#on another subject...

[saxandviolins77]

It is actually so cool and funny that you'll be like, "In a Transformers show the Constructicons should be evil class traitors and it would be fine to just feature one of them and also why not genderswap some of them?" but also like, "But in my fan continuity I like them as the full team and gay men who have faced some oppression." IDK I just appreciate how you are keeping things real, hard to explain

LMAO. I'm just pragmatic.

(uuuh cut because I talked my mouth off here. Oops.)

Honestly, characters, especially characters from franchises, are malleable and shouldn't be forbidden from getting reinvented to tell a specific story. Characters are not monoliths; they are not people; they serve to tell a story and present its themes in the most interesting/entertaining/objective way a writer sees fit. (No, this doesn't mean they should be painfully two-dimensional, as this would hinder the story -> It depends; I'm thinking about the regular action cartoon structure.)

I believe in killing, torturing, and incinerating your darlings. There's nothing more annoying than when you're reading/watching/listening to something and you can only think, "They could've cut this part out, but you can tell they absolutely think the audience will love it because THEY do." Or when a specific character overstays their welcome because you can tell the writer(s) get a kick out of writing them (COUGH COUGH THE DEEP FROM THE BOYS COUGH COUGH).

Now... About my very serious Transformers take. I'm not a writer, so that was just what I think would be more interesting for a traditional "good versus evil" story about killing fascists and maaaaaybe class struggle (since that's the direction the franchise has been going for a few years).

There are other directions you can take them, like make them victims of the Decepticon ideology, brainwash them, make them secretly good guys, kill one of them and replace the dead one with a far more popular character that'll completely eclipse them into mere salad dressing in the eyes of the fanbase...

At the end of the day, my hypothetical vision is just something I would be interested in saying, using them as a vehicle.

NOW. My fan continuity is just pure self-indulgent stuff that makes me laugh. Nothing deeper.

[babykittenteach]

No but fr having an indigenous family broken up for its own good by the state and one of them leave her homeland to go get a Real Education is not just counter to the original story's characterization, it's not just erasing the colonialism commentary for the sake of failed feminism presumably based on the girlboss objection to portraying women as caretakers and the classist objection to blue collar jobs, it is an act of colonialism.

It is in fact so ridiculously an act of colonialism that it should come off as such to anybody able to think about media critically for a few moments, but to anybody familiar with what the US did to many indigenous peoples via the faux benevolence of boarding schools, including to native hawaiians, it's fucking revolting.

Like, shoutout to removing Pleakley's gender exploration, to removing the cop villain in lieu of just having the mad scientist remain one, to removing some of Cobra Bubbles's nuance, to removing commentary on race and colonialism, etc etc, but mainly: this did a colonialism.

[inkskinned]

don't worry, they're joking! they're always joking when it would be something, like bigoted. because i'm not a bigot, obviously, i just vote for bigots - well, they're not bigots either, you can't really call someone a bigot just because they have religious views. this is the land of the free, and it's a christian nation, after all. you can pretend otherwise but let's just be real here; all our values are really based on the bible. anyway, i know you liberals get your panties in a twist - can i say that, or are you gonna cancel me, haha, #metoo - about every little joke he said and every little dramatic political view. oh, fascist this and fascist that. you are online too much, you love the word fascist because it's big and you're just paranoid about things.

well, no, i don't, like, read the policies. i have a life. and so what if they wrote - stop it, it's not a manifesto, okay? he eventually backed off from that - oh the vice president? who cares about that guy, that isn't real power. you're being dramatic, they're just spitballing. everyone makes big claims when they're out there campaigning. he just means he personally wouldn't get gay married. you want him to divorce his wife and get gay married? anyway, even if they cancelled gay marriage - it wouldn't happen, okay? nobody i know really cares about that - it'd be states-rights like those abortions you love so much. and you live in a blue state. you live in like the gay capital of the world. i don't know why it'd be so bad for you, you're borrowing trouble there.

and besides, you're missing the point of his campaign! you people want to be victims so bad you completely ignore what we're really voting for. there are tons of good things that happened because of his name and his policies - the economy, for one. oh stop, just because i can't tell you what a tariff is off the top of my head doesn't mean i don't have eyes. and stuff was better under him! well, yeah, anything good is his work, obviously. what? no, all the bad stuff was biden. and probably also obama. what do you even care about this, anyway? it's not going to effect you. it's four years.

oh my god, not the climate change argument again, i'm not getting into that. i don't care about it. if my house is beachfront that's great news for me. and we don't really know what's causing it. no, i saw you forwarded me those articles and i just laughed. what, do you think i have time to sit on my ass and read shit? huh? well, no, i like reading the babylon bee. they actually had a great article about all you climate freaks. and in the meantime, what do you want me to do? i'm not paying 4 dollars for gas. liberals love to talk about solutions but never pay for the solutions. what do you mean blocked because of congress. you gotta stop with the conspiracy shit.

no, my side doesn't have real conspiracy theories. the vaccine thing is a real thing. besides, you yourself don't like big pharma. just because i have an opinion, suddenly now you think big pharma is great? and this is serious, okay? your mom's friend's coworker has a kid that died from a heart event. i don't want you getting any more vaccines. i regret that you got them as a kid, i'd redo them. what do you mean you'd vaccinate your own kids? are you finally thinking of having some? you know i want grandkids - oh stop, i've never pressured you, i'm just saying that if you're going to get gay married, you might as well give me some normal grandkids to love.

stop, you know what i meant. what? no, he's not going to take away your right to adopt. besides, you could always use a sperm donor, haha, i know your high school ex would love to - jesus! okay! no need to snap. i'm just saying that you don't need to be married to have a kid. the only real benefit to marriage is taxes, haha. it won't change anything. oh my god, no, there won't be a rise in hate crimes. well, it's not his fault what people do in his name! he eventually spoke out against that, anyway.

what do you mean he supported them? i didn't hear him say that. oh. well, yeah, he said it, but like, he's clearly joking.

[egophiliac]

you know what i really want to see happen in gavv? lakia turning back into his true monster form to try and scare sachika to see if she's really unafraid of him, only for her to be enthralled and amazed instead, confusing him

honestly, same. let her have her wicked adorable way with him.

Umashou 🤝 Hanty 🤝 Lakian = guys who learn very quickly that life with Sachika is just Like This and it's better not to try and stop her.

(you will succumb)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Out of sight, out of - wait.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[technovillain]

some sims 2 goodness from 2022....

[calyxthenerd]

I feel like no one talks about how Maddie is only actually a rebel because her friends are, because if it was up to her, she’d follow her father’s footsteps no problem, but she saw her friends talking about how their destinies sucked and they wanted something better for themselves, and that’s what made her decide to join that cause, her love for her friends, and I think that’s awesome

[crow-caller]

One of the biggest cultural shifts I've somehow never seen anyone else point out, to the degree i feel like I'm going insane, is the meaning of kinning changing

I saw a poll here where everyone agreed kinning meant really really liking and relating to a character and all the tags and comments agreed. The other option of "believing you are/identifying as the character" was met with disbelief by some as 'get help if you think that'

............when and how did this definition change so radically, because when I was a teen a decade ago, kinning only meant "i am this character". Otherkin still means "i am a wolf", right??

We used to have wars over kin drama! Insane discourse over doubles and kin ethics! The notion it meant "i really like vriska" would be alien in 2013!!! What happened!

[vantabone]

Canto 8 Spoilers!

TW: SA/CSA, Grooming and familial, emotional abuse.

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A small analysis on Hong Lu's Story as a Metaphor for SA/CSA

I’d like to preface this with if I come off as insensitive or offensive, I sincerely apologize. I'll delete this if need be. Feel free to correct me on anything. Of course, feel free to disagree as well. This is just my own reading into the story. It's not supposed to be "the canon or right" way of interpreting it.

I'm fully aware that this could be entirely unintentional on PM's part, but the beauty of stories is finding your own interpretation of the words gifted to you. Please be civil!

If you find yourself feeling unwell while reading through this, please close out for your own mental safety.

I believe that Hong Lu's backstory can be read as SA. I don't think I'm alone in this as I've seen others mention it too, but I’d like to talk about my main points on why I believe this: his objectification, his abject grooming by Jia Mu, and how he reacts during and after, as well as the circumstances around it.

A question you might ask is: why this topic? Couldn't this be applied to other types of abuse too? The answer is yes! It can! But the imagery of the cuckoospawns, its wordings, and how Hong Lu acts afterwards is a direct result of that incident and recontextualizes his behavior. The inherent horror of the loss of bodily autonomy, the imagery violent creatures rising from one's own body, the silencing of the victim and its specific wording leads one to think in that direction. So I will be going that direction.

Hong Lu is heavily objectified. In his IDs and even before his canto itself, this is one of the things we know about him. He’s described as a “gem of a child” (Liu Hong Lu uptie story), “a precious jade that must be kept within the deepest coffers” (Qingtao) and during the flashbacks, everyone else around him either praises him or scorns him for his upbringing without thinking about how it affects him emotionally. The first scene where the shadows close in on him while he hears about how they whisper is obviously a sign that this is something he’s distressed about.

The elders themselves literally use him as a source of their entertainment. This objectification is one of the main reasons why he believes he has no bodily control over himself.

To be clear, Jia Mu was absolutely grooming him. One of the main tactics abusers will use is to isolate their victims from people who could support them, and when Baoyu shared how scared he was to Xiren, Jia Mu immediately had her lobotomized. This reinforced the belief in his mind that if he were to speak about this to anyone, bad things would befall them too. This is also a common thinking pattern that SA victims have, particularly the ones that have suffered familial abuse.

Familial abuse especially is tricky because it affects everyone. Some family members would even tell the victim not to report the abuse because it could “ruin” their family by tearing it apart. The weight of the emotional turmoil falls once again to the victim, adding more stress to an already traumatizing situation.

As Jia Mu is the family hierarch and him as a child, there is already a clear power imbalance there that Hong Lu will never be able to escape anything she makes him do. Jia Mu knows he’s a kind and gentle child. Someone who would try his best to save a person suffering. Someone who believes he could befriend even the people who speak ill of him. That boy would never willingly put anyone in harm’s way. She uses this as leverage to ensure that he would never talk to anyone about his circumstances again and to continue her abuse over him.

During the lab scenes we’re treated to how he continues to be forced even though he pleads he doesn’t want to. He begs anyone to help him, but Jia Mu even goes as far as taking away his only source of support: Xiren. In the end, what breaks him is his sole confidant rehashing the same words that sends him unbearable fear: to be silent and keep watching. He pushes away Daiyu, who is the only other person that notices his change of heart. A sign of trauma is pushing away the people that care about you as well as the isolation abuse tactic in full display. He now forces himself into the mold of what Jia Mu wants him to be. Because if he does this, then it’ll hurt less. Because this is what they tell him to do. He forces himself to be more palatable to his abuser.

Now, the incident. When he tries to stop people from going inside the venue, they don't believe him. He can't explain why out of fear. They laugh, ridicule or get mad at him for saying nonsense. This also mirrors the way victims are treated: are you sure it really happened? You're ruining someone's reputation. You don't even have any proof. Are we supposed to believe you? They're a good person, they would never do that. They do not take his cries for help seriously. Baoyu trying to help was also his own cry for help. That if they listened to him, maybe his choices do matter.

Second, I believe it’s no coincidence that it has implicit sexual violence, in my opinion. They did not go into details into how the cuckoobirds reproduce exactly, but their choice of wording is very intentional: “high level of fertility”, “reproductive abilities”, and “the glint of hunger when it’s reproductive instincts kicked in”. It is supposed to invoke that type of imagery within you without actually saying what went on. That’s part of the horror. So then, it should be easy to guess what it means for Hong Lu to have witnessed all of that unwillingly.

To preface I'm not saying he was assaulted himself. However, the things he witnessed also counts as SA because this was done to him against his well. I think it's an important distinction that there are different types of SA as well.

He was forced to watch people used as a breeding ground for the cuckoospawns. And even if they were not, these were things bursting out of people's bodies and wombs. There's a lack of bodily control for everyone imvolved. That's incredibly violating to imagine. Baoyu was only a child, too.

This is how he reacts after it all: dissociation, self-hatred and a deep, deep desire to be heard and comforted by anyone. It was vile. It was extremely violating. All he wished was someone to please help him, because this was something that never should have happened.

“After today, nothing good will ever happen to me again.” this was the line that made me go, oh.. Baoyu.. :(... And what fueled me to think about how exactly I was reading the canto. Not going into details, but this was a line that struck me personally. When something that violating happens to you, you just feel... I don't think I could describe how empty it makes you feel. But it really does feel like nothing good will happen to you again, because that traumatizing experience will always weigh down on you no matter what.

He buries his flowers-- his emotions and conscience, his free will and choices, and most importantly himself-- in a way that he won't have to watch as they wither. They will still be as "clean" and pure as they ever were, like what happened to him never happened at all. This is a common pattern among victims of SA, especially children. When someone has been assaulted, they think they've been dirtied by the experience and will never be "clean" again. This is a tangent but I personally don't like this perception because no matter what happened to someone, I don't think they've been "dirtied" at all. It was never their fault to begin with.

The elders as well have an obsession for him to stay a pristine jade. Impervious to anything beneath him like despair, fear, and agony.

Here are some other points I couldn't fit in above:

- When Jia Huan exclaimed he knew the reason why Baoyu was depressed, he reacted with fear. But when Jia Huan went on to say it was because of Daiyu, you could actually see his face slowly fall too. Whether it was disappointment or relief, but I think it was because he wanted someone to understand his situation without him having to say it out loud.

- (credit to user lyrecross for noticing this) Hong Lu shares the same "emphasis on the stomach area which is either wounded, open or binded" imagery across his EGOs. It's intriguing and sad how he shares the theme with the woman who was undeniably violated the most in this canto, Kong Sihui, who had her baby eaten by a creature which then burst out of her womb.

I'd like to point out his effervescent corrosion EGO: oysters create pearls because it's their body's natural defence against parasites entering their shell or to damage to their fragile shell. His corrosion line is this, too: “Filth nests inside me... So that they may be reborn as something useful.” This one's more or a stretch but the pearl's positioning also looks like a pregnant woman's belly. (I guess the entire clam opening is the stomach though)

The only exception to this trend is Soda Hong Lu which has the corrosion ego line “The seagulls... They keep crying and screaming away..!” and his base ego.

- DOTRC also had very blatant themes of sexual assault because it was about the misogyny women faced during that time. I interpret the original Jia Baoyu as also a victim of CSA, because even if its the time period, children having sex is pretty.. yeah. I'm glad to see they didn't leave this particular theme behind, even if they weren't that faithful to the original novel.

If you managed to read this far, thank you for taking the time out of your day to do so! And please be kind. Hong Lu is one of my favorite ever characters and I'm a big fan of the direction PM took with him. It might have been unintentional, but it was nontheless written well. Please share your thoughts with me, as long as it's polite!

[dykedvonte]

I think depictions of Anya being cruel to Curly or drawing out his suffering are artful and chilling but completely miss the point of the story and her character.

I'm not saying she doesn't deserve to have that "I told you so" moment with him but not in something callous or cold. Even if that is how it happened, she'd immediately feel guilty cause at that point she's not tormenting her tormenter or even the person truly at fault. She's doing something cathartic, similar to how Jimmy likely hits Curly to release rage he can't against the rest of the crew. She'd see herself as no different when she'd come back from the moment and see Curly cowering at her. She wants someone to take responsibility but how does being cruel to the defenseless help? Why would she want the power Jimmy has over her over Curly?

The idea of her extending someone else's pain is just so against the struggles she already faces and how she can't even bring herself to cause someone pain even to help them. Her very desire is to release herself from her own suffering and I doubt she'd even fine some sort of guilty release in being cruel to another.

[jamtamart]

hesitant whisper

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this isn't finished but i know that im not gonna be able to bring myself to complete it so, you can have it in this form lol

[mouse-doubleo100]

how magical mountain would react to you coming out as trans:

gem: awww, im so proud of you!! im also trans

scar: heck yeah!! i’m also trans, wanna see? (takes off shirt)

grian: glad you finally figured it out, i’m also trans- scar, put your shirt back on

impulse: congrats on figuring yourself out!! i’m also trans

skizz: love that for you!! i’m also trans

mumbo: oh gosh, um congratulations? are you meant to congratulate someone on coming out? i don’t know, but congrats anyway? im also trans by the way

joel: i’m transer

[zuzu-draws]

Yuuji's ''I'm going to die with him'' from the start of the series to ''Sukuna, Come back and live with me '' at the end is, honestly, very beautiful.

"Let's try again one more time Sukuna, but this time, without cursing anyone. Even if no one else accepts you, I'll live with you" do you understand what's going on here? This is Yuuji attempting to connect with Sukuna, to show a certain compassion that is entirely alien to Sukuna. To the way he delicately lifts Sukuna's remains, with such carefulness, as if holding the remains of a precious loved one, Yuuji tries to show Sukuna "love". The same "love" that has been teased to us this entire series, that who is it that will show it to Sukuna, teach him of it.

This is the same Yuuji, who, at the beginning of the series held absolute disdain towards Sukuna, and always looked at him with much accusatory contempt and mistrust. At that point, He truly did think of Sukuna as nothing more than a "curse". The same "curse" Sukuna calls himself one last time as the last embers of his soul fade in Yuuji's hands.

But this time, Yuuji has a troubled look in his eyes.

As if he disagreed with him.

This is the look of someone, who is looking at the Humanity Sukuna does not believe exists within himself.

Humanity that Sukuna denies himself.

That Sukuna is not a curse, but a human that has been cursed.

[cloudysarts]

ive seen SEVERAL 'bill and mabel friendship' au's over the years and i love them all, so i figured it was about time i show the world mine!! ^^ im calling it Mabel's Muse. details under the cut!!

(DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A MABEL X BILL AU. GROSS. PROSHIPPERS DONT TOUCH THIS)

in this au, bill and mabel form a bond in the very early era of the show. like, early to mid season one. much like ford did, mabel lets him into her mind, and they form a close bond. she has no idea he has any ulterior motives. the rest of the shack, and honestly the town in general, chock this up to a weird "phase" of hers, referring to bill as "mabels imaginary friend". but mabel calls him her muse <3

theres a little more to it than this but its honestly still a work in progress, so take this for now and let me know if anyone would be interested in seeing more of this!!!

(edit: if you're interested, you can now check out more of this au (with additional art and lore) over here!) (EDIT EDIT: made some more!! here and here <3)

[writeshite]

Could I ask for a Smut/Angst where Homelander, an alpha, doesn't want to admit that he feels towards O! Reader, despist having "closet encounters" with each other? :b

The nest was subpar. Hardly anything to write home about—two blankets gathered up on one side, a few pillows from the living room piled up on the other side—John was used to nests taking up whole rooms or even floors. The latter a trait he'd seen more so at Vought as two whole floors were set aside and dedicated as a nesting area for what Omega worked in Vought. Yet this one was nicer.

It smelled like you.

Sweetened sugar, coffee, and a hint of cinnamon. John took a whiff, then buried himself in it, grumbling to himself as he nuzzled his neck into the pillows, the scent had a slight spice to it, puncturing the back of his senses, along with it came the dried near lost scent of discharge. The laundry detergent was an annoyance, too acrid, he'd throw it out when he snuck back out from your home, get you something scentless. He pushed his face into the pillows again, "Fuck me," he groaned.

John had picked up on your moaning weeks ago when you'd been heat, hovered by the building across and watched intently as you'd writhed on the bed with the knotting aid. It wasn't sufficient. An Alpha could do better. He could do better. He'd palmed his balls and stroked his cock until he was sure he wouldn't rush though the wall to get to you. It annoyed him; he couldn't go about his day without thinking of you, and made just about any excuse to pass by your work when you were working the front of the house.

"Good morning, sir." You'd say and all the blood rushed to his cock when he imagined your mouth wrapped neatly around it, John pressed his legs together and squirmed on your nest. He didn't want to admit anything. Vought could parade around all the Omegas they wanted to satisfy him during his rut, but he only ever pictured you in their place. It's all he could do, aside from stealing one of your undergarments to play with. For now.

Not that he'd admit it.

[boarloved-art]

If you do scum villain sketch requests, perhaps some soft Qijiu? 🥺

If not, LWJ explaining his miffy-sona to LQR

absolutely yes i do, i love scum villain!! esp qijiu!! but miffy lwj so tempting to me that ur getting both!