#supreme 'why are men like this' moments

[napalmstrikebarbie]

absolutely crazy to me that sometimes you can read a book and feel kinda ehh about it and discover that it's still living in your head rent free decades later

[callmebrycelee]

Advice from a Queer Almost-40 BuckTommy Shipper

Over the last several months, there's been a one-sided war brewing between Buddie shippers and BuckTommy shippers. As we get ready for Season 8, I want to give all of you fellow BuckTommy/Tevan/Kinley shippers some advice:

Do NOT let them ruin something truly groundbreaking and special.

I repeat:

Do NOT let them ruin something truly groundbreaking and special.

Let me take you way back to the early-2010s. Glee was quite popular in the cultural zeitgeist. The show spawned a plethora of ships including Finchel, Brittana, Samcedes, and Fabrey. However, there was one ship that reigned supreme on Beyoncé and Al Gore's internet. If you were on Tumblr during this time you definitely remember the chokehold Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson aka Klaine had on the Glee fandom.

Now I'll admit, at first, I was into the two glee club gays being together but then episode 2x06 aired. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, episode 2x06 titled "Never Been Kissed" is episode where closeted football jock Dave Karofsky cornered Kurt in the boys' lockerroom and kissed him. What followed was some of the best storytelling in the history of the show.

Over the next few seasons, we watched Dave Karofsky come to terms with his sexuality, apologize to Kurt for his relentless bullying, finally embrace his sexuality, get outed, and attempt to un-alive himself. Those of us who initially hated Dave and his initial treatment of Kurt became fans of him due to how realistic he was. If you went to high school in the early-2000s, chances are you either knew someone like Karofsky or you were him. That's why he resonated with so many of us in the queer community.

However, the showrunners weren't invested in Dave and Kurt becoming an item. You have to remember, this was the era of listening to the fandom and giving them exactly what they wanted. The fandom wanted Rachel and Finn to be together so that's what we got. The fandom wanted Brittany and Santana to be together so that's what we got. And what the fandom wanted was Kurt and Blaine.

Till this day, I still resent the fact that the showrunners and writers went the safe route when it came to couples on Glee. For the most part, all of their main pairings were expected and boring. Over a decade removed from the show, a lot of folks have come around to the idea that maybe Kurt and Blaine aren't the #couplegoals they initially thought. A lot of us will forever wonder just how different (and possibly better) the show would have been if they took a chance on Kurt and Dave.

Fast-forward to the year 2024. We have, on another Ryan Murphy show, Klaine and Kurtofsky 2.0. The moment Eddie came on the scene back in Season 2, folks on the internet started shipping him with Buck. Nevermind that these two were coded as platonic friends, here we had, once again, two good-looking guys played by two actors who have impeccable chemistry.

Much like Klaine, a lot of us see Buddie as boring. The ship smacks of cis straight women overlly fascinated by two good-looking, masculine guys. It reminds me of the overabundance of m/m romance written by straight women which have little interest in showcasing real queer male relationships and instead serve as fantasy fulfillment for straight women using two queer men as avatars to satisfy what they feel is lacking in their own heterosexual relationships. I don't necessary have a problem with those books existing but I do take issue with that kind of storytelling overshadowing queer male content written by queer male writers.

Whew! Now that I got that out of my system, let me tell you what I loved most about the latest season of 9-1-1. It seems the showrunners and writers of this show took note of what happened with Glee and they decided to go a different route. Instead of listening to the relentless noise on the internet, they have decided to not go the safe route.

Enter: Tommy Kinard.

The romance between Buck and Tommy is truly revolutionary. As someone who grew up consuming the queer media of the 90s and early-2000s, it is quite refreshing to have a couple like Evan Buckley and Tommy Kinard on primetime television. I love that many of the scenes between these two is just slice of life. Very similar to the scenes we get between Athena and Bobby and Chimney and Maddie. I've always said that true equality is when queer people can be just as mundane as straight people. Mission accomplished. Finally, we have two queer characters just existing and being happy. No AIDS. No gay-bashing. No Don't Ask Don't Tell. No epic coming out scene. Buck and Tommy are a shining example of what queer couples can and should look like in the 2020s.

So, back to my original point. When it comes to the great ship war, please do NOT let them ruin something so groundbreaking and special. If the showrunners wanted , they could have made Buck and Eddie a thing years ago. However, that's not the direction they wanted to venture. Thank you Tim Minear for not going the safe route. I look forward to all of the rich storytelling we will get in Season 8 and I have decided that whatever happens, I'm going to enjoy this era of 9-1-1. Oliver Stark and Lou Ferrigno Jr. are amazing actors but so are Angela Bassett and Peter Krause and Aisha Hinds and Kenneth Choi. All of the actors on this show, whether main or guest or supporting, are putting their whole self into crafting the characters we know and love. Regardless of what ship you champion, keep in mind that behind these beloved characters are real, human actors who do not deserve to be bullied and harrassed and threatened due to them simply doing their job. At the end of the day, everything we see on the screen is fiction.

Okay, this has gotten really long. Stepping off of my soapbox. Remember ladies and gentlemen, it's just a show. And although it makes us feel real emotions, 9-1-1 nor Glee is real life.

[kanmom51]

A couple of words

So...

JK is with JM.

We all know that.

It's a fact, no matter what those that have their panties in a knot say, or more so, what they would want.

These assholes (you know who I'm talking about) can argue about it all they want. They can squirm and twist and scream and pray, but at the end of the day facts are facts.

JK and JM chose to enlist TOGETHER, through a process that has them TOGETHER, in the same unit, in the same base. Not same duties within the unit (the military utilizing their individual strengths), but all the same, at the end of the day they are TOGETHER.

It makes me laugh how there are those that still argue they aren't placed together, and then there are those that have obviously come to terms with the two being together in one unit (well not really, but have no arguments left as they keep being proven wrong), that now they have shifted their argument to the two not sharing same bed or quarters.

Like, haven't they had enough already? It's just so exhausting.

This incessant need to disprove what these two mean to each other. They are both in the military serving their country. A military that deems sex between two men (while on base, as limited by the supreme court) to be an offense punishable by incrassation. Are there queer men in the army? There most certainly are. Are there men sharing quarters and/or beds in the military? There sure are. JM and JK being in the military and as such being assigned to quarters by their superiors... would them sharing quarters or a bed add or take from what they are and mean to each other? It's stupid to think it would. Serving together is their choice. Being able to share quarter or a bed, well, that would not be entirely up to them, even if that would be a choice they would want to make.

I hope I am explaining this properly.

Bottom line is, they might be sharing quarters and even a bed, but even if they aren't, it doesn't take from what they are to each other or mean to each other, and it most likely wouldn't be by their own design.

What more do you want? Really? Would a selfie from their bed do it for you? Perhaps a shirtless one? Maybe a kissy kissy selfie? Not gonna happen. Not to prove a point for you, in any case. Oh, and btw, we did get many selfies from them in the past.

Same bed, shirtless, very suggestive ones as well. Didn't convince you then, and I am sure it won't convince you now either. You will always have a stupid excuse or explanation why it's not what it is. Just like you do now...

Seriously, the depth of denial at this point is past annoying. Because, no matter what you think about the state of their relationship (and by now you all know my take on the two of them, partners in long term relationship of course, but there are still those having a hard time to commit to it), you have to be an outright idiot not to see or understand and internalize that these two are together at this moment by choice (as no other member of the group and with no other member of the group). They have told us and shown us time and time again what they mean to each other, and this here is them telling us oud and clear that they couldn't go through these 18 months of military service apart from each other.

And yesterday it seems like JK had some time off from his very busy and laborious duties. Or, he chose to spend his couple of hours of rest between meals to go online and for us to know he was online. He actually seemed to have spent quite a bit of time on TikTok following a few more accounts and liking some clips.

He liked some Hobi clips (for his upcoming documentary and album), liked a couple of Fri(end)s' clips and he also liked JM's #thisisJimin dance clip for Closer than this.

JK chose to not only like it, but to comment on the clip as well:

An explanation perhaps? You know, for not liking this earlier, as he did JM's previous #ThisisJimin clips? And understandably so, given the clip was released 21 December 2023, seeing that they were both doing their basic training at the time.

And maybe this is a coincidence... maybe it isn't (you know what my feelings are about those Jikook coincidences), but this happening on 24 March 2024, exactly 1 year from the release of Face.

Idk man...

I gotta remember this is JK we are talking about here.

Same day as this was happening too.

Not saying a damn thing here...

Or am I?

[aliciavance4228]

Unpopular Opinion: Demeter Did Nothing Wrong

Alright, maybe the title isn't 100% accurate since she almost wiped the entire human race from earth, but you got the idea.

The thing with Demeter is that nowdays she is demonized/villainized all the time. And the most ironic part is that she is demonized by feminists, which leaves me quite confused, considering the fact that she would technically be a great example of female strength, especially when raporting to "Homeric Hymns to Demeter". But before discussing the myth of seasons, let's talk about her background story:

One thing that is certain about Demeter is that she had horrible experiences with almost all men from her life. Her father ate her. Poseidon raped her disguised as a horse. Zeus raped her as well (which led to the birth of Persephone). Iasion was one of the few men from her life who loved and respected her, and whom she lived with for a while before Zeus became jealous and killed him; yes, he is THAT much of a d-

The only one of her brothers who didn’t hurt her in any way at that time was Hades. And if you take into account the versions of the myths in which Hades was born before her that means that he was the one who took care of her as well during the time when they were trapped in their father's stomach. So it is pretty much implied that he was the only one of The Big Three whom she trusted the most, which makes the discovery that he was the one who kidnapped her daughter even more tragic.

Now, about "Homeric Hymns to Demeter": first of all I want to point out the fact that this myth isn't about Hades and Persephone. They are mostly mentioned in this story rather than actually playing an active role in it, because they have more of a symbolic value above it all. Wheter Persephone came to love Hades in time or despised him for the rest of her eternity is irrelevant, because this myth is not about her but Demeter.

Demeter had already faced some disturbing experiences even before Persephone was kidnapped. And considering the fact that her own daughter was a result of SA, it makes perfect sense why she would be protective towards her and raise her outside of Mount Olympus; every woman that was raped would fear that her daughter would face the same cruel fate.

About the abduction part: it is revealed to us at the beginning that Hades asked Zeus if he can marry his daughter, and he agreed. Hades only needed the approval of the father in order to wed her. Back in the Ancient Greece, especially in the Athens, people had a very patriarchal view on marriage. On short: the marriage would be usually planned between the groom and the father of the bride, her mother not knowing anything about what was going on until her daughter was already taken away from her. This myth is a representation of how the Patriarchy was a dominant system even among deities, with Zeus as its supreme figure.

At this point, the myth of seasons can be already considered a comfort story for mothers who had to endure the loss of their daughters either through death or marriage. This myth, however, has a lighter note as well, and that because Demeter, instead of accepting the fate of her daughter, left her anger free and did anything she could so that she would ultimately convince Zeus to give her daughter back, the last solution being leaving hundreds of humans dying of cold and hunger. This part basically shows how even a patriarchal figure like Zeus can be defeated by a mother's rage (or pure female rage, take it as you wish). Even though this myth is supposed to tell us just how seasons appeared, it can also be used as a moral lesson for men: it is better to consult with your wife and daughter before making a decision, or else there will be GREAT CONSEQUENCES.

And finally, one moment that is indeed very touching yet most people are ignoring for some reason is when her mother Rhea appears in front of her and starts to comfort her after she found out that Persephone ate the promeganate seeds, showing how a mother's mouring over her daughter was a common feeling among most female deities from Greek Mythology.

Now, is Demeter perfect? Absolutely not. And that is okay, because instead of that she is supposed to show in this myth a lot of humane and realistic nuances about what being a woman is like. She is a complex character, and completely demonizing her just because you ship Hades and Persephone is quite disturbing in my honest opinion. Wheter or not you like this couple (I won't condemn you because they are still one of the most stable relationships from Greek Mythology, but that basically shows just how f*cked up myths are in general lmao but anyway....), you have to understand the fact that the "Beauty and Beast" and "A mother's love will always conquer" are two tropes that can co-exist, and that things aren’t just black-and-white.

[nayziiz]

Witness | CL16

Summary: In the shadowy world of Monaco's elite, the Leclerc family reigns supreme. Charles Leclerc, the charming middle son, maintains their pristine public image—until one rainy night, during a fit of rage, Charles does the unthinkable. A young woman witnesses his actions, and her terrified eyes haunt him. Consumed by guilt and fear of exposure, Charles embarks on a desperate search to find her before she can destroy his family’s legacy. As he delves deeper into Monaco's underbelly, Charles must confront his own darkness and the lengths he will go to protect his family.

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x OC (Marie)

Warnings: Violence, blood, angst

Masterlist

Chapter 5

It took a week of surveillance around the old town for Charles’ men to find Marie. He had men stationed everywhere from her apartment block to the casino. They managed to get her shift schedule and full address from her manager, who was reluctant to share the information, but when he heard Charles was the one asking, he handed them a full copy of her personnel file with all of her information included in it.

Marie was a lot of things, but she wasn’t daft. She saw the same men at similar spots over the course of the week. They tried to disguise themselves and pretend to be occupied with things around them, but she knew what was happening. She didn’t bother with hiding or deviating from her usual schedule anymore. She knew if Charles wanted to find her, he would.

What she didn’t expect was finding him outside her apartment door when she returned from her late Thursday night shift.

“Mr Leclerc,” she greeted him as she turned the corner and spotted him.

“Ms Dupont,” he greeted her back.

“Did your men tell you I took an extra shift tonight and you felt you needed to check in on me?” She unexpectedly retorted at him as she unlocked her apartment door.

Charles was taken aback by her abruptness. He didn’t think she would notice his men.

“You might need to relook your surveillance team, they’re not very discreet,” she added as she beckoned for him to enter her apartment and he did.

“Noted,” he nodded as he took a look around her apartment while she placed her handbag on the kitchen counter.

“Mr Leclerc, if you’re here to harass me about that night, there is no need. I still have nightmares about it,” she pointed out.

“Not here to harass you, Ms Dupont. Simply here to explain myself,” Charles responded, turning around to face her.

“Explain, then,” she said, her voice firm. Charles took a deep breath, trying to find the right words.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, but I want you to know that what happened that night was... an accident. I lost control, and I've regretted it every day since. I'm not a monster, and I never wanted you, or anyone for that matter, to see me like that.” He started. She listened, her expression unreadable.

“Why should I believe you?” She wondered.

“Because I have nothing to gain from lying to you,” he replied. “If you go to the police, my life as I know it is over. My family’s reputation will be tarnished. But more than that, I don't want you to live in fear because of me. I just... I need you to know the truth.”

Silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken fears and questions. She could see the anguish in his eyes, and for a moment, she felt a flicker of sympathy. But she couldn't forget what she had witnessed.

“Witnessing a murder isn't something I can just... move past,” she finally responded.

“I understand. Just know that I'm truly sorry.” Charles nodded, relief and sadness mingling in his expression.

“But, wait. You haven’t actually told me why you did it,”  Marie reminded him, her voice steady despite the underlying tension.

Charles looked at her, the weight of her question pressing down on him. He hadn't planned on explaining himself tonight, but he knew he owed her some kind of answer. He took a deep breath, trying to find the right words.

“I... I was protecting myself,” he began slowly, his eyes searching hers for any sign of understanding. “That night, in the alley, the man tried to rob me. It wasn't supposed to go that far, but he was... aggressive. I didn't mean to... it just happened so fast.”

Marie listened, her expression a mix of scepticism and curiosity. She had seen the brutality in his actions, the uncontrolled rage.

“Protecting yourself?” she echoed, her voice tinged with disbelief. “You beat him to death, Mr Leclerc. That wasn’t just self-defence.”

Charles flinched at her words, the truth of them cutting deep.

“I know. Something snapped in me. I've never... I’m not like that. But at that moment, I lost control,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. 

Marie studied him, searching for any sign of deception. She wanted to believe him, to find some sense in what she had witnessed. But the fear and the horror of that night were still too fresh in her mind.

“Why should I believe you?” she asked, her tone more accusatory now. “You could be saying anything to get me to keep quiet.”

Charles sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I know it’s hard to believe. But I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been trying to find you, to explain, because I don’t want you to think I’m some monster. I’m not,” he said. Marie’s gaze softened slightly, though her guard remained up.

“Why did you even bother looking for me? Why not just hope I never show up again?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Because I can’t live with the thought of you out there, terrified of me, thinking the worst. I don’t want you to live in fear. I want to make it right, somehow,” Charles replied earnestly.

Marie didn’t know what to say. Part of her wanted to trust him, to believe that he was more than the violent image seared into her memory. But the other part of her, the part that had been running and hiding, couldn’t shake the fear.

“I would like for you to leave, please,” Marie's voice was firm, though a tremor of lingering fear was evident. “And, you can have your guard dogs rest. I won’t be telling anyone about what you did.”

Charles felt a pang of guilt as he registered her words. He hadn’t realised just how much his presence, and the unspoken threat of his family's power, had weighed on her. He nodded slowly, accepting her decision.

“Alright,” he said softly. “I understand. I’ll leave.”

He turned to go, but hesitated at the door, glancing back at her one last time.

“Marie, I’m truly sorry for what you’ve been through. I know my words don’t mean much right now, but I hope someday you'll see that I’m not just the man you saw that night,” he added, almost defeated in a way.

She stood silently, her arms crossed defensively over her chest.

“Good evening, Mr Leclerc,” she nodded.

“Please, call me Charles,” he insisted. She didn’t respond, but her eyes held a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

Charles took that as his cue to leave. He stepped out of her apartment, closing the door quietly behind him. The weight of the encounter settled heavily on his shoulders as he made his way to the car. He signalled to his driver and the guard waiting by the car, waving them off with a tired gesture.

“No need to follow her anymore,” he told them. “She’s not a threat.”

The driver nodded and got into the car, while the guard looked momentarily confused before complying with Charles' instructions. Charles watched as they drove away, feeling a strange mix of relief and unease. He knew this wasn’t the end of his troubles, but it was a step towards resolving them.

Marie, inside her apartment, leaned against the door, her heart pounding. She had stood her ground, but the encounter had shaken her deeply. She knew she couldn’t trust Charles fully, not yet, but there was a small part of her that wanted to believe he was sincere.

She sighed, pushing herself away from the door and heading to her bedroom. She needed rest, and more than that, she needed to think. The days ahead were uncertain, but for the first time since that horrific night, she felt a glimmer of control over her own fate. As she lay down, her thoughts were a chaotic swirl, but amidst the turmoil, there was a faint hope that maybe, just maybe, things could change for the better.

---------------------------

Taglist: @headinthecloudssblog

[rayclubs]

HxH Genei Ryodan is such a masterclass in humanizing villains, honestly to a ridiculous degree. They're legitimately terrifying, their crimes are cruel and inexcusable, the violent acts they commit are nearly always played seriously and condemned by the narrative, and yet I find myself rooting for them in every scene they're in.

It's not even the sad backstories some of them have, it's much deeper than that. I think I'm just fascinated with the intricate and peculiar friendship they all share. It's easier to get attached to comedy rather than drama, as a rule of thumb, and they're just endlessly funny.

I've been searching for examples of the interactions that stuck with me and was going to include screenshots but there are just way too many things. Like, okay, in no particular order:

Shizuku wearing Phinks' coat after her sweater gets torn in a fight.

Phinks tucking Kalluto under his arm like a chicken and carrying him out of an exploding building.

Nobunaga getting trapped in a pocket dimension and everybody agreeing that he should just stay there awhile because they've just taken a hostage and now there isn't enough space in the car.

Machi and Nobunaga hanging out like normal people, drinking beer and serving cunt effortlessly in stylistically matching outfits.

Kuroro getting a prediction that "the spider will lose half of its legs" and immediately going "nope not losing any of my men out there let's pack it"

Hisoka actually fucking saying "I can't tell you that. If I told you that, I would be telling you what I can't tell you. This is why I can't tell you that. That's all I can tell you." and they believed him. Maybe it's more normal with English subs, I dunno.

Everyone playing cards while Uvogin is fighting, all while talking about how good Uvogin is at fighting.

Uvogin giving Shalnark a little kissie. I don't even ship them, I think he just kisses all of his homies like a real man.

Franklin getting sent after a crate of beer. Like, that's just so funny to me. Errand boy.

Feitan and Shalnark calling Phinks "very feminine" and giggling.

Franklin and Nobunaga just fucking going at it, sword on gun violence, for no reason whatsoever. It seemed like they were having fun.

Nobunaga asking rhetorically how strong he is compared to the rest of the gang and them replying "7th or 8th idk" you fucking know they debated this.

Uvogin getting his dumb sexy ass captured and everyone showing up for him awww

Everyone being supportive of Shizuku being fucking stupid. Not even in a sweet way or anything, just kind of acknowledging that she has zero thoughts in her brain. "Shizuku why didn't you use your left hand" because she was spinning a vacuum cleaner in her mind, what's not clicking

Dunno what they call Kurapika in the English version but in the Russian subs they all collectively only ever refer to him as "ублюдок с цепями" or "the asshole with the chains".

Nobunaga immediately inviting two twelve-year-olds to join because he thinks they're hilarious, and everyone going "yeah okay as long as the boss is cool with it". You go Nobunaga, everybody grieves differently

The kids refuse and escape, go spying on the other members again, get caught again, and when Nobunaga sees them he's all "Wanna be friends now? ^^" <- nobody has anything against this

Feitan having his arm broken in a fight and Phinks going "HA!"

Literally every single time they toss a coin, but especially when Phinks and Bonolenov were arguing over who should fight Zazan if Feitan fucking dies???

Shalnark being a fucking gamer and inviting everyone else to speedrun Greed Island with him. Franklin going "no thanks" next shot he's in the goddamn game

Tossing the phone around. Can't remember whose phone it originally was but passing it around was hilarious every time. "We already killed the hostages" beep beep beep "Sorry I lied"

There are so many moments and I'm not even halfway done. Supreme quality villains. I need more of them. I need to inject them directly into my brain.

[chaoticsoulsword]

*sigh*

Let's do this again.

The most harmful and irreparable damage the MCU has ever done is definitely Wanda's characterization and how the "fandom" perceives her even when non-cb readers migrate to the 616 side.

(This is screenshot depicting a fan reacting to Russell Dauterman's redesign of Lore, an evil Wanda variant who first debuted in 1993 in Scarlet Witch #1. She will return in the new Scarlet Witch series this year)

In addition to all the "she's always been white" constant, toxic and racist comments, which only reinforces their lack of ability to recognize issues such as colorism, Rromani representation (when they actually know the difference between Rromani and Romanian, that is) and straight-up whitewashing, they also fail to identify a most essential trait of her entire characterization: her desire to do good and become a symbol of heroism.

Wanda despises doing harm to others. Her first iteration is legitimately a depiction in which she and Pietro are being forced by Magneto to work for him and his brotherhood of evil mutants, all thanks to emotional manipulation. She never means to hurt the original X-Men except when Pietro is hurt and/or in danger. It's her protective side, not her "evil" side.

(Uncanny X-Men v1 #4; #11)

It's also fundamental to be aware that Wanda and Pietro come from a place where there's trauma for being abused by Magneto when it comes to their powers. This is why they are hesitant to join the Avengers, and yet their sense of responsibility is stronger.

(Avengers v1 #16)

Now, when it comes to Chthon, it's another rabbit hole of struggling with independence, power and agency. Being controlled by an evil force is as an old trope as any other in comic books. Still, I can't help but notice that her relationship with Chthon is never truly solved as other magic characters' issues, so why does it stick to Wanda the hardest?

Allow me illustrate with other examples:

1. Magik and the Darkchylde.

For those who don't know, the Darkchylde is "an evil side" of Illyana Rasputin, result of her captor and abuser's tampering with her soul.

The Darkchylde has several interpretations, from abuse to struggling with self-worth, and it has been established for decades as a side of Illyana that she despises, fears and suppresses.

(New Mutants v1 #71)

Illyana took years to make peace with her inner self and even had an arc to leave her reigning place of power in Limbo to Madelyne, another character who was villanized by the narrative for the very same reasons. Which begs the question.... why would a fan root for the Darkchylde to be her standard self when this is precisely what she hates the most? When it's precisely what causes her pain and leads her to a process of isolation and unhealthy behavior?

2. Doctor Strange and dark magic

Throughout sixty years of stories, there are a few moments in which the Sorcerer Supreme is faced with the old dilemma if he should use dark magic or not. And yet, from everything he went through, even in his darkest moments, he still chooses to do good. This is an intrinsic part of him. Yes, we've seen alternate evil iterations, but the main version is still a recognized, praised character for all the good deeds he performs on a daily basis.

(New Avengers v3 Annual #1)

3. Loki against fate

(Immortal Thor #2)

Loki's most recent and important journey throughout the years is precisely changing their fate, from the god of mischief and lies to the god of stories. They know they also have antagonistic roles to play as such, and yet they look forward to building a better relationship with Thor and the Asgardians. They're as complex as they come, but never back to their first and oldest iteration.

--

There are others, of course, like Nico Minoru and the Staff of One, Daimon Hellstrom and his will to deny his father's desires etc etc. I can even point a famous non-magical one: THE HULK. Yep, the guy who has spent his entire existence struggling with said dichotomy.

So you see, this is not a situation where "women can't be villains, god forbid women do anything" like some of them love to claim. You have Amora, Morgan Le Fey, Umar, even Lore now. The fact is, the MCU pushed the main version of its Wanda to be an irremediable character. Fans may or not defend her actions, but the truth is, they went too far for a role of opposition/antagonism justified by mental issues, which is yet another problematic, hellish rabbit role that we discussed so many times, over and over and over.

House of M is by itself such a harmful event in Wanda's entire characterization that, even now in the 616 universe, she still struggles to be (re)accepted by the hero community. She's still demonized by mutants, she's still depicted as mentally unstable.

(X-Men #7 - 2019)

Meanwhile, few writers are doing their hardest to give her some independence and agency (praised be Orlando and McKay). She has finally showcased her resolve to deal with Chthon by absorbing the Darkhold. She finally built a place to help people in a small community. She's an avenger yet again.

(Darkhold: Omega #1)

However, despite all that, she's still being patronized and lectured on (for instance, Agatha trying to take the Darkhold from her).

(Scarlet Witch v3 Annual #1)

The fact that she hasn't given up on the role of super hero only showcases how fundamental, intrinsic, unshakeable is her desire to do good. The fact that she's a nexus being and that the Scarlet Witch is a role passed down through generations are enough reasons to reiterate how important she is as a defender of the universe, same importance we often see in the role of the Sorcerer Supreme.

No fan has ever advocated for readers to be feared by a Sorcerer Supreme. Those are roles of heroes.

So yeah, "evil mother" and "serving cunt" will not do it for me. Because being evil means embracing everything Wanda hates the most and fights the hardest. So you come here and tell me that Wanda was supposed to be evil incarnate, to the point of comparing her to Voldemort, is plainly offensive and shows how little you understand her. You have other mothers to kneel to if you so desperately need one. Wanda is not one of them. Leave her alone.

TL;DR: Saying Wanda should be evil is stupid and harmful.

[dewdropdinosaur]

Baby Don't Hurt Me

LUCIFER X M READER Summary: You and Lucifer were never really a labeled thing until when your very life is at stake, does the King of Hell truly take into account his feelings. Warnings: PG-13 for implied sex, sexual language, vulgar language. For the lovely @pixie-skull REQUESTS OPEN!

In the dark and tumultuous realm of Hell, a sinister yet charismatic figure ruled supreme. Lucifer Morningstar, the embodiment of rebellion, carried himself with a confidence that belied the chaos of his kingdom. At least that is what it looked like to his subjects. Among the twisted landscapes and restless souls, there was one being who managed to capture Lucifer’s true self like no other—Y/N.

Their relationship was an enigma, even to them. Late nights were spent in shadowed alcoves, hidden from the prying eyes of Hell’s denizens. Whispers and stolen glances became their secret language. The thrill of sneaking around, of keeping their connection hidden, added a dangerous allure to their meetings. In the privacy of Lucifer's opulent chambers, they would share moments of passion, both knowing but never saying that there was something more between them.

Neither of them dared to label what they had. It was easier that way. For Lucifer, admitting to love was a vulnerability he couldn’t afford, especially not after Lillith and just getting Charlie back in his life. Y/N, strong and independent, valued their freedom and feared the chains that love might bring in a place like Hell. They reveled in the attention from Lucifer but to admit true feelings might do more harm than good in Hell, especially with all the people who love to take advantage of others. Both men and women alike had only used them so why wouldn't the King of Hell himself, Y/N was convinced, only use them too?

Ye even as the war of love raged on, the forces of Heaven prepared their assault, and Hell and the Hazbin Hotel braced for the inevitable clash. The day of the battle arrived with a ferocity that shook Hell to its core. Angels descended with blinding light and righteous fury, led by the vengeful Adam, Heaven’s warrior. The air was thick with the sounds of clashing weapons and the cries of the damned and divine.

In the midst of the chaos, Lucifer fought, albeit a little late to the party, with a fury born of centuries of defiance. His eyes constantly darted around the battlefield, always finding their way back to Y/N. 

Standing utop the roof, sword glinting in the light of the battlefield, Y/N stood guarding a fallen Charlie. 

“I would suggest you back the fuck up, Adam.”

“Awww, isn’t this cute, the little lover wants to save Luci's little girl.”

“The closest you get to brainstorming insults Adam is a light drizzle.”

“BITCH!”

Slicing his guitar towards Y/N, they met it with a block. Both parties slashed through the air, perry and block one after the other. Sweat poured down Y/N’s face, their short hair sticking to their face. he moonlight cast a silver sheen over their blades, creating an almost ethereal glow as the two adversaries faced off.

Adam's eyes narrowed, a sinister smile playing on his lips. "You really think you can stop me, Y/N?" he taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.

Y/N tightened their grip on their sword, the weight of the steel comforting in their hand. "I won't let you hurt them," they replied, their voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through their veins.

Without another word, Adam lunged forward, his blade slicing through the air with deadly precision. Y/N parried the blow, the clash of metal ringing out like a thunderclap. Sparks flew as their swords met, the force of the impact sending vibrations up Y/N's arm.

Adam was relentless, his attacks coming fast and furious. Y/N matched him blow for blow, their movements fluid and precise. The two danced a deadly ballet, their swords weaving intricate patterns in the air.

"Impressive," Adam sneered, his eyes glinting with malice. "But you're only delaying the inevitable."

Y/N didn't respond, their focus razor-sharp. They could feel the strain in their muscles, the burn of exertion, but they pushed it aside. They couldn't afford to lose focus, not now.

With a sudden burst of speed, Adam feinted to the left and then swung his blade towards Y/N's side. Y/N barely had time to react, twisting their body just in time to avoid a fatal blow. Pain lanced through their side as the tip of Adam's sword grazed their skin, but they gritted their teeth and pressed on.

Using the momentum, Y/N counterattacked, their sword arcing towards Adam's chest. Adam deflected the strike, but Y/N was relentless. They pressed forward, their attacks becoming more aggressive, each swing fueled by their determination to protect Lucifer and Charlie.

For a moment, it seemed like Y/N had the upper hand. Their blade cut through the air with precision, forcing Adam to stay on the defensive. But Adam was cunning, his eyes never leaving Y/N's. He saw an opening, a split-second lapse in Y/N's defense, and he took it.

With a swift, brutal strike, Adam knocked Y/N's sword from their hand. The weapon clattered to the ground, and Y/N stumbled back, breathless. Adam advanced, his sword raised for the final blow.

“Go ahead and cry to your boyfriend, he isn’t here. I will enjoy destroying you, sinner.”

Watching this all unfold, Lucifer's heart clenched—a sensation he hadn’t felt in eons. With a roar that echoed across the battlefield, he unleashed his full power, tearing through the ranks of angels to reach Y/N. He arrived just as Adam’s sword plunged into Y/N’s side, a scream of agony ripping from their lips.

Lucifer’s vision turned red. In a blur of motion, he struck Adam with a force that sent the angel sprawling. Adam, now unconscious under a pile of rubble, laid motionless. 

Rushing back to the roof, Lucifer knelt beside Y/N, cradling them in his arms, the world around him forgotten. Blood seeped from the wound, and Y/N’s breaths came in ragged gasps.

“Stay with me,” Lucifer commanded, his voice breaking in a way it never had before. “You can’t leave me, not now.”

Y/N’s eyes fluttered open, a weak smile playing on their lips. “I’m not going anywhere, you stubborn devil.”

Lucifer felt the sting of tears. He pressed his forehead against Y/N’s, a silent plea for them to hold on. As the battle raged around them, he realized the depth of his feelings. This was more than a fleeting connection, more than a casual fling. This was love, raw and undeniable. This man had given him love, passion, kindness, heck even tried to save his own daughter.

“I…I think I love you,” he whispered, the words heavy with the weight of a thousand unspoken emotions.

Y/N reached up, cupping his cheek. “I know. I love you too.”

————————————————

“Lucifer, for Heaven’s sake, it will heal on its own!”

“I know ducky, but please….just let me look at it!”

“No you worried devil, I will be okay!”

Letting out a light chuckle, Y/N laid in Lucifer’s plush bed, surrounded by bandages and pillows. While Lucifer’s concern over his new found love was touching, the constant mothering was a tad annoying but mostly endearing. 

“Promise, me ducky?”

“I promise, Puggle, now come cuddle with me!” 

With a grin, Lucifer plopped into the bed with Y/N, burying his head into their shoulder. After a moment of silence, Lucifer shifted…and then shifted again.

“Yes, platypus?”

“Um…”

“You wanna make out yes?”

“....only if you are okay with that?”

“Darling, if I ever say no to that question there is a gun in my top dresser drawer. Shoot me with it.” 

Stealing his lips into a searing kiss, Y/N tangled their hands into Lucifer’s hair. Rolling ontop of Lucifer, Y/N kept kissing him with fevor. A thousand past kisses didn’t compare to the fiery nature of this single one, it felt like even their fingertips deliciously burned at each other’s touch. Popping the buttons off one by one of Lucifer silk shirt and then removing his own, the dance of tongue and teeth continued. Nips, soft bites, and moans eoched around the spacesou bed room. Tilting his knee up, Lucifer ground his leg into Y/N’s crotch. Lewdness sprung forth from their mouth as they clamped down onto Lucifer’s shoulder. 

Outside the doorway, however, was a very concerned Charlie who had been hearing the commotion and was worried about the injured state of Y/N. Softly pushing the door open and immediately regretting her decision, Charlie stood dumbstruck. 

“Fuck, just like that Luci, mhmmm….so close.”

“Ducky, come on, come for me!”

“DAD?!”

The scene came to a halt! Caught in a rather…precarious position, Lucifer and Y/N stopped their movements. Throwing the covers swiftlyt over them as Charlie shielded her eyes, all parties stared at each other. 

“Eh….Charlie…”

“I’ll knock next time I am so sorry, I was just so worried about Y/N and you and the fight and—”

“Charlie! Its okay. Luci…I guess this is a good a time as any….Charlie dear your father and I are dating—”

“FINALLY!!”

[lady-of-the-puddle]

Hello hello, it is time once again for, you guessed it!

Rating Clu's

Homoerotically tense

Relationships

I thought long and hard about this because I only had about 2 in my head when I mistakenly threw it out there in another post but like, here you go 😎

Have a picture in case you forgot what cgi Jeff Bridges looks like:

Behold, a guy. Anyway

1. Kevin

He is the most obvious so I'll get this one out of the way

You are me and I am you but you are the darkest parts of me but I love you anyway

This begs the question:

Would you fuck your darker self/clone

Idk about u but my heart tells me that Kevin sure would

7/10 it's about the man vs self of it all

2. Jarvis (why is this photo so fuckin big??)

I know I said Kevin is the most obvious

But this guy has the biggest crush on Clu

He is simp supreme

Like the way he turns to Clu for approval after everything he says makes me feel like I should leave the room

He loses a point for being a dork coward but Sam's mascara is very pretty and he's also a Flynn so I can't blame him too much

9/10 go henchboy go

3. Rinzler

Fellas, is it gay to brainwash god's most specialest boyfriend and make him loyal to only you all while knowing god is still out there and can see what you've done to everything he loves? All while knowing he's nothing more than a pet and will never love you and wouldn't even if he could

Like talk about the ultimate rebound

No notes honestly, I don't even need to go on with this one

11/10 not even one girl(Quorra) could make this all seem a little less gay

4. Dyson

Another case of yoinking your exes boy but this time it was consensual

He literally just agrees with Clu and helped him take over

If that's not a basis for a strong relationship then idk what is

He really seems so desperate to stay in Clu's favor like he must know that tron is the real prize here, his bitter ex. Has there ever been so much dating drama between programs?

5/10 replaceable.

5. Sammy

It occurs to me now that he hasn't made it on these lists yet so everyone clap for him

I feel brave for even acknowledging this one

Is Clu his dad? Is he an entity separate but still containing qualities of his father at a certain point in time that forever diverged from the moment of conception? Idk he's a computer man

So like the part where he's just kinda circling Sam looking him up and down like he's a prized pig? Yeah.

CAUTION THIS IS A JOKE please for the love of Kevin don't cancel me over this

2/10 why the 2? Cause there's fics out there man I know it

6. Zuse

He's so babygirl

Clu even mixed him a drink before he blew him up

I love their dynamic I get the feeling if Clu had to spend more than 5 minutes around him he'd strangle him much sooner

Stoic asshole with the silly asshole

Honestly they're perfect for each other

10/10 what can I say? I'm a simple program I see two men interact and I rate them

Special mention:

7. Quorra

Now some of you might say, hey Puddle Girl, this isn't homoerotic at all she's a girl

Well they're programs so gender isn't real and also they're bi so it counts

Anyway I thought about this one cause there was this weird tense moment towards the end of the movie where Quorra is captured and Clu's just like, talking to her and touches her hair and it was uncomfortable but it also made me feel some type of way

Like I understand that it's 100% a power play BUT

😏

3/10 he was gonna add her to the boyfriend collection cause all he does is steal from Kevin

Hi in honor of my Tron themed birthday I finally finished this. I was really reaching for some of these as you can see but I can't take it too seriously anyway. I'm always here for the gay of it all but is it homoerotic or do they just need to put more people who aren't men in this franchise? We'll literally never know! 🙃

Hey @soihadthisdreamonce I'm sorry 5-10 business days turned into 5-10 business weeks I was moving and time got away from me but I didn't forget you

[saigawrites]

Hey siri, how to take care of an aura jelly blob?

Continuation of my series | part 1 | part 2

Seelie! Genshin characters x Platonic! Gn! Reader

Sumeru men edition

Tags : fluff, crack, scenarios

Warnings : cursing, mentions of animal attack

Summary : you took home a strange creature, that looked nothing like anything from your world. So, you try to take care and somehow live with this sentient balloon.

You didn't know what had happened at all. You didn't know how and why you took home an intellectual blob with pretty colors. But, right now there is no time asking questions, as this flying circle thing has been squeaking for about 30 minutes, trying to explain you something. You came up with an idea in your mind, but for a moment thought it would be impossible. But, who knows? Maybe this creature actually has an intelligence and can write what they wanna say on a notebook?

Grabbing a empty notebook and a pencil from your workspace table, you open it and give the pencil to the creature. Shockingly, it holds it with tiny arms, and levitating themselves closer to the paper, they start to scribble something.

Wanderer ♥︎

"Filthy humanoid creature! I am the unnamed wanderer from teyvat! I know nothing about the surrounding environment around me. Tell me, where am I, so I can figure out a way to return to my homeland. And don't you dare to take advantage of my current state! I am powerful beyond your understanding, even if I'm not in my original form."

Okay, that's kinda freaky. Why is an aura balloon acting all supreme now?

When you read what he wrote, an "really?" expression set on your face. That's probably why he zapped you when you took him out of your bag.

As much as you know, there isn't a place called "teyvat" in any part of the globe. So, this thing is from another one. Great. You somehow bringed an alien into your house.

But at least, some of your questions were answered.

You found a bit funny that a floating circle with cat ears and tail was deliberately trying to boss around, though you didn't wanna get electrocuted again, so you simply followed whatever demands this alien thing could have.

Oh, his demands were BIG. No sleeping past 6 AM, doing intense research on the topic of multidimensional lapping, and long explanations about literally everything your world can offer you.

Well, you are glad that you don't have to feed him or watch after him.

That last part was a lie, as this seemingly harmless boss companion of yours was dangerously curious, and happened to cause trouble even if he was as soft as jelly.

Yeah, that time he wanted to see what type of clothes do your humans wear, he shaked that closet a little too much, as it almost fell on you.

You learned that he is surprisingly very strong after that, he even helped you put the heavy wood rectangle back in place.

Or that time you both were taking a walk in the forest, and he came too close to an aggressive tank with antlers, a 6 feet tall moose, making him react violently to you.

Gladly, the moose couldn't come any closer as your blue-purple friend somehow casted a heavy gust of wind, strong enough to push the animal away.

Your angry little jelly blob rushed to your side after that, afraid of you damaging yourself in any way. After scanning your face for any injuries and finding none, the cat blob made sure to not to stray away from you far.

Kaveh ♡

"Thank you, kind-hearted humanoid! I was so scared when I woke up in that place. Your rescue will be forever remembered by me. I am Kaveh, the architect of the sumeru city! It is an honour to be acquainted with such a peculiar creature like you! Please, help me find a way for me to get back to my planet."

First off, did he mention sumeru? The ancient city that existed centuries ago? Second off, did he call you peculiar? These balls be wildin

The warm-yellow bunny eared balloon floated around you excitedly, waiting for your response. You wanted to pet him and slap him into the void at the same time.

You got his vibe just right in your first interaction. The jelly ball acted all cute and adorable, but the clinginess of his made you progress on the aggression part in the cuteness-aggression feeling way more.

Seriously, this piss blob's ignoring of your personal space is on another level. The amount of times you had to shove him away from nuzzling all over your face and hair is overwhelming.

In his eyes, you are a majestic architectural masterpiece. He takes notes how your eyes and ears are on the same level, how your brows are exactly perfect centimeters away from your eyes. He loves your nose structure, he often stares at it to much, gaining a questioning look from you.

He is just like that with literally everything else in your apartment. He takes notes of the proportions of some objects, and in his seelie mind he finds ways to project your modern structures into his own.

Other than disturbing your piece he likes to look out the window, stare down at all of the other buildings and examine them with extreme focus.

Sometimes he even tries to make a sketch with his itty bitty hands, but fails miserably and comes crying to you, burying himself in your arms and making you pet his smooth body.

Al-haitam ♥︎

"I am Al-haitam, and I come from another world, as you probably already have guessed from our appearance differences. I thank you for taking me into a safe environment, may the archons bless your kind-soul. I ask you to fulfill my another wish, help me return back."

Who are archons? Are they some kind of deitys? Gods perhaps? You truly don't know.

His calm and reserved behavior matched his talking style. He kinda reminded you of the mystical tree, his colors and a leaf like antenna confirmed your statement further.

That's probably why you would burst out laughing whenever the green aura circle would act all smart, reading books and watching educational videos on youtube with you.

Though, after laughing your ass off, you would always think of his behavior as cute in a way. So much that you would have to hold your hands in place and resist the urge to just squeeze the life out of him.

Sometimes you couldn't hold it tough, and give in to your desires, smiling and giggling as you nuzzle this jello orb body of his.

Fighting back and eventually winning, he would aggressively bring your communication notebook and write down that your relationship is purely professional and you are disturbing his necessary research.

Making a ridicilously serious face and nodding repeatedly you would leave him alone for some time, only to come back again to lay on him and fight in the process.

Eventually he would just give up and go with the flow of your playfulness, seeing as he got exhausted of reading multiple books already.

And when you would get tired, you both would just lay there, napping peacefully as he nuzzles in your chest, listening to your heartbeat and think of how strange you are in his world perspective.

After waking up from a quick nap, he would poke you with his tiny arms and tug you to stand up to go to the library with him.

He really loved your libraries, the sight of your extremely detailed and textured bookshelfs and scriptures would make him scream like a fangirl on the inside.

He also liked your concentrated state, with your reading glasses on and gaze fixed on the letters. He would enjoy it even more when you would take notes of the subject, he's genuinely amazed of your handwriting.

Cyno ♥︎

"I am the general Mahamatra, Cyno. I thank you for saving me from the streets. I would be more than happy if you could get me back in my world, teyvat. Thanks in advance, or should I say, in later on."

What the hell was that. Was it... a joke? Okay, now is not the time to question what type of humor does this purple circle has.

Oh, but he's questioning you, looking at you with such a attentive gaze. Is he waiting for you to laugh?

Fulfilling his wishes, you chuckled from the amusement of not getting the joke at all. The blob didn't care though, as he simply jiggled in his place, proud of himself.

From that moment you discovered that this alien orb is a terrible jokester, as he would literally pull you from whatever you were doing to just check his new made ones.

And everytime you couldn't help but laugh histerically at his antics, because you wouldn't get the premise at all. All of his jokes never made sense, but were the most hilarious thing you laughed at in a while.

And he would always jiggle with pride after you laughed, bro really thought he gained a fan of his jokes💀.

One day you thought about showing him your world's perspective of humor, as you sat him up on the couch and turned on the tv with popular comedy shows.

Safe to say he would repeatedly jump from his seat, and roll on the couch from side to side, as his purple anubis ears would jiggle uncontrollably.

You took it as a sign of him liking it, and soon enough you both had a routine of watching comedy shows and gasp from laughing.

At first you thought he was just a happy go lucky guy, not realizing he can be sort of a guard dog.

Really, you only saw him being serious when he sensed something and flew to it's direction, only for it to be a racoon that he scared away with mini thunder.

Now you got why he was such a bright color of purple. Not gonna lie, you were a little scared to hold him after that, afraid he'll electrocute the shit out of you😰.

But it never happened, so you guess he's only friendly to you? Honestly, you felt kinda honored to have this status.

Tighnari ♡

"Greetings, suspectable another species of humankind. I am Tighnari, the forest ranger of the sumeru region. It is a pleasure to be in your natural environment, being able to study your world. Though, I would appreciate it if you could help me return back to sumeru. I still have a ton of things to do back there, so please, make sure to fulfill my request."

Is he some type of a scientist? "A pleasure to be in your natural environment, being able to study your world" yeah, my ass.

And he was an ass. Pain in the ass, to be exact.

He wouldn't leave you alone, wherever you would go or whenever time it was. He was always around you, floating and examining your features.

He just can't help himself, you look so strange! And everything around you looks so strange. He just has to know atleast something about the place he is in right now, what type of setting it is, how does it work, and yada yada yada...

That's what lead you to the situation you are in now, as he peeked out of your hoodie pocket, staring at all the contests of the supermarket you were in.

Even if you had told him already a thousand times that he can't go with you because he doesn't look like everybody else, he didn't listen and sneaked inside your clothes, successfully getting out of the house with you.

You desperately tried to cover his enormous ears with your hands, stuffing him further inside the pocket only for him to pop out from the other side. What a nosy aura blob.

It would get even worse when he would fly out to scan some object like salty pickles, thinking of it as peculiar, when in reality the only thing that's peculiar was him.

He would closely watch whenever you would put something in the cart, taking notes on how you hold the product and how you place it inside the metal structure.

He especially got very freaky about your world's greenery, demanding you to go out with him into a park, a nearby forest or literally anywhere where there is some type of plants.

You instead decided to take him into a local botanical garden, and when I say he went crazy, he went crazy.

Stopping every 3 minutes to find a new plant and examine it for about 20 minutes you and him spent the whole day in that garden.

He would poke your shoulder to it being numb, asking you to explain or tell what kind of plant it is, where does it grow, how does it grow, can we take it home, all that nerdy shit.

You did end up taking some small house plants afterwards, due to his unstoppable crying and squeaking, like a child wanting their parent to buy candy in the store.

He then made sure to always bug you to take care of the plant, saying that he is "incapable" of doing so himself. What a troublesome circle.

Oof, this ones LONG. And I'm proud of it😜. Genuinely hope you enjoy this, cuz I spent an eternity writing this😭.

Tag : @vault-of-reblogs

[centrally-unplanned]

I saw this slightly-old post making the rounds recently by former alt-right memelord Walt Bismark, on how the alt-right "won" in the late 2010's - positing that as the cause of why it generally vanished. I agree overall with the vanishing part, its not gone-gone ofc but it waned as a cohesive movement. But I saw a lot of people (and generally not alt-right figures) agreeing with its conclusion and I am a bit more skeptical of those.

Its largely a personal essay so I wont address most of it, but it has a summary of five main points that outline essentially "the agenda of the Alt Right at the beginning" to evaluate success upon. Bismark thinks they won on all five, but overall I think this is playing a trick of inventing an enemy to claim you defeated. Anyway, the points:

1: Shift the “Overton Window” of acceptable public discourse to make it politically viable to openly discuss the interests of white people in mainstream politics, in the same way black people or Jewish people discuss their collective interests. 

This one I will grant a partial victory - there was a legitimate intensification of "white as identity" in politics, a making explicit what was implicit in the 2010's. Now ofc I consider this to be a classic horseshoe moment; the hard left at the time was also extremely interested in abandoning race neutrality and valorizing racial identity as an organizing principle, and did it in a very ham-fisted way that the right capitalized on, so it was an easy battle to win - but that is what it is, ofc the wider environment defined the goals & strategy. I mention it however because I do think this is only partial, and the gap between implicit and explicit isn't that relevant. He mentions as an example of this success:

Affirmative action was of course squashed by SCOTUS and the necessary legal infrastructure is being deployed to burn it down. Mainstream conservatives are mobilizing a lot of resources and energy to this end.

But conservatives have been fighting affirmative action for 20+ years, easily. Here is a 1999 article on precisely such a campaign, I literally just googled "conservatives affirmative action [year]" and I get results each time, 2003 had big cases (the Bollinger cases) on AA, etc. I remember "affirmative action bake sale" memes from like 2006 at my uni! What changed between Bollinger and 2023's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard is that conservatives had just had enough time to stack courts, and wait for Supreme Court justices to die. That just...takes time to do! The strategy hadn't changed between 2003 and 2023. And meanwhile, did they win? They won that court case, sure. What do you...think the ethic makeup of the next Harvard class is gonna be? Wanna take some bets?

His other listed victories are things like:

"Vivek defended the Great Replacement Theory on national television and remained a major Trump surrogate. The SPLC would have marginalized him for that 10 years ago. Today because of polarization and MAGA closing ranks they can’t do shit."

And like, the Southern Poverty Law Center would have successfully marginalized a Republican politician in idk 2003 are you completely high right now? Strom Fucking Thurmond was an active Senator in 2003! This is the repeated tactic here, the imagined enemies - there was never a time where liberal institutions could consistently force conservative politicians to kowtow, so you can't claim it as a change.

This is why I mention the social justice horseshoe, because he has this point here:

These days you can complain about quotas etc. being unfair to you as a white man and it’s not inflammatory or low status among centrists and conservatives. Even non-woke liberals won’t really hate you for it, just quietly think you’re a bit of a chud. This was not the case in 2015. 

And this is partially correct, I agree there was some norm shift. But that is because in ~2010 there really weren't any quotas against white men, it wasn't a thing almost anywhere outside of university applications, so the complaint would make no sense. What happened was that starting in ~2012 a huge left cultural movement started that just openly supported active discrimination against whites, Asians and men. They were a small minority of course, and never had much power, but they got enough power in certain institutions like non-profits and universities that there was a string of just very obvious cases of clear racial discrimination against in particular whites & asians (both men and women, white women often got it very bad in this wave). And the large majority of people just saw that and went "uh yeah racism is still bad?" and so now you can say that because its actually relevant to say. From that lens, is this a successful cultural victory on the part of the alt-right? In some sense sure, but really its more a cultural failure of the hard left. The status quo just kept on chugging along.

Ugh that point went long, the others repeat so we will go through them quicker.

2: Elevate identity issues like anti-immigration and the promotion of traditional gender norms to the center of Republican politics. 

A fake enemy here - anti-immigration was already a huge issue for Republicans in the 2000's. It had a huge wave under Obama actually, it goes in cycles like that. And it responds to material conditions; it's a big issue again right now because the immigration numbers spiked massively under Biden, its just way worse of a problem now (primarily due to the booming economy of course). Again a partial victory for the first part, I agree its more salient due to Trump platforming it, but I'm skeptical that it is a big shift - people are memory-holing the Tea Party movement really badly here for example.

And the second point is just obviously false, Republicans always cared about that, and they care about it less now, giving up the ghost on gay marriage for example. The Alt-Right coincided with a decline of the influence of the Religious Right, and it shows on this issue, 0 points.

3: Make it socially acceptable to discuss HBD and the resulting moral implications for leveling mechanisms like affirmative action. 

Peak "log off" moment, it was always acceptable to discuss this outside of liberal/professional circles and there it still isn't acceptable to discuss it. Charles Murray wrote the Bell Curve in 1994 and his been an American Enterprise Institute Scholar for this entire span of time. This is confusing churn for change - the mid-2010's had a bunch of big, mainly online fights about HBD, and then everyone just sort of moved on with the status quo pretty much unchanged. Nothing like education policy, even in Republican circles, has shifted over this.

4: Convince conservatives to stop ceding moral authority to liberals and allowing them to determine who on the Right is verboten or beyond the pale. Make it unacceptable among conservatives to “punch Right” or purge people for wrongthink. 

Sigh, again when have Republicans ever ceded moral authority to liberals? Harvard University could not condemn Newt Gingrich in ~2009 and make him change his mind about anything. And "Republicans don't self-criticize while Liberals eat themselves alive" has been a complaint for literally decades, you would hear that as far back as say Clinton and things like the 1999 WTO protests. Its both true and exaggerated - the Tea Party primaried Republican candidates for wrongthink in 2010, and Trump did the same thing! With disastrous results for the Republicans in 2022. I really, really don't think you can look at Trump's Republican party and say they solved the Wrongthink problem.

5: Expose and dismantle the hypocritical attitude that allows neocons to militantly support Israeli ethnonationalism while brutally repressing any white identity politics domestically.

This one is just a lolwut moment, "brutally repressing any white identity politics domestically", like what does that even mean? Name the concrete policy proposals George Bush implemented in 2007 than Donald Trump didn't in 2018 around this topic. Again a fake enemy, they were never repressed by the right, and ofc are still hated by liberal institutions like universities.

Moving on from any specific point, I think its very telling that very little about free trade vs protectionism or isolationism/support of autocracy abroad enters this list. Because beyond immigration those are the big shifts the Trump movement (which is the mechanism the alt-right has to claim for making its impact) has ushered into the party. They didn't change its stance on sexual politics or "race & IQ" or anything, those haven't changed, but meanwhile the party has completely flipped on things like tariffs or opposition to Russian military expansion. But of course those don't align neatly at all with the issues the Alt-Right fought about in 2015.

The reality the Alt-Right can't escape is that they used Trump as their mechanism for change, and Trump never really cared about any of their goals beyond immigration. He used them and then pursued either bog-standard Republican policy or his own mercurial, autocratic whims, eventually channeling all of this energy into election denialism. I really don't think if you pulled aside frikkin Ryan Faulk in 2014, asked him to put down his graphs about Raven's Progressive Matrices of black Caribbean students, and said "Hey 10 years from now all of this energy is being channeled into pretending that a failed real estate mogul didn't lose the 2020 presidential election", that he would look at that outcome and think Mission Accomplished.

I don't want to fully oversell, there are for example wins Bismark doesn't mention (School choice comes to mind, the biggest conservative win of the past decade besides the protectionist swing). The Alt Right was an influential movement, it earned its place in history. But I do not think it is an example of being a "victim of its own success". I think instead it should be understood as part of the "radical froth" of the 2010's, that bubbled over and then evaporated like its more intense leftwing peers did. It made some mark and then got left in the dust.

Net ranking of the 5 points: 0.5 for Point 1, 0.25 for Point 2, 0 for the rest, 1.25/5.

[otdiaftg]

The King's Men - Chapter Eleven

Day: Thursday, February 15th Time: 9:00 PM EST

Neil was on the last one when there was a single rap at his door. It wasn't Kevin's imperious knock or Nicky's enthusiastic rat-tat-tat, but the upperclassmen wouldn't drop by when Matt and Dan were both out. Neil pushed his schoolwork aside and went to investigate. Andrew stood in the hallway, hands stuffed inside the front pocket of a dark hoodie. Neil opened the door wider and stepped out of the way. Andrew glanced past him before entering the room. Neil guessed he was looking for an audience, so explained, "Matt went out with Dan for a couple hours. Are you coming with us to the court?" "Entertain yourself tonight." Andrew invited himself the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Kevin is too drunk to curse your name, much less stand up and hold a racquet." "He what?" Neil asked, but Andrew didn't waste his breath repeating it. Neil looked down the hall like he could somehow see Kevin in his wretched state. "Coward." "Don't sound surprised," Andrew said. "It is nothing new." "I thought I'd gotten through to him last time," Neil admitted. He closed the door and propped his shoulder against the kitchen doorframe. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think this will get?" "How bad can it?" Andrew returned. "Riko can't kill you yet, and Moriyama already told the Raven fans to stay out of it." "They could still disqualify us somehow," Neil said. "They got their showdown last October. Since they don't think we can make it to finals there's no reason for them to tolerate us any longer." "They don't have a choice anymore. If the Ravens don't let us run our course there will always be room for doubt and speculations. The Ravens can't share their throne with what-ifs. They have to be supreme victors." Andrew gave that a moment to sink in before saying, "I'm undecided." "About our chances this spring?" Neil asked. Andrew held his hands palm-up between them. "The thought that you've unintentionally conned them into this corner is intolerable, as it means you're stupider than even I gave you credit for. If you did it knowingly, however, you're cleverer than you've led me to believe. That means the Ravens aren't the only ones you're playing with. One of these is the lesser evil." "Not everything's a con," Neil said. Andrew didn't answer, but Neil read his calm expression as disbelief. Neil considered defending himself and decided it a waste of energy. Andrew wouldn't believe him anyway. "Which one is the lesser evil?" "I'm undecided," Andrew said again. "That's helpful," Neil muttered. "You could just ask." "Why bother?" Andrew asked with a slight shrug. "I'll figure it out eventually."

Art used with permission by Emry-stars-art. Thank you @emry-stars-art!

[enixamyram]

Just Saw Deadpool and Wolverine!

It wasn't as bad as I feared it was going to be. In fact, it was really quite good! Not perfect, unfortunately, but still really good.

Spoilers bellow:

Let's just get the bad things out of the way:

Why. Do. They. Keep. Splitting. Up. Couples. In. Between. Movies. Just. To. Get. Them. Back. Together. All. Over. Again?! Genuinely, they have Vanessa and Wade split up off screen before this film, they're still good friends so she still hangs around, he still has feelings for her and at the end of the film it's implied they're getting back together again. And it is so pointless! It would make no difference to the plot if they had stayed together throughout the film. It actually would have made certain moments stand out a bit more. It's just a completely unnecessary random trope that I am so sick of!

Channing Tatum as Gambit sucked... But he was kind of meant to... So I dislike Channing as an actor, I love Gambit as a character, so I was always going to have a bias about this. But genuinely I cringed at every moment of him on screen, but I think I was supposed to? I don't know if it really was intentional or not, but it seemed to me that the film was definitely playing up making fun of him. So while it was awful, it wasn't soul crushingly awful.

The NicePool dying joke went on for too long. I think every Deadpool film has that one joke that I laugh at. But then it keeps going and eventually my laugh gets a little awkward and it's still going so my laugh kind of dies. Not that big a deal, just something that really hit with this one.

OTHERWISE!

It was a really good film! It was funny in all the right moments. Ryan Reynolds continues to be supreme as Deadpool. Hugh Jackman is still the best Logan of all time. And I think the Deadpool films in general just mastered the act of upping the stakes in a way a lot of other trilogies fall down at. What I mean is, Deadpool 1 - the enemy was personal to Wade. Still a threat to others but the focus was on Wade's grudge. Deadpool 2 - the time travel aspect made it a little more intense than last time but it was still fairly personal and contained to Wade. Deadpool 3 - world ending drama that made this time really stand out against the others. It felt properly like the films before this were prepaing Deadpool to be the man he needed to save not just this universe but every universe.

Highlights:

X23!!! I was so damn excited when she came on screen! I love her, I love her comics, I love her movie, I'm just sad we probably won't get to see more of her but the stuff we did see was still amazing!

The Cameos I hated the Spiderman's film cameos because they felt cheap and pandering, but the ones in this film felt like they were done right! So it was a lot of fun seeing familiar faces popping in and reliving old stories or throwing out old lines (legit laughed hard at Blade's ice skating uphill throwback XD).

The Songlist Every song sequence, even the ones purposely out of place somehow worked so perfectly. It was hilarious in the right moments but even more than that, it was beautiful in all the right moments as well (I'm talking about you, Like A Prayer XD)!

Cassandra Nova A fantastic villain who I loved seeing on the big screen for the first time! She was delightfully psychotic and powerful and just perfect for the role as the ultimate big bad.

I think this is a good sendoff the Deadpool and the X-Men as a whole. I don't know if that's the plan, I don't know if Deadpool or any mutants are supposed to come back but I probably wouldn't rush out to see them to be honest. This feels like the right way to say goodbye. (At least until the MCU stops overdoing it and let's others remake superhero films on their own again. Not everything has to connect to the MCU for pete's sake.)

[nayziiz]

Witness | CL16

Summary: In the shadowy world of Monaco's elite, the Leclerc family reigns supreme. Charles Leclerc, the charming middle son, maintains their pristine public image—until one rainy night, during a fit of rage, Charles does the unthinkable. A young woman witnesses his actions, and her terrified eyes haunt him. Consumed by guilt and fear of exposure, Charles embarks on a desperate search to find her before she can destroy his family’s legacy. As he delves deeper into Monaco's underbelly, Charles must confront his own darkness and the lengths he will go to protect his family.

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x OC (Marie)

Warnings: Violence, blood, angst

Author's Note: A few longer chapters are coming :)

Masterlist

Chapter 7

Marie quickly befriended the three guards keeping the closest watch over her, their constant presence turning into an unexpected source of safety. With time, she discovered their names and stories, weaving bonds of trust and mutual respect. She no longer had to worry about being approached on her walk to work or on her way home after a shift by drunk and unknown men. The guards, initially distant and professional, softened under the warmth of her genuine interest, eventually indulging her curiosity and even her more audacious requests.

One such request led them to Charles's apartment, an unannounced visit she had convinced them to permit. The guards, now more like reluctant accomplices than strict overseers, escorted her through the city's labyrinthine streets. Each step brought her closer to a man whose life and demeanour seemed worlds apart from her own.

As she entered his apartment behind one of the guards, her breath caught in her throat. The space before her was grand, its sheer size and opulence overwhelming her senses. For a moment, Marie felt like she had stepped into a scene from an architectural magazine, where every detail was meticulously designed to exude elegance and luxury. The furniture was sleek and sophisticated, a harmonious blend of comfort and style. Plush rugs softened the space, and the faint scent of fresh flowers lingered in the air, adding a touch of warmth to the otherwise pristine environment.

She stood there, momentarily awestruck, her eyes roaming over the lavish decor. The guards, sensing her hesitation, lingered near the entrance, giving her the space to take in her surroundings. Marie couldn't help but feel a pang of nervousness, wondering how Charles would react to this unexpected intrusion. She had no clear plan, only a mix of curiosity and an inexplicable need to understand the man behind the name.

Just as she began to take a tentative step forward, she heard a soft, familiar voice, “Marie?”

She turned to see Charles standing in the doorway of an adjoining room, his expression a blend of surprise and curiosity. Dressed in casual yet impeccable attire, he seemed a stark contrast to the grandeur of his surroundings. His eyes, however, held the same warmth and sincerity she had glimpsed before.

“I hope you don't mind the unexpected visit,” she replied, her voice steady despite the flutter of nerves within her. He regarded her for a moment, then smiled, a gesture that seemed to light up the room.

“Not at all,"” he said, stepping forward. “Is everything OK?”

“All fine,” Marie replied, her voice steady but eyes blazing with determination. “I just wanted to return the money you forgot at my apartment the other night.”

With a swift motion, she slapped the notes down on his sleek coffee table, the sound echoing through the spacious room. Charles's expression softened into one of understanding, though a hint of frustration flickered in his eyes.

“I didn’t forget the money, Marie. I left it for you,” he clarified. She crossed her arms, the defensive posture from before making a reappearance.

“Why would you do that? Do you think I need your charity?” she hissed. Charles sighed, stepping closer but maintaining a respectful distance.

“It wasn’t charity. It was a gesture to help you out, to show that I care. I just wanted to make things a little easier,” Charles reiterated his intentions.

“You are not going to buy my silence,” Marie countered, her voice firm and unwavering. Her eyes flashed with defiance as she stood her ground, refusing to be swayed by his wealth or gestures. Charles's face fell, a mix of frustration and desperation evident in his features.

“Of course not! It's not like that at all, Marie, please,” he pleaded, his voice trembling with urgency. “I would never try to buy your silence. This isn’t about keeping you quiet; it’s about trying to support you.”

There was something about the way he said her name that made her demeanour soften, his voice carrying a warmth that seemed to cut through her defences. Marie had to admit, she honestly needed the money, but she had to be sure there were no strings or expectations attached to it. Even then, it still didn’t feel fully correct taking money from someone she barely knew.

“I don’t need your money, Charles. I need to know I can trust you. Actions speak louder than words, and throwing money at me isn’t the way to earn my trust,” she argued.

“I am indebted to you for the rest of my life. You could have ruined my life and destroyed everything my parents and brothers have worked for, yet you chose to believe me. Please, keep the money,” he insisted, his voice firm yet gentle.

Marie paused, considering his words. The weight of his sincerity hung in the air, and she could see the genuine remorse and gratitude in his eyes.

“Just this one time,” she hesitantly agreed, her voice softening. Charles let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding, relief washing over his face.

“Thank you, Marie. I promise, no more money. Just know that I'm here for you, in any way you need,” he added. Marie nodded, her tension easing slightly.

“Alright. But let's be clear - this doesn't change anything. We still need to build trust, and that takes time,” Marie wisely reminded him.

In the weeks following their discussion, Charles found subtle ways to support Marie without overstepping the boundaries she had set. His men delivered groceries to her apartment regularly, ensuring her pantry was always stocked. They timed their visits to coincide with her return from work, placing the bags neatly on the kitchen counters before quietly leaving. Despite her initial resistance, Marie couldn’t deny the practicality and convenience of the groceries. Each delivery was a reminder of Charles’s promise to be there for her, even if she still grappled with accepting such help. She appreciated the gesture, but a part of her remained cautious, wary of becoming too dependent on his generosity.

One evening, after a particularly exhausting day at work, Marie walked into her bedroom to find several bags of designer clothing laid out on her bed. She stood there for a moment, taking in the sight. It wasn’t money, technically, but it was still a form of assistance she hadn’t asked for. She knew Charles was trying to help, driven by a need to do something, anything, to ease her burdens. Without a second thought, she gathered the bags and placed them in her wardrobe, not even bothering to look at the clothes inside. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful - she was - but accepting such gifts felt complicated. It blurred the lines she was trying so hard to maintain, and she didn’t want to lose her sense of independence.

Meanwhile, Charles struggled with his own internal battles. He wanted to help Marie, to make her life easier in any way he could. It was more than just a sense of duty; it had become a need for his own sanity. Knowing she was struggling gnawed at him, and providing these small acts of kindness was his way of coping with his helplessness. Yet, he also knew he was walking a fine line. He had to respect her boundaries and give her the space she needed. Every gift, every gesture, was carefully considered, hoping it would be seen as a token of his support rather than an intrusion.

It was seldom that Marie had a Sunday off, but when she did, she cherished the tranquillity, spending the entire day in her bedroom basking in the sunlight filtering through her curtains. This particular Sunday started like any other, peaceful and undisturbed. She let the warmth of the sun wrap around her as she read a novel, enjoying the rare moment of solitude.

The sudden knock at her door disrupted her peaceful reverie. Her first thought was that Charles’s men wouldn’t let just anyone knock on her door without their knowledge. But the uncertainty gnawed at her, and as she approached the door, her mind wandered to a dark place. What if the person threatening Charles had overpowered his guards and was now coming for her? She swallowed hard, trying to steady her racing heart. With a deep breath, she swung the door open, bracing herself for the worst. Instead, she was met with the sight of Charles, his deep-sunken dimples and blue eyes sparkling with a mix of mischief and concern. The sight of him, so unexpected yet familiar, brought an immediate sense of relief.

“Charles,” she sighed in relief, her shoulders relaxing at the sight of him.

“Expecting someone else?” he wondered, his curiosity piqued by her palpable tension.

“Every day I wonder if I will meet my killer, so yeah,” she half-heartedly joked, though the worry in her eyes betrayed the seriousness of her fear. Charles's expression softened, concern etched in his features.

“How have you been... otherwise?” he asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

“I am well,” Marie replied, watching as he shut the door. Her gaze shifted to the large black box he held pressed against his body. “What's that?”

Charles chuckled as he placed the box on the counter in front of her. He beckoned for her to open it, so she did. She placed the lid aside and unfolded the tissue paper to reveal a gorgeous scarlet red satin dress, perfectly folded in the middle of the box.

“What is this?” she repeated, her fingers gently brushing over the luxurious fabric.

“It’s a gown,” Charles stated simply. “I have to attend a gala later this week.”

Marie raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk forming on her lips.

“I don’t think this dress will fit you very well,” she teased as she folded the tissue paper over the dress again. Charles smiled, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Be my date,” he insisted. He didn’t ask; he was instructing, but politely. Marie’s smirk faded, replaced by a look of confusion and surprise.

“Like an escort?” she countered, a hint of wariness creeping into her voice.

“God, no,” he shook his head vehemently. “No strings attached, just an evening where we can both enjoy ourselves.”

“Has it crossed your mind at all how it feels being on the receiving end of your gifts?” Marie asked, her voice tinged with frustration. “You say you don’t want to buy my silence, but this is all very extreme. It feels transactional, like you keep giving me these things in exchange for something after all.”

Charles's expression softened, a hint of regret crossing his face.

“I didn’t... I didn’t realise,” he mumbled, watching her close the box. "I didn’t want you to feel like I was... buying you. I just want to make life easier for you.”

“Life would have been easy if I never saw you that night,” Marie’s gaze hardened, her words sharp and unfiltered. Charles flinched, the weight of her words sinking in.

“I understand you hate that I have dragged you into this so far, but I am trying to make up for it. I really am,” he replied, his voice steady but icy. “If you wish, I will stop sending the clothes, but I will keep your pantry stocked up for as long as I see necessary - that’s non-negotiable.”

Marie looked at him, her frustration giving way to a mix of exhaustion and empathy.

“Charles, it's not about the things you give me. It's about the way it makes me feel. Like I owe you something, like there's always an expectation,” she continued to express her concerns.

“Let me be clear - I’m not doing this to buy your silence or to make you feel indebted. I know my actions may seem excessive, but I’m doing it because I care about you. It’s how I was raised to give back to those who help you. I want to ease some of the burden you’ve been carrying alone. You deserve to have someone in your corner, supporting you. And I apologise if my efforts have made you uncomfortable. That was never my intention. I just want to show you that I’m here for you, without conditions or strings attached,” Charles replied, his tone gentle yet firm.

On one hand, Charles appreciated Marie’s ability to be brutally honest with him. He valued her straightforwardness, knowing it came from a place of sincerity and trust. But on the other hand, he hated how much the truth stung. He could see how his actions might be perceived as transactional, and it pained him deeply that she felt that way. Deep down, Charles knew he needed to find a better balance - a way to support Marie without overwhelming her, to show his care without it feeling transactional. He wanted her to see him as someone she could rely on, not as someone who made her uncomfortable or unsure.

“No more money, no more extravagant gifts, I promise,” he added to which she nodded.

He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him cold in his tracks.

“When is the gala?” she asked, her tone firm and resolute.

“You don’t have to go,” Charles argued, his voice tinged with concern.

“When?” she repeated, her determination clear.

“Wednesday evening,” he responded, meeting her gaze evenly.

“I assume you’ll pick me up?” she retorted, surprising him with her directness. He hesitated for a moment absorbing her words.

“Yes,” he nodded finally, a faint smile tugging at his lips he couldn't stop.

He turned to leave once more, a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty swirling in his mind. This unexpected exchange left him contemplating their evolving relationship and the steps they were both willing to take to make it work for both of them.

---------------------------

Taglist: @headinthecloudssblog

[solisaureus]

I’ve noticed you criticised the barbie movie multiple times for its misogynistic portrayal of femininity and if you don’t mind I would like to understand your point of view more? I have a hard time really grasping why the movie came out as a message that traditional stereotypical femininity is the correct way of showcasing womanhood in your opinion. Yes, it’s shown through the aesthetic of barbies, but I don’t think it pushed that vision as superior? Would love to know your interpretation and the reasons for it! 🫶

Oh jeez. Are you sure you want to know lol

Disclaimer before i start bitching: I enjoyed the Barbie movie on a level of pure entertainment, the music and costuming and set design were fun, and Ryan Gosling certainly put everything he had into the role of Ken. The astronomically high budget was apparent from every angle.

However. I am extremely frustrated by its messaging and even more frustrated by how often I see otherwise progressively-minded people herald it as a feminist masterpiece. This movie was Not Feminist. Here are some reasons why I think that:

First and foremost, it is a transparent marketing venture. This is Mattel and the Barbie brand rehabilitating their image and inserting themselves back into the cultural mainstream. This movie was made primarily to profit a brand and market products. Any art or meaning that it conveys are entirely secondary.

The adherence to the idea that identity politics are liberating is clear throughout the film. Barbie is feminist because a woman is president, Congress and the Supreme Court are women. I won't get into how much of a shallow, weak fallacy this is but you can easily google it.

There is a pervasive message that womanhood=hyper-femininity. Not a single one of the Barbies is even remotely gender non-conforming. The one female character who was even slightly less feminine was Sasha, and by the end of the film she starts wearing more feminine dresses and accessories. They never had to say outright that hyper-femininity was the superior way to be a woman. There was simply no alternative in their perfect gendered utopia. This is also a standard that Barbie (the brand) has been criticized for pushing onto young girls for decades.

There is a clear message of bioessentialism. When Barbie loudly announces that she doesn't have a vagina in response to being catcalled, the joke is that she's a doll (a Barbie doll which famously do not have sex organs), not a human. At the end of the film, when Barbie decides she wants to become human, her first big step of womanhood is going to the gynecologist. Barbie's womanhood and humanity are tied to her having a vagina.

There is absolutely no room for queerness and transness in the utopia of Barbieland. Barbieland is dominated by a heavily enforced gender binary, and at no point are queer or trans people acknowledged onscreen. I've seen some people argue that Alan was the "nonbinary option," and that's fine if it's their headcanon, but I would caution against giving the producers credit for that. Let's be clear, Alan is a man -- a man that doesn't feel as served by the patriarchy as other men, but that could mean many things. If the writers wanted to make Alan nonbinary they could have easily done so. I can't imagine that with everything else going on in this movie they would've felt stifled by that creative choice. I don't need Barbie to be a queer story, but if it's going to tackle the patriarchy in its central thesis, then it feels really intentional to exclude queer and trans people.

There's an uncomfortable theme of motherhood being the peak of womanhood. In fact as I recall there's a spoken line that says "Mothers stay in place so that their daughters can look back and see how far they've come." Is the implication here that a woman stops growing as a person as soon as she becomes a mother? How is that feminist?

One of the climactic moments of the film is when Barbie gets depressed by the Kendom and gives up as soon as things get a little bit difficult, and Gloria gives her a rousing speech about the unfair expectations of women that spurs Barbie back into action. How is it feminist for the white heroine to rely on the Latina supporting character to do all the hard work and coddle her? How are we supposed to think positively of Barbie after this?

This isn't directly related to feminism but the whole portrayal of Mattel executives as clueless bumbling fools seemed really insidious. These represent real people that are not harmless or incompetent.

The whole bit about Depression Barbie struck me as shockingly ableist. It contributes to so many negative misconceptions about depression, such as like...that it's the same thing as disappointment regarding a failure (which is the thing that launches the whole bit in the first place. Barbie is "depressed" because she couldn't reverse the Kendom). Depression is blatantly reduced to some weird shabby, (literally) marketable aesthetic with this scene. Look at this haha hilarious hashtag relatable funny #bit about Depression Barbie! She has messy hair and wears sweatpants and eats ice cream and watches BBC pride and prejudice! Depression is a catastrophic, life-threatening disease. People die from it every day and it ruins the lives of countless others. This joke was horrifically ableist and disrespectful and perpetuates harmful misinformation about what depression is.

This Letterbox'd review points out many of my other criticisms and disappointments with this movie.

Honestly, overall, this movie felt like it was priming a generation for tradwife messaging. If I'm being completely tbh honest. This movie was funny but it was NOT progressive. Even the valid feminist points (like Gloria's invigorating speech) was extremely basic, surface level, white, cishet feminism. And in 2024 I really don't think that deserves any applause from progressive audiences.

[earlgreydream]

𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫. | 𝐤𝐲𝐥𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

happy may the 4th! for this year’s holiday, me & @little-diable decided to co-write a little bit of nasty smut about our favorite man 🖤

The hallway was quiet, only the sound of the knights boots pounding against the floor could be heard. Y/n’s heart was beating in sync with their steps, racing as if she had been running for the past hours. She had been ripped from her sleep by the masked men, forcing her out of her bed without getting the chance to put something more covering on.

Her sheer nightdress clung to her body, showing off the skin that was marked by his kisses, marks left by teeth and tongue, clearly owning the woman he had married many moons ago. Maker, every inch of hers belonged to him, to the man ruling the galaxy, the man with raven black hair and eyes so daunting even his knights shrunk away from.

Y/n had asked questions the knights hadn’t replied to, keeping her in the dark. Her mind was trying to pierce the puzzle pieces together, wondering why they had asked her to follow them to the throne room, hoping that Kylo was awaiting her, to tell her what was going on. She wasn’t disappointed, eyes meeting his as they entered the room, halting in their step as Kylo raised his gloved hand.

The man was sitting on the iron throne, one boot placed on his other knee, sinking further into the throne as if he was lounging around. And yet his gaze had nothing calm to it, fueled by something that left her panting. Kylo stared at her for a few moments, eyes wandering up and down her barely dressed frame, taking in the expensive silk fabric, before he met her gaze once again.

“Strip, pet.” It was a simple command, and yet y/n didn’t dare move, wondering if he was only toying with her. But Kylo’s gaze wasn’t urged on by any teasing, didn’t give away what he was truly trying to do. So, her hands began to move, slow at first, pulling one strap down, before the other followed. Heat flushed through her as the fabric fell to the ground, fighting against the need to cover herself up, not used to the piercing gaze of Kylo’s knights.

Y/N could feel seven sets of eyes on her, Kylo’s piercing green gaze making her feel like she was going to crumble at his feet.

He watched her struggle to take in shallow breaths, hands clearly trembling as she fought to keep them from covering herself, though the sheen leaking down her thighs suggested a masochistic enjoyment of the semi-public humiliation.

A snap of Kylo’s fingers pulled Y/N toward his throne, invisible hands dragging her forward and up the steps to where he laid like a king before his subjects. He shifted positions, pulling her to kneel between his legs, holding her face in a gloved hand. Kylo’s thumb brushed over Y/N’s cheek, the softness of the touch contrasting with the starving gaze that seemed to eat her alive.

“So well behaved for me. Show my knights how wet you’ve gotten knowing they can see you being submissive for me,” he ordered, hauling her forward to bend over his lap, kicking her knees apart.

“Kylo!” Her soft cry was rewarded with a hard slap to her ass, leaving a red handprint in its wake. Warmth shot through her, twisting in Y/N’s lower belly as the pain made her drip, giving the knights even more of a sight to palm themselves to.

“Supreme Leader,” Kylo corrected, “I’ll put that mouth to better use than pathetic begs.”

Her head was growing fuzzy with submission, the perspective narrowing in on Kylo and his words, forgetting the audience that watched only a few meters away. Kylo’s large hands unfastened his robes, freeing himself of the tight constraints. Y/N shuddered, always wondering how in the galaxies she was going to be able to take him — despite Kylo proving time and time again that he’d make her take every inch of him, one way or another.

“Open your mouth,” he spoke, the words lost on her, caught up in a daze, mesmerized by how beautiful the young god was before her.

“Obey me, pet, unless you want each of these knights to have their way with you,” Kylo hissed, gripping her jaw.

Her jaw was pulsing against his tight grip, leaving marks he’d kiss in the early morning hours. A deep breath was exhaled before y/n slowly parted her lips, opening her mouth wide enough for his cock to rest on her tongue. She needed a moment to adjust, corners of her mouth already burning from the uncomfortable stretch. Kylo’s groans left her walls clenching, unable to stop her arousal from dripping down her thighs, making a mess on her skin.

“Maker, look at you, such a whore for my cock, you’d die for a taste, wouldn’t you?” She hummed around his cock, eyes fluttering close to concentrate on the bobbing movement of her head. Y/n could feel the eyes of the knights on her body, burning into her skin without moving, not daring to go against Kylo’s commands. The situation had something awfully thrilling to it, urging her on to push him closer to the edge, wanting to taste him.

Kylo’s gloved hand guided her head, not daring to break contact just yet. But even though the man kept towering over her, not moving away, she felt an unfamiliar touch on the inside of her thighs, eyes snapping open to find his dark ones.

“Don’t you stop, pet.” With a gasp rolling off her tongue, y/n tired to keep herself focused - without any luck. The force had reached her cunt, teasing her arousal-covered folds, forcing her to tremble.

Kylo gave a sharp pull to her hair as her actions faltered, distracted by the invisible fingers dancing over her clit, teasing her entrance by just barely pushing inside.

Y/N’s whimper was muffled by his cock in her mouth, the sheer size forcing tears from her eyes as her throat constricted around him. She could feel him throbbing, so close to coming undone from watching her fight off an orgasm and burn alive from the embarrassment of his men bearing witness.

“Hold it, pet,” Kylo growled, demanding she didn’t come, despite his force turning her into a desperate, trembling wreck.

She hollowed her cheeks, big eyes gazing up at him with tears welling at her lashes, forcing herself down until her nose brushed his toned abdomen, painfully. taking every inch of him.

Kylo’s head fell back, dark waves tumbling around his regal face, mouth opening as he came hard down her throat. His taste was overpowering, filling her mouth as a hand in her hair forced her to stay down, choking on every last drop he had to give. The intensity sent a shudder through Y/N, fighting off her own orgasm, trying to be obedient to the man who dominated her.

Y/N had never felt so thankful for oxygen, catching her breath, placing a hand on Kylo’s knee to stabilize herself as soon as he let her sit back on her heels. The force had momentarily vanished from her sex, the only sensation being what dripped down her thighs in a filthy display of arousal.

His thumb gathered what had spilled from her lips, silently demanding she lick it off him as he pushed down on her tongue, making his pathetic slut gag once again, reminding her that he always had control over her body.

“Supreme Leader, please,” the plea was desperate, sending a shock of electricity to Kylo’s cock that was already growing hard again.

“Come here,” he helped her stand on trembling legs, pulling her forward until she was straddling his hips.

“Kiss me,” her shaking hands found their way to his hair, the facade of being nothing more than a toy, fracturing as he caught a glimpse of the wife he loved.

Kylo paused their cat-and-mouse game, a gentle hand coming to the back of Y/N’s head, dragging her into a kiss that was just as messy as their sex, desperate and primal. He moaned softly into her mouth, feeling her grind down on his cock, dragging her velvety wet slit against him, wordlessly begging to be fucked.

“You’re going to let my knights watch you fall to pieces for me,” Kylo’s command was firm, a strong hand wrapped around her throat.

“Yes, Supreme Leader.”

Kylo flipped her body as if you weighed nothing to him, pulling her back against his chest, so she was facing the six knights who were witnessing her filth, touching themselves as imagined touching her, knowing Kylo would never allow it.

Her head fell back as he fisted her hair, pulling hard as he dragged his pet down onto his cock, sheathing himself deep in her cunt, kissing her cervix as the knights nearly creamed at the sight of his outline pushing against her belly. Y/N knew to behave, but a pornographic moan tumbled from her lips, thighs shaking as Kylo guided her to bounce on his cock, his strength being the only thing that kept her upright.

She knew that it wouldn’t take long for her to give in, to scream his name as a powerful orgasm rippled through her, and yet she prayed to the stars that the moment would last, not yet ready to let go. Her walls burned around his cock, still not used to the stretch, a heavenly pain she’d dream of once he left the base for endless seeming days.

“Such a right cunt even after all those years, I could bury myself in you.” Kylo panted his words, a dark chuckle left him as he felt her tremble, wondering how much longer she’d be able to go on. For a moment his gaze found the frames of the knights, unable to drown out their graphic thoughts, wishing it was them with their cocks stuffing her holes.

Kylo’s grunts were enough to make her choke on her moans, fingernails trying to claw into the fabric of his armour. It was a pathetic try to stop herself from giving in, knowing that a punishment would follow should she not ask for his permission.

“Speak, pet, I can feel you clenching my cock.” Y/n struggled to keep on breathing let alone to speak up, eyes glassy from the pressure she used to hold herself together. A “Please” managed to claw through her, a sound Kylo seemed to pay no attention to.

“Please, Supreme Leader. Let me cum.” His hips jerked upwards, forcing his cock even deeper into her tightness as if he was scared that she’d flee from him, evaporate into a cloud of nothingness. He marveled at her for a few seconds, gaze flickering between her pleasure-drunken features and the masked ones of his knights.

“Cum for me, pet.” Her eyes rolled back into her head, teeth buried in her lower lip. Blood dripped from the thin skin, but before her tongue could even dare to wipe it away, Kylo had pulled her back against him for a rough kiss. Her orgasm clashed through her, moans swallowed by his lips and yet it seemed to be loud enough to make the knights tense.

Kylo kept snapping his hips, chasing his own high for a few more moments before he harshly pulled her down, forcing her to hold still. A deep groan left the man, cum painting her walls white like he had done numerous times before. She was panting, unable to focus on anything but the feeling of Kylo filling her, leaving his stain on the crying woman.

She collapsed back against his chest, small shudders making her tremble from the aftershocks. She ached everywhere, head full of clouds as she inhaled the scent of her lover, Kylo draping his cloak over the two of them, covering her modesty from his knights.

“Leave us,” he commanded, clearing the room.

Kylo let her rest for a few moments, his strong arms securing y/n to his chest, trailing his fingers over the bruises that had formed as evidence of the night’s activities. She kissed him softly, her movements clearly slow and tired. Kylo made her breathe bitch as he lifted her suddenly, carrying her back to the safety of their chambers, where a shower could be had and bruises could be tended to.

“Kylo,” she murmured into his shoulder as he took the time to wash every bit of her skin, despite the begs to just let the two of them go to bed.

“Yes?”

“I think I like you having me in front of your knights,” Y/N’s whisper was shy, hiding her face in the towel that was wrapped around her.

“You like me claiming my wife in front of all them? Does it turn you on to know that they can all get off to the sight of you?” Kylo’s tone held the slightest hint of teasing, pulling his wife in for another tired kiss.

“I like it when you’re big and intimidating, I love when you make me feel owned,” she admitted, giggling as she collapsed into dark silk sheets with the Supreme Leader, the dull throbbing in her body serving as a reminder that every inch of her belonged to him.

Kylo dragged her to lay on his chest, kissing the marks on her wrists from how he’d restrained her. His skin was warm and smelled clean, the rhythm of his heartbeat echoing hers, his deep, quiet voice worshipping his goddess until the sunrise.