#but ALSO sorry just because some cultural differences feel 'weird' or 'wrong' to you doesn't mean they are evil and wrong

[the-lean-buddha]

My thoughts on the news about The Long Walk's film adaption

I have very little faith that The Long Walk will be a good adaption but maybe I'll be wrong! I can dream, and I've been wrong before. Here are my thoughts on the casting announcements and set pictures.

Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson are the leads, according to Deadline, which means they're presumably Garraty and McVries. Jonsson seems like a good actor but an awful fit for either character, and with Hoffman (presumably Garraty) it comes down to how good an actor he is, I guess, because I can see it working if I squint but I haven't seen anything from Hoffman to suggest he can do Garraty. And I reaaaaally doubt he could do McVries. McVries has a bite to him.

Joshua Odjick is Native American so he's presumably Joe or Mike (not to say that a different character couldn't theoretically be Native American in the adaption, but it's key to Joe and Mike that none of the other Walkers understand their culture at all, and only Baker defends their parents). It's odd that either of those two would have a prominent enough role to be cast already, so I wonder if either one of their roles is beefed up, or if Mike and Scramm will be a composite character and Joe won't feature at all. Alternatively, Odjick isn't playing a Native American character (or he is but Mike and Joe are adapted out), in which case I'd guess Parker.

Roman Griffin Davis is someone I've only ever seen in Jojo Rabbit so I don't know how much range he has. I think he'd fit best as Barkovitch but I wouldn't be surprised if he's been cast as Baker or Olson.

Charlie Plummer is Stebbins. I say this almost entirely because he's a long-haired blonde. If McVries is black then book descriptions (and characterizations, let's be honest, you can't make McVries a black kid in the 70s and keep his character the same) are thrown out the door already, but google Charlie Plummer and tell me he's not been cast as Stebbins. Also, take a look at this.

Ben Wang is Asian American and there are no explicitly Asian American characters, so we've gotta guess this one purely on Vibes (Olson and Barkovitch could both be canonically Asian American, but Barkovitch is openly racist, so). From Wang's YouTube channel and some clips of Chinese Born American I found, he's a nice and playful guy (hmu Ben let's get a lemonade, also tell me who you're playing), so I'd assume Baker or Olson or Abraham because they fit that the closest, I guess? But this is unfortunately a flawed way of guessing because actors playing lunatics are sometimes normal people in real life, walking among us, going almost undetected.

Tut Nyuot's a young, sweet-looking kid. I'd assume Percy? Again, weird to cast Percy already because he doesn't even have any lines in the book, but I can't imagine Nyuout playing a character who's supposed to be the same age as Charlie Plummer's character. Maybe he's unexpectedly good at playing deranged assholes like Barkovitch? We'll see.

For Garrett Wareing I'd say Olson, looking through clips and interviews.

Jordan Gonzalez gives me no strong impression. Sorry, Jordan. Feel free to give me a stronger one over lemonade (and tell me who you're playing). If I'm held at gunpoint then I'll say Abraham.

Mark Hamill is presumably playing the Major. He's absolutely not who I would have picked because he overflows with character and I always pictured the Major as a stoic, empty Big Brother type figure, whose moments of charisma and friendliness were obviously just an act. And I guess Hamill could play that, but I think the Major will more likely have a lot more personality and vim and vigor in the movie, if Hamill was cast - he's easily the biggest draw in the cast. Not necessarily a bad way to portray the Major, but easier to mess up. We'll wait and see.

Judy Greer as presumably Mrs. Garraty will presumably be fine.

Set photos look promising, aesthetically. No half-track, though. And there's a tank. Why is there a tank?

There's a Deadline article suggesting that there are only 50 kids and the pace limit is 3mph. But there's also an article suggesting it's still 100 kids so it might be a mistake? If it's 50 kids then that's presumably done for practicality but it's a bad change, the number will either get too low too fast or it'll drop too slowly (and also no 47 and 61 which would be weird but that's not significant). 3mph isn't necessarily bad, it's more feasible, but it does mean the "first into Massachusetts in seventeen years" can't happen. Maybe they'll make New Hampshire the record instead.

i want lemonade

Reblog with your thoughts! We've got news, people, and I'm sure someone somewhere is more excited about that than I am. Let's get some discussion going on in here.

[intheholler]

Hi, sorry if this is a weird message but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your blog.

I've never been to the appalachia region but I was born in Mississippi and only lived there for like 3 years before we moved. My mom was a travel nurse so we moved every year or two and I really loved living like that and being able to live in tons of different places but part of me is really upset that I never really belonged to a specific place.

When I was younger, I was thankful for not growing up in the south. I always heard other people talk about it, how it was nothing but inbred hillbillies and how everyone talked in a weird drawl and I was glad I never picked up the accent.

But now I'm so, so upset about it. I have a very slight accent sometimes and say y'all and ain't a lot but it's definitely not recognizable as a southern accent.

I want to sound like that, but it feels wrong to try and talk with that accent now, because my family doesn't sound like that and I don't live in the south anymore. Even though I was born there, it still feels like I'm not from there, you know? Like I would be stealing something that's not mine.

It just sucks. Especially when I hear people constantly talk shit about the south and how everyone there is stupid and ugly and racist and evil and it's like, ''Oh. Maybe if I lived there a few more years they would hate me like that too."

A lot of time I see people talking about how much it sucks to grow up in a certain culture, but I never see people talk about how much it sucks to grow up without a specific culture(s).

The worst thing is when people ask where I'm from or where I grew up, and I don't know what I'm supposed to say.

So thank you for your blog. I know the south and appalachia are different, with different cultures and climates and people, but it still makes me feel like I can experience something I never got to.

hi there. this is not weird at ALL.

its a topic very near to my heart really. thanks so much for sharing your story not only because it's yours and i want to know it, but because it resonates with me SO hard, and i don't really talk to anyone who was constantly on the move as a kid and questions their identity because of it.

long post below, as is usually the case with me and this subject.

first i wanna say: i agree that the deep south and appalachia are certainly unique from one another, but to me, they share more similarities than they do differences. your story only cements that in my mind.

we have similar politics, are embarrassed by similar stereotypes, have shameful collective histories. we have similar flavors of self-work and unlearning to do. even the accents overlap.

we also know the same struggle of trying to be louder than our region, how it feels to have our individual voices swallowed up by people who don't want to hear it because they've already decided what they think about us as if we are some monolith.

what i mean is you definitely belong in this community, and i'm so glad you are here!

now for the emotional bits: i hate making these sorts of asks about me, but i sometimes feel at a loss as how else to communicate my empathy in this specific situation.

i just hope my experience can extend a sense of solidarity and understanding to how you're feeling, as mine mirrors your own very closely. i can seriously like feel the pain radiating off of this ask and i just want you to feel seen and heard.

"The worst thing is when people ask where I'm from or where I grew up, and I don't know what I'm supposed to say."

this kicked me in the stomach, because same. it's why being "from appalachia" is so integral to my identity. i'm not from a town or even a state. all i have is the region.

i've talked about this before on here, but my dad was a contractor, and we moved every year or two as well. the longest i stayed in one town was three years, and it happened only once.

i agree that moving around a lot was good in some ways, but, like you, it left me without a sense of belonging.

looking back as an adult, i realize how badly all of that moving fucked me up. i don't have a hometown in the traditional sense. i'm not "from" anywhere.

a lot of my childhood belongings i no longer have because everything seemed to get lost in the moves. i feel like i am scattered across a region, and i am nowhere.

its so bad that, as silly as it is, i get irrationally upset at something as innocent as when i am with someone who has lived in a place most of their life, and they can easily give directions there because they know the place so well. i can't do that with anywhere and so i feel bitter.

i myself moved around consistently in appalachia/the south, though, so i still grew up in the area, as generally as one could. so i also spent most of my late childhood and preteen yearsgetting rid of the accent. i didn't want to sound "stupid" or be lumped in with the racists and the stereotypes of the region.

i thought it made me better than other kids who spoke with the accent, because back then, i hadn't started the self-work i have since undergone and ripped all that hateful internalized bullshit up.

i regret it every day now that i'm learning to love where i'm from--appalachia and the south as a region. i regret ever buying into what i was told about myself and getting rid of all markers of it.

i get it, anon. i really do and i love you and i'm sorry.

THIS IS ALL TO SAY VERY VERY LOUDLY:

you. are. from. there.

you were born in the south. you was raised by a presumably southern family. even if you wasn't, they had to take pieces of mississippi with them. culture is not a static thing--it goes where you go.

you can't steal what's already yours. the accent is yours to use. it feels awkward in your mouth when you try to get it back but that's just because it needs to get comfortable in there again. it doesn't mean you're faking or stealing. it means you are reconnecting, and reunions can sometimes be a little awkward.

don't hold yourself up to rigid standards or fall victim to any gatekeeping, outward or inward. only you get to define who you are, and it seems like you know who that is supposed to be.

i hope you can start to feel a little more at home in your identity. i know what a special hell it is. thank you so so much for being here <3333

[chezgender]

Cha cha cha / It's crazy it's party comparison

@tmrwds post and @izpira-se-zlato addition gave me brainworms. @kylla-kylla also saw the connection between ICIP and CCC and I saw their post after I started writing this. So I'm definitely not alone in being insane. Thus here is my own rant about It's Crazy it's Party.

Notes:

ICIP lyrics transcript taken from @koppitules on twt, translation taken from a Käärijä discord

CCC lyrics and translation from lyricstranslate.com

Disclaimer: This analysis is purposefully exaggerated/dramatic in order to highlight contrast. I do think Jere loves his job and career, ICIP is definitely a fun song in which you can find (or not) a deeper meaning, it's up to your interpretation. I just love angst lol please don't come at me I'm sensitive 🤡😭

(ps. sorry to all the people I tagged. You don't have to interact with this, I just wanted to give proper credit)

Let's start. Bear with me being cringe.

First verse

At the beginning of CCC, we see how partying is reserved for the weekend - it's something cathartic after a long week of responsibility and worries, it's an outlet for stress and negativity. The world can't scare him no more, as he mentions later in the song, now that he's having fun.

In ICIP, people have pointed out how the first verse reminds them of CCC, musically wise. This is definitely on purpose, the main difference lies in the lyrics. Here Jere reveals that partying now it's an everyday thing. It's an endless circus of traveling despite everything, he's the cog in a machine bigger than him. The world that seemed so tiny compared to the fun, is now scary - the party is now and tomorrow and 365 days a year, in Finland and even abroad. As if there was no safe place. He can't escape it and it's overwhelming to the point "you'll feel it in your hair and your ass" (honestly, weird phrasing, but it gets the point across I guess?). Either way, this party is almost ineluctable.

Chorus

In the CCC chorus he says he wants to forget about the pains of daily life by getting wasted and drinking with both hands on as many drinks as he can hold, until he won't even be able to get up. Honestly, although this doesn't seem like a healthy coping mechanism (but I'm none to judge), it does look willing and deliberate - he makes the choice of getting drunk on the weekend. He's in control of when the party happens.

In ICIP instead the chorus is shorter, and quite tautological: crazy is crazy, party is party, and life is life, you know? (see @tmrwds for a cultural insight on the "elämä on laiffi" phrase). There's a different feeling in this chorus, the singing is soft and maybe even a bit sexy but the lyrics hold a touch of resignation in between. This party is not a deliberate choice anymore, Jere doesn't get to choose when his life is crazy/party and when he gets to rest.

CCC 2nd verse / ICIP Tommy's verse

Without need for lyrics, also because most people have a hard time understanding what Tommy was singing live, I'll talk about this in brief. I chose to include it because Jere himself sang some parts of it during the live - mostly echoing, but still.

In CCC, Jere parties almost alone. Well, it's implied that there's more people to that party but the song is about him, his own liberation from stress and whatever thing was keeping him bound and off the dancefloor. There are no explicit references to other people.

In ICIP instead, Tommy sings about a club in which they enter and people go crazy. They talk about sex in a rather crass way, probably for kicks, but as mentioned in @tmrwds post, it could definitely hint at the wrong kind of attention Jere is receiving. People in his DMs and probably even in person are making more or less explicit advances on him, surely unsolicited, but it's part of the party.

And Tommy invites Jere to party with him (that modulated voice parodically reminds me of the beginning of Barbie Girl by Aqua). Jere says yes, of course he wants to party with him, right here right now (no matter the day, or his condition, does he really have a say in it?)

Another thing I'd like to point out:

Jere in CCC mentions "it's hard to talk when this different side of me does its part" / Tommy in ICIP mentions how the alcohol makes it hard to think (obviously, but I'm clinically insane and I see intertextuality everywhere) - so, basically, the "side of him" Jere talks about in CCC renders him carefree, maybe happy, definitely free of burdens. In ICIP, this "part of him" seems to have taken complete control to the point Jere can't tell himself from it.

Last part of ICIP

"Let's go party" leads to a countdown - inexorable and short, leaving everyone little time to get ready. The song explodes like a bomb, reminds me of a breakdown in a Korn song. The bass hammers hard and everyone is jumping, hearts bursting, everything is out of control. To quote @izpira-se-zlato , there's an apocalyptic feeling to it. Jere can't do anything but let himself be engrossed without a chance to escape. Which he can't, lest he gives everything up.

Where CCC was party metal with a touch of eurodance, ICIP definitely belongs to an insane rave. It reminds me of Dutch hardstyle, dubstep and a touch of eurodance until the end, which screams industrial/nu metal to me, only adding to the concept of hammering and exhausting work/lifestyle.

We could say that It's Crazy it's Party is the Välikuolema to Cha Cha Cha's Viuliunkieli, in a way.

Jere is a storyteller in most of his songs, and it's clear he likes such narratives to carry on between different tracks (i.e: I think the Viulunkieli/Välikuolema narrative carries on to Morgan), so it's only fair to assume the two songs combined tell a whole story.

Further speculation: Jere has often said he's really tired in this precise moment - the relentless touring throughout summer is obviously taking a toll on him, no matter how much he can love what he does. It would be exhausting for anyone. Plus, the "ghost" of ESC follows him everywhere: sometimes I get the feeling many people perceive him as the CCC-guy rather than the complete artist he is, so maybe he's trying to change this.

As many people already said, the story Mikke posted with the grave being dug could hint at the burial of green-bolero-Käärijä. I don't believe Jere is denying the fame and good things it has brought, but he's probably willing to turn the page and carry on with something new (and probably take a long, well deserved break). Or maybe the MV will just be homoerotic softp-rn featuring a grave, WHO KNOWS. I just know I can't wait to see what's next. I love ESC-Käärija (without CCC I wouldn't even be aware of his existence, so I'm forever grateful) and that love will forever be a part of me, but I also welcome this change with open arms in hopes to see him grow more and more.

Conclusion: the speculation is very real and material and I am very very cringe <33

[moon-alight]

Hello! I have a request idea, but idk if you'd want to do it since it's a bit silly. 😂 But here it is anyway; &TEAM with a s/o who can't eat with chopsticks, how would they handle the situation and how would they discover this fact. (I'm sorry it's really weird, but I'm usually struggling eating with chopsticks so I came up with this to feel better lol)

Alright, this made me giggle when I first read this.

Masterlist

&Team reaction to you struggling with chopsticks

Warnings: fluff, crack

Word Count: 719

-K

He watches you for a moment, observing how your fingers are in the wrong position and how you struggle to pick up the rice. There is an amused smile on his face until he feels like you've embarrassed yourself enough.

He puts his hand over yours and repositions your fingers the right way while he helps you pick up some rice. He won't laugh at you directly but later when he's alone, he will think about it and chuckle.

-Fuma

Doesn't notice right away but when he does he will snort. Tries to cover up his laugh with a cough but you know damn well he just made fun of you. He apologizes and offers to help you pick up your food.

Makes it his mission to teach you how to use them properly but he will laugh every time you mess up. Not because he makes actual fun of you but because he thinks you're adorable.

-Nicholas

Makes fun of you right to your face. (Also because he thinks it's cute how you keep trying) Every time he reaches out to help you, you swat his hand away because you're stubborn.

When some time has passed and you're still struggling, he gets a fork for you and laughs silently so you won't hear him but you can see his chest vibrate so you know he's still laughing at you.

-EJ

Coos at you. Suggests to switch to a fork immediately but you tell him that you at least want to try. He accepts your decision and shows you step for step how to correctly hold chopsticks.

Even reaches for your fingers to place them in the right position. Not because you can't do it but because he wants to touch you. He would never laugh at you for such thing but he will smile like a dork every time you use chopsticks in the future.

-Yuma

Be prepared for a lifetime of endless teasing from this guy. Watches you struggle and doesn't even try to help you out. Little shit. Has a big smirk on his face as he watches you, but he can't hide his lovesick puppy eyes.

When you give up and get a fork, he'll tease you even more. But when you ask him to stop being a tease and help you out, he will. No hesitation. But he would still continue to bully you with it.

-Jo

Sweetest little cinnamon roll ever! Almost immediately notices your discomfort and asks if you need any help. When you say 'yes' he will patiently explain it to you and show you how to use chopsticks.

If you get frustrated or annoyed because it won't work, no worries. Jo had a fork next to him because he had a feeling you would need it. Won't even mention it anymore afterwards. He's just happy you're comfortable while eating.

-Harua

A mix of Yuma and Fuma. He doesn't notice right away but when he does, he laughs. Sorry, he can't help it. But he laughs out of adoration not because he wants to make fun of you necessarily.

It will become an inside joke but that's a different story. He will make it his priority to teach you how to use them and sends videos of people messing up with chopsticks to make you feel better.

-Taki

If he wasn't Japanese, he would've probably struggled with them too, tbh. Has a confused look on his face when he watches you struggle. It takes a moment before he realizes you're from a different culture, one that doesn't use chopsticks.

He won't laugh. . . maybe chuckle but nothing to make fun of you. He laughs at himself for not realizing it sooner. If you ask for help, he will give it to you immediately but if you don't he'd just get you a fork.

-Maki

This is someone who grew up in Germany so he is used to both forks and chopsticks. He watches you struggle for a good minute and tells you he did too when he had to learn how to use them.

Sends you some tutorials from youtube so you can learn on your own accord. He wouldn't be mad if you just eat with a fork because it's just utensils. There's bigger problems than chopsticks to worry about.

[jessequinones]

Writing Advice: I'm so lonely

There’s a book I’m currently reading where the main character is an outsider in a village. For context, I’m talking about a dragon book where the main character is a different colour than everyone around him and also has powers unlike any other dragon. Because of this everyone (except his friends) thinks he’s weird and strange, and he believes he’ll get kicked out of the village if they know what he truly is. (Bonus points if you’d guess which book I’m talking about). Now, I’m not trying to put this one book on blast, however, this is a prevalent trope which I would like to discuss with you.

This trope is a good example of a trope which can talk about racism in society as many people, (myself included) are the outsider in their communities. I’m an American living in Australia, not uncommon, but there aren't many Americans in the area where I live. I’m also Taíno and I know I’m the only one in my area. So I get a lot of confused people, asking me where I’m from, and where I’m “really” from. I can’t control the colour of my skin. I look Puerto Rican because I want to represent my culture and doing so makes me stand out, not because I want to but because I’m literally the only Puerto Rican in my area. So when it comes to characters who deal with the “I’m so lonely” trope, I can relate because just like them, I’m also lonely. (Excluding family and friends).

The funny thing about this trope is that often times when it’s created, it’s not really used as a way to talk about racism or being a part of a minority, instead, it’s used as a quick way to feel sorrow for said character. You’ve seen this trope a million times, the outsider gets called out for being an outsider, the outsider runs away, and while gone the outsider discovers friendship, and saves the day. (Luz, from the Owl House). Then the community who banished the outsider now accepts them...but they never really learned the error of their way. Yes, they said sorry, but what if another outsider comes around? Often times the outsider forgives said community but why? They shunned the outsiders, why doesn't the outsiders stand up for themselves?

When this trope is written, you can probably take a guess at how it’ll be used depending on who's writing it. If a person of colour is the writer, chances are it’ll talk about racism. If a person who is a part of a minority creates this trope then said trope will be used as an allegory for whatever the author is a part of.

If the person is a cis white author (most likely a male) then the lonely trope is mainly used for sympathy points. More often than not, the outsider is a character who has a personality that’s not commonly seen in their community such as being an introvert around extroverts. Being a reader instead of a sports player, wanting to go on adventures while everyone else says no. You get the point. While rare, the outsider can also be an extrovert and keep messing up their community. (Luz from the Owl House)

None of these are bad examples of the “I’m so lonely” trope. Everyone has experienced feeling alone at some point. It’s a common experience so it’s a common trope.

What I want to talk about is when the trope is used, by the wrong writer. Such as going back to the book I’m currently reading, a dragon who's a different colour than the rest of his community but the author isn’t using this as a racism metaphor.

I’m white-passing, my skin is just dark enough that people will stare at me as they try and figure out where I’m from. This is sadly a common occurrence. So if you’re writing a story where a character is struggling with the same struggles I deal with, the point gets lost and I’ll have a few words.

I understand, for most writers they have no idea this is what they’ve done, however, please get some people who are either of colour or of a minority to read through your story and I guarantee, that if they experienced what I’ve gone through, they might be able to inform you of what you wrote. I don’t want you to think you’ll have to change your story, however, be mindful of how it’s coming across if it gets brought up. (I’d say if it gets brought up because this isn’t a common trope many will recognise).

If this is something which gets brought up in your story, how do you deal with it?

One thing I would like to see more of is holding the community accountable. (I’m gonna be talking about this dragon because it’s a good example). If they shun this dragon because he’s a different colour, but later accept him. Hold them accountable. Punish the community. Have them see the error of their ways. It would also help to then bring more characters (in this case dragons), of the same colour into the community afterwards.

I would also like to see the outsider finding others who came from the same community and were banished for the same reason. Have them be told this is an ongoing problem, something that needs to change.

I also want to see more frustrated outsiders. Yes, they can be scared of their community, and yes they might not fight back, but for the inner dialogue. Have them lash out. Let it be known they can’t change who they are, and are frustrated the community won’t accept them.

I also want to see if the outsider has a small group of friends in the community before they get banished, to vent their frustration at their friends. Have their friends comment on what they see, and have their friends stand up for them instead of ignoring what’s going on. Just something to say “This is a problem and we want it fixed.”

Otherwise, if the outsider, (like a dragon) who's a different colour from the rest, never brings up the struggles of what it’s like being the only one, and their friends don’t help in the situation, then you miss the point of the lonely trope you wrote.

Now I know if you’d figured out which story I’m referring to then you might say the character I keep bringing up does mention his struggles and does vent about the situation...but not in a way which is helpful for this trope.

The main dragon which I’m using as a piñata is hiding from his community because he’s afraid of what they might discover. He’s an outsider yes, but an outsider who's trying to blend in with the rest of the community. Many people who connect with outsiders, connect with them because they can’t hide. They tried to fit in and couldn’t. There’s a difference between an introvert trying to blend in with a bunch of extroverts, compared to being the only Taíno at school.

The writer pointed out the colour of this dragon being different compared to the rest of the community, but the main character is more worried about the others finding out what he is, and it feels like the colour of his scales is a gateway to discovering who he is. So for all intents and purposes, it’s as if this dragon is an introvert trying to blend in with a bunch of extroverts. Still, his scales just so happened to look different compared to everyone else’s which means this one dragon is now a part of two different lonely tropes which makes everything confusing. Ultimately the writer ends up ignoring the racism part. The point of the dragon in the book I’m reading isn’t that he’s an outsider because he can’t change who he is, it’s the fact he’s an outsider because he’s hiding from what he is.

When creating the lonely trope (if the subject isn’t because of racism or being discriminated against), it’s a good idea to figure out why they’re lonely. Do they have a dark past? Do they act differently? It’s also a good idea to figure out why they’re an outsider. Are they actively trying to avoid others, or do others hate them?

If you add in an element, such as they look different on top of everything else, then the simple lonely trope doesn’t become simple because, in the real world, many people are outsiders because they “look different”. You can’t just add that as an icing. If you’re gonna be adding it, it needs to be a part of the main ingredients.

The lonely trope is a good one, and one many can relate to, but if done wrong, it can also anger people. When creating the lonely trope, just remember to take a step back, figure out why they're lonely and go from there. If looking different has to be included and can't be taken out, then grab sensitivity readers. My normal advice is beta readers but for this trope, I believe hiring sensitivity readers might be a better choice as they can go over what works and what doesn't in better detail.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

This might be a weird question but I’m first Generation Greek diaspora in Canada and I often feel disconnected from my culture. I have found out that I’m non-binary in some way and I want to change my name because it’s a very feminine name. However, it’s also a very Greek name, and I feel like erasing it in place of some WASP or USian name would make me feel even more disconnected from my culture. I’ve been looking online for Greek unisex name lists but they always have names that no Greek actually has or are not unisex. I know that we have a problem with naming people the same thing, I think like 50% of the Greek girls I meet are named Maria or some variant of it, but I have met some cool names people. Still, I want to choose a name that reflects my culture and my identity and I haven’t come out to my family yet so I can’t ask them. Anyways, I was just wondering if you could think of any off the top of your head or if you could recommend a baby name list. Sorry if this is hard I don’t mean to stress you out, I just don’t have many people who I can talk to about Greek culture

Hi! Perhaps you could go with Χάρις which is feminine but also sounds like Χάρης, the masculine name. ;) Or some other modern Greek names that end in -ις. (Which.... tbh I can't think of anything atm 😂) But feel free to check some and come back to ask if you can use them nowadays.

I am not non-binary and I don't have the energy or time to go to queer Greek spaces although I belong there 😅 This is to say that I am not aware of any solution that the Greek ΛΟΑΤΚΙ+ community has found for this. And that anyone who knows what's going on can fill us in.

The explanation/context:

It's true that Greek names are gendered so I cannot find anything from the top of my mind to suggest :/ I was about to suggest some more "powerful" Greek names (like Alexandra) but that would also suggest that there are "masculine" and "feminine" traits that belong only to a certain gender. I don't want to imply that war or physical power is strictly a "masculine" thing ya know, or that a "Maria" is automatically feminine and cannot be assertive or even fire a gun. Traits don't have "feminine" and "masculine" vibes to me, they are just human traits. After all, Greek women are known for their resilience and toughness, the ability to terrify anyone with merely a stare and a slipper/stick, and their fierceness when they make it into military ranks.

Tbh I think Greeks experience being non-binary beyond names. Names can be irrelevant. E.g. you can have a feminine or a masculine name and still be non-binary. English speakers often make a fuss about what names are masculine and feminine but I haven't seen Greeks care much about it. Greeks don't argue about what names are "more feminine". That's not how we see names and that's not how we connect them with gender. No one cares if they call you Melina and you have 100 piercings and ride a motorcycle. So in this society there's no thought to get rid of your name if it doesn't "match" your actions or basic expression.

Ofc you can change your name for whatever reason. I am only speaking on the Greek mindset about names and gender. The Greek non-binary people I've met in Greece go by their gendered baptism names. In online spaces only they go by English names, or just by their initials, as the English trend is.

Sometimes I also suspect that there are differences between what feels non-binary for a Greek and what feels non-binary for a Canadian. I might be completely wrong here, but I am letting this thought out there to see if there are indeed different perspectives. For example, I've felt a difference between local queerness in some cases, like when USians see a Greek woman with "αγορέ" short hair and...average person movements (not feminine or masculine I mean, just a person existing), and immediately switch to "they/them". Meanwhile for Greek society this person naturally falls into the "default woman" category and we wouldn't see any reason to not use she/her. (I'm talking about cases where the person also doesnt say anywhere that they are non-binary or that they use they/them pronouns.)

In aaaaany case, our societal norms, our histories, and presentations are not the same and for this reason I also applaud your decision to choose a name that reflects your culture and identity. As people we are a mix of many things and our characteristics carry a cultural flavour.

Given all this, and driven by practicality, I would say that it would be better to go with a feminine name (because of your physical presentation) but choose whatever feels better for you. Don't think of Greek names for females as "more or less" feminine, since that's not the Greek way of thinking.

More suggestions:

You can choose a name that honours your values, or a characteristic that you want to have or you are proud that you have. You can choose names that express concepts, like "wisdom" (Σοφία), "love" (Αγάπη), "freedom" (Ελευθερία/Ρία), "hope" (Ελπίδα), "salvation" (Σωτηρία), "reign" (Βασιλεία), "happy/beloved" (Ασπασία), grace (Χάρις).

Just because these words are feminine, it doesn't mean that they are feminine traits. They are feminine GRAMMATICALLY. Something that English speakers might not understand is that gendered language doesn't mean that you assign gender to things. Heck, even the chair is a feminine noun in Greek but no one suggests there's any feminine about a chair 😂"Dick" (yes the genitals) can also be a feminine word. (η πούτσα) Like, the feminine pronoun doesn't mean anything.

Sure, the connection between names and sex is strong in Greek, but not in the sense English speakers (or people who speak neutral-gender languages) might think. We can recognise Greek sexism and separatism but at the same time I think it's important to understand that each society sees different traits in the sexes and genders.

You could also choose names like "farmer" (Γιωργία, to suggest that you like to work the earth), or the name of some Greek goddess, or some Greek saint to show that you have their attributes. Or the name of an empress, or the name of an emperor but in its feminine version (e.g. Κωνσταντίνα). Maybe the name of a Muse, if you are a creative.

That's it from me 💙 Sorry to have delayed this answer but I needed to think a lot, and life doesn't let me think or answer to asks a lot these days. I hope I managed to help even a little bit.

=====================================

As I said, I am not non-binary, and I don't want to speak over non-binary people. I am answering this because you said that you don't have lots of people to talk about these things, and perhaps it's better to have someone queer say some stuff about it. As always, more opinions are welcome in the comments and reblogs. I don't have all the knowledge in the world.

[pixlpxie]

Hi Pixie!

I'd like to thank you for your openness about sexual things, needs and fantasies, as it greatly helped me accept my own sexual side.

I've always had quite high libido, I get aroused easily and I've always been really into porn, my friends also know me to be "the pervy friend" just based on my humour and general horniness, but even though it's something I can laugh at, I still often feel shame at myself and at the feelings I have.

The feeling that I shouldn't be having these thoughts, that I am somehow flawed and disgusting, that there's something wrong with me because I am so "feral", it just wouldn't leave me alone and it was something I was extremely embarrassed by and I feared that people would find me to be some deranged sexual lunatic.

I went through sexual abuse in my childhood, and accepting that side of me has always been really hard, but you've helped me a lot - to realise that such things are normal and there's nothing shameful about them. That this is all perfectly natural, that it doesn't make me disgusting or wrong or tainted to have sexual needs, that I am allowed to explore kinks and take pleasure from fantasies.

So for that, thank you so much.

I'm sorry for the long message and oversharing, but it always goes through my mind when I see the anon hate you get, people calling you disgusting and such and how effortlessly you shoot them down and laugh at them, absolutely unapologetic.

I wish all those people realised that it's extremely important to have spaces where you can comfortably share these feelings and thoughts, that it should be normalised to talk about sex and sexual needs and that the taboo of it isn't right, especially when it comes to female pleasure. Purity culture isn't cute and women are also people with needs.

Spaces like this help people realise that they aren't wrong or broken for their natural instincts, whether they've been brought up in religious circles or went through abuse, what you're doing on your platform is important to many who thought they were alone in these feelings and feared to talk about it, because they were afraid they would be called weird and disgusting for having a functional body that demands certain things that are natural and healthy.

Thank you very much <3

Ok let me go cry real quick and ill be back 😮‍💨

I had to read this a few times because i usually cant see what i do here as something that could help people so reading this was so valuable, truly it means the world to me. First of all I'm so sorry for what happened to you, you didn't deserve any of that and I hope you are doing well know 🥺💓 you will do even better 🥹🫶🏻

Having a high libido, different sexual desires and needs are totally normal but even to this day it's treated like a taboo like you said. And trust me i know how it feels like to be that pervy friend, it's exactly like the way you described. Almost in every social group im the one who's too much, too freaky, or too 'different'. My friends are so fun and you can always talk abt pervy stuff with them sure but at the end of the day I am always the weird one because usually i know or say stuff that get them a little horrified. Its all fun and games till it starts to get to you, I had to sit down and think why I am the way I am many times because like you said, something must have been wrong with me. Because why would I enjoy things that my friends don't?

Turns out everything's fine and you shouldn't really bother knowing why. It's okay, it's normal, in fact it's healthy. So the hate I get seems so childish to me and honestly it's fun atp. Sex and kinks are natural, they're human. Everyone will enjoy different things, some will like it more plain and simple while some will like more kinky things. You're not disgusting for enjoying things that the majority don't. Sexuality is fluid and endless, you will keep exploring it throughout your entire life and be as fierce as you can while doing it🫶🏻

Like I said, I am usually unable to comprehend the effect my blog has on people but reading your ask and other similar ones make me feel so many emotions. I never thought my blog would be a safe space for you guys 🥹 Please know that you are always welcome on this blog, we can talk about anything you want and I'll always try my best to help you. And please don't ever be sorry for 'oversharing' or writing 'long' asks bc trust me it's not oversharing or long for me. I love being here with you guys and I hope you know that you mean so much to me🥹😭💓

[thebreakfastgenie]

Any other petpeaves for the mash fandom?

I feel like a good deal of my content is my various complaints about the mash fandom, but here are a few that come to mind:

Assumption of popular fanon People will assume that everyone is not only familiar with the popular fanon, they all agree with it. This creates a hostile environment for creativity and sharing different ideas but also for new fans who haven't even made up their minds because they don't even know about this stuff yet. This includes assumption of beejhawk but is very much not limited to that.

Spelling characters' names wrong We have google! You can just google it!

Calling MASH a dramedy It's a comedy.

Saying "what does this mean" about things that have clear meanings Sometimes the meanings are a little opaque to a modern audience, but not understanding a joke because it relies on dated cultural references isn't the same thing as the line being mysterious. This also applies to "they were insane for this" about very standard jokes and plot devices. The word you are looking for is "good." It's memorable because it was executed well, not because it was a wild choice.

Acting like characters' behavior is insane when it's literally normal I'm sure other fandoms do this too because insane and unhinged are trendy words right now but my experience with it is only in the MASH fandom. BJ isn't insane for remembering a childhood marbles rivalry. That's not even weird for a real person and it's completely unremarkable for a TV character.

Saying the show got more progressive in the later seasons/devaluing the early seasons generally The early seasons were more political and Frank Burns was a key part of the progressive message.

Making fun of boomers for missing the point The fandom is not any better, guys. Sorry to break it to you.

The time loop thing You can't just say the words "time loop." And no pointing to continuity errors or examples of the timeline being weird doesn't provide evidence for a time loop. A time loop is a specific thing, not any kind of timeline weirdness.

Making Peace on Us about BJ instead of Margaret :( He does very little, it's much more about Margaret and her relationship with Hawkeye. I wanted to complain about this in my other answer but didn't because that was a more positive post.

Analysis that relies on faulty assumptions This is an all-fandom problem but I run into this in the MASH fandom a lot where a whole meta depends on a statement about a character or storyline that's just incorrect and it's so annoying!

The way people talk about Maine 😡

The literal interpretation of "everyone loses something" in GFA That's an oversimplification and the more accurate version is "everyone is changed in some way."

Straight up fake stories circulating Hawkeye was never forbidden to touch men's underwear. Alan Alda was also never in Korea but that one isn't the fandom's fault, it's a wikipedia error.

Everything about the TVTropes page It's very slanted and full of straight up disinformation and people trust it because they don't understand that TVTropes isn't like wikipedia. Also, people think it means fanon is being validated by an outside source, but the TVTropes entry was written by mashblr people.

Thinking the Mud Hens were made up :( :(((((

Saying BJ has boobs That man is flat as a board. Stop lying. I have eyes.

[cowboyjen68]

Is it strange or even.. "wrong" that I'm a gay man who's questioning if he might be bisexual, and considering searching out a very butch bi woman to experiment with? I think my attraction might be fully based on masculine presentation, rather than gender, but hell I don't even know if bi butch he/hims exist lol. Sorry for the weird question! I hope your road trip goes well! The haircut looks great 💜

I know it feels weird to question yourself after thinking you had it figured out but the truth is, human sexuality can be confusing in a world where a lot of mixed signals are embedded in our culture and sometimes even worse with in our greater LGBT+ community. There is often a lot of pressure to "pick a side".

Moreso than when I when I was coming out in the 1990's there is a lot of shame and judgment placed on people who experiment or are curious about sexual experience outside of what sexuality they eventually land on. It was (and is) common for lesbians and gay men I "grew up" with in my 20's to have a past that involved dating, marrying or having sex with the opposite sex before finally understanding their sexual and emotional attraction to the same sex. Some people never need that experience, others are curious and still others need to see what the "other" is all about in order to come to terms with their sexuality. None of these decisions are bad. Past actions do not define our sexuality but can sometimes be the calalyst that makes us see the truth.

I believe, based on myself and my friends and years of talking to many people, that our sexuality is innate but that doesn't mean we all understand it from the beginning. We aren't given a manual and the human experience is often one that involves trial and error to figure things out. And that includes discovering the difference between sexual and emotional fulfillment and just tolerating something because we think we are supposed to like it.

I also believe that butch is a lesbian word and only applies to lesbians but I think I understand what you are saying. There are plenty of masc (masculine) straight and bi women out there. There are definitely a wide variety of people who would fit that look/energy you are looking for.

My advice is to be honest with them, even if not too specific. Let any potential partner know you are not interested in a relationship and you are sort of in an experimental phase and let them decide if you are the right fit for them at the moment.

Any one who shames you for making this very personal decision is wrong in doing so. Life is too short to deny ourselves of experimentation and experiences as long as we are not harming others.

You might gain some clarity as you go on this new adventure in life. Be honest with yourself and don't bend to the pressure of external forces. Your sexual and emotional happiness is important and you are wothy of living it to the fullest.

[northwest-cryptid]

Wtf is the difference between incel in italics and not in italics I'm confused???

Let me attempt to explain, sorry this is gonna be a lot and I might not do a great job so if you need anything clarified feel free to send in another ask because I have a lot of thoughts on this sort of topic.

Incel gets thrown around a lot as an insult for people who are basically sexists.

You know what Incel actually literally means? Involuntary Celibate.

So for the sake of explanation I'm going to refer to Sexist Asshole Incels as Incels (A) and literally Involuntary Celibates as Incels (B).

I know PLENTY of people who fall into Incel (B) category, and thankfully they have a lot of good people around them and are good people themselves so they don't end up turning into Incel (A).

However, let's assume for a moment that someone is incel (B) and they're on the internet.

This is an individual, we will say they're a young man; who's just down on his luck. Perhaps he's depressed and not conventionally attractive. He may have some kind of social anxiety or maybe even something like Autism that might make it difficult for him to meet and socialize with people.

Alright we all got this dude in our head? Cool.

Now it's important to note that by all accounts this individual is an alright dude, he's not sexist; nor is he transphobic or bigoted or any of that. He's just a good dude. He's just shy, keeps to himself; maybe he lives somewhere that doesn't have a lot of people his age, maybe he still lives with his parents well into his young adulthood because he doesn't have the money to move out in this economy without getting a roommate. By no means is he a bad person, he just happens to be literally; involuntarily celibate.

Now he goes online to talk about some game he likes on tumblr and sees a bunch of people talking about Incels. So not knowing the term he looks it up, he learns that Incel means:

Huh yea okay, so he's not hostile towards anyone, not women or anyone sexually active. However, he is a young man who desires romantic or sexual intimacy and involuntarily can't get it.

However, these people online discussing Incels seem to regard them only in hostility. If you're an Incel it means you're sexist, if you're an Incel it means you're an asshole, if you're an incel it means you're a bad person.

Well he likely doesn't take kindly to that, he's not wronged anyone, he's not hostile; but... he IS an Incel right? I mean he is an individual who can't seem to find romantic or sexual partners despite desiring one. That's quite literally what it means.

Now, quiz time;

Which internet culture do you think is going to pick this man up? Is it

A. The actually good people who could explain to him that his ability to find a sexual partner has no measure on his worth or moral alignment as a person and that he is no less for his celibacy and that it's absolutely just a situation where he likely would have better luck if he were around more people, or could socialize easier; and maybe even help him to do so in a healthy and organic way which could potentially lead him to a sexual or romantic relationship that he desires without causing him to have weird hostile and sexist views of that sexual or romantic partner

or

B. You know, Incels (A) who are going to tell him he can't get laid because of the Woke Left and Feminism; and teach him that women are just objects he should sexualize and whatever the fuck they talk about I don't know man I don't subscribe to their Alpha Beta bullshit.

So the answer is B more often than not sadly.

And it's really easy for them to make those good genuine people out to be assholes when we literally use Incel as an insult so often that the definition went from "Involuntary Celibate" to "Yea they're still involuntarily a celibate, but also they're hostile and bad."

It's really hard to disavow the importance of sex and also say "but if you want it and can't have it; then you're an Incel and that's bad."

Which, while you and I may understand it goes deeper than that; the individual in our scenario (who by the way, is a lot more common a real person than you might believe) does not know this, because they're likely not so well acquainted with our culture.

We strictly treat incel as a bad thing, as an insult.

The inherent issue I have with this is that I've always gauged things like this from the view of someone who is on the boarder. Someone with no alignment one way or the other, who isn't familiar with the culture; and may not know deeper understanding of words or circumstances.

I do this because I've seen this sort of thing happen time and time again, people who have the potential to either educate themselves and better themselves; or literally be indoctrinated by horrible sexist assholes and creeps. You know what the issue is NEARLY every time?

The good people who could actually help them, are so fucking sick and tired of the shit they have to put up with from every asshole they come across; that it's a very reasonable and understandable reaction to hear one bad thing from someone and go "oh god not another one"

We handle someone vile, by being vile back; and I'm not saying that's necessarily right or wrong. I can't say I don't understand why, we're not in elementary school, I'm not going to tell you to just "ignore your bullies" as if that'll make them stop.

However I want to share with you a situation I had a hand in specifically; for the sake of privacy I won't be mentioning the individual in question by name. I believe that a topic of this nature shouldn't even be addressed in public but I also think it's a fantastic example of what I'm talking about.

I have been a part of NSFW communities for a long time, we're talking like a decade plus kind of long time it's literally what I do for a job majority of the time. In that time I've had the pleasure and absolute horror of knowing a lot of interesting people. One such person is a great example because we had become friends some time before they informed me that they were into something called loli. Now I'm going to assume that most people here know what that is, but for those who don't I'll summarize it as saying it's hentai that depicts specifically underage girls. So you know, not fucking okay.

Now, I wouldn't blame you if you think I should immediately drop kick this fucker into next week for openly admitting to something like that, but again I want you to think back to the question I asked last time.

If I react poorly and harshly and rudely (even if understandably so), who do you think is going to take them in? People who could help them realize the fault in stuff like loli? People who could help them overcome a problem and be a better person? Or people who are going to tell them shit like "it's just a drawing" or whatever and validate a problem until they feel like it's okay? I've seen it happen a lot, I knew a lot of really genuinely skilled animators who were good people, took one or two bad commissions for the money and began to think it was suddenly okay because "they're not real people or whatever" and I no longer associate with those people because of how they decided to lead their life going forward.

However, back to our situation with the individual in question; I basically sat them down and asked them why. I made it very clear that I understood they were not a pedophile or anything of the sort so then what exactly was it they enjoyed so much about it? So much so that they'd openly admit to it. We discussed it for a bit, and that was that; I left them with their thoughts; and a few days later. I'm talking DAYS later. They came back to me genuinely excited to tell me they were a changed individual who just wasn't into that shit anymore. They were GENUINELY proud of themselves for overcoming that, and I was proud of them for it too.

They were able to grow and better themselves because they had the right kind of people to talk to, who weren't going to insult them and see them as less for being honest about something that by all accounts was bad and wrong; and who also were firm in the belief that some things are just wrong on a moral level but that someone can grow out of that if they try.

To this day I wonder how differently they'd have turned out if I rejected them harshly for that one message. If I had cut ties with them and simply did the most instinctual thing of going "OH EW GROSS NO BAD" instead of attempting to better understand them first and really help them out of that situation.

Now believe me, if they didn't grow out of that; we'd not be friends, because at that point they would have made their choice knowing all the facts and done so with the conviction that it was how they wanted to move forward.

So what does this have to do with Incels?

Well simply put, I've literally met an Incel (A) who I didn't realize was an Incel (A), he and I got along great; we'd chill and talk and animate stuff and it was fine. Great co-worker, very good at animation the whole nine yards right? Then he hits me with some absolutely transphobic bullshit about trans women, genuine real Incel (A) shit. I very hesitantly mentioned I was trans and he left the call; came back to work on the animation about an hour later and asked me about being trans. We talked about it (for several hours) and it changed his mind. It wasn't even that he considered me "one of the good ones" he was able to understand that his views of trans people were unwarranted, that his fears towards trans women were irrational. He's literally dating a trans woman now, and they're a very wholesome and happy couple. You know the biggest factor in what changed his mind? No joke, he told me that the number one thing that made him question everything was the fact that when he came back to ask me about being trans; I was kind enough to actually give him the time of day when he had said all that shit to my face not knowing he was talking about me the whole time. He respected my understanding that he knew I didn't owe him.

When I say "I wish people knew the difference" the people I'm specifically talking about are Incel (B) individuals.

I genuinely wish that people experiencing Involuntary Celibacy, who are OTHERWISE GOOD PEOPLE; who are perfectly fine, not assholes, not sexist; just down on their luck people understood that they're not worthless vile assholes just because they can't seem to "get any"

Because the truth is, we've been doing this sort of thing for a while with a ton of different words and phrases, we hurt good people while trying to insult bad people.

"small dick energy" okay yea sure let's just insult everyone who has a small dick as if that has anything to do with moral values and their personal views. When I worked at an adult novelty shop (that's a sex shop for people who don't know) one of my nicest coworkers would often explain to people that he genuinely didn't know how a lot of the toys worked because his dick wasn't big enough to use them, which I still don't know if that really matters or not like I swear anyone can use those things but I don't know he'd know better than I on that one to be fair. He'd often make a lot of jokes about having a small dick. He was a great dude and by all internet standards he had "big dick energy" he'd regularly step in to help women who were being harassed at our store, and he was genuinely understanding when I told him I was trans even though he didn't "know how it worked."

What I'm getting at with all of this is simply

A. Try to be understanding and have compassion for people who might be teetering on the boundary between being an educated good person, or a fucking sexist asshole or pedo or some shit. More often than not, a polite nudge in the right direction can be all someone needs to actually get on a better path in their life and genuinely change for the better, they just need that understanding an education.

B. We gotta call people what they are, if someone's a Sexist Asshole, they're not an Incel they're a SEXIST ASSHOLE, if someone is a rude piece of shit they don't have "small dick energy" they're a RUDE PIECE OF SHIT. We use words that mean other things until they mean what we say they do and everyone who happens to fall into the initial category suddenly feels alienated and becomes a REALLY easy target for all the people who are actually the problem to sweep up into their web of "FEMINISM IS TO BLAME"

and by all that is good in the universe, if you're an Incel (B) PLEASE, PLEASE know that you're not inherently a bad person just because you have trouble "getting some" like dude it doesn't matter man. People aren't talking about YOU when they say Incel unless you're going out and being a hostile piece of shit sexist asshole, if the shoe fits and all that; but IF YOU'RE NOT DOING THAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU'RE FINE, AND I'M SORRY. IF YOU ARE DOING THAT, THEN STOP BEING A HOSTILE PIECE OF SHIT SEXIST ASSHOLE DUDE.

Anyways I hope that helps clear things up on the matter.

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 43: Voltron Frees the Slaves Season 1, Episode 44: Voltron vs. Voltron

Episode 43: Voltron Frees the Slaves Do I recognize this episode name? I think so

Allura - tries to be positive, Hunk - immediately pessimistic Like I fully agree with hunk here don't get me wrong but cmon man enjoy the peace for a bit like Keith said

"Lotor you are my son, may I be forgiven, and some day you will be king, may the evil gods help the planet. I have a special assignment to see if you could prove worthy of the throne" LMAO ZARKON ISN'T EVEN HIDING HIS DISDAIN FOR HIS OWN SON ANYMORE, I LOVE HIM FOR THAT

Idk why zarkon keeps trusting Lotor with destroying Voltron, like dude do you not remember the last 42 episodes lmao

oh I don't recognize this episode, was I wrong? I kind of know the looks of these characters, weird also a girl died in front of her lover by missile strike and ofc that was censored, but it was a funny one because we get no context as to why the guy just starts sobbing

Have other planets been named after Zarkon after being taken over? Why is this one just now being called Zarkonia

DID HAGGARS CAT JUST PUSH A GUY OFF A CLIFF?? WILD

is Voltron a universe wide legend then? I know that's probably obvious by now, but it's still wild to hear, and believable honestly since our cultures share the same stories in the same ways

well these kids are stupid if they think they can take lotor hostage, like itll probably work because its dotu and everything goes in their favor but still

I definitely recognize this episode now, I just don't know the plot like I thought I did

"this is a man's work!" kill die maim I know that was them trying to be brave and then setting up the only girl there to fight them on it to help to show she's strong but ugh

aand immediately the plan gets fucked because haggar's cat spies on them, if one of those kids doesn't die ill be disappointed

even better they're used as hostages, though that's gonna go south for lotor real fast

im sorry no launch sequence for the team? i guess they were saving money this episode at least the team knows it's a trap and is prepared for it

animation error, the little girl's dress is the same blue as her brother's, but it goes back to an off-white when it zooms out

"That mighty robot will be desTROYED" Lotor has no patience for kids confirmed

"Voltron doesn't know the gravity of the situation, but I do!" Lotor stop using good puns to trick people into thinking actually funny, you may be a clown, but you sure aren't the kind that makes people laugh

DID THEY NUKE THE KIDS WHEN THE TEAM CAME BY? THAT IS SUCH A WILD TURN FROM "CHANGING GRAVITY TO SLOW DOWN VOLTRON FOR THE ROBEAST TO GET HIM" they're all alive though fucking somehow because everyone merged into this weird orb thing

nobody remembers a goddamn thing about how it happened

WHY IS PIDGE SUDDENLY THE SMART GUY NOW, WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE HAS A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION BRING ME BACK FERAL REGULAR SMART PIDGE

sorry hold on, were the kids trapped on a whole different planet? This is why we need context good god now that they're saved the team is going to actually free the real planet

this robeast just looks like a regular mech again, what happened to the monster designs I liked those a lot

was that dodge a jojo reference

voltron has been automatically calibrating their weapon fire this whole time?? I feel like the team should be rusty after that because it's been a while since they became a team

does voltron have a retractable mace as a weapon, what the actual fuck why don't we see these cool weapons more often

oh a classic scene, one strike from each opponent where one gets hurt but one truly loses of course voltron wins because he pulled out blazing sword

the fight scenes this time around for voltron v robeast was actually pretty cool, I was more invested in it than I thought I'd be

these kids wanna be part of the vf huh? Inch resting ideas are coming to me the planet name is Bravura by the by

/episode end

Episode 44: Voltron vs Voltron Now this one I know FOR SURE

i love when episodes open with zarkon complaining, he's such a mood

Haggar's cat is just a full-time nark isn't he

"I provided a glamorous touch by darkening the circles under his eyes!" Haggar turned Voltron emo by giving him black eyeliner

Pidge I know fighting in a giant robot is cool, but I don't think it's good to WANT to fight lotor every time you visit a new planet the implications are implicating

honestly I totally forgot they came to planet Yadyl already, but it's nice to see SOME consistency in the show for once

why is it always children who recognize something is wrong, like I get that nobody would see that the robeast this time is a voltron dupe but why is it only the kid who's like "hmmm why does voltron have an escort with him??"

i think my gif this time around will be of the kid weirdly digging in the sand to leave voltron an early warning LMAO

I know the team is forming voltron to go to yadyl and properly celebrate with them, but it's still wild to see that voltron comes out even when there's no emergency

this other kid KNOWS it should be the governor who's answering the transmission from voltron, did he assume that someone else answered for him or is lotors impression of the guy just THAT good

team - sees people staring at voltron in fear keith: no people- HEY THERE'S AN ARMED ROBOT, THE SOS WAS RIGHT, EYE BEAM AND THEN HE PROCEEDS TO BLOW UP THE ENTIRE TOWN WHEN THERE LITERALLY WERE CIVILIANS how is the team not getting more bad will from some other planets like how hard is it to have a planet go rogue on them for not thinking their actions through

lotor why are you running INTO THE EXPLODING TURRETS I'm on zarkon's side here, you should be dead dude

animation error, dupetrons leg went from blue to yellow after sand blew on it but then went back to blue in the next cut

the chest on dupetron just turned into the drule skull symbol, haggar really did make him goth LMAO

oh man this thing really is getting to voltron, we haven't seen the blazing sword formation get interrupted before

Keith how did you know the signals were getting picked up, i can't just feed into the belief that this man is some tactical genius without some SUBSTANCE

its just some dude in dupetron,, also which they'd say that beforehand so i wouldnt assume it's a robeast and when it's really an overly complicated mech

WHY DO THEY KEEP SAYING RED LION IS HUNK, LANCE PILOTS RED LION ASSHOLES KNOW YOUR GODDAMN BASICS MY GOODNESS also who knew that voltron could detach his arms and then the arms can act as their own units WHILE STILL BEING ABLE TO FORM BLAZING SWORD, insanity

i changed my mind i know what i want to be the cover gif for this episode sidnvois

/episode end

[floralovebot]

man people who racebend characters of color are REALLY showing their asses in how they think we're all interchangable and see us as a checklist for "Getting A Good Grade In Woke :)" rather than just... acknowledgment of the existing natural diversity of planet earth and the different ways people make life of it.

its insensitive to reimagine disneys tiana as asian, not because asian people dont face racism or cant enjoy cooking or didnt exist in 1920s new orleans- but because tiana is the first and still only black disney princess and was written and designed as such. her race informs and deepens her writing and her struggles, her love for her dad and specifically wanting to validate a jim crow era black man's sacrifices for his family, her connection to him and her community through her cooking when they all struggle to keep food on the table. similarly mulan shouldnt be rebranded as african american, not because black women couldnt exist in china or never crossdressed to join the army or dont face misogyny- but because mulan is a folk hero of historical chinese legend and as mulan, specifically cannot be divorced from that background. (also, frankly? the early white princesses arent really as well written for the most part, and their culture of origin is virtually never taken into account aside from visuals in their development, if that).

thats what ticked me off so bad about the monster high reboot. nb frankie was so cool and an asian draculaura was so fun but then they just... took away the black girl? and by extension, her sisters and thus ALL the black girls and like, dude not cool? nothing wrong with her being latina but being afrolatina is a different experience than being african american. afrolatinas deserve rep but that doesnt mean they shouldve taken clawdeen from african american girls. then there was some back and forth as to where specifically draculaura's family is from, and lagoona's origins vary from source to source dolls vs movie vs tv too and you just really feel the lack of effort and cohesion in the writing rooms. it really is just all just numbers on a chart, quotas to be filled there.

even with shows like winx where its ambiguous at times and kind of a raceblind take at others, theres so little for ANY of us that redesigning without that in mind becomes poaching. why would you take when ive been given so precious little? why would you want to change this one gift from people like me that lets me know i'm seen and loved? sure, other people deserve to have that too but if they want to borrow then take those who have so much they wont even miss it?

asdfghjkl sorry for the essay, i guess i had a breakthrough in how to put why this specific issue gets to me.

YESSS THANK YOU

Like it's so fucking weird to me!!! And GOD I wanted to say something about gen3 Clawdeen but I wasn't sure if I was "right" or if it was my place to say but exactly!! Being afrolatina is wonderful and they deserve representation too but it is still ultimately a different experience from being black american and they shouldn't have taken that away from black girls! I'm glad that mixed kids have her as rep now but they shouldn't have taken her away!! They very easily could've made a new character to fill that role instead!

AND YES to the winx point!! At the end of the day, it doesn't matter that some of the girls races or ethnicities are more ambiguous, they still have Canon races and people shouldn't be taking that away and giving it to someone else. That's not how representation works! Ever! Like if someone redesigned Aisha to be asian, that wouldn't make me happy or give me More representation. All that would be doing is taking away representation from black people! Same thing with Musa, Flora, Nabu, etc.

It also feels So fucking scummy when a white person's excuse is just that they Personally didn't see a character as their canonical race/ethnicity and that's why they changed it?? Like I don't give a shit if You personally don't see Nabu as an Indian man. That doesn't change his blatant coding. Same with characters like Flora who are more ambiguous. It doesn't matter if You Personally don't like her being Latina. She is. Fucking deal???

[ursbearhug]

I hate when people ask me for to-watch recommendation, decide to ignore me, and have the caucacity to come back for the exact same request.

Go and watch "Craig of the Creek" you fucking coward.

"But it's for kids!". Yo mama is for kids, you fucking ignorant. You're right, your marvelDC cinema is sooo adult. That's why 90% of the market is overrun by toys - who are primary targeted - for kids. Puhlease. You wouldn't know nuance if it slapped you in the face you absolute trashbag.

"But it's stupid!". You're stupid. Get burnt and get the fuck outta my face you fucking pleb.

Sometimes, I think people who will dismay children's media from the get go as silly or childish, are the same people who think The Best Offer (or La migliore offerta, for my non existent Italian followers) is really deep and meaningful. Like, just because you put a lot of extravagant shots and fancy orchestra music into the movie doesn't make it exquisite. It just makes it expensive to shot.

If it barks, it's a dog; and if it is enjoyable, it's worth seeing.

I'd be more forgiving if somebody watched an episode or two and decided it ain't it (you have weird taste and I wouldn't trust you to pick anything ever again, but you're entitled to your own opinion. Even if it's completely and utterly wrong). Of course children media will be a little juvenile. It's meant for kids. I'm so sorry kids having fun are too slow and boring for you but there are a lot of good messeges in a lot of these episodes. And I'm wondering who's really the stuck up here if you can't take it for what it is; entertaining and witty show for the youngest.

I'm not in place to comment on everything, but Craig of the Creek really has some meaningful depth and commentary in it. My favourite, of course, being how kids explore their romantic feelings; that more often than not, happen to be somewhere on queer spectrum. I was in the exactly same age as Kelsey when I was exploring mine. How kids and their shared imagination brings to life so many adventures. How kids build their own little groups and how these groups can befriend and interact with each other. Some of them come from not-so-great family background and can be somehow assholish every now and then, but then showing they're not just mindless monsters. A lot of the characters are PoC. We get to see how their different cultures affect the way they bond or befriend. There is a lot of eccentricities (which is one of my favourite) and uniqueness in a lot of them. Cringe culture is dead and their living their best lives doing something they find truly enjoyable!

If you take anything from this post please, go watch Craig of the Creek. Also gay sex or whatever.

[multitrack-drifting]

hey, um, idk if this is rude or not, but I saw in one of your reblogs about aroace alastor that you said that most aro/ace/aroace people identify the way they do because of trauma, and I feel a bit weird saying this but that sounds really offensive to the people who have been told that they are only aro/ace/aroace because of nonexistent trauma to invalidate their sexualities (I have been told this a few times by people who try to claim that my asexuality isn't a thing & that I'm just afraid of sex because something bad happened to me even thought that isnt even true). Yes, there is a percentage of aro/ace/aroace people that identify that way due to some form of trauma, but that doesnt mean most of us identify this way because of that. I'm not trying to undermine or invalidate your experiences, I just wanted to point that out because it came off as offensive to me and might come off that way to others. If it wasn't your intention to sound like that, I'm sorry, but the way it was worded made it seem like it was

it's not rude, it's okay to discuss sensitive topics. yeah, that's why i said it might be a hot take. i had a feeling like people might not like it (because of a kneejerk reaction of me sounding exclusionary or smth), but i didn't exactly know the deeper reason why. like, all of the about 8 or whatever people i know who are aroace are aroace in some way because of trauma/uncomfortable previous experiences/being mentally ill or autistic. i thought it'd be a ratio of like 90/10 of people who had some trauma to do with sex or romance/people who are just like that naturally without accompanying issues. but then again my pool to draw conclusions from is me, eight people i know personally and people i see online lmfao, so it wouldnt be surprising if im wrong. i would have no idea how it would be to just be aroace without for example autism making it hard for me to understand others, severe depression fucking with me, or me having experienced childhood sexual trauma

aromance/asexuality is so hard to discuss because when people say the word it could mean any of 17 different things. being traumatized and therefore uncomfortable with advances, just not being interested in romance and sex from the get go, having depression or hormonal issues and having these feelings dampened and altered, people not being comfortable with hypersexuality being pushed on them by the culture and people around them and therefore identifying as asexual, anything really. its a billion of different subgroups, and you can't exactly put people in neat little boxes because it's complex and it can be a lot of these reasons

(not related to you but to what people said to you) also something being "from trauma" should never invalidate it, that's stupid. you can't get rid of trauma. trauma stays with you and shapes who you are and how you see the world, you just mitigate it and learn to live in a more healthy way after it happens. it doesnt fucking despawn after therapy exactly. so to me, labeling something as coming from trauma doesn't mean it's "not real" or "can/should be fixed so you can be made normal". it's a way of understanding yourself, beginning to feel comfortable with yourself and finding new ways to live your life

i guess i should have specified that i think the feeling of "desperately wanting to be in love but being unable to (because you're incredibly uncomfortable with it even though you want it)" that you see in a lot of aces writing a lot of romance and obsessing over fictional pairings as a way to experience romance themselves is uniquely trauma-based and it just sucks when people are like OMG DONT SHIP THE ACEARO CHARACTER bro i AM the acearo character. it sucks even harder that people who are so enthusiastic about keeping aroace characters void of romantic and sexual interaction can be so aggressive about it

the people that were trying to convince you you're "afraid of sex" throughoutly suck fuck in any case bc bruh why would they even care, that's your business

[aibari]

is it too much to ask that you can tell two countries apart before you start loudly telling people what things are like in either of them

[skadren]

Angeal always bothers me and idk how to word it!! Not sure your take on why or what you see with his character in general but I'd love to know bc this has been bothering me forever

so this got. a little more heated than i thought it would. sorry anon lmao

angeal stans this is your warning!! nice things are not said under the cut

so angeal exists in the narrative to be the dead mentor figure so we feel bad for zack and to infodump a little about his and genesis's pasts in the beginning so genesis gets a modicum of development as well. he also does some obligatory passing on of his legacy of soldier honor and morals to zack so zack has a clear model to follow and we as the audience can see his growth from somewhat careless and cocky to a little more serious and driven after angeal's death. on a deeper level, angeal also exists as a counterpoint to genesis's and sephiroth's respective models of heroism, where (simply put) angeal's is staying true to a code of honor to protect the people, genesis's is being recognized by the public for heroic deeds, and sephiroth's is manufactured success and perfection in performance

and like, crisis core shows that each of these models doesn't work. in the case of angeal, his rigid adherence to a code of honor to remain morally pure leads to his downfall. especially with the circumstances of his death-- like, death before dishonor is an incredibly strong concept in japanese culture, but it's pretty clear in cc that what angeal does in forcing zack's hand is somewhat backwards in logic. like, where was this revelation that he was hurting people back in the middle of the war with wutai where he was literally destroying people’s villages and livelihoods vs. now when the war is literally over and he isn’t actively hurting people?? but. whatever. sure, let's assume this was the turning point that finally made him realize what he’s done in the past

but even then he doesn't solve anything, he doesn't try to help anyone despite that being basically his motto, he just gives up because he himself doesn't fit into his strict worldview-- if he isn't the hero he thought he was, then he must be a monster, and he can't be tolerated to exist. angeal quite literally shatters under the weight of his morals

there's also the issue of the story from his childhood, which is supposed to show his character as honorable à la "honor can exist in unconventional ways" but. it fails to establish him as such imo. it's like, you're too proud to accept help so you're gonna steal from people instead? and not even the rich people because one of them is your friend?? like there's a difference between being honorable and being too proud, especially if part of your motto is to protect others. it feels like a weird blend of capitalist work ethic + robin hood-esque imagery while missing the part where robin hood didn't actually steal solely because he was poor, he stole because fuck rich people and so he could help other poor people. you know. by giving them the handouts angeal is apparently too proud to accept

he's just a huge hypocrite, which makes his lectures on honor and pride feel all the more sanctimonious. he tries so hard to keep the moral high ground that the moment he comes up against something that actually tests his self-perception, he just shrugs and goes "guess i'll die". i feel like that was the entire point of how crisis core wrote him, especially given the role the buster sword plays in symbolizing his honor (aka use it or lose it), but the overall fandom tends to treat him as objectively the best of the firsts, like this bitch didn't just nosedive into drama queen territory just as quickly as the other two

anyways. angeal was wrong. the buster sword is a metaphor for his failure to uphold his own philosophies relative to the people who inherited it. fight me

like fandom angeal is as bland as white bread but somehow manages to singlehandedly piss me off more than any other character in the compilation. i think @ladylokiofmidgard put it best when she said he has the moral backbone of a chocolate éclair. i could go on more but this post is already too long as it is