#seeding the new narrative

[simplegenius042]

Which of my Favourite Fictional Characters Is the Worst One?

Tagged by @icecutioner and @voidika

I'm just catching up on tag games that I'd been tagged in. There'll be one more today.

I'd also like to hear your thoughts on why you think any of the characters above that you think is the worse are in fact the worst out of the lot; whether in the comments or the tags in reblogs. Not mandatory of course.

Tagging @inafieldofdaisies @shellibisshe @socially-awkward-skeleton @derelictheretic @shallow-gravy @direwombat @strangefable @rhettsabbott @josephseedismyfather @josephslittledeputy @imogenkol @cloudofbutterflies92 @skoll-sun-eater @cassietrn @carlosoliveiraa @adelaidedrubman @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @aceghosts @turbo-virgins @raresvtm @softtidesworld @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @florbelles @titiagls @minilev @yokobai @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @justasmolbard @alypink @thesingularityseries @nightwingshero and @noodlecupcakes + anyone else who'd like to join.

[lulu2992]

So I’ve just seen this tweet and…

…so I know the dates here are from the Wiki and therefore not necessarily all canon, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about (for once).

My question is:

Who is “Michael Vaas”? 😅

[prettyhighforawhiteguyblog]

Let me into your echo chambers. Please.

Introduce me to your friends.

I need out of my echo chamber and so do you.

So don't just like. Share it with your friends.

If you liked it don't you think your mutuals might be interested in it too?

Then take 30 sec to check out the OP's blog and see if they are worth a follow.

Tumbler's UI is shit and I ramble, so I apologize that this will be a scroll.

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

I am a rambler when I write. And for a blogging site, Tumblr is pretty shit for blogging. Almost like it was on purpose...

But anyway, since I ramble, I write to help skimming. I highlight important points you might want to pay attention to and then you can go back to read a bit more context on that point.

So don't be intimidated.

I give every art I see at least a like. Maybe a comment. Because I love to see people express themselves and put themselves out there. And I want to encourage you. And maybe interact a bit. And maybe I was high.

And when I write, I tend to ramble. But I promise that my writing and content is worth the effort and time.

But whenever I see something unique or special or meaningful or especially lovely or just plain weird, I hit that share button.

So, follower beware: I reblog a whole lot and it is part of my content. And my created content might take a bit to read.

And it's not that I'm particularly trying to get your attention. I just play around on here when high.

I just think a wider view of the diversity in this world is better for everyone to have. But more importantly I believe it is necessary to hear from the weirdos.

I find weirdos and I amplify them.

Like and subscribe!

Because you fuckers need to meet each other and see each other's shit. Especially the shit that is different.

We need to see the world outside Normies' Big Media Capitalist curated News world.

I love you fuckers. All so unconventional and weird and whatnot. Most of us keep it together in the outside world.

But we have to find the other weirdos to be weird with. Normies are great friends and I love all my lambs, but the weirdos are my people and we can be ourselves together.

There's a lot of normies that try to be weird to build a fun persona and I'm kind of impressed with you. It takes a lot of guts in this society to pick a fun way of living and stick to it against the tide. You do you.

Just like all the other lovely normies out there. They try so hard to find themselves.

It's due to all having shared interests and hobbies. They all have same politics, same worldview, same income, same race, same shared media and experiences, education, upbringing, and desires and cares, wants, and needs. They just need to feel loved. Like us.

Shalom.

But otherwise normies only want comfort and conformity to get acceptance. So they go along with everything,

and only go to water parks, the mall, and DisneyWorld, eat shitty imitation of Popeyes weekly for Jesus's sake, and do all the Applebee restaurants and dabble in exotic local eateries. They watch sports and play golf or bowl or "manly" shit together and talk sports, women, politics, and work. They look for normal jobs and the normal White/cic-masking BIPOC at work or church count for diversity and as their "many" Black "friends." They go to big well funded fancy museums filtered through capitalism and Western academia and that society.

All of it with a fuck ton of asshole Aristocrats and Billionaire meddling,

bankers picking and choosing, America bullshit, Capitalism and grants making us beg like dogs for centrifuge tubes or explain why my research required fucking printer ink while we rely on desperate and idealistic kids to do all the work basically for free.

The normies just go along with it all and live in the normal Aristocratic-lite society, do normal stuff, watch normal media, and love Disney. The normies just eat that Disney shit up.

They go those normal museums for culture. And while they are there, they look at magnificent art, technological achievements, architecture, poetry, and toys with wheels by ancient civilizations that made ours look shitty and all they see is pretty or weird.

I see before me strange weird things someone saw as common place and wonder how they would have regarded it.

I try to do that with weirdos too.

Weirdos show me a whole new world without the Disney bullshit.

While Aristocrats pump us full of Big Media, Disney, Education Systems, fake high society, fake Masters fake educated Geniuses flown to prominence by their privilege, and fake Comedic Geniuses.

(Van Gough & a few Divincci's and Einstein' or Jim Carrey' excluded)

Fake everything. And once in a while a true weirdo leaks out. And once in a while that weirdo shows up in public.

And that wonderful weirdo is seen as freak of nature. Abnormal by the normies narrow Diversity Standards.

Excluding us even more. Driving our personalities under cover just to get a seat at the table or make a good damn friend. I hate those smug fuckers making us act like them just to get a fucking job a "friend" who won't let you be yourself.

Sometimes I hate them. Most of the time I'm just tired of them.

They just are so boring. I'm so lucky to be faculty at a shitty school. It's filled with weirdos.

You fuckers must be drowning in normies

That's what made elementary, middle, and high school so bad. All the conformity. It was an exqisitely painful narrow kind of homogenous environment dominated by the few rich families in the neighborhood who ruled the school dress code. You wore what they were or you were Out. Outtened of interacting with Their society. You talked what they talked. You laughed at their jokes and only told similar kinds. You can't be too different. Just flavorful enough to get noticed if you're brave. You were "goodlooking" like them. White Sons and daughters of modern inbred high society modern day slavers and over titled middle management. All waspy rich brats. With a few diversity hires being "normal" for dear life.

How is your society now? Is it different now? I'd assume there's a definite ruling society. Who runs it? What kind of people have a seat?

Not the weirdos.

Not us.

We're below notice.

Like these words I write on this backwater shitty blog. Which is one of the few places that let us be weird together in long form and media for free.

So I figure a fake name should be enough to keep my Uber White Evangelical well-educated over-paid middle-manager Christo-fascist trustees running my shitty school from ever finding this page. I doubt they'd even thinking of looking here. Not without a Google hit for my Christian name.

So I'm just me here. And most of you are just you here. And that's refreshing.

There's a lot of normies still on here for fun, but bit most were driven away by the shitty UI, search features, lack of toggles and filters, oversaturation of ads and general derision for the user experience to the point that I think they are doing it on purpose.

You know a similar thing happened at another social media that brings truly diverse people together on more egalitarian grounds. Twitter got fucked up like Tumblr. Elon over paid just so he could be the one to destroy our communities.

(and drive the site Upulie loves to play on into the worst possible version of itself and then into a long depressing death spiral.)

This is Capitalism after all. And who controls Capitalism sanctioned social media? "Geniuses" ™️ like Elon Musk. And his tech bro fanboys and billionaires. No Aristocrat or Aristocrat-lite or their sycophant wannabes wants our shit out there in normies Big Media world.

So they drove the normies and play-actor normies and well-connected away. There's no fame or money here. You can't even go viral. There's just other weirdos without connections. And Will Wheaton. Who is also a weirdo.

I love you all just because. But I especially adore you because you are so fucking weird. But you still love others. Mostly. You are my kind of people. You don't fit in society. You beautiful, magnificent bastards.

And it's killing you acting like a fucking normie all day. It's itchy.

When you're stressed it gets impossible to mask and that gets scary.

I'm lucky to be surrounded by such loving weirdos at work. But they aren't weird weird if you get my drift. They are all conventional in most of their education experiences, interests, religion, Big Media consumption, background, White, and mostly men.

And I'm...? I've never fit in with any society.

Never enough to be even exotic normal for them.

And I've been in some weird societies. I'm just able to conform enough to get by with a buddy or two at work and not freak my friends, family, therapist, or the wife out.

I just want to be me. And that's hard when everyone just wants to be boring and do Capitalism bullshit and preferably do it the luxury way.

They just can't accept my personality being uniquely weird. And they will never recognize my uniquely weird genius languishing in this Tumblr prison of an echo chamber.

But if you are still reading, know that I amplify weirdos and important shit.

This might be a fucking tiny echo chamber Tumblr stuck you all in with me. This might be a really tiny sub chamber just for me. Mine is like the same fucking 10 people in my mentions. But I'm starting to leak out a bit.

Thank you for noticing me.

I hope you like my shit, but I don't give a shit if you don't care for it. (I very much do give a shit. Why don't you like me?! )

Anyway I think seeing the world from the non-normies is important. Knowing more foreigners and strangers and poor and lower SES is important to see the whole world. But you are still mostly seeing the Aristocracy's world. But the real world. To know the real world, you need to hear from the weirdos. We live outside the normie world. We see it from the outside looking in. We observe it. And we live a unique experience that gives us a unique world to share with others and a unique take on our shared world.

Knowing more people who live in totally other worlds is a wise thing to do

And you should all be amplifying whatever is weird or beautiful. But also the more unpleasant important things and local news.

Help us see this world.

The world beneath.

To help us see takes that are truly unique and not rehash of corporate plants and cherry picked normie viral sensations.

Giving us unique understandings of this beautiful world, synthesing the experiences of some truly beautiful people in some really weird or unusual, under represented, or shitty circumstances.

Big Message : Learn from each other, enjoy each other, amplify each other to help us escape these echo chambers. And follow me so I can escape with you.

[dovoodles]

"noo stop using random news broadcasts as a framing device to convey information in your animatics"

me: hehe convenient storytelling go brr

[arolesbianism]

Thinking abt how much I love oni's writing again... In particular, "a seed is planted" continues to be one of if not my favorite logs because despite the troubling details and implications that come with it, it's the one thing in the entirety of the decaying corpse of gravitas that genuinely leaves us with a grain of hope (a seed if you will) and makes oni as a whole a lot more bitter sweet as while earth may not have survived, the dupes did, and after their horrible origins and the shit that many of them went through, in due time they'll finally get to just live, they're free now, and even if Olivia's sleep is end of a tragedy, the world will keep moving forward with or without those who've been lost

[iwanthermidnightz]

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle.Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me. It was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24. I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally. And I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making red had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my bars. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on red? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see, in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming, the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting, or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth. And my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that, right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called 1989. And we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it, in high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn't know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure. And a sense of freedom I hadn't tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to… don't say it don't say it. I'm sorry, I have to say it. Shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in "blank space" and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in "Welcome to New York". You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989. Reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long. This moment is a reflection of the woods we've wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989.

It’s been waiting for you.

[johnbrand]

Zamzam's Blessing

With @next-pharaoh

Thomas could not believe he had made it. After toiling through what seemed to be all of Saudi Arabia, he had finally found himself in front of the Zamzam Well. According to the Islamic narratives, the well was a miraculously generated source of water which had opened up thousands of years ago for the son of Ibrahim, Ismaʿil. The legends and lore went on and on, and Thomas could see why. What stood before him was incredible.

Stepping a bit closer to the fount, Thomas could only imagine how silly he must have looked. Some scrawny white tourist, already sunburned after two days barely spent in the desert. Atheist nonetheless; he was certainly not the well’s typical affair. But he had had a passion for worldly monuments ever since he was little, including religiously-affiliated ones. When he had decided to take this journey, he had known it would be difficult, but now Thomas could finally find it worth it.

Smiling, Thomas peered a little farther forward, not noticing his foot catch on the edge of the gate protecting the holy well. With a small yelp, he felt himself lose his footing and tumble directly into the hole. Thomas immediately descended into the hole, each second flying by before splashing into the water. 

Thomas took a quick gulp of air as his panic began to rise. Questions began flying around as if they were bouncing off the well’s walls. How could he have been so careless? Was he going to be able to survive this? Did someone see him fall? Would he be deported? And last but not least: why was he not drowning?

With an awkward blink, Thomas considered that last question again. Timidly, he just barely opened his mouth to relieve some pressure. He was not prepared for his breath to be restored. Hesitantly accepting this realization, Thomas tested a bit more, until eventually he realized he could breathe while underneath the well’s water. It was strange, unsettling, and frankly exhilarating to the non-believer. It was as if he was trapped in a womb.

And like a womb, the water was getting warmer. The panic began to resettle as Thomas realized just how quickly the pool was heating up. The hot water was cooking him, streaming through every hole and crevice it could into his body. Thanks to the smallest amount of light from above, Thomas was able to witness his miraculous transformation.

It started first with Thomas’s skin. The low boil of the water burned him, but instead of leaving reddish scars, it darkened his exterior. Thomas’s skin crisped into a warmer brown, his hair darkened to a rich black, and his facial features subtly shifted to reflect a new masculine, Middle Eastern heritage. As his nose grew wider and eyes inhabited a deep, rich brown, Thomas could not help but emit heartfelt moan underneath the water’s surface.

The masculinization came next, for the well gifted Thomas with the prime body to carry out its will. Broadened shoulders now led to massive arms meant to carry the Qur'an's wisdom. A sturdy chest then traveled down to impenetrable legs to carry the new man across the world to aid in reversion. Larger feet to stomp out the dissension, a virile pouch to spread the Arabian seed. Thomas’s body was built to be an unstoppable Islamic machine.

And finally, his mind would become one with his new mission. In ecstasy, Thomas cried out as his past was rewritten for a new destiny. His old beliefs and ideals dissolved, replaced by a new understanding and acceptance. The atheist wonder that had once fueled his rhetoric was rewritten by Islamic empathy and peace. The passion Thomas once derived from multiculturalism was extinguished, replaced with an appreciation for full reversion.

As his transformation settled in, the well’s water level began to rise. Thomas’s metaphorical womb was ready to give birth to its newest disciple. The warm embrace rushed around him as he was pushed up and up, his magnificent body adapting to the masterful current. As his final change was instituted, the water exalted its creation to the top, leaving the Arab man dry beside the well.

“Ah, I thought I heard the well’s waters again,” a gravelly voice chuckled. “It had been a while since anyone was blessed.”

From the other side of the well stood an old janitor. The rest of the exhibit was empty, suggesting that the historic site had been closed for a while now. The janitor came around the fount and helped the sturdy Arab man up, leading him to a small room off to the side of the exhibit.

“What’s your name, brother?” the janitor asked.

“Tariq,” the Islamic disciple answered with the utmost clarity. “What just happened?"

“The well blessed you” the janitor replied, now searching through a drawer. "I thought it was fairly obvious."

Looking upon himself, Tariq was surprised to have not noticed earlier that he was bare besides a pair of underwear. By its branding, he knew the janitor's words were true.

“You can have these.” The janitor tossed a pearly white thobe to Tariq. “Now go out, you know your mission.”

[theplotmage]

Writing a Manipulative Character

- A manipulative character is a master of influence, skilled at bending others to their will without them even realizing it. Show their ability to read people, understanding their desires, fears, and weaknesses, and then use this knowledge to subtly guide their actions and decisions.

- These characters often present a facade of charm and trustworthiness. Highlight their charismatic nature and how they can easily win people over, making others believe that they have their best interests at heart, while secretly pulling the strings.

- A manipulative character is adept at creating and controlling narratives. Demonstrate their talent for spinning stories, spreading misinformation, and planting seeds of doubt to achieve their objectives. They always have a backup plan and can think several steps ahead.

- They thrive on secrecy and deception. Illustrate how they carefully conceal their true intentions and motives, keeping their schemes hidden while appearing innocent or even benevolent. They might use half-truths and strategic omissions to maintain control.

- Show their capacity for patience and strategic thinking. A manipulative character knows that some plans take time to come to fruition. They are willing to wait, gradually nudging events and people in their desired direction until they achieve their goal.

- Highlight their emotional intelligence. These characters can read a room, detect subtle shifts in mood, and adjust their approach accordingly. They know exactly when to apply pressure, offer comfort, or feign vulnerability to manipulate others.

- They often exploit relationships and social dynamics. Depict how they use friendships, family ties, and professional connections to their advantage, playing people against each other or leveraging loyalty and trust to further their own ends.

- A manipulative character is skilled at deflecting blame and responsibility. Show how they can twist situations to make others seem at fault, creating scapegoats or diverting attention from their own actions. They are experts at maintaining a clean image while orchestrating chaos behind the scenes.

- They use flattery and validation as tools. Illustrate their ability to make others feel special, understood, and valued, all the while steering them towards choices that serve the manipulator's agenda.

- Lastly, demonstrate the manipulative character's adaptability. They can quickly change tactics if their initial approach fails, always finding new ways to influence and control those around them. They are chameleons, constantly adjusting their persona to fit the needs of the moment.

[germiyahu]

There's such an intricate interplay between antisemitism and islamophobia from the slacktivist left. For every reason they can think of to delegitimize the Jewish People's connection to Eretz Yisrael, it's propped up by some Noble Savage presumptions about Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims.

Since Jews in America are seen as a model minority, seen as having accessed whiteness and privilege, and "antisemitism" is at worst having to explain what Hanukah is to clueless Christians, the Left is confused as to exactly why Jews care about Jerusalem and the Land of Israel so much. Shouldn't they be above such petty and barbaric and outdated concerns such as a dusty old book from 2,000 years ago?

They should be more enlightened than that. They're all rich suburban secular Democrats. They're the leftist religion, according to bloggers on this very platform. There is no room for Judaism to be a religion, there's no acknowledgment of ancient customs, rituals, and the deep mysticism that's still alive and well in the Jewish community. There's no attempt to understand Jewish history and culture and why a group of people you think shares your vaguely atheistic vaguely liberal (and not in the Tankie sense) vaguely smug detached Western worldview... is more complex and unique than that.

Jews should be happy living in Diaspora because clearly the problem of antisemitism is fixed now, and never really was a problem in America. There must be something sinister behind a desire to reestablish a country by and for Jews. There must be something colonial, oppressive, European and White about it. Because why else would they do it? They have it good here. And no we won't acknowledge where Israelis primarily descend from because that requires us to do research and have a shred of nuance and integrity when it comes to Jews. No thanks!

A lot of the modern left is nonconsensually dragging Jews kicking and screaming from their own unique demographic toward the banal Norm. To themselves. But not totally. See they think they relate to Jews and vice versa, but not enough that when they think Jews should "know better," or haven't "learned their lesson," from the Holocaust, it engenders a deep seeded disgust and mistrust and rage that's not felt for actually privileged mainstream dominant society.

Conversely, the slacktivist Left sees Arabs as savages. Silly desert people who eat sand and worship a big black cube and cover every inch of their bodies for some reason. How quaint! When the Palestinian/Arab/Muslim cause explains that Jerusalem is important to them, the White Western Leftist nods sagely and says "Your culture is so valid queen," because they don't care. They just accept that Muslim society would be willing to fight over an ancient city proscribed as holy in dusty old tomes. Because that fits the narrative already surrounding Muslims.

They're seen as backwards, but the Left, reacting to their conservative parents and the Bush era, see "Muslims are backwards," and says not "No actually they're modern groups of people with practical geopolitical goals," but instead "Yeah and that makes them better than us!" Especially with this new crop of baby Leftists who think Islamo-Fascist "Feudalism" or whatever the best term would be, is aspirational or at least harmless... because it's not capitalism :)

So Muslims are infantilized and condescended to because the Western Leftist is still just as racist as their parents, but they feel guilty about their parents without considering their contribution to White Supremacy and the Post Bush surveillance state. And all the while Jews are reprimanded and held to an impossible standard because the Western Leftist, again, rejects their conservative parents' philosemitism, and decides that Jews Must be Punished when they step off the pedestal that Suffering the Shoah placed them on.

Jews should be above nationalism, Jews should know that demurely suffering pogroms and ethnic cleansing and genocide and general inequity and humiliation will earn them their divine reward in the end. Muslims should not be above nationalism, because they're not capable of being above it, and can't we throw them a bone, after all Obama was the worst president in history because of the Drone War and let's not mention George W Bush at all :0

Hot take, but I believe this is an essential underpinning of where the average disaffected White millennial/zoomer Leftist's head is at with regard to Israel and Palestine. They won't acknowledge it of course, but I can generally see through things like this.

[hallowpen]

The Secret of Us and the allegory of the puzzle...

I think one of the major overarching themes in this series is that you cannot force something to fit where it doesn't want to belong. And the only way to 'complete' the picture, ideally, is to patiently allow the pieces to be put together in the way they're supposed to.

I really really want to talk about Lada and how much I resonated with her as a character. In order for me to do that, I have to explain some cultural insights that revolve around Lada's familial structure.

Funnily enough, I was recently discussing certain matrilineal cultures that exist in Thailand and how they perpetuate a lot of bigoted ideals... and that is shown beautifully in Lada's relationship with her parents and how they each react to her queerness. To me, it seemed clear that Lada's parents' marriage was born from matrilocal customs. And unfortunately, that's not really something you would be able to pick up on if you weren't Thai (or natively Asian in general). So... in these types of families, women hold a lot of authority, and that authority is passed on through the female line (which is why daughters are valued over sons). The wife would manage and have the final say regarding household matters, including how the children are raised... and the husband's duty would be to respect his wife. A mother and her daughter maintain a continuous relationship with one another as, should the daughter marry, her husband would come to stay with them until they have a family of their own (and sometimes even after). It's a good way to strengthen matrilineal kinship, but it puts enormous cultural pressure on the daughter who is raised with very high expectations... the most pressuring of which is to marry a man and to have natural born children. Should the daughter not 'fit' this mold, they are often ostracized from the family.

It gives new meaning to hearing Khun Russamee say, "Lada is the seed I've nurtured since birth," doesn't it? It's why she is so against accepting and understanding Lada and Earn's relationship. Because in her mind, there doesn't exist a future where two women can uphold these matrilineal customs... and so the only reason Earn must be pursuing Lada is for some form of exploitation (i.e. money). She justifies her cruel and queerphobic behavior to keep them apart as some form of misaligned protection of her daughter and her daughter's future... to keep her from being taken advantage of and to help her see reason. It doesn't excuse the behavior at all... but at least you can understand the motivation (no matter how terrible). These types of mothers exist in the reality of Thai society... it's not just some cliched villain narrative. I'm speaking from experience here (NOT MY MOM! I LOVE MY MOM... my mother's mother).

In Thailand, we hold strong to the notion of บุญคุณ ('bunkhun'). This notion perpetuates the idea that we owe an endless debt of gratitude to our parents. It's seen as our "moral obligation". (Similar ideas exist in other Asian countries, as well)

Lada has done everything right. She's loved and obeyed her mother, she's cultivated a successful career with intentions to take over from her parents' leadership of the hospital, she's set herself up to be able to support her family's needs... She cannot imagine a life where her mother could ever not support her or her choices. Her one "fault" is that she is in love with a woman and refuses to conform to her mother's insistent heteronormative intentions (I loved the juxtaposition of this against P'Nu's defeated acceptance btw). She's rightfully exhausted from all the pressure to 'fit' her mother's mold of the perfect daughter, and Earn recognizes that.

So when her mother falls ill, and Lada is expected to take responsibility, it makes sense from the perspective of her familial structure. When she sacrifices her happiness for her mother and Earn understands the reasons why... it makes sense. Khun Russamee only comes to believe that Earn truly does love Lada once Earn willingly steps away from their relationship to ease Lada's mother's expectations... it's twisted, but it makes sense. And Khun Russamee does apologize, for whatever the frik that's worth (I can only try so much guys 😞😞😞) It's just part of our ingrained culture to value family despite their abusive behaviors. And as much as I wish that weren't the case, these views remain an actual reality. So, it isn't dishonest to portray them.

...The point is, the final pieces of the puzzle could only come together once they were allowed to. And then we finally got our happy ending!!!

Could certain story elements stand to be improved? Yes... but they're no worse than anything we've seen from BL series. And I do believe as time goes on, with more and more GL content being made, the writing will get better and stronger (I hope 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾).

Despite the more problematic writing, Lingling and Orm were outstanding in their roles. Never have I seen two artists, in all of the Thai QL I've watched, be so in tune to their characters and their emotions. Everything from their dramatic scenes to their more subtle facial expressions were completely on point. It was a pleasure to witness... and the biggest draw for me as a viewer. Well done!!!

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

will you please give us examples of resources to look at if we want to learn more about the concept of gender and maybe even transness in Medieval Europe? thanks!

whooooo boy right, there's a lot! I wanna start this by saying that I am very much not an expert, and I only have access to stuff I can find for free and the handful of books I can afford to buy second hand. Most of my research has been around gender as it relates to transness and GNC people. I am absolutely missing stuff, or have forgotten stuff, or simply lack the know-how to find stuff.

There's a few bits I've got on a TBR but haven't read yet - some I've included and some I haven't, depending on the source and how established it is.

Also: this is medieval Europe. The way pronouns are used to describe people don't really align with modern views of sex and gender. Also be aware of old-fashioned language use (for example, some texts talk about "hermaphrodites"). Remember that the way we talk about gender and trans identities is far different to how we even spoke about it 20 years ago.

So with that out of the way... I am chucking this under a read more, because it's long:

---

GENDER

Medieval ideas around gender were different to how we now think about it. The Hippocratic view of gender saw gender as a sort of wet/dry, cold/hot spectrum upon which men were at one end and women the other (and in the middle were intersex people). The male body was seen as hot and dry, and the female as cold and wet. The cold, wetness is what made women try to seek out heat from guys. A lot comes down to humors rather than genitals - if you're hot and dry, that innately means you grow a penis, because the heat sorta forces it out. So the marker is that penis = man, but you only have that penis in the first place because of your hot, dry humor.

Some people believed the vagina was an inverted penis - as in, the penis turned outside in. Some schools of thought believed that both men and women produced "seed", and that both were needed for conception. These thoughts and ideas shifted around a lot.

The Hippocratic view shifted towards Aristotelian ideas around the 12th Century, where the male/female divide was a lot stronger. There were also surgeons throughout all these periods who sought to "correct" intersex genitalia with surgery (how little things change).

This podcast (I've linked to a transcript, because I have more time to read than listen to things) with Dr Eleanor Janega is super interesting. In fact, I'd recommend reading her whole blog, which is fascinating. She also has a book out (but I've not read it so I can't give a yay or nay on that one)

The Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages by Joan Cadden seems to be a good source on this, but I've not read it so I can't vouch for it 100%.

I've listed below some real people who could fit into our modern interpretation of transness, and the fact that all of these people were only "outed" when arrested or at their death makes me think that there were probably a lot more people at the time who would also fit into this category. It does feel (to me, a layman) that you could rock up in a new town and go "hello I'm Jeff the Man" and people would just accept that.

It's also important to note that the majority of sources I've found are about people we could define as trans men (FTM). I've only found one person who could be described as a trans woman. If anyone out there has more sources for trans women, I'd love to hear them - specifically in medieval Europe/England.

There's also a big discussion to be had around the idea of women dressing as men to achieve a goal. People love getting into arguments about it. My general rule is that if someone lived as X gender, and was forcibly outed against their will or at death, then I feel we can more safely assume that their experience maps more closely onto a trans narrative than it does one of a woman taking on the "disguise" of a man.

---

TRANS & GNC ACADEMIA

Here's some of the sources I've been using that examine medievalism through a trans or trans-adjacent lens.

Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography, Alicia Spencer-Hall & Blake Gutt - a deep dive/collection of essays about medieval religious figures/saints through a trans lens, specifically about cross-dressing figures. Really fascinating, and available on open access.

How to be a Man, Though Female: Changing Sex in Medieval Romance, Angela Jane Weisl - goes into detail about medieval texts in which characters change their sex.

Transgender Genealogy in Tristan de Nanteuil, Blake Gutt - trans theory in the story Tristan de Nanteuil.

Trans Historical: Gender Plurality before the Modern, edited by Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov & Anna Kłosowska - A great big examination into trans history/gender. I desperately want this book.

Clothes Make the Man, Female Cross Dressing in Medieval Europe, Valerie R. Hotchkiss (book, no online source available) - Another look into women dressing as men and gender inversion.

The Shape of Sex, Leah DeVun (book) - A history of nonbinary sex, 200 - 1400BC. Not read this one yet but it's on my TBR.

In fact, I'd recommend all of Leah DeVun's work, which I'm currently making my way through. I'm currently reading Mapping the Borders of Sex.

The Third Gender and Aelfric's Lives of Saints, Rhonda L. McDaniel - An examination into the idea of a "third gender" in monastic life based around chastity and spiritualism

Erecting Sex: Hermaphrodites and the Medieval Science of Surgery, Leah DeVun - an essay about "corrective" surgery on intersex individuals in the 13th/14th centuries. (I've not fully read this one yet but the topic is relevant)

----

TRANS FIGURES

Joseph/Hildegund (died 1188) - A monk who, upon his death, was discovered to have a vagina/breasts.

Eleanor Rykener (1394) - A (likely) trans sex worker arrested in 1394 (and another source that isn't wiki)

Katherina Hetzeldorfer (killed 1477) - An early record of a "woman" being executed for female sodomy. Katherina dressed and presented as a man, and some scholars read them as a trans man.

Marinos/Marina the Monk (5th Cent) - A monk who was born a woman and lived as a man in a monastery. Marinos was accused of getting a local innkeeper's daughter pregnant. Their "true sex" was discovered upon their death.

-----

ROMANCES* & GENDER

If you're interested in the idea of gender presentation and trans-adjacent stories, I very much recommend taking a look at some contemporary sources. I've tried to take a sort of neutral approach to pronouns for these descriptions, but it's hard to marry the medieval and modern ideas of sex and gender! The titles are all links.

*Romances here means Chivalric Romances: prose/verse narratives about chivalry, often with fantastic elements. Not, like, falling in love Romances.

Le Roman de Silence (13th Cent) - in order to ensure inheritance, a couple raise their daughter as a boy. The baby is called Silence/Silentius/Silentia. The poem features the forces of Nature and Nurture, who argue about Silence's "true" gender - Nature claims they're a girl, and Nurture claims they're a boy. Silence has a variety of adventures, largely referred to in the text as a man with he/him pronouns, and at the end their "true gender" is discovered and, as a woman, they marry the king.

Yde et Olive (15th Cent) - to avoid being married to their own father, Yde, a woman, disguises themselves as a man and becomes a knight. They end up in Rome, where the king marries them to their daughter, Olive. After a couple of weeks, Yde tells Olive about their "true gender", but the conversation is overheard. The King demands Yde bathe with him to prove they are a man. An angel intervenes and transforms Yde's body into that of a man.

Iphis and Ianthe (Greek/Roman myth, but also in Ovid's Metamorphois, which first came to England in the 15th Cent) - Telethusa is due to give birth, but her husband tells her that if the baby is a girl he'll have it killed. When she gives birth to a girl, she disguises the baby as a boy. Eventually, Iphis is engaged to Ianthe. (Incidentally, this is also a really early example of same-sex romance, as Iphis struggles with their love for Ianthe "as a woman"). Before the wedding, Iphis and Telethusa pray at the temple of Isis, who transforms Iphis into a man.

Tristan de Nanteuil (11th/12th Cent) - from the Chanson de geste, after his alleged death, Tristan's wife, Blanchandin/e, disguises themselves as a Knight. Clarinde, a sultan's daughter, falls in love with them. Blanchandin manages to hide their "true sex", but when Clarinde demands they bathe with her to prove they are a man they flee into the woods. There, they meet an angel who asks if they want to be transformed into a man. Blanchandin accepts and he is turned into a man for the rest of the poem. (Incidentally the angel gives him a giant cock. Yes, the text specifies this).

Le Livre de la mutation de fortune (1403) - written in the first person by Christine de Pizan, the poem describes how the narrator is transformed by Fortune into a man after the death of their husband during a storm at sea. They maintain that 13 years after the event, they are still living as a man. (They also mention Tiresias, a Greek mythological figure who was a man transformed into a woman for seven years).

Okay, for now - that's about all I can think of. Happy reading!

[opbackgrounds]

For the most part I think Oda's done a good job utilizing the Supernovas, but I am pretty disappointed with how Kidd's story turned out. Oda puts in a lot of legwork this arc setting him up as a foil for Luffy, and it's a sort of narrative promise that doesn't get fulfilled to its ultimate potential. Kidd and Luffy don't interact enough for them to bounce of each other. I could have accepted Kidd getting jobbered as an example of how his brand of hot-headed brute strength doesn't cut it in the political landscape of the New World--kind of like a post time skip Moriah--but that story thread didn't get enough attention to make it feel meaningful, especially compared to how much Law's story completely took over the plot after he skyrocketed in popularity.

It's an example of how Oda making shit up on the spot has its downsides. The Supernovas are Oda planting a bunch of seeds for the future seeing what sprouts up from the mess. It leads to some unexpected surprises like Capone Bege on WCI, but also plot lines that wither on the vine before they can bear any fruit.

[creature-wizard]

Scams, Hoaxes, Conspiracy Theories, & Cults Everyone Should Know About

Jilly Juice: Jillian Mai Thi Epperly claimed drinking sixteen cups of her super salty cabbage concoction each day could regrow missing limbs and cure everything from cancer to homosexuality. In reality, overdosing on so much salt caused followers a host of health issues that Epperley dismissed as "healing symptoms."

Nonhuman Body Hoax: Jaime Maussan attempted to pass off mummified human remains as nonhuman beings to the Mexican government. (This isn't even Maussan's first hoax, by the way. He has a history.)

Love Has Won: Amy Carlson, a woman who'd walked out on her own children, started a New Age cult in which she presented herself as "Mother God," the creator of the universe. She claimed to be in contact with dead celebrities and alien beings, and taught a conspiratorial worldview. As her health declined, she attempted to treat herself with colloidal silver and alcohol, and her behavior became increasingly abusive. When she finally died, her followers sincerely believed she would return to life and kept her body in a sleeping bag. (She did not return to life.)

Seed Faith Offerings: Reverend Gene Ewing came up with the perfect get-rich-quick scheme to prey on desperate Christian believers: tell believers that if they "sowed seed" by giving money to him, God would bless them with even more money in the future. He made millions of dollars from these donations, while most of his followers never saw the miraculous returns they were promised.

William Walker Atkinson: In the early 20th century, William Walker Atkinson wrote around one hundred books, many of which he wrote under various pseudonyms. Some of these pseudonyms included alleged Hindu mystics. That's right - this guy was practicing literary brownface to sell his mystical ideas.

The LDS Church: In the 19th century, a man named Joseph Smith claimed that an angel had told him where to dig up a set of golden plates that were supposedly written by ancient Hebrews who'd come to North America. Smith even had eleven close associates who vouched for the plates' existence. Yet the script they were allegedly written in bore no relation to actual ancient scripts of the Near East, and the the names the locations in the books he "translated" were very obviously derived from placenames he would have been familiar with. (For example, Oneida/Onidah.) Oh, and actual archaeology and DNA studies have discredited pretty much everything from this guy's weird racist narrative.

Fake Cancer, Fake Cure: Wellness entrepreneur Belle Gibson claimed that she'd cured her brain cancer with natural remedies. Gibson never actually had cancer in the first place.

Medbeds: Back in 2020, QAnons and QAnon-adjacent people started circulating claims that a new form of healing technology was about to become available to the public within the next several months or so. Depending on who you asked, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and even the Galactic Federation of Light were involved. The time of their supposed unveiling came and went, and what do you know, there are still no functioning medbeds used in actual medicine.

COVID Vaccine Zombies: Conspiracy theorists have been claiming the government practices high-tech mind control for ages now. One recent iteration of this is a conspiracy theory claiming that people who'd received COVID vaccinations would have malicious DNA code activated by 5G on October 4, 2023, turn into zombies, and riot. The time came and went, and no zombie outbreak happened.

Ms.Scribe: In the early 2000s, a Harry Potter fan known as "msscribe" or "Ms.Scribe" faked her own harassment through a number of sockpuppets, with the apparent goal of becoming friends with some Harry Potter fandom bigwigs. She manipulated the fandom for a few years until the deception was finally uncovered.

[terezis]

ok here's the hot goss from the nycc taz gn panel

i don't actually know whether or not it was recorded/ if they're going to put it online so here is my summary. also if i miss anything and u were there pls feel free to chime in. spoilers obviously!!!

got eight new preview pages (four two-page spreads), not the pages on the macmillan website!!!

ok i will tell u about those pages but the main thing discussed at the panel was how they went about adapting this arc into gn form. the actual time spent in wonderland has been trimmed a lot bc they had to think about what was actually important to the narrative as they are building to story and song.

basically in planning out the suffering game they also really had to decide what the rest of the series would look like, bc whatever they include now is seeding the stuff that's going to happen later.

cam is not in this book. it was implied there's less wheel spins. rowan/ash/sterling get much less screen time

almost half of this book is lunar interlude stuff (pre and post suffering game, INCLUDING REUNION TOUR!!! no word on where it ends but they made it clear that a LOT of thought went into what to include and where to end it, and what that would mean for the next book)

ok so about those preview pages

first one was post-taakitz date with kravitz sensing a lich and the umbra staff shooting at him <3 <3 <3

i thought they were going to show us the preview pages that were on macmillan so when i saw kravitz i was so shook

second spread was magnus visiting the voidfish, which now happens right before they leave for wonderland; the whole beginning of tsg from magnus trying to talk to pringles to him kidnapping those guards to the chimera fight was cut LOL bc it never really got… addressed again in the podcast

angus comes to get him for the mission but magnus has been going Through It (outright stated, they were like. he found out he's a red robe. he would probably not be handling it well. he has eyebags now. LOL) and snaps at angus when angus presses him on what's wrong.

more angus content, he will be investigating what's going on at the bureau more (his scene w magnus ties into this)

same for lucretia! more content/ stuff for her to do

third spread was merle w his kids getting saved by the red robe, is at a carnival instead of a random street this time LOL

last one was the boys arriving just outside of wonderland

wonderland looks fuckign cool

what else… oh confirmed like eighty panels of bare ass naked magnus after he gets his body back. so i think we really are getting the full reunion tour this book???

ALSO NAKED BARRY COVERED IN SLIME. WHEN HE GETS OUT OF THE POD. CONFIRMED. CANON. LOL

omg ALSO!!! ben (editor) said he campaigned REALLY HARD to have the umbra staff break during the suffering game, freeing lup early, bc he really wanted more time with her, but griffin campaigned really hard NOT to do this, and in doing so his arguments solved a lot of other problems they had been having at the time LOL

travis is the fans' champion when the others get too edit-happy. he's the one who has a good idea of what moments are important to the readers so he's like hey… too far. don't cut that. and then they don't

justin leaves great notes and when they couldn't figure stuff out ben would often say "no it's fine justin will solve this." and he ALWAYS DID

this was news to justin

??? i think that's all the main points honestly i'm v picky about adaptations but overall i feel like these are good changes that make sense when translating the podcast to gn

that said i do hope taako still gets a washing machine dropped on him <3 do this for me carey <3

[reality-detective]

The same company Hillary Clinton and the DNC hired to burry the Wikileaks dump and frame Trump to seed the fake Russia Collusion narrative for 10 years, is now global news for the largest cyber blackout across the planet affecting banks, news stations, airports, 911 services, hospitals etc…

Nothing to see here 🤔

[intermundia]

i personally think it's a shame how far much new star wars media has wandered from what i consider to be the beating heart of star wars, which is the explicit moral authority and inspirational altruism of lucas's jedi. there are certainly still pockets of media that honor that spirit and operate in the realm of mythological and archetypical space fantasy, but much of disney star wars is targeted at a demographic who are too jaded for kids' media and cannot tolerate the idea of narratively sanctioned good guys actually being good; they want realpolitik, they think all religions and all institutions are inherently corrupted, and they want the jedi to be a cabal of flawed political operatives instead of an idealized fantasy group of space wizards in a golden and more civilized age before the empire, with a vibrant monastic culture and a community of healthy bonds between monks, who understand the fabric of their fictional universe and how to live in harmony with it, and who live for duty because of their generous love for others. obi-wan and yoda in the OT carry the seed of that culture and pass their hope and devotion to duty on to luke, and i find that potent and inspiring even if it's not realism, you know? it's myth. i understand people who want to engage with star wars in this mode of absolutely no pure black and white, only shades of gray, but that's not the spirit of star wars that i love and what makes star wars transcendent and profound to me. luckily star wars is big enough to accommodate everyone and i wish people happiness with jedi critical stories. the realm of myth and heroes is where i vibe and do enjoy it there greatly lol