#and then saying GAI is more of a victim/tragic…

[designernishiki]

hot take but. oda is honestly one of the most interesting prominent side characters in y0 to me. like. don’t get me wrong obviously i don’t condone his actions, but speaking as a character design guy, i think he’s got a whole lot of complexity to think about in his story and identity that people tend to ignore/overlook because he’s not a black and white “good” person. like no shit he’s morally fucked, that doesn’t mean his intense pining and crazed level of dedication to tachibana and the lengths all his guilt and repressed love for the man he saw as the best thing to ever grace his life drove him to aren’t interesting to think about– if anything it makes him more interesting. he was. really something

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Finals

Propaganda Under Cut

Sakura Haruno

Her husband is gay and her author doesn't know how to write women. So many people say she's the worst but she. DESERVES. BETTER!!! Save her from this franchise.

My baby girl my bestie my best friend. She committed the crime of um being written by kishimoto who both doesn’t know how to write women and somehow writes men in the gayest way possible specifically naruto and sasuke. Like the thing is naruto and sasuke ARE gay and also she gets so much hate for the crime of kishimoto writing her one dimensionally in love with sasuke. I know her personally she is a butch lesbian to me just trust me she’s in love with Ino and has a lesbian thing going on with Karin okay just trust me. My everything. She needs to divorce the loveless lavender marriage she’s in 

What is there to say, even? The OG Threat to my 90s anime brain, the only woman I've ever hated with such a passion she made me turn away from the color pink. I used to write fics with my friend where she got left behind on purpose so our OCs could join the Naruto and Sasuke team instead. I loathed this bitch until I was 16 and realized the author simply couldnt write women and decided it was time to make peace with Sakura. It is not her fault she's vaguely written and obsessive over Sasuke. She deserves better. Sasuke and Naruto still should be together and Sakura shouldnt be with Sasuke but I no longer believe this because I hate Sakura, it is because I love her. She deserves a spouse who will actually put in the time to treat her like the hero she is.

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Why Jason Grace is The Most Tragic Character in the Riordanverse

*in no way is this trying to dial down Nico's own suffering, I'm just stating my case for Jason because godsdamn SOMEBODY needs to say it!*

@most-tragic-character-tournament here's propoganda i came out guns ablazing

List of why fans are saying Nico:

Lost his mother

lost years of his life

found out he was a demigod at age 10

lost sister at 10

rough relationship with his dad

closeted gay

crush is madly in love with somebody else

forced to come out

List of why Jason is more tragic:

Lost his mom to alcoholism/mental decline

Lost his ENTIRE FUCKING CHILDHOOD because Said Mom gave him up to Juno to be raised by a PACK OF WOLVES who would've EATEN HIM if he was WEAK FOR EVEN A SECOND - AS A FUCKING TWO YEAR OLD

Was a trained demigod FROM THE GET-GO (again, TWO YEARS OLD)

Because of previously stated separation, was TAKEN FROM HIS SISTER WHO LOVED HIM SO MUCH SHE RAN AWAY BECAUSE SHE COULDN'T TAKE THE GUILT AND FEAR AND RAGE THAT FILLED HER AT HIS ABSENCE

Was set up into a "perfect" relationship by Juno/Hera WHILE HAVING HIS MEMORIES TAKEN

Jason may not have had the awful forced outting Nico had to go through, but...that's not really his fault? Nobody has any control over their sexual identity, and Jason? Well. He never really got to explore it. Because that was taken from him too.

Thinks he LOST LEO VALDEZ, ONE OF HIS ACTUAL FIRST FRIENDS, WHO LIKED HIM FOR HIM AND NOT BECAUSE OF HIS STATUS

FORCED TO COMPLY TO A DEMANDING SOCIETY THAT EXALTED HIM FROM DAY 1 BECAUSE HIS DAD IS THE OH-SO-IMPORTANT JUPITER (*cough victim of nepotism cough*)

AND WHEN HE TRIES TO COMBAT THAT NEPOTISM HE KEEPS GETTING PUSHBACK UNTIL HE FALTERS

then. then his girlfriend breaks up with him - not because of any drama, or even a disagreement, but over a very valid point

their relationship didn't exactly start out very...honestly. Jason had been mind-wiped of all memories and Piper had fake ones implanted into her to make her think she liked Jason as more than a friend. sure. they had a pretty nice relationship, but when everything slowed down and they took a look at their lives?

Piper's the one who sees it first, and makes the decision. Jason is heartbroken, but understands - he even, dare I say, agrees that they should end the relationship. it was built on fake memories - you could say it was built on lies.

and now Jason has this opportunity to step back and analyze who he is and what he wants.

what he finds is depressing. everything he's had, everything's he's been up till now...

it's not him.

he never wanted to be raised by Lupa and her wolves.

he never wanted to be Jupiter's son

he never wanted to be the exalted leader Camp Jupiter praised him for

From day 1 his life was somebody else's. his first steps were under the tutelage of a wolf, not of the loving eyes of his sister

Camp Jupiter only ever saw him as the demigod to be praised and turn to above all others, even before he became praetor.

Jason's life...was never his own.

and now that he's away from all that pressure and expectation...he doesn't know who he is.

Son of Jupiter?

Champion of Juno?

Praetor of the Twelfth Legion?

Member of the Prophesized Seven?

Hero of Olympus?

no. he was never himself under these names.

he was never...Jason.

but maybe now he could start navigating his own life. without some god intervening for once. this would be good for him, and for Piper, to find their own way.

but then. then they talk to Herophile...and find out one of them will die. And Jason? Well, he's not going to let Piper be taken from the life she deserves. he may not be her boyfriend, her knight in shining armor, but he sure as HELL loves her - especially as a friend. And if there's one thing you should know about Jason? It's that he loves his friends.

so what does he do? He sacrifices himself. He duels Caligula himself, and urges Piper, Meg, and Apollo to Go, save yourselves! and -

he's stabbed. through the chest. the only thing he can do? Look to Apollo, to the blue gaze so much like his own drenched in horror, and ask; Remember. because he didn't get to live the life he wished, but maybe Apollo could - no, Apollo can, he can make the difference Jason wanted. Because he trusts Apollo.

Jason doesn't regret his sacrifice. he saved Piper from the prophecy, after all. He saved Apollo & Meg's lives too.

in fact, Jason didn't really mind dying. Because he didn't have much of a life either. And a life like that? shrug It's worth sacrificing for those who deserve theirs.

and as icing on the cake, remember who Jason's father is? The almighty, all-powerful Jupiter himself, King of the Gods?

he doesn't do a damn thing to help Jason. Not a single. Thing.

because Jupiter/Zeus doesn't care about his children. Especially his sons.

Zeus saved Thalia. But he didn't even try to save Jason.

Trying would have at least lessened the pain...

People like to claim Jason is a bland, boring character who's never suffered a minute in his life. That he's a golden retriever with no flaws.

Well.

Take a look up there and ask yourself - it that the life of a boy who knows no suffering?

Because it sure as hell don't look that way to me.

To me, it looks like Jason was a used, depressed young man who never got to choose his own path. Who's father abandoned him first to his wife's mercy, then to a cruel emperor's.

Jason Grace suffered.

and he never got to live that happy life he saw within the Fates.

Never got to get that family, those grandchildren he saw himself telling the story of the Argo II to.

Because The Fall of Jason Grace is a true, utter tragedy.

[theodorecanaryhood]

The ticking time bomb

Jason Todd x male! Reader

Warnings: violence, homophobia, sex and swearing

Everyone has a story and not every story is the same, in fact some or most stories can be similar, but details are varied for every person.

In all honesty, anyone who says they grew up with the ‘perfect life’ is full of shit, at least that was Jason’s POV to that.

He grew up in a toxic home with his dad Willis Todd, his gun and drug dealer grandmother, Faye, Jason had no idea who his birth mother was until he was 14, to which by this point he was living on the streets.

Scared, helpless, alone and desperate to stay alive in Crime Alley, Jason attempted to steal the wheels off the Batmobile. Batman caught him though, but instead of grilling the young teen, Batman convinced Jason to go into care - also, highly convenient, Bruce Wayne just shows up and adopts Jason out of the blue.

Not too much time later, Jason is the second Robin. Angry at the world for his upbringing and problems, he becomes a little too much for himself. Getting captured and tortured, eventually murdered by the Joker.

Tragic, really tragic.

Jason came back a different person after his resurrection, even meaner and angrier than before. Which just played into Jason’s psychopathic tendencies, along with his constant role as the victim.

That was before, Jason likes to think of himself a changed man. But how much can one person really change? That’s the real question.

‘Fuck’ Jason moaned out as he held his hard meat in his hand, wrapping his fingers around the base.

Jason had been tense and stressed AF lately and needed some release, typically as a single man, he only knew one way to do it.

Jason stared at his phone as he watched the video of the woman get bent over, the man in the video slid himself in with ease as she called out in pleasure.

Jason had a hard time focusing his full attention on the woman, he kept saying to himself in his head that the video was boring, she’s too loud etc…then he just lost interest and felt himself not hard anymore.

Scrolling through the hub Jason wanted something a little more interesting, typing into the search bar for ‘blowjob’ videos.

Hitting a video out of nowhere Jason found himself instantly hard again, jerking himself till he was empty of his seed and stress.

See, most people know early on who they are and who they’re attracted to. But, Jason was taken too young to ever have time to figure out. Also, due to his ‘manly’ father, Jason always told himself he had to be ‘normal’.

Scenes from Jason’s childhood popped into his head, his dad Willis had a guy on the floor beaten and bloodied, hitting him over and over.

‘Fucking fag, don’t show your face here again’ Willis boomed, hate crime was not uncommon.

Willis Todd was known to beat up any man or woman, did not hold back even more if they were gay, or not white.

Jason hated Willis for what he did and what he exposed Jason too. Hated it so much he felt sick, no literally Jason was going to vomit.

Shoving his head down the toilet he vomited hard as he felt the agony come to bay, Jason had watched in memory as he beat himself off to two men having sex. Enjoying it so much, Jason came. Really hard, and liked it.

It had happened before in a time similar to this, as Jason recalled he couldn’t focus on the woman in the porn video, so focused his attention to the guy. His sweaty abs, his biceps and the moans. He loved it, and Jason hated that he loved it.

Jason cried to himself as he came to realisation that he is, in fact, exactly what his father Willis hates. He’s gay.

Willis Todd was long in prison by this point and Jason is a grown man with his own life, but he couldn’t help himself but revert his mental state back to the 8 year old, that saw his Father in action.

‘Fucking queer’ Willis screamed as he bashed the man around the head, the baseball bat hitting the spots that could do some serious damage, if not kill.

‘Fuck’ Jason muttered to himself, looking back at his phone to see the video still up, and watching it again.

Jason liked it, he really liked it and didn’t want to accept that he did.

Some time went by, Jason had been dealing with his own problems, but he couldn’t deny that he was feeling isolated. His pain and deep homophobia was battling together.

‘Hey, what can I get you?’ You asked from behind the bar, Jason sitting down in front of you.

‘Can I just get a Corona please?’ Jason asked, a little shy as he stared at you. You smiled and nodded.

Jason hadn’t played scenes in his head so much in a long time, though he did like that it distracted him from the trauma of his death.

‘You look lost, something bothering you?’ You asked as Jason sipped his beer.

‘You ever just start to rethink your life? Like, the lessons your parents taught you were wrong but, you almost always fail to think different’ he asked, you nodded a little with a slight shrug.

‘I guess, but then my parents always told me to be myself and love everyone the same’

Jason smiled, for what felt like the first time in centuries. He actually showed teeth too, feeling himself blush Jason quickly straightened his face.

Jason kept coming to the same bar and always being served by the same bartender, though it was clear he didn’t come for the service or the drinks, he came because he slowly accepted, Jason began to get acceptance from himself.

After months, Jason was finally able to find courage to ask for your number, to talk to you when you weren’t serving him.

Hanging out a few times, Jason felt an attraction but never said anything. He hadn’t had a real friend since he was a kid and didn’t want to ruin it.

‘So, you been watching it? Season 5 is way better, it gets really dark’ you bubbled in excitement, Jason was binge watching a series on Netflix you’d suggested.

Jason just enjoyed the company, he also really enjoyed that he was watching new things.

Jason also found himself jacking off a lot more to gay porn, but this time he was picturing himself with you. Moaning out your name. Coming hard as he smiled.

Was it your h/c hair that pulled him in? Was it your voice? Your face? Or was it simply that Jason hadn’t touched a man his whole life? Probably all of it, but you’d never let on who you were into. Men or women? Both? Neither?

‘We really should hang out more, maybe go catch a movie or something’ you said as you walked to Jason’s door, leaving another hang out session.

Jason nodded as he smirked a little, getting the door for you.

‘I’d really like that y/n’ Jason replied as you leant in and gave Jason a hug goodbye.

It was the first time you’d hugged him and Jason shot right up, if you catch the drift, realising he 100% was into you.

‘Take care buddy’ you waved as you left, Jason awkwardly covered his crotch area with his hand as he shut the door.

‘Crap’ he mumbled to himself, feeling the need for yet another release as he stood hard in his pants.

As time went on Jason felt he needed to just be truthful, tell you the truth.

‘It’s been bothering me for so long, I haven’t said anything cause I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything, but’ Jason began, you sitting opposite him at the table in Jason’s dining room.

‘What is it?’ You ask, concerned as Jason stopped himself, looking to the ground. Fidgeting with his sweater sleeve.

‘I like you a lot y/n’ Jason admitted, you smiled as you looked in Jason’s eyes.

‘I like you too’

Jason looked back as deep into your eyes as you did his, not hesitating anymore.

‘No, y/n I really like you, I mean I like you more than a friend’ Jason shyly told you the truth, you sighed and looked down to the floor.

Jason instantly regretted his decision and was aware he wouldn’t be able to take it back. You looked back up, placing your hand on Jason’s.

‘Took you long enough to admit it’ you chuckled, Jason looked confused.

‘What?’ He asked in shock.

‘I mean, you check me out a lot, you always try to cover your crotch when I come near you’ you smiled, Jason smiled softly.

Jason thought it sweet how you noticed it all but never said anything, as not to embarrass him. Jason also felt an overwhelming urge to touch you.

Jason leant in while placing his hand on your face, kissing your lips softly. You smiled into the kiss and pulled him in deeper.

Jason had mental flashes of his father, Willis, and froze for a second before abruptly pulling away. Making you pull away too in apology.

‘I’m sorry, I’m really sorry’ you urged as you held a hand out, Jason shook his head.

‘It’s fine y/n, it’s not you, I’m just not ready for…’ Jason tried to explain.

You understood of course, everyone has their demons. And Jason definitely had a fair share of them.

However, he still felt shameful about himself and couldn’t admit the truth. Not himself. Not completely.

Jason watched the same videos again of two men going at each other, bareback. Jason felt so much pleasure being released as he spilled on himself.

‘Y/n’ Jason whispered to himself, feeling the warmth as he pictured your face. Then felt the nausea return once again.

Jason couldn’t do it anymore, he couldn’t keep denying himself. Especially, as you began to notice that Jason was avoiding you.

Jason texted you to come over as he poured some shots down, bucking up his courage.

‘Hey’ you smiled as Jason let you in, him smiling at you and giving you a side hug.

‘Thanks for coming y/n’ Jason said as he handed you a beer from the fridge.

You both sat on the couch in the living room as Jason tried to voice a way to express how he feels, why he has been trying to make himself distant from you.

‘I was starting to think you weren’t interested anymore’ you broke the silence.

‘No, I do really like you still, it’s just, I’m not ready’ Jason took your hand in his, intertwining his fingers with yours.

‘Not ready for what? A relationship?’

Jason heard his dad again calling out homophobic slurs, his mind drifted to a different night he could remember. Willis had beat up a 16 year old boy, and his boyfriend. Jason stood and watched. Not knowing what to do.

‘Jason? What’s going on?’ You asked, bringing Jason back.

‘I grew up in a really bad environment, my dad beat up a few guys because they were gay. He did other stuff too. I could never accept myself since then’ Jason admitted, you took a slight grip on his hand.

You smiled with empathy as Jason she’d a tear from his eye, he was scared of what would happen to him.

‘It was a long time ago Jason, you’re a better person. Nothing bad will happen if you say it’ you wiped the tear away with your thumb as Jason took a breath.

‘I’m gay, y/n, I like you and I want to take you out, as a date’ Jason sighed as you smiled a little.

You leant in and kissed Jason as he pulled you in tighter. For the first time, Jason was enjoying this kiss as he just thought about you, being there with him.

Jason was so hard and could feel you were too through your pants, he rolled over and sat on the couch with you sitting on his lap.

‘Oh, Jason’ you gasped as Jason began to lift your shirt over your head. Him lifting his off too.

‘Fuck, I want you so bad’ Jason growled as he sunk his teeth into your neck and collarbone.

You threw your head back as you slid off Jason and removed the rest of your clothes, Jason doing the same.

Jason sat back down while you sat on Jason lap, gasping when you saw Jason dick that was at least 11 inches.

The two of you made out more as Jason gripped your ass cheeks, biting you all over. Sure enough to leave a mark.

‘You sure?’ You asked sweetly as Jason nodded, pulling you in for another kiss.

You slid down again as this time to you went on your knees and began to kiss, lick and suck Jason’s length. Which stood right up, exposed for you.

Jason had been in these situations before, he’d had sex before…many times. But, he never did it with men. He could never get that far. Denying himself so hard.

Saying that, Jason had never experienced a blowjob like this before. He had read about the differences between getting blowjobs from men compared to women.

Apparently, it’s better from men due to men knowing what they like to get from oral. Jason didn’t know if it was true, but he guessed it must be as this was the best he’d ever experienced.

‘I’m gonna come if you keep doing that’ Jason chuckled as you looked up at him.

‘Is that so bad?’ You laughed, as you crawled back up Jason’s seated form.

You slid down Jason’s big, hard shaft and gasped at the sudden pressure. Breathing deeply as Jason filled you up.

‘You’re so fucking hot’ Jason breathed out as he began with a rhythm that worked for you both, you gripping the back of the couch.

‘Oh God, Jason’ you called out as you arched your back, while meeting Jason’s rhythm.

It was minutes of bliss as Jason sped up and slammed into you, you moaning in the pleasure.

Jason placed both his hands on your waist as you rode on his dick, you jerking yourself while Jason grunted beneath you. His hard dick filling every part of you.

‘Fuck, Jason’ you almost screamed as you shot your seed out all over Jason’s stomach.

‘Shit’ Jason smiled, still holding your waist as you breathed out in bliss.

Jason lifted his hips up in an unbelievable way that your pleasure hadn’t come to a close, Jason grunted and threw his head back as he felt the start of the big finish.

‘Y/n, I’m coming, I’m coming’ Jason called as he began to hit into you slowly as he emptied himself.

You both panted put in satisfaction as you moved over and sat next to Jason. Your naked bodies, sweat sticking to the couch and each other, you both smiled as you sat in silence.

Jason took your hand in his again as he turned his head to kiss you, which you accepted with no hesitation.

You rested your head on Jason’s shoulder as he began to internally scream in happiness, Jason could finally accept himself. And, he had you.

[robertreich]

The GOP’s Attack on LGBTQ Americans, Revealed 

Republicans don’t seem to care that Ronald Reagan once starred in a film that featured a prominent drag scene or that Rudy Giuliani did a skit in drag with Donald Trump.

Suddenly, they’re trying to ban or restrict drag performances in at least 15 states, with bills so broadly worded that advocates warn they could be used not only to prosecute drag performers, but also transgender people who dare to simply exist in public.

These bans are part of a cynical campaign to demonize the LGBTQ+ community. MAGA politicians are stoking fear over imaginary dangers to distract from how their policies only help themselves and their wealthy donors.

In the first half of 2023 alone, Republicans across the nation introduced a record number of bills to strip away freedoms and civil rights from LGBTQ+ Americans, largely targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

By banning gender affirming care for minors, GOP lawmakers are effectively practicing medicine without a license — overruling the guidance of doctors, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. And they’re lying about what gender affirming care even is.

Genital surgery, for instance, is rarely, if ever, done under the age of 18. It’s not even all that common for adults. Politicians like Ron DeSantis are lying about it to scare people.

And the Republican presidential frontrunner has made it clear that trans people have no place in his vision of America.

MAGA lawmakers and pundits falsely claim trans people and drag performers are a danger to children and the public at large, when there is no evidence at all to support that. None. Trans people are in fact four times more likely to be the victims of violent crime.

These scare tactics are dangerous. Recent analysis found a 70% increase in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ Americans between 2020 and 2021, as the surge of these bills began. And that’s only counting hate crimes that get reported. 2020 and 2021 each set a new record for the number of trans people murdered in America.

The cruelest irony is that these Republican bills pretending to protect children actually put some of the most vulnerable children at greater risk. LGBTQ+ kids are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide, especially transgender children. Gender-affirming care reduces that risk. That is why it is life-saving.

Don’t Say Gay laws strip away potentially life-saving support. A teacher discussing sexual orientation and gender identity won’t turn a straight kid gay. But it will make an LGBTQ+ student 23% less likely to attempt suicide.

The tragic truth is that Don’t Say Gay Laws and health care bans will cause more young lives to be needlessly lost.

If Republicans really cared about protecting kids, they’d focus on gun violence, now the leading cause of death for American children. If they were really worried about children undergoing life-altering medical procedures, they wouldn’t pass abortion bans that force teens to give birth or risk back-alley procedures.

What the GOP’s vendetta against the LGBTQ+ community really is, is a classic authoritarian tactic to vilify already marginalized people. They’re trying to stoke so much paranoia and hatred that we don’t notice how they are consolidating power and wealth into the hands of a ruling few.

We need to see this attack on LGBTQ+ Americans for what it is: a threat to all of our human rights.

[lady-corrine]

https://www.tumblr.com/lady-corrine/733420805658230784

No bc I've seen ALL of these and they make me violent, lmao.

Esp the "did Rhaenyra betray herself" one from the take, a supposedly "feminist" video essay channel.

They say that bc Rhae had bastards and had sex out of wedlock, she deserves to be punished just for not laying down and taking beatings and "being happy" with a man incapable of loving her ROMANTICALLY. No matter WHAT she did, she would have been usurped. Thats the WHOLE point of the story. 🤦

It's truly a sight to behold, isn't it? (in the worst way possible)

I admit I haven't watched any of those videos — I knew they would enrage me and they would waste my time, so there wasn't any point in doing it. Even so, there is much to unpack here.

The attitude towards Rhaenyra from supposed "feminists" is beyond upsetting. They want for Rhaenyra to be submissive, obedient, subservient, to "shut up and endure". In their twisted vision, this is what makes a woman "worthy" — biting her tongue and being a perpetual victim (you can see how sick this is).

For them, a man (say Robert Baratheon) can fuck around and have as many bastards as he wishes, but if a woman has sex outside of marriage they slut shame her and deem her not fit to rule.

Mind you, Aegon II is a canonical rapist on screen and a sexual abuser in the book. When they search for him in the book, they find him having sex with a 12 years old girl - let that sink in, please!

Rhaenyra has to be a paragon of morality and purity and virtue — not Aegon though! He's the true king because has a dick between his legs!

But somehow it is Rhaenyra — Rhaenyra who was forced into her marriage with a gay man, Rhaenyra whose sons were recognized and accepted by Laenor and Corlys as true Velaryons, Rhaenyra whose sons were, above everything else, her heirs, through her and her alone — that is the villain and the monster, and unworthy to rule.

And I wonder if these people's hatred for Rhaenyra isn't actually them projecting and hating the autonomy that Rhaenyra displays in refusing to comply with her unhappy situation/marriage. She seeks joy and pleasure elsewhere! She doesn't just sit there and take it! And they loathe her for it!

God forbid if you're a woman and love sex!

"How dare Rhaenyra have sex outside of marriage?" Ma'am, the Middle Ages called. They want their mysoginistic and patriarchal concepts back!

Even more, since in their perception Rhaenyra defies her "duty" through her body (by having extramarital sex), they cheer for her being tortured, enduring physical suffering and ultimately having a gruesome death (see here).

Rhaenyra being slut shamed is also, tragically, a regular and common theme in this fandom:

Are any more words nedeed?

What else is there left to say?

[genderoutlaws]

🍁 November Outlaw Streams 🍂

Instead of doing a full media rec list this time I’m just going to be streaming double features throughout the month! 💛 We are going to be doing these streams on Zoom. Since I had to pay a subscription fee to make this available to more people I wouldn’t *mind* if a few of ya tossed me a dollar if you attend (not at all required or expected tho!)

All double features will start at 8PM EST, with a pre-show starting about half an hour beforehand.

November 6th - Hitchcock Homos

We will be streaming Rope (1948) and Psycho (1960) - two Hitchcock films featuring queer (coded) villains

Rope is an adaption of a 1929 stage play written by Patrick Hamilton, better known for his work Gaslight, and based upon the real life killing of Bobby Franks by two students in 1924 — though I’ve found nothing about a known relationship between the actual killers. The play explicitly features both main characters as gay, while the film remains a bit more subtextual. The homosexuality is still strikingly present for a film of it’s time, perhaps due in part to the story and screenplay being developed by two gay men, Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, and Brandon being portrayed by gay actor John Dall in the film — perhaps due to it’s adherence to the Motion Picture Production Code, where queer themes remain tragic or villainous. I can’t go without saying how visually stunning this film is. Filmed to mimic the style of the original stage production, we are on one set for the entire duration, viewing the story in real time, with only four visible cuts in the entire runtime. It’s an absolute treat of gay-and-homophobic cinema. /// SUBTITLED

Psycho is the first of many films very loosely based on the crimes of real life grave-robber and killer Ed Gein, who was discovered to crossdress with the victims’ body parts. (Most films based on the events take extensive creative liberties.) While horror had been playing with queer themes for some time, Psycho launched a wave of Geinian gender transgression based horror films, indulging in public fears of transvestites and transsexual women as lurking manipulators and body snatchers in a long enduring conservative moral panic. This paired well with its depiction of dissociative behavior in the killer, capitalizing on transphobic and sanist stereotypes that entwined gender transgression and a fractured sense of self and/or reality. Just as complicated and problematic as Rope, and a classic cinematic delight all the same. /// SUBTITLED

November 13th - Leather Is Everything!

We will be streaming Cruising (1980) and Bloodsisters (1995) — fantasy and reality in the leather community

Cruising my contentious favorite! This film is about a kinky gay murderer picking off other kinky gay men, and an innocent heterosexual Al Pacino going undercover in the leather scene to solve the case. It’s camp. It’s cringe. It’s actually pretty decent. It was picketed by gay activists at the time, so extensively that the dialogue was largely dubbed over due to loud protesting drowning out the production’s audio. It also features gay people in the leather scene, many of them regulars of Mineshaft, who happily joined the cast as extras and background performers. But only the white, muscular ones allowed on screen. It’s a strange erotic fantasy in some ways and - perhaps accidentally - a surprisingly poignant reflection on gay life in others. /// SUBTITLED

Bloodsisters is a documentary surrounding the SM / Leather community in the San Francisco area during the 1990s. It features interviews with a variety of leatherdykes interspersed with footage of needleplay scenes, tit torture, fundraisers, leather titleholder contests, and impactplay demonstrations. It expounds on alternating sides of intra community debate, the reality of death and holding a life in your hands, isolation from the greater lesbian feminist community, roles, love, lust, fisting. And it is so fucking 90’s. /// NO SUBS :(

November 27th - #JustGirlyThings

We’ll be streaming Jawbreaker (1999) and Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) — two modern horror comedies with sapphic overtones

I haven’t seen either of these yet and honestly know very little! I’ve heard the girlies are gay and murderous though and that’s enough for me. /// SUBTITLED

I’m so excited to watch these with y’all :o)

UPDATE : I am sadly going to have to cancel the last stream this month bc I really need to pick up another shift n make me some more money 😭 Im sorry guys I promise we’ll stream jawbreaker and bodies bodies bodies some time in the future ! </3

[rewritingcanon]

Hi, I know I'm over a week late and all, but I couldn't leave it be cause this subject is really a sensitive matter to me for tragic personal reasons. I want to say that the reason you don't remember James ever "continuously asking Lily out; sexually harassing Lily; always asking her out and not taking no for an answer" is not because it's been a while since you read the books and forgot, no, it's simply because is DOESN'T HAPPEN IN THE BOOKS! PERIOD! It's not CANON and it boils my blood to no end when people make shit like this up and make such grave accusations when anyone owns the books and can check on their own that this did NOT happen in them! I dare anyone to bring forth any passage from the books that says any of that! The more they insist that this is canon, the angrier and more offended and hurt I get! I'm endlessly sorry about anyone's personal experience with such crimes (if I wasn't clear enough, I'm unfortunately familiar with them, too) but that does not change simple facts of what happened in the books, what IS and what is NOT canon and it's not an excuse to spread lies so insistently and passionately. Either this is willfully spreading lies or, and I will give benefit of the doubt, it's just people confusing canon with fanon after being in fandom and reading fanfics too much, in which case I would suggest rereading the books and brushing up with the canon knowledge, before spreading such harmful and hurtful rhetoric :/

hi, thank you for this ask and i’m sorry for what you’ve had to go through as well. yeah, i haven’t heard anyone contradict what i said in that post so i assume it was just something the fandom made up. i’m sure ace just confused fanon with canon— no victim would purposefully be spreading lies like that even if they did hate james because they would know how serious sexual abuse is having gone through it themselves. plus i’ve seen them complain about the same things with what some marauders fans say about snape, so i’m sure they didn’t do it on purpose and their intentions were good. but i won’t put it past other people in the hp fandom/snapedom to use it as a bandwagon to continue shitting on james without doing their due diligence and checking if something as serious as that is true or not.

i do agree that people need to be more focused on what is canon and what isn’t, especially with the harry potter fandom since its so large and very removed from a lot of its content, and especially if they are in the snapedom and the marauders fandom, because both fandoms seem to get the most carried away with their characters in my personal experience. i’ve seen people throw around creepy allegations at many characters and it really hurts and annoys me too, even if those characters are considered nasty. it’s one thing to say something like “[x] canonly likes porridge” (who cares in this instance) or “[x] is canonly gay” (annoying and probably ignorant but also whatever), and then say “[x] canonly sexually harrassed [y]” (….helllo??? cant speak for everyone but its definitely offensive to me lol). sometimes concentrated sub-fandoms may be a little like echo chambers so its good to brush up then and again on certain things. its good to interrogate people’s opinions and challenge them. you dont have to comment or reblog (i know i don’t…. usually 🧍‍♀️) but it can keep you from falling into repeating things that just confuse (or worse, hurt) people more.

[rosquinn]

Hi Roski! I have a question, would you mind to help, please?

Okay, so the other when I was wandering through the shelves of my local library I found our that they have a copy of Madeline's Miller Circe... And I was thinking that maybe I should give it a try? 😅

I know that it's not mythology accurate but as long as the plotline is well-written... Idk maybe I will enjoy in spite of it 🤷🏻‍♀️ Do you is it a good idea?

I just wanted to know if you believe is worth the time or nor

Also, same goes for Achilles's song. They don't have it at the library, but I thought that if I enjoyed Circe I should try it to? 🤔

girl.... i used to be a huge madelline miller fan *vaguely gestures at her short story about galatea i still have in my bookshelf for some reason* but i realized she kind of. sucks.

it's not about her writing, (it's excessively "poetic" and decorated in my opinion but that's subjective) it's that her interpretations are kind of bad?

i'm gonna elaborate under the cut about why i don't like her (long rant and tw for *mentions of s/a*)

-she victimizes her female main character and makes her go through traumatic experiences to erase and excuse all the bad stuff she's done... "circe turned odysseus' men into pigs bc they tried to assault her" yeah. no. she forced odysseus to sleep with her and turned his men into pigs because she felt like it. i understand you want a feminist badass witch but just. no. she isn't a cute uwu unfairly exiled goddess. what she did to odysseus is sexual abuse.

-she apparently hates women that aren't circe. made thetis, i repeat, our thetis, MOTHER thetis, a homophobic and overprotective mom who wants to kill patroclus in SOA for some reason (wasn't she literally the one who sent patroclus to the war with achilles..... miller..aren't you a classics major..). she did to her what other adaptations do to demeter, basically. and for no reason at all. but i guess her cute baby achilles who is doomed by the narrative can't have a nice mom who let him do whatever he wanted to because that would make him RUDE and EVIL and her character(s) can't have bad qualities. she also made achilles's wife, deidameia, who in some versions is raped by him, a “slut that gets in the way of your gay ship” archetype. she also made her rape achilles for some reason??? and that is fucking horrible

-baby-fied patroclus. he speaks like a stupid teenager girl stereotype in soa and is pretty much a useless human being whose entire personality is simping for achilles. that is not him. he DID fight in the trojan war, he was a SKILLED fighter, not a useless twig, he is described as tall and handsome, he healed some warriors, he is SAVAGE, bro literally broke kebriones's head with a rock in front of his brother and made fun of it??? he tried to climb the walls of troy and conquer it by himself??? he told achilles to stop being a bitch and move his ass??? and then in soa he's a useless piece of shit who DIDN'T EVEN FIGHT IN THE WAR, thinks of himself as weak and was thinking about achilles until the moment he died. sorry to break it to you but his last words in the iliad weren't "omg achilles no😥😥". he threw a whole essay at hector about how he didn't kill shit, it was apollo who beat him and hector's about to get dragged. and when his ghost came back to talk to achilles, it was to tell him to STOP CRYING and KILLING PEOPLE and BURN HIS BODY ALREADY. she completely erased his character. sorry.

-glorified achilles wayyy too much. one thing that i hate about her is how she can't let anyone make mistakes. girl, achilles isn't “noble and doomed by the narrative”. he knew pretty well where he was stepping in and didn't give two shits. he literally says in Iliad book 1 he's there for the mass murder, glory and nothing more. “why would i kill hector what has hector ever done to me” MY ASS. he also was kind of an insufferable bitch in the iliad. i'm tired of people making his decision of stop fighting look “heroic/noble/tragic/etc bc agamemnon is evil” because it was not. he stopped fighting for selfish reasons, treated everyone really bad and let his friends die. also, agamemnon isn't “evil” and achilles isn't “good”. they're both war criminals who act like 8 year olds and kidnap women. every achaean character is a bitch, has killed at least 6 people and enjoyed it. yes. even babyboy patroclus (book 16)

-i'm not even saying this as a person with greek ancestry or a pagan, because i am neither, but her depiction of the gods is TERRIBLE. just what is that whole thing of "gods want mortals to fear them so they worship them"??? that's not even how religion works??? gods can be and in fact are very nice to their worshippers?? why would you villainize cultural figures like that?? and why tf it always gotta be a EVIL FEMALE GODDESS trying to fuck up her main character's life for some reason?? athena wants to kill circe's son in circe and i'm pretty sure they don't even interact in the odyssey?? (maybe they did, i don't remember, but if it happened it was definitely NOT because of that) and why is hermes a manipulator?? and why is ODYSSEUS a manipulator??? girl you literally sexually assaulted him??? HELLO????

idk, it just feels like mc victimization and random female character villainization (she also put the whole blame of the trojan war on helen because she was “vain” and “selfish”??? didn't she spend the whole iliad blaming herself for the war and wishing to die??)

i don't really like it. it's not a good adaptation

also i'm not the best person to expand on this topic because i am not a gay man/mlm/nblm but some people on tumblr have explained why tsoa is basically mlm fetish and wattpad fujoshi looking crap and they do have a point (the relationship is so stereotyped tbh) so i encourage you to read their posts. i don't have them rn but i can dm them to you later if you want

AND finally, most people in her fanbase can't separate a wattpad fanfic (because that's what tsoa is) from the original text and think tsoa and circe are just like what homer wrote. “hector didn't know it was patroclus” HE FUCKING DID PATROCLUS KILLED 20 PEOPLE IN FRONT OF HIM IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE “patroclus died bc he wasn't a skilled warrior” HE HAS THE SECOND HIGHEST KILL COUNT IN THE WHOLE ILIAD AND WAS FULL OF HUBRIS. HE DIED BECAUSE HE TRIED TO FISTFIGHT A GOD “deidameia raped achilles” “thetis is homophobic” “odysseus is evil” “it was all helen's fault” “circe did nothing wrong” “athena is bad” no (and they act like not shipping patrochilles makes you homophobic which is. cmon. i personally think they def had something going on but it's never explicitly stated and you can't act like it is)

ik i got too aggressive but it's just bad imo, if you want to enjoy a good iliad/odyssey adaptation go play hades or listen to epic the musical or even play limbus company because i swear lc's odysseus, a literal old woman who committed identity fraud, is at least 80 times more in character than miller's babyboys

ADDITION: no i'm not going to dismember you for liking tsoa or circe. this is just a personal opinion. enjoy whatever you want i'm just a little guy and i can't stop you. have fun!

[prince-simon]

AIGHT I thought DBD was gonna be a fun lil show. You have: two dead boys with AMAZING chemistry (I LOVE their different accents/slangs/outfits to reflect the times they're from), two living girls with AMAZING chemistry (deadass thought Crystal saw the lights around Niko because maybe she liked herrrrr and the lights were psychic related instead of LITERAL SPRITE INFESTATION), two wildly horny demons who I believe need to get it on and leave Crystal and Edwin alone please and thank you (David and the Cat King), TALKING CATS, a witch cosplaying as Cruella de Ville (I thought she was MURDERING her poor bird Monty!!!!), the cutest adorable most precious little astrology nerd I've EVER SEEN (the aforementioned Monty who wasn't a victim of animal abuse after all), a cursed walrus (still salty Edwin interrupted Tragic Mike's story of how he was cursed, I was INVESTED) OH AND A SUPERHOT BUTCHER LADY!!

ANYWAY this show was supposed to be fun. I watch Supernatural and yeah there were scary episodes but I can't think of anything as traumatic as the Devlin House episode! 😭 Just... watching the dad murder his poor family over and over was awful, seeing how affected Charles was broke my heart, the dad having a secret room to spy on his family was creepy and disturbing and OH MY FUCKING GOD?!?! THAT MISERY WRAITH?!?! I ALMOST THREW UP!! I NEARLY DIED!!! ABSOLUTELY AWFUL TERRIFYING 0/10 WOULD NOT RECOMMEND I NEVER WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!!!!!

I can't wait to watch more DBD tonight!

PS sorry for the essay

okay okay first of all. i'm so excited about this ask. don't apologise haha i've got things to say!!! (i hopeee i'm not spoilering you for anything with this longgg reply lol)

the chemistry between all of them is soooo insane i'm so happy about it!! and yeah lol i think the entire fandom thought it was gay lights for crystal and niko lmao (and you know what? just bc it was parasitic lights who's to say it's not ALSO gay!! sksk i was spoilered about this particular thing before i watched the show and when i saw that scene i STILL thought it was gay lol

sksk thank you for clarifying that by demons you mean david and the cat king bc i was like ??? david and edwin's demon??? interesting take but sure. let's go with it slfjsldfj but yeah calling the cat king a demon works too lmaooo i just love how pathetic the cat king is kssksk

the talking cats are sooo iconic hahaha

omg i totally thought esther was killing monty too. when i first watched it i did a bit of a live reaction with friends and i literally was like noooo not monty!!! he doesn't deserve it!!! i was FLOORED when he turned human skjdflsj in general esther is such a good villain. like i fucking hate her so so so much but man. i LOVE to hate her she just steals every scene she's in ("ouch my ghost skin" lives rent free in my head tbh)

SUPERHOT BUTCHER LADY yesss i love jenny so much. her "oh my fuck" cracks me up every time. fun fact before i watched the show and only saw stuff on tumblr i thought she was gonna be the bad guy sksksk

the show is so camp one second and then soooo devastating the next!!! the devlin house absolutely broke me!! fun fact- or actually not fun at all, idk if you noticed but when the camera is on charles when they're watching the murder happen, you can hear him begging his father to stop hurting him in the background. also another not so fun fact i was listening to jayden revri's charles playlist and the song that's playing in that episode is on there and when it came on i literally had to skip it after a couple seconds bc it triggered me sooo much lmfao but yeah omg don't get me started on the misery wraith!!! the first time i watched it, i was binging and i'd started pretty late already so when i got to that episode it was already dark and i was supposed to go to bed soon and i literally had to cover my screen bc i usually can't do horror at all!! so i was like nopenopenope this isn't happening nope

enjoy the rest of your watch and you're always welcome in my inbox for more yelling!!

[cosmicjoke]

Alright, chapter 54 of Saezuru.

Some really interesting developments this chapter, I think.

The first thing I want to talk about is the bar maid, who we finally get a name for, Izumi. What struck me this chapter was the parallel that seems to be drawn between her and Yashiro. We see her protesting Kamiya beating up the guy who stole the money from the bar, and see that she's being made very uncomfortable by the display of violence. She later asks Kamiya to forgive him. What I noticed here was what Kamiya says to her then, about this life not "suiting her" and telling her she's "too kind". That's exactly what Ryuuzaki said about Yashiro once. The life of a Yakuza, a violent life, doesn't suit either Izumi, or Yashiro. Yashiro is ALSO too kind. He can't ever bring himself to be ruthless the way one really needs to be to make it in that world. There's countless examples of this throughout the story, of Yashiro not being able to just turn his back on others, not being able to abandon anyone, always helping others, even at his own expense, etc... I've talked before about Yashiro's feminine qualities, and why I think he's fearful of admitting to Doumeki that he wants to be treated gently, because it recalls for him what his step-father used to say to him about really "being a woman". If Yashiro admits that he doesn't like to be treated roughly, or violently, if he admits he doesn't like being abused, it's like admitting his step-father was right about him. When you really think about Yashiro's coping mechanism, this persona he's built for himself of being a masochist, and you put it into context with what his step-father used to tell him about himself, it makes all the more sense why Yashiro clung to that persona for so long. It was an attempt to free himself from the idea of being a victim, but also an attempt to prove his step-father wrong. We later see Inami calling Yashiro a "masochist freak", too. I feel like Yoneda is drawing a deliberate parallel here between Yashiro and Izumi. Kamiya confronts her about being Doumeki's girlfriend, and we know Yashiro is also under the impression that Doumeki is with her romantically, and that he's secretly been longing for Doumeki to treat him with the same gentility and kindness that he's observed him treating her with. I think Yoneda is kind of suggesting here again that Yashiro is very much like a woman in his sensibilities, in his temperament, in his desires.

That's not to say Yashiro is transgender. I don't think that. He wasn't meant to be a woman, like his step-father told him, and he doesn't feel like he's in the wrong body. But what he does share in common with a woman, like Izumi, is that he doesn't belong or fit into a world of violence and this sort of toxic, masculine behavior that's so prevalent in and among the yakuza. There's a reason everyone in that world has always treated Yashiro the way they do. They view him I think, in some ways, like he's a woman. That might be why they don't consider it "gay" when they use him for sex. Because they've designated him almost like he's some sort of female object to be used and abused in whichever ways they like. Ryuuzaki even asked Yashiro, famously, if he ever wished he was a woman, and Yashiro told him no, but then said he thinks it would be easier if he was, because it wouldn't be so difficult for him to have sex with men. Yashiro is gay, but he wants to have a relationship with another man that, generally, he believes, would more resemble a man's relationship with a woman. He once thought about knowing the pain of a man loving another man. That pain being one he was, tragically, intimately familiar with at that point. Yashiro associates brutality and rape with gay relationships, because that's all he's ever really known. Yashiro is a gay man with feminine sensibilities, but even those who recognized that, like Ryuuzki, wished he were a woman, so he could "protect" him. This is the kind of message Yashiro's been getting his whole life. He's a man, so he gets abused by other men, and he could only get what he really wants, that is, to be treated gently, if he were a woman. But being a woman would mean his step-father was right about him. So he finds himself in sort of this no-mans land, where he he isn't really a man or a woman. Again, instead, he ends up feeling like he's some sort of deformed monster or alien that doesn't fit anywhere. The truly heartbreaking thing about all of that, of course, is that it continues to perpetuate and reinforce for Yashiro exactly the sorts of things his step-father used to say to him, and what his step-father made him believe about himself. That there's something wrong with him. I feel like all of this is going to come to a head at some point. With Doumeki becoming more and more firmly entrenched in the world of the yakuza, and us as an audience being given more and more clues about Yashiro's own lack of compatibility with that same world, eventually something's going to have to give. I truly believe that Yashiro can't remain a yakuza, or even connected to the yakuza, and ever really find happiness, or contentment. Living in that world, in that environment, surrounded by those kinds of people, makes it impossible for Yashiro to ever, truly be himself, or to discover who he really even is.

Anyway, about Inami. I think he showed that video to Doumeki just to sow discord between him and Yashiro. Inami is a genuine sadist. He's someone who just wants to and enjoys hurting people. He's trying to upset Doumeki by showing him the video of him raping Yashiro, and then expressing how much fun he gets out of doing it. He tells Doumeki that Yashiro is impotent and that doing it with him equates, essentially, to rape, which he says is "too good" to just call "killing time". He's saying that he enjoys raping Yashiro to the point that it's an activity he wants to seek out and continue with. And then he suggests to Doumeki that Yashiro is having sex with both of them as a means of hurting himself. He calls Yashiro a "masochist freak" and tells Doumeki that he comes to him after having sex with Doumeki because he isn't satisfied with just one man raping him. In Inami's sick and twisted mind, he thinks this is what Yashiro wants. He's projecting his own perversions onto Yashiro. What's interesting here is what Doumeki will do with this information. Because Inami doesn't know that Yashiro isn't impotent when he's with Doumeki, but he's just revealed to him that Yashiro seeks him out as a means of punishing, or hurting, himself, or so he believes. He tells Doumeki to make sure Yashiro is "good and satisfied" next time, since "that isn't working anymore". I think what Inami means here is that he thinks Yashiro is becoming more extreme in his masochism, needing MORE punishment to get it up, but it's really the opposite. And I think maybe Doumeki is going to realize what Inami doesn't. Maybe Doumeki will put two and two together and realize that Yashiro's impotence is a result of him no longer enjoying that kind of rough treatment, and maybe from there, he'll start to realize what it is Yashiro really wants.

Just to end this on, I loved how Yashiro was on to that waiter watching them. Can't fool this dude for anything, haha. His entire interaction with Nanahara was great this chapter. They really do just come across as friends. Yashiro laughing at Nanahra's suit getting messed up, seeming to abandon him to fight those thugs by himself, but coming back for him and then helping to get him patched up afterward. But they always have each others backs, in their own ways.

[yanderelmk]

Someone Gets It (Rant)

I will scream from the rooftops for decades about how the LMK Fandom has treated Chinese mythology like it's fucking Marvel fans thinking Marvel is 100% accurate to genuine mythology. Both Marvel fans and LMK fans have come to blows with actual religious practitioners and I have absolutely no patience for it. Gloves? Off. Hands? Caught. I might not be an expert but even I can tell you that the LMK fandom (especially on Twitter...) can be absolutely v i l e when it comes to Buddhists trying to give corrections to the fans who genuinely want to know more. I always love when people ask me questions about LMK events and their correlation to JTTW! However some LMK fans act like you're trying to torture them when you bring things up like: "Well Macaque and Wukong weren't friends...Macaque kinda showed up out of nowhere and tried to kill the disciples...as well as try to take their place so he could steal Buddhahood. They weren't boyfriends or tragic lovers nor did Wukong do anything wrong so it's actually super weird for LMK to try to force an MLM relationship between these two and trying to spin it to Wukong being "the one in the wrong" in some sort of sick, twisted victim blaming." Then the Macaque fans/simps lose their fucking shit because they want a bad boy character but not a character that's actually done bad things so they can fetishize him and the gay relationship he's in. And yes this is me directly talking to the ShadowPeach community (if this doesn't apply to you, obviously disregard what I'm gonna say) ShadowPeach fans have to be the peak toxics of this fandom. You guys will absolutely maul someone who doesn't like the ship, and you guys will break your backs the hardest to do mental gymnastics to insist to everyone that LMK is accurate and ShadowPeach happened in JTTW, even going so far as to say that the Tang Priest is abusive and forced Wukong to kill Macaque (I have seen this take). You can like LMK and JTTW (I do, after all!) but you need. NEED to recognize that the show is extremely inaccurate and its fans extremely disrespectful. Ask questions!! Do research! AND STOP TRYING TO ARGUE THAT YOU CAN FUCK A MINOR

[callmegaith]

Hey! I'm just wondering where you got the idea to start shipping Dale and David? (Cool art btw!) As far as I know they've met thru Birthday but are they related in any other way?

Oh boy. Okay. This is gonna be all over the place.

So birthday, you get the letter from David saying he's sorry and all that. Yeah. Dale and David are connected, we just don't know how yet. Something important to David was for whatever reason in Dale's home.

But really the appeal just comes from what if scenarios. Both Dale and David are victims of their circumstances. David made Dale the person he is. He set him on the path of the lake, doom pretty much. And seeing he was remorseful for that in his letter, I like to imagine a world where David is doing his best to undo the damage he's done....

And so Down the Rabbit Hole is born. (If you haven't read it, I feel like it explores my idea for their dynamic better than my rambly post can. It's a comic series I'm working on exploring Dale and David's relationship during David's own paradox journey)

To me they are like two people chasing each other for opposite reasons. David just wants forgiveness so he can let go of the guilt of what he has done to Dale, and Dale wants peace of mind and an end to the trauma that the events of that day caused him... Or revenge even.

The potential of those two just... Meeting again, talking, and David finally having the chance to clear everything up to Dale can make for something so beautifully tragic. There's a story to be told here, not necessarily romantic. But a good tragic story about healing and moving on which is what I want for both of them more than anything. David has turned his back on the Lake. He has betrayed his gods and ran away unlike the rest of the souls at the bottom of the lake, and Jakob wanted to hunt him down and kill him for that. He's been up to something we don't know since then and that eventually led him to Dale. And I just imagine a world where the two of them become the characters that break the cycle of the Lake.

It's the star crossed trope really. With all the jumping around and changing pasts and futures in this game, the idea of them being doomed in every loop, every universe, every recreation. It's appealing to me. Just two people who are broken, running circles around one another but never being able to reach out to finally break the loop. And so they're stuck, never being able to move on while desperately wanting to. And there's just something so MWAH, chef kiss, about the tragedy of them.

So TLDR??? Makebelieve and doomed yaoi :)

It's really hard to explain and I do it better with art than words. I'm not very good with explaining things so I'm sorry if this made 0 sense. But hope it answered your question well enough or that at least Down the Rabbit Hole gave you a better idea than this xD (tho Down the Rabbit Hole is not a ship comic, it just shows the dynamic and idea I have for them)

Generally, the ideas I have for them aren't specifically romantic. I just like dudes kissing :)

(which I never even drew them doing except for a meme)

So yeah, gay, not gay, I just want the two of them to meet again and reconcile.

[starfiretruther]

i feel like ever since comics left the silver age there has been this bizarre nearly fetishistic desire to associate robins with this stripping of innocence that has to do with you fundamentally still seeing them as the child robin figure for it to be shocking. like killing robins, having them be in these toxic relationships, showing them being sexualized (often by notably older chars) is all part of this really uncomfortable still ongoing trend. and i’m not saying that as robins grow up they can’t experience sex and sexual exploration or dark themes, i actually think ntt’s take on this was really honoring of dick and explored what it would be like to grow up under the robin mantle and also what it would take to come into one’s own identity afterwards, but usually this trend makes me really uncomfortable, like how dick has been written to be sexually assaulted multiple times (ive never seen it done tactfully), or how more than one adaptation has harley make a comment about how much dick has grown up (ew), or how they wanted to kill tim drake with aids in the 90s (they instead went with extrano). i guess while there is nothing technically wrong with making an adult male character a little sexy, the modern obsession with dick’s ass feels like an extension of this to me still. like dc and it’s fans don’t know how to be normal about robins. idk if that makes sense or maybe i project too much but i just really wish there was more skill and intention with writing robins and less schlock and awe

hm while i don’t disagree i feel like the general ‘stripping of innocence’ happened to most child or at least happy go lucky characters (e.g. bucky barnes), not just robin. Robin stands out cuz they’ve been the most recognisable child/sidekick hero in media. Comics in general took a turn to darker (less fun) “serious” stories in the 80s. Robin in particular has been a target for hate since the 60s because fans thought he made batman campy and gay (there was the whole seduction of the innocent thing where they said batman and robin were coded queer messaging trying to indoctrinate the children). I think rather than Dick, Jason got hit with the most ire of the editorial and fans and when stories kept getting darker and darker, he became an unfortunate victim. Dick (at least in this time period) had a lot of dignity, getting a well-thought out coming of age narrative through nightwing and being firmly cemented as a respectable, reliable adult hero (thanks to the titans and his romance with kory). While comics always had a touch of fanservice, his sexualization really started around the late 90s and had a resurgence during the n52-rebirth era. I think any of his prior sexualization was standard male fantasy stuff (this guy gets all the ladies type thing). I think in Tim’s case they weren’t going for a “let’s destroy his innocence “ thing and more of a way to both modernise him for a contemporary (90s) audience and also distance him far away from the gay allegations (how ironic lol). They still wanted the kid watson to Batman’s brooding sherlock but also just more “normal” so the kids relate. Which is why they made him a cheater etc and i know how tf is that better but they really didn’t want him to be gay fhdjfj. I don’t know much abt the aids story pitch though. Steph and Damian are also better examples of “stripping the innocence” storylines for Robin than Dick and Tim. Steph also had a tragic death, and Damian’s first introduction is as a child assassin (antithesis to innocence). I agree that it’s weird people are so weird abt robins (and child characters in general) but imo it reflects more on an audience’s (and editorial’s) insecurity regarding childish, campy things because why are you mad at the camp medium for being camp? Learn to have some fun LEWSER.

I feel like most dick grayson fans feel so strongly abt this is because they like his prudish and insecure ntt characterisation (and so do i tbh it’s very interesting) and also the multiple SA storylines that a) never got resolved or b) were handled poorly. BUT that dick grayson hasn’t been in comics for a while now. We haven’t seen any acknowledgment from dc’s editorial that dick is a rape survivor, he’s been consistently characterized as a confident metrosexual (eww hate that word) guy both in his civilian and superhero persona (and that agent 37 grayson thing is the biggest culprit here). He’s also retroactively being portrayed as a smooth talking flirt in his robin days now so clearly that’s what they’re going for (imo i think they’re doing what they did with tim to dick's robin just to make him look more “normal” and relatable and straight).

Dick’s robin era is still treated as peak batman&robin era and he’s still a symbol for innocent, “simpler” times. He’s gotten the most grace when transitioning from child to teen to adult hero. On the topic of his sexualization aka the butt issue, it’s only cuz he’s one of the most popular male hero they can sexualize. I genuinely don’t think there’s any malice from the editorial since Dick has been an adult for 40 years now and there’s nothing wrong with sexing up his stories BUT ALSO i get why fans are upset cuz they’re deliberately ignoring his past characterization and sexual history to make him into a more palatable, marketable character. And tbh it’s been going on for long enough that it might as well be his defining character trait now :/ .

[dwellordream]

thoughts on TLOU Episode 3

they definitely made Ellie a lot more assertive at the head of this episode in terms of telling Joel she won’t let him blame her for Tess’ death. i recall her being much more hesitant to bring the topic up in the game. 

it does make Joel come off as a lot less prickly, since he doesn’t immediately bite her head off about mentioning it, but i think the show has an interest of softening him up a bit in general (and part of that is just Pedro Pascal’s charisma).

anyone who’s ever been to the state of Massachusetts knows that the scenery in this episode is.... not New England at all lmao there are not mountainous woodlands that look anything like that 10 miles west of Boston. 

the writers set it up to make us think Ellie might be attacked and helpless while exploring under the store, only to have to coldly exterminate the trapped Infected there. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be her expressing her rage and survivor’s guilt, or just a general disgust for what the fungus does to its victims, given her recent history with Riley and Tess both succumbing to what she survived.

Joel and Ellie are definitely much, much more chatty with one another right off the bat, but the show also has a lot more air time to fill that can’t be eaten up with fight scenes and exploration. Ellie and Joel barely speaking to each other for an entire episode, while realistic to their situation, wouldn’t be a great use of screen time. 

the show has obviously massively changed and elaborated on the Bill/Frank situation. We never meet Frank alive in the game, or hear about how he and Bill met, and Bill himself is presented as a miserable, pitiful man whose sexuality is sort of played for laughs - the idea that a grizzled, hardcore survivalist is also a gay man whose sole relationship ends tragically and who is mostly remembered in the fandom for a joke about porn mags.

I think overall this episode was a massive improvement on that, to say the least. It massively humanizes both men and their relationship, and is also clearly a spit in the face to the idea that the only valid LGBTQ stories revolve around teens and 20-somethings. Bill and Frank’s love story is about building a happy life together in the midst of horrific tragedy. That they eventually succumbed to age and illness doesn’t matter; they had many years of peace and happiness together in the meantime.

[kendrixtermina]

Gaza is NOT totalitarian

One thing you always hear from Zionists or even unaffiliated random westerners who know little about the conflict as a reason why the war is, if not completely justified, then at least tragically unavoidable, is that Gaza is a totalitarian regime & they’re either all indoctrinated to hate Israelis, or get portrayed as passive victims with no agency that need to be „liberated“

But over the last weeks we have seen a lot of scenes of life out of gaza and i have also read many books & watched documentaries to further educate myself and there is just no trace of that anywhere.

No big posters of leaders in classroom, no symbols & logos everywhere, no political phrases in people’s everyday speech, many of the people in videos seem totally a-political & lament that their family had nothing to do with the resistance or the war. They spend more time talking about friggin olive trees and embroidery than politics.

You could glean a bunch about their culture from the videos – extended families live together in big shared houses, they are very affectionate with children, they value community, the sport they tend to be obsessed about is Football…

Saudi arabia, for example, bans booze, art, music & forces everyone to wear burqas – that’s just not the case in Palestine. There are woman doctors & journalists, a wealth of poets & painters. You can buy booze grown in the west bank. You see the occasional lady without hijab, like Bisan often has her hair out, which tells me the ones that DO wear it do so because they want to, which is their good right. There were several Christian churches apparently operating just fine inside Gaza, until Israel bombed them.

I heard that 4th way esoterism was influenced by Sufism which is an off-shoot of Islam, & seeing the religious mantras people cited I could see the relationship - they said stuff like they should trust in God's destiny, that God alone is enough for them etc. it has that same "accept what is & surrender to the universe, real strength comes from contact with divinity & then you need nothing else" vibe - though of course the esoterists believe less in a personal god & more in a panentheist "Unity Of Being". Ppl used to make a lot of bogeyman talk out of Islam meaning "submission" but now I think it's probably meant in a "surrender to the universe & accept what is" kinda way & that ppl ended up projecting the authoritarian character of Christianity onto it. Islam is alot more de-central & everyone does their own thing, innit? I remember that when Muslims hit a certain percentage in Germany they thought of introducing Islam classes to school (in addition to the Catholic & Lutheran classes they have - atheists & ppl of other religions get "ethics" instead which is basically moral philosophy) but one problem they ran into is that there's no central authority to get a course plan from. There is no such thing as a muslim pope. There are extremists who ARE authoritarian, like Saudi arabia (as there are of all religions; They're all the same, rly, it's probably down to some flaw in human brains) but that doesn't mean everyone's like that. You might pt down the authoritarianism there to Saudi Arabia being an absolutist monarchy...

(Of course, a lot of less educated westerners don’t know that the kind of extremism seen in the Saudis & Taliban is actually a fairly recent movement that was able to take over due to the ME being destabilized in the cold war… the area was once stable, organized & well-educated.)

Some of the people covering the war like Bisan, Plestia, Saleh etc. were normal instagrammers before, doing normal instagram things, not a hint of politics to be found.

I also recall this post by a gay ude saying that yeah it’s not super welcoming but there’s not really systematic persecution – your family might kick you out or quietly tolerate it while wanting nothing to do with it… so just like the more religious parts of the USA basically.

Also, I’d like to note that even if gaza WERE totalitarian, people in totalitarian countries don’t cease to be human and their lives don’t become worthless. Not everyone is a True Believer, most are just scared out of their mind. You need to read „Jugend Ohne Gott“, you need to watch „Das Boot“, you need to listen to stories of people who escaped from North Korea. Maybe if it’s easier to epathize with a fictional depiction, read 1984 or The Handmaid’s tale.

So, I consider myself German because that’s where I grew up & the only culture I have any emotional attachment to, but my parents are Cuban. Cuba is a fairly „soft“ totalitarian state in that dissenters are „only“ beaten & their job prospects ruined, not outright killed like in North Korea or under the Nazis, but even so, my grandma still rips up all papers before throwing them away because spies would go through people’s trash, and my parents needed to be told several times by friends that it’s OK to criticize politicians in public before they would feel comfortable riffing on then.chancellor Kohl.

Note, however, that people DID mock the Castros in private, among trusted family members. There are tons of jokes mocking them. Heck, even mocked Hitler behind closed doors – they used to call them Flüsterwitze („whisper jokes“) because if you say them out loud they shoot you. Just to illustrate how people trapped in totalitarian states are human.

Even in the early 2000s when I was still pretty young, I didn’t buy that it’s OK to kill Iraqis just because there is a Dictator. The citizens are victims, and unlike the leadership they are poor & can’t flee. What if someone invaded Cuba and killed all my cousins just to punish the bad guy opressing them? That din’t seem fair. They said I’d understand when I’m older but all I understood is what utter bullshit that war was.

We’ve heard so many Palestinians talking about their plight and there is hardly anyone speaking of repression or totalitarianism, including peole who left the country. (In stark contrast to Cubans, North Koreans or people who fled the Nazis, who don’t shut up about how much it sucked) There is not zero repression (like an incident where Hamas got Fatah-affiliated workers fired), but the same can be said of Israel or even the west – McCarthyism or the current withhunt against pro-palestine ppl.

Meanwhile we have that creepy song of Israeli children calling for murder, and many videos by Israelis saying they were indoctrinated. One person mentioned being outright told that arabs were their „enemy“, while two arab boys were sitting in her class. I also hear that many Israelis go most of their lives without even interacting with a Palestinian outside of military service.

So, yeah, I think it’s pretty clear who the indoctrinated ones are.