#and i don't want to call anyone out specifically because like. this is a multi fandom issue

[serpentinegraphite]

So, first off, this is not an attempt to kink shame (dubcon and noncon are great!) but I do keep seeing a thing in fics (I do NOT see this irl in kink spaces nearly as often) where like. A character will interrupt the flow of the scene to check consent

And I don't mean in an "are we still green?" Or "what's your color?" kind of way, but I mean. The author has tagged the fic and indicated via prose and/or author notes that they are doing their Due Diligence to make sure this fic is Righteously Consensual from top to bottom, No Question About It

And a character will ask for full sexual consent either directly or indirectly or renegotiate the boundaries of the kinks being practiced AFTER the sex acts have already begun.

Here's the thing: horny brain isn't great at making decisions! irl in kink spaces, there's often a lot of emphasis on negotiating BEFORE the scene begins, perhaps even with a space between negotiation and the scene if it's with a new/unfamiliar partner (maybe it's a few minutes while things are set up, maybe the partners negotiate a day or more in advance! It depends!), and not changing the parameters of the scene after someone is already horny or god forbid already in subspace.

Again, these are perfectly fine rules to break in fiction, when the author is aware of it (most characters are not going to be fully familiar with safe, sane, consensual practices and the traffic light system, nor would we want them to be!) but I'm increasingly finding fics where the author DOESN'T seem aware, which takes a normal fic (in-character, with reasonable but perhaps even somewhat dubious practices, which the author isn't emphasizing or preaching about) into Red Flag Territory (a character, OOC, yanking me out of the scene to behave like a PSA about consent instead of conforming to the horny tone of the scene, and perpetuating unsafe practices anyway)

If you are writing a master manipulator or someone who wants to have a gotcha, you totally said it was okay on a character they are trying to bone (which is well in the realm of non/dubcon) that's fine! This PSA is not aimed at you. But if you are trying to write someone who Cares Strongly About Consent, then perhaps be more aware of when is an appropriate time to escalate the situation (sexually speaking) or ask for consent!

[lordship-posts]

You are not as good in detecting AI Art as you think..

I'm sorry but it's true, the amount of AI 'fanart' I have seen being reposted lately.....

Yeah we are screwed.

I am sure one or the other slipped by me as well im not perfect either and it is getting harder and harder to tell.

I don't want to call anyone out specifically because it is insanely hard to proof anything.

But just think once or twice more about it before you comission something or buy prints off of someone.

I like to keep an eye out on artists who have like 15 different Stiles?! It's very very unusual. Im not saying impossible of course not... but when they go from oil to comic to Anime all the way back to pencil and watercolor artstiles. Yeah.. idk. Also when oil doesn't look like oil on a canvas AT ALL because that type of paint normally has a bit of a texture.

But that's just me and what I look for again these are not dead proof someone is using AI there are very talented multi style artists who make oil look like softness on a canvas and such.

I just really wish it wasn't so hard to detect these days. Really makes me paranoid and careful about every single thing and it hurts real artists sooo so badly.

Fuck your AI garbage.

[broomsick]

any tips for starting out when working with deities?

Hi, friend! Thank you for the ask, and sorry for the late reply. I've posted tips for beginners many times in the past, most of which you can find via links in this post. But now, since we're talking about working with deities more specifically, I'll list a few quick tips in a point form!

The golden rule to deity work, in my opinion, is respect. Everyone interacts with their deities with varying amounts of familiarity, but one quality always remains no matter the worshipper, and that is respect. But that goes without saying, right? 'Treat others how you want to be treated' makes no exceptions, even with non-human entities.

To me, the first step to respecting a deity is acknowledging their depth and multi-faceted nature. Mythological sources may describe this or that deity as the 'God of this or that', but in the context of religion, they are much more. The believer views the God as more than a mythological figure, but as a complex existing being.

For this reason, another tip I'll give is to get to know them. Learn as much as you can about them, and never stop learning. Not only about the deity/deities themselves, but also (and I think it's crucial not to neglect this!) about the cultural context in which they were first worshipped. I can't stress enough how big of a difference this makes when it comes to understanding a God. If you're interested, I've linked here a few of my favorite sources pertaining to nordic cultures, religions and history!

To me, offerings are not transactional. That is just my own belief, of course, but I don't adhere to the idea that 'one must give to the Gods in order to earn blessings and vice versa'. Paganism is not a trade market, but rather a way to experience spirituality. I believe in making offerings when you can, if you can, as a gesture of gratitude and not as a way to somehow 'earn blessings'. As a pagan, you do not "owe" anything to the Gods they do not "owe" you anything either.

Do not be afraid to simply spend time with them. While we may not always feel their presence, you can have faith in the fact that they watch over you. And for this reason, it's perfectly okay for you to sit down at your altar, or in the outdoors, to simply talk to them, symbolically sharing a drink/meal, telling them of your troubles or of how they inspire you. Developing this habit can help make you feel connected to a deity, even on a tight schedule, or during times when you feel disconnected from your spirituality.

In the same vein, it can be fulfilling and fun for you to dedicate certain activities to a deity of your choice! For example, practicing your instrument in honor of Bragi, or hiking in honor of Jörð, etc... What's more, whenever you dedicate an activity to a deity, you can invite them to partake in it, as I've described in this previous post!

Start to notice what things in your life reminds you of them. Maybe a certain smell? Or a song? What animals, meals, stories of else bring this deity to mind? Either because of the similar feeling they instill in you, or because you think this or that deity might enjoy them.

As a beginner, you needn't feel bad about how many deities you work with, or which deities you reach out to (so long as they are not part of a closed practice). I've always thought it weird how in some books centered around witchcraft, they'll rank deities in order of 'how experienced you need to be to reach out to them'. If you want my own honest opinion, anyone is free to reach out to any deity. No God is more difficult to work with than others. It all comes down to the individual, their values and the way they choose to work with the deity in question. I'm also not a big fan of such sources encouraging calling out to a deity during a ritual/spell like they're a tool for a magical working, if the practionner doesn't plan to really get to know them. But that's a topic for another day.

It can be greatly fulfilling as well to simply ponder a deity from time to time. What do they teach you? What can you learn from their example? What do they represent in your life? I listed in this post a few ideas of questions to ask yourself in order to better understand a deity and their presence in your life.

Take it step by step, day by day, and don't feel bad if you think you've made a mistake. We are all constantly learning. The Gods know we are human, and they reflect us in that way: they themselves have their strengths and weaknesses.

I hope this helps, but please do keep in mind that these are all my personal views on paganism, and that not every practionner will resonate with them. In any case, don't hesitate to ask if you have any other question(s) regarding practice or belief in the nordic path. Have a good day, my friend.

[genericpuff]

I finally, FINALLY found a shred of proof that Rachel depicted Persephone before 2017/Tumblr era LO.

Now does this confirm that Greek myth was, in fact, a big part of her childhood like she claims? Not entirely, considering she would have been the age I am now when she drew this, nearing her 30's. But it's more than what I've seen leading up to this where it's all been Tumblr-era-LO art. This seems to be purely for a zine that I unfortunately can't get my hands on a copy of due to it being very outdated and likely out of print (as it's a decade old now). Still, I'm tempted to reach out to the people who run the site to see if they still have any copies floating around, even if it's just a digital PDF version, otherwise, if anyone out there happens to have a copy of it (this is a LOOONG shot mind you) let me know because I'd love to see this zine in person and know what was going on in the development of it. More specifically, I wanna see if she included any sort of blurb about her choice to draw Persephone, if it was even an actual choice at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm deadset on Rachel having to "prove" herself, but a lot of her statements H x P seem to be quite vague for someone who calls them her "muses".

But also, besides the fact that it involves Rachel, this is the sort of media preservation that I'm really interested in! This Persephone is a far cry from the final version we'd later see in LO half a decade later, it's really interesting (although sad in some ways when we know why LO Persephone looks the way she does) to see the transition and changes in a tangible form. And again, it's really odd Rachel never mentions these works, like sure they weren't multi-million dollar hits, but they still showcase a history that pre-exists LO in a pretty monumental way, and some of these projects were incredibly collaborative with actual success behind them, including artists that went on to build their own followings and communities! It's so interesting and yet so bizarre that some of these projects are kept behind locked doors. I can get wanting to bury the more 'cringe' stuff like the medical fetish art, but why stuff like this that only stands to legitimize the claims that Rachel cares about Greek myth?

Unless... y'know, she doesn't want people to see how far her art style has fallen. But that's tinfoil for another day.

[rin-and-jade]

Job Roulette.. or Not: A Post about Alter Roles

Roles like Hosts? Protectors?.. maybe a Cleaner? an Academic?.. why is there an alter who comes out only for driving?! What about these other alters who don't really do much--they got to have one right??

--Are probably what you might be thinking when this topic comes up. But, there's something more into it,, it's not all about what job or how the role is assigned to an alter only.

Well, for this post, lets talk EVERYTHING about how roles work, what kinds exist, why it's there?? And especially, why are some more task specific, multi-role, or even... none? Bowl straight to the point, let's roll out. Haha punny

Ok J, spill. What are they?

Hold on. Im pulling out this dictionary definition of it--ah!

"defined positions that are associated with given responsibilities and are usually allocated according to the position or ability of each person."

To put it in system terms, it's how different parts can do something that others couldn't, or, feel a sense of responsibility in one particular aspect. That's making sense right? But oh.. you still want to know why they're there at the first place. Fine, follow me!

Yeah, show me why!

As aforementioned, this disorder boxes up our different parts of selves with amnesia and weaker bonds of connection which really sets us back on easing our 'modes' for different situations.. not only that, a part's moods and state/personality can greatly affect what kinds of jobs they get, it's not so random as you'd thought.

So, thing is, because some alters have a distinguished ability capable in doing something, depending what fragment or pre-existing knowledge/experience it holds, that can become it's very own job task.

They can be hereditary (upon split or formed), gained (fuse or passed traits), or even learnt (by its own commitment, without any prior skills). Roles come from many origins, and none of them are so different.

But, some are more complex..

I get it, some can have more than one, have ultra specific ones, or literally just don't have any. Now it makes you think--if it was from predisposed strengths each alters naturally have, then why are some more niche? or like, anything else? I know why:

Our brains are complex alright. We both can think maybe we can do (even if we don't like it) and not do something, and these are all compartmentalized in each alters, so basically its part feelings, part acceptance of such trait, and part commitment as the formula. Even confidence or the call to action affects this outcome!

This can apply to who can handle more than one jobs, or for those who are more specific or lesser known roles. In fact, roles do not have any limits, they are specifically tailored for your functionality so don't fret if you have an alter who's job is only to sleep, or anything else 'silly' !

What about the ones without.. roles?

Do you think it feels wrong to not have roles? While it is true that roles are needed, they're not actually a required standard for everyone to have a job task. Mainly, ANP's are the one who usually have roles, but EP's can too.

If they do not have a role, they might be disinterested or think they don't have any potential, or sometimes they're only there to hold memories / don't have the qualified skill sets, and thats okay! You can take proactive action in anyhow you'd like, just remember, every parts aren't forced to contribute, you know? It doesn't make them useless, maybe more on passive support/back ups.

I've also seen some systems who don't really have roles because the alters are all well-rounded, as in pick up other's tasks and that they're not assigned/compelled to do a particular job at all times, like being flexible. everyone's different!

Make sense, anything else?

Well, that we are not bound to roles, they do not define us, and that we can lose, or change roles according to our growth. Have anyone ever mentioned that?

Im aware that we tend to put too much emphasis on having jobs and being contributive, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that we all in this together, and to help each other, in a way or another.

Never forget that you're more than your job! Maybe try to enjoy other parts of life, yeah?

--

Thats the end of the post. What will you do if you find a new alter with no impressions of having a role? How do you see roles in your own pov? What's the first thing you'd do if you were to be free from your job task, if any? Feel free to let me know, i hope this has been informative, im willing to add anything if something's missing!

- j

[bellaxgiornata]

OMG—I wanna ask the boys for sure—what is their inner animal (respectively) that THEY think they have versus what you think for them, vs what they would assign for each other???

🤣🤣🤣

#letthechaosbegin

If you wanted chaos with this internal dialogue, you certainly found it 😅 The moment I read this ask, two of the boys immediately started causing trouble which is why it took a bit to get this answered 😆 As always, it's below the cut because this was long.

Bella: Welcome back to another round of ASK THE BOYS!!

Matt, muttering under his breath: Always got to yell that now, don't you?

Frank, roughly elbowing Matt on the couch: Let the lady have her fun, would ya?

Michael, ignoring the pair beside him: What's the question this time, pet?

Bella, glancing down at her phone: Looks like a multi-part question dealing with what your inner animals are.

Frank, eyes narrowing: Inner animal?

Bella: Yeah, and it looks like they want to know what I think each of you are, what you think your inner animal is, and then what you think each others’ inner animal is.

Frank, chuckling to himself: This'll be good.

Michael: Why don't ya start us off then, pet? Might need a minute to think.

Bella: Okay, well. I guess for Frank I'd say timber wolf. The Punisher gives me lone wolf vibes, but before that you used to be a part of a pack–whether it was your family or your Marine unit. And timber wolves typically mate for life, too, which screams loyal to me. I think you're a pretty loyal person–and pretty damn terrifying if someone messes with those you care about. So yeah. Wolf vibes all around.

Frank, nodding: Alright. Guess I can see that.

Bella: And for Matt, since he gives cat vibes, I'd say a leopard. Specifically a black panther. They're solitary animals, very territorial, and they're great climbers. Sort of like how you work alone, defend Hell’s Kitchen specifically despite it being such a small area, and you climb buildings like nobody's business. Plus, you know, the black suit and all.

Matt, grinning: Better than what I thought you'd pick.

Bella: And as for Mikey, well, I get grizzly bear vibes.

Michael, rolling his eyes: Is this a reference to the beard and chest hair again?

Bella, shaking her head: Not exactly, though now that you mention it–

Michael, mumbling: Figures…

Bella: No, wait! Hear me out. Grizzly bears are actually not aggressive unless provoked or caught off guard, otherwise they kind of mind their own business and want to be left alone. But obviously they'll protect their young and would savagely tear you apart if you fucked with them. I mean, we all know you don't want to be the killer your family forces you to be, you'd rather get out and live a quiet life. You just want a relationship with your daughter, Anna. But if anyone messed with her, you'd absolutely kill them without a second thought.

[Michael, running a hand across his mouth and humming thoughtfully.]

Bella, gently nudging his leg with a foot: See? There was a reason besides your glorious chest hair.

Matt, brows furrowing together: Glorious chest hair? Did you just actually say that?

Bella, waving off his comment: Okay, so why don't you guys each say what you think your inner animal is before you choose for each other next?

Frank, shrugging: I like the wolf thing. I'll go with that.

Matt, nodding: Yeah, I think I'll stick with the panther idea you had.

Bella, frowning: Seriously? You aren't even going to give it any more thought? [Looking hopefully over at Michael.] Please tell me you're not just going to say grizzly bear now?

Michael, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck: Uh, no. I s'pose…a dog? Generally don't fight unless provoked and they're usually considered friendly?

Bella, releasing a sigh: Fine. At least you put in more effort than those two. Now what do you think each others’ inner animal is?

Frank, immediately tossing a thumb at Matt: Chimpanzee. He's always climbing on buildings and making too much noise with his mouth.

Matt, frowning: It's called talking, Frank.

Frank, leaning back into the couch: More like chimpanzee noises to me. And they're territorial, too.

Michael, quietly chiming in: I'd still say stray cat for him.

Matt, frowning: Well then Frank is a hippo. Large and incredibly aggressive.

Frank, turning and shooting Matt a dirty look: The fuck you call me?

[Bella, burying her face in her hands while Frank and Matt begin to bicker on the couch.]

Michael, once more quietly chiming in: I picture him as more of a hawk. Or an eagle. Kinda stalks his prey from a distance before takin’ his shot.

Bella, glancing up at him: Well thank you for making some level of effort here while the old married couple over there just fights.

Matt, glowering: We are not an old married couple!

Frank, scowling: He's the last goddamn person I'd wanna be shackled to.

Bella, annoyed: Can we get back on track? You still need to pick an animal for Mikey.

Matt and Frank simultaneously: Dog.

Bella, throwing her hands up in defeat: Wow, really making an effort, you two. Great job.

Frank, rounding on Matt again: Look what you did, Red. You went and upset her.

Matt, eyebrows rising up onto his forehead: Me? You're the one not taking her game seriously!

[Matt and Frank return to arguing.]

Bella, focusing on Michael: You want a coffee? Cause I could use a coffee. They're making my head hurt.

Michael, nodding and rising from the couch: Yes. I'd love one.

Bella, heading to the kitchen with Michael: So what would my inner animal be?

Michael, nervously making a face: Uh…well…

Bella, shaking her head: Nevermind. Forget I asked. Let's just make some coffee.

[pandasleepy07]

ComfortSwiss!Reader

Inspired by @skele-bunny

Nightmares of your days in the pit had become regular, espically when the moon was full, and glaring down at you from your window. A multi-ghoul wasn't natural. You're not natural. Words of the pit followed you topside. Nothing, no one could shake them.

Tonight was no different. You had taken to walking in the halls at night. No destination in mind. Just walking. Restlessness followed the darkness of the night. It was too similar to the darkness of the pit. You silently cursed not having the element of fire. That could at least keep some of the darkness at bay. This time you had wandered down a different hall, not paying enough attention to your surroundings, but the scent that lingered in the hall, was strangely familiar, a mix of varying scents. The ghouls den.

You blinked at the realization and then turned to head back, before realizing you didn't know how to get back to the ghoulettes gen. The Abbey had been built like a maze. "Fucks sake," you whisper, rubbing your face. Instinct told you to go to Mountain's room, knock, and ask for help. He wouldn't mind. But you didn't want to wake him up. So instead you looked around. A warm flicker of light came out from under a door, you stepped closer, and the familiar smell of cedar embers, and leather. A scent that's so distinctly Swiss.

You don't think about it, but in the blink of an eye, you're standing in front of his door, your hand raised to knock. But what if I'm bothering him? What if he doesn't want to help? What if-

Your thoughts are interrupted by the door opening, and Swiss' cocky smirk appearing in front of you. "Well, well, well... Look who's caving into the lift of the 3-week intimate ban."

Your brow wrinkles in confusion. "Huh? No... that's- that's not it," you whisper, your voice shaky.

Confusion flashes across his face for a moment. It's rare to catch the multi ghoul off guard. He takes a moment to study you, like really study you, and notices the bags under your eyes, the way you're slumped slightly, the tired skittishness about your appearance.

"Can't sleep?" he guesses quietly, his demeanor softening.

You nod slightly, but avoid the reason why. "I just need help getting back to the ghoulette den. I- I can't sleep at night, so I walk, and I just got lost this time. I don't know how I ended up here, or how to get back. And the dark feels constricting."

"Too much like the pit."

Swiss' words are quiet, a silent understanding flickering in his eyes.

"Yeah..." you mumble, your arms coming around you as if to protect yourself in a bear hug.

"Why can't you sleep?" he asks softly.

"Memories of the pit keep coming back."

"Ah, I see... Anything specific? Or just the pit in general?"

"The pit, and the disgusted looks, the whispered words, the shunning just because I was a multi," you whisper. "A disgrace."

His eyes soften and he pulls you into a gentle hug. "I know. Some people can't handle the idea of multis. They think we're freaks. They think that we're just abominations in the flesh. I've received the looks too."

"How did you get through it?"

He sighed. "You don't want to know."

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know."

A pause, before a quiet, ashamed mumble. "Sex. S'was the only way anyone showed affection."

"Oh." What else could you say to that?

"But you didn't, did you?" he murmured. "You didn't sell your body to feel that."

"No," you breathe. "I didn't."

"Good."

"I still hate it. I hate that every time I close my eyes, all I see are the looks. That all I hear are the whispers. Even if I know I'm not alone. I hate that you went through it too."

He tightens his grip around you ever so slightly as he holds you close, his voice soft and comforting in your ear. "I know. But listen to me. It's over now, okay? You're with us now. You're with me. And I swear to you that nobody is going to hurt you or call you names. You're safe. You aren't a disgrace. You aren't a mistake. You're as beautiful as the stars, darling. They can't see that you're worth more than they are combined." He whispers the words he wishes someone had told him years ago. The words he needed to hear. Even now. "You don't deserve this. You don't deserve to be haunted by the past. Okay?"

"If I'm safe, why can't I sleep?" You whisper into his chest, as his arms tighten around you.

He lets out a soft sigh and begins gently rubbing your back with a hand, the other still holding you close to him, trying to comfort and soothe you. "Memories can haunt you. I know that all too well. But you're not going to let them win, okay? You're stronger than they are. Do you want to sleep here tonight?" His voice is soft as he gently kicks his door open a little wide, letting the light from his fireplace and the candles lit across the room, seep out into the hallway.

"I don't want to intrude," you murmur, looking down.

He tilts your head up to look at him, his eyes meeting yours. "Hey, you wouldn't be intruding, okay? I'm offering. Come on, you need to get some sleep. And I know a way I can get you to sleep if you trust me."

"How-"

He chuckled softly, a cheeky grin on his face. "Come on. You'll see. But first, you gotta trust me. I promise no funny business. I just want to help you get some sleep. Just let me change the sheets."

A small laugh falls from your lips. That's a promise you never thought you'd hear Swiss make. Espically considering all the times you've seen him bite the other ghouls, playfully of course.

"Okay," you whisper.

He smiles a soft and genuine one. One you've only seen him give Aurora when she brings him his favorite pastries. You walk in hestaintly as he moves to the bed, and strips it before quickly changing the sheets. When you offer to help, he tutts, and waves you to go and sit on one of the couches, telling you that it's not your mess. It's everyone's mess but yours. You can only sigh and comply, moving to sit on the couch. Not that the couch would be any cleaner.

He changes the sheets quickly, tossing the soiled ones down the laundry chute and putting clean ones down on the bed. He grabs fresh comforters from the closet and a few fuzzy blankets, arranging them carefully before fluffing his pillows.

"Come on. Lay down and close your eyes. I got this okay?"

You get up and carefully climb onto the bed, settling near the edge, nervously.

He chuckled a little bit and shook his head at your position, his hand going to grab your waist as he carefully pulled you closer to the middle of the bed. "You seriously want to try and fall off? Scoot closer, idiot."

You huff out a breath but allow him to move you, relaxing as his normal lighthearted demanor comes out again.

He smiles, a satisfied sigh falling from his lips as he wraps an arm around you, pulling you against his chest. This other hand went to gently brush through your hair, his voice soft and gentle. "There we go. That's better, right? Just relax and close your eyes a bit for me."

He watches as your eyes slowly flutter shut, his hand still gently brushing through your hair. Then he shifts slightly, adjusting so that he's on his back, and your head is on his chest, his heartbeat thrumming against your ear. "Good. Just like that. Now just listen. Try and match my breathing, yeah? In and out. In... out. Just focus on it."

You do, and the combination of his soft voice, his hand in your hair, andhis heartbeat in your ear, lulls you off to a peaceful slumber for the first time in weeks.

It doesn't take long for this to become a daily tradition. Swiss clears his nights for you, aranging for his fun to happen well in advance so he can change the sheets. The rest of the pack notice, but no one comments on it. Not when Swiss seems to have found a piece of himself again. No one dares to break it.

[velvetvexations]

https://www.tumblr.com/velvetvexations/786940614817218560/curious-why-you-actively-dislike-drag-especially

I know you said you don’t find it aesthetic but drag just is… the art of dressing up as another gender or playing with gender stereotypes in a dress up form so I’m just confused. Because like a drag artist could look basically indistinguishable from the gender they’re portraying while in drag. Or someone wearing body paint and fake boobs to cosplay a blue anime girl could be drag. One could argue many heightened subcultures including emo revival can be drag. So it’s weird to me that you write it all off as non aesthetic when there are so so so so so many forms of drag

TL;DR I'm going to stop being stupidly hostile towards things that are harmless.

If I implied it's objectively 'non-aesthetic' as an artistic mode of expression I very much apologize for that. I have more to say about the subject, because I just took my meds and they make me write essays,

I also wanna say right off the bat that when I call myself a bitch on this matter it has absolutely nothing to do with anything anyone has said to me, this is just me ruminating about something I genuinely dislike about myself.

Okay, so I can answer this, but like I said before, I keep being paranoid about having to say "I don't like [x]" because it makes me look like a hater and an asshole. Like, there are a lotta people in drag who are cool and I support but putting me on the spot to further defend and justify me not liking it makes me uncomfortable because I do not want to come off as being a relentless bitch, like people who can't shut up about how they don't like rap.

I can't act like like I didn't bring it up unprompted when the first anon asked me how TRFs feel about drag. I couldt just defend drag and not include the "by the way, I don't like it for subjective reasons" asterisk. I could just leave that out instead and shut my mouth beyond the point I say it isn't transmisogynistic. Maybe I am actually just a bitchy hater, like, for real. I feel like I've already blown up the issue into being this multi-day discourse about it when it's absolutely unnecessary. I need to work on not being the kinna person that brings up their negative opinion of something valid every time it comes up. I don't know why I've always done it but it makes me very annoyed with myself over it.

I've clearly always been self-aware of harshing people's vibes that I don't like when drag comes up, so maybe that's also part of it, I'm a bitch about harmless things I dislike enough that I hate when people continuously make it a subject. I worry about hurting people's feelings or annoying them because I know I have such a bad track record on that, but I've never committed to just changing my behavior.

All this seems very self-pitying of me. I'm making such a big deal about it and that also feels cringe because maybe no one else has actually taken it that way and I'm just being wildly dramatic. I've mentioned before about how The Screwtape Letters inspired me to constantly monitor my own thoughts and push them aside when those thoughts suck, and this is a good example of how combining that with Needs To Be Liked Disorder is a viper's pit of anxiety.

Anyway. In answer the question, I think there's a very specific vibe that dominates the perception of the word. As I said previously, one can image search it and get rows and rows of a particularly, as a previous drag fan anon said a tick ago, garish style. I feel like it's fair to be averse to it as much as one can not be into a genre of music or fiction regardless of how truly varied it is. Like, I'm pretty sure when I say drag puts me off that everyone immediately imagines what I'm referring to, but that's also not great because then I'm flattening the art to a 2D stereotype and erasing less visible people within it by insisting on that.

[vashti-lives]

Was wondering if you have any thoughts on the new murderbot show they’re making. I started reading the series because of you and have enjoyed it so far even being a few books behind. Not sure about the show though.

I’m conflicted about the show but thankfully I am more hopeful after seeing the trailer, and on the whole I would rather have a MurderBot TV show than not have one, so no matter how it turns out I'm glad it exists. On a cynical note a book with one adaptation is much likelier to get a second adaptation so even if it's horrible down the line we might get a better one.

Longer thoughts under the cut--

I was definitely in the camp of people who haaaated the casting for MurderBot when it was first announced. Alexander Skarsgard as MurderBot gives me the ick, as the kids say. But I also noted very early on that I would forgive this casting if it meant that they didn’t whitewash any of the Preservation crew, and to their credit they didn’t! Honestly the casting for the Preservation crew seems great and I do genuinely believe that the ONLY reason we didn’t get more white washing was by casting a white man, and maybe Skarsgard specifically, as MurdersBot.

On the other hand when I saw the very initial casting for Preservation Aux I wasn’t as immediately soothed as I wanted to be because frankly the optics of a blond blue eyed male presenting character constantly rescuing a bunch of brown people feels bad!

I’ve seen people argue that from a 21st century perspective it makes sense MurderBot would be white because it is what people in power consider to be powerful. I get the argument but since SecUnits are designed to be things I do not think the powers that be would design them to look like the most respectable and important (to them) type of person. And of course in the books Whiteness(tm) as a concept does not seem to exist at all anyway. I suppose it might deep in the corporate entities but we don’t really see it.

My other big worry, even more than the casting on its own, was tone. I have watched enough Apple produced sci-fi to know that like, 99% of it is incredibly dour and self important. I live with someone who likes sci-fi and has the Apple TV app and so I've seen like 1-2 episodes of a bunch of shows and then just like, been in the house while they played after I found them low key intolerable.

Maybe I’m just shallow and frivolous but like, Foundations was a fucking bore and a lot of their other very nice looking multi cultural sci fi shows have been the same. I was real worried we were going to get something calling itself MurderBot but tonally closer to most of these other shows-- that it would lean into the drama more and just become more generic in general.

So I was super happy to see that wasn't the case when that first trailer launched. It's definitely a little more marvel style quippy than I think the books are and that's not always my jam but honestly that's fine? Definitely preferable to what I was worried it would be. I really like the fact that Skarsgard seems to be playing MurderBot like it's a sad wet cat, and Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon looks fun as hell. My stepbrother and mom are both pumped about it and I think it's likely that it'll end up becoming a weekly viewing event where my stepbrother and his girlfriend come over for dinner and then we watch that week's episode of MurderBot, which we used to do back when The Mandalorian was good.

I'll probably only post about the show if I like it, because I don't want to spoil anyone's fun if I don't like it and honestly, it's tv. The stakes are low.

[shinyzango]

may i ask you an Italian-language question? there's a name im trying to blend together with Italian, and i could use some guidance if youre willing

i wanted to explore the idea (not married to it, i may end up not even doing anything with it, and im sure im not the first to think of this anyway— but i find it a fun thought-experiment and id love your help if youd be willing to offer it?) of merging Pinocchio and the Nutcracker as both a character and their plots. for funsies✨️

and i just would like some help with how to blend the name idea i had. and to get said help from someone who is, not only fluent in Italian, but is also a fellow Nutcracker nerd (i love your work btw!!) would be so lovely. and also you can tell me tell me if i accidentally am doing a dirty word/bad word/worse or any similar "don't, just stop" thing since im tragically monolingual. i just wanted to see if it's possible for this name to not be clunky or in poor form, would love your help if you're up to it. (if you or anyone reading ever want to use any name/s here, assuming they turn out to perhaps NOT be awful blendings of Pinocchio×Nutcracker?? then, yeah, feel free use as far as i care. i dont own jack shit)

also no worries if you dont want to help for any reason at all, you dont need to explain it to me, i can take a simple "I'd rather not help with this" and be respectful about the rejection. truly, no worries. just wanted your help IF youre willing to offer it

also apologies this is so long. i blame my ADHD mostly (tho i doubt my autism helps, i think its mostly the ADHD) with me going "eVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT" and my lifelong inability at being succinct

-

now, Pinocchio as a name, according to various sources such as but not limited to Wikipedia (who i will be quoting, bc copy and paste is easier since a lot of this Ask will be me transcribing from books 😭) and my copy of Pinocchio's own Foreward: is "possibly derived from the rare Tuscan form pinocchio ('pine nut') or constructed from pino ('pine tree, pine wood') and occhio ('eye')"

i don't know Tuscan forms of Italian for the rest of this, i only know what my dad's two Italian-English dictionaries told me for the rest of this ("Oh, your dad speaks Italian?" no, he does not. he tried to learn! he gave up. but he still has the books. mostly bc he's a hoarder, our home is VERY cluttered with his many things. but he used to go to Italy a lot, for a specific multi-year project that has long-since ended. we are not culturally/ethnically of Italian heritage, as far as i am aware. but still cool to look through these books!). and you're going to call me either stupid or smart, but at first, let's be clear: i was definitely stupid. i did not follow up my learning about Pinocchio's name-meaning with "What's a nutcracker/The Nutcracker in Italian? Surely the title of the book has been translated into Italian. What is the title in its Tuscan form?". i went straight to my dad's dictionaries to look up "crack" and its branches, said branches including the word "cracker". i wanted to see if i could take "Pino-" and add the Italian form of "Cracker, Cracking, Cracked, or similar" at the end. because, again, i was stupid, and i was taking the long and hard way for an easy answer

since, my dad's dictionaries didn't have "Pino" for ne to verify the alleged Wikipedia meaning with (fair enough, how often does "pine" come into conversation? idk), i had to google this because i wanted to make sure i knew if "Pino" was/wasn't the equivalent of "nuts" in English (as in a "Dude! You kicked me in my nuts!" slang or "Deez nuts" meme type of way) or was a slur or something else that i Do Not Want (with the margin of error that i am still monolingual and inexperienced in Italian and Italy's culture, and most websites for translating ive heard refer only to formal meanings and not so much slang. unless its multi-generational slang, like "cool" on English as a slang term would be likely in a Other Language-To-English website guide, since its a prime example of multi-generational slang. but "Skibidi rizz"? not so much). you never know nuances when youre monolingual, doing your best to navigate a foreign language (even if it's "just" for a name), i just wanted to check

i tried to see if i could see anything specific about the Tuscan variation of Italian's definition of "Pino" was, but all i got was stuff about pine in Tuscany and an artist by the name of Pino Daeni's painting titled "Tuscan Stroll". youd think that'd tell me "well, as least you know Pino can't be bad if it's this guy's name", to which i will remind you, up until recent decades, the name "Gay" was as common as the name "Joy", and English-users stopped using it as a name once the meaning became more synonymous with "queer" than "happy" (i say this as a queer person btw, dont mistake me saying "this name isnt common for obvious reasons" as me being queerphobic please, im just stating the fact thats its declined and we all know why). so Pino Daeni, born in either the 1930s or 1950s (sources differed on the same painting when he was born?), COULD have a name that is akin to "Gay" in the sense that it is NOW out of the possible-names-that-wont-get-your-kid-bullied category. oooorrr it could also be the equivalent timelessness as "Richard" (a name i chose specifically bc one of its nickname is "Dick" in English, and i still dont know if "Pino" or how any other word i discuss here is used in Italian slang. again, shinyzango, if youre willing, please help lol) i far as google and a few sites would tell me about "Pino" in Italian-Spanish sense specifically (and idk if that means it is the same in Italian AND Spanish or if Italian-Spanish is specific fusion/variant of the languages/s, im so sorry), "Pino" could be used in Italian to reference "Pine nuts" (YAY, I THINK WE MAYBE GOT AN IMPLIED "NUTS" FOR THIS NUTCRACKER-FUSION'S NAME EVERYBODY), "Pine wood" (as in the logs, the branches, specifically. though idk if that includes the tree's bark but i assume yes?), "Pine leaves", "the Pine tree itself", and, finally, the all-encompassing elusiveness of "Pine" in general. im really boping the "Pino" = "Pine (Nuts)" is accurate to what im trying to accomplish here, but what can you do, i dont have Tuscan forms of Italian stuff and google isnt coughing it up either

which i did TRY to look up Tuscan-forms of Italian words. and i was told it was a dialect, a still-living one at that (as opposed to the term: archiac dialect). but nothing is telling me its dictionary of how its vocabulary branches off and/or overlaps with the standard Italian language. the closest i could find on my own was Wikipedia's "Dialectal Features" section under its Tuscan Dialect article. and that is too above my pay-grade, it went into phoemes and graphemes and all that, i got Fs in those classes despite my best efforts and it's been at least 3+ years since my last class in that. nope. i am just accepting the Tuscan dialect of Italian is inaccessible to me rn (unless shinyzango (a) knows it for whatever reason and (b) wants to help with that. but this isnt me trying to pressure you. this is me acknowledging that idk your life, maybe you know the Tuscan form. and if you do know it and yet dont wanna help for whatever reason, all good, no bad blood). so, no matter how much research and thought i am trying to put in here, im still very lost and just doing my best. so, shinyzango, please be forgiving if i am making any faux-pas throughout this. i know "Pinocchio" is theorized to be a blend of two Tuscan-specific Italian words, but i just got "Pino-" and whatever i find that can come next for the Nutcracker half of this (hopefully successful? idk. im paranoid im fucking up somehow lol 💀) name-blending of these two wooden boys

anyway. so i continued to be stupid by thoughtlessly NOT choosing the easy and obvious method of looking up "a nutcracker/the Nutcracker" in Italian for this name-blend's second half. and yet?? somehow, my dad's two English-Italian dictionaries were nice to me and i got super lucky i wasnt told an alternative word. i was essentially given the one the Easy Method wouldve brought me. albeit the easy method wouldve brought me to it faster.. anyway, i got lucky. because within "crack"'s long list of Italian-specifities, i came across "(nut:) to crack — schiacciàre", which that shorthand meant "within the term 'to crack', for reference wanting to crack nuts specifically, you would use the word schiacciàre and its branches in Italian". i then went to schiacciàre's page in my dad's other Italian dictionary and saw the different forms of "schiacciàre"

the second dictionary confirmed most of the first dictionary. i was a little bit concerned that maybe schiacciàre was inaccurate? (obviously, this feeling went away when i did eventually do The Obvious and look up what "a nutcracker/The Nutcracker" was in Italian, but i didnt know that at the time when i was looking at this entry). because this dictionary said "Schiacciàre (Transitive) - (1.) To crush, to crack, to mash. Used in cooking. Per schiacciàre lo zenzero si può usare un coltello piatto. To crush the ginger, you can use a knife flat." which you can see in this first definition block, "to crack" being the second meaning and not in the example sentence made me a little bit worried on if this was the best word or not. again, i know now i didnt need to be worried, i now know the Italian word for "nutcracker/Nutcracker". but i was sticking by the path i was on for a bit longer, thought i might as well read the branches

which included its inflection term, the word everyone was waiting for— schiacchia! meaning "(a) cracker"! to which i did, after i was done reading the entire word's list of different forms, think "oh, i should look up a nutcracker, in general/The Nutcracker & The Mouse King's specific title in Italian". to which i got both the relief (bc i didnt choose the wrong word!) and the frustration (bc i maDE THIS SO MUCH HARDER ON MYSELF FOR NO REASON!) of seeing "a nutcracker" in Italian is lo schiaccianoci and "The Nutcracker & The Mouse King" is (Lo) Schiaccianoci e il Re dei topi (which i find the nuance of the grammar of fascinating! to translate it back to English, and with the matching capitalization included, the title would be "(The) Nutcracker and the King of mice". bc "The King of Mice" gives off a slightly different vibe as opposed to "The Mouse King". like, The Mouse King feels like epithet anyone with influence over mice could gain whereas the other (The King of Mice) feels both mundane and more legitimately royal, like this is definitely a political position, like "The Queen of England". at least thats the vibes diffentiating between the two in English. idk if my impression for "the vibes" of the Italian title is accurate in Italian. god, i wish i wasnt monolingual). anyway. so you think that'd be it, huh! i found the Italian form of "(a) cracker"! that's gotta be the other half of this proposed fusion name!

...but no, i do have a second option im kinda into. bc, again, i looked up "a nutcracker/The Nutcracker" AFTER looking through the WHOLE list. and what grabbed my attention reading the branches of the word "schiacciàre" was also the first-person singular present term that is schiàccio, which in English would assumedly be the equivalent means "(I) crack". as first-person singular present terms in English are as follows: "Am I?", "I am", "I go", "I write", "I weep". so, like, it's a present-tense verb + "I". that's all that "first-person singular present"-specific terms mean as far as i am aware. hence, my assumption that "schiàccio"'s English equivalent would be "(I) crack". and the Italian form of "I" isn't present, but i think it's implied??? (im so unsure, im so sorry lol) some stuff i read said the "I" doesn't have to be literally present to be explicit in Italian? so it's not in English, where something like "Wasn't thinking" has the missing-"I" that can be assumed to be present p easily despite its lack of literal presence— BUT in English, the lack of "I" makes that an improper sentence. it can said colloquially. but it isnt correct grammatically. and im saying i was lead to believe that the Italian-equivalent-of-"Wasn't thinking" would be considered a proper sentence and gramatically correct? so itd be more like "(I) Wasn't thinking", in a sense? and furthermore, i was lead to believe the specific conjagation of schiàccio in Italian would not need the "I" unless you were adding an "I" for emphasis? like "No, I cracked the nuts, not him" kind of emphasis? i feel like im making less sense the more i try to explain it. but that was my reasoning to structure "(I)" like that within "(I) crack"?? again, im doing my best amidst my Italian ignorance 😭

and, shinyzango, under the assumption youve decided to help me, if i have totally misunderstood Italian grammar, you can just say "you were lead astray about the (I)-thing you wrote up, that's not accurate" or "it's more complicated than that" and leave it at that. you dont have to give me an Italian grammar lesson. mostly bc i assume you dO NOT want to give me one lol i p much just wanna know if im right, wrong, or got mixed results. asking you to be an Italian grammar teacher is not something you advertise, i just was fascinated with how much presence does the "I"/"(I)" have in schiàccio because of the POTENTIAL(? BC I COULDVE BEEN WRONG ABOUT ALL THE "I"/(I)" STUFF, IM SO SORRY) thematic analysis potentially then within the name, as i discuss in the following paragraph

but i think, not only would the implied gramatical aspect of the Pinocchio-Nutcracker fusion having verb-form of "cracking" apart even in its very name would be neat as well as it being neat— but also the potential of applying personhood to themself in that said very name with the potentially-"invisible yet explicit" "(I)" i aforementioned (with great confusion and lack or sureness, but yeah, as i aforementioned) would possibly be a very important thematic element for a fusion of a puppet-boy who wants to be "a real boy" × a man who had his personhood stripped away from him through transforming into a nutcracker??? and to have it perist anyway? have his personhood remain silently within his name? to have it, invisible yet hold weight in his very identity-moniker itself?? that could be very powerful of such a little word like schiàccio to do, assuming it even can do that "(I)" thing it may/may not be able to do (and, again, all of this assuming i am not missing any nuance in Italian here and i doubt that. i doubt that very much. i definitely a missing something, i just know it)

OH but ALSO, with schiàccio, we get this implication of being overwhelmed of "cracking" under the pressure (idk if my understanding of that potential translation is at all correct in Italian. i apologize if my dad's dictionary is leading me astray in any of these definitions). because there was another entry in my dad's dictionary, "Schiacciàre (Transitive) - (2.) To crush, to overwhelm, to crack, to snap, to flatten. A figuritive form of speech. Lui lo rifiuto schiacciato. The rejection crushed him". so it could(?) refer to a type of ego-death, maybe? thats usually an incidental yet pivotal pillar of a theme in transformation-stories. y'know, the ship of Theseus thought-experiment personification of it all. but when we now apply schiàccio's "(I) crack" outside of the kitchen-definition of literal cracks, and instead into that second definition's figuritive form, we now get this type of mental-breakdown implication? this Italian-specific warning for angst up ahead, literally tied to the guy's name? i think thats neat, assuming im understanding it correctly. foreshadows to the tragedy and hardships lol

plus, we also get the "-o" at the end of "schiàccio", assuming it's workable with "Pino-" without any problems. and that ending "-o", i think, links a bit more of the paralleism to Pinocchio's original name, at least visually? idk. maybe thats just me. that's a nit-pick of a bonus anyway

so this was a very long ask, all to beg the question/s, under the assumption youre willing to help me here (no worries if not, shinyzango, you do not have to help me at all if you dont wish to) is there something in your Italian fluency that sees a "anon, no, you dont want that" nonsense nuance-meaning in either of these Pinocchio-Nutcracker blended names im missing? a hidden dirty joke im fully unaware of?? is there one that flows better than the other? is the format weird? are they both shitty? lol idk what to ask specifically for what could be wrong here, but?? please? and thank you??

Pinoschiaccio

Pinoschiaccia

but yeah, any help you can offer would be much appreciated. dont worry if you dont have any help, if you dont want to give me any, eithet way, we're all good. i just hope i didnt commit any faux-pas in asking you all this. thank you so much for your time

Don't worry, thank you for asking me.

I just have to warn you that while I am native Italian, my grammar is also very bad LOL But I'll still try to give my input at the best of my capabilites.

Also while I'm not going to go through each single point of your ask to save up some time, do tell me if I missed something important to answer, as sadly big wall of texts tend to fry my brain and I end up missing on some parts as I read through (NOT YOUT FAULT! It's just my brain being dumb ksjdgn)

Anyways, onto your ask:

first of all, welcome to the world of learning a different language that do not share the same lingual roots LOL

Sadly I can't help much with the Tuscan language as I'm not from Tuscany and I'm not a linguist, but I can tell you that Pinocchio, while including the common Italian male name "Pino", to me it feels like it's may also be because the doll was sculpted with pine wood, which has the charateristic of having many knots (eyes, so "occhi") in its pattern. Buuuuut apparently in the original book by Collodi, he was named Pinocchio after a rich family of the same name, as a way to grant him good luck. So at this point I don't know LOL

And yeah nutcracker in italian is "schiaccianoci", which literally translates to "crack walnuts" althought it's meant for nuts in general. (fun fact: as a generic name for nuts we use "frutta secca", which translates to "dry fruits", which is not to be confused with "frutta essicata", which is "dried fruits".)

As for the other grammar notions:

yeah we almost never put adjectives before the subjects. In such case as the Mouse King, the correct way is "Re dei Topi", aka "King of the Mice". We could also use "Topo Re", but it's usually as a title/name said to make more of an effect.

For the whole "I" debate, yes in Italian we can easily drop the subject in our sentences because the verbs have all the variants that are specific to the person (I, you, them) and the quantity referred to (singular, plural). I do have to admit that I still tend to drop the subject when I speak in english out of habit because of this pffff.

And one last notion just to add more madness to this mess of a language, accents on vowels can drastically change words' meaning. For example, "schiaccio" and "schiacciò", while still having the same meaning of "crack", it's actually different tenses and subject. "schiaccio" is "I crack" (present). "schiacciò" is "They (singular) cracked" (past).

(btw I'm not writing "schiàccio" because it's not normally written with the à, in case you were wondering. the more common accents are not written unless you specifically need it to differentiate which one you're intending)

So yeah, I don't blame anyone who get incredibly confused when trying to understand Italian dkgnsdkj

Also yeah the verb "schiacciare" can have a bunch of different meanings depending on the context, both literally and figuratively, although I can't really tell any at the top of my head;;

Anyways, putting this whole Italian notion aside, let's get to the real point of the ask:

I can see why you came to the conclusion of going with Pinoschiaccio/a, which is completely fair. But if I were you, I would switch them around as it would sound more natural.

So personally, I would go with Schiacciapino.

And if it can help with anything, I can also add this extra italian notion: while we have a bunch of words that end in "-ino" such as Pino, it is one of the suffixes we use to change the "adjective" of the word. In this case, "-ino" is used to indicate something small (ie. "Gatto - Gattino" = "Cat - Small Cat/Kitten", or "Topo - Topino" = "Mouse - Small Mouse". And also yes another fun fact, "Topolino" is another way to say small mouse, althought in a cuter way. And it's what we call Mickey Mouse here in Italy. Same with Donald Duck, which we call "Paperino", aka "Small Duck". The more you know :V) Anyways yeah, just a small extra information in case it could be of any use for your story.

BIT OF A DISCLAIMER: sadly I can't tell you if this does in fact lead into ambiguity territory as sadly if there is any, I am not aware of it. I would have to ask other fellow Italians to give their own opinion about it.

--

Anyways I'm ending this rambling of mine. I'm not that better after all SDLGKNB

I hope I was able to clear up your doubts and questions! And again, if I ended up missing some points, do let me know!

[tempestvista]

spoiler warnings for TMA

There is a decent possibility that I am going to eat my words if anything changes greatly since I have not fully finished TMA (Iirc I'm in the middle of season 4? I've been on pause for a bit though so I need to find my place again)

But can I just say how frustrating it is that like everyone villainizes Jonathan Sims in the fandom lmao?? Especially without even considering him and his character + character development as a part of his multi-faceted person and instead just dumbing him down to a one dimensional evil guy who they can also ship with others because ui ui sexo sexo

Now there are obvious things/reasons to dislike him. Namely, the stalking of his employees, which, I don't think I need to explain why is problematic and gross.

But the things I see listed as points against Jonathan Sims are often just… Side effects of him being non-consensually turned into a monster by a deeply calculating man who has a plethora of more knowledge from the get-go and far more manipulation over the situation than Jon himself? ''He killed innocent people!!'' Alright, so did multiple of the other characters?? Like a lot of them, actually?? That's. A really common theme??????????? An overarching pattern (in my analysis/eyes anyhow) in TMA is that literally almost no one gets a happy ending and usually the ones who ''do'' are based in the suffering of others + they've been turned

It just actually infuriates me when I see the "he killed innocent people'' argument without anyone acknowledging how it is near impossible to fight your nature as an avatar and again, really, really loosely saying here because I do not fully recall, but it seems like going against that nature can and WILL kill you. And you can call it selfish, but really, who WOULDN'T want to die? A lot of people have both a conscious and primal instinct to, you know, LIVE.

And again, also not acknowledging that multiple others have done the same.

Also, I see people either justify or entirely ignore the fact that at some point he was being utterly demeaned and belittled by everyone around him. If he wasn't being manipulated by Elias, he was being avoided by Martin, Melanie making cruel digs, being hovered over also by any given person, and generally having petty to hateful comments tossed at him by MOST individuals on any day at any hour. I acknowledge my bias and love for him really does jump out in this, but it also does make me mad that no one seems to care for the fact that he is ALSO a victim. He's a victim of manipulation, of being groomed into being an avatar (at least in my eyes), of being harmed by multiple entities and having lasting marks and impacts from each of them, of being falsely accused of murder (and everyone he knew at the time BELIEVING he was guilty), of being kidnapped/held hostage (MORE THAN ONCE), having to witness literal ghosts/bodies/skins of previous people he knew be lifted around and surrounding him talking about how he's a failure, a bad person, a bad archivist, the worst of the worst- which I cannot IMAGINE the nightmares that that situation would breed. Genuinely just sit and think about that for a moment. Also, as far as the Unknowing and any harm derived from that situation, if we're talking specifically about Sims again, he also had to live with the fact afterward that he was the reason Tim got killed. He has to live with the fact that he was so overwhelmed by everything and the manipulation of Nikola + the Stranger that when he came out of it, Tim had to be the one to end it because Jon failed to. He has to live with Tim being gone, and the fault of it weighing down on him. That is something that I do think one can blame him for (if I am recounting this all correctly). I wanted to bring this up in specific because Survivors guilt is very real and that whole ordeal and blaming must have been something beyond harrowing. He had to realize a thing was basically marching around in the corporeal idea of Sasha and that it WASN'T. HER. Of course this whole podcast is centered around being a nightmare, which is why I find it important to acknowledge the impacts of the nightmare on the people who very much are experiencing them!! And on a continued basis!! Living in that consistent traumatizing environment, developing hypervigilance, watching people drop like flies around you, like. holy shit man. Being traumatized, being threatened by what seems like fate itself at times, and also being used as a pawn for a massive scheme which he didn't even know was a thing. He used to have a life prior to all the world-ending, supernatural, lovecraftian horror stuff that became his new normal.

I know a lot of people would bash the ''I'm a victim too!'' card, but I really don't think that is an easy dismissal here because he just legitimately is.

That, and the people who villainize him also get really.. weird? At times? Like I know this is no longer an uncommon opinion - at least I hope not, but I don't really interact with TMA fandom at all besides liking, reblogging and saving fanart + fics- But people really just tend to make him into this gross or just. Absolutely downright awful human being (occasionally fetishizing his very nature even sometimes) and then Martin is the cutesy innocent person who has never done a single thing wrong in his life, Tim is the sexy hot bisexual who would fuck anything from a lamp-pole to eight mothmen, and Sasha is some demure, sweet and lovely little thing who only exists as just another background person in the polychives.

I can't say I've really seen that characterization of Sasha often thankfully… but that's also because some people straight up forget she was a vital character at one point lol (and I confess I'm not deeply attached to her so the art I save of her is usually secondary/included in other fanart)

I know some of this is redundant, and I am certain that if my memory wasn't so in and out as it is (especially as of late, the dissociation has been… bad, topic for another day, anywho-) I would be able to make more points against the things I've seen, but this is just one facet I really felt like addressing, since I think almost no one is innocent in TMA and harping on Jon specifically is … honestly pointless?? And bland/low hanging fruit as far as the conversation goes? Like big whoop, he's a monster, so is a majority of the characters in TMA? Lmfao??

All in all I say this without aggression or targeted vitriol. I hope people understand I am allowed to be angry at words without hating and/or wishing harm upon the people who say them /npa gen

And if someone happens to see this and has something to contribute, or a point to be made against me, I will gladly listen and engage! I like when people show me my errors, it gives me more perspectives. (Not intended arrogantly, genuine).

I do want it to be clear though that just because this is something I would love to discuss if anyone actually DOES - that doesn't mean I'm accepting of petty spats or arguments.

[puffyducks]

DCRC Week #27

Today we're reading PKNA #22: Fragments of Autumn and it's about to get CRAZY IN THIS BITCH!!! WHO UP FRAGMENTING THEY AUTUMN?!?!?

Ok so first of all shoutout to every single piece of cover art for this comic for being absolutely breathtaking. And also shoutout to Lyla for having eyes that get bigger and more haunting each time.

Uuh yeah she's gonna shoot the BAD GUY why the fuck did you jump in front of her 😭 Idiot

oh my god it's SLENDERMAN

Well he was a cop so 🤷‍♀️

friend and admirer 😏😏😏 (in a gay way)

OH NAW THEY SENT BABYGIRL TO THE UNITED NATIONS

I've said it before but I'll say it again: who the fuck calls into a meeting in this stance 😭 seriously is he sitting on the floor?

Oh GOD the Raider is rubbing off on him we're gonna have to put him down

Image that's relevant for 99% of conversation about Lyla Lay

NO HE ATE HERE!!! LEONARD, FUCKING KILL THAT GUY LIVE IN THE COURTROOM I BELIEVE IN YOU

So Odin is seen here in some type of hotel room with a bed in the background right? So my question is, does he actually use that? Can he sleep??? I mean Lyla said she has a sort of "sleep" mode where she has dreams, and Odin is technically more advanced than her so surely he needs to take breaks too right? These are incredibly important questions I need to know about his snoozer potential

Breaking and entering together, just like old times!!! ❤️

DID HE JUST CALL THEM CRACKERS

I like how much Donald is having fits of anger in this comic. Like yeah he's fucking everything up but it feels a lot closer to his usual character. Also I want him to kill.

"I'm going to do something Eidolon wouldn't approve of" YEAAHHH YEAH GO CRAZY GO STUPID

KILL HIM!!! KILL HIMMM THROW HIM OUT OF THE SHIP!!!! NOBODY WILL CARE IF HE DIES HE'S A POLITICIAN

Sorry maybe I shouldn't encourage PK every time he has violent fits but I think he should get to be a LITTLE homicidal. As a treat.

Soooo these panels are terrifying

Oh my GOD it was LEONARD VERTIGHEL ALL ALONG!!!!! (person who has totally not read this comic before and is definitely not pretending to be shocked)

"You don't know him" you shut your whore MOUTH. I mean not that Donald knows that he knows him well either BUT TECHNICALLY HE DOES.

Soooo instead of just making himself a robot wife that loved him from conception, he decided to make a bunch of pretty girl droid models, send them out in the world to develop their own personalities and memories, and THEN activate his secret little chip that would make them suddenly fall in love with him only AFTER they've become fully sentient beings with their own dreams and ambitions???........ EW

You just told us about your multi-year project to create someone to love you because none of the biological women met your "perfect" standards so... YEAH. You're an incel bro.

THE IMMENSE! THE UNIQUE! THE UNREACHABLE!!! A PRETTY GIRL IN A BIKINI WHO LOVES ME BACK

Odin please you can't just keep making vague references to your past with Donald I need them both to EXPLODE!!!!

Sooo that was Fragments of Autumn! (I'm not including anything here for the bonus comic cause I already hit the image limit, sorry to anyone that stans the Evron bonus comics or whatever.)

There was a LOT to soak in there between messages of love and autonomy and consent, but I mean HEYYY it sounds like Odin made some good deals for droid rights at the end there! So even if Lyla's big messy trial didn't amount to much, there's at least less of a chance that something like this will happen again in the future. Probably.

I'm sorry to Leonard Vertighel that he couldn't find the most perfectest woman ever to fall in love with him but also like, idk just get on Tinder or something bro. Go to the club.

I have a LOT of questions about Vertighel (specifically who this random fucking guy is and why Odin trusted him so much) but we're not ever gonna see him again in this series so for all intents and purposes we can just assume he burned to death in that lab fire. RIP bozo!!! Yes I know he's in PKNE but that's not relevant right now just let me have dreams

Coming up later this week: Crismus 🎄🎁🐻

[doberbutts]

I typed this whole thing up but they re-blocked me after they posted another rant on another one of my posts so;

That is absolutely not everything you said, and you know it.

You did start it with Avi, whether you believe it counts or not. You posted several multi-paragraph posts mentioning him directly by name. Even if you don't tag someone, they can still see it in their name tag if they search their name through tumblr's search function. Yes, even if you block them. Yes, even if they've blocked you. I can say that for certain because there are people in my name tag right now who I know for sure I have blocked and I also can still see when they talk about me if they put my username in their post.

He found your posts about him through this, not by circumventing your block but because he can see when you type out his username in your posts. So there is no "he went around my block to see it" because he wasn't even aware there was beef between you until after he found your posts about him- he's stated a few times that he used to be mutuals with you and didn't even realize you'd blocked him until recently. You did start it. And he was, understandably, upset about it, and posted about it on his blog.

Additionally, some of the things you've said regarding him- and Israeli Jews in general- are pretty antisemitic. It is not antisemitic to call out the atrocities and genocide that Israel is performing on Palestine- something Avi himself has said over and over again. However, there are people who are using antisemitic language or using the conflict as an excuse to be antisemitic, and that is where his problem is. Just as he also posted calling for justice for those affected by anti-arab and Islamophobic violence stemming from conflict.

And it's not like that's not true, that people are being antisemitic and using this conflict as an excuse, or even that people are being antisemitic to him and using this conflict as an excuse. He's gotten plenty of harassment coming from people straightup lying about him to justify it, and has posted it on his blog for others to see, so it's not like he's making it up. He also has posted about what he's doing within his local community, mourning with those who have lost loved ones, and how to provide aid to those trapped in Gaza. He's posted critiquing both the Israeli and the US government.

What more exactly do you want from him here? And why does he have to be A Good Jew in order to have his complaint of antisemitism be heard? Because you've decided he's white, when historically even "white" European Jews were not considered white by antisemitic governments? Didn't we just have a black celebrity get in trouble for saying exactly that? Because you've decided he's white, when more accurately he's multi-ethnic regarding one side of his family being entirely comprised of non-white Jews and the other side still not Ashkenazi, which he's publicly posted about? Because you've decided he's white, when whiteness and Judaism has always been a fraught conversation?

Certainly you understand that equating a population to the very same people that want to exterminate them and have tried before with relative success is always going to be an incendiary topic, and that the people you accuse of doing this are going to be upset when they see it?

I'm not lying for anyone, and besides my white Jewish bestie is a woman. I'm not his trained monkey though, since that seems to be the implication. I just think your behavior is poor and I think you do a lot of inflammatory blogging, which is why I didn't often reblog from you in the first place.

I am, though, sort of wondering why you are so focused on this one specific Jewish guy who has stated over and over again that he wants peace in the region and he wants the innocents living there to stop being killed. Is it because he said he doesn't want the Jewish people who want peace currently living there to be expelled? A lot of Palestinians don't want that either. And I think it's weird to be harassing a Jewish guy who has repeatedly said he wants peace, just because he wants peace in a way you personally find unsatisfying.

[asktheevilgeniusesson]

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN INTERACTING WITH MY BLOG

Name / Alias: Sorbet/Blur

Pronouns: He/She/It//Bat/Fang

Blog type: single muse | Multi-muse | non selective | semi selective | selective| mutuals only | private | other (specify) anyone can interact.

Type of muses: canon | OCs | both | other (specify)

GENERALITIES !

Triggers people MUST tag: TRYPOPHOBIA. I NEED that to be tagged. Also intense flashing lights, & E.D’s.

Interest tracker/checker: I have it and it's mandatory | I have it, it's not mandatory but I'm more likely to follow back / interact with the people who fill it | I have one and I prefer it if people fill it in | I have it but it's to people whether to fill it or not | I don't have one | other (specify)

Reblog karma: I practise it | I practise it sometimes | I don't practise it | I always reblog memes from the source | indifferent | other (specify)

Rule passwords: I have one and it's mandatory | I have one and it's optional | I don't have one | I send passwords | don't send passwords | [space for eventual additions/explanations]

3-5 ESSENTIAL RULES PEOPLE HAVE TO RESPECT

This blog and all others are MULTI SHIP. Muses will not be strict to cannon and will be divergent. Muses WILL likely not be the cannon gender of a cis woman or male. (Trans, nb, etcetc.), I DO NOT SHIP OR JOKE ABOUT INCEST OR PEDOPHILIA INC OR OOC AND I DO NOT PUT UP WITH THOSE JOKES FROM OTHERS.

3-5 IMPORTANT PET PEEVES TO KEEP IN MIND

Your muse forcing themself to try and force-adopt one of mine, (usually i love doing verses where a muse adopts a child muse of mine! But if i or my muse obviously do not want it or they are SCARED or do not LIKE the other muse and they keep pushing it.), my muses being babied and treated like nothing but a functionless creature because of disabilities/mental issues. Godmodding in general. Trying to force a child muse into a weird talk (like sex ed. Yeah, i get it, in crack threads its funny to make the joke about a kid asking where babies come from and yadayada but im talking abt serious/non crack threads and that going down. Thats a child. They dont need to be told that. Gives me the heebie jeebies-)

2-5 THINGS THAT WILL LEAD TO INSTANT (SOFT)BLOCKING 

Insensitive jokes 24/7 (making jokes about heavy dark topics when you yourself didnt go through the issue and its not just a one off thing.), unnecesary drama on my dash (ex. Someone being petty or just generally bratty without any real reason? While directly calling another person out to respond. I dont enjoy seeing moots cause petty drama.), forcing me to reblog things from you or making me feel like a bad person for not doing one specific thing. (I fucking HATE those ‘reblog or you’re a bad person/you support (something fucking vile) Its just reblog bait..), just generally harassing me or a mutual, reblogging my roleplay threads and asks on your personals.

2-5 THINGS THAT LEAD ME TO UNFOLLOW / SOFTBLOCK A MUTUAL / SOMEONE I INTERACT WITH

Multiple rules being broken without an apology or some form of ‘im sorry’. They’ve been outed as a bad person (with proof.), they harass me or other mutuals. They try to cause problems on purpose.

2-5 REASON YOU DON'T TO FOLLOW (BACK) SOMEONE

I cant see my muses interacting with them. I dont personally enjoy the fandom they write for any reason. I cant see me being able to properly follow their rules (its me respecting their rules and that i cant work with them), they have many posts about drama or callouts (ones that arent serious and dont need to be there), the blog owner is under 15-16. (I cap off my interactions with minors if they are below fifteen. I just feel like a creep interacting with anyone under fourteen as a 20+ yr old.)

Tagged by: @thesonicever

Tagging: anyone who wishes to do this!

[cisgirlcock]

Out of curiosity, why do you organize with the DSA rather than a Marxist-Leninist organization like PSL? Comrades in the latter tend to be a lot more committed and disciplined in my experience

a few reasons (not in any particular order of importance)

one, they're a lot smaller and have less potential impact. i find it kind of sketchy that they don't publicize their membership numbers, but the most info I could glean on that front is they're active in 50 to 100 cities, which doesn't tell me much lol, and thats another grievance I have with them is the lack of available info. DSA has 180 chapters and over 90,000 members, it's the largest socialist organization in the US. I think that gives us much better reach, higher capacity, and a stronger ability to pull in new members.

two, while I'm told by PSL members that PSL is not a Trotskyist org, they did split from World Workers Party (trots). They may have evolved to be more ML-like, but their roots as trots means some of those politics have carried over from when they were with WWP. I wouldn't take such issue with their political alignment (as I certainly don't agree 100% with all the public statements of national DSA), if not for my next point:

three, what i do know of PSL's join process is that it's very stringent. From what I've heard from people who have joined (or tried to join and failed to complete the process), is there's a multiple month long process where you take classes and interview with leadership to ensure you align with their political vision. I understand that this is an attempt to keep liberals out of the org, but I think it has the very harsh negative effect of scaring off people with potential to grow and develop their politics through organizing work. In the DSA chapter I'm part of, we DO get a lot of new members who haven't fully started to break with liberalism and have a lot they need to learn. but they express a clear interest in developing their politics, and those who get involved will learn first-hand the problems with liberalism, what liberalism actually is, what socialism actually is, and most importantly, how to organize! When I first joined DSA i was one of those "calls myself a leftist but really has no idea what anything is or what to do about it". I joined, asked a lot of stupid questions, went out to picket lines, listened to my comrades talk about their organizing efforts at work, joined political education discussions, and learned about socialism through direct experience. Whatever classes PSL offers probably have good information in them, but it's a pretty disconnected way of learning. I am also under the impression, from what I've heard, that what they teach you is of a very specific political tendency. And if you don't get through the join process, they still want your involvement via donations or coming out to their rallies, what is the point of that? Why be involved in an org that won't have you as a member?

fourth thing, related to political tendency, I see this a lot with sects, where they want you to follow their exact politics and require some base-level of active participation in the org. I know from first hand accounts that the interview process for joining is something like a test to make sure you have the right politics, where you may not be immediately discarded if you don't align, but you need to go through a set of online courses, where by the end you need to "pass" in order to be accepted as a member. DSA operates as a big tent org, meaning multi tendency with a lot of different political backgrounds. And I think this is a pretty important point of contention when it comes to "how do we run a socialist organization?" because on the one hand, you can let anyone whos anyone join and get involved, which runs the risk where chapters are run by liberals or disorganized anarchists, whos idea of a theory of change is "go out to as many protests as possible until something happens". On the other hand, if you say "you can join my org but you have to do these specific things and believe these specific things", you run the risk of remaining very small, unable to grow into a mass movement. My thoughts on this issue is that, in the US, there is very little class consciousness amongst the working class, and very little progress in the way of class struggle. It's a curse of being in the imperial core, many people are okay with closing their eyes to the horrors of capitalism, as long as they specifically aren't the ones under constant threat of imperial violence. Even though many people in recent years have come to the conclusion that capitalism is Bad, they don't see a solution or a way out, so the most these people can muster is calling representatives or going out to protests sometimes, things that socialists know will not fix the problem. Because of this political situation, I don't think socialists have the luxury to be so picky about who joins their organization (obviously we won't accept bigots, and our membership has the ability to democratically decide if someone should be expelled from the chapter). When a liberal joins a DSA chapter who's leadership and bylaws are informed by Marxist-Leninist principles (which many of them are), they are given the opportunity to connect with educated people and understand that a better world is possible, and how we can get there. And for chapters that aren't as politically developed, it's great if MLs can get in and educate people, run for leadership positions, and take an active role in developing the chapter. When the people you're talking to don't have a strong political framework, you can pretty effectively drill down to their attachment with liberalism and help them break it. When people want to change, we can help that happen.

fifthly, I do not get the impression that members of PSL have equal power in the org. A PSL chapter was recently established in my city (or is in the process of being established, it's not really clear), and I went to their outreach/orientation session where they were looking to gain new members in the area. One thing that was strange to me was this session did not actually explain what PSL is, what they do, or why they do what they do, things that are all gone over at DSA orientations. But what was also strange to me is the way a PSL leader from another chapter was there to shadow the person who Would be running this new chapter (if they were a member, but they aren't, because they're still in the 9 month long training protocol). I didn't immediately think anything of this, as it's not a bad thing for a more experienced member to help someone out who's just getting started. But this member-in-training described it to me like the leader was there to make sure they stayed in line and did everything correctly, and would then report results to people higher up in command. It's a little weird, and a structure like that allows for abuse of power.

sixthly (sorry i'm committed to being annoying w the numbers), I don't like that PSL is funded largely by near-billionaire neville singham. and that PSL puts resources into courting the super-rich (like Fergie Chambers) to bankroll them.

seven, don't like the lack of publicly available information. its hard to form many opinions about their structure and ideas when most of the information I know has to come directly from people involved. i'm open to being fact-checked about anything i've said here, but they don't make it easy for me to verify things!

Final thing, and this is about DSA specifically. I do find that 95% of criticism I see about DSA is in regards to the NYC chapter. I don't want to rail on them too hard, but they are the largest chapter in the country and have a big presence in the NYC area in general, and therefore are the most visible. so when they're doing some stupid lib shit, everyone sees it. And I can't really just brush them under the rug as a "non-issue", it IS an issue that a chapter like that is so influential within the org, especially since some smaller chapters who don't have a clear focus, may learn and adapt a lot of those negative things into their own structure. But I think it's especially important for disciplined socialists and communists to steer the organization away from that direction. DSA is the the largest socialist organization in the country, and what happens if the Marxist-Leninists of the org all leave to join the various sects scattered across the country, or if we all leave and form a new sect of our own? Then we've just handed the whole organization to the soc-dems/liberals who think siding with the democrats will liberate us, while severely weakening our own movement in the process. For the past century, socialist and communist organizations have been splitting and dissolving and reforming into a thousand little microsects that have zero impact on the political landscape. We don't want more of that shit. I'm not gonna act like a ML takeover of DSA is just around the corner, it's something that's been being built up slowly since the Bernie Boom. There are Marxist-Leninst caucuses within DSA that are working to take control from the right. If you want to learn more about the MLs of DSA, I'd recommend the Red Star caucus's points of unity https://redstarcaucus.org/points-of-unity/ and Marxist Unity Group's points of unity https://www.marxistunity.com/ and if you're really feeling ambitious, Reform and Revolution has a lot to say about what they stand for https://reformandrevolution.org/2019/07/30/what-we-stand-for/ (they're Trotskyist so I'm not gonna vouch for them as strongly bc I'm not a trot, but I generally side with them in regards to pushing the right-wing caucuses out of leadership positions) I don't necessarily agree with these caucuses 100%, but I think they're on a good path towards reforming the organization as a whole (also these statements I linked are actually peer-reviewed and written by multiple people, whereas this tumblr post I'm writing is written and reviewed only by me haha). DSA's National Political Committee (NPC) (highest governing body of the org), used to be much more representative of the right-wing caucuses, but it's been slowly growing more left-wing, and we have the national convention coming up this year (happens every 2 years) where a new NPC will be elected.

All in all, I'm not tied to DSA because of its politics as a whole. I'd jump ship if a better org sprang up, but the socialist sects scattered across the country are all repeating the same shit that's failed in the past, and PSL is no different, they just have a lot more money. I don't really understand when I see other Marxists saying shit like "I'd join DSA if they had my specific political tendency, instead I'm going to wait around for the perfect org to pop up". WE need to make that org happen, and we aren't going to do it by creating some new micro-sect with "perfect politics". PSL only gets away with being comparable to DSA at all because of the millionaires they schmooze, but if it weren't for the money they put into advertising themselves, they'd be no better off than whatever obscure microsects trot around your city.

[the-haunted-office]

I'm gonna answer this for Doom without any prompting because I can and I want to.

From this meme: Questions for Problematic/Villain muses

2. What's something you constantly have to re-explain about your muse

I haven't had to explain this in a while, but I will now because for a while after I first introduced her, I did have to constantly re-explain it because people just did not understand that Doom is NOT mean for no reason. She has reasons for being aggressive and loud and the way she is.

When I first introduced her, she was highly aggressive towards certain muses for a very specific reason, and that reason was because those muses had been hurtful towards Thursday. This was in an rp group I used to be in, where several muses were hurtful, mean, or downright abusive towards Thursday, and when I introduced Doomsday, she wouldn't put up with that crap. She laid down the boundaries that Thursday wouldn't. And I think some people took it personally. They personally did not like Doomsday because of her attitude and behaviors towards their muses, and because she fought back. Not only that, but because it meant their muses couldn't bully Thursday anymore. On top of that, Doom called out their muses' behaviors and I think they took that personally. At least, that is the impression I got.

Doom has been demonized for the fact that she will not put up with anyone's crap and that she will call things as she sees it. If she sees other people's muses behaving in a hypocritical manner, she will call them out on it. If she disagrees with someone, she will speak up. If she thinks someone is being an asshole, she will call them an asshole. She will not lie down and take it, she will fight back.

She isn't always right, though. Of course she isn't perfect and she does make mistakes. And she has her own toxic behaviors. The fact is that she is a multi-faceted person and isn't "just mean" or "just being a bitch" just because you don't like how she's treating your muse. She 9.9 times out 10 has a reason why she's being aggressive towards someone.

Now, as for being mischievous? That's a different story altogether. :p