#and for the representation to be right....

[reasonsforhope]

"Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old running for Congress in Illinois’ 9th congressional district, isn’t shy about her belief that politicians need to do things differently.

“We have a representation problem,” the first line of the “About” page on her website reads.

“As in, about half of Congress are millionaires and people born before the Moon landing. And that's part of the reason we're in this mess: Our leaders are out of touch.”

A journalist, social media influencer, and political commentator that GQ called “a lefty,” with a mission to revitalize the Democratic party, Abughazaleh built a following online before she launched her campaign in March of 2025. 

But now, she’s leveraging her platform — and campaign dollars — to help people in her community before ballots are even filled in.

“My congressional campaign is feeding people right now,” she starts in a recent TikTok video. 

“Part of the reason I decided to run was because I saw how much money gets wasted in politics, and I thought, ‘What if we spent it differently?’”

She adds that the campaign is focused on “direct action and mutual aid,” emphasizing that she wanted her run for office to be “dual-purpose,” in which she can get her message out and help people in the process. 

It’s a stark pivot from the traditional way of campaigning in the United States, which often includes pricey fundraising galas, attack ads, big billboards, and perhaps the most criticized and unpopular feature: massive donations from private businesses and interest groups. 

Abughazaleh has publicly congratulated the former incumbent of this seat — 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has held the title since 1999, the year Abughazaleh was born — for her “decades of service.” 

Rep. Schakowsky will not seek reelection, but Abughazaleh called for others to run, hoping to participate in the “first competitive Democratic primary in the District since 1998.”

Abughazaleh has also shared that the average donation her campaign receives is $31. And according to GQ, 1,000 people signed up to volunteer for her campaign within a week of her initial announcement.

And while that volunteering does include marketing, canvassing, and getting the word out, it mostly adds up to actual on-the-ground volunteer work to help people in the local community.

“Our kick-off event, for instance, didn’t charge $500 a plate,” Abughazaleh shared in her TikTok. “People just had to bring a box of pads or tampons, which were donated to Chicago’s period collective. By the end of the night, we had gathered over 5,600 period products, which went to people who can’t afford them.”

Most recently, the campaign hosted a food drive for a local community fridge program.

“We asked folks to come out and donate food in exchange for a campaign yard or window sign,” Abughazaleh said. “And by the end of the day, we were able to fully stock the empty pantry and fill the fridge with frozen meals, produce, and eggs. That’s feeding people right now.”

“Don’t worry, we checked to make sure this is legal," she added. "And it is."

The campaign has also launched a High School Public Serve Grant program that encourages local youth to submit ideas for how to make the community better, and Abughazaleh’s campaign will support it with money, materials, volunteers, and her online platform...

“Something you’ll rarely see is concrete help in their communities during the campaign,” she said. “And frankly, to me, that just seems stupid. Not only do you get to help people — supposedly what you’re running to do — but it also shows what you’re about, instead of just providing lip service.” ...

“If every campaign adopted this model, then we wouldn’t be wasting money every single cycle. Every city, town, and village across America would be improved by their election process, and I think it would also get people more involved,” she said.

“We have local folks who have never voted in an election, but they joined our volunteer Discord server because they want to help, they feel like they have something to vote for.”

For those who might be inspired enough to run for office with this model, she says: Full steam ahead.

“Frankly, I would love it if other campaigns took our model. Use it, pretend it’s yours, I don’t care!” she wrapped up her TikTok. 

“Pair with organizations in your community that have been doing the work, talk with local experts, and try to spearhead any initiatives you can to show your values and help your constituents. It’s really that easy.”

-via GoodGoodGood, May 14, 2025

[livefromtheelephantsfoot]

as a person with zero desire to ever be pregnant, the fact that it is possible--through assault, miscalculation, bad luck or some combination thereof--for my body to abruptly change in painful, sometimes permanent ways i have little control over; that depending on where i live i could not only be denied access to medications that would stop it but also find the informed consent that underlies my current treatment plans crumbling; that my body could become no longer mine not only due to the being growing inside me i did not ask for, but societal norms that normalize strangers touching my body without asking and controlling what i eat; that's pretty frightening to think about.

does this impact how i view or treat other people who are pregnant? nope. and i would not consider a straightforward depiction of pregnancy inherently disturbing, or expect other people to find it so. but a work of horror that took that seed of fear and focused in on it, either with a literal depiction of pregnancy viewed from the eyes of someone who doesn't want to be pregnant or a fantastical depiction where the unwanted fetus is a monster or the pregnancy affects the person's body in ways that extend beyond the real world experience? that could be really disturbing, and the fact that pregnancy is not unnatural and many people choose it happily would not disqualify it as "body horror."

I think that there's a very meaningful criticism to be made wrt body horror and how it often can handle disability or disfigurement in an extremely reactionary and prejudiced fashion but I feel like you've lost the plot if you can sincerely say shit like "cancer isn't body horror" like I dont know I think its pretty scary to have cancer. I dont feel like we need to defend the role of cancer as a natural process of the body. Like that's not comparable to people acting like a cleft lip or a guy in a wheelchair are spooky. Pregnancy is pretty scary too like even before the question of forced birth and other such social violence surrounding it are involved. I think you're sort of dancing around the fact that the human body does frightening things to us all the time and the question of what is "natural" should in of itself be actively questioned because sometimes "natural" things are... bad!

[so-i-did-this-thing]

would you be against showing all of your tattoos in a tumble post? i’ve only ever seen glimpses of them in some of your photos but they look so cool!! no pressure or anything if you don’t want to of course<3

Of course! I've acquired a lot of new followers and since I got most of my ink over 10 years ago, I just tend to forget it's all there. Which I guess can be surprising given how I like to dress.

My left arm is fairly chaotic, whatever old and new passions I felt like commemorating when the urge struck me. I want to do a proper full color sleeve for my right arm (most likely medieval marginalia), maybe when I turn 50 in a few years. I also like the idea of a chest piece, but cannot decide what to get.

I also have a fading (by design) tattoo of Sam Vimes' Summing Dark scar on my right wrist. It was my first tattoo:

Here's a few shots of my chaos arm:

And a list of what I have:

A portion of M.C. Escher's "crab canon" tessellation inside of a visual representation of a J.S. Bach crab canon (a piece of music that is played forward and backwards at the same time - think of it like a palindrome). This is a very niche reference to the book, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter. It is a very dense book on the mind and machines and was a formative tome my oboe teacher (also a mathematician) gave me when I was 13 or 14, when he saw I was a bit of a polymath.

A wavelength of an oboe playing the note A 440, which tunes the orchestra. Aka, part of my old job.

Bubble chamber trails, used in the study of particle physics

The golden ratio

The "hydrogen spin flip transition," which is used on the Voyager Golden Record as the primary unit of measure

A buckminster fuller ball

Pawprints from my last 3 departed cats (I plan to keep with this tradition for current and future pets)

The Penrose triangle

Part of a crease pattern of a songbird by Robert Lang, one of my childhood origami idols. He was very amused when I emailed him if I could get the tattoo.

The orbits of the Galilean moons

A dip circle recovered from the scattered remnants of the Franklin Expedition

I might get a few more random things and also have an idea for a motif w/pipes and smoke to fill the empty spaces and make it look more like a cohesive sleeve. :)

[holyblanchett]

KATHRYN HAHN WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME DEAD?? LOVE OF HER LIFE IM SCREMSHMD

[mouthstatickinard]

i don’t generally like to touch fandom discourse but hooooly shit. comparing a celebration of canon queer characters to cops at pride is WILD. log off for a bit, you need some outdoor time BAD

[unsentimentaltranslator]

That guy is supposed to be a representation of US presidents who order the military to bomb other countries and kill their kids, right? I can’t stop noticing how complaints about media literacy these days are always “stop criticising bigotry in media” but calling a blatant representation of a public figure who commits real-world atrocities “daddy” is fine.

Suzanne Collins was really pissed when she saw all those edits of Snow as ‘daddy’ and whatever other bullshit after the TBOSAS movie, sat down at her laptop again and started typing “let’s see if you get the message now when HE KILLS 47 CHILDREN”

[ndostairlyrium]

and by the way

BY THE WAY

these aren't Gondole, they are probably Barchette da traghetto (traghetti da parada transport people from one side to the other of Canal Grande when there's no bridge available), or cheaper relatives of a Peota, or a Pupparin. And I'm using these terms loosely because the one above is clearly an hybrid between something that has real life historical value and a choice from the writing/design department.

A gondola is long approx 10m and can carry a maximum of 5 people inside (art. 26 of the rulebook, the original rule is from 1946), a licensed gondoliere can maneuver it. However, a regular traghetto requires two people maneuvering it because it can carry up to 12 people. That boat has only one Forcola which means that there's only one guy with the strength of a thousand men operating the boat. I find it rather concerning, considering that at full capacity a thing like that could easily reach 900 to 1k kilos - what is it, 16 metres of wood and metal? That in the picture may weight waaaay more.

Why did they call them gondole if they have more things in common with other Venetian historical boats? I don't know, I'm not a scientist

[hedwig221b]

Hey wiggly hed, perchance does anyone know of fics where Stiles has sleeping issues? Such as insomnia because we know he does but I'd also love more with him sleepwalking, talking, and just fics where Derek is like struggling to or having to make a point to take precautions so his baby doesn't walk right out the door or he has full on conversations with a babbling asleep Stiles because of course Stiles doesn't even shut up in his sleep.

Hellooo! Tried to feature a few fics for every trope, here's what I got

Say Something

That first time Stiles decided it was probably wise to let sleeping werewolves lie.

Step into the daylight (and let it go) by dearericbittle (dutchmoxie)

Stiles is a grad student with serious insomnia. So when he sees a stranger in need of help, he thinks it’ll be a good way to alleviate the boredom. How the hell was he supposed to know that the weird guy with the baseball cap was a famous actor (and a fucking werewolf)? He just keeps running into the guy. Coincidence? Stiles thinks not.

Yes To Heaven

Stiles ruined him. The damage was irreparable. He didn’t want the food that wasn’t made by Stiles or shared with him; the water tasted stale; the clothes were asphyxiating and scratchy; the air was wrong, wrong without Stiles’ scent in it. Fuck, what was wrong with him? How could that pretty little thing change him so much? He had an iron grip on his control before, being in tandem with his instincts, but within weeks, all of it was gone. As soon as he thought of Stiles, though, of his scent, his moans, and the little wrinkle on his forehead as he orgasmed, his mind settled. What was life before Stiles? Everything was somewhere far, far away, forgotten, bleak, and meaningless. Derek thought he knew what light was as he looked at the microscopic dots of the stars above. Then Stiles came into his life and showed him the sun.

falling for the weirdo by wazzzup

Basically, I felt that Stiles' ADHD was used as a source for jokes and I wanted a fanfic that was a more accurate representation of a neurodivergent person. (written by someone with ADHD as well as a few other disorders) Story: Derek stays with Stiles when the alpha pack is in town to protect the pack human, but also because he thinks Stiles is lying to them about something cause the teen acts super distant around them. Stiles is freaking out because he's going to be living with Derek and be around the man all the time and can't mask his 'weird' behaviors and many disorders that he's managed to keep secret from the pack.

Little Devil Inside by sarahhhelpme

Even now, the Nogitsune feels like a part of him. It left behind something dark and twisted and angry. He is not the same person he was before.

One Hundred Miles an Hour in Reverse by suburbanmotel

Stiles understands that leaving is hard. He understands because Stiles always understands. Leaving is hard, got it. Check. But late at night, alone in the dark in the quiet with the shadows, alone with his thoughts and his shallow, slightly panicked breathing, he also understands that it’s always harder for the people left behind. -- Five years after everything, after everyone is gone, Stiles remains, because someone has to, right? He’s become good at staying, at being ok with staying, because he’s good at what he does and so many people need him here. So, he’s stayed and he does what he’s always done best: he figures things out. He figures things out and he makes lists, lists of spells, lists of magical herbs, lists of people who have left. He also makes lists about himself. Stiles is: the fixer, the writer, the librarian, the keeper of words and memories in Beacon Hills. He’s a healer, a helper and he remembers. He remembers everything.

Sleeping Next To You Is Like Magic by LadyDrace

Stiles and Derek meet the summer before senior year. Stiles can't sleep, Derek helps with that, and there's a lot less cuddling and a lot more emotional crises than you'd think. Or: Stiles' feelings happen so much, and learning how to deal with them takes him a little while. Good thing Derek is happy to wait.

Cosomination by zoemathemata

For Fictional Force/Hoktauri who prompted “pining! Derek/oblivious! Stiles, graduation day” Cosominate - To sleep together in the same bed or similar space. Five Times Derek and Stiles Sleep Together - 4 platonic bed shares and one not-platonic bed share! Features Pining! Derek, Oblivious!Stiles and a very tense moment where Sheriff Stilinski has been hurt! But it all turns out okay.

I won't sleep if you won't sleep by dragon_temeraire

After the nogitsune, Stiles is unable to sleep. To help, he has a spell cast on him that will link him with Derek.

The Taste You Leave Behind in My Mouth by monopolizeme

Derek looks over at Stiles, who hasn't moved from the bottom step. He’s watching Derek and Scott, shadows wane and ugly beneath dull eyes that no longer shine as they used to when looking at Derek - out of irritation or goading or open honesty - and Derek doesn't quite know what to do. Because he almost expected Stiles to be the one up here on the wooden porch with him, maybe punching at his arm and grinning because although they hadn't really spoken about what they were, Derek thought, he thought that out of everyone in Beacon Hills, that Stiles would be the one to show any emotion at having him back.

My, What Big Shoulders You Have (The Better to Help You Carry the Weight) by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

"Talia was just telling me an interesting story,” his dad informed him. Stiles didn’t have the nerve to glance over at him, because he knew no matter how much he argued, the proof was all there. The wolves had found him, Parrish had picked him up on the side of the road, he had a fucking picture on his phone. He was screwed. No point in arguing, all it’d do is piss his father off even more. “You don’t say,” Stiles offered slowly. “What uh—you know, I like stories. Is it a uh, good one?” “It seems to be a matter of opinion,” Talia said with another kind smile. “I hear you had quite the night last night.” Okay, time to cut his losses. He was already fucked, all he could do was apologize and hope she didn’t press for him to get fined and arrested. Given he was her husband’s friend’s son, he had high hopes. “I’m really sorry,” Stiles blurted out. “It was stupid and-and irresponsible and just—I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have crossed into your territory. I should’ve known better, I do know better! It was a complete lapse in judgement and I am just—I am so sorry.”

between the click of the light and the start of the dream by thepsychicclam

A twig snaps, and then Stiles hears breathing and the rustle of leaves. He strains to get a better glimpse into the darkness, but it’s pointless. There’s nothing but a black void. It's Stiles' senior year, and he's trying to concentrate on normal things - like the lacrosse championship, spring break, prom, graduation (and definitely not Derek) - when he starts having nightmares and waking up in the middle of nowhere. Oh yeah, and he's being haunted by a hag. Great.

The Price we Pay by Gia279

Twelve years after inadvertently stopping Kate Argent from burning the Hale pack alive, Stiles is sleepwalking again, dragged unwillingly to witness horrible accidents, floods, house fires, and other disasters. He wakes, confused and blindfolded, at the incidents with power rising sharp and exhilarating in his chest, and he doesn't know how to stop it. Is he the one causing these horrible things or is he just there to witness them? Derek has been curious about the magic that saved him and his pack for years, and when Stiles's powers manifest again, he's determined to figure it out. With the whole of Beacon Hills being thrown into chaos and Stiles, apparently, just on the edge of that chaos, Derek finds himself being drawn to fix it all and keep Stiles out of the danger that keeps calling to him.

Between Sleeping and Awake by bloodwrites

Derek witnesses Stiles talking in his sleep, and it gives him the impetus to act on thoughts he's been having for months.

you need to hear it in Latin? by fairydustedtheory

Stiles talks in his sleep and Derek needs to know what he's saying.

[masterlist link]

[tux1i]

Caprice

[Scroll down for two art by me lol]

• Sorta the opposite of Shadow Milk Cookie, but some bits of Caprice's personality are still the same as Shadow Milk Cookie's

• Inch taller then Shadow Milk Cookie.

Although Shadow Milk Cookie (in my headcanon) has the ability to change size, there's one animation intro where he became huge with Pure Vanilla in the nub of Shadow Milk Cookie's hand

------

For Caprice he does not change size, just still inch taller then Shadow Milk Cookie. He can stretch to be tall but there will be limits he can't stretch that far. (His that edible dough cookie, not the hard crispy texture cookie type)

● From the other post I mention that the younger sibling of the Witch likes Shadow milk Cookie's design and overall, So the younger sibling of the witch has decided to make her own cookie, inspired by Shadow Milk Cookie. So Caprice Cocoa Charm Cookie was created. While the process of making Caprice, there are a few mistakes she pour into the ingredients. 1. Did not measure correctly of the cookie dough. (Miscalculated and that's why his inch taller) 2. Drop an icing letter into the process. (Which why there's an icing love letter in his right eye. Permanently, Scrap idea there is another reason why he lost his right eye.)

♡ His main purpose is you. Caprice has a specific and caring purpose within this AU. He's not just an abstract representation of love, but an active force for healing and reassurance, particularly for those who have become disillusioned or hurt.

Knowing this, his interactions and motivations become even clearer. His strong stance against superficial or negative portrayals of love stems from a desire to protect the very thing he embodies and to guide others towards healthier perspectives.

It's like specifically to connect with and care for the reader/viewer (Y/N You). That adds a layer of warmth and intentionality to his character. He's not just about the ideal of love, but about actively nurturing and fostering it in individual hearts. This makes his potential interactions and stories within the AU even more compelling. He's a healer of the heart, in a way.

_________________

I'm not sure how to explain it well, but his cookie symbolize a generation of love? Of this generation be how he views love or something like this, either good or bad. Also, the main purpose is to heal those individuals who are losing hope of love, giving reassurance that love still exists.

Caprice's Weapon

• His hammer was inspired by Amy Rose the hedgehog, Very heavy so I don't think any strong cookies can weld it even if they try.

• Can also turn back into a regular staff.

○ His talking to Shadow Milk Cookie BTW. He really doesn't like Shadow Milk Cookie.

Caprice's Canon

• True Believer in Love - He really believes in lasting love and hates when people are negative about it.

• Expressive with Love - His colorful style and actions are how he shows the joy he thinks love should be.

• Relationship Watcher - He learns about love by watching how other cookies connect (or don't).

• Secretly Sensitive - He might seem confident, but he has a soft side and might have been hurt before.

• Honest About Love - He'll speak up if he thinks a relationship is fake, trying to help. (His sorta like a fortune teller to cookies who asked him for help or insights)

• Loves Love Stories - He secretly collects things that represent the kind of love he admires.

• Passion Can Be Misleading - Sometimes, his strong views on love make him seem old-fashioned or judgmental.

• Appreciates Real Love - Despite his critiques, he's really touched by genuine, heartfelt connections.

[does-it-like-women]

Hopefully I'm not flooding your inbox with unwanted comments. I wanted to say something based on the other anon's words. I figured this blog was never trying to be too serious about judging a work's level of sexism due to the binary choice of "yes" and "no." That alongside the phrasing of "does it like women" carrying a different tone than saying something more direct like "is it sexist?" I don't think polls are a good way to properly judge how sexist a work is since you can't detail an elaborate opinion in an ABCD type setting. But it is fun and it's also interesting reading through the comments for some of the polls.

The blog isn't meant to be particularly rigorous, no. However, your friendly mod takes issue with two points: Assuming that because the polls are informal means that the blog isn't serious and conflating "Does it like women?" with "Is it sexist?"

For the first point, is this blog going to single-handedly solve the long-standing issue of bad representation of women in media? No. But your friendly mod would like to urge my voters to take the question seriously and to really think about how media presents women, especially with regards to the roles they are allowed to have, doubly especially when contrasted against men.

For the second point, "Is it sexist?" is asking how much a work does wrong, whereas "Does it like women?" is asking how much it does right. It's perfectly possible to do nothing wrong while also doing nothing right.

This is all fairly tangential to the ask, but I feel like it's important to talk about.

[realist-fortheloveofwomen]

Perfect representation of women’s rights vs men’s rights. Women want to stop men from killing us, men want women to shut up.

Men defaced this art wall in Melbourne of missing/murdered women.

Women are the ones being killed and brutalized, but it’s a war on men by telling them what they did.

I don’t have too much to say on this. I feel so upset.

[djuvlipen]

i'm so shook on your rick riordan rb whaaaat. i didn't know aaany of this shit. defending arranged marriage is crazy

the rr crit tag is a very interesting rabbit hole to fall into if you have time, here is a masterpost

the thing with rick (i'm calling him by his first name, in true former pjo fan fashion) is that he doesn't do research when it comes to representation. like he doesn't even do the bare minimum. so samirah (the muslim character in Magnus Chase) is pretty religious but she takes her hijab off in front of the thousands of men who live in walhalla because she "considers them as her relatives". this doesn't make sense. another example; he has a native american character in Heroes of Olympus (piper) and she wears a feather in her hair to "reconnect with her heritage". she's literally just wearing a feather in her hair. and another third example; in Magnus Chase (again), there is a deaf character who is constantly described as being super expressionless (in terms of facial expression), and hard-of-hearing readers have constantly explained why this literally made no sense as being expressive is a p important part of sign language (if i remember correctly)

it is lazy representation, and he is only including it because it gives him some clout among the liberal audience. you can tell it's lazy writing and lazy character work because he never really thinks about how being from [insert ethnic group / sexual orientation / religion] might impact a character's life. example 1: hazel (in HoO) is a 13yo african-american girl who was born in 1928. she dies and comes back to life in the 2010s. it is said she faced horrific racial abuse in the 1930s but this somehow had no real psychological impact on her character, she isn't really shown (although it's stated, but once again that's lazy imo) to be struggling adapting to the 2010s, and like. the massive discrepancy between life as an african-american girl in the 30s and the life of an african-american girl in the 2010s isn't even mentioned. not even once. even though many things happened in the USA between the 1920s and the 2010s wrt civil rights for black people

second example; nico was born in the 1930s fascist italy, his mother fled to the US with him at the start of wwii, then he got stuck in a time loop of which he got out in the 2000s/2010s. he is gay. the impact that growing up in 1930s italy (a fascist and v catholic country) had on his relationship with his sexuality isn't ever brought up. like with hazel, it's vaguely stated but this doesn't have any real impact on his character, it didn't really shape him in any way shape or form. that's unrealistic as fuck

(nico and hazel are canonically hitler's half-siblings. rick didn't really think about how this would have impacted their life or their relationship with hades (hades is hitler's dad). but also he backtracked on demigod!hitler and implied he meant hirohito or mussolini instead. who knows. maybe all three are demigods)

third example; lavinia (in Trials of Apollo) is a jewish roman demigoddess. jewish people were systematically discriminated against in the roman empire. but this is never addressed. and if you're wondering how lavinia and samirah factor in their monotheist religion with the fact that ancient gods exist... this is not explored! they don't have a problem with it, it's barely even addressed!

he just writes straight, white characters and then slap an "oppressed" label on their forehead without really thinking about the implications of what he is writing. he doesn't even google the basic stuff. a lot of his characters are walking stereotypes (leo is the one that comes to my mind rn)

his retelling of greek myths brings nothing to the table. he doesn't bring out new, interesting takes on greek mythology (the way the musical Hadestown does for example). but his goal isn't to depict ancient greek culture and mythology as accurately as possible either (we don't hear about ancient greek cultural holidays, about ancient greek sports, about the olympics, about the tragedies, about the philosophy. misogyny, homophobia and slavery in ancient greece aren't ever brought up. and obviously he did not have to bring it up BUT if he had wanted to actually advocate for women and minorities' rights, as he so often says, i think it's a road he could have easily taken if he had given it just a little thought). so instead we are stuck in a weird limbo where we don't learn anything new but we are also NOT being presented with another perspective on what we already know. it's lazy.

and the misogyny. hera is one of the recurring villains of the books; she is portrayed as the literal embodiement of the "bitch wife/evil stepmother" stereotype, and all the aphrodite children are presented as shallow. the one i'm the most pissed off about is artemis. she requires her hunters to be single and kills the ones who break the rule. in Trials of Apollo, it's revealed this rule ALSO applies to lesbian relationships. so you have this elderly lesbian couple who had to flee from the hunters otherwise they would have been killed. lesbians having to flee their community because they might be killed is a very important conversation to be had but the fact it's treated so lightly (it's mentioned a few times, the lesbian couple feels grateful because artemis actually "let them live" and this whole experience didn't really traumatize them in any way) is a pretty flippant way to handle lesbophobia and femicide. the fact that the perpetrator of lesbophobic violence is artemis (and that it's implied that she has killed lesbians in the past!!) is also particularly distasteful. artemis has long been associated with the feminist movement for refusing to partner with men, for running a female-only group of hunters and being the goddess-protector of pregnant women, mothers and women fleeing male violence. this also erases the fact that the biggest perpetrators of sexist and lesbophobic violence are men.

(and don't get me started on reyna's character)

oh, also. in Heroes of Olympus, Amazon (yes, Jeff Bezos' company) turns out to be actually owned by the Amazons, who are portrayed as a group of female supremacists who wear tight leather clothing and whips. they keep men in cages and use them as slaves. yes, this sounds like the plot of a female supremacy fetishist porn movie

also also. the age gaps. hazel is 13 and in a love triangle with frank (16) and leo (15). now i know three years age gap are not that crazy but i do think a 16yo boy and a 13yo girl are at two very different stages of their life (emotionally, physically, sexually) and when i was in high school, my friends and i always gave our male classmates who dated middle school girls side-eyes. anyway, that's hazel. but there's also sadie (from the Kane Chronicles), a 13yo girl who is in a love triangle with walt (16) and anubis (the god) (> 5000yo. he presents as a teenager though). and you know how this ends? that's right. she dates them both. they are a throuple. this doesn't make sense

anyway i don't agree with all the anti-rick criticism, some stuff that ppl criticize about his books make me roll my eyes bc i think they are really not that big of a deal. but these are the things that i do find pretty problematic. i also wouldn't care that much but i find him (and his fans) very hypocritical. he has vocally criticized jkr many times in the past and he is always presenting himself as the representation writer who actually cares about minorities (like, that's his whole pr), but some of the stuff he has written would definitely have gotten jkr a few dozen of thousands of death threats

[damnhitsuzen]

it's funny how a lot of things considered very leftist in tumblr - like universal healthcare, free (and adequate) education, human rights, hell, even solid labour rights are in fact centrist. They are the basic shit a democratic country should provide since a lot of socialist ideas solidified in Europe after the WWII, birthing what we know as welfare state. The thing is, you can take the social package from socialist ideologies and decline the radical dictatorship of its extreme. That's kinda how you end up centrist and I do not believe for a single second that any of young American Marxists want to live in actual communism. I don't even believe they read enough Marx or any OTHER Marxists (it's almost like there was no one else since mid-fucking-19th century). And don't get me started on Lenin's or Stalin's works, which I have actually read - in russian, studying for my very free, state-funded master's degree in the top uni in the country that has explicitly banned chommunist party

ya know, centrist country with like lowest representation of radical rights in parliament in Europe

I hate how the word centrist is used on tumblr because it gives the idea of someone who doesn't "take sides" on any particular topic, who is constantly trying to balance between insulting and complimenting both parties equally, who wants to maintain the status quo.

And then on tumblr someone can be considered an extremist and radical leftist irl, believing in universal healthcare and free college and queer rights and UBI and diversity equity programs and defunding or even abolishing police and prisons and all those other things that you can't even talk about with most people irl, and then they're called centrists by people on tumblr because they don't believe in mass murder and lynch mobs.

[stygiansun-totaleclipse]

I love all the Aurynn (I would know, I'm romancing him), Kieran, and L love recently but like..guys!!!! I need some more Nihm representation aghj...i love them so much like it doesn't even have to be romantic they just seem so sweet I need them to be my MC's best friend because the duality they would have omygoddd shmshhs 😭

NIHM IS MY SWEET DARLING MOONBEAM ANGEL AND I LOVE THEM ❤️ I’m glad you love them too! I’m excited to finally introduce them in Chp 2, I’ve been itching to do so forever (but I gotta write my way there >:(((( ) They don’t deserve anything I’ve done to them or am about to do to them ;-;

:3 They are just literally so full of love for their friends and I think they make for a really cute complement to the other ROs and Alektis. ��� Sweetheart 👏 Whimsical 👏 Silly 👏 Dense af 👏 (good luck flirting, subtlety goes right over their head and this can and will be a form of torture). They love bugs and bad puns/dad jokes bc I just find stupid awful jokes so endearing lol

They and Sam have been on the mind lately. 👌 Imma do some real mean things to them (so sorry bbs 😔) but anyway I think their routes will be fun to explore. Nihm can be real silly and their sincerity also plays a big part in helping their friends through their arcs as well. :) ❤️

[chaos-reprisal]

Man I would love some good aromantic, asexual, or aroace representation in media right about now. Or even just a story that includes two friends who trust and have a deep connection with one another.

Please please please please pleaseeee

[spliqi]

hello knower of higuchi. what r ur thoughts on the fandom's claim that akutagawa abused higuchi?

hello tuna mayonnaise !!!!

i don’t disagree from a technical standpoint - he does emotionally neglect her and hit her on several occasions which absolutely fits the definition of abuse. but i think something the fanbase often fails to take into account is that abuse in bsd isn’t a 1-to-1 representation of how abuse often is in real life regarding intentions and context. it seems like a lot of people paint their own real life views/experiences of abuse over aku & higuchi’s relationship and then see it through their own biased goggles rather than the perspectives of the characters.

for instance akutagawa isn’t treating kyouka and higuchi the way he does because he enjoys seeing them hurt or because it makes him feel powerful, he genuinely believes he’s helping them to grow stronger/giving them a purpose. and it’s not hard to see why - it’s the way he himself was raised. a key factor in all of this is that akutagawa doesn’t think dazai abused him. to him, his experience in the mafia was a strict training regimen that he signed up for of his own volition (whether he was in the right state of mind or a suitable age to make those kinds of decisions about his life is a different story). so if, in his view, dazai didn’t abuse him and was just helping him become strong, then he must be doing something good too. he probably even thinks he’s a kinder teacher than dazai was, because he’s arguably a lot less harsh than dazai would’ve been when his subordinates make mistakes. it’s why he doesn’t understand why kyouka deserts him, and it’s why he thinks atsushi is silly for being so angry on her behalf.

higuchi is somewhat of a special case because she’s not a mentee of his, and he does hold some genuine resentment for her which he doesn’t hold for kyouka. this comes from a combination of his perception of her as weak + the job she has. i think it’s important to note that akutagawa doesn’t dislike people solely for their weakness - he’s grown up protecting children weaker than him after all, and he has no issue stepping in to protect dazai’s subordinates when they’re about to be killed in dark era. what akutagawa seems to particularly hate is when people he perceives as weaker than him are perceived as stronger than him by others. this happens with atsushi, of course, as dazai taunts him about it constantly, but it also comes into play in his relationship with higuchi.

higuchi is his second-in-command, but she’s also his assistant and bodyguard. this in itself comes with the implication that the higher ups in the mafia believe akutagawa requires help and protection, that he can’t lead the command unit by himself. akutagawa hates the idea that he needs to rely on others, so he hates everything higuchi represents. but even then, his cruelty towards her seems to be limited to disciplinary purposes. he hits her when she puts the mission at risk, he gets angry with her when she isn’t taking their job seriously. he never goes out of his way to seek her out and hurt her. and even on their assignments, he always protects her despite her being the bodyguard of the two - he tells her to stay out of fights she can’t win, and saves her from byakko when she’s almost killed. he panics when he can’t find her in 55 minutes and is pleased when she does a job well. because of this i don’t think higuchi sees their dynamic as abusive either - despite everything he does have her back and her best interests at heart, even though he’s not especially fond of her.

so in summary i don’t have a problem with people calling their dynamic abusive because. well. it is. but what does bug me is that rarely is this argument coming from a place of genuinely liking higuchi or wanting to discuss their relationship. it’s always just a) people wanting to hate on akutagawa b) people trying to defend dazai’s treatment of akutagawa c) people trying to justify brushing higuchi aside under the guise of caring about her