#lol skill segregation

[mistysblueboxstuff]

it was never a tool fam

[daliasmay]

The most ridiculous arguments I've ever seen from E/riels is not about "the smell of bread and roses", no, but about the sunshine she needs in her life, black dress and about that godforsaken city. It takes a megamind to use such arguments.

"Velaris has sunshine", "There's sun in the NC too", "The NC is a sun court we remind you", "Some flowers can bloom in the dark"

Even if the NC has a sun, it it still a night fucking court. n-i-g-h-t. This word means something, isn't it? Spring also has nights and it wasn't a right place for Feyre anyway. And you'd think Elain and Elucien's words about sunshine are just about only the damn flowers and the sun in the sky that rises in the morning and goes down in the evening. Please!

"They dressed her badly so that Eris would ignore her, lol", "They dressed her like that on purpose because they didn't want Elaine's beauty to overshadow Nesta's"

What the fuck?

Eris is completely indifferent to Elain as a woman. It isn't difficult to understand. And he is Lucien's brother, just fun to remember, who saved his life, looked at him with sadness in ACOWAR and visited him in ACOSF. Eris was interested only in Nesta. He is also a fashionable male and he looked at Elain with ✨assessing gaze✨. I suppose he's also noticed how much the black colour doesn't suit her (She used the perfect complement to her black dress - pearls - but even that couldn't save her from the colour that sucked the life out of her), not to mention the fact that he probably knows that she's his brother's mate. So delulu and simple demonstrating a zero reading skills if they understand the text like that. Basta!

It is also equally unfair to both sisters to say that. Nesta is a queen without her sisters, she is amazing woman by her own without any "help". She doesn't need any favours.

Elain is amazing woman, no need to dress her badly on purpose to make someone shine.

Sisters are amazing by their own. They all have their own powers and characters. I feel so sorry for those who don't understand it and use such stupid arguments to explain their ship.

"She is ok in Velaris, Velaris is her home, no need to worry about the Hewn City", "Her home in Velaris and in the NC. She doesn't want to leave the place where her family and nephew lives!!! She has a work - tending to Feyre's gardens and helping people in Velaris with theirs. She is happy!", "The Hewn City is not Elaine's place, that's why she was ridiculous there, Cassian meant that", "She can live in Velaris, she was healthy there!", "You want to take her away from the family that she loves and that loves her. You are a misogynist and Elain hater!", "Cassian is an unreliable narrator, he understand nothing in fashion. We can't believe him!"

PLEASE!

Night Court is her home, but not the Hewn City and Illyrians lands. Night Court is her home, but only in the borders of that retched city. How can they claim that the Night Court is her home, and at the same time erase most of the Court, including its official capital and royal residence?

Velaris is a huge hole that has been closed for thousands of years, and The Night Court is not Velaris, ThE CoUrT oF DrEaMs, how SJM called them, who loves to segregate their own citizens and think about 90% of the Court as scum and lowlifes, and do nothing to make their lives better.

If the Night Court is her home, don't sort its parts.

Cassian is an unreliable narrator, but Feyre with her fantasies and "What if the Cauldron was wrong?" is a very-very reliable narrator, yes-yes. Selective reading will strike you one day and it will be very hurt.

And here we are, with Elain and flowers, when she said the opposite to Nesta in ACOSF. Being Feyre's gardener and personal family baker aren't about her personal growth. Like being Azriel's personal houseplant.

The black dress was a metaphor. It is so cute how they can see things that are not there, but miss the log in their own eyes. (the rose necklace and the whole Azriel's bonus chapter, I can't).

I really don't know how they came up with that.

[gaym3bo1]

15 people, 15 questions

(if this means i'm gonna have to tag 15 ppl i'm gonna cry @non-binarypal7 @xagan @airenyah but thank u anyways hfhfh)

1. Are you named after anyone?

I'm named after two different political activists who share the same name lmao one marxist and one anti-segregation, ur allowed to guess

2. When was the last time you cried?

just before NYE bc i was completely overwhelmed and just wanted my peace and quiet (that i didnt get for like 3 weeks bc of the holidays)

3. Do you have kids?

lol no, i couldn't even raise a dog if i wanted to

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

i don't do any and i rlly should, but i was on a volleyball team for like 2 years in high school

5. Do you use sarcasm?

frequently, but apparently i've gotten worse at it and ppl can't hear it from my tone anymore, maybe i'm too deadpan with it

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

depends, but height is an obvious one

7. What’s your eye color?

Green? ish?

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

as long as it's not psychological horror/thriller i like both to a certain extent but i guess i'd choose happy endings (though i'm a strong fighter for 'not every story needs a happy end pls stop')

9. Any talents?

i'm self-depricating and feel like i'm failing at life so i'd like to say "None lol" but my friends would beat my ass so i'll say i'm quite good at picking up new hobbies/basic skills? And i'm a good cook!

10. Where were you born?

gemrany (yea i'll leave that typo, censor the place)

11. What are your hobbies?

making video edits of gay ass shows

reading fanfics abt gay ass shows

crocheting

drawing [hasn't drawn anything as a hobby in months]

eating delicious food (genuinely)

12. Do you have any pets?

3 snails <333 they are lovely and adorable and poop all day every day!

15. What is your dream job?

being the private chef for a friend that's suddenly rich for some reason. more realistically i would love working on tv shows or movies but also i know i'm not good enough AND i know how horrible the jobs are so i actually don't really. at least not as a long-term prospect but i'd love to try

tagging following 15 people:

....... tagging ppl in the last post already took all my social anxiety for the day, so i'll leave this for anyone who sees bc i am nosy but anxious (tag me i wanna see)

[st-severus]

This was sitting in my drafts, likely part of too long reply that I had to cut, but feels like a fairly complete thought so here you go: While I think there's no way that the first time reader could realize it, it appears to me that the author has incorporated some very troubling classist assumptions into her world from the get-go!

First and foremost, there is no question that magical ability is innate. There are the haves (the wizarding folks) and the have-nots (muggles). No matter how hard a Squib or Muggle tries they will never be able to cast a spell. This is a surprisingly cruel set-up for what started out as a children's series!

(There's tons of holes in this! Apparently, wands backfire (or rather rebel) when used by Muggles so that could indicate that Muggles can use magic, but they need a different kind of wand to be able to do so. (AU where Olivander places a curse on wands to stop those without "enough" wizarding blood from using them lol)

However, with things like explicitly stating that Muggles can't brew potions, JKR is attempting to create a strict segregation — the ethics of which is never truly called into question in the text.

Note the differences between hp and other series where some have the ability to do magic and others do not (like avatar, owl house, welcome to demon school, etc.). The have-nots:

can use tools that allow them to use magic (glyphs, demon rings)

have other important skills (like hunting or friendship lol)

Now, because of the outspoken criticism of the pure blood supremacists' extremist views and the active resistance to the Death Eater's rise to power which makes up most of the plot, I think readers had good reason to expect a more progressive outcome – even though that was never going to be in the cards.

[randomnameless]

So I bumped into this

---

LOL

The Charge skill was really bonkers in FE Jugdral, I can’t remember how many times Dagda died to ballistas because charge activated lol - but it was also a way to bypass, in FE4, the need to have “pursuit” to double.

As for Faval here, this is what I meant by story and game segregation, sure it’s hilarious as fuck to see this not-so random merc deal the final blow against the big bad, but come on, lore wise, Faval’s arrows should do 0 and only Julia can defeat him :(

As much as I hated it in FE10, if the Jugdral remakes ever see the light of the day, they should implement the “final boss doesn’t die but revive if it’s not the right character dealing the final blow”, and the main character here would be Julia because, unlike Tellius, there is a lore explanation as to why only Julia should be the one to defeat Loptyr (as opposed to the fuckery that is ‘only Ike’ can defeat Ashera because the devs wanted to give him the final blow I guess)

[forevercampsims]

Welcome to my first build featured on Sim River Construction - Peacelands Academy! It hasn't been playtested yet, but should be fully accessible and usable. It is up on the Gallery, and is listed as a Generic Modded lot, as I did use one CC wallpaper.

Peacelands Academy was built on the High School lot in Copperdale with the intention of being a playable high school for those using High School Years in its standard form (so, only two classrooms for ease of playability during an active school day), with room for 6 students in one class, and up to 8 in the other).

Students at Peacelands are placed in one of two cohorts - Cedar Class or Sage Class. The cohorts have been named after traditional medicines, and Peacelands enjoys a collaborative relationship with local First Nations to teach about the land, its history and its importance.

The common areas of the school were given a black and white, modern style design, but the faculty and students have offset those with lots of greenery and natural light. Anywhere the students are expected to spend a lot of time has been warmed through use of mostly natural tones. From the main floor entry hall, students can go straight through to the cafeteria and club rooms, or downstairs to the exercise centre, upstairs to class, or over into the administrative offices.

The Peacelands Administration Office has two rooms: one for the clerk who handles the registrations, deliveries and coordinates schedules. Beyond the main office is the principal's private office. Here, they can work on reports, hold small meetings and keep an eye on students through not only the exterior windows, but also through the interior window looking out into the entry hall.

The cafeteria is the main gathering space for students while not in classes. With a full service cafeteria bar, plenty of varied seating options, and access to vending machines, students can pass their lunch hours here easily. Toilets and club rooms are also accessible from here.

Peacelands Academy has four "club rooms": Music, Computer, Library and Art. Each room has space for a few sims to gather and work on skill-building in the creative and tech areas.

The music room features an accent wall with CC wallpaper from AJ Nebula's Even Mistier Forest collection, available on CurseForge.

The Exercise Centre has everything students would need to build their Fitness and Wellness skills. There are two gender-segregated change rooms with showers available here. For those who want all-gender access to the change rooms, it's a simple matter of changing the doors from the Male/Female options in Build Mode to the Gender-Neutral option.

Now onto the outdoor areas!

Peacelands Academy encourages their students to use sustainable, eco-friendly forms of transportation wherever possible to get to school, and so they've built a secure area for students to store bikes and other transport forms. (My story brain says they're skateboards, but realistically, guys, it's the ski and snowboard rack from Snowy Escape. Do with that what you will, LOL.)

Behind the school is a large patio for students who want to take in some fresh air - it's sparsely furnished, but has several picnic tables for eating, as well as a partly shaded seating area. The patio leads off to the three main outdoor spaces for Peacelands, including the outdoor basketball court.

Peacelands Academy boasts not one, but THREE greenhouse areas gathered in the back corner of the lot. One greenhouse is purely decorative, while another has a bonsai tree and the third has a flower arranging table. Students can work on building their Flower Arranging skills here.

The Shed is Peacelands' newest outbuilding. Here, students can work on building their Handiness and Fabrication skills through woodworking stations, candle making stations and a fizzing station. Toilets are available here as well. The Shed also has some outdoor seating for students to enjoy the sun on great weather days!

Thanks for coming along on my first Simblr post! If you're interested in using Peacelands in your own game, it's available on the Gallery, under Peacelands Academy (ID is ForeverCamp). I have some other builds available on my Gallery from earlier years as well.

[91vaults]

I’m wondering what are peoples experience with education? specifically in regards to streaming or segregation (especially if you went to school in Australia)

I think a lot about this topic. I’ve always think the problem is the thing that isn’t talked about is the dissonance between what something should do in theory and how it plays out in real life

in systems that stream kids early the idea is that they can learn at their own pace which is good, but is the reality that your basically stuck there for the rest of you’re schooling? and so your opportunitys later in life are affected at such an early age. And who does that affect most? disadvantaged kids

not to mention the feedback loop of self perception. If kids get the message they can’t do something then they are going to check out.

My own experience wasn’t that dramatic. We didn’t have streaming early on BUT it wasn’t until i went to a fancy private school for high school that things took a turn. (this is just gonna be self indulgent trauma dumping from this point lol)

it might be different now but at the time you had your first 3 years of highscool then your last two years were spent getting what they call an ATAR which is a score out of 100 that determines your university entrance

Now i would be curious if this is more common in private schools than public schools but ATAR results are public and often used as a measure of a schools “quality” not to mention a selling point of schools…especially private schools

So that leads us to this situation. My school did exams in year 10 and probably before that, these exams determined which subjects we were “recommended” i don’t know how this compares other schools

I did poorly in those exams for reason both my fault and out of my control. So I was “not recommend” to sit the exams for uni entrance. What devastated me so much was it was the exact kick up the ass i needed yet I would never have the chance to turn things around. It really was a gut punch

The same thing happened to the daughter of a lady from work shortly after i left school, so she pulled her out of the (fancy private) school and enrolled her in a public one.

I did their vocational track, I am very fuzzy on the details so if i had a plan in mind I might have gotten more out of it but i had no plan because my self perception was shattered and i didn’t know what i wanted to do. The track was just work experince, and work experince sucks, and it sucks for somone who has very bad anxiety and poor social skills. I longed to be back in the classroom.

I don’t want to trash vocational routes or vocational education/training. The best people at my work who can run circles around me do not have degrees. There are many great careers out there and university degrees are probably overrated

that said I don’t think the vocational track really worked for me. I left school depressed and with nothing to show for it. I was totally checked out for the last two years and didn’t care, and still feel bad about the money my parents wasted in school fees, i really wish i had just gotten the fuck out of there and done proper cert, it was even suggested to me but the prospect of not even finishing school was too much to bear.

I know it’s kind of a moot point cause in Aus we have a lot of alerterante pathways to university and i even took one out of school and failed out of a semester of uni (for personal reasons not related to acedemics) but on some level it really affected me, especially after dropping out

I now have a bachelors and work in a well respected feild. I work with people from all kinds of backgrounds so i think i’ve pretty much out all that insecurities to rest

I just think schools should listen to what the students goals are and not shove people aside in the name of test scores. It’s not that Vocational tracks are bad, i think they are good and have a lot of undeserved stigma. But I think people have choices and not have those choices yanked away so early in life.

[cyberthot666]

anyone who considers themselves feminist should have a basic understanding that the root of women’s oppression is in our biology. all women throughout all cultures throughout all of history have shared the same biological realities. and almost all cultures across the globe from all different time periods have tried to subjugate women, in one way or another, based on our biological differences from men. the belief that men are inherently superior because men are supposedly stronger/ smarter/ more logical & rational than women etc. wasn’t just introduced one day by western colonists nations. cultures across the world have held all sorts of myth & stigma around women and our unique ability to create life. the female reproductive system has long been sacred and or stigmatized depending on where you look. I think it’s very ignorant & near sighted to believe men of color only exercise privilege over women in their communities because The White Man told them so. white supremacy & racism has infected a lot of cultures and of course women of color experience a unique intertwining of racism & misogyny. but what these claims fail to see is men of all races are entirely able to practice misogyny on their own terms lol. you can’t look over every culture throughout history through the lens of modern western politics and expect it to apply. even once you work past the racism of this argument, there’s also the misogyny of trying to frame female boundaries as “racism” like. women are entitled to safe spaces away from men. I don’t see how any person with basic critical thinking skills and even just a slight knowledge of history & other cultures outside of the west could logically frame: women wanting to pee without the presence of men – as somehow comparable to, say, American segregation. like y’all have lost your god damn minds.

[cactusradical]

radfems are just sad. the thought of an amab person living happily makes your blood boil. like trans people aren't hurting you by existing. most of what you're afraid of is just fear mongered in your little echo chambers. i wish you could hear yourselves...

at this point the tra strawmanning is getting so fucking exhausting that I'm about to go full-on rudefem

I have no problem with 'amabs' living happily. I have a problem with men telling us that 'living happily' involves undergoing extensive experimental treatment, forcing women to accept them into their spaces, calling misgendering and sex-segregated sports 'literal genocide' and then calling lesbians bigots if they say they don't want to interact with penises. this isn't 'just existing', this is the reorganisation of society.

I'm afraid of male violence, and the only way this is 'fear-mongered' is if you don't believe misogyny exists, in which case why bother interacting with any feminist ever? I have never spoken to a woman who has not been abused, raped, sexually assaulted or harassed at the hands of a man so good luck trying to convince me it's just fearmongering

you all talk about echo chambers as if tras don't live in echo chambers lol. also I spend most of my time debating you people so how am I in an echo chamber? I've just never seen anything that wasn't rife with emotional personal attacks and logical fallacies. you can't dismiss everyone who disagrees with you as living in an echo chamber. I just have critical thinking skills.

[bl888ck]

being on the right/center seems so fun, no real values but going against what other people are doing whilst adopting their views in micro doses. calling white liberals racists for telling right leaning non white people their views on race are stupid, but also calling anyone outside your “group” woke and victimizing for softening the blade of the word racist by not only using it on people who completely self segregate from other races, don’t have friends of other races, believe other races should be exterminated etc etc. they adopted and believe a lot of what they claim to hate when it benefits them. why is becky calling you (a non white person) uneducated bad when the existence of a having a “oppressed” racial should have no bearing on your validity on a conversation about one? lol. seeing the some on the right hate the right for being so leftist is so funny because that’s the only reason why it’s so mainstream now and not fringe anymore. the lack of self awareness people have that the critical thinking skills they got not from “woke” thinking, the lack of just outright idiocy and bigotry the right used to have thanks to public shaming, and the mental gymnastics people learned by engaging with sjws for the last couple years gave them the most compelling arguments they have? i’m actually glad to see renounced woke ppl going to other spaces saying stuff like “you’re personal outrage is not everyone else’s emergency (of course i’m not talking about the prevalence of hatred going around (ie blm attacking store owners) but the hypocritical entitled thinking that things like pronouns or female empowerment demand everyone’s attention and agreeance” instead of the old right wing “racism and sexism doesn’t exist in the 21st century, you were not a slave or a housewife”. it’s really heartwarming honestly. it’s giving.. muddying the waters until everyone is covering up their behind and not saying what they actually mean but pretending they’re being genuine. just a bunch of sneaky, scared, but pretending to be brave, online centrist martyr commenters 🙏

[michaelevans27]

May I ask if you are a political blog, and if so what your views are? If not, that's cool too, only hospitality here at tumblr.

So this is a long answer but hopefully explains my blog and me, probably in a too in depth and not all important way lol. I think there's always room for growth as there should be for my views and opinions and getting things right or knowing how to get things right is never going to be simple or the same for ever. Thank you for asking and I hope this is what you wanted to know.

My blog isn't really an anything blog I have no aims for the blog, I started off using it as a place to throw my overwhelming or very thought through topics or things on my mind like an online diary. Only recently started using the app again and felt like it was worth adding to the space out on the Internet with more support and more thoughts and voices about what's going on in the world.

I've been asking my SO who uses the app more about how to use it better because I don't fully know the ins and outs.

Personally politically I've always felt like priorities and overall progress and working for positives and everyone as better focus points I don't fully really believe in political parties as a thing that is the future, I don't think capitalist and communist ideals are perfect or fair and attainable ideals in the real world without being complimented with other systems.

I prefer to sit in the middle and usually see the left and right labels used as dividers of humanity creating opposites where ideally there shouldn't really be any. I personally think that a unchecked and overcommitance to being hard left politically serves to possibly create enemies and divisions and segregations within borders with sometimes creating enemies with people who actually support or believe similarly in important priorities to the country and humanity. Likewise being a hard right political supporter usually can create dissonance and a lack of empathy or unison of looking to better the world for everyone with selfishness, divisiveness and a pack of open mind vision or a bias in views, usually adopting such an ideology can create a divide between nations as well as in country.

Essentially party systems create dissonance and this mentality that by not supporting a party you clearly oppose it, by their definitions they celebrate differences.

Pride in culture and in individuality and personality gets blurred and has been blurred for centuries maybe longer. Philosophy and equality and human rights alongside nature has been something weirdly difficult to maintain and wanes and becomes less focused on at times. I think that usually when you have pure hearts of individuals not following a system or party you get a more sincere and thoughtful approach to things. Democracy isn't perfect and it never will be especially when it's founded through old ideologies.

I believe that each country and people should be equals, should be furthering co-operation and standing up for rights for everyone. I believe that individuals with passion for others are those who get things done best for others with the skills needed to effectively implement them acknowledging delegation or input from others (these days most leaders are simply good with words and can give an image of being these things, there are more incentives and things which can blur or attract those that are not actually like this).

I believe importance of discussion and communication over wording and manipulation. Explanation and consideration over tactful dismission and diversion. I believe materialistic desires and exchanges have no place in politics or impacts on human populace in the sense that advisors and paid consultants ought to form part of the governing people and not have external ties and benefits for example. Power and corruption shouldn't be available to any leading people such that 1 person is to blame and 1 person chooses how to impact everyone else.

Basically at the end of the day politically I believe in doing the minimum and more for all walks of life, for it to be a place where there's no stepping stones or gains that are poisonous to motives such as fame or future postings or jobs in life giving power outside of being in politics presently. The kind of job where everyone involved is thinking about the future of the planet not just it's people or themselves, not bargaining on chips and cheapest possibilities using leverage upon other countries. Not seeking to impact or subvert other countries.

For example the Ukraine should not be left with a bill at the end of this conflict should it prevail and live on, it is owed not left owing, owed help from everyone in rebuilding, help in reuniting soldiers from both sides to families. They don't owe exports and imports at different prices, they don't owe endorsements.

At the end of the day for humanity and the planet to live on, for expansion if humanity for example or for a threat to humanity what good does it do to still be divided whether between countries or people over how someone is to blame without constructive and helpful solutions and attempts to fix and fairly address damage or for people to think their country deserves more than another or that a country deserves to be doing badly and have less resources due to circumstance or instances out of its peoples hands? Division doesn't do us any good nor the planet, people can agree on many things and it shouldn't be so hard to find the agreements and places to meet upon and build upon, humanity shares enough in fact more than enough regardless of race or religion to work together to better one another.

[uncleghostt]

Can't stop thinking about how 18th century Moravians (Christian denomination, very prominent in the colonial days) fucked a lot and made it a religious thing just so they didn't feel guilty.

Take a seat, and strap in.

(CW: sex, religion, Christianity, cult mention, explicit anatomical terms, voyeurism, etc. This is a fun post about *strange* practices but please read at your own risk!!)

The Moravians were borderline a cult. They all called their leader "Papa", were very obsessed with blood and blood sacrifice, and had very very strict member rules. People *were* free to leave the faith if they wanted, but it very seldom happened.

Anyways, this group of people had all sorts of interesting things going on for them. First off, they were an industrial GIANT. Literally so efficient and skilled in like 200 trades that people all over the north east would horse and buggy it on over to Pennsylvania to buy their stuff. That said, they were one of the first people (they claim to be the first anyways) to divert water from the source and mechanically engineer it to produce energy. Cool stuff. They also were a multiracial group (allowing black individuals, native American individuals, etc) to hold equal status as other white members. It wasn't exactly an effort on "anti-racism" but definitely anamalous for the time period. Same goes for women. The men and women were separated almost ALL of the time (except when they were having sex, but I'll discuss that next) which means people of all genders were highly educated and expected to contribute equally to the community. Again, not exactly feminism, but it's notable.

Alright. Now onto what you've stopped for. The SEX. The Moravians loved sex and legit thought it was the key to *seeing god*. So much to the point where the whole goal of "unification" was so that a married couple could orgasm and "become closer to God". They even referred to cumming as "blessing the wife". It wasn't a free for all though. Oh no. There were very particular rules. On the eve of one's wedding, you would be sat down with the village elders and taught EXACTLY how you were supposed to fuck. Some accounts even state that the village elders would WATCH while unification happened so that they could *make sure* they were doing it right (ew). These rules are totally not conducive to actual sex either lol. So like (I'm gonna be explicit here) the men were only allowed to move at a certain rhythm while inserted (encouraged to move as little as possible) because their whole thing was "removing the lust from sex." Individual members frequently recounted these experiences in their diaries, a lot of people feeling shame for thinking about sex during sex, and for not reaching orgasm like God intended. (they would say stuff like, "I'm so upset with myself that when my husband blessed me, I didn't see God. He was not with me, I'll try and see him next time"—the poor women LOL)

And it's important to note that this didn't just happen any old place. Remember now that the Moravians had their communities segregated by gender. 'So where DID they canoodle??', you may be asking yourself. The answer? A tiny 5x5 room called the blue cabinet. Couples would LINE UP outside and wait for their chance to go in and bang. There wasn't even a bed in there!!! Sometimes it would be a wooden bench or specialized chair, but never a real bed.

((NOTE: Now, existence of the blue cabinet is not very well recorded (as one would imagine, sounds like a pretty taboo concept) but this is strange because the Moravians prided themselves on their record keeping. They had diarists account every day, every hunt, every death, every event, every action, etc. of the community. So this being left out, was definitely intentional.))

Okay back to business. So why did the Moravians, a very pious and deeply religious group, think it was okay (and even encouraged) to have sex??

Jesus side wound. Or as I like to call it, his side wussy.

Because his stab wound (from being crucified) kinda looks like a hoohah, they thought they could justify sex as long as they imagined they were penetrating Jesus's side wound. Seriously. They loved the side wussy so much they wrote songs about it and drew countless pictures depicting it. They even gave out little calling cards that were just rooms of their buildings as if they were inside of the wussy. Wild. I can't get over it. Look at it please hahahahahah

ANOTHER QUICK FACT: the Moravians had a very weird concept of gender and thought that "all people had female souls" because everyone was Jesus's bride. That said, they perceived Jesus himself to hold both male and female energy (nb king omg).

And LAST ONE I promise: the son of their leader got in big big trouble because he was having gay orgies in the Young single men's house (all houses were divided by gender and marital status)!! They caught all these young guys getting freaky and dressing up like women!!!!! hehehe

---

Okay I have so much more knowledge of this in my head but I'm sure your mind is blown so I'll stop there. Hope u have a great day being plagued with these thoughts as I am!

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

The idea that some people are born better at sports (or anything) than others, idk, if that were true, would we allow for the exclusion of people from certain activities because they weren't born for it? Everyone should get a chance to play sports at their own level. Like, if we followed that logic to its conclusion. I feel like some people also use this logic for things like being good at math or art. I'm not saying EVERYONE can practice every day and go to the Olympics, but practicing every day is also a big part of competing on the global stage of anything.

I had a girl on my high school rowing team who was 5'8" (MINUSCULE for a rower) and she made it to world's!! She was so strong and she worked so hard at it. She was the best rower on our team (though we were also a short-ass team lol).

yeah frankly people harping on this idea that athletics are about pure genetic benefit to argue against the underlying arguments for attempts to level the playing field in athletics (the most famous being sex-segregated sports which proliferated after title ix) by arguing all biological differences are exactly the same, so height, weight, arm length, etc are the exact same as sex or physical and mental ability, or that they’re interchangeable (i’ve often seen the argument, for example, that we should make all sports co-ed and then separate teams by height and weight or by body mass, which makes no fucking sense). and i have to be honest like….these people don’t know anything about sports on any level. and they’re not arguing in good faith either really. like what you’re saying about practice is true! and of course skill can be affected by genetics, but the reason we hold talented athletes in high regard is because of their dedication and discipline in being the best at their game. that wouldn’t hold as much weight if it was all about genetics. i mean, the proliferation of much older athletes continuing to be at the top of their game is also proof of that: tom brady winning the superbowl at 43, serena williams going for another grand slam at 39, phil mickelson winning the PGA tournament at 50, simone biles (who is considered older for her sport LMAO shes very young) landing the yurchenko double pike at 24. this is a testament also maybe to modern medicine lol but it is also proof of the importance of skill, which is cultivated over time. you genuinely don’t even have to know much about athletics to know that!

[iluxia]

Unsolicited writing advice???

A ton of you have commented with such kind and complimentary words about my Naruto fic Hiding in the Leaves and its characterization through the shifting POVs. Thank you all! I’m gratified to hear that you’re enjoying it. Some are asking how I shift perspectives and still manage to keep the characters in line. Actually, a fair number of readers have asked for actual advice, so here we go. This is a lot of writing babble, I hope it makes sense but feel free to drop me an ask if anything is unclear! 

(1) I read a lot. I read all the time. Easily a book a day, maybe two days. And when I do, I practice critical reading—or as they say, reading like an editor, so I can pick at techniques other writers use. Writing is an art you learn largely by example. A lot of what I read influences what and how I write, so when I need to change my tone or voice to fit a different character, I usually read something that matches what I want my prose to sound like, on top of using techniques like changing tenses and playing with vocabulary choices. 

I recently had the chance to flex these writing muscles because I went from writing two very distinct human voices (Tony Stark & Stephen Strange) to writing an alien voice (Loki). It was fucking hard; those in the Marvel fandom might know what I mean. Tony and Stephen are both human, born and raised in America, with specific life experiences that inform their daily decisions and personalities. Loki, on the other hand, is an alien: raised in Asgard, stolen from Jotunheim, well-traveled throughout the Nine Realms, and moreover raised as a prince. Just stop and think about that. When your characters do not have the same experiences that you do, they’re bound to not have the same earthbound concerns that you do. Anthropomorphizing non-human (or even non-living) beings is an age-old practice, but to be faithful to his character, I tried my best to twist my writing voice into a different shape—a shape that more befits the prince of a realm that is somewhat humanoid but very different from what we know on Earth. And in order to do that, I did four things: 

I changed my prose from past to present tense; it sounds more immediate and assertive

I read three books, written in present tense, where the prose mimics what I imagine Loki would sound like in his own head

I made a huge spread of everything about Loki (both canon and my own orginal additions) that would inform his motivations, internal concerns, emotional responses, and decision-making processes

I drowned myself in Loki fanwork

Immersion is key! If you saturate your brain in a specific type of rhetoric or style, that’s what’s likeliest to come out of your productive process at the end. So controlling what you read/watch/listen to will help control your writing style too.

 (2) This further breaks down what I just said in the third bullet point above. Before I start writing from a specific character’s perspective, I’ll take the time to brainstorm and build that character from the ground up. This might take a day or two and includes a staggering amount of detail—just as much detail as mine or your life might comprise. Silly little things like favorite colors and foods, hobbies, dislikes. Oftentimes, if you’re a fic writer, this is easier because canon gives it to you. Those amazing wiki-pages exist to make your life easier in this regard. (Bless.) What canon doesn’t give you is where you can dig in. Go deeper. Pin your character down. Think about more serious considerations like emotional triggers, conscious motivations, subconscious motivations, coping and defense mechanisms. When hurt or under stress, are they the type to lash out or curl in? Are they the type to hold on to a grudge, or do they prefer to forgive and forget? Do they get hurt easily or do they have a thick skin? I imagine the character’s relationships in life, I rank them and network them in my head. Who do they run to when they need advice? Who do they like hanging out with when they’re happy? Who annoys them, who inspires them, who scares them, who do they want to be like? Even if these questions aren’t necessarily things you might discuss in your fic, it helps inform this person you’re writing about, so it helps you keep a clearer and more consistent mental picture of them as you go.

But most critical of all, I sit and imagine myself in their shoes and think of how they perceive themselves. That is a major factor when writing, because that’s what their head-voice will sound like. And if the story is written from their perspective, then that means you, writer, are writing in that head-voice!

Here’s a more HITL-specific example (I’ll try not to spoil too much lol):

Sasuke

How he sees himself:

Ordinary; not very impressive as a shinobi, but not absolutely terrible either – just ordinary

Average looking

A slow, impatient learner

Awkward with people, but polite and with good intentions

Emotionally stable

A good reader and listener

How he actually is from someone else’s POV:

Incredibly skilled for his age and level as a shinobi

Actually quite handsome

An intuitive learner, very tenacious and will keep at a task forever until he gets it just right; perfectionist much

Quiet, polite, notices a lot about how others act

Absolutely does not handle emotions well

Selective listener; sometimes only hears what he wants to hear

Rationales:

He’s surrounded by a clan of perfectionists and overachievers who constantly laud his aniki for being a genius while paying him no attention. Of course he thinks he’s ordinary.

No one ever compliments him for his looks in the clan compound, and what he sees in the mirror looks just like a younger version of everyone around him. Of course he thinks he’s average, even though he actually has looks.

Because he’s largely self-taught (except for when Obaa-sama teaches him), he thinks he’s slow. (Ever learned a new skill or maybe even a new language by yourself? I have. I can tell you that my perception of how much time I spent learning ‘basics’ was skewed.) He also holds himself to a higher than normal standard because that’s what gets him positive attention (or attention at all) within his family. Add the fact that Itachi was there blazing through everything before him, and it’s suddenly easy to understand why Sasuke thinks the worst of himself as a student. But he (and Naruto) are actually fast learners—we see this even in canon—and both of them boast high levels of natural intuition, or as I (the neuroscientist) likes to call it, pattern recognition. Some people are naturally better at this than others; there have been extensive tests done to show it. But we also know intuition can be trained, so the more Sasuke works at something, the better he gets, and the faster he learns the next skill—as long as the learning is patterned. Which is why Orochimaru, who has picked up on this trait, walks them through learning each jutsu in a stepwise manner every time.

Sasuke doesn’t have a lot of social interaction outside of his family. The Uchiha clan in this fic is very segregated from the rest of the village, so if you’re not active as a shinobi, you probably don’t get out of the compound much. Interacting with people probably intimidates Sasuke a lot so he feels awkward about it and reverts back to habits of politeness and silence that he was taught from childhood. That doesn’t mean that he’s not paying attention, however; Sasuke is naturally observant and remembers a lot about how people act (and not so much what they say). I have a theory about this related to the Sharingan but I won’t go into too much here because it would be a straight-up spoiler, sorry. :D

He thinks he’s emotionally stable because he doesn’t remember many incidents of severe emotional upheaval in his life. That’s because he hasn’t had them; apart from the whole thing with Itachi, he’s been fairly sheltered his whole life. But he actually doesn’t handle emotions well—something he’s about to find out soon enough—and for the same reason! He hasn’t been exposed to an extensive range of it.

Because he’s largely self-taught, he has confidence in his reading skills. He also remembers all of Obaa-sama’s stories so he thinks he’s a good listener. Well, he is—to an extent. If he wants to listen, he will. If he doesn’t, he’s just as proficient as Naruto at pigheadedness. (I think it’s an Uchiha trait too lmao.)

That was a lot, right? But you can see that if I’m writing from Sasuke’s POV, I have to keep a different set of pointers than if I’m writing from Naruto’s POV about Sasuke. The way I think of it is like changing lenses or shades depending on the light outside.

A few more techniques/guidelines I use:

Stay consistent with vocabulary. Orochimaru is far more verbose than the rest of them, Shikamaru right behind him, and Naruto uses shorter, simpler words. You can even assign particular words to a character, a word only they would use when referring to something. This applies to how your character addresses other people too, i.e. Orochimaru calls them ‘little ones’; Shikamaru calls his dad ‘oyaji’ in front of his peers but ‘otou-san’ in front of his sensei; Naruto is quick to give people nicknames and most of the time it sticks.

Watch the adjectives; different people describe things differently. Orochimaru uses more nuanced words that can mean different things depending on the situation and mood; Naruto thinks in terms of emotions, a lot of how does this make me feel; Sasuke is very visual and notices a lot of colors.

Use speech habits wisely; how your character talks should reflect their life. Just like accents, speech habits can tell a lot about a person. Sasuke always speaks politely because it’s how he’s supposed to talk at home, otherwise there’d be trouble. Naruto grew up in a poorer district and had no one to really teach him how to talk politely, so he’s very casual. Shikamaru cusses at age eleven because his parents and family are incredibly laissez-faire and honest around him, so he thinks it’s acceptable and normal (and he was never reprimanded for it).

Play with your tenses. Writing in past tense sounds and feels very different from writing in present tense. Depending on your character, one or the other might sound more appropriate. There are some expressions and figures of speech that sound fine when written in past tense but awkward when written in present tense, so that will end up inadvertently changing your prose a bit, which can be useful.

Read your work out loud. Cardinal rule of prose-writing. What looks good on paper doesn’t always sound good when read out loud. If you read it and it doesn’t sound like how your character talks, time for a vibe check. You might need to change a few words and move sentences around, or you might need a complete overhaul… an editor (and I mean an editor, not just a beta-reader) can usually help you out.

 A note about editors vs beta-readers:

There is a cardinal difference! A beta-reader is usually not professionally trained but should be experienced enough to point out things that aren’t right. In fandom, I’ve found that beta-readers mostly focus on a story’s general feel, flow and readability, sometimes character consistency, sometimes they point out typos and mistakes. An editor goes further than that. I’m fortunate to have Tria (aventria) who has edited my work for, gosh, 14 years now, fuck, we’re old! I call her my editor because when she goes through a piece, she will fix everything and make my draft bleed and I love it. (I actually get a little upset when she doesn’t fix anything, even if that means everything was good.) As an editor, she does a vibe check and looks for typos/errors, yes, but she also critiques the prose extensively. She can rearrange phrases or entire paragraphs for better flow. She will cut out entire scenes or make me rewrite them if they’re that bad. Like a copy editor, she looks at stylistic inconsistencies, grammar errors, and iffy word use. She’ll usually suggest or replace the offending word altogether. She has a lot of freedom with the work and can actually kick a piece to the curb if it’s really that shitty. She also questions plot progression, character development, and the relevance of a scene. (She’s made me cut out many, many scenes.) – That all being said, it’s not easy finding an editor, much less a good one. It also has to be someone you trust to have this much power over your work. It’s worth it, however, and my writing has gotten so much better because of the help.

If you’ve read this far, wow, thanks! You’re also probably thinking, “Shit, she takes this too seriously. It’s just a fic.”

I have… gotten into fights in the past before because of this. I feel strongly about the stuff I write. Just because it’s fanfiction doesn’t mean it isn’t a labor of love. I’m a perfectionist by nature, so that’s why I put so much time and effort into what amounts to ‘just a fic.’ And you know what? At the end of the day, writing it gives me satisfaction and happiness, so I will keep pouring into it as much as I can. It’s just a bonus to hear that other people are enjoying it too. (Yes, I’m one of those weirdos who intensely enjoy reading my own work…)

 Aaand the final point:

(3) I double-majored in psychology for undergrad and have by now accumulated thousands of hours of clinical hours spent using the theories and techniques I learned from those classes on real people. I’m also specializing in neuroscience, so a portion of my time is spent in psychiatry. Characterization was actually not one of my writing strengths at first, but I definitely noticed leaps in improvement after my clinical rotation started. People skills are just that: skills which are honed with practice. It’s amazing how much you learn about how people think and what make them tick when you interact with a whole spectrum of examples: from your neurotypical everyday well-adjusted person, to high-functioning neurotics and obsessives, to patients who have suffered complex stroke syndromes, to encephalitic brains burning under septic fevers, to druggies stoned so high they’ve breached the atmosphere, to patients whose brains are growing insidious tumors, to schizophrenics and catatonics and the depressed. My job also allows me the rare opportunity to interact with people from all walks of life. All I need to do if I wanted insight about how life is for soldiers who served in an active warzone, for example, is to hit up Bill at the ICU and ask for stories about Korea and the Gulf and Vietnam. Or if I wanted to know about how to survive the Rwandan genocide, I could sit down with Amida, who survived it as a barely-teenager with her brother and sister in tow while only “losing my innocence and an eye.” Or I could talk to Heather, who is building a life with her husband and two rambunctious children, for a perspective on the daily concerns and delights of a ‘perfectly normal and ordinary’ working mother. (Her words, not mine; Heather is amazing even if she eats the doctor’s lounge out of Tita Annabel’s cookies.) Anyway, you get my point. When I write, I almost always write about people, so it makes sense that a lot of my inspiration comes from people too. A lot of my original characters—and even some that are not—often speak with the voices and inflections of people I know in real life. You probably have people with interesting stories to tell in your life; you just have to work up the courage to ask and take the time to listen. You’d be surprised at what you learn!

A few helpful writing resources: (most of these are classics)

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White

The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren

And more books that helped me get into people’s heads:

Hallucinations by Dr. Oliver Sacks

The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon

Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon

The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo

Admirable Evasions by Theodore Dalrymple

I hope you got something out of that. Again, feel free to drop me an ask if you have any questions or want to chat!

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 28: 3x01 Spock’s Brain

Today’s ep was the infamous Spock’s Brain. I’d never seen it before and always insisted I didn’t want to but...this is a complete rewatch so I guess I kinda had to.

As predicted, it was bad. Utter nonsense for a premise and the actual execution shot through with sexism. There were some aspects that I did like but most of them have been done better by other eps--and in any case were not worth the ridiculous basis of the ep itself. Honestly, if I were watching all this live, and I waited months for this, I might have wondered if the show weren’t better off cancelled.

But I would have been wrong because the next ep is The Enterprise Incident so! Sometimes you just need to be patient.

This episode is starting out so strangely. Why is the bridge being shot from all these weird angles? And why do the colors seem...duller?

They really can spy on these other ships, huh?

“My name is Captain James Kirk.” Not breaking out the middle initial today, I see.

Chapel going for the drama as she falls down.

Kirk too, sprawled over his chair. (Makes me think of “The chair is, in fact, not bolted to the ground.”)

This honestly reads like a bad parody of Star Trek.

Ridiculous lines include: “His brain is gone.” “His incredible Vulcan physique.” “In search of his brain.” “Where are you going to look for his brain?” “It was taken out, it can be put back in.”

“Spock’s body is more dependent on his brain” than a human’s. Ummmm I feel like there’s something suspicious in there.

The only good thing about this ep is Kirk’s devotion to Spock.

Seriously why does the bridge look so different? Filming it from a different location changes everything.

When Kirk paces in front of the view screen, it really shows off how small it is.

“The spaceship that has Spock’s brain.”

I like these schematics and Chekov’s little presentation here. Also Kirk can automatically put years to all the planet evolution codes or whatever--like on the one hand, of course he can, that’s his job, but on another... what a nerd.

Honestly these people--obviously, they are underground on the ice planet. Obviously!!! I actually do appreciate this scene in general, with the bridge crew working out a problem on the bridge, which actually almost never happens--it’s definitely the best scene of the ep--but still. It’s obviously the ice planet.

Also, I like that Uhura gets to contribute. She thinks outside of the box, asks the good questions. Don’t just look at the outside evolution of the planet--ask about what the brain could be used for, and where it might be.

“Get there, find the brain.”

Oh no, he accidentally called Scotty Spock :(

“High of 40. Livable.” I realize this is a Russian joke but that’s really not that bad lol. Definitely not an ice age anymore.

“They give pain and delight.” So they’re dominatrixes?

“You are small.” Well no need to be mean about it.

Don’t you have a companion?? Love that that’s one of their synonyms for “spouse” or “partner.”

The alien men look like they’re wearing short jean skirts.

“A dead and buried city on a planet in a glacial age.” That’s a good idea. Could have done something better with that.

Chekov’s still stuck on the no women thing, I think.

Why did they dress Spock in a leftover outfit from This Side of Paradise?

McCoy and his stimulants again, waking up the alien lady after they stunned her. Multi-purpose.

“I know nothing about a brain.” Clearly.

So all the women live below ground, and all the men live above...

Ah-ha, they have found Spock’s voice.

“There is a definite pleasurable experience connected with the hearing of your voice.” This ep is almost worth it for that line.

Also Kirk’s face when he hears Spock’s voice.

I like that Spock is still funny. Honestly he’s probably funnier disembodied. This is a very humorous Spock characterization. “That is a practical idea. It seems unlikely that I shall be able to get to you.”

WHAT IS BRAIN.

They’re being quite sexist, aren’t they? “No engineering geniuses here. Only women. None of these women could ever have done surgery on Spock’s brain.” Like I know it’s that they’re obviously (or supposedly obviously) naive and childlike but like combining that with the sex segregated society and the actual phrasing of these lines (WOMEN?? Engineers?? Doctors??) plus Kirk assuming the Controller is a man (who says?) all creates this like definite sexist vibe while watching. Ugh make it stop.

How can Spock’s brain control everything? They’ve only had it for 5 minutes.

“Mistress.” I told you they were dominatrixes.

Oh yeah Captain Sulu!!

More sexist quotes: “What a way to maintain control over a man.” “I’ve certainly noticed their delightful aspects.” Please stop talking; you’re digging yourselves in a deeper hole.

(Seriously though--I feel like the unspoken world building fact here is that the women need the men for procreation specifically, which is why they capture the men, and then control them--using the “pain belts”--to have sex--the “pleasure.” They probably also use them for other labor, given the presence of the male guards and the line “they won’t help us if we don’t control them” or whatever it was. But surely the delightfulness of the women is more than their physical appearance, is what I’m saying.)

What is the commentary on gender here? Women = scary, dumb, and hot?

Yeah, how DOES Spock’s brain fit into this?

Lol at Spock’s empty body calmly watching them all fighting.

“Science will triumph.” A real lost opportunity in the AOS-verse to have Kirk say this after a bar brawl.

“You are a disembodied brain.” I feel like there’s a (McCoy) joke in here about how he’s reached his ideal state.

His body is the building. (I was right, I totally called this plot point as soon as Spock started talking about his incredibly large body and how his brain was still doing things like regulating oxygen. I must say... this is not a bad idea, except for the brain stealing part. Like there’s something in there, the idea of the complex as a body, powered by a brain. Idk.)

So basically Spock is taking another opportunity to insult Bones’ medical skills. Oh Spock, never change.

I feel like Bones is enjoying his Spock puppet, on some level.

“Pain bands.”

Use the Spock puppet, Kirk! Use it to fight the lady alien!

“The controller is young and powerful, perfect.” / “How very flattering.” LOL I can’t believe this is real.

“You took his brain. You will put it back.”

So the alien lady puts on the spiky helmet and now she’s suddenly smart. I hate thissssssssssss.

(I actually do think the idea of old knowledge stored outside of the... brains...of the current generation, for their own protection, as decided by the paternalist elders... is not itself a bad concept. Of course it’s also a concept that other eps did better, like The Apple or For the World is Hollow or even Return of the Archons. Again, combining it with all the gross things they said about women earlier just leaves a bad taste. Even though--even though!!--we don’t know who the elder people were. Like, was this a matriarchal society that saved the women in the underground because they were better? Or was it a patriarchal society that put the women in the underground because they were considered weak and in need of protection? I rather assumed the second, but I think there’s some evidence for the first, in particular, that the story reeks of Sexualized Male Fear. What’s a better combination of hot and scary than a matriarchy of women in short skirts?)

“Got your gun.” (But the other way around.)

“Our need for the Controller is more important than your need for your friend.” That sounds an awful lot like “The needs of the many outweigh needs of the one” and we all know what Kirk thinks about that. That said, he’s really not...engaging with her facially fair argument at all.

“No one may kill a man. Not for any purpose. It cannot be condoned.”

Love Scotty’s acting skills. Gotta get this gun back really fast--create a diversion by fainting! But not too much!

I do love McCoy. He’s an adventurer too. He pretends he’s not but he jumps at the chance to discover and learn. He will not hesitate to put himself in danger if it’s for the common good or to protect his friends.

“Put the teacher on.”

Now finally Kirk is engaging with the fate of the society he’s encountered lol. Like, again, he’s not wrong; they’ve stagnated under the computer/controller and it’s not moral to steal from someone else to keep your comfortable and boring life going when you could just do the work yourself, but coming this late, it feels like an afterthought. It’s also weird that she just like stood by and let them take Spock and his brain after all that to do about...not letting them have the brain. Like at the end of the day she was not so inept. Also, they never explained what happens to all the knowledge in the teacher. One would assume they’d have to access it--or not? They’re just to start from scratch? Also legit I guess. And finally... all I can really hear, in the emphasis on integrating with the men again, is “You’ll learn how to develop a society naturally and also about heterosexual sex wink wink.” (Except that as I said... I think they know about that.)

I see McCoy’s regretting that “child’s play” talk now.

“Give priority to reconnecting Spock’s vocal cords.” Yep that’s how the brain works for sure.

Wow Spock really does have to do everything himself. Including operate on himself.

“This Vulcan is telling me how to operate.”

How did he operate without...opening Spock’s skull... in any way??

Not to question the verisimilitude of Spock’s Brain lol.

Everyone’s being so rude--Spock is providing valuable last minute exposition/explanation about this weird-ass society!

It’s always odd when they don’t return to the bridge. Like, they’re not going to collect Chekov?

That was... something.

I liked a few things: any excuse for Kirk to be devoted to Spock; the humor Spock showed; I liked the bridge scene where they looked at the map of the planets; and I liked certain things about the premise of the episode, although, like I said, most of the general aspects (post-disaster society, reliance on computers, etc.) had been done better in other episodes. I liked the look into the Male Brain lol.

What I didn’t like was how outright ridiculous the basic catalyzing event was--Spock’s brain has been literally stolen like??? Are you kidding me? That led to a considerable amount of dialogue that read like a Star Trek parody. Did not like that. And of course, as I said... the sexism. I think I’ve unpacked that enough. It didn’t need to be sexist, and you can explain it in a way that’s not, but the vibe sure was. It was like... well a lot of TOS is like this imo. You can give it an A (or at least a B) for effort, but what comes out is so obviously tainted by the sexism of the creators. Like, for example, how they say they believe in women who are just as capable and professional as men, but struggle to show it. This ep wanted to show a matriarchal society but it wasn’t really a matriarchal society--it was a Freudian dream that was all about the male psyche and what it most fears and wants.

All that said.. the next ep is a D.C. Fontana creation featuring one of my favorite TOS Ladies, the Female Romulan Commander, so I will be receiving a consolation prize.

Also the AOS verse is still more sexist and doesn’t have an excuse I said what I said.

[randomidiocyncrazies]

binged like... half of the skateboarding anime (just finished ep 5) instead of doing my reading lmao

i really like the two protags so far, Reki is especially easy to root for and totally my type of character (earnest, passionate about his hobby, quick to stand up against bullies, and -- most importantly -- constantly outclassed in skills by the other main characters). the leads’ friendship and dynamic with each other + the other characters (well. most of them) is nice, and some of their interactions had me lol a few times. 

but, as nice as the relationship dynamics and characters are, why tf are there ZERO female skaters??? all the women are shown as girlfriends/groupies of male skaters, it feels like it’s entirely a male-dominated sport when the action 1) takes place in an underground/illegal skating race so it shouldn't need to adhere to the gender segregation in professional skateboarding and 2) the story never even mentions if there’s another place that female skaters hang out—we’re supposed to assume that S is for all genders, and that everyone is allowed to beef, but for all intents and purposes the only people who ever skates are men (boys), women are only around as window dressing and fanservice (the sexy flag-waver, for one). the only women so far who aren’t arm candy and used to show the desirability of male characters are the leads’ respective moms, who aren’t involved in the sk8ing scene

(and yes, i know it’s supposed to be, like, ambiguously gay fanservice a la Free! for the most part, but they really said no women skaters allowed huh... smh)

regarding the “is it gay? or not??” character interactions, i do like how the series spends a lot of time focusing on the 2 leads’ relationship; i don’t expect it’ll ever be canon with explicitly stated romos, but i can see it going for the vibe where it’s ‘basically canon’ (romantic framing and staging, using romo tropes etc) but without outright saying “I’m in love with you” or kissing, which would be okay w me (i, uh, personally think not everything has to be spelled out, but i get it if people are annoyed or upset that there’s no outright confirmation) unless they go for a last-minute “haha we’re BEST FRIENDS ONLY, no homo!” portrayal, in which case it’d definitely be off-putting

the primary antagonist is actually evil though; so far the dude acts on his infatuation with a teenager via sexual harassment, is a nasty bully who delights in kicking people when they’re down, and psychologically torments + brutally injures his opponents (which is his M.O., having sent multiple people in the double digits to the hospital). i know nobody seriously gets sanctioned in a sports anime, but if that piece of shit gets away scot free i will scream