, or hydroelectricity. Every time we cut down a tree, two more should be planted in its place. Old properties should be buldozed to the ground and made into “green parks,” or places where we can plant trees and flowers to make various communities greener. Any energy source that’s dangerous for our planet should be banned.

What are your thoughts on Foreign Policy? We need to work together in order to not only make our country to be better, but to also make our world a better place. We need to focus on COOPERATION, rather than competition. Competing is for sports; Cooperating is for everything else. The US should be one of the leading example of cooperation and leadership within the world. We should work together to feed some of the less fortunate countries. We should grant independence to our overseas territories that wish to be independent, and we should help to establish their governments and economies to be successful. The former thought of the US being “the best country” is a complete and total lie and we need to get that thought out of our heads. We need to recognize that there are other countries that are better in a lot of other aspects than we are.

What are your thoughts on the Military within our country? Our soldiers are cherished in our country, and rightfully so. They fight hard and give up their lives so that we can live comfortable lives. But sometimes, they are the unintentional pawns in a geopolitical game by self-ran politicians within their own agendas. I can’t tell you how many times I see homeless veterans rolling around a run-down wheelchair with only one leg. There are quite literally thousands of former soldiers within our system that are homeless and are in need of help. We should have a system designed to help our veterans to find jobs immediately after they’re released from the military. We spend more money on our military than the next 26 nations COMBINED, so the way we treat our veterans is not only wrong - it’s atrocious.

What are your thoughts about the economy? Capitalism is said to be one of the leading reasons why the health of our Earth is declining. We focus more on a “every man for himself” kind of ideology when it comes to our economy. We take all the money we can get from the people, and we play game of corperate juggernaut against other companies. This drives prices through the roof, which makes many Americans angry. On top of that, you add in taxes and fees of all sorts and what was once a gallon of milk for $2.50 just jumped up to almost 4 bucks. This doesn’t just affect the costs of grocery, either. Gas prices, textile costs, medicine and medical items - you name it! All of it is charged at ridiculous prices all because the companies at the helm of this economic fashion are money hungry and want to squeeze every last dime out of the American people. To top it all off, the American dollar isn’t worth nearly as much as it used to be, so we keep having to print out more and more. Which lowers the amount even more, and this contributes to a broken system. We need a serious overhaul of how our economy is going to work, and how we can make it fairer for both small companies AND for the American people as a whole.

What are your thoughts about the Social programs we have today? I believe that their intentions are great and the basic idea behind them is good, but they need to be overhauled and reevaluated. There are people who genuinely need financial help (be it for health, domestic, or whatever the reason may be. Medical care should be universal and free. If Americans fall under the poverty line, they should be entitled to some kind of federal help per month that aleviates the cost of their basic necessities. We need to help our country’s poor to have a better chance at succeeding in life. However, we can’t just give out free money and not expect for some people to abuse that financial help. Along with a stronger system of Social Services, we need a system of accountability for each and every case they take on. This kind of overhaul will mutually benefit both the destitute and the more well-off in our society.

Look, these are just my opinions. You don’t have to agree with them. But as someone who’s been a witness to this America, I’ve thought long and hard about what should change within our country. If you don’t agree with me, or if I offended any of you for saying this, then I’m sorry but this is how I feel about it. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to block me or unfollow me at any time. Thank you all for your time.