#theres this culture of tainted beings

[bardicious]

Okay, I kinda wanna write something on the Carol/Jim factor of the latest episode.

Jim flirts. Jim flirts with everyone, theoretically. La'an, Uhura, Una, Spock. It's how he communicates friendliness and I really wager he just doesn't know the way he stares at people can be considered flirtatious either. He just genuinely finds them appealing, and fascinating. So... no this isn't him practicing infidelity, even if he were on with Carol at the moment.

Much like with Chapel, people do NOT give Carol any credit. She's a strong, professionally inclined woman, much like La'an. And Jim specifically tells La'an that her and Carol would get along. I'm willing to wager, like adults, both Jim and Carol have discussed what they're okay with in a relationship.

As for little baby David. Carol, what? Just got pregnant? Both of them know about it. They have ample time to stop the pregnancy if they so wish it. Which is not only fine in our day and age, but likely even simpler in the future. So they had to have discussed the baby, before she came to term.

Jim and Carol decided beforehand that Carol was going to keep David. Carol wanted to keep him. Jim having very little to say on the matter, except his approval (or disapproval?), because he still loves her, but knows they were never gonna stick together and so does she. Maybe he also wanted David to be born anyway, be raised by an amazing woman, become someone who was his own person, and Jim could love him from afar, but that's it.

Dead beat!dad simply isn't in the cards for him. And even if he was allowed to see David just a few times, all because he's not the majority of the time doesn't mean he's a bad dad. It just makes him absent. Perhaps not much of a relationship, but, hell, he didn't have much of one with his own father, and you know what? From his perspective, him and Sam came out just fine.

Now just a brief look at good ole Sam! Sam has work! Sam has a job! He's on the flagship! The enterprise, herself! He's most definitely discussed his career with his wife! Whether his wife or his children bear issue with his choice is another matter. We simply don't know unless we see them. Why demonize Sam for literally being on the ship that saves lives? The ship where any moment you can die?

Literally what is up with people encouraging unhealthy relationship dynamics?

Chapel shouldn't have to give up her career progress for Spock, Spock would never give up his career for anyone and he finds the only person he can love later (Jim) will sacrifice himself for the job as well. Chris and Batel in constant argument and miscommunication, Chapel and Spock too. And rightly so, because neither are communicating properly. Well, I'll wager that Jim and Carol did actually communicate. Because we know they can. We know both their characters!

This isn't to say David doesn't have another opinion. Neither his mother or father really thought properly of his emotional reaction to not having Jim in his life. But that's another matter, not easy to predict, likely the two did not think ahead that far. They're both fallible humans, who've saved countless peoples lives.

[du-hjarta-skulblaka]

I was watching Hunger Games (mainly bc I was bored but like. The books and the first movie honestly slap) and it struck hard how Locked Tomb honestly has the potential to be the next Big YA Thing. Frankly the only reason it's not already is probably because every bit of marketing slapped on it emphasises that it's queer

Which. That's what we need. Tazmuir could fucking topple Joanne and piss on her bones! If only more people read these fucking books!

[lovesickbrat]

What are the recommended works of literature by the coquette community?

well im glad u asked here are some books NOT on coquette booktok (and one that is)

u have to read lolita by nabokov thats what kickstarted the subculture a difficult but beautiful read nabokov is a true word smith and theres only one other author who crafts imagery on his level

and that author is TONI MORRISON. if you want a book on female friendships, isolation, magical realism and truly unhinged female characters read sula. this is my favorite book of alllll time truly nothing comes close at all the titular character is so interesting is blunt and sensual and odd just like her best friend nel and this is a book i have to read to truly experience

if you loved lolita and want a story similar but about black girls read the bluest eye. this has two major TWs of csa and rape but toni does an amazing job at unpacking generational trauma, cruelty, colorism and desirability and how that effects young black girls esp dark skin black girls. i recommend it to non black coquettes all the time bc some (a lot) of them need to learn some empathy for their black sisters

bonkour tristesse is a quick summer read written by an actual 17 year old in the 1960s about a young girl living a bohemian life with her father until he behins dating her deceased mothers best friend and and she does anything she can to stop it. i read this in a day it was so fun and the author being a teen when she wrote it gives the main character and interesting voice

the moth diaries which i just finished like 4-5 hrs ago is a sapphic gothic novel set in a boarding and day school focusing on the boarding students and their isolated existence its really good def a psychological thriller and you’re left unsure what is real and what is the unnammed narrators psychosis. you can feel her slowly losing her sanity on the pages

stolen by lucy christopher is an older YA novel abt a young girl kidnapped by an older handsome man who she develops stockholm syndrome for. its told with the framing device of a letter its all in past tense and its set in the australian desert so lots of tension here

a book i just started but im already finding interesting in innocents by cathy cootes about a young australian girl who traps her teacher in a relationship and u are nottttt supposed to like this girl but ur intrigued by her shes very demented LOL

audition by ryu murakami is what the infamous movie is based on iykyk if not its about a man who holds “auditions” for the perfect girlfriend and instead gets a psychotic young woman

la batarde by violette leduc is a 1960s autobiography about a woman who reflects on how being born out of wedlock tainted the rest of her life

little birds and delta of venus by anais nin are a series of erotic short stories she wrote for a dollar a page on 1940s france for legal reasons i recommend this to ppl 18+

their eyes were watching god is an absolutely stunning take on black girlhood and womanhood set in early 1900s written in the black floridian dialect at the time it does so well at preserving that culture and showing the trials of being a black woman and its a very romantic and lush book one of my favs

o caledonia which is a gothic scottish book set in the 1940s it opens with the death of the main character and we follow the journey it takes her to get there and it’s supremely haunting

the blacker the berry another tale of black girlhood this time in the northern american stares in the early 1900s very insightful tale of a young woman dealing with love and coming of age as a dark skin woman

the lover the (mostly) true auto biography by maurgarite duras about her time in saigon as a poor french teen and the complexities of relationship with an older vietnamese man as well as her complicated interactions with her family & (sexual) feelings for her best friend

flowers in the attic a classic gothic tale about a young woman who is forced to live in the attic of her familys large estate with her 3 siblings and its as bad as u think it is

we have always lived in the castle is a gothic mystery about the 3 surviving blackwoods and the incident 6 years prior that isolated them from the town

emma by jane austen is a classic truly we all know it we all love it and even i enjoyed it and im a perpetual reader of doom and gloom

lady chatterlys lover is one of the most notorious victims of britans whole obscenity thing and its about a relationship between an upperclass woman and a working class man

wuthering heights is another gothic classic i highly suggest reading

and these are (some of) the more underrated books ive seen in my p much 10 years of being here the coquette literature canon is always expanding and growing

and fuck sylvia plath 🫶🏽

[acaciapines]

👀👀👀 Human realm alternate history??? 👀👀👀

djfkgkjdfg yeah turns out adding daemons to a world changes A Lot Actually.

mooooostly this is all stuff in my head (i need it to understand how the world gets to where it is today but its not like the characters really need to know it) but we do get a few peaks at it via belos! since in hollow mind we get some flashbacks to his youth.

i think the biggest things is just, how daemons came through and influenced things--belos himself is a puritan so mostly i had to sit down and figure out how tf daemons influenced various sects of christianity which let me tell you is NOT my strong suit lol. but ive done my best!! and its okay if its not perfect! its an alternate history this is just how it works in my world <3 (<- coping)

so, back in the 1600s/belos's time daemons were actually thought to be the soul of a person--theres this idea that like...daemons are not of the material world. people at this time would not have known of the existence of dust, so to them daemons were like. ethereal? its this idea that to be saved your soul has to stay pure--and a soul stays pure by removing itself from the indulgences of the material world.

which manifests in really strict ideas on how a soul is to interact with the world. a soul watches. a soul guides her human down the path of salvation, as, being removed from the world, she is able to exist above temptation. but a soul is not to speak, is not to interact with the world, because if a soul is to be tainted she cannot be saved. stuff along those lines. a soul speaks only to her human, and VERY rarely to close family. a soul takes her settled form to show the true nature of her human.

as time passed and religious ideas changed and america developed into the beast it is today, these ideas were kept but changed form. dust was discovered, and people learned that it was a particle present everywhere--but mostly in daemons. daemons were understood to be of the material world, but surely they also said something important about their humans, right? after all, it was the human who was born first, and the daemon that followed. clearly the settled form says SOMETHING.

so, daemons can talk! to other daemons. its understood that the human is the one with the deciding power, and the daemon is just...a companion. nowhere near as important. a human can survive without a daemon, but a daemon couldnt survive without a human (<- this is a lie its just a commonly believed one.) the system is built on certain things being 100% true all the time bc otherwise it all falls apart.

(note that this is not universal. this is sort of a huge thing that went on to influence america and its politics tho, which, luz is from connecticut, she's been thrown right into the center of this lol. other countries and cultures 100% have different ideas on daemons but i have no ideas as to what they are seeing as one thats not what the story is about and two i am in no way qualified to come up with that lol. i can talk shit about america tho. hiiii america </3)

and thats! some of it. Lore. he he :3

[postwarlevi]

Random snk questions you say?? XD I do have a few!! Might be a little self-ship implied but, hehe let's have fun ~

Do you think Jean hums or sings to himself when he's doing the chores?

How does Connie act when he's being protective of his lover?

Sasha is a major foodie, but what are some food or cuisine do you think she dislikes?

– Rei <3 @levi-supreme

Hi Rei! Has this been in my inbox for months? Mmmm maybe hehe. (Im horrified to say theres older things still!)

Jean I have no doubt sings while he cleans because I've caught him he loves things like new wave rock from the 1980s, think like Highway to the Danger Zone, Tainted Love and Hungry Like the Wolf. He might...also...dance. When he thinks no one is looking.

Connie I think would be very hands on. Always having an arm around them, a hand on their back, placing himself between them and whatever the issue is. He gets much more aware of things with his lover around. Do not mess with them!

Oh maaan so I don't want to disrespect anyones culture or cuisine, but I think fancy things like French desserts and dishes perhaps wouldn't be for her. She doesn't need something like a Mille Feuille or Potatoes Dauphinoise, just give her chocolate cake and a baked potato! Like.. don't mess with her potato hehe.

Send me random AOT questions!

[mmmmalo]

(sorry if im repeating anything youve already said, i am just honestly utterly fascinated with your homestuck race-mapping and it really gets the gears turning)

on the subject of gamzee only faking being black as sort of a representation of juggalo culture being what it is does make his subjugation of equius much more interesting, if equius = horse = black person like you suggest. it kinda colors (ha!) their relationship differently though when you think about equius detesting gamzee for not living up to his ideal of what a highblood white man should be. equius' love of the hemospectrum directly at odds with gamzee's clown stuff/affected blackness so i think that makes equius self loathing or something

and on a more personal note it does give me slight vindication of being turned off by humanstuck!gamzee being portrayed as black. ...you know, besides the other uncomfortable territory of depicting a negative-black-stereotype-coded troll as actually being a black person, thus sort of justifying the stereotypes thrust onto him? anyway gamzee's dialogue, and so by extension kurloz's and meenah's/the condesce's, always read much more to be like a white person's crass approximately of aave (well... it IS on a meta level i guess) than actual genuine aave in an attempt to be "hip" or "tough" or whatever else it is white people think of when they emulate us so to me it always made more sense for humanstuck!gamzee to actually be white, and just sort of pretending to be the thing he wants to be most (black). theres also probably a parallel to be drawn between the overexaggerated noses and lips of traditional clown makeup (white) and blackface (...black)??

and then what to make of karkats race envy in that context i have no idea. something something idealized forms of blackness. but also karkat and gamzee are both descended from/ancestor to/literally religious figures so maybe the real message behind homestuck is that jesus really is white

Sorry for the delay; I got your ask months back, right around the time I pivoted onto the white-genocide apprehension of the limebloods, so the black-face angle on Gamzee was becoming something I couldn't make sense of. But now I can respond with a partial reproach, that Gamzee (like Damara) is simultaneously a representation of black face (the consumption of a lime-as-genocided-blackness facilitating the skull-possession we see on his face, like he paints his words in black blood) and member of a black ruling class (lime-as-genocided-whiteness, the feminine associations of which have him wearing what we can in this context understand as the Mothergrub's skull). The skull pivots from masculine to feminine depending on whether it's being associated with blackness or whiteness, I think.

Equius is likewise a mix of representations, simultaneously embodying pornographic tropes of overwhelming black strength (and simultaneously infantilized in his craving for white-mother's milk, the containers of which he crushes) while being visually derived from Nic Cage and fetishing his own society's underclass. His interaction with Gamzee seems similarly bifurcated: both the angle of Gamzee being insufficiently white (tainted by blackness) and insufficiently masculine (paradigmatically black, so that Gamzee is tainted by feminine-whiteness) are applicable. These are also competing interpretations of the slime pie -- drugs make you get possessed by skulls, Openbound is clear on that, but the meaning is split. The sopor is one sense a replacement for white-mother's milk, soothing black-boy aggression (skull as mothergrub, the slime feminizes), but we also have the Void association with intoxicants, as something that causes speech to become "slurred" (ie racialized, blackened, the competing aspect of the skull). Both of which are racist lmao!

[aftonfamilyvalues]

I know this is completely out of nowhere but I never understood how virginity is a social construct like you've either had sex before or not there's no in between.

This thought is back in my head because of a fucking fanfic. . . a character thinking how they know they're not a virgin because it's an outdated cultural concept. Like I could just be stupid but idk.

while yes, in reality its just a term to describe if youve had sex or not, theres a morality attached to it in the form of a social construct. it becomes a form of control. like womens worth being changed based on virginity. a virgin is pure and untainted while a nonvirgin is impure and tainted. the way its viewed and used is how it becomes a construct.

[skyhigh-va]

so, apparently its way, way easier to upload large blocks of text, so heres an update on primalus

inhabitants

humans: literally just people. theres a couple differences from normal humans, but their mostly the same. differences include being able to grow gills, circular heads, retractible fingers, etc.

hybrids: anthropomorphic animals and fish. some live underwater, some live on land, and they have weird political beef despite the entire concept of politics being somewhat minimal worldwide. there are also some who can live on both land and water, but those are somewhat rare.

slimes: slimes come in two varieties, blob and humanoid. blobs are usually young, but adults can still blob up. young slimes cant access a humanoid form until atleast 3 years of life. some slimes are less cultural than others, living on grythand, while most stay connected to scumlar. slimes generated by life mushrooms are usually close to undistinguishable, but they stick by their host.

spirits: ghosts and deities, spirits are just souls that didnt make it into an afterlife, got kicked out of one, or just didnt want to go to one.

island one: ariumal

home to the hybrids, the very lush island exists as a conjunction between the hybrids of land and the hybrids of water, this is also where axle and ben do their shenanigans. under the waves exists a mid to large sized town home to the aquatic creatures. there are tensions between land and water species, think of it like the two political parties

island two: grythand

the largest of the 5 islands, grythand is an industrial state home to a clogged, busy collection of factories and businesses, home to julia, adrian, and so many more. the city exists in a state only just above the technological state of real world new york. also, dont tell anyone this, but void creatures really value this place.

island three: scumlar

the home of the slimes, it is a roofed forest 1st, island 2nd. scumlar is a very swampy island, with a moist atmosphere. it is rumored that underneath the island lies the mother slime, where all slimes claw up from at the start of their lifetimes. slimes are a mostly tribal species, dependent on culture and tradition.

island four: mykonos

mushroom infested, full of naturally occurring caves. this island is the only place where you can find a stupid rare mushroom often called “the life mushroom” and several other elusive mushrooms, all connected in the catacombs as a massive, island wide fungal network. most people who visit swear to see a hulking fungal beast, yet its never been seen.

fenthris

fenthris is an absolute fraction of the size of every other island, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in mystery. this is where its said bug hybrids come from, and some native humans are said to have strange abilities from pyrokinesis to telekinesis. it is a rocky, sandy island harboring one large deep forest.

expansions on spirits

spirits who stay on primalus often take on some stereotypes, such as:

the trickster: a silly lil spirit, the trickster wears an opera mask and causes chaos around the islands for fun. they are never outright malicious, but can cause slight harm due to simple pranks

ghasts: ghasts are vengeful, hateful spirits defined by one goal: retribution. ghasts look almost exactly as they did in life, except for their lifeless eyes and transparent skin

dreamwalkers: spirits that inhabit dreams of all varieties. kinda hard to write about since they can be so diverse, but yknow. can be malicious in nature, or can help someone through some mental trouble.

afterlives (of sorts)

when a being dies, the soul is judged by primordial gods. depending on the souls species, a different god will rank if the soul was pure or tainted. its cliche as hell, but this is pretty much heaven or hell, good or bad, aether or void. some gods have special afterlives, and others reincarnate souls. its a coin flip if your gonna end up happy or not with your afterlife, regardless of your moral standing.

the aether

a white vastness where the only texture is the cloudy ground and dots of people dressed in robes. when you enter the aether the first thing that happens is your robes are melted onto your skin, and your eyes are replaced by specialized modified eyes meant to combat the oppressive brightness. the natives, angels, are tall, lanky beings that are vaguely humanoid, aside from the six wings around their head, the five eyes on their face, the huge eye that makes up their chests, and the 6 wings that line their backs. the part that makes this better than the void is also part of the reason its not just heaven. you keep your individuality. the madness can set into some minds, creating a condition called “purity sickness”, a common condition that wears off in 2-3 days.

the void

i need to talk about this before i can talk about the gods so forgive me if this section sucks shit. so the void is alot like the aether, being a relatively empty place, say for the castle the void king sits and just hangs out ig. the void is dotted with ruins of failed buildings and suffering souls, shambling around, the void seemingly wrapped around their ankles, tethering them to the goopy ground. if you get particularly unlucky, the goop rockets up around your legs, and takes your body to use as another pawn in the void kings army, cause the fucker wasnt emo enough. if i keep writing i swear my fingers are gonna slice open just based on the pure edginess.

magic and aspects

magic is pretty simple, you get it from gods or magical places. you do need a special item to channel it tho, which can be pretty much anything. the power of a channeling object just depends on whatever the god decides is good, leading to things like good luck charms and magic staffs. some gods will refuse to sponser anyone, and some just give it to anyone. aspects are the people who wield a gods powers, or use an item imbued with a gods power. blessings are where a god wants to make an aspect, but the person is unwilling or unwitting.

gods and their aspects

the void king: a spiked, horned humanoid, made of gooey ropes intertwining to form it. its skin is supposedly thick and leathery, though no one is gonna be able to check. its only splash of color is its seemingly glowing white eyes, covered by one or two more ropes of pitch blackness.

aether serpent: a large, many winged serpent with a birds head. almost entirely white, with the only other color being the black eyes and off white accents dotting its body in a skunk like pattern.

vitamarina: goddess of the sea, vitamarina is just a big ass lump of water with a head and tendrils when it decides to manifest physically. she acts very similarly to mother nature, in the whole anti pollution by heavy measures thing, but she could give two shits less about land. less land means more water, yknow?

the mother slime: worshipped as a god, really just a big ass slime that chunks come off sometimes, no one really knows how it got big enough to carry a whole island on its back, but no ones getting close enough to see.

mother nature: its mother mature, idk what you want me to say. large tree woman who hates grythand but wont dare threaten it because of the creatures on it. theres a stran ge amount of people who worship her, probably on account of ghostcap trips making people think shes dangerous. unless your destroying trees or whatever, shes not doing shit. she also doesnt enjoy vitamarina much, because for land to function she needs water, and vitamarina not giving a fuck about land makes her just a little bit pissed

the fractal: the being who keeps timelines and alternative dimensions in order, the fractal is a large, six limbed creature of unknowable preportions, think of it like a lovecraftian beast, unable to be described by feeble words.

styx: a grim reaper type, styx is the one who brings unwieldy or loose souls to gods. while some do worship him, it’s incredibly rare to find an actual devote follower and not just an edgy teenager. not alot is known about him, but she does seem to be relatively new, that might just mean he wasnt needed until now. its rumored that styx is merely a title held by many over eons.

shame: not really a god, but powerful enough to just barely count. shame is the shadow that goes around handing out superpowers in exchange for peoples shadows, which he can consume and grow stronger from. thats their only goal really, but its worth saying that their a rouge pawn of the void ig

characters

axle (he/him): funny axolotl man, axle is a 19 y/o who got kicked out by his parents, and now just dicks around in at the top of ariumal with ben. he wears a color block hoodie, a black backpack, and black pants. he was blessed by vitamarina unknowingly.

ben (he/they): ben is a black cat who was born and immediately placed outside of a barn. his parents were sold off before he opened his eyes for the first time, so he just kinda got up and left, two years later he met axle. he was blessed by the void king, which is why his body is amorphous and pitch black, also he doesnt know that yet.

neil (any): neil is literally compressed space with a childrens astronaut helmet on. his nasa obsession comes from the massive amount of nasa gear lost when trying to observe the galaxy as it compressed. just kinda hangs out, a curious being always learning about other dimensions or space.

charlie (he/her): an aspect of the fractal, charlie is a tired shit meant to help dying timelines or planets. wears a patched up dark red hoodie which has clearly seen better days, with just the sandiest yellow khakis, and carries a long stick that balls up at the end, which is what he uses to make portals and heal planets.

dev (any): silly lil blue slime man, dev is a very charismatic shit, who is really into human music. he wears a hoodie with a lovejoy album cover on the front, black jeans with comically small pockets. he tries to talk to lots of people, and never stays on an island for more than a week or so.

julia (she/her): julia is a transfem with one of the most thought out storys when it comes to the writing of my ocs. shes usually pretty secluded, but makes time for adrian. sometimes still hears the same voice she did when she was possessed. still has ice powers, just a bit weaker then when she was possessed.

adrian (he/they): adrian is just a guy, same age as julia, and does graffiti. mostly spends time walking around town, enjoying vintage tech and art in general. if he didnt listen to country, he’d actually be tolerable. dating julia, adrian grew up with her. vapes. carries a bag full of various items such as spray cans and a pair of headphones.

habal (they/it/he): funky angel dude, wears a white tee with the word “fortnite” pasted across the chest, and some baggy pants. skates around just hanging out and being a boots on the ground informant for the aether serpent. he wasnt meant to develop a passion for skating, but he did, so. has five eyes, a central one, and four that surround the central eye, with four wings that flutter around habals head.

divot (he/they/it): from the far future, divot is a simulacrum. a simulacrum is a robot with the consciousness of a human. divot is a spastic, unhinged bastard of a person. divot is addicted to a green stimulant just called “stim”. divot has a boxy rectangular head with a segmented with a visor that goes straight down the center with a vest and a hoodie. also seen with intel, who he has a spiderman-deadpool type relationship ship, iykyk.

intel (any except she): this previous bartender turned anti government terrorist, intel was shot for knowing to much about things he shouldnt have. luckily, styx was off duty or dead that day, so he managed to live getting shot in the head. he has a bunch of bandages wrapped around his head, a plague doctor mask, and a button up shirt with a banister.

mushrooms

there was so many i had to make a seperate section dear god

ghostcaps: ghostcaps are hallucinogenic mushrooms with a blue, clear-ish cap and a ghostly white stem. the effects of eating a ghostcap are largely similar to a diphenhydramine overdose, with a couple added characteristics such as people morphing into monsters, and walls visually melting.

echo shrooms: used for motion sensitive lighting most commonly, echo shrooms react to sound and vibration, glowing a bluish green hue upon being set off. the louder the vibration, the brighter the glow. native to mykonos

glitchcaps: pretty much natural emps, glitchcaps have an unexplained ability to fuck up most electronics around it, temporarily turning most electric objects off. if you get a shit ton, you can permanently break most electronics. most often found in mykonos, messing with neighboring echo shrooms

everything else that i cant find a place for

due to the increased amount of water on primalus, rain lasts longer, and snow is thicker! mist also forms much, much easier.

breach: breach is a fictional drug made from ghostcaps, diphenhydramine, naphtha, and some other stuff. breach causes aggressive, large mutations to random areas of the body, aggression, hallucinations, temporary clouded vision and other pretty rough shit.

hydrotrees: a unique type of tree that has evolved to thrive underwater. they have developed specific adaptations to prevent drowning, which unfortunately renders them unable to survive when grown above water due to dehydration. hydrotrees have a deep brown bark with a bone white interior, and a very aggressive shade of green.

[ac-liveblogs]

Golden slumber anon again, I think I might have been unclear, I actually like Golden Slumber, I think it's good. It's just tonally contradictory with the main quest in a way that's honestly kinda funny.

Basically, while it has to do with the gods, it's only tangentially to do with the gods. In actual fact, it's the quest of (2) eremites to defend their culture and history from academic distortion and appropriation by (1) racist academic.

It has strong themes about academic orientalism, which is how politically driven expeditions and studies of 'the other' are inevitably tainted by bias and distorted to fit narratives that justify the current hierarchy (in sumeru's case rainforest over desert). Then those biased studies become the foundational works of an entire field, thereby fucking over generations of scholars who take it as fact. This causes new scholars to walk into their studies with a closed mind. "It was proven by the masters that Deshret was a tyrant, so any reading I interpret MUST involve Deshret being a tyrant."

Like the only way they could make this more blatant is if Jebrael knew the truth because of an unbroken line of oral history that the Academia arbitrarily rejected because they felt it wasn't as reliable as written records from Deshret's era.

Instead they go with Jebrael having learned it in concert with a former Academia researcher, which shows that the true of history and culture of the other can only be academically unearthed through open minded and respectful cooperation WITH the other, and not through the systematic dismissal of the other.

It also unironically has a good portrayal of racism in that racists are human but also disgusting. Like this racist academic has very relatable (for me, also an academic) woes about his field seeming plumbed into the ground, ensuring he can never reach the heights his parents and grandparents did. He's dedicated his life to research (and he probs doesn't even like it) but theres a high chance he'll just be a footnote in history. (Ironically, uncovering the true history would be a greater achievement, but it's impossible for his racist ass and also he'd probably get rejected by Academia.)

But then like, every five minutes he talks about how all mondstadters and eremites are worthless scammers and he can only trust the travelers white ass to be honest and protect him. It's kind of a slap in the face the first time and it shows that racists can just be normal guys half the time. As an added bonus, Paimon doesn't rock up to the screen every time he's racist to say he's racist. They just let the story speak for itself. Genuinely the best thing in this update.

Ahh, gotcha! Okay, it seems like I skipped through a decent one this time. It was bound to happen eventually...

[ficletfan]

Hello! I'm really enjoying your imagines! If it isn't much trouble, could I ask for Miranda and the coven (poly) with a good old fem!human s/o that doesn't know anything about the world of monsters and is just startruck by every little thing their world has?

✨I got super excited over this one, it gave me so many ideas while listening to music! Warning this will be a long one! ✨

Fem!Human S/O discovering the monster world:

Miranda:

- You were exploring the "cursed" forest of your hometown, discovering a well

- This well seemed to have something in it, you wanted to investigate so the next time you came you brought a telescope and a light to see into the deep well

- inside it was dark and swampy, a pair of golden eyes look at you before the well pulls you in

- You ended up popping out of a similar well in monstropolis, confused and ugh... A little slimy

- the police caught you "skipping school", let you off with a warning and dropped you off at spooky high

-Well shit

- there are monsters... Everywhere, your curious mind is starstruck! So many legs so many colors this is so cool!!

- you grit your teeth and pick a random class to attend

- you pick theatre, taking a costume from the back to fit in- some armor with LEDS.. You look like spooky armor so cool!!

- since you're already armored you'll be the stand in knight for this rehearsal... A fish girl is the princess and she is so, so pretty!

- shes good at her role and you sit with her after the show, she keeps saying her name and the Vanderbilts... Like you should know who that is

- Since Miranda is the only person you know, you keep the fake glowing armor on and join her for lunch

- She makes sense now, you asked one of her serfs who she was and they made a big deal of you not knowing she was a princess "wait you're a real princess, not just in the play??"

- lunch passes as she explains the details of her heritage, your eyes starry as you listen intently

- Although the next class was the worst, GYM, all the physical activity was hell under the armor and the gym clothes they provided over that

- You got decked in the face by a dodge ball, why does it hurt so bad??? Also a human in spooky high??? What a twist!

- then Mirandas guards kidnap you 👀 She wants that armor off and she wants to know absolutely everything about how someone as rare as a human got to monstropolis! Shes just as excited as you are!

- Since then you were enrolled in a controversial "culture exchange program" as the only nonmagical and full blood human in spooky high

- Miranda stayed as your friend, you both sharing info about each of your worlds until you eventually started dating

-Now shes got to find a way to get you to visit the merkingdom without dying so you can see all the things shes told you about

Poly Coven:

- You got kidnapped in your sleep by a pair of imps, flown through the sky suspended by chains attached to your legs, of course you're screaming

- Their surprise is easy to see when the big bad of the seasons plan is revealed... By the imps dragging you in by your ankles, the plan was to sacrifice a magically untouched female human to complete a ritual

- of course you've never preformed magic nor seen a monster, you're just a fantasy fan!! You're upside down and terrified

- The coven saves the day by defeating the demon Lord of the 3rd circle, his servants who tried to fly away with you and freeing you from your shackles

- You're shaking, from the wild ride and embraced by Joy "You're going to be okay, we won't let them hurt you again"

- At first when they take you back to the coven house you're interested in the magic but afraid of monsters which is unfortunate given not all of them are bad

- Faith treats the cuts on your ankles with an herbal remedy and bandages while hope sees if any of their spare clothes could replace your dirt coated and torn Pajamas

- you get into deep conversation with Faith about witches, the balance of 3 and the world of monsters

- "Just like your world, there are good and bad people, That demon was very evil but uhh, theres this werewolf who wouldn't hurt a fly at our school"

- They keep you in coven house for a while to teach you a few things and show you that monsters aren't all bad, this lets your wounds heal and keeps you from telling humans that monsters are evil beasts

- months pass and not only are you lovingly nose deep in history books of monster kind but you've got legitimately the gayest crush on those witches

- Tutoring you, being your friends its overwhelming how nice they are, hope even taught you some defensive magic! (She wasn't supposed to though)

- You're captivated by them and their lessons- You're also childish "Oh what is that? What's that?" Its like You can't learn enough ever

-Soon you also learn norms from your world don't apply in the monster world... You wanna be gay? Go ahead, you wanna have 3 girlfriends?! DONE

- Its less controversial when you get added to the school, your soul is tainted by magic and the coven is backing you closely

- Sometimes you're still scared of larger monsters or ones that are too in your face but you can just hide behind your girlfriends

[vampireqrow-moved]

um its my birthday so wait until 12:01am pst to block me if u hate this post 🥰🥰

long story short the pansexual label is redudant and actively harmful (its far from the worst problem bisexuals face but it is one issue) and i dont hate anyone who identifies as pan because A) those ppl are bi like me and B) i used to identify as pan myself.

if thats enough for you to block me and make a callout post for me then i cant stop you but pretty please either read this whole thing or just wait a few minutes for my bday to end 🥰🥰

anyways im kicking off this point with some personal experiences bc i love to talk to myself. i got introduced to the pan label at maybe 10ish years old, and started identifying with it pretty much right away. i heard about it before bisexual and it was pitched as attraction to all genders and of course trans people. i was of course a trans ally! i had trans friends! i was trans also but hadnt figured it out yet! the way i had heard of it, there was no bisexual, there was no need for bisexual, and identifying differently was excluding trans people, which I was certainly against. being bisexual was trans exclusionary and why would i exclude trans people? the 'hearts not parts' slogan was thriving around this time and i genuinely said it and meant it.

as i started to become more online, mostly through roleplaying websites and tumblr here, i started hearing of bisexuality. it was supposedly an older term, so older people still used it, but it was common knowledge that pansexual was the better, inclusive label and younger people should adopt the new inclusive language instead of the old and transphobic words like bisexual. /s

and then bi and pan solidarity was all the rage! pansexual wasnt erasing bisexuality, why did anyone ever think that? bi and pan were two separate and complete identities that were valid and had to be respected or youre a mean exclusionist. and an asexual person, hearing people labelled exclusionist always meant they were excluding people from the lgbta community who rightfully belonged, denying peoples lived experiences, and generally telling people theyre wrong about their sexuality because theyre too young. and all of those things were bad and had hurt me, so it would be ridiculous to change labels and support "pan exclusionists" because they were just as bad as ace and aro exclusionists, and they were all the same people. or so it seemed to me at that time.

then, 'hearts not parts' began getting called out for blatant transphobic by insinuating that pansexual was the only identity that loved people for their "hearts" and personalities instead of those gross gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and even straights who only saw people for their "parts". (STRAIGHT PEOPLE ARE NOT OPPRESSED. I AM MERELY POINTING OUT THAT PANSEXUALITY WAS SHOWN AS ABOVE ALL OTHERS.) many pan people, including myself, began to denounce the slogan and insist pansexuality wasnt transphobic, there had just been a coincidence that a transphobic slogan was everywhere and a huge part of people's explantions of and associations with pansexuality. hint: it wasnt a coincidence.

from my perspective, this is when i began to see people discussing dropping the word pansexual. that seemed to be a huge step from getting rid off a transphobic slogan, and these people were just meanies who hated microlabels. and i like microlabels! as a genderfluid person, and someone who has friends who use specific aro and acespec labels, ive seen how people can use them to name specific experiences while still acknowleging their presence underneath umbrella terms like aromantic, asexual, nonbinary, lgbta, and for some people, queer.

pansexuals dont do that. they dont label pansexuality as a specific set of experiences under the bisexual umbrella, they see themselves as a separate identity, and even if they started to, the history of biphobia and transphobic undeniably linked to the existence of pansexuality in enough to stop being worth using. but i digress. pansexualitys shiny new definition that many people cling to is that pansexual is attraction to all genders. bisexual is two or more genders.

which. frankly? doesnt make any sense. my guess is that its supposed to be inclusive of nonbinary genders and those a part of cultures who historically have not had a binary gender system in the first place. i cannot speak for the latter group, but as a nonbinary person, its not inclusive. anyone can be attracted to nonbinary people. literally anyone. theres no way to know if everyone you meet is nonbinary or not. whether or not a nonbinary person reciprocates those feelings and is interested in pursuing a relationship is completely up to the individual, regardless of the sexualities of the people involved.

bottom line is that you cant number the amounts of genders someone can be attracted to, thus rendering those definitions pointless. people can be attracted to all kinds of people regardless of gender, even if they are gay, a lesbian, or straight. all people can date thousands of nonbinary genders if all people involved are interested and comfortable with it. numbering the genders you can be attracted to diminishes the post of nonbinary, as it is not a third gender, it simply any experience not fitting within the western concept of the gender binary (if the person so chooses to identify as such. if you cant tell already, the nonbinary experience is varied between every single nonbinary person.) important to note also that no widely accepted bisexual text defines bisexual as attracted to exclusively two genders or even the "two or more genders". i know this is used a lot but please read the bisexual manifesto. its free online i promise.

some people also claim pansexuals experience "genderblind" attraction while bisexuals feel differently attracted to different genders. this is very nitpicky for whats supposed to be two unconnected idenities, but thats only part of the problem. this definition is also not in any widely accepted bisexual texts, and bisexuality has never excluded those who experience genderblind attraction. i am in fact a bi person who experiences genderblind attraction. this does not mean i am not bisexual. it simply means i experience bisexuality differently than other bisexuals, and thats wonderful! no broad communities like bisexuality are expected to all share the same experience. we are all so different and its amazing were able to come together under the bisexual flag.

last definition, or justification i should say, is that yes these definitions are redundant and theyre the same sexuality, but people prefer different labels and thats okay. i agree in principle. people can define themselves as many things like homosexuals or gays or lesbians or queers or even other reclaimed slurs, while still not labelling themselves under the most "common" or "accurate" labels.

but pansexuality isnt the same as bisexuality, which may sound silly but hear me out. it has been continually used as a way to further divide bisexuals, who are already subject to large amounts of lgbta discrimination. "pansexuality was started by trans people who were upset with transphobia within the bisexual community! it cant be transphobic OR biphobic!" except of course that it can and it is. to say that trans people cant be transphobic is absurd. transmedicalism is right there, but thats not what im getting at. all minorities can have internal and sometimes external biases against people who are the same minority as them.

pansexuality was started as a way to be trans inclusive at the expense of labelling bisexuality as transphobic when its not. transphobia is everywhere, and bisexuals are not exempt. instead of working on the transphobia within the community, the creators of pansexuality decided to remove themselves from it to create a better and less tainted word and community, and the fact that pansexuality is intended to replace bisexuality or leave it for the transphobes goes to show a few things. pansexuality and bisexuality are inherently linked because the pan label is in response to the bi label. due to its origins, it is inherently competing with bisexuality and it cant be "reclaimed" from its biphobic roots. pansexuality is not a whole, separate, and valid label. its a biphobic response to issues within the bisexual community.

to top off this post, heres something a full grown adult once said to me. in person. she was my roommate. "i feel like im pan because im attracted to trans people. trans women, trans men, i could definitely date them. but not nonbinary people because thats gross and weird." she saw pan as trans inclusive and defined herself that way as opposed to bi which is shitty!

also a little extra tidbit about my experiences identifying as pan. i saw myself as better than every bi person. all of them. even my trans and bi friends. whenever they brought up being bisexual i would think to myself "why dont you identify as pansexual? its better and shows people you support trans people." because i was made to believe bisexuality didnt and was therefore inferior. thats the mindset that emerged from my time in the pansexual community. i am so sorry to all of my bisexual friends even if they never noticed. i love you all and hope you have a great day. this also goes to any bisexuals or people who identify as bi in anyway, such as biromantic or simply bi. love you all.

ummm yeah heres some extra reading i found helpful and relevant. here and here. also noooo dont disagree with me and unfollow me im so sexy 🥴🥴🥴

[liathgray]

i love getting into popular fandoms like i love suddenly Getting It like that random tune on this tiktok i like???? its from legend of zelda!! that poster on my friends wall????? its aizawa from my hero academia!!!!! this dude ive known since middle school really loves superhero comics but i never kmew cuz we only talked about anime!!!!!! like its so much fun i dunno why i avoided popular things so much before the last like 5 years!!!!!!

Well first and foremost im REALLY happy that youve found this new avenue of media that you like interacting with! I think that’s awesome and hope you keep finding stuff you like!

For the time you spent not wanting to interact with popular stuff? Very valid.

I do honestly think it’s understandable TO avoid popular things because of what surrounds it. Theres a lot of unfortunate gatekeeping when it comes to pop culture. Fandom spaces have a history of being... not great, especially towards women and poc.

Hype can also taint an experience?? Like i have a personal rule to not watch something popular right when it comes out because what happens is people hype it up a lot, my expectations are high, and usually I’m disappointed.

Of course theres also the asshates that are like “you SHEEPLE!1!1” which is 1) hilarious 2) dumb.

Youre SO right tho the feeling of GETTING IT can be really fun. Its like having one big inside joke!! Double edged sword though IT CAN SUCK (CHERRY U PIECE OF SHIT IM STILL MAD ABOUT THE V SLUR POST).

[mis-calculated]

I'm sorry i mean this in the most well intentioned, i want to support good credible people and stand up for people who have been wronged or marginalized by shitty people in power but i am honestly very frustrated and tired by the large issue of cancel culture from all sides.

And this isnt to say that people who are documented to be shitty shouldn't lose their position of power to others way more worthy. But theres a lot of moving parts to it that make it way more complicated than people have a tendency to paint it and I'm just so frustrated and hurt by a lot of people.

I don't understand why the fuck internet celebrities, particularly in the youtube gaming sphere can't just be decent people for once in their life. And this isnt even from someone who "stans" their favorite celebrities or anything. When I engage with youtube I legitamentally just watch content creators I enjoy and sometimes allow myself to get inspired through them. I don't really engage in fandom culture, I hardly ever even super find it important to meet them at a convention, I literally just watch videos about games I enjoy where the creators seem nice and intelligent and inspiring in some way and just think about them as cool people I wouldn't mind being friends with if circumstances were different. And even after appropriatly distancing myself like everyone on this website says to do, I still end up getting hurt because the average celebrity apparently cannot handle their fame going to their head in some way. I'm angry at creators for letting themselves sink to these levels.

I'm also frustrated at everyone on all sides' inability to fully grasp the weight of what their content means to people and how it affects them. Im angry at content creators for not realizing that through theyre platform they do have a bit of a responsibility to their fans and that even a fan that engages on a healthy level with a piece of creative work is likely to be moved by it in some way. Im also angry at people that continue to perpetrate the idea that if you feel some sort of genuine hurt and sorrow towards media with eventually problematic creators, that you are also problematic and a shitty person for not dropping it immediatly. I am not kidding when I say I don't know how I would have made it through middle and early high school without the Harry Potter series, and I'd be lying if i said that it wasn't one of the most impactful things I read to my creative endeavors, as well as still being a comfort universe for OC's I have purely for myself. Does that mean I support J K Rowling being absolutly shitty towards trans people recently? As a fellow trans person, absolutly not. The Game Grumps Wind Waker playthrough is a series I literally watch at this point as one of the few things that can calm me down when I'm having a panic attack. I think I've been watching their playthroughs since I was twelve years old and whether people like it or not, it has affected me in a profound way. Does this mean if the current allegations turn out to be glaringly true, or others continue to come out, that I am supportive of these disgusting behaviors? Absolutly not. But it still fucking hurts like hell.

Another layer to this has been the rising conversation in the classical music community about the unfortunate reality that much of our musical canon is from old white guys, some of which with deeply racist or classist views. And yes. I genuinly think its so terrible and unfortunate that the only music we have record of reflects pretty much one singular demographic of people, while everything else was pretty much lost to the unpublished masses. I also want to continue to dedicate some of my musical efforts to continuing to support female, lgbt, or poc in the classical music scene who are unfortunatly fighting against more of an uphill battle than I can fully comprehend due to my own privilages. Last week a kid in the year below me made a comment about how infuriated he was that the music history professor talked about Wagner in class without mentioning his gross antisemetic views, which i think is pretty justified anger. I think its really important in mentioning in these figurehead composers, especially people like Wagner who's platform was grown from his antisemitism, both their work but also their moral problems. However, they then said that we should stop learning about Wagner because of the shitty things that he's done. And I've heard that same sentiment echoed all the time in classical music recently. And again I believe this is a way more complex issue where I have to disagree. Whether we like it or not, Wagner's music is directly related to an entire school of thought in music from his time, and is also a major reason in the way opera music shifted and why our modern film music exists. You cannot just extract Wagner from the history and merely learning about him doesn't mean you are continuing to perpetuate the ideas that he believed in or supporting him and providing him a platform. I would argue that not learning about him at all and being uninformed is almost worse in a way because that also leaves room for atrocities to be swept under the rug and lost to time that shouldnt be. But there are people around me that strongly disagree and may view me in a certain light because of it. And im just so frustrated with it.

I've done a lot of growing in the last year and i genuinly do want to be a better, and more informed person every single day. I am so overtly aware of some of the privilages i have due to merely my race that others do not and I continue to examine and reexamine how that affects the views that I hold and this situations that I find myself in.

But I'm also just so fucking angry at the people who screw up like this in the first place and also everyone who perpetuates the idea that media is simply just media and if youre upset youre probably also problematic.

This is a rant and a half and i apologize and hope it makes atleast some sort of coherent sense. I generally dont share my views on stuff like this because Im aware of the ways it comes off. Im just so tired and upset about the things that were important to me in my life getting tainted or ruined by people being shitty but also feeling like I don't have a right to mourn it. Thanks for reading.

[honeyyychille]

Im gonna share why, as a white scottish person, i hate being reffered to as Brittish.

Yes, ok im well aware that i am brittish, Scotland is still apart of britain,HOWEVER the vast majority of scotts dont want to be a part of britain at all, but we're kind of trapped right now westminstor has refused an independence referedum because the tori's know we would vote yes, and without scotland, england would eventually crash and burn; theyd loose our oil, our farming, our alchohol and our tourism theyre all big businesses that bring in alot for the economy and england gets a whole fucking lot of our money, and they dont give us as much as thry should. Yet we still have a better NHS, better education, the period poverty act, the housing act, better menral health care & rehab (alot of these things are far from perfect but its a huge change from what everything was like just 8 yrs ago)

And thats just covering a small portion of todays issues, there is alot more within history.

Many people dont know that the Scots are actually a supressed group (yes thats right, we are. Not nearly as much as minority groups of today, and its also alot better than it was; bjt it can still be seen)

Scotts were banned from practising any part of theyre culture in the late 1700s (anything other than christianity; scotland had alot of pagan/norse&celtic practises, no bagpipes or kilts, not speaking english was extremely bad and not vasically pledging your loyality to god and the english army could get you killed, if your village was taken over by the english, one of tge eadiest ways to survive was to say you would convert to christianity) thats why gaelic isnt Scotlands first language and why literally no one speaks it (im actually trying to learn but theres no material)

A part of my soul cracks every time i have to selcet 'united kingdom' or 'British' for my nationality or country, because i am scottish and that is not recognised, we have broken ourselves free more than once, just to be re-colonized.

But ye, the English has stripped my people of theyre culture as they have many others, they say we are a 'united' kingdom, we are neither of those things and under that name my countries name has been tainted by their sins.

Anyway have some aesthetic gifss 😘

[dondraperkin]

Who would you most like to have of the cast as your patient.

oh theres no way i can answer that question SERIOUSLY... and i dont want to come off as unethical or like.. idk... greedy??? so anything i write here is NOT indicative of my work ethic... bc if i wanted to answer ur question seriously id have so many things to consider... 

like should i consider who would be the easiest patient to work with? if so, then roger, without a doubt. he’s one of those patients who feel like they have to show off before their therapists and they dont put in the work but feel good after preening in front of a stranger once a week so they keep coming in AND HE’D PAY WELL. but this isnt a very good answer because it implies im in it for the money which is not the case 

if i had to pick by which patient needs help the most i’d say betty but this is tainted by my love for her and my own cultural context, i KNOW that women can be more than housewives and i KNOW how they can realize themselves, but i’m not stuck in the sixties like she is. so again, not a good answer either because she’s mostly dragged down by the times she lives in and thats not something i could help with.

ginsberg also comes to mind but that guy needs to see a psychiatrist first and foremost and then we can think about therapy 😔

and as for don, i often fantasize about confronting him with various truths about himself and he gets rly mad at me for doing that and he waits for me to leave my lavish office, he watches me leave the building and stop at the stoop. as i reach for my cigarette he is already there, shoving a lit lighter to me in a gesture that should be helpful and polite but it’s too antagonistic to be read as such. the flame is too close to my face, too close to my lips that keep saying those words he does not want to hear. i do not move away. i accept the fire and light my cigarette. 

mr draper, i say. it’s unethical for us to talk outside my office. 

we’re not talking. he replies, removing the lighter. 

i look at him and blow out some smoke. he stares at me and i keep wondering when will he finally blink. he thinks he’s being suave but this is him trying to regain control of the situation-- sorry what was the question??

[cerulean-sims]

okay i looked through the trailer again and:

-the build mode items look literally. so. good. standouts include actually having counters, more open showers, the fireplaces, that thing they were eating at (god i know theres a name for it its just not coming to mind sorry!), hot springs, and the lanterns!!

-snowboarding/skiing will be a fun activity especially since kids can do them. love how they included sledding as well and that toddlers can sled!

-the clothes and hairstyles look really good. the world itself is stunning

-i like how we can vacation there AND live there. i really hope this means that we’ll be able to set up rental lots anywhere we want to (*cough*sulani*cough*)

-it looked like they were in a restaurant-type place? what does that mean?

-the lack of hotels/resorts is a major sour note that will definitely taint this pack. im not sure if its fully deserving of the expansion pack title without it. i think it draws back to what a ton of people have said about how some game packs should be expansions and some expansions should be game packs. i hope they make it worth it with the items, as i know they wouldnt be able to put as many items into a game pack. they majorly faltered by not including resorts in the things we werent getting in the letter

overall, im pretty excited. living in the world and exploring it will be cool, and itll be a nice place for vacations. i disagree with the opinion that it should have been included in seasons, as i feel like all we wouldve gotten if it was in seasons would be the winter activities. for the build mode and the world itself its worth it to be a separate pack for me, especially because its not an americanized world (bringing other cultures into the game is always a huge plus when its done right!!).

i just wish resorts were finally added. its not a huge problem for me, but its another slap in the face for the community who just got done with dealing with a sponsored garbage fire of a pack being shoved down its throat. not a good look. 

final, more positive note: im really excited to see what the game changers did in this pack! as a watcher of everyone mentioned im extremely interested!