#hey get perspective

[demobatman]

it looks like you haven't been around too much lately. Maybe it should stay that way.

I don't care what the issue is, it's never okay to tell someone to kill themselves.

people are being relentlessly bombed and youre arguing over semantics of an empty threat on tumblr.

[allastoredeer]

Hello, don't mind me, I just need to vent for a second.

First off, I just wanna say, as an aroace person on the ace-spectrum, feel free to ship Alastor all you want. Ship him with anyone. Have fun with it. Sex repulsed. Non-sex repulsed. Grey-ace. Demisexual. Pure unadulterated smut. Whatever, have at it. I love that shit.

Just please do it without infantilizing ace-aro people.

The amount of art, fics, and takes I've come across that's so patronizing to Alastor and his sexuality. Thing's like Alastor venting to Rosie about his feelings for a character with the caption "Alastor feeling love for the first time." Or Alastor wanting to have sex with a character and having feelings about that, and someone commenting "That's called a boner, sweetheart. That means you like them 🤭"

Like??? Like do ya'll not see how patronizing that sounds? Being ace-aro doesn't mean you don't know your own body. It doesn't mean you don't understand the functions of your body.

It doesn't mean you've never experienced intense emotions. It doesn't mean you've never experienced love before.

And, look, I know these are meant to be jokes. I know. People are joking. I laughed at the first few I came across, too. It's not meant to be harmful or condescending; no one means it that way. But there's been so much with such...bad takes recently, and I don't know about any other ace-spec people (I don't speak for all ace-specs. Hell, there are probably other ace-spec's who don't mind, enjoy it, or are making content like it themselves. I just speak for myself) but GOD it's getting uncomfortable.

Alastor is in his late 30's-early 40's in human years. That is the established age range we have for him. Do you really think that he'd go that long without ever experiencing "love?" He went through puberty just like everyone else, do you think he doesn't understand his own body???

Being asexual, or sex-repulsed, or touch-repulsed doesn't mean you automatically don't explore these parts of yourself. It doesn't mean he's never, once in his life, touched his own dick, or pussy, or whatever genitalia you're giving him. He can still very well be a "virgin" (which in and of itself is a social construct) while also knowing his body and confidently handling any "sexual needs" he has.

Do you really think he doesn't know what a boner is? That in all the years he's been alive and dead (on Earth and in Hell), he wouldn't have experienced these things once? (And you know what? Maybe he hasn't! Perhaps there are ace's out there like that! But you're telling me he doesn't KNOW what that is??? Really???)

Ah, no, it's all because he just hasn't found the right person yet, right? It's not until Lucifer/Angel Dust/Vox, whoever found him, and they gave him these feelings, and oh no, poor Bambi is feeling twitterpated and horny for the first time, isn't that romantic!

Honestly, not really. It just sounds like the same, stupid shit ace-aro people hear from family, friends, and acquaintances about their sexuality. You know, the tried and true: "Oh, you just haven't found the right person yet. You'll want all that eventually, you'll see😊"

Do you not see how frustrating that is?

Look, I am all down for Alastor exploring parts of himself. I want him to navigate different relationships, feel them out, figure out what kind of relationship he wants and what he's okay and not okay with doing. But there are ways to do that without treating him like a little UwU silly baby boy who doesn't know his own body, or his own emotions, or his own relationships with other characters. Like he needs someone to teach him about himself.

How about instead, he finds someone he feels comfortable exploring these elements with? Instead of them "teaching" him how to fuck, or masturbate, or whatever the hell you want to call it, they're giving him the room and safe-space to explore it at his own pace??!!

It comes across as someone who isn't on the ace-spectrum "teaching" an ace-spec character about their own sexuality which puts such a gross taste in my mouth. Or, at least, that's how it comes across to me.

And the thing is, I know people aren't going to stop. I know they're going to keep infantilizing Alastor and his aro-ace identity, and I wasn't originally going to make this post, because you can't control what people do in fandom.

So this is mostly just a post to say: HEY! Hello! Ace-aro person here! I hope you all are having fun and I love that you're exploring Alastor's asexual/aromantic identity! Especially those who may not be in the ace-spectrum themselves, as you're learning about us and our experiences! That's awesome! Can we just do that while also treating Alastor like the adult he is? Can we do that without being infantilizing and patronizing about his sexual identity? Please?"

That's all I really wanted to say. I just needed to get this off my chest instead of letting it fester. This isn't an attack on anyone, this is just the perspective of an Alastor multi-shipper who loves exploring his relationships with other characters (sexually and non-sexually) and deep-diving into the dynamics of the show.

Thanks for reading.

[egoarc4de]

homecoming

[softbewitcher]

“i’ll be right there next to you and sora!”

[prince-liest]

I have officially hit a "too stressed to write" state of affairs that I suspect will last until this Sunday. Kinda hoping folks aren't too disappointed in the sudden change in regular update schedule - sorry. :(

[angelnauseous]

the hannibal franchise fucking sucks <- is enjoying the hannibal franchise quite a bit actually <- is just very mad that clannibal is a thing that exists

[bluejayblueskies]

on the one hand i really enjoy romantic john/arthur esp. in nuanced ways where it explores like. what does romantic love mean for john, who maybe hasn't experienced it before? what does a romantic relationship look like when the two people involved share one body? what are arthur's feelings about being with another man, and how does the time period he grew up in influence those feelings?

but on the other hand, the fact that canonically john and arthur aren't in a romantic relationship and won't be in the future is very important to me (and i know a lot of other people as well). a large part of it is of course that as an aromantic person, it's so refreshing to have the main pairing in a piece of media be both a) extremely close and intimate with each other, as well as loving one another and b) not involved romantically. body sharing aside, relationships like john and arthur's are rare in media, and it's really nice to know that it's going to stay that way and isn't going to 'take the next step' [derogatory] into a romantic relationship at some future date.

even from a non-aromantic perspective (because i'm not trying to say that either john or arthur are canonically aromantic, just that it's nice that i can headcanon them that way and it fits into the canon narrative), a platonic relationship (and esp. one between two men!) being the main focus of malevolent is a choice i'm really glad harlan made. i'm not going to delve too much into this because his explanation is better than mine, but essentially, two male characters being vulnerable with one another and putting their trust in one another while not being romantically involved is something i definitely think we could use more of in media as a whole.

finally, i wanted to talk about the 'and yet you love him' 'i suppose so' dialogue between arthur and the king in ep. 20. (i think about this exchange a lot y'all--one of the best moments of the podcast imo.) 'love' is such a romantically charged word, especially when used in situations similar to this in other pieces of media. for complete transparency, the very first time i heard this scene, i thought it was meant to be romantic love because that's the kind of weight i ascribed to 'love confessions' based on the precedent set by other media and by real life as well. (i consider this moment a love confession because it's the first time arthur uses that word to describe his feelings toward john, even if he himself doesn't actually say it--literally a confession of love.)

finding out that it wasn't was a 'huh, interesting' moment for me, because i just hadn't really seen anything like it before! there was no precedent! hearing a love confession used in a context like this, where arthur's love for john is narratively important and something that can be used against him but is also platonic, not romantic, just ... it blows me away every single time i relisten to this episode.

in conclusion: i love them <3

[presiding]

you'll never guess which level we're up to in this dishonored 2 rewrite

[traggalicious]

Discussion on the Great Gatsby and I guess I overestimated the open-mindedness of my classmates bc like… the response when i said “so do y’all think Nick’s kinda got smth for Gatsby” was Interesting. They seemed shocked, as if Nick is Not a bisexual man. (This guy legit can’t choose anything, he’s non-confrontational, describes women and men kind of equally in both appearance and Vibes, and come ON that scene w/ the ellipsis (commonly used for fade-to-black sex scenes) and then HIM WAKING UP W/ MCKEE IN BED. HOMO 🫵🫵🫵.) Anyway. Nick/Gatsby/Daisy seemed to be the general ship consensus here

[elbiotipo]

Thinking about an Age of Mythology spiritual sequel with the mythologies you would expect like Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and then there's a faction that is straight up Catholicism. They're just Catholic. They got angels, saints, maybe some medieval monsters like basilisks and dragons and such if you want to get wild.

[jellytamalies]

(second) First Impressions

Jim unexpectedly bumps into a familier face and spock gets to contimplate if he actually terrifies cadets That Much

@cosmi-ccraft

Enterprise is safe to fly another day. All thanks to Captain James T. Kirk's sacrifice. He's made peace with his death, even though it breaks his heart one final time to see the hurt in Spock's eyes. Still, the last thing he gets to see is the face of one of his dearest friends... until his eyes snap back open. Not in a hospital. In a shuttle as it lands at the Academy. “Once you exit the shuttle you are free to return to your dorms. Those of you who are new, you’ll follow me to registration and physicals,” a vaguely familiar-looking officer says, and Jim’s heart stops in his chest. Surprising, considering it shouldn’t be beating at all.

(scene taken from chapter 2)

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I made another one

:)

pt 1/?

[redbootsindoriath]

I remembered today that if I want to continue my accidental Bilbo and the troll tradition I need to get cracking on a new drawing before I wake up in 2024 having missed my chance.

2023 Bert stole 2020 Bert’s hair and put it all over his face.  That’s why 2020 Bert was bald.  I just didn’t know that at the time.

[itissadbutitsmy-artblog]

give him back

[cinna-bunnie]

thinking about older women

[skinandscales-if]

Hello Rein! Hope you're doing well :) I wanted to, first, thank you for adding the ability to have disabilities in-game. It means a lot to me and, I'm sure, to others as well <3. I also wanted to know how we'll see the physical disabilities present themselves throughout the game? My MC, like myself, is HOH. I haven't tested other paths (yet!) but I really like what I've seen so far. I'm so curious to see the effects they'll have on the story/MC!!

Hey there! :D I appreciate this message more than you know- I really wanted to make the representation (if limited) significant in game, so I’m really genuinely glad to know that you find it fitting!

I think I’ve mentioned very briefly in some random tags before that the whole story, in its first phases, was extremely personal to me because it happened alongside me recognizing my own mental disabilities, so there’s a lottt of themes centered around concepts of community, care, and how society treats it. I won’t be able to cover all of the nuanced ground a conversation like that deserves, but I can sure as hell write some fictional dragons talking about it !

I’m hoping to make this clear especially to players who make their MC’s disabled in one way or another! There are currently multiple conversations planned about just this between the MC and the cast, with every character with their own relationship to it. For example, Skye is a lot more comfortable talking with someone with visible disabilities like her about her history, while Puck is still getting used to having such company. (sneak peek below the cut at the bottom👀)

So though for now it’s mostly flavortext, I’m really excited to dive into the heftier stuff in future chapters, where the significance really kicks in. It doesn’t make much sense to me for characters to just ignore this, especially when the story so heavily centers around similar themes, yknow?

Anyways! Sorry for the ramble didn’t mean to just talk at you lol but I hope you have a wonderful day anon! <3

[EXCERPT: “Me? Psh- nah.” They reply, lifting a hand and adjusting their glasses as they look back out at the scene ahead of them. The group is still talking. “I'm not nearly that talented. I'm basically half-blind anyways.”

<<if $blindeye is true>>They take a second before whipping their head to look back to you, eyes flashing with worry as they let out a sudden regretful bark of awkward laughter.

“Shit. Not like that. You know what I mean- sorry.”]

[densitywell]

ultimately the thing about the, "how dare the rest of Bells Hells debate whether to save the gods or not when Orym's family was killed by the people trying to kill the gods" take is that a personal tragedy is not a determinative argument, especially wrt an issue this fundamentally world-altering. its completely understandable that Orym finds the deaths of Will and Derrig inextricable from this topic. what's being demanded of him emotionally is enormous. but nothing about being in opposition to the gods requires that someone take the actions Ludinus and the Ruby Vanguard have taken, and they are far from the sole representatives of this ideology. and Will and Derrig's actual feelings regarding the gods had very little to do with their deaths.

(and, really: if the deaths of Orym's family makes questioning the gods' place unconscionable, than what does Aeor make of supporting them?)

beyond that: the discomfort of a single individual does not disallow a topic from discussion. it's an indication to tread lightly, with care and patience for that individual. but it is not grounds to consider a conversation as vast and complex as this one decided. especially given that Orym is far from the only member of the Hells who has intense emotions and traumas tied up in this; Orym's feelings should not take precedent over, for example, the negative experiences Ashton and Laudna have had with gods and their followers.

but also, like, even if you truly believe that anyone being ambivalent or antagonistic towards the gods in this situation is self-centered and wrong, unconditional support is simply not where the Hells are at. and if they don't talk about it now, they're gonna have to talk about it later, when they're being asked to put their hand on the scale and there's mere moments left to act.