#and those words have power regardless of the context and I believe it is an ethos he believes in

[statementlou]

my post yesterday about why I don't really care if Louis Tomlinson supports starbucks shocked me by actually circulating and getting notes and obviously I like validation and appreciation.... but I feel kind of weird about my big contribution to the topic being something that might come off as discouraging attempts to help Palestine. Feeling powerless in the face of such injustice is horrible and scary and traumatizing and while there are certain things that I do not think make much difference (like boycotting irrelevant targets), that's NOT how I feel about the situation in general! We CAN make a difference and help the Palestinian people! It can feel impossible to fight against all that power and propaganda and military might- but it has been done successfully over and over, colonialism has been destroyed in one place after another a hundred times in the last century, apartheid regimes have fallen, occupations have ended, because over and over, always, even all the military might in the literal world is less powerful than a united front of the PEOPLE. As Ursula K LeGuin said, "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings", and as Louis Tomlinson said "The power and magic comes from the people, you guys. Don't undermine your role in all of this" and "get off the 'gram and into the streets"!

Under the cut are things you can do that I believe actually directly impact the Palestinian people and the Israeli government, including some easy ones, and the key to a successful movement is to have every type of contribution, to have NUMBERS. However- it is also necessary to have people willing to do the actual work of fighting injustice, not just changing their consumer habits or yelling at people online. I strongly encourage people to explore becoming physically involved in activist work, and not to see it as yet another tiring obligation but rather as a way to help yourself feel less overwhelmed and exhausted. Feeling powerless and defenseless is a trauma that follows us into every corner of our lives, but standing up and working for change can not only save lives, but is good for your own mental health as well, I promise.

I can't make you an exhaustive list of resources, only tell you some tactics that I believe are actually useful. I'm not an expert or whatever, but I have been actively involved in social justice advocacy, activism, and direct action for over 20 years and am drawing on that history of both things that worked and were great and things that were not from my personal experiences. Thank you to @captainrayzizuniverse for helping me (but she didn't see the post any stupid things said by mistake are entirely on me), and especially for pointing out a big (typical white person) slip up, which was to almost forget the very first item on this list: Listen to, support, and amplify Palestinian voices!!! The whole starbucks issue wouldn't even exist if people just went by this single important guideline and did the things Palestinians were asking for rather than making up other things to do instead. In life altogether, and speaking as a disabled person god does this come up a lot: if you want to help someone, start by asking them what they need and then do that even if it isn't what you think they should want. Don't fucking wing it!! Join local groups organizing for Palestine: the people united are powerful, but only if they are united and working in large groups! Join a group! This is hard because... how? who? And I can't answer that for everyone but I can tell you that in the US JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace) is doing a huge amount of very accessible recruiting, you can just join (you don't need to be Jewish) and get involved straightaway in the great actions they're putting on. PYM (Palestinian Youth Movement) is not open to everyone to join but you should definitely follow them on SM to keep up on actions and maybe find ways to support. If you're a student I bet there is some kind of group at your school?

Go to protests: protest works, period. The general politician rule of thumb is that anyone who bothers to actually go out and march represents 10-100 voters. When they look at the numbers (like- '500-1000 people protested the most recent bill you signed') they do this math and they worry. But also honestly if it's something you can manage- it's good for you. It helps. Even if you just go alone and don't talk to anyone, being in a crowd of hundreds of people feeling the same things you are, caring as much as you do, it helps. If you can, yell along to the chants as loud as you can. Get fired up and use that energy to keep going and not despair!

Call and write officials: if you live in the US or UK this is HUGE. What I said above about how they count people at protests as standing for more people who didn't bother but agree? Same with phone calls for sure, it REALLY pressures them. Many orgs make this really easy- I get emails all the time with links to send a letter in a single click or click to call and all you have to do is read the script, get on some lists I guess? But many sites also have this feature, JVP does for example

Support BDS: the Palestinian led BDS have been doing the work of isolating and chipping away at Israel for 19 years and like I said, the actions of the masses only work if we are united behind a few strategic targets rather than all over the place; they have made this possible. It's good to avoid buying from the companies they target; even better to work on the big divestment campaigns. For example, student groups pressuring the big universities to divest from BDS targets echo the successful University divestment efforts that helped end apartheid in South Africa.

Send money: money helps, immediately and concretely, and again if we are many, each person doesn't have to do a lot. Do what you can spare, it all adds up. This has been painful with Gaza for sure, with millions donating but aid being blocked. I don't have The Answer but here's a group I found that actually seems to be getting aid in, and here's a spread sheet of gofundmes- note that people who have foreign passports do not have to pay the horrible border crossing fees, so you may wish to focus on funding those who don't have that privilege. this could maybe be better and there was some other stuff I wanted to say about doing activism to tie up the "activism as self care" thing from above and also bringing it back around to talk about Louis more but I'm tired and I'm hungry right now and this is a lot already. So. Bye lol sorry. send me asks if any of that is something you care about or want to hear

[olderthannetfic]

With all this talk about AI, the one perspective that appears missing from the discussion is that of someone who actually uses AI writing tools in production of their fanfic. So here I am, stepping in to provide my (anonymous) two cents.

I've been using a generative AI program especially made for creative writers for several months now. Initially, I had a lot of the same reservations I'm hearing form others, but I was curious about the tech and wanted to try it for myself. I quickly discovered that it's insanely useful, and I truly believe it has improved my writing. 

I also believe these tools will become commonplace among creative writers in the near future. In fact, I've heard that generative AI is coming to a writing software near you (MS Word to be exact), and I suspect that that once more people have actually tried it, use of AI will begin to seem no more remarkable than the use of spelling or grammar checkers does now. 

In the meantime, as you can see, I am staying anon, and there is absolutely no way I would tag my fanfic as AI assisted given the current environment. People are very quick to make assumptions about what a statement like that means, and are all too hasty in reaching for their pitchforks.

As far as I can tell, the main concern seems to be that Ao3 will be flooded with 'bad' fanfic as a result of AI use. But 'bad' fanfic has been a thing for as long as I've been in fandom (decades, at this point), and in my experience, human beings are perfectly capable of writing poorly without any help from machines. Readers are, as always, advised to curate their own reading experience. The 'back' button works the same as it always did, and someone's possible use of AI changes nothing about that. 

But the general assumption that AI input automatically leads to 'bad' writing seems rather short-sighted. Yes, obviously if someone were to go to ChatGPT and tell it to write them a fanfic in 'x' fandon about 'x' pairing, the output would be bland, generic and probably a bit rambling. AIs are not great storytellers; they can't maintain narrative logic. 

If this hypothetical person then copy-pasted the unedited output directly onto Ao3 and called it a story, the result would most likely qualify as 'bad' fanfic. Whether it would be worse than a story the same person might have written on their own is debatable. Our hypothetical protagonist obviously decided that the output was good enough as it was, and chose to post it without bothering to edit, which suggests (at least to me) that they would have similar standards about a story they'd written without an AI.

Since the above seems to be the scenario everyone has in mind when talking about "AI fic," I would like to point out that what I just described is not the only way to use AI in one's writing. My own use is more akin to using an online thesaurus; a very powerful thesaurus that can make suggestions for things like phrasings, descriptions, dialogue, and so on. The key there is that it makes suggestions. 

My AI assistant is smart enough to 'read' the scene I'm working on and tailor its suggestions to the mood, style and context of what I'm writing. But it's still my story. The AI doesn't write it for me. I'm the one who sifts through those suggestions, takes the bits that work, and shapes them into useful text. Sometimes the AI comes up with amazing things. I wasn't kidding when I said it's improved my writing - and my rewriting. It knocks me out of those mental ruts we writers tend to get into, coming up with descriptions and turns of phrase that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. 

But it's still just a tool, and at the end of the day, I'm still the writer. The words that end up on the page do so because I chose them. Those writerly choices are what make the story mine, regardless of where the words might have originated from. And whether they came from my brain or the AI, they are still subject to the same standards of rewriting, editing and proofing.

So no, I don't think I'm going to be tagging my fic with an AI disclosure statement any time soon. Not until the current moral panic dies down to the point where people don't read that and automatically assume it means 'copy-pasted from ChatGPT.' And for anyone who's curious about AI... I suggest you try it for yourself. Play around a little and find out what it's about before making judgments. I think you'll find it's a tool like any other - and just like any tool, it can be used well or it can be used badly. That's entirely in the hands of the human being using it - which is one thing that hasn't changed, and never should.

--

Yeah, I fail to see any major issue with more sucky fanfic getting posted. That's just the default for big fic archives.

The actual problem problems we're seeing are with paid markets with open submissions that get flooded beyond what staff can handle and big corporations replacing humans they already try not to pay.

The main potential issue I see with other uses of AI is that it may end up with samey suggestions, but it's hard to know how much that's 1. a thing and 2. an actual issue when writing genre stuff that often sounds samey on purpose and where that's a desirable characteristic.

[incorrect-jojolands-quotes]

Chapter 14 Yap Session: 48 AQUIFERS! You didn't want to leave him a half-measure, huh?

Other Yaps (To Be Updated as I Go): 14, 15

Chapter 14 was very heavy in terms of historical and cultural context. Here are the things I've found so far:

The Lava Rock's Powers Are Based on Hawaiian Culture and Belief

Meryl Mei's words confirmed that the lava rock relies on human emotion and societal beliefs to become attracted to items.

While there are variations of how the Hawaiian Islands came to be, it all comes down to Pele. One retelling mentioned how Pele left volcanic craters on the islands, which would spew rock and ash that would land and create the mountains and fertile lands we know of today. However, volcanic eruptions and raining volcanic matter is nothing safe to be around, especially because it represents Pele herself being angry. So, Native Hawaiians would provide Ho'okupu to Pele as a means to appease her and therefore stop an eruption from escalating further. These are gifts considered to be of high value and given genuinely. Until the end of the 19th century, these gifts ranged from foods to literal diamonds.

A case in 1801 occurred where Kamehameha I was asked to provide offerings to Pele to stop Mt. Huālailai's eruptions. He gave various gifts but only when he gave up his hair did the lava stop flowing; note that hair cutting is only done during mourning or defeat. Mt. Huālailai has since then stopped erupting.

Nowadays, there's some conflicting info on what is appropriate and not appropriate. Most say acceptable gifts can be prayers, acts of service to Pele (i.e. volunteering, donations), or generally practicing gratitude. There are those who will still give gifts like traditional food or hula. Regardless, they are given because they are believed to be valuable and therefore necessary to give to Pele.

Howler's Lands Being Mostly Water Is More Trouble Than You Think

The purpose of infrastructure is to ensure society's needs are met. This includes maintaining and sustaining society's source of water; after all, fresh water is a very valuable resource in all human societies since the beginning of time. Meryl Mei notes how most of Howler's deeds involve water resources.

In Hawaii, fresh water come from permeable rocks called aquifers. There are many types of aquifers, but experts say the best are made from basaltic and volcanic rock; the only places that have such aquifers in the US are the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. Despite being surrounded by water, Hawaii relies on aquifers for freshwater and the same aquifers rely on rain water to be replenished. Unfortunately, aquifers are not as accessible and there has historically been cases of aquifer water being mismanaged or contaminated. You might have recognized the controversy regarding the Wai Kai pool.

Not only that, climate change also affects this issue. Since 2008, Hawaii has been suffering through a drought, causing it dry season to last a lot longer than its rain season. Aquifers rely on rainwater to be replenished, so the lack of rain water means they are not being refilled to continue meeting demands. Rising sea levels also mean less land to live on as well as sea water contaminating the aquifers. There are efforts proposed to stop and prevent this, but it doesn't help that many aquifers sit on top of salt water. Most aren't contaminated yet because there is a good amount of things between the two to separate them, but that's only if that thing has not been tampered with or by, say, construction or natural disaster.

An infrastructure company holding power over the most valuable resource of Hawaii? Surely, that allows them to have power over lots of things in society as well.

The Number 48 Holds a Lot of Symbolism and Significance

In literature, there's a famous self-help book called The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. This book follows the belief that life is a never-ending game of power and presents 48 pieces of advice on how to pursue one's goals. This book became popular among musicians, politicians, and other celebrities, especially when they are in some sort of controversy at the time they reference or are seen with the book, and the book has been criticized for glorifying brutal and inhuman approaches as a means of success. Some might even say whoever tries to achieve their tasks without considering morals or the emotions of others as... psychopathic...

In history, the year 1848 marks the second most important event in Hawaiian history called "The Great Māhele". Prior to this, land ownership was a more feudal system, and laws were suddenly put in place to transition to the allodial system of land ownership. This event would go on to set more laws regarding land ownership and things like The Hawaii State Land Registry to maintain it. On paper, it made land ownership accessible, as one can simply buy land to call it their own, rather than jump through hops caused by things like status. In practice, however, it made it very easy for foreign powers and businesses to buy land in Hawaii and oftentimes prevent Native Hawaiians from doing so; keep in mind that this approach to land ownership is also very unknown to Native Hawaiians, so they themselves have no idea how to approach this. This led to more foreign influences into Hawaii that became a factor in its annexation (the most important event) later on and contributed to the socioeconomic struggles still faced today by Native Hawaiians.

Notably, the year 1948 was when President Truman proposed turning Hawaii into a state. This was 55 years after Hawaii was overthrown and annexed as well.

In Chinese numerology, 48 is an auspicious number. Any 3-digit number ending in 48 (i.e. 748) is lucky because it sounds like you're saying "prosperity in X lifetimes" in Mandarin (so 748 is "prosperity in 7 lifetimes/ 七世發"). As a result, 48 became a number associated with businesses. The number 8 is particularly lucky in Asian cultures while also having ties with financial success in other cultures. 48 is also considered be auspicious because it combines the good qualities of 4s and 8s (diligence and ambition), so many consider it a manifestation number (working hard will bring achievements).

As an added bonus, 9 is considered lucky in various Asian cultures because it sounds like the word for "everlasting". It is also associated with dragons in China, so lots of government things and royalty are based on number 9.

See you in the next chapter to see what else I can yap about.

[inkblot22]

I just read the azul request and your writing was so goooddd. If you don't mind, i'm curious what happened with their friendship after that. Is darling would end the friendship or forced to still in the friendship because her "kind" personality?

Thank you! I'm honestly planning on making time to do some more editing on that one because when I reread it, there are a few odd spacing incidents and typos.

Anyhow! I'll put this under the cut so that people who don't want to read about this don't have to scroll past a wall of text, but be warned that this is a little heavy:

So, before I get to the good stuff, in the original request said a people-pleaser and anxious darling, but people-pleasers are some of the most anxious people I know. They're constantly stepping all over themselves to allow others to treat them like a doormat. It's incredibly sad to watch, and while it can be mistaken for kindness, people-pleasing is more so indicative of a lack of self-respect. People-pleasers look for validation from others based on how strongly they dislike themselves, imo. So Azul's darling is... struggling.

Okay, on to the good stuff in headcanon format:

+ To put it very plainly: No, they're not friends anymore but that's not really the main issue.

+ So within the fic, there is a point in which Azul's darling just blindly signed a contract. If Azul is nothing else, he is a capitalist- to put it alternatively, he consistently takes advantage of other peoples' weaknesses and faults in order to benefit himself.

+ Because his darling never reads the contract, she doesn't get context and, therefore, neither do people who read that fic without coming to look at this post. I know this is a shit move on my part but this is a clarification thingy. His darling doesn't get to know that Azul mistook his fondness for her stroking his ego for him being in love with her, she doesn't get to know that he misunderstood her rambling at Jade for her having a crush on him, and she doesn't get to know that he wrote that contract, banking completely on her blind trust in him so she'd either just go along with the contents or not look at them at all.

+ Azul lucked tf out in that area, honestly. Within the contract are clauses upon clauses of legalese that forces his darling to remain by his side, unless Crowley finds a way to get her home (never going to happen) or she literally dies.

+ Of course, from his darling's POV, it'd be ridiculous to continue being friends with someone who, quite literally, raped her. Hopefully this post doesn't get me shadowbanned again becs I said the r-word. The issue comes in with her inability to get out.

+ She'd be tentative, more so than usual, because she would be stuck with someone who she immediately lost all respect for, but since she's stuck with him and, as previously established, has low self-esteem, there's a high chance that she will start to believe that she deserved it in some capacity.

+ Trauma manifests in really odd ways, and one of those ways is a ton of guilt. Bone-crushing, soul-rending guilt. Anxiety makes you believe some really weird stuff sometimes, so it's also very likely that she hyperfixates on one thing she did, blaming her own actions instead of the whole bastard who did this to her. Like, 'Oh, I shouldn't have mentioned birth control," or "I should have tried on the other outfit first, not this dress."

+ Obviously, Azul knows that her mental health is shit. He takes advantage of it throughout the whole fic, and it only makes sense that he continues to do so. One could even say that Azul never even saw her as a friend and only as a fancy accessory. She's arm candy, because unless there are some female teachers, she is the only woman on campus. That's a big flex, or something. Idk, men are weird.

+ Regardless, it's very hopeless for Azul's darling. He's scarily powerful in multiple fields and has connections everywhere. Even if she believed she had the ability to get out, she cannot. Hence the power imbalance tw in that fic.

[communistkenobi]

this is such a frustrating post because words do actually have power. It’s not some “metaphysical” or magical harm that people are fabricating, the language you use to describe reality (or, in this example, utter the word being used to describe reality) has an impact, even if you’re not yelling that word at a random person on the street. Like I feel insane having to say that. These words aren’t “labelled” slurs after the fact of their usage, they aren’t granted “cursed status” by some sjw council, that’s the origin of those words and that is their historical trajectory. acting otherwise quickly gets you into conspiratorial territory. faggot or tranny has no cultural meaning outside of being violent to queer people, and if you were able to stop everyone from using them as slurs they would functionally stop existing as words.

also hilarious to see a back-peddle of “oh well I won’t say the N word” why not? Because you understand that using it in any context as a non-black (especially if you’re white) person, regardless of context or circumstance, is inherently violent? Because you understand that words have the weight of history behind them and sometimes those histories are incredibly vile? You understand that words can be violent in and of themselves? Do you think people are inventing harm when they avoid saying that particular slur? I understand that the N word has an especially violent history that isn’t on the same level of faggot or tranny, but if you take the stance that saying slurs in “a critical context” is actually okay, you are still drawing a line where you believe it’s never okay to say specific words (a position I agree with), which means we’re now just debating the level of violence a word has to accrue before it’s determined to be unusable in any context - ie, the position this post is critiquing.

It’s just absolutely fucking insane to see people say that there’s a taboo around saying slurs and that it’s some counter-cultural act to insist that you won’t censor yourself. what planet do you live on

[fireemblems24]

Lol "the most important one's can sit down" is so far from Edelgard's actual perspective. Read her support with Linhardt, or the amount of support she shows Petra in achieving her goals in their support. Not to mention everything to do with Lysithea and attempting to facilitate her goals by taking care of the things she is unable to do so she can focus on her strengths. Or how she takes time out of her morning every single day to escort Bernadetta to class.

Then there's the whole equal opportunity consideration with the free schooling, an idea courtesy of Ferdinand that she is eager to consider and integrate.

All she does is try and facilitate the "weak" so through that support they become "strong" and can achieve their individual goals for the betterment of everyone.

"I intend to create a world where the best are free to rise to the top and succeed, regardless of their bloodline." Is not a statement about importance. Nobility has inherent importance due to bloodlines. If only the "important" could rise to the top and succeed it would create a feedback loop, lineages. The "best" refers specifically to those who excel in their field, and since they can come from any bloodline none of them were more important than any other.

For that to happen the world she needs to create a world that facilitates the opportunities of all people equally and equitably so the "best" can actually rise and succeed. She removes importance from the equation since it disadvantages those who could be great in favor of those who were born into great things. That's her entire point with Miklan. It's why she's removing the nobility.

It's those who think that bloodlines and certain deific blessings should determine who lives in the biggest castles and mansions that have ideas of "importance." Like, say, which families are important to preserve for the ongoing existence of their nation due to hereditary traits that just so happen to also keep them in positions of ultimate authority as the adjudicator for who gets listened to. And that we should all just "respect" those differences instead of empowering everyone.

Don't get Emperor "I can never be seen as weak because half of the Empire nobles are looking for an excuse to reinstate the power of the Slithers" Edelgard confused with the person she demonstrates herself to be through her words and actions to those in her care. To the extent she's accused of being a mother hen by Linhardt with how doting she is.

Bernadetta leaving her room in Crimson Flower isn't a mistake. Bernadetta wasn't "important" to Edelgard, she figured she would walk her path alone, hated by her Eagles, and still every day, the crown princess and most "important person" in Adrestia took the time to help Bernadetta find her confidence and work towards self-improvement. Something actively detrimental to herself if you think about how she believes they would oppose her. Something that goes double for Petra who she never forces to join her side.

She really seems like the kind of person to leave others in the lurch. Definitely the narrative the game was telling.

I'm gonna be real. I had no idea what you're talking about. You need to give me more context for that line.

Also, I've seen this all before and it's unconvincing.

There's a world of a difference between Edelgard's personal friends, who the vast majority of which also just happen to be Adrestian nobility, and Joe McJoe the (former) Faerghus farmer with a handicap son told his failure is because he lacked merit and not because war killed his other kids, destroyed his farmland, and etc . . .

It's one thing to get cozy with a noble's daughter and another to care about the common person, people she openly says she'll sacrifice and gives a big shrug when Shez says they will suffer the worst in war.

Do I think she's a heartless bitch? No. But I do think she's perfectly willing to leave people behind to starve and die in her war, and that her methodology will not help the ones who survived get back on their feet but blame them for any lack of success by lack of "merit."

[illnessfaker]

Your recent couple reblogs has me wondering something, that maybe you have more perspective on given your own experiences with gender.

Often times I’ll hear bigender, genderfluid, and various flavors of nonbinary people talk as if they are (in a political sense) both man and woman (also sometimes TME and TMA using the same logic)

I get it in terms of self-identification, but in terms of how society treats us, I’m skeptical that the current oppressively gendered system has room for that kind of nuance.

I think it’s just because I’m a trans woman and at the end of the day I get treated as a fag regardless if people see me as a man or woman, so I don’t get the option anyway lol

But I also kinda feel like I’m just rehashing “there are only 2 genders!!” but from a leftist angle, which also sucks

i mean this is like a really tough question that i don't think there's a good answer to because there's not really any difference btwn "being a man/woman" vs. "being a man/woman politically" and by that i mean when you ask what "being a man/woman" means the only good answer to that question i can come up with is "they're labels that indicates one's relationship to patriarchy" but even that answer isn't especially helpful in this situation because 1. that's basically the function of gender identity labels is to describe one's relationship to gender and indicate how they navigate the system whether they're "binary" or not and 2. there is no litmus test for who "counts" as a man or a woman because if you go around and ask people why they identify this way you'll get a hundred different answers even if the people you ask label themselves in the same way because gender identity at the end of the day not only has to do w/ the gendered messaging you are subject to from society (which includes violence) and then how you personally rationalize and respond to it.

the thing is that there are many different avenues of being gendered so i'd say that yeah, someone can be both a man and a woman if they believe their experiences align w/ that, but the reasons for why someone believes that, like i said, are going to widely vary. someone might be legally considered female but be gendered as male in a bunch of other contexts and they might factor that experience in to their gender identity. someone might be legally considered male but be gendered as female or subject to misogyny in a bunch of other contexts and they might factor that experience in to their gender identity. but it's not as if legally being male = you can wield that simple fact to enact gendered violence (which plenty of transfem and other camab trans ppl are aware of, i'm sure) and access the gendered privileges that one might associate with maleness, and it's not as if legally being female = one is entirely excluded from enacting gendered violence or accessing gendered privileges. it's messy. those are two very simplistic examples that include the word "might" because a the end of the day, there aren't any rules that determine who is "actually" what because the series of "tests" that society subjects us to in order to determine that are incoherent, since gender has no essence to it. it's not nuance, its nonsense.

transmisogynists insist that genitalia or assigned sex determines how you're gendered but a cashier once told me that he thought i was a man because i was wearing flannel. the only assumption i can make as to why other people read me as having been camab (i say that because people often either insist i'm a man or they've told me they thought i was transfem at first) is because i have some physical features that society labels as "male" and some of my autism/ADHD traits are ones that society also labels as "male" (e.g. lack of volume control making me very loud.) those are also very simple examples because ofc much more goes into gendered violence than just how random people w/o institutional power perceive you, but the point is that gender's rules are pretty nonsensical based on how people actually apply them. i have a social experience that one could arguably call "both male and female" but that doesn't feel like at all an accurate assessment of what it's like for me whatsoever (enough that it feels like misgendering) - and i certainly don't see myself as "tma." that being said, i think i'm one of those people who can't be neatly sorted into "socially located as female" vs. "socially located as male." i think i'm socially located as a (tme) marginalized gender subject, but that kind of subjective experience isn't the norm.

that doesn't mean there aren't experiences that are typical of womanhood or experiences that are typical of manhood. if there weren't then the whole framework of patriarchy and misogyny wouldn't hold up very well. but the "typical" part is kinda key because acting as if there is some singular, concrete thing that distinguishes the "male experience" from the "female experience" is conceding the point that men and women are essentially different, which is something that reinforces patriarchy rather than deconstructing it, and "men oppress women" is not a singular, concrete thing to me in this instance because the ways in which that tangibly occurs are incredibly varied and complex, with a myriad of factors always being involved, which is a fact that people like MRAs and transmisogynists will try to exploit for the sake of their (trans)misogynistic views.

so it's like, at the end of the day, yeah - binaries are bullshit, but also we need what some might call vague generalizing/binaristic language for the sake of discussing literally anything at all in a way that is comprehensible. the frameworks/concepts of patriarchy and (trans)misogyny don't suddenly fall apart if we acknowledge the ~nuance~ of how gender works and is affected by different factors because the whole point is that these things are deeply embedded, broader sociocultural trends, not that they're absolute rules with zero exceptions in what some discussion about them might sometimes imply. (trans) men being subjected to violence that is defined by or wrapped up in (trans)misogyny or (trans) women circumstantially also wielding (trans)misogyny against other (trans)women doesn't mean that (trans)misogyny shouldn't be about (trans) women.

the issue here, i think, doesn't have to do w/ how someone identifies (that dog won't hunt) so much as how they actually grapple with that complexity and how they use it to relate to others. to use an example from that one post i rb'd earlier, someone labeling themselves as a "transfemmasc gaybilesbian" and then talking about how oppressive and evil and binaristic both assigned sex labels and the label "tme" is, is - in practice - someone who is against any concise language happening irt discussion of transmisogyny, and - in addition - any concise language that would denote whether they're someone who is capable of enacting gendered violence against trans women in the way only non-trans women can. and then it gets 10x worse when you see that same person reblogging posts about how transmisandry real and trans womanhood is not a gender category that sits beneath trans manhood on a hierarchical scale.

if trans women can't use "transfem" to talk about transmisogyny, can't use "camab/cafab," and can't use "tme/tma," then they can't use anything. this usually happens in the case of trans other trans people who are, in fact, tme, and them being tme is part of what enables them to be able to do this in the first place, because it is apparent to anyone who pays attention that trans women and other camab trans people are typically not afforded the same room to treat gender identity like a playground in the way that tme trans people are, when looking at things from the perspective of transmisogyny.

like, at that point, i can only assume you believe yourself to be incapable of gendered violence in any meaningful sense/are dodging any sense of accountability, and are using the obfuscation of difference and meaning of terms to your advantage as someone who does in fact possess privilege in terms of gender, lol. everyone does to some extent when you include factors that significantly affect one's relationship to the gender binary such as race, disability, etc.

[unhappytimeleaper]

Hello!!, may i please request yan eichi with an oblivious darling?

Requested by anonymous 

Word Count: 1,250+

Update that most might not care about but might give some context to my absence. I found out I’m moving back to Korea in like,, less than 3 weeks to start a new job. Lots of things to get done in not a lot of time…

I promise I will get to the alphabet; I was thinking about this one at work and wanted to get it out.

Also, I played Repurpose, and it was such a good game,, genuine brain rot over most of the characters; I deeply loved Noel’s route and Ramón was a favorite I didn’t expect. Kalei was still just too cute, Mitts was everything I was hoping for, and DJ was an unexpected one I came to enjoy the route for. Give me poly DJ/MC/Noel or give me death /j. If you have 7$ to spare and want a cute game to kill some time highly recommend and I will be pestering the one friend I have endlessly about it.

Tenshouin Eichi; Unedited. Gender Neutral Reader.

Warnings; yandere content, blackmail, manipulation. Eichi is Eichi, take that as you will. 

This blog is 17+ please have your age in your bio or tagged; any ageless blog and below the age asked for will be blocked at the end of the week.

I think being oblivious to Eichi is hard, and I don’t believe that it would be the right word to use. In a way, I think everyone at the start might have some level of ‘obliviousness’ before there just is no possibility of denying the truth of his plan.

What I mean is that unless you are extremely perceptive, like ungodly perceptive, Eichi is cunning. He is a master at manipulation and the ability to get others to not only trust him but do what he wants as pawn pieces. There is a reason he was able to gain such power over Yumenosaki in the first game, and there is a reason even from the second he was introduced, there was a wave of power that Eichi naturally exudes. Despite everything, he can come off as very non-threatening given his frailness which might make it easy to confide in giving him needed ammo to blackmail you. Something about your family here or there, a secret about a friend that slipped out and he promised he’d never bring it up again [he will], or even a moment of frustration with working in the idol field. He naturally has an air of eloquence that makes it easy to fall into a web of words and let out more than you expect to share [it also helps he naturally talks a lot in a way that is easy for others get lost in]. He has connections nearly everywhere for better or worse, and can use those to gain links to you, either knowing the little things you swore you hadn’t told him or closer to something on your schedule to randomly show up. Questionable, but nothing you can prove as being shady, so it’s best to brush it off regardless. Who would believe you over one of the most well-known idols in the industry? This isn’t to say obliviousness, in general, doesn’t help him if you manage to make loops to justify all of his weird behaviors. Still, even I think some of those who think of themselves as incredibly cognizant would also fall into these types of traps, even if he has to tiptoe a little harder to get them all to work.

However, this game Eichi plays with you manipulated into a false trust won’t last forever. In fact, he doesn’t want it to because there is something much better about being able to move into a true relationship, the one where he can be open to his motivations and desires. All of this was a stepping stone in the bigger picture for him. Getting the basics down, and being able to tangle you deep enough that struggling to escape only digs the knife in more.

Eichi has two ways this facade comes melting down, revealing the reality behind the set pieces of the stage he’s built to lure you in. The first one is external forces; Eichi has a reputation in nearly all eras of the game for his mental strength and ability to use this to get others to do what he wants. It’s not some hushed topic that no one acknowledges, even Eichi is well aware of his status, and while Eichi likely would be able to shift his opinion to his favor if you talk to him at times, there will be many others, even Eichi’s closest friends willing to call out the dangers he imposes. At that point, it’s no longer really just obliviousness to his actions when often proof and multiple people are able to recount the story where he is the villain. Antagonist? Oh well, semantics; regardless, he often is not framed well. Being oblivious to the signs, the warnings and red flags Eichi holds from this are genuinely hard to pass off with a lack of awareness.

But that is not just the end; Eichi is well aware of this. Often times he won’t deny it either because Eichi doesn’t see what he does as necessarily wrong. To an extent, yes, he has some awareness of the damage he causes and the impacts it has on others, but Eichi very rarely shows remorse for those actions deeming them as a necessity. Much like with you. If you have a bleeding heart and want to believe in the best from him, you can always ask if they are lying. What they said isn’t true. Eichi might have done some things wrong, but even then, everyone makes mistakes. Right? Eichi won’t bother lying or covering up what he’s done to others, and even if you are put in vulnerable positions where he is blatantly manipulating you, he is upfront with his actions. Aren’t you at least happy the confessions are coming from him and not some stranger you work with?

I think back to when Eichi tried to get Trickster to disband; the group did know it was manipulation to make them feel as less, that the win was a fluke only provided due to Undead and 2wink. However, it didn’t comfort them in knowing this was all just the result that he wanted, and they still fell apart in the moment. Eichi wasn’t hiding his intentions but knew he held the power to easily get others to crack regardless and succumb to his desires because, in a sense, resistance is as futile as lying to you. Nothing is gained, and nothing is lost if you can stay so far ahead as he can in most scenarios.

It’s Eichi’s greatest strength as a yandere that out of everyone, he would be the most lucid and, as far as he can push it, make you aware of the lucidity that his actions, while immoral, are the path he will continue to take for the sake of his ideals. Even the most oblivious, good-hearted are forced to come to this realization at some point, just like with Tsumugi’s relationship with him. When, not if, but when Eichi gets what he wants through manipulation, he has no problem shattering the rose-tinted glasses people might wear to him. You can deny it all you want, and you can run from what is the monster that is Eichi to believe he isn’t truly this, but you can’t run forever. He will drill it into your head, sear all of his crimes into your mind to the point you can only accept that the mask he had at the start was to use you. Use your kindness, uses your ignorance, use your trust to gain what he wanted to use against you when the time called for it. It’s a crushing burden to know that the one who sealed you to this fate with him was no one more than yourself. This is what makes him such a terrifying yandere, not the fear of what he will do or can do to keep you as his. But that in the end, you are only as powerless a puppet in the world; he wants you a pawn stuck to his side.

Life with Eichi is trapped in the lucidity of both of you. Once knowing this, you can make it the best of what it is and give in to love him with the cage you’ve been trapped in or make it just as miserable. The glasses will have been shattered, and no amount of glue will be able to mend them. The choice is up to you, but there is no way to keep a lack of awareness of his actions in the long term that you once clung to.

[sailormoonandme]

Sailor Moon Classic Episode 39.

I am of the opinion that, in the anime canon, there is no meaningful distinction between Usagi and Princess Serenity’s personalities. Whilst this is not exactly realistic given that Usagi and Serenity would’ve grown up in very different circumstances, I believe based upon everything we know of Serenity in the anime canon her personality is identical to Usagi’s; at least within the context of the situations we see her in. The fact that Usagi literally transforms into Princess Serenity in the anime, but is not acting in ways that are any different from how she acted when not transformed into Serenity I think is the proof in the pudding. 

So in the anime, Usagi is Serenity and Serenity is Usagi. The unique soul that was once the Moon Princess in the Silver Millennium and is now the ordinary school girl in the 20th century has several indelible and inevitable personality traits that will simply always be there, regardless of any other traits she might also develop from the environment she grows up in. 

The counterargument to this however is episode 39 of the original 1992 Sailor Moon anime. In this episode we are told/shown Princess Serenity was great at ice skating but Usagi clearly sucks. Serenity was a dignified elegant Princess and Usagi...ain’t...

So...checkmate right?

Well...allow me to propose a theory.

So, first of all we could simply state that the gravity on the Moon and Earth are simply different. Whilst the Moon of Sailor Moon’s universe is different to the real one in that it has Earth-like gravity and a breathable atmosphere,* there is no guarantee that the gravity is identical. This might then account for why Usagi is so clumsy in general compared to the other Senshi, who originate from celestial bodies much larger than the Moon and therefore might have gravity that is more similar to Earth’s.**

BUT I think there is a more interesting explanation found deeper in the very same episode. Noticeably, Usagi is still clumsy when on ice even when her physicality is enhanced by becoming Sailor Moon.

That is...until the evil brainwashed Tuxedo Mask shows up.

With his assistance and encouragement Sailor Moon suddenly can skate, and perform pretty advanced feats at that!

Now am I suggesting this is simply ‘the power of love’. Yes and no.

I am not suggesting literal love energy powered up Usagi’s skating skills. Rather, that there was a psychological aspect to her ability to perform. 

As many athletes will tell you, their mental state is as critical in their performance as their physical state. Whether a sprinter or a boxer, if their ‘head isn’t in the game’ they are not going to perform at the best of their abilities, indeed they might even have lost before they have begun. The mind and body are, after all, fundamentally linked together.

We have no way of knowing what Princess Serenity’s psychological state was when she was ice skating, but given that the flashbacks depict her as roughly the age Usagi was, is it a stretch to imagine she was at that time in a relationship with Prince Endymion? Especially since in the anime there did not seem to be any kind of taboo about their relationship?*** In other words Serenity is relaxed, she’s perhaps confident, she’s happy, in love, maybe to the point where she feels like she’s ‘floating on air’. 

Usagi in episode 39 is none of those things. Whilst she is in love with Mamoru/Endymion/Tuxedo Mask she has been having nightmares about his death and the fall of the Silver Millennium. She is anxious about his safety as he has been abducted and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom. She wants to get him back but also might have to fight him to do it.**** And she at the same time deeply wishes her life could simply go back to normalcy. 

For the perkiness and good humour Usagi is presented with in episode 39, in context she is not deep down a happy bunny at the moment (if you pardon the pun). And a lot of that is directly tied to the state of her relationship with Mamoru at the moment, or lack thereof.

She presumes she will be able to ice skate because Serenity could do it. She is aware that Luna, Artemis and the others are hoping/expecting her to be more of a Princess in order to unlock the Silver Crystal’s power (which seems more of an instinctual thing more than anything else). But putting her mind in the headspace of Serenity is not likely to make Usagi relaxed, happy or tap into some past life muscle memory when you think about it. Because tapping into Serenity’s memories on a subconscious level likely brings into stark relief how much she has lost since then and how shitty the current situation is. The Moon Kingdom is wrecked and her lover has been lost to her again, and this time he isn’t even just dead, he wants to potentially kill her. 

Usagi’s mental state however shifts when Tuxedo mask shows up to help her. Whilst she intellectually knows he is still Evil Endymion, in that moment he is helping her, protecting her, even encouraging and complimenting her. So, it’s not a million miles away from when her life was actually good (or at least better), whether that was being blissfully in love with Endymion in the Silver Millennium or at least swooning over the sexy and mysterious Tuxedo Mask as Sailor Moon mere months ago. In this moment Usagi can skate better, that past life muscle memory does kick in because (temporarily) she can feel like everything is better, everything is the way it should be (or closer  to how it should be anyway).

I think we can observe a similar phenomenon occurring in episodes 22 and 37. The latter takes place during the Evil Endymion run of episodes where Usagi attempts to train as a princess but proves herself to be a bad ballroom dancer.

However, in episode 22 she danced perfectly competently  when her partner was Tuxedo Mask, her past life memories even explictely resurfacing in that moment.

*In the manga the Moon Kingdom existed under an environmental dome but IIRC no such thing was mentioned in the anime.

**Whilst Jupiter is mostly gas, in fiction it has traditionally been depicted as having more gravity because of its size and therefore aliens from Jupiter have been depicted as incredibly strong. E.g. Marvel Comics’ character Charlie-27. This would in turn account for Sailor Jupiter’s super strength. On a side note Jupiter was by far the best ice skater in the Silver Millennium. 

***In the manga, it is explicitly stated that it Moon and Earth people fraternising is a sin. Nothing like that exists in the anime however. 

****Not for nothing, but the literal episode prior he came very close to harming her directly.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

I kind of think the reason why the Book of Life is referred to as 'extreme' sanctions and why they haven't used it yet is because it's intended to be an absolute last resort, due to how badly it may mess up the timeline. Butterfly effect and all that. And they'd be looking at potentially undoing/rewriting 6000+ years of history. Who knows what life would be like for anyone if humans never left Eden. I mean. No death and no suffering, obviously, but no free will or knowledge, either. But it WOULD accomplish the basic plan everyone knows God has laid out- create humans that live eternally in paradise. I'd imagine using the Book of Life is very risky and they can't account for the full extent of the effects, but I don't think that would stop the Metatron from using it as a means to make Aziraphale go along with the Second Coming. If anything, the chaos of that potential timeline might be even more of a motivator for Aziraphale to follow orders in this one.

that's a very good point!!!✨ definitely would fit the bill of 'extreme', but then again - if it is only used in extreme circumstances, as i said here and @aq-uatic reminded me in a separate ask, you'd think that the stopping of armageddon would be worthy of threatening the BOL, and yet it wasnt? or the fall of humanity, or even the fall itself... but somehow, hiding gabriel is bad enough to warrant erasure from existence...?

this does however only take into account how michael is threatening to use it (i.e. the extreme sanctions are not, in fact, officially sanctioned; metatron confirms this in ep6). michael takes the supreme archangel position, and presumably considers this to be adequate authorisation to wield the BOL as a weapon - something we don't see gabriel do in s1.

i would love to know what michael's rationale behind this was; jumping straight to erasure of existence for a fairly insignificant transgression. it might say more about michael's character than 'the true nature' of the BOL, but still find it interesting that for a reasonably cunning character, this threat is so... little thought-out.

and maybe that's just it; that the BOL does exactly what it says on the tin, and it's just michael getting gung-ho on their assumed new power and station. maybe gabriel never intended to ever wield this weapon because of the catastrophic implications it has (though this would bring into question what the point of the BOL is to begin with, if not to be used).

i honestly don't have much of anything to negate this from within the narrative itself, other than crowley saying that it was only a rumour (which i do think has some basis). but from a storytelling perspective, i do think it very odd that this new concept, this huge-ass weapon that heaven seems to have had in its back pocket all along, would be so blatantly explained and handed to the audience in s2. the whole thing, imo, just feels a little off.

biblically speaking, too, i feel that the BOL in the context GO poses is somewhat off too; revelation shows that the book belongs to jesus christ, and (heavily paraphrasing multiple references here but this is my understanding of the christian scripture on BOL) was for humanity to repent and enter the kingdom of heaven, or face erasure and be cast instead into a lake of fire in everlasting punishment.

now, of course, GO does not necessarily follow the word of scripture by the letter; but regardless, the whole notion seems odd in relation to angels. they... are of heaven; would erasing them from the book lose them their existence, or would it cast them out of heaven? by the same logic, does erasing humans from the BOL during the last judgement also mean those humans will cease to exist? the lake of fire is described as being "a second death" (20:14), but is that the same thing?

basically, anon - i don't know. idk if the BOL is what we're led to believe it is, but something in my gut (and by god has it been wrong before) is telling me not to take it as read!!!✨

[thehoneyknight]

Daybreak, sketch pages 1-23

(Radiant Arc 11, 3.36)

Page 3

Honey- Nobody has to die

Hollow- Change the future

Hornet- All of those memories- all of which happened to influence your choices… That was enough to forge a new Dream Nail.

-

Page 4

Honey- Almost, we think. Honey had the Radiant light- a part of her. When they focused their dream- our dream- we didn’t know what would happen. We think that without her light we wouldn’t have made it out of that dream. Our Dream Nail is a part of that exchange. Memories, light, history choice… We owe this to her as much as we do ourselves.

Paladin- …

Hornet- With it there is method to take back the light that was lost.

Honey- If Honey can find her. We don’t know which minds the Radiant light would reach out to. The Hollow Knight has their share. Honey retains only a third of what remained. We must be aware and find that Radiance.

-

Page 5

Hornet- You aim to remove the Seals without breaking them. If you claim that light you may have a chance.

Honey- Still a chance.

Hornet- Show-off…

Comban- Thank you for the help, Hornet.

Hornet- Of course. You are hurt. Is it not my duty to see that you are well?

Comban- Maybe, and thanks, but I also meant about Honey, or Luma and Argent… Thank you for believing in them. For not…

Hornet- Destroying them?

Comban- Yeah.

Hornet- There’s still time.

Comban- …

Hornet- That was in just.

-

Page 6

Hornet- Honey remains the largest threat to Hallownest. The light is an end. But.

Comban- Honey has found a future to use their strength. The end is theirs.

Hornet- Now we must see it through.

Paladin- …

Honey- !

Comban- Are you really still Honey?

Honey- Always.

Comban- Just different somehow.

Honey- We have always been here and Honey is the mind we make together, and even so Honey is someone entirely different. They make the choices we cannot. We never meant to hide this from you. We just… didn’t understand ourselves. We forgot, we lacked context.

-

Page 7

Honey- But no matter who we are, we have always seen your kindness.

Comban- !

Hornet- Honey is not a fused mind of Luma and Argent together. Honey is a new mind born of existing voids, creating a new shade in their place. Honey… is Honey. Am I correct?

Honey- Honey is Honey!

Comban- Where is Honey, if we aren’t speaking to them now? They aren’t… gone?

Honey- Honey is here, but still in memory. We, Luma and Argent, surface on this separation. We speak in Argent’s voice but our words are spoken together. We are one, for now.

Once Honey awakens from dream their mind will return and Honey will be as you know them. We will submerge again, in conscience. We believe Honey will remember us and what we said here, but we cannot be certain.

Paladin- …

-

Page 8

Hornet- I must ask. The King’s Brand?

Honey- Broken. But we still feel it’s light within us. The King’s Brand is a part of Honey now. Part of their light, perhaps now a part of who they are. (!) Hornet. We- Honey is sorry for taking it- for stealing the King’s Brand. And on both accounts we apologise for trapping you in a Fracture for all that time.

Hornet- You have proven yourself worthy of the power the King’s Brand entrusts to you. Regardless of my thinking, we have found a future we can both ight for. My duty has passed.

-

Page 9

Hornet- I see no reason to perpetuate concern over your methods transpired.

Paladin- You should! Honey betrayed everyone. They could have killed you, Hornet. THey tried to kill both of us.

Honey- …

Hornet- … The future is changing. THere is no need to hold grudges against a new Hallownest. We have to trust in Honey to find the better end.

Paladin- Does a better end remain? All is lost. Vespa’s Blessing is no longer active.

-

Page 10

Honey- But we can still face the Infection at its source. Isn't that what we need to do? Stop The Radiance? By doing so-

Hornet- Yes. To face the heart of the Infection and succeed. In such a future there is no need to be Blessed. We must only act fast, and trust that all within the Hive are safe in Vespa’s Blessings absence.

Paladin- …

Hornet- …

Honey- There is a lot to do.

Hornet- For your end you must track down your missing Radiance, but perhaps it may be wise to use the King’s Brand.

Open that place beyond the kingdom’s memory. One mind of void cannot contain the full light of The Radiance, but what of a Vessel of multiple voids realised? What of you? WHat of the unity of all void at once?

The rest we can leave to The Knight.

-

Page 11

Hornet- THey know what is needed to unleash the Dreamer Seals. With so little time… mayhaps I will offer my assistance.

Honey- We can open The Abyss. We can free our siblings who couldn’t escape. Honey can uncover the truths concealed within.

Paladin- There is little truth left concealed. You are living proof of all that which was lost to the dark. The Abyss is an empty void.

Hornet- Paladin-

Paladin- This is pointless-

Comban- No it isn’t!

The Abyss is where Honey and The Knight come from, right? Even if there is nothing there… it’s always worth it to search for the past that used to be.

-

Page 12

Comban- Even I can tell… that there is meaning behind looking for yourself and taking the chance to uncover who we are and could be.

Paladin- …

Honey- We must return to the Hive also. With this light we may be of assistance to recovering Vespa’s Blessing. Perhaps Vespa knows where The Radiance may choose to shine our light…

Hornet- The Knight has returned. Ghost.

-

Page 13

Hornet- You have done it?

Comban- That is… Herrah’s Mask.

Hornet- You truly-

Knight- (Rap Tip Tap) (Tap Tap) (Rap Tap)

Honey- (!) The Knight did to Herrah’s dream what Honey did to their own. Her dream- her entirety- was focused into her Mask. Herrah and her Seal are right before us.

-

Page 14

Paladin- !

Hornet- There really was… a way. You did not kill her.

Knight- (Rap Tap Tap Tap) (Rap Tap)

Honey- Herrah remains. The Knight believes in this future.

Hornet- Give me time.

-

Page 15

Honey- Thank you, friend.

-

Page 16

(Herrah. The Beast)

Honey- Comban. We want to apologise for not telling you. About the King’s Brand, about what we had done, about… us, and for hurting you. We are sorry.

Comban- It’s okay. Everything worked out well enough in the end.

Honey- That doesn’t excuse our deception. We could have prevented so much hurt. We did hurt you and… Well, we promise to make it up to you.

-

Page 17

Comban- I appreciate that. Though I think you’re doing enough to help us all out. I’m just glad you’re safe- all of you. Honey, Luma, Argent.

Honey- (!)

Paladin- …

Honey- Paladin… There is so much we need to discuss.

Paladin- We can talk. Later.

Honey- Alright.

Knight- (Tip Tap Tap)

-

Page 18

Honey- You too, friend. Thank you for believing in us.

(!!!)

Comban- What’s happening?

Honey- Honey is surfacing. Their mind is returning to this shell.

Comban- Is this goodbye? Luma? Argent?

Honey- We’ll always be here, Comban.

But one thing. Before… this… happens. We must say something. We heart your thoughts back at Weaver’s Den, about blaming yourself for Honey’s Infection back at the Hive.

-

Page 19

Comban- Ah. Right…

Honey- Calling them your friend… made Honey so happy. That was why the light turned us. Happiness. Not memories. Happiness. You were Honey’s first friend. Thank you for looking out for them- and us. Honey cares more for you than tiptaps can tell.

You are… our… Friend…

-

Page 20

Honey- (!)

Knight- (!)

-

Page 21

Honey- (!) (!)

Comban- Honey?

Knight- (!)

Honey- (Tip Tap Tap)

-

Page 22

Comban- Cool power, Honey!

Honey- (Tip Tap)

Comban- Don’t worry about it. Luma and Argent filled us in.

Honey- (Tip Tap)

Comban- Haha! You remember!

-

Page 23

Comban- Are you okay? A lot has happened, huh?

Honey- … (Tip Tap)

Comban- Rest a while. We don’t have to worry about a thing for this moment.

Not until Hornet gets back.

(The Radiant Arc. End)

[talkingbl]

Two Things Can Be True At Once: Prom, Phuwin, Yui & Mark (aka MSP + Phuwin)

I have a lot of thoughts about each of these scandals and reactions to them that I want to address. We'll go in order.

Prom: What Prom said was absolutely horrendous. I could not believe my ears and eyes and feel like he deserves every bit of criticism being tossed his way. He openly admitted to violating the human rights of CHILDREN, all for a weird cool-guy fantasy he wanted to portray for his damn near grown friends. That is maximum creep behavior and I hope he learns a powerful lesson from all of this. In spite of his apology, violating a child's right to privacy in those moments is way too much for me to feel comfortable with. Plus, the fact that he felt comfortable enough to say it on national TV until he got a little backlash speaks volumes to me.

Yui: Look, I'm not claiming to be in that woman's mind or know why she dismissed the reaction to Prom's disgusting statements--I only know that she has a job to do. For her to all but tell a much younger, more impressionable person that his dangerous words and actions were okay since it'll all blow over anyway was wrong and garbage can behavior. Being the adult in the situation, regardless of what her intent was, the effect is to become a pedo-apologist. She should have never told him his actions were okay, regardless of if she was just trying to talk him off a ledge or whatever. It is NEVER okay to do what Prom said he did--and it's completely fucked up that I even have to say that.

Phuwin: What Phuwin said was completely inappropriate and, unfortunately, a very common incidence even today. As someone who has ADHD, I can totally see why many are hurt by his words. Him using the r-word was indecent and deserved the criticism being lodged against him. And while I personally thought his apology was well-crafted, people have the right not to accept it. For me, I go on peoples' general feel in addition to their actions and words and Phuwin doesn't feel like this big bad monster to me. Again, totally up to other neurodivergents if they want to accept his apology.

Mark: This situation is a bit different than the others IMO, because I don't know the full context behind the most incriminating-sounding statement "it's normal." There is a very strong reason to believe Mark was stating "it's normal [to be stressed about this]" (since the sentence immediately preceding "it's normal" is about Prom being stressed). I want to be clear that I've not heard the full audio myself and every translation seems to attribute different words to Mark (but Yui's message stays consistent). Like, seriously, even Thai people don't even know what was said. For that reason, I am hard-pressed to feel the need to personally cancel Mark (but if you want to, that's your business). I think it would be misguided of me to feel the need to end this person because of something I barely understand myself. But this leads me into my next point when these scandals start piling up...

Folks on the internet do not live in the real world. For chronically-online young people, it takes not even a scintilla of evidence against someone to rip their entire livelihood away from them. Not only that, but these folks will hear a lie or exaggeration and RUN with it. They will hear that Mond, who was on the same Safe House season as Gemini, did Blackface (he did); Prom, who was on the same show as Gemini, spied on kids in the shower (he did); and Gemini colonized Namibia (he didn't) and will believe each allegation as if there's any truth to the last claim simply because Gem is associated with those two in some vague way. I'm not saying Gem is (or will turn out to be) an angel but the way some of these folks will just believe any characterization of things without looking at the evidence for themselves is dangerous.

I want to be clear. Calling Prom out is not dangerous to anyone. If anything, you're protecting more poor children from being spied on. However, running with lies, half-truths, or yet-to-be confirmed speculation is dangerous. I just wish more people would approach things logically instead of going on witch-hunts and calling anyone who exposes that tendency a "sympathizer" or "apologist".

That said, I want clean up the trash in our media (Build, apparently now Prom, etc.), but don't see the point in calling everything trash and taking it to the dump indiscriminately.

[pissdykebutch]

TW: discussion of transmisogyny, Bigotry it’s a pretty heavy rant

Man I really tried to keep these takes of my dash but they’re like fucking cockroaches and I can’t get rid of em. Do not fucking reblog or share this to a large audience, I’m probably gonna be taking a break from tumblr for a good while. 

Hey if you only ever mention transmisogyny to engage in the discourse in the discourse of who it affects, or you only bring it up to discredit the oppression trans women face, you’re a rat bastard. We do not focus our discussions about oppression towards people who might get caught in the crossfire, and for good reason. Yes, it is important to help people when they are battered and beaten down by oppressive systems and bigoted behavior, regardless of context. But we do not fight homophobia for the betterment of heterosexuals, we should not denounce transphobia on the case that it might end up hurting cis people, and I know that a lot of y’all understand how blatantly awful it would be to only discuss misogyny through the lens of how it affects men.

and yet, this website is full of people who are far more concerned with hashing out the petty specifications of who transmisogyny affects, than doing anything meaningful to combat it. This website is full of people who think that transmisogyny is a big fancy word those “crazy trannies” use when they don’t get their way, who think it’s just some nonsensical obstacle to transgender unity. I want to be fucking frank, if you think like that, you’re missing the goddamn point. If you think you understand transmisogyny and believe it to be functionally the same as transphobia, you do not actually understand transmisogyny.

 it is an insidious and constricting net of policy, attitudes, language, beliefs and behavior. It is the reason that transgirls have to be polite with their tongues and gentle with their opinions, if they’re even allowed to formally exist. it is the reason I’ve seen so many blogs by transwomen disappear overnight with baseless accusations of predatory behavior. It is the reason I heard coworkers and friends brazenly talk about their suspicions to our peers who were closeted trans women. It is the reason they jumped to the conclusion of predatory behavior with no evidence. It is why I personally know at least 5 trans girls who were framed as predators and kicked out of my college queer student cultural center overnight, without even talking to them. It is the reason the queer community objectifies us, holding our predatory and powerful caricatures in reverence while they harass and frame us the moment we get too uppity. It is the reason trans girls have the most to loose with the current wave of legislature trying to ban drag in the US. And I’m fucking done, this shit is too real, too much of my fucking life, and I’m tired of y’all repeating the same preschool ass takes for years, dragging an important ideological concept through the slur discourse mud without saying a goddamn thing about how to fight or challenge transmisogyny.

[calamitydaze]

I agree that there was no grooming, but I kinda feel like some people used that word because there isnt really a term for something thats ,,kinda" between normal chatting and grooming (I dont mean literally between, I know that its more complicated than that but I hope you get what I mean) You dont have believe anything the victim to know that Dream did the between thing, because he himself said in the twitlonger that he believes the dms are real. This is not a direct attack, but I feel like people who are neutral about this dont want to accept that he crossed a line, there is such an power imbalance, regardless of the age (without the celebrity context the age gap wouldnt matter in my opinion), there is no reason to give fans your private snapchat to let them send you snaps (they dont have to be sexual to be weird), and what me really uncomfortable; why is he being so vague about it

i think i get what you're saying about it being in between and that makes sense, but i disagree with your assessment that that's why people are using it. i think people saw the first accusation using that incorrect definition and just didn't look any deeper, and at this point the people who still haven't gone "actually that's wrong it's not grooming" are either willfully ignorant so they can continue to push a certain agenda or they're surrounded by people who Are willfully ignorant. (maybe i'm wrong, but that's the impression i've gotten) and if you're right (which you totally could be) and that's why people use(d) it, i still think that's the wrong thing to do because grooming is a serious serious term, not a synonym for inappropriate

and like i said in a previous ask (<- i feel like that sounds passive aggressive but it's not meant to be), i definitely agree that some people hide behind the word "neutral" when really they've already decided that dream did nothing wrong. i don't think that's true for the majority of neutral people, but i could be biased by the circles i run in, so i'll just speak for myself. i absolutely do think he crossed a line-- while imo the power imbalance argument isn't super relevant here (it exists, but from what we know he never asserted or exploited that power in any way), extended private communication with fans via snapchat isn't something that should happen. i disagree that there's no reason for it (it fits what we know of dream to say he wanted to be able to interact with fans on a platform he uses a lot, and those interactions can be perfectly innocent. not saying this explanation is fact, but there is An explanation), but it does encourage a level of closeness that isn’t healthy or safe for either party. and according to the twitlonger this is something dream realized (which i haven't seen many people take into consideration), given that he had already stopped using dreamclay to talk to fans + replying to them in general

as for the vagueness, i also had that reaction-- i didn't like the twitlonger at all (and still don't tbh), and i was like "if you're innocent why can't you just say that it 100% didn't happen"-- but i do think it's worth remembering that he planned to take legal action and the first legal advice is always Stop Talking because anything you say can and will be used against you. not saying you can't be uncomfortable with it, but innocent or guilty, being vague about the meat of amanda's accusations (aka the snaps) is the best strategy for him

[brucethewannabebard]

(Don’t) Say “I Love You”

I won’t say I love you. But try not to take it personally. It is just that word has a different meaning for you than it does to me. See words have power and can mean different things to different people. Love unfortunately has lost the deeper meaning it once had for most people. Most use it too liberally, Saying to to everyone about everything. Most people have come to think love just means to like a lot. So they love whatever new show or trend has their attention, forgetting that the thing they loved a month ago they now barely think about. So when you say you love me, do you mean like you love a movie?

Some people try to spread love, insisting that they are full of it to the point they can give it to everyone. People who truly have that much love do exists, but they are few and far between. More often they are people just trying to hide their own damages by trying to please others. Or someone who is more concerned with the concept than the practice. You see most people use love in this context to mean be kind, respectful, and compassionate. But I can give all those things to someone I have no love for. It is simple. So Love stops being about the actual emotion and instead becomes short hand for just not being a bad person. So when you say you love me, do you mean it like you do for that homeless man you gave money to? 

Still more people use it for their friends and family. This is both the most honest common use of love and the biggest killer of the word. Because you can have great platonic and familial love for others, and mean it when you say it. But when you say it to a romantic partner, people often use it because it is a strong feeling like they have for their friends. Thus the problem begins, because infatuation, lust, and fascination can be easily confused for love when you throw in romance to cloud the vision. So when you say you love me, do you really? Or do you just love the excitement of something new? Do you just feel attraction strong enough that you lack a better word so you use the only one you have for strong feelings?

See, while I may be guilty of using the word in all the ways I described, I never lost sight of what it means to me when I say it to a partner. Love in that context isn’t some passing fad, nor some generic good will. It isn’t just the convenient short hand for caring. When I say I love you, I mean it as deeply as I can. It is implicit trust, unwavering support, and dedication. It is me saying I have weighed the options and decided I would rather spend every day with you, no matter the challenges, than ever face the world again without you. 

It is passion that burns so strong that it is visible behind my eyes if you know what to look for. It is the desire to comfort and serve you, and put you first in everything I do. It is wanting to do everything and nothing with you. It is the  comfort to be vulnerable, and open. To have no secrets and no fear. I mean it from the deepest depths of my heart, and to the end of time. 

Because there is no one I have ever said it to that I stopped loving. Sure some of them I hate now as well, but the love is still there. Because when you truly love, you love them regardless of how they wrong you. So I won’t say “I love you”, not until I am sure I mean it. Because if I said it without feeling to that extreme, it would be dishonest of me. So when I do say it, you must understand, I will from then on be in your corner forever. Because I have learned how to live with loving someone, even after they stop liking me. 

But please, now that you know what I expect from the word, don’t say you love me. Because I just might be foolish enough to believe it again. Then when I discover you don’t mean the same thing I do, it will start to crumble. I will still love you, and that I can deal with. But I can’t take the disappointment of another false love again. So say you like me, you enjoy my company, that you miss me when I am gone. Say you care, but not that you love. Because if you tell me that, and I believe it, I won’t be able to survive finding out it was a lie. 

[thesistersarcheron]

for the writers wrapped— (i’m greedy, sorry fldbsns)

3, 18, 28, & 29 👀

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

I’m most proud of viciousness & intelligence, to be honest! It was the fic that got me writing again after years, and it was my lifeline while I finished my master’s degree. I’ve never written or plotted so much for one fic either, so even though about half the word count is just filthy smut, I’m very proud of it.

I used to stay up all night writing some of those chapters just to get my mind off the stress, and I can’t believe I wrote so much in the middle of that chaos now. I’m excited to get back into it.

18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

Feyre. She is such a beloved, complex character that pinning her down and getting her just right always makes me second-guess myself.

Lucien is a close second, because on one hand I want to make him suffer for, you know, Having the Audacity. On the other, he was my original little meow meow when I was reading the first book and I love him.

28. Favorite work that you wrote this year?

I’m proudest of V&I, but Of the Archer and the Dark is my favorite work. I’m a slut for dark, spooky fairytales where no one is good and the romance is vicious and soft all at once, and I desperately miss those vibes from the first book. Again, I’m on the edge of my seat with a few of the twists and turns I can’t wait to show everyone.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Azriel using weapons as a metaphor for his bisexuality from Chapter 5 of viciousness & intelligence:

Safe, ensconced in his shadows, he allowed himself a moment to marvel at her. At them. Blunt, brutal Cassian with an arm around sharp, powerful Nesta. A sword and a dagger from the same forge, both wicked and deadly and perfectly matched. And Azriel, adept at wielding both—

A nice little bit of foreshadowing (spoiler, I guess, but we all know Feyre and Rhys will end up together, right?) from Chapter 4 and 5 of Of the Archer and the Dark:

Amarantha finally revealed a smear of light, playful color whorling on a dark background. Only the mountains in the foreground gave it any sort of context, but it was barely passable as any sort of landscape… “I’ll keep [these samples of your painting] for now, show them to your suitors to let them know what to expect, the courting gifts I expect them to present to you… We shall be sisters, Feyre. And as your sister, I expect nothing less than the best from the males who court you.” …As the door creaked shut behind her, Feyre heard Amarantha call out, “Rhysand, come look at these. You’ll like this one…”

Poor, distraught Nesta and Feyre reuniting in Chapter 2 of A Court of Divinity and Ashes:

I didn’t dare to lift my head and look at Nesta as she pulled me into her arms before she could see what I was. “Feyre,” she breathed in my ear. The embrace was so firm it would have popped several joints if I were still mortal. Emotions weren’t our strong suit, but a choked “I missed you” tumbled from my mouth and onto her shoulder before I could hesitate. Her arms tightened. Despite my promises all those months ago, I truly hadn’t thought I would see her again after I was Made into one of the magical High Fae Under the Mountain. “Feyre,” she said again. “Where have you been?” I felt her spine stiffening as she undoubtedly started crafting the opening blows of our next argument—and whatever response I gave her would be used as ammunition, no matter how benign—but I clung to her as tightly as she clung to me. I allowed myself the momentary comfort of burying my face into her neck, sniffling her lavender perfume and the strange, loamy scent I was coming to associate with mortality as tears started burning in the corners of my eyes. …If I were now the portrait of immortal health, then my mortal sister was long-dead, and standing before me was a ghost. She looked more wraithlike than I had just a few months ago, as if slim, willowy Nuala or Cerridwen dusted themselves with flour and left only the shadows beneath their eyes untouched.