#i dont even really have a way of proving its the same group of people saying both things except fro anecdotally seeing it

[homophyte]

it is interesting to me that ive seen lately (n yknow this is subjective and likely not any real social force just what ive seen) many queer people simultaneously talking about taking back and embodying unpalatable and ‘unmarketable’ queerness (the recent return to the terms faggot and transsexual come to mind) which i think is pretty evidently shaped by the conservative moment were in of demonizing queer ppl and especially gnc and trans people as predators--it reads as a return to queer isolationism in the face of external hostility, imo--while at the same time ive seen a lot of rallying around the “original” 6 stripe rainbow flag as opposed to any of the purportedly ‘factional’ flags of different queer identities, with the assumption being different identity flags divide us while the rainbow flag encompasses everyone and its kinda fascinating to me bc the rainbow flag is probably the single most marketable and palatable and uncontroversial symbols of queerness which has been seamlessly uptaken by those who wish to sell it back to us as gets pointed out every pride month with all the cringey pride merch.... i dunno you could maybe take that as a point of hypocrisy and claim the queer community is itself in a conservative moment rn where its returning to a sense of history and historical continuity (perhaps even out of that sense of external threat) or even that the queer community has for some time been in a conservative moment given the like, decade of identity discourse and lashing out at any people deemed to not have a sufficiently established history or however we should categorize the bihets/ace discourse/transtrender-tucute discourse/pan discourse/bi lesbians discourse (because lets be frank its essentially all the same discourse just keeping up its momentum by leapfroging from one target to the next) which i think is, like, SOMEWHAT true but not entirely? its more interesting to me, in any case, as an expression of a conflict the queer community is facing given that current state of affairs RE antitransness and that very recent history. like, the simultaneous need to retreat to a safe sense of community which is welcoming to the very things the outer world is demonizing ie mutable gender, complex or contradictory experiences of gender, gender expression which is hostile to the cis binary, but also the ways in which it has to grapple with those discourses which have largely defined the community infighting for again the past decade. its queer people begging the question ‘how can we make the queer community welcoming to the girlfags and genderfucks and tboys who are being threatened when we have spent so much time making the queer community a hostile place for anyone with a non-conventional or not easily (or even just palatably) sortable sense of queer identity’. and the answer it seems to be grappling with at the moment is like, welcoming all that diversity of experience but being absolutely averse to naming it. yes we love all the fuckery with gender and sexuality never be marketable but like, ew, why are you calling yourself [insert microlabel here]. you can be genderweird but you cant call yourself genderweird. you can only exist as queer in the broadest possible way (the all-inclusive gay pride flag!) but if you try to name the specifics or use those identity labels weve been fighting over for years youre doing it wrong (the progress pride flag is now ugly and cringey and ‘too much’). i think theres something also to the way (at least on this site) transmisogynistic discourses have really taken hold as legitimate (though yknow i wont downplay how much a problem transmisogyny has like. always been in queer spaces no matter what) in the name of protecting n defending trans people. like its just regurgitated transmisogyny but its being mobilized supposedly in the service of helping trans people. idk its definitely getting a little late for me to string this together fully coherently but theres a throughline there, in the ways certain ideas are being consolidated and reified as ‘yes were more progressive now!’ when i think theres definitely something to question there in terms of like...are we? are we actually? are we doing better by the people were trying to help or are we setting strict standards and forcing ppl to adhere to them again?

[doberbutts]

one thing to make clear is that from what ive seen people aren't saying transmascs are claiming transmisogyny doesnt exist, but kind of the opposite? as in, transmascs are trying to co-opt specific experiences transfems go through when they dont have that same lived experience, and thus cant offer as meaningful insight. this is basically the crux of the whole tme/tma discourse, though i think it'd be easily resolved if we were just allowed to have our own language to talk about our experiences

Oh there's absolutely people saying we think transmisogyny doesn't exist literally right now in the tag.

But you're also right that there's also people saying that somehow by discussing our problems, we're somehow stealing from trans fem discussions about theirs.

I don't really follow the logic of this to be perfectly honest. I think there is very little that trans fems experience that doesn't either have an equivalent experience for trans mascs or that trans mascs don't experience something also terrible in its stead, just like I think that of the other way around: there's very little that trans mascs experience that trans fems don't have an equivalent or equally terrible experience for. I think that is the nature of us both being affected by the specific intersection of transphobia and misogyny, just gendered in specific ways to hurt us as individuals.

Pretty much any post I've seen on this matter has made a lot of assumptions one way or the other that completely ignore the lived reality of both trans mascs and trans fems, and it's very frustrating to try and engage with this problem because it feels more like people dedicated to screaming at each other than anything really particularly productive.

I also think it is impossible to be exempt from oppression. Not being the target doesn't mean the bullet can't hit you if the shooter can't aim for shit.

And it's genuinely WEIRD to me that trans mascs are talking about suicide and rape statistics, medical gatekeeping, rejection from social groups upon coming out, politicians making laws targeting their ability to transition, erasure and also weaponization of trans pregnancy, resources for the most vulnerable of us requiring detransition at minimum for entry if we're allowed in at all, the rates of violence from domestic partners and family members, struggles with male beauty standards and eating disorders... all stuff stemming from transphobic cishet society and the patriarchy... and somehow we're stealing from trans fems or blaming trans fems for the shit that 99% of the time is lived experience coming from being targeted by fucking cis people in the first place.

Like, how is me talking about getting beaten up while being called a tranny and a heshe and getting pantsed and groped to "prove" my status as a girl due to being incredibly GNC and also intersex prior to figuring out that I'm trans co-opting anything from anyone? I'm talking about something that happened *to me*. It wasn't trans women who sent me home with bruises and scars every day, it was my shitty cishet classmates and their shitty cishet older siblings in an ultra-conservative environment. I don't think trans fems are at fault for what happened to me at all? I just don't like to be told that I'm "victimized myself" by talking about my very real trauma as a kid by someone who isn't even a trans fem claiming to be defending trans fems on my posts about it.

[cyber-corp]

A """summary""" of Homestuck: Act 6 Part 1

by someone who's glad they've gone back to basics for a bit

Let's (for a brief, fleeting moment) start again nice and simple.

It is the 11th of November, 2011 and today a young girl named Jane Crocker is excited to play the alpha for a game that comes out today called SBURB. How fun!

Jane here is heiress to Betty Crocker's baked goods empire (as mentioned previously in Nannasprite's story), and there is also set to be a major rebranding initiative happening today as well. She likes baking, detective stories, as well as the occasional jape.

But look out! There's another guy! His name is Jake English, and he's quite fond of action-adventure flicks, guns, and blue alien chicks. Fucking freak he is.

Jake is currently helping/pestering Jade, his ectodaughter/dead grandma who is set to give it to John (Jake's relations with him is yet to be revealed), before realising that it'll need a bit of uranium to be finished. He only can get it through a boy called Dirk Strider, (unfortunately), and his Brobot which just so happens to be the only source of uranium on the island that Jake lives on.

Before he pesters Dirk, Jake gets a message from someone (presumably a troll) named UU. They essentially tell him "hey!!! go for it!! i believe in yoU!!! also this event is extremely important timeline-wise, so dont screw it Up!!!!"

Jake attempts to get to Dirk about uranium, only to get the equivalent of an AI-based answering machine, much to his dismay.

He then heads out of the island's forest (with the dread of the Brobot lingering) and into the open. He witnesses the beautiful fauna on display.

Too beautiful for comfort.

Jake attempts a getaway, before being swarmed by a large swarm of fairy bulls! Whatever shall he do now? But not to worry, because a certain BrotherRobot has come to rescue!

He then immediately gets his ass kicked royally, (complete with Tensei's amazing score) and blacks out. He has a dream about someone who kinda looks like Vriska???? But isn't really??? Maybe it's one of the prophecy people that Doc Scratch was talking about??? Or undead Vriska??? idk man.....

He tells Roxy Lalonde about this, who panics because everyone in the group is attracted to Jake in some way. He is a harem protag, apparently.

Anyway, while Jane has the most relatable moment in all of Homestuck by awkwardly confirming her and Jake's 'friendship', Brobot tears out its own heart, then blows itself up, giving Jake the uranium he needs. He also confesses to Jane that he and Dirk would be a good couple!!!!

The Alpha Gang have proved themselves to be superior to the Beta Gang by being gay.

Jake is last seen in this chapter heading down the frog temple, presumably to finally send that package.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Jane!

So CrockerCorp undergoes its big rebranding, changing its symbol to a fork instead of a spoon, which will have very big implications later on.

After UU pesters her about the nature of the game she will play, she continues to look out the window, to no game yet in her mailbox.

While pestering a ditzy girl named Roxy Lalonde, she just so happens to notice that her mailbox flappy thing is up, meaning the game is finally here! She dons a shitty disguise to confuse her dad (which is the same as John's dad), and, with the help of Dirk's robot bunny Lil Seb creating a massive hole in the wall, she lass scampers out of there.

She opens the mailbox, which then proceeds to fucking explode, knocking her out and sending her to Prospit, where Jack Noir ᶠᵘᶜᵏᶦⁿᵍ ᵏᶦˡˡˢ ʰᵉʳ ᵍᵒᵈᵈᵃᵐᵐᶦᵗ before she wakes up.

I think at this point I am completely past the point of no return and have no choice but to cosplay as Gamzee with nothing but grey Sharpie. Other than that, Homestuck continues to keep itself fresh and interesting through established lore (probably from a page you don't even remember because you were too distracted by Karkat yelling).

Even more excited to see where this goes!

[drdemonprince]

have u written anything (or have any thoughts abt) the whole “autism is the next step in human evolution” shit?

it's such a baldly bad and unscientific idea i haven't really bothered. but to wit:

evolution is not a linear progression upward, with animals that have evolved more recently being any "higher" or "more progressed" than their ancestors. evolution is merely the process of natural selection causing certain naturally occurring mutations in the population to be favored, because those mutations improve the odds of survival in that particular setting and period in time. and a mutation that is favorable in one setting need not be helpful in another. 

the white fur that helped an arctic fox avoid detection in a snowy climate, for instance, might in a warming climate prove to be a total liability. over thousands of years arctic foxes might then evolve into having browner fur that helps them blend in against dirt and grasses. that doesn’t make the now-not-so-arctic fox “more evolved” than its white ancestor, or the “next stage of arctic fox evolution” as if that were some linear or preordained thing. it just means the foxes that better fit their environment survived. 

there is no such thing as a creature being "more evolved" or "above" another evolutionarily, there is only a question of fit. some animals fit their environments better and survive in them better. and if we are talking in terms of fit, autistic people are pretty clearly not a great fit for our present environment, which is why we even classify as disabled in the first place. the present social and sensory landscape is absolute hell for us and we die on average at younger ages than our allistic peers for a variety of reasons. 

i find all varieties of the "autistics are more evolved/more rational/more moral than non autistics" take to be very dehumanizing towards us, as well as flat-out wrong. idealization is a form of dehumanization. when we posit that a group is more virtuous, more perfect, less complex than another group, we are erasing the fullness of that group's humanity and diversity.

autistics are human beings. we live in the same time period and evolved under the same circumstances as all the other humans around us, and possess the same capacity for goodness, foolhardiness, ignorance, prejudice, selfishness, and feebleness as anybody else.

we are also marginalized to a significant degree in a systematic way. some of us fit pretty well in the current technological landscape, meaning we can make a lot of money for somebody else because of our skills. but most of us dont have even that tentative grasp at acceptance, and we suffer because of it, and because the world was not built to fit us.

so no, we arent the next stage of human evolution. we are just humans, suffering from capitalism like everyone else, tho some of us happen to have skills that make us uniquely appealing to exploit. this exploitation has been sold to us as social evolution, but it's not. deeming a certain profitable subclass of autistics to be more evolved than other humans is the same line of thinking that justified eugenics.

[thedroloisms]

its kind of wild the intentional stupidity some people have. “we shouldn’t expect much from ccs. remember they already disappointed us with dream” okay but you know that’s because they knew he was innocent right. like yes they didn’t drop him but also the accusations were unsubstantiated. the way they continue to talk about dream as if he’s a confirmed groomer but don’t actually say it because they know it’s not true. “remember what happened with dream” yea bitch you were wrong that’s what happened (sorry i needed to vent 😭)

DONT BE SORRY THIS ALL THE WAY

like in some cases, i'm willing to brush it off as ignorance or stupidity. mostly in the cases of a lot of people who haven't really looked into anything themselves and therefore have a pretty damn biased view of the situation. still not great, especially considering the severity of the allegations (like, i'm sorry but false allegations irl and in content creator spheres have literally ruined people's lives before they are far from victimless???? we have documented evidence of this happening????) but at the very least it's more believably from a place of genuinely not knowing (though it's not like they're trying to know either)

that being said, a lot of the loudest of the group, the avid drantis who won't shut their mouths about him and have decent followings on whatever platform they frequent and have established themselves as a sort of moral authority on the situation? whether it's on twitter or that collection of former dsmpblr big blogs, i'm sorry but nah. these people aren't approaching the issue from a place of ignorance. these people know exactly what they're talking about; they just don't give a damn. they've proved thoroughly that more than they care about advocating for literally anyone, they need to preserve their goddamn reputations. these same blogs repeatedly invoking dream in this scenario despite his having nothing to do with it (because obviously they dropped dream, so they're good people. or obviously the content creators Showed Their True Colors when they didn't immediately denounce dream. or dream made it clear that this community isn't safe from bad, manipulative men emphasis on the MEN!!! or what have you) often literally just so they can pat themselves on the back - scrambling over each other in order to see who gets to stand on the highest soapbox to preach? like.

it's one thing for people to just dislike dream, or to have dropped him during the allegations. i don't bear ill will for those things alone - when the allegations dropped, in the time when we were waiting for a clear final response, i don't blame anyone for choosing the paths that best suited their comfort levels. we all looked at what we had and made our own individual decisions. but it's not february 2023 - now, a full year later, seeing these people literally continue to treat the allegations in the exact same way? speaking about how dream was revealed to be abusive! we should have known better! ccs didn't act then of course they won't act now the entire collection of dsmp men are raging misogynists at best and literally all abusive at worst !!! yeah, fuck off.

there were two claims in all of this of dream being involved with underage individuals - anastasia was literally over 18??? of the two, one story was spread without her consent (as is confirmed not only by her literally asking to be left alone at the start of this, but also by dream and the informant of the burner, who said that she thought the burner would get in contact with the person at hand, directly implying that they never did) and all parties directly involved have stated that no grooming occurred, with retractions taking place on every level. the informant corroborated the statement dream gave for the alleged victim in his video independently after being thrown under the bus by the burner account, and even the other person involved in all of this who was literally hating on dream the entire time on her own twitter corroborated his claims as well. continuing to spread these claims is a kick in the face to the literal person people claim to be trying to protect by championing her as a poor victim and shoving her name and account everywhere when she didn't ask for any of this - believe victims, until the victim is telling you to shut the fuck up after her account was propped up for the entire internet to ogle at without her consent and multiple people dug into her information without asking her supposedly "for her sake". the second story, the original allegations made against dream in 2022, has had multiple people who knew this woman personally (and included picture proof to show that they did) come out independently and say that she's a liar. on top of this, allegations against the accuser have come out (with a whole lot more proof of manipulation than was ever present in the case with her accusations against dream!) and been corroborated by, again, someone who knows the accuser personally, and these allegations have included the fact that certain elements of the original allegations against dream were faked, something that supports what dream said in his video, on top of the other proof provided. but you know, believe victims - not that one, though, or that one. and everyone knows that if you're falsely accused of a crime, then you're not a victim. obviously.

time and time again these people have not only shown that the only victims they're at all willing to listen to are the ones convenient to their story (and the ones that aren't get to be shouted over, ignored, and twisted for use in their own agendas) but they've also repeatedly twisted information to best fit their personal narratives. these people have skin in the game, you know? they didn't exactly approach the situation with dream quietly. they have staked a lot on dream's guilt, including their own personal moral soundness - they've spent over a year of their lives assuring themselves that they're not like the dirty dream stans, they took the allegations Seriously and have denounced a Dangerous Bad Man. the existence of other victims challenges that story, and so they can't acknowledge their existence at all. maybe i'd be less bothered if these weren't the same people who seem so fucking devoted to their being perceived as Authorities On Abuse, who have championed themselves as protectors of the hurt and downtrodden, who go on and on and on about how they take these things with utter seriousness and how much victims matter to them - only to let their internal biases and sheer self-righteousness prompt them to ignore any "victim" that doesn't suit their favored narrative. god forbid these people admit that they were wrong! god forbid they admit that they spent a year of their life in their circles preaching hellfire and brimstone against an innocent man, god forbid they admit that they've harassed people out the door of their circles and been proud of their efforts based on falsified information, god forbid they spend a damn inkling of their time reflecting on their own hypocrisy.

but, you know. #believevictims am i right?

[transgenderer]

i’m inclined towards disgust and i don’t really feel disgust towards trans people, so i can tell you the role disgust plays in my radfem ideology. when i first got on the internet and discovered trans people, i was wholeheartedly supportive and did not feel disgust at all. in the intervening decade or so i hit puberty and was sexually harassed regularly to different degrees by strangers and friends alike, until i developed a strong and finely honed instinct for sexual predators. i’m not saying it never led me wrong - i can’t prove a negative, after all, if i listen to my instinct i avoid interacting with the person and never get the opportunity to be proven wrong - but when i do ignore my instinct for other reasons, i usually end up regretting it.

i was a rationalist first and a radfem second, and when i was younger i tended to look at things from a logical perspective and assume good faith when analysing what someone says instead of making assumptions based on gut feelings i can’t prove. this resulted in me being groomed and taken advantage of.

for whatever reason, a number of trans women trigger this instinct in me. it could be a false flag but out of self interest i choose not to overcome this bias. there used to be a sub r/itsafetish that documents examples of trans women fetishizing womenhood but it was banned. even now, on trans subreddits, you can see examples of transwomen being sexually aroused by things like wearing a bra or sanitary pads.

(its not fair to generalise trans women based on them, but i draw a line between my beliefs personally and my beliefs in the - for lack of a better word - realpolitik sense. for instance i think that trans people should be able to use whichever gender-specified facilities they feel comfortable with without fear, but i also think that realistically i think that homeless shelters, dormitories, prisons and such should be based on biological sex and not gender. there are enough examples of trans women raping other women in female prisons that i personally think its not worth the risk.)

but i digress. radical feminists as a whole are women who understand the role of instinct and disgust in keeping you safe. sometimes these instincts are a reflection of personal biases or societal constructs, and sometimes not. that’s why there’s also a lot of emphasis on resisting and noticing emotional abuse, in particular gaslighting, as well as validating people who establish boundaries over any minor reason whatsoever out of discomfort.

that’s the difference terfs have from conservatives. at it’s core, it’s still a kind of bleeding heart emphasis on emotions. conservatives use their emotions for rhetoric but don’t validate feelings the same way. terfs’ beliefs are rooted in their emotions but their rhetoric is less “isn’t this disgusting? do you really trust these people around your daughter?” and more relying on empathy/sympathy like “i knew this trans person and this happened”.

i’m sorry if my messages made you uncomfortable. i deliberately follow trans people in addition to radfems so i don’t end up in an echochamber. (i also follow r/sneerclub in addition to r/rational, and slatestarcodex in addition to r/catsaysmao.) i hope you won’t go out of your way to block me.

i mean...i think "i can tell if people are dangerous based on vibes, i dont hate [group], they just give me dangerous vibes" is like...one of the main types of prejudice? like. literally for thousands of years people have been saying "this group is going to harm our fragile women, we need to hurt them to stop that". like. i think it might be useful to take the outside view here, and think to yourself what about this feeling would be different than a white woman who thinks black men are a threat to her, and so shouldnt get to use the same train car or whatever. like whatever if trans women skeeve you out you shouldnt *force* yourself to interact with us, obviously. but like. i dont think you should accept that feeling uncritically?

i guess the core of this is like. i dont believe that your "instinct for sexual predators" is actually finely honed. i think its probably sending a ton of false positives. like maybe recall is high but precision is bad.

[smallidarityfan]

hiii i pinky promise i voted for smallidarity in the ship things both against bdubs and cleo (i had already done that) and against scarian (while looking through your blog just now) but i want to be anon so i cant prove it. anyways if it is okay instead of art i would like u to make a ship chart of whatever your favorite ships and relationship status headcanons are among the hermitcraft/empires/life series gang, like otp and divorced and qpr and whatever. no pressure to do this though i know its not exactly something you offered but given that you like smallidarity and scar/pearl i am very curious what else you like

Thank you for asking!!! i shouldve done this with or without need to rig the trafficshipping polls, so thanks for insigating me to make it anyways!!! :D

I'll try summarize the preferences I have that I feel dont make much sense?

shipping rant belooww....

👇👇👇

Firstly I can't really describe well why I like Pearl x Scar, but I'll try:

Life series

Scar POV about Pearl: 'Caring motherly and honest person who's smile lights up the room is just the person who I need in my life full of people I can't trust. Oh, she's traumatized? for losing all the people she loves and as a result developed abandonment issues? .... oh..... oh she just like me fr.'

Pearl POV about Scar: 'this guy is kinda wacko tbh but... now I know what he goes through, and I want to be there for him. We're in this together or some shi i guess. and his abs are kinda hot. wait who said that'

(to quote the part in Secret Life where Scar talks about not trusting alliances and Pearl saying "you're growing on me, Scar.")

Hermitcraft

Scar POV about Pearl: 'This lady creates the most gorgeous landscapes..... ohh now she wants to fix my unhealthy chest monster habits.... and she also helps me out when I need it even if i give her minimum wage..... and she also has a cute smile. wait who said that'

Pearl POV about Scar: 'Silly goof :3 also why doesn't he take care of himself well? Anyways, cleaning lady time'

=====

I could talk about Zedango and XBralis but basically they call each other pet names and roleplay gay people just like Smallidarity but with no instance of the "doomed narrative" or "slow-burn in denial" that they have. Otherwise, Ethubs is self-explanatory.

Speaking of doomed narrative, i dont think ive heard much talk about how doomed scott x pearl is..... They were in a trio group in last-life with Cleo, fought in an honourable 4-way battle with treebark, Scott won, they're now soulmates through unpleasant means, Scott leaves with Cleo, leaving Pearl alone and hurt, they had to work with each other despite the saltiness and eventually resulted in Scott sacrificing himself in honour, for her to win. The bitterness lasted in Lim!Life with the enchanting table shtick, then in Secret Life with the whole "We have unfinished business from Double Life, Scott!!!" from Pearl. (you could also count the doggy alliance with Cleo ig)

Do you see it?!! Do you see it?!?!?!?!?!?!

I could also write about Scottyn but it's relatively the same concept of how Scott prioritizes honour against the watchers' encouragement of chaos, and Martyn listener lore ykyk. (also in Lim!Life with Martyn betraying honour, opposite of Scott yk?!)

Now to Scarian........ I love desert duo a lot. They are in fact my favourite duo overall, I just— can't picture them in a relationship? Like yeah, they tick all the marks of a great narrative pairing and they also love each other, but I personally don't think they two are the type to whisper softly 'i love you' in bed to each other with eyes of passion and romance, nor the types to get flustered over romantic gestures by the other. They are, however, each other's comfort character and would hug and cheek-kiss each other just to be a little silly. I do see the appeal of Scarian though! just not with the version of the two that's in my head...!

Joe x Cleo are cute. They just give me the QPR vibes yk. (even though i might not fully get what a QPR means)

Now to disliking Mumdoc.... I only know of their dynamic through HC8 and 9.... and I really only ever got sour vibes from their dynamic....... they then kissing just irks me ig...... (but yk ive only watched a summative 50 episodes from each of them so i dont know the full idea of who they are to each other)

Honorable mention to Stresskall who doesn't receive the attention they deserve... they're so cute.........

Otherwise, yeah that's it !!! the others I mostly dont get, but are all valid nonetheless👍👍

[cartmandolly-old]

(crazy)

cartman is literally the most complex and multitalented character in south park and i dont get most of the people who completely disregard him. if you dont want to see him, dont watch idk? south park is meant to be offensive and it’s okay if you get offended, thats the point. thats also the fun to be had with eric cartman’s character.

but accusing him of homophobic or would be transphobic? did we watch the same show??? cartmans went on a ‘date’ with his other cupid personality after it convinced him there’s nothing wrong w gayness n he never misgendered any character. he regularly crossdresses too. he had giant boobs willingly ffs he’s so queer you shld be able to taste the rainbow through the screen

the reason he’s so repressed and bigoted toward jews is legit his mother. ppl forget that cartman was not raised on /pol/, he was raised with /pol/ rhetoric being spewed by his mother and legit the only evidence against it is that cartman took her to see the passion of the christ to ‘prove’ jews were horrible, when this is easier read as (given context) him being excited to share something with his mother because it agrees with her on jews. interesting to note that liane has been discriminatory toward kyle as well, but acts surprised when cartman is discriminatory toward shelia.

(also i feel like it’s too late into the show to have his influences come from an outside source like the internet, as they do for most kids his age modernly. south park started during the internet’s adolescence, it’s all his mother)

i feel liane being a key factor in cartman’s behaviour is overlooked because she is a mother. i love liane and eric for the evil characters they are, so don’t get me wrong, but you cant really deny that she’s often seen as one of the greats in south parenting because she’s a motherly figure. if you think randy is the worst, spend a few minutes looking over liane. (sharon is actually the best btw)

to the talented part, even in earlier seasons you see cartman being a camera nerd. he’s got very impressive camera skills for Anyone, even outside his age group. i know this because i went to camera classes, and because you can see the south park real estate agents asking how he even got such a nice photo. 

when i first started this blog, i reblogged a post highlighting cartmans musical talents saying he could make a good popstar, and no matter how far i get into cartman brainrot, i still agree. cartman can easily read sheet music and knows his way around a piano, and you can see his dedication to music in his groups fingerbang and faith+1. even if it was just to get the million dollars whatever, if he had no heart for music he likely wouldve had different ideas or been way less inspired.

yeah none of this really matters because its just silly old south park but it matters to me that i feel intellectual about the most evil character on television. i LOVE EVIL CARTMAN. i hope he’s evil forever. i just like him a bit much ykno <3

[mariajmajesty]

JK and Jimin are inevitably going to interact again. We will most definitely get evidence at some point in the future that they were as close as ever even during these times when people are swearing up and down that they “don’t hang out that much anymore”

It always happens this way and I don’t know why people keep playing themselves like this when they know that every time people get so adamant that jikook is “distant”, something happens that proves otherwise. Its been happening like this for years and people still won’t learn to stop speaking on jikook when they don’t know shit. And then when it comes out that jk and jm were hanging out and are just as close as they always were, they get mad and pile hate on jimin for god knows what reason, it is a vicious fucking cycle at this point.

I literally don’t even know what they are basing their conclusions on right now, I don’t know why people always reserve this kind of negative energy for jikook. When was the last time we saw jimin and yoongi or jimin and tae hang out outside of work? Yet you never hear anyone jumping to the conclusion that either of these pairings are not close anymore or dont hang out at all. And it’s not even just tkkers now, it’s popular blogs claiming to not be concerned about shipping yet boldly declaring that they are sure jikook don’t hang out anymore. Give me a fucking break.

Why does jikook bother people in this fandom so much? Why do people seem to be so smug and self satisfied when it appears that they are not hanging out as much? It is becoming more and more obvious each and every day how differently jikook is treated by ARMY and fans need to take a good hard look at themselves and figure out why the thought of these two members in particular being close seems to rub them the wrong way. Because I have a lot of reasons why and all of them start with homo and end in phobia.

Sorry for ranting and cussing in your inbox I am just so tired of the way jikook and jikookers are looked upon in this fandom and the amount of reaching and jumping to conclusions that started after jimin’s live kicked my annoyance into high gear. I had to unfollow a jm centered blog I really liked before because they started going off about how they’re sure jikook aren’t close as they were anymore and haven’t hung out in awhile. It is just so disheartening especially when Im over here trying to enjoy jimin month in peace

Jimin telling fans to watch Tae's show after watching it himself, JK telling Jimin to come over for chicken and beer at night, Tae laughing and liking Jimin's post talking about his birthday, Jungkook telling his coach that Jimin will come over when he can, Jimin saying to Tommy that he misses him, JK spending time with Tae's group, JK's coach telling Jimin to come over..Do these people really seem like they are caught in some weird 3 way pit fight stressed and miserable?!

You asked what haters basing their conclusion on? Nothing because they don't know anything and it's the same thing they say all the time only with a different fake narrative. Last year it was "Jikook don't interact on social media like all of them do so it means they aren't close"...until they did and showed them all wrong. The year before that it was "Jikook hang out too much so it means they are fan service and being payed" ...untill they both started to shy away from it while still giving us enough content to see that they are doing damn great and proved them wrong. This time it will be "Jikook only interact on vlives and social media but not in private haha it means they are not close and always were fan service". See how that works? See how the argument is changing according to what suits weirdos at the moment?

No matter what jikook does, public or private, on social media or not, whether they’re a couple or not, their relationship and closeness would always be considered as fan service or be viewd as non authentic or on the verge of a fall out

Some people want them to hate each other so bad and project things they saw in one dynamic to another dynamic just because they think if they say it out loud (and they are loud) it will happen in real life but life doesn't work that way and they are all friends who were always friends and always hung out together when we don't even know about, and about to enlist very soon. And yes, they have their own schedules and responsibilities to juggle with now and people who ignore that need to grow up. If Jimin wants to see Hobi a lot maybe because he's enlisting and Jimin is a sweetheart like that, he can because nobody knows what he does the rest of the time, not to mention they are already at the company at similar times. Nobody knows where JK is right at this moment or what Tae did yesterday. The arguments that starts with 'X are never together' about any relationships in the group are straight up troll tallk because non of us are living in their pockets and these people aren't worth talking to because they forget how daily life looks like and ommitting other parts that happen on purpose. If Tae doesn't mention Jin as much as he used to it means they were fake? If Suga doesn't talk about JK it means they aren't friends? Of course not that's why you don't see anons go around in circles fearing a fall out. If Tae and JK can hang out nowdays even after them talking about having an awkward phase at one point it has to mean that they are in love and will forever be best friends who are the closest of all.

But jikook . .... jikook being cute on February doing late night invites for chicken and boxing practice must mean that on March they fell out and didn't saw each other for months or refuse to hang out in public..sure..make sense lol

Enjoy your Jimin month in peace because these people are not going to go away. They have no sense of shame when they are slapped with reality and won't have any when jikook will interact again. Non of us have a way to determine who is closer to who unless it comes from the guys own mouths, they'll just do what they always do and fold only to come back with a changed narrative or twist their words into something they never said with wrong translations and no critical thinking skills like they did yesterday with Jimin not wanting to share when he saw Jungkook. These people live in constant feeling of dread. Take breaks to avoid the nastiness, come back when you'll feel like it, keep streaming and focus on the good that is all Jimin ❤

[someoneinjersey]

while googling the answer to "why does 5 seconds of summer hate their song 'dont' stop'" last night i came upon a tumblr post from a now deactivated account, dated 8 years ago listing four big reasons why they hate 5sos.

as someone who's almost 40 and just became a 5sos fan and has lived through the golden and bullshit days of pop punk and little bands full of dudes etc, i was like OP I JUST WANNA TALK

like their points were that 1) they steal riffs and logos and designs, 2) theyre mean to fans, 3) theyre sexist, and 4) theyre homophobic.

as to point 1 -- at the time the post was made, they were still teenagers (or three of them were, one was 21) and they were of COURSE going to be making music and designs or whatever that were influenced by the bands they liked and grew up on. that's how that shit works, both being teens and being in bands. its extremely hard to be original anymore, and you can't even say the bands they copied were being original either because they TOO were drawing from artists who came before. everything old is new again, every song sounds like another song and every art design has been influenced by another or is a tribute to another. that's just ART. the video linked to prove that a 5sos song was the same as another band's (it was either MCR or FOB or Green Day, idr) is no longer available, but i think a better video to watch would be one of several that points out all popular songs are from the same chords.

as to point 2 -- again, the post cited that explained the bad experience has since been deleted, but you will find that EVERY SINGLE ACTOR OR SINGER OR BAND OR ANY TYPE OF CELEBRITY HAS STORIES FROM FANS WHERE THEY WERE "MEAN". because people have bad days, and sometimes fans really feel entitled to too much of them. we as consumers of their art aren't entitled to shit. and once more (this is a theme to my pov) they were literal teenagers who shot to fame and by their own accounts were sometimes doing five countries in five days.

points 3 and 4 -- the sexism and the homophobia which were just old twitter posts ... i would like to know if OP has ever met a group of young male friends or anyone from australia. obviously we know now that shit's not kosher and hope they've grown and learned, but they were teenagers (I say this because all the ones cited were by Michael who was not the member who was 21 at the time of OP's list). they're about the same age as my brother, and having been around him and his friends at that age ... that's how they talk to each other. same with having had a best friend from australia for 17 years, culturally it's not a big deal to say shit like that. and AGAIN if it's about putting it on twitter for everyone to see, THEY WERE STUPID BOYS.

even though i'm not on twitter anymore (or fucking X or whatever) and i don't follow them on social media at all, i haven't seen anything to suggest they still have that same dumb boy mindset. and you can look at it like, thats me being sexist or ageist, or you can look at it like i'm excusing it all because of their age and gender and the cultural differences, plus their parents probably didn't teach them any differently. so honestly take this however you want but like man. having lived through the pop punk bandom during the 2000s and 2010s, you gotta be able to separate people making stupid mistakes from people doing really fucked up shitty things.

so thats my rant because that post rubbed me the wrong way OH WELL.

[autumn-rain-co]

so like, im considering my stances on a lot of things now because i just got out of a really toxic/weird friend group, and its making me think like. idk syscourse is so complicated for me and it feels like im doing the thing of “trying to please everyone and instead pleasing no one”

i have DID. i have DID because of trauma. but ive always been plural, i know i have. i view the fact that im plural and the fact that i have DID as separate entities that effect each other but arent necessarily the same thing. im also getting increasingly uncomfortable with using non-medical language when before i had an aversion to it.

i agree with the majority (if not all) of your stances when it comes to syscourse, and honestly i always have, but after being in endo-centric spaces for so long its hard not to have that feeling of “am i being a bad person?” stuck in the back of my head every time i think/say directly that while i do believe in endogenic plurality, i dont think you can have OSDDID without trauma. and hearing the sources that the proendo people i used to know would use to prove the existence/potential for endogenic OSDDID get disproven is starting to push me further and further away from finding those communities acceptable at all. they make me angry, on a certain level, because i would parrot those sources to hell and back without ever questioning them.

its tempting to say im unaligned, but even saying im unaligned would potentially just upset everyone regardless of stance — because antiendos would see it as being pro, and proendos would see it as being anti (i will note ive literally seen people do this with Your stances). on top of that, id essentially be exiling myself from any communities thtat dont have an extremely nuanced view on syscourse — and there are Very few places that Do have nuanced stances.

idk, sorry if this is too much for ur blog, im just trying to sort things out with myself

Ough... Oughh I really get where you're coming from Anon, I really do.

I used to struggle with wanting to find a good middle ground that everyone can agree on by researching and reading many opinions that I find to be nuanced and puts both sides of the endo debacle into consideration. But, after a while, I started to realize I couldn't find a middle ground at all.

I struggled with this cycle of trying to cater and take everyone's opinions and feelings into consideration, but in the end there are still some people that are unhappy. Which is, inevitable. Someone will always find a way to disagree.

After a while, I came to the conclusion that my stances and opinions are not things that should make people feel comfortable or happy. I wanted my opinion to consider all sides, be based on correct information, and be open to nuances. If anyone had a problem, they should avoid me themself.

From then on, whenever I entered any space that I considered to have a lack of nuance, pro or anti, I was just honest. I explained my stance thoroughly and answered any questions they may have. To my surprise, I actually got quite a few spaces that let me in (even if they were quite wary).

If a space refuses me then okay, I can find another. I got sick of the lack of spaces with nuance, so I just made my own. I settled with trying to surround myself with people that didn't mind my stances, even better if some actually agreed with me.

With this, I had to distance myself from spaces that just didn't suit me. Spaces that spread misinformation, encouraged harmful beliefs... Hell, I even have a minor (not so great) reputation in some pro-endo discord servers because of the beliefs and opinions I set for myself. However, I had to learn that this wasn't a moral failing on my part.

I simply had a different truth than others. Sure, people agree that considering all sides is a good thing, but sometimes the same people would see you also consider this side that they don't like/think you're considering their side less, they won't think your truth is "good". Antagonizing you.

In summary, you can do whatever the hell you want. Just expect consequences that may or may not make sense.

[speedlimit15]

sometimes i see things that remind me that many tumblr users really really do not leave their general hometown area or speak to anyone outside of their local community and all of their ideas of Others are so baseless. specifically talking about Some urban/suburban gay community members being soooooooooo casually snobby like all the time

like i get its scary outside of your friend group or whatever but i promise there are thriving Scenes™ in every populated area. people find a way to find community eventually and theyre just in ways you dont recognize immediately, they do take care of each other and hold their own

yes even in the swamp, yes even in a midwestern trailer park, yes even in the appalachians, and yes it's easier in the city because of density. those are just the places i've personally lived and found support and love. im sure the same can be said about elsewhere.

to say there isnt is to discount decades of sacrifice. not to mention different dangers exist in the city and suburbia which arent present in the country

the point is the entire rest of the world exists outside of whatever idea you have of it, regardless of whether you acknowledge it

the Discourse and ideas youve been holding onto for years should be challenged by reality because you must either learn to strengthen your ideas or prove them false. and then take them back to where you developed them and share your findings. anyway

[mega-angry-cloud]

Horizon has a habit of killing off characters that would be more interesting if they were left alive. And this started all the way back in the beginning of the first game, when they killed off Bast and Vala. Think of how much more interesting the story would have been if they'd survived to the end of the game?

Maybe instead of dying, Vala gets hurt and Bast and Aloy have to work together to get her off the mountain. That could've been a really interesting dynamic, Bast being this personification of alloys relationship with her tribe. She doesn't LIKE the Nora. Despite Rost's best attempts, she will never feel like she belongs with them, regardless of how often she proves her right to be there. Aloy believes that the tribal laws are all that Nora care about, and as the story stands now, that really is all that matters to most NON OUTCAST characters and that's BORING.

Vala and Aloy becoming friends BEFORE the proving could have been Aloys evidence that the tribe has GOOD PEOPLE in it who are willing to make space for her, even if there were others who might never respect her. And it would be important, because it was someone seeing aloy as a PERSON, not an outcast.

And if Bast survived AFTER the proving, it would have been cool to see their dynamic shift from childhood rivals to grudgingly respecting eachothers skills and willingness to protect vala. She would have EARNED his respect and admiration, regardless of the laws of the tribe. They would still pick on eachother, because Bast is a little shit and Aloy gives as good as she gets, but the bickering would lose its vitriol and become more of a rivalry, with vala there to play referee.

Vala could have easily stepped into Varl's place as the heart of the group for the series, and not much would have changed. But by fridging her for the sake of giving varl and aloy a way to bond, it cheapens things. It's not like aloy knew her more than a few hours in total anyway, so what was the point? If it had been Vala surviving the attack, and living to fight by Aloys side all the way into the second game, the effect of her being Aloys tie to the Nora would have hit harder.

Same with Erends sister. We hear all these stories about why we should care that she's not around, but we dont get to actually see her until her literal death scene. It's lame and ineffectual, and it only serves to give her brother a reason to fight by aloys side which HE DIDNT NEED. HE WAS ALREADY DOING IT, SO WHAT EXACTLY WAS THE POINT?? Everything just feels so black and white in this game, and that sucks because the characters all have so much more potential than what we get.

I am in no way suggesting that no characters should die at all in the game. Varls death was VERY impactful for me in forbidden west. But if you're introducing a character that's going to have some kind of impact on the emotional core of the story, then that impact should effect the player as much as it impacts the other characters. And if that impact would be more effective if the character was left alive, then you should just keep them alive.

[honeyboyfelix]

i am having a lot of thoughts rn so i need to write them you can look away if you want this is super fucking long asdfghjkl

imagine you are a tiefling. your mom is an elf and will surely outlive you and your entire family. you dad is also a tielfing. you are the oldest of 4 children. you live a happy 14 years as a relatively poor tinkerers child who has an affinity for magic your parents support with their whole hearts. but you are *poor* still so sending their child to magic school is not really in the cards. you are 14 when your dad disappears and is presumed dead. your mother falls apart in her grief understandably but unfortunately, your dad was the only one in the family with a job (your mother helped with that job but without him there is nothing to help). you are the oldest so you decide to use what little magic you know to help you make money performing street magic to provide for your family, your siblings who are like 7 and a year old (twin babies) obviously cant do that for themselves. you love your family and you would do anything for them but its hard to grow your skills when all youre doing is staying alive and thats how you live for the next 6 years. youre still struggling for money so you plan on going to this festival out of town to try and get your name out. on the way there you stop at a city that asks you (why you??????) and a group of people to find one of their people whove gone missing. on the way you all realize youre headed the same way so you might as well all travel together. you participate in the festival with these friendly weirdos, you get attached to people very quickly since you have abandonment issues and all of them are really really nice and one of them is even from your hometown!!!! you make it to the finals of the competition and the group youre up against is maybe not the nicest but your group is soooooo friendly that both groups decide to be good sports in the competition and not be sore losers if they lose. during said final round you guys pick up an artifact that gives the entire party a vision of a man trapped and desperate asking you to help him. you win the competition and your name will be forever remembered in that way but now you have bigger issues like wtf was up with that vision and the artifact????? your wizardly curiosity pulls you in. you find out the artifact is one of the most powerful artifact in the world blessed by not just one but three separate gods and the man from your vision must be their champion. this is a lot bigger than you,,,, you just wanted money,,,, but your new friends want to help this man and something pulls you along. you go to the cursed city (the city where demons come out of the walls every day in a never ending onslaught since the greatest war in the history of the world ended and reshaped history at you know it)

before you get to the city the cursed moon gives the entire party horrible warped memory nightmares that make you remember the last time you saw your father, the argument he and your mother had before he disappeared. you dont really wanna think about it. your mentor who taught you magic gives you her sword which is the last thing your father made before he disappeared. it feels very personal.

the inside of this city is awful and horrible and your entire party of lovable weirdos gets slammed again and again with darkness and despair but somehow you manage to come out of it relatively unscathed, you even gain a new friend!!! one you pulled from a deck of many things in a test to prove your worth!!!! (the themes of friendship triumphing never end btw) this new friend is a tinkerer JUST like your dad and even now your brother is a tinkerer too so he feels a little bit like home but also weird cause youre not used to people taking care of you its usually the other way around so you dont really know what to do with this new guy. the leader of this town who's trying to keep the demons at bay rewards you all by giving you his vacation home for free in the city you need to go to next in your journey.

when you get to the city the head curator of the library youre working with recognizes you immediately even though youre on a whole different continent and something in your stomach drops. he asks you what your parent's names are and a cold and ugly feeling settles in your stomach before telling him. he says nothing as he takes the group to the medical research facility and you see your father for the first time in years, passed out cold covered in angry red glowing crystals. the disease is uncurable and will kill him very soon, you found your dad again just to have him ripped away and warped beyond recognition and you are unable to do anything about it really. the other party members are shocked and upset by this but none more that the parties cleric who, unbeknownst to the rest of the group, instantly recognizes the exact scenario you are going through. you do what you do best and try to bury your feelings about the situation and tell no one about how youre feeling :) it worked at home why wouldnt it work here. the cleric tells you that no matter what they are going to do whatever it takes to find a cure so you dont go through their same fate and you trust your friends so much you believe him, youre determined now to get rid of this curse. in the process of investigating you get into a fight with some cursed statues (the big bad red curse,,,, you know the one) and you fuck up your attack so bad it hurts deep in your soul,,,, suddenly your hands have a red rash across them and you feel so so so tired. see the thing about the curse... it comes from this red crystal.... the same crystal your father had been working on tinkering with before he died.... the same crystal the hilt of your sword is made of :)

the only people who see that youre cursed are the party cleric and your knight (the new friend from the deck of many things you have complicated feelings about) so you decide the rest of them dont need to know :) you dont tell them about the sword either, you just start using a new one,,,, no one asks either thankfully! anyway the library finally gives you the next location so you can hopefully end these peoples (who you are now one of) suffering but there is one problem: an aboleth who believes he is the man from the vision that set this quest off is guarding the entrance to the place youre supposed to go. oh and also!! the rival party from the beginning of the quest? theyve been helping you guys out to and they went to check it out before you could warn them almost dying in the process so thats,,,, this mission is doomed from the start you swear.

despite all warnings, you go in the place where the entrance is trying to find a way in the entire party enters a fight with these cursed eels that intensely swallow you already at half health and you already think "oh god oh god were all gonna die and my family is gonna think i abandoned them just like my dad i cant die here not like this not so close" and somehow the entire party makes it out by the skin of their teeth and more than a little doubt in their hearts. this party doesnt know when to quit so you go in again to finally fight befriend the aboleth, this party is all about hope and kindness despite all the absolute hopelessness theyve been surrounded by for the past like 5 months you see, theyre first instinct is to reach out with both hands to their worst enemies and no matter how hard the world beats them down,,,, its worked every time. so of course it works this time almost instantly (with the help of the entire group and shit ton of magical buffs on one man, its called group effort sweetie uwu)

finally you get to go into the area this entire trip has been building up, what is essentially the magical prison of a cursed man forgot completely by the world. you are obviously not having a great time, the secrets youre keeping weigh heavy on you, you feel responsible for all of the mistakes youre party has made you also feel responsible for dragging an innocent man into this (the knight who is just like you, lonely and stubborn and intelligent and awkward) and the horrors TM are kinda setting in on you every minute since you saw your dad again but couldnt even talk to him,,,,, you are running out of time and now the cleric is also cursed which is just,,,,,, too poetic really. this was already personal for you both and now its you in their shoes and the cards stacked up in such a horrible way. but youre still alive, theres still a chance, we have to make it not just for your dad or all those other strangers or for yourself but your kind friends who have done nothing but help you,,,, they deserve to make it through this. so you power through

the dungeon is,,,, awful. every room is a memory from the cursed mans life where he watched the world beat down anyone who cared for him, his parents almost killed for simply having him, the civilians he tried to protect dying because he is one man who makes mistakes, the army he commands falling in a never-ending war no matter how many battles he one the next would just bring more loss, he was cursed,,,, because everyone believed he was cursed but all you see is someone who is like you and your friends who should have been givin a chance at a better life.

his memories crush you under their weight -literally- they pin you to the floor and wont let you up and your magic is failing you. worst of all its getting your friends too and you can do nothing to help while youre still trapped like this. the knight (who the entire party agrees is somewho the best of all of you) is the first one to break free from the spell, you dont know what did it specifically but he turns to you first urging you to get up and fight the voices in your head trying to bring you down. the cursed man speaks in your head, your loved ones speak in there too, telling you to just give up to let go and surrender that the fight isnt worth it but you are so close you cant end up like your dad where the last conversation you had was a yelling match about why youd left you have to make it back,,,, so you do, you get up and you get your friends up too. because this group doesnt let people fqall into nihilism and obviously all of you still have your problems, no one is perfect, but its worth trying. its always worth the fight

[kang-yina]

I hate how lgbtq identities, actually i hate how the lesbian identity is always questioned, even by people who call themselves lesbians, we're always thinking: "oh maybe im bi and just faking it", "its not that big of a deal" "maybe one day i will stop thinking that"

It does not work this way... i said lgbtq identities because i also try to doubt about my asexuality even though i am on the completely non-sexualy attracted part of the sprectrum, but this is about lesbians, i have a pretty much worse problem with my lesbian identity and i notice that this is a pattern among lesbians, pretty much all my friends talked about how they might be bi, and its okay to guess right? But we have the same wording: "if i really liked man", "i like to have masculine attention, but only the attention, not the relationship", "i would like men in these circumstances", "sometimes i dont know how to reject men without seem rude and i fell guilty when i really answer them becaue they could be sad with my rejection, even though not rejecting them makes ME feel sad"

We're always trying to make our way to treat men well, almost like just being a lesbian was bad for their existence. About me, i really feel those things but also when i see people invalidating lesbians like "oh yes i made a lesbian like me", like this is not how it works dude, this person was not a lesbian lmao, but i feel bad, and afraid that maybe if i start not identificating with my label anymore. People would say that, BUT I ALSO DONT FEEL LIKE THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN LMAO, i really have a problem about wanting to change myself, hetcomp sometimes even tho i dont feel nothing i wish i did, to feel "normal", and i really think a lot about wanting to control what i feel, and this would make me fall for men and not women or some other bullshit that goes in my brain. I am 100% sure that i am a lesbian because i know since i was 13 that i was in love, completely in love, with a girl, it was one sided but i dated another girl after that, i was not *in love* how i was with that first girl and even though it was SO GOOD, also i dated a non-binary person and it was again, SO GOOD. I fucking love women, and thats also how my lack of acceptance with my asexuality comes into play, i dislike talking about sex and stuff but i am not sex-repulsed, so i would do that in a relationship, but also would not if i was with someone who dont want that - the thing is that i only dated allo people lmao. And i am still in love with my other ex (a girl), this was a long relationship, also i could like any women and non-binary person that gives me the chance to, or that dont even give me 😹😹😹. The idea of dating and liking a men gives me disgust, to be fucking honest.

But i still try to "prove myself", and i dont know any lesbian who doesn't tries to prove themselves like that. We (I) also feel a sense of displacement in any social group, sometimes even in lgbtq groups that have no other lesbian, which is super common. But i think "normal" environments like school/college are worse, mostly if the people there know i am queer (because i talk about it with my friend group), i am always having the mindset that the girls think i am weird and is going to do something with them, and the boys find me disgusting.

I think the worst part about this text is that i did exactly what i was complaining about, i typed a lot of extra things to try to prove myself as a lesbian, and i know that my other lesbian friends would do the same, which is like so sad???? I know who i am, i just have internalized homophobia lmao, and all of them have it too. Actually any lgbtq person has internalized lgbtqphobia but this is another topic.

[themelodicenigma]

It makes sense to look at it that way. Cleriths act like they dont recognize Cloti, but they KNOW its romantic. They copy everything Cloti does even with Clerith mods. They wouldnt do that if they didnt know and just lie

This is about this post, right?

It's everyone, really.

Because of course, if someone is making a claim that is untrue, you'll try to prove that. If you think it's not about "truth" as much as it is, what's the most supported answer to go with, again, you'll try to prove that too.

"Who" or "What" determines that of which is correct, incorrect, logical, illogical, etc—the evidence and reasoning will show itself at that point, and someone's capability to come to terms with whatever it is will be on their own merit. That's how it's always worked, and how it'll always be with individuality.

A truth can feel weightless in the face of someone who refuses to accept it—you just have to settle what it feels like for you, more than anything. But, also have the capability to even present it in a way that makes sense if you really care about it being a truth.

People say some really ridiculous things, but others will agree with them still. You can say they're wrong, but everyone's got to present their logic and establish their ultimate point. We faff about with other things, like personal attacks instead of just laying down ways to be understood, whether you can be proven to be wrong or right.

I've personally just seen a lot of inconsistent logic or personal agenda.

I mean, there IS romanticism used for both Clerith and Cloti, the base entity of it's existence in their storytelling, absolutely—the concept of romance and writing makes this very clear. But you have to understand what that means as it is. Recognizing this solely does not yet come with discerning a relationship, if something is "endgame", or whatever thing someone simply wants to USE this existing information for. It's an observation of fact, an existing connotation, tone, element, etc. Romance/Sexual tone is a very specific thing, and can be used positively/negatively/neutral [at a given time]. What it's purpose is for, how it affects the characters—all that is AFTER you are able to identify the element in the first place.

The problem is, a lot of groups want to jump the gun and focus solely on who is in love with who, or who will be given the story perception of being together at the end. And, they try SO hard to acknowledge the usage of romanticism because they believe it has to equate to those two things, when it doesn't.

If you want to believe Clerith is canon, you don't need to have the personal agenda to deny the romantic elements of the train roll to make yourself feel better and purposely not absorb direct, literal information regarding Clod . Similarly, if you're a Cloti, you don't need to try to denounce Cloud and Aerith's relationship at every turn and deny what otherwise is also very reliable romanticism used between them. You shouldn't be afraid of the existence of the tone for a ship you don't like—to the point it makes YOU fallacious or create inconsistent, illogical statements.

Simply recognizing the tonality shouldn't be a problem—it's writing. It's a story. Where it's written and implemented happens because someone decided to do so. Failing to recognize it when it's applicable taints what otherwise would be the next step of reasoning that needs to be had, and chances are it'll be virtually inconsistent with something else that just so happens to benefit your point of view.

Situationally, two people can fall onto each other, and help each other up platonically—but reasonably, historically, not in the exact way it was crafted for the train scene. Same vein, you can have someone showing up in a fancy outfit, having another person(s) react to them and their appearance platonically—but reasonably, historically, not in the exact way it was crafted for the red dress scene.

Literally replace their character models in either scene with two siblings—you're going to have a problem.

But I digress, the tones were used—that's your first acknowledgement. Anything else, like a character suddenly, whiplashingly falling in love with someone at the exact moment is another thread of understanding and conversation. But the first acknowledgement should still happen.