#this especially comes to mind for me in regards to feminism

[multi-lefaiye]

don’t trust anyone who tries to take a non-intersectional approach to serious issues and current events, especially if they try to insist race has nothing to do with it

[weebsinstash]

more valentino PLEASE 🙏

How does the saying go, "i want this man in ways that are concerning to feminism"?

I was thinking of how Angel used to live in V Tower and, how fucked up would it be for him to receive a good morning text from Val to head up to his room, and AD is thinking it's a booty call, but it's ACTUALLY Valentino being a manipulative piece of shit

Angel comes into the room and Valentino is already half or fully naked but like, he's not hard or anything and Angel is confused? The moth is just, chilling naked smoking with this satisfied look on his face? And Valentino just, gives him some menial command to run him a favor, and he pauses mid-sentence to turn and call out YOUR name before regarding his Fizz Bot, "Kitty, why don't you make my baby a drink?" and you're just like, slinking out from under the covers, ashamed that Angel now knows you slept with the Overlord, let alone someone you know uh, treats him pretty fucking poorly (although I imagine not like, the entire entire brutal extent of it, also, Angel Dust using Reader as a shield against Val because they're both calmer when you're around)

Could you imagine some scenario, platonic romantic it doesn't matter, where like. Angel is talking to Valentino and he sees you in the corner of his eye and he just stops mid sentence, does a double take, looks at you half naked in his boss' bed, and Val forces him to focus and carry on the conversation while he's crying. Angel is just all but sprinting out of the room by the time he's dismissed and Valentino may even play fucking mind games to make him like, MARINATE in how horrible this makes him feel. Valentino is dragging out the conversation and putting on his nail caps or doing his skincare routine at his vanity and making Angel sit there and wait as he's deliberate dragging on his sentences and constantly pausing but if Angel moves to leave Val snaps IMMEDIATELY. So Angel is just. Forced to stand there.

VALENTINO TALKING TO Y O U, MAKING YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ANGEL AND THE REVERSE. Valentino being manipulative and awful and shitty and doing shit like "so Angel baby, I was gonna take a trip to the spa tomorrow, mhm, and also hey you're coming too *looks at you* so Angel what do you think we should get my other amorcito over here done?" the evil bastard is making you two talk to each other, about each other, when you're both like, IN TEARS

Angel, trying to hold on to the last shreds of his sanity: s so... h have you... ever had a facial before

Valentino pausing from doing his mascara with the biggest shit eating grin on his face: oh yeah, someone just had a really, really BIG one

Reader, happily getting drunk off the drink Kitty brought you because it helps take away the pain of this entire interaction: a. .. a massage or something might be nice

Valentino, doing his contour: but baaaabe, I thought you told me you were shy about who puts their hands on your body. Are you trying to make me jealous?

Angel, desperately trying to ignore Val blowing you a kiss and you clearly having bites and hickies alllllllll over you like there wasn't a single inch of you the moth didn't put his hands mouth or otherwise on: uh huh! Cool! So! Guess we can! Decide later right! :)

Valentino, doing his nails: wrong 💅 I also need you to

And the mf is just doing that shit for like 20 minutes straight which doesn't SOUND like a lot but when you're standing there just talking and waiting and, especially having a moment like THIS, it's just DRAGGING ON, and when Angel finally leaves, you're crying, and here's Valentino, "awwww, pobrecita, come here, what's wrong?" and hugging you and you need the comfort and you're drunk and, now maybe you're just a little scared he's the only person you have left....

Also. Bonus round for the angst. Can you imagine. Angel runs off and it's you sleeping with Valentino that finally hurts him so much he's finally RUNNING running away, meeting Charlie, having another place to live. He's still working under contract but the second his shift ends he's out of the studio without another word because... he can't protect you anymore. He feels like this is his fault. He failed Molly and now he failed you and he's worthless and trash and an addict loser-- meanwhile you're beating yourself up because you've lost your only friend down here and also your biggest supporter and Valentino all but lovebombs you (and the worst part is, it's genuine and if you reject ANYTHING, he's getting Offended Bigly)

Ugh. Ok. I'm sorry. Finally finishing the post with one more thing. Valentino is definitely the type to give you expensive gifts and he doesn't actually care about the amount of money he spends on you BUT, will use the fact he's spent so much money on you to manipulate you IN A HEARTBEAT

And also. You're not allowed to reject gifts because it sets him off in like 5 different ways. "Oh so my gifts aren't good enough for you?" "Do you have any idea how much I spent on this?" "I TOOK THE TIME to get this for YOU" God forbid if it's something custom. Could you imagine he offers you something and he doesn't immediately tell you it's custom, like he's got sketches in a notebook somewhere, this is MADE WITH LOVE ableit his creepy obsessive love, and you could literally have a very polite "oh my gosh I couldn't that's so expensive I, I don't deserve it, wow" where you're obviously very happy but just shocked and feeling guilty, like a FLATTERING rejection that is obviously an insult to YOU, NOT him, and he's just. The switch fucking flips. His head tilts. He lets out a hum as his smile pulls way too tight. Lashes out within seconds. Grabs you. takes that jewelry or watch or expensive thing he bought you and literally forces it onto your body, and he's not screaming or raising his voice, he's getting right up in your face and growling out the deeeeeetails of how he got this for you until you're crying and apologizing for your ingratitude

Ugh he's so cunty and mean and awful UGH WHY WOULD I LET HIM HIT, he would use that heart shaped belt he has to put heart shaped welts on your ass and then set your cute bruised heart covered butt as his phone wallpaper and your icon in his contacts and save your name as Ropebunny or something rhfkcsbfkhdxkfh

[mrrharper]

1000+ followers / Commissions

What's up, everyone!

First of all, the follower count for this blog seems to be glitched, so I'm only 95% sure that the following paragraph is correct. But anyway...

This blog has reached and surpassed 1000 followers, which is kinda insane. Never really expected this collection of my weird little stories would get a large following, and certainly not this fast. And I'm so damn grateful for that.

Especially for all the positive messages you bros sent me. It's such a great feeling when you realize there's a whole community of people that share interests and kinks with you. Thanks for every DM, it's really cool to see a notification about a new message, appreciate that very much.

So I come here with gratitude. Thanks for all the support bros, stay tuned for what's coming next! There are quite a few hot (in my personal opinion) ideas sitting in my drafts, there are sequels and longer stories and more musky jocks and soldiers coming.

I also come here with a proposition.

I am now doing writing commissions - if you would like me to write a story for you, you now have the option to make your wish a reality.

If you are interested, please contact me (through DMs) and tell me what you have in mind. We'll work together and figure out the details. But before we begin, please read the details below first.

What I will write about:

Of course, I am most comfortable with the stuff I've been writing about already - please check out my writing to see exactly what that entails. My interests include jocks, cops, soldiers as well as transformations, mental change, identity change, muscle growth or mind control.

But I am open to other stuff, although in that case I'd like for you, the person commissioning the work, to be more prepared to provide me with the kinds of details you'd like me to include in your story. I will not be able to help you figure the details out as well as with themes I'm more used to.

When writing to me, please be... fairly specific. Come with more than one sentence. If you want to give me a vague idea, you can just send me an ask. Try to also approximate the length of the story, check out my other writing to get a sense of how much detail and story can fit into 500 words.

What I will not write about:

These are my red lines - things, themes, kinks I will not write about because I'm not comfortable working with them. This is not a value judgement - I am not saying that any of those things are bad, that you should feel bad if you get off to stories that include them. With that in mind, the list includes:

Feminization/main focus on female characters

Bathroom stuff (watersports, scat, etc.)

Excessive violence, torture, rape etc.

Chastity

Real celebrities

Feet

Underage (duh)

Inflation/excessive size

This list is not exhaustive, and I reserve the right to say no to your proposal.

And about explicit writing: for now I will not write stories that include explicit scenes, that is characters fucking, you know what I mean. The reasons for this are twofold: I'm not sure in my ability to deliver writing that will be satisfactory in that regard AND it is a grey area when it comes to taking payments for that type of content. So for now its a no, bros.

Pricing:

My base rate is 3 EUR for every 100 words. That translates to 15 EUR for 500 words, 30 words for 1000 words, and so on.

The payment is upfront, the size of which will be decided before I begin writing based on what you'll want and what we will decide your idea needs. The payment will be made through the "commission" section of my Ko-Fi page (https://ko-fi.com/mrrharper). You can also go there and see if I'm accepting new commissions (I will set the number of free slots there and update it).

Other information:

Please, take into account that I have a life outside of Tumblr. I have a family and friends to foster relations with, classes to go to, papers to write. Because of this I might not be able to answer within seconds or complete your story as fast as you would expect or want to, and I ask you to take that into consideration.

After the work is finished I will provide you with the full file containing the story in a format of your choosing (but remember that I'm not paying for any professional word processing software).

I might want to one day post your commission on my blog (with credit). If you'd like for me to not do that, or not credit you, please tell me.

That's it for now, don't be surprised if I add (or ask for) some more details as we talk.

The Ko-Fi page is also open to one-off and monthly donations, if you really want to support me. I will really appreciate every single donation, but please - DO NOT feel pressured to support me financially. You reading my stories, liking and following, is completely enough.

Thanks for everything bros! See ya soon and Fly Eagles Fly!

[storiesofsung]

Yuu OC - Mulan ⚔️

Pt1 An interesting concept

I’ve always been curious about the direction that TWST could go in regards to MC being a girl.

One of my favorite examples of this being this fic by DuckInSuits on Ao3

Now this inspired me to watch Mulan because it is one of the most famous “girl disguised as boy” story (other than OHSHC) that I know of.

Since literally almost everyone is twisted off someone (idk who Jack is tho) +the Disney references that make me cringe sometimes just because I know the existence of Disney, why not make the MC also twisted off something?

(lol Grim as Mushu tho imagine)

I just feel like the in canon MC does seem like the type of person to kind of work hard with what ingenuity they have since they live in a worn down building and pass classes they have zero prior knowledge on.

And they do kinda use their brains to figure out shit, especially with the overblots !!

Idk i just think it would be an interesting dynamic to work through

None of that liar arc tho, that usually stretches on too long but like… yk

I really enjoyed the fic because it made us connect with Cater (and I believe Ruggie?) in ways the normal canon didn’t explore. It made me empathize with them and actually be invested in their relationship with the MC. And I like how it shows just slice of life stuff like MC making pancakes in Ramshackle dorm/needing feminine pads.

Moments like these really give us a moment to stop and breathe to notice the story’s surroundings while making it believable and lived in. It balances out action and pure dipshitness.

Pt2 “Also I really like Mulans songs”

Honor to us all + Reflection

in regards to this while listening to Honor to us All, it actually made me think of a believable motivation for my said OC, she ran away because she didn’t want to get married, and didn’t want to pretend to be someone else just for her parents (and by extension society) to accept her

Now I know this motivation is more selfish than not wanting your elderly father to fight in a war but remember TWST characters ≠ their twisted counterparts. (Ex. Rollo is less pure evil than Frollo). And I think this could be an interesting motivation since her journey going to TWST could make the MC realize her actions and make her decide whether she did was right or wrong (=character development)

A Girl Worth Fighting For

You cannot make me believe every single man in an all boys school is 100% feminism core.

I think that’s where a girl worth fighting for could come in. (Deuce not included he is a feminist) but the 1st year friend group being a lil (while unknowingly) sexist in regards to how they see a female romantic interest, then later drinking respect women juice after realizing the strongest (they fought 6 overblots stfu yes they are) one in their fg is in fact a woman (and later apologizing to her lol)

Make a Man out of You

It’s self explanatory based on what I said earlier but I’m not sure who could be Shang in this song 😭😭. Personality based it’s either Vil or Riddle, Physically it’s Leona (he would not give a shit other wise), unless it’s for spelldrive)

Summary: Overall this is more of a Yuu not based on having a love interest, but as a character based on an icon (✨).

This has just been on my mind for a bit about an AU that I do not have the skills to write about l…but it’s for all you girlies who prefer pants over skirts and generally dont like to be categorized as feminine 🔥

[kiefbowl]

Do you have a specific reason you adamantly choose to not be called a radfem? I'm relatively new to the movement and getting really into the rad theory and community, but idk, I developed something of a respect to you by how much you've helped me understand things, and seeing you reject any ties to the radfem title itself makes me have double thoughts on if being one is actually a good thing

I wouldn’t say I “reject any ties” to the radfem “title”, I would say I consider myself a feminist that hasn’t subscribed to a specific branch of feminist tenets to identify into (including radical feminism). I see, and hopefully all feminists do, feminism as a living, developing social theory and philosophical framework. It’s not a static discipline of study. If a feminist identifies into a specific branch because she has rationalized those tenets in her own mind, that’s great. It’s important though that you don’t become so dogmatic as to say “since I decided I am x-label, I will make my thoughts conform to the philosophy” especially when met with an idea you conflict with. The beliefs should be rationalized by you, not you rationalizing beliefs in order to identify. You’re allowed to think whatever you want and reject anything you can’t rationalize or can argue against.

Hope that’s helpful, I have other ideas regarding studying feminism and viewing feminism as a living discipline especially wrt to social media, but I’m typing this on my phone at work so I will have to come back to it another time.

[atla-recluse]

It's crazy to think that Ozai...

...might be the first (proto-?) feminist of the Fire Nation.

Now wait, hold on. Hear me out.

Ozai IN-SHOW (and in written media):

Favors his second-born daughter over his first-born son.

Does not care enough about having a first-born son to succeed him to keep that son with him in the Fire Nation or create another son to succeed him.

Allows that second-born daughter, for a time, to be his new heir/successor.

Allows that daughter to be in charge of very important , gender non-conforming duties, including controlling her own personal army on her journey.

Allows said daughter to be in charge of capturing the first-born son and his first-born uncle (Ozai's brother and rightful heir). An uncle who, mind you, is more well-renowned than her due to past accomplishments and likely in part due to gender, because of the "hyper-masculine" expectations of their culture.

Allows other females besides his daughter to join his military. Sees no issue with allowing women to fight for what is also their homeland (in other words, no issue with female warriors here, Pakku).

Doesn't baby or coddle his first-born son AT ALL and is at least somewhat likely to not be responsible for any sense of entitlement that the son grew to have.

Believes in power, ability and prestige above all else when it comes to judging others. Thinks these traits are what rulers truly need to possess to be able to rule. Everything else is of lesser or no importance, including gender. This does not contradict the tenants of most brands of feminism, and actually mostly or fully supports them.

Keeps his daughter at his right (or left)-hand side when they are actually together.

Clearly greatly respects his daughters skills and insight as both a fighter and heir to the throne.

(Although he still kept a higher position) Gives his daughter his title, throne and crowning headpiece so that she may now rule in his place.

Is implied to have given his wife a lot of agency in raising and disciplining their two children, as opposed to doing it all himself with the help of docile servants and refusing her any say in that regard.

Knowing that all this happens, it's very telling in my view, that the show goes on to make both him and his daughter the "pure evil" super villains of the show. No acknowledgment of feelings, understanding (giving or getting), military/personal rights or sympathy are allowed to either by the narrative, even at times when we see the opposite on screen.

Makes me wonder what message the creators/writers were really trying to send to young viewers. Maybe it was "You should always be the bigger person by being at one with yourself, kind and considerate AND pro-traditional roles and anti-gender apathy! (Unless it leads to a man on your side getting laid by his ex! Then you can bend the gender/tradition rules a bit for your and especially his sake!)

[anamericangirl]

I'm sorry about the anon asks, they're really weird but hey, entertainment right?

I just wanted to know what you would do in my situation. I'm a teenage girl who's been struggling with dysphoria. I don't think it's entirely authentic because it only became apparent when I spent time online in trans circles. I started hating my body briefly, but it was weird how real those feelings were at the time.

However, before that, I've always wanted to be a boy because I was angry that I had to clean and cook when my brothers didn't have to do anything. I also felt like I needed to meet the expectation of what a real woman should be like. I've always been more masculine in my demeanor—possibly due to an overly aggressive father—and felt uncomfortable with girly stuff. My mother would scold me because I wouldn't act like a girl. I didn't learn about the rituals of beauty, and it just made me feel inferior. I see other girls looking pretty and getting male attention, and I'm behind a glass looking in.

Radical feminism also exacerbated this feeling of not wanting to be female. It was just a cesspool of negativity that left me angry, distrustful/hateful of boys, miserable about being female, and condescending regarding mothers and housewives. I was neutral about kids, but I believed being a wife was the most degrading thing a woman could become. Great times, that was. Oh, and the TERF thing also made me feel hateful toward trans people. Acknowledging their problems without wishing they'd all go extinct would have been better.

Anyway, I'm rambling. My parents would never see me as anything other than their daughter, and I know they'd vehemently oppose my transitioning into a man. We don't have the best relationship, but I have to admit that they aren't bigoted for that. Still, I'm turning 18, and I'm in a liberal country with enough to start on hormones potentially. Soon, I'll be able to make that choice without them, and the prospect of going through with it makes me feel excited, but at the same time, I know it would destroy me to regret it down the line. I fear I'm thinking from my emotions only, so I'm asking, what would you do in my situation?

I'm sorry you've been having that struggle as it can't be an easy thing to deal with. If I were in that situation, I would want to get as much information on transitioning and gender dysphoria as I could before making such a drastic, life altering decision. The problem with that is the medical field in that particular area practices activism more often than healthcare so it could be very challenging to find a doctor to speak to about this issue.

But I would really encourage you to hold off on any sort of hormones or transitioning treatment until you are 100% sure that is the best treatment for the dysphoria you're having. Especially since right now you're under the impression that a lot of it is emotion based (and based on how you described it I think you might be right) then hormones probably aren't what you need.

A lot of young people today are being led to believe they might be trans after spending time in the trans communities and later once they get out of there realize they were wrong. And a lot of what you're describing sounds like you feel the dysphoria stems more from feeling like you don't fit with what the societal roles and stereotypes of women are, which is ok! There is a message out there right now that if you aren't a stereotypical woman and like what women are "supposed" to like then you're trans and that's not even a little bit true. It sounds like you just have more typically masculine interests and demeanor, and that's fine too. That doesn't mean you need to transition because you can be that way and be a woman.

It really seems like the dysphoria is stemming from your environment and the poisonous ideas that often come from ideologies like feminism and the whole trans movement. And since those are clouding your mind and have really helped push you towards the idea of transitioning, I would really encourage you to wait. Try to get away from those communities and ideas, maybe even try seeking out people who have detransitioned to hear their stories, before making such a drastic decision and see if anything changes after getting a chance to clear your mind. And while 18 is a legal adult, it's still very young and I would really hate for you to start that sort of treatment only to regret it later on down the road.

I would see it would be a good idea to get some counseling to help determine if you actually have gender dysphoria and hormones are the right treatment, but I hesitate to recommend anyone who practices gender affirming care as that is so often just activism, as I stated earlier.

I will look around and see if I can find any resources that might be useful to you and if anyone else can add anything that might be helpful that would be great!

[pebblysand]

loved the most recent chapter!! do you have a directors commentary on ginny during the World Cup of 2002? like her mindset, how you decided take her career in the direction of her transferring out of the harpies and a bit of reflection on your creative process of Ginnys quidditch journey, and how its going to continue, especially in regard to the news at the end of the latest chapter

much love xx

thank you!

so i think firstly, i'm very much enjoying writing about ginny's career (even if castles isn't from her perspective). i think obviously, castles has this "subplot" of harry and ginny and their career trajectories because i think as someone who graduated uni 6 years ago, i now have a lot of thoughts about what entering professional "life" is like, the sort of joys and disappointments you can get from a job, etc. which i think for a lot of people my age constituted a lot of disillusion, tbh, because a lot of millennials came in with these big ideas of "changing the world" and dreams of "being useful" when they entered the workplace and got hit pretty hard by "reality." i think one of the criticisms that's often made against the epilogue is that whilst hp characters were meant as "representatives" of this generation (which is very interesting because the story was published while millennials were kids, but the characters themselves are actually gen x), the place they end up in (married with kids young, amazing career, cute house, etc.) is considered to be so out of the scope of what millennials typically have been able to get at that age, that the epilogue read as "betrayal" to a lot of people. i think what i'm trying to do with castles is maybe just to right the scales a little, and show that: hey, they struggled too.

additionally, what is interesting with millennials is that more and more millennial high-achievers are quitting their corporate jobs (due to the above) to do something completely different. live on a farm, become an artist, ect. these are people who had a lot of earning potential but who, coming to 30, are sort of asking themselves what is it all for? so they choose to sacrifice earning potential for happiness and fulfilment.

lastly, when it comes to ginny, i think what is very important to consider is that, to this day, having a family and a flourishing career is near-impossible for a lot of women. and, ginny would have become a mother at the heart of the 00s where the pressure on mothers to have it all was even more important than it is now, with this idea that they must be mothers and wives and career women all at once (which then led to the #girlboss fantasy, etc.). when, in reality, this injunction drove so many women towards mental breakdowns and exhaustion. as harry is clearly not gonna be a stay-at-home dad (though, would love that for him), it's interesting for me to look at that aspect and try to portray it in a realistic way. especially given that feminism is such an important theme in castles.

with that in mind, when it comes to ginny, building her career trajectory is first of all looking at JKR tells us (given that i'm canon compliant), which is not a lot. jkr tells us that 1) ginny plays for the harpies and 2) ginny later becomes a sports reporter. so this gives me a number of thoughts:

1) ginny plays for the harpies

jkr says she plays for the harpies but as a team, according to quidditch through the ages, the harpies are actually not that great. they're good enough, but they've never won the league, for instance. which is an odd choice for ginny, who does seem to be someone who is quite ambitious, esp when it comes to quidditch. that this was her one and only dream team sounds odd

jkr also says that she plays for the harpies but she doesn't say for how long

jkr doesn't say if ginny has career progression within the harpies. does she make captain? coach?

quidditch is a dangerous sport and ginny has three pregnancies at a very young age. how does quidditch deal with the pregnancy of its players? would the kids be the reason she moves on to reporting? if so, that leaves very little professional playing time (given that she is 22 when she gets pregnant with james)

given that quidditch sort of works like football in-universe, would the industry be similar? who owns clubs? how do they get funded? footballers rarely ever stay in one team for more than a couple years - do you get "bought" and moved around like footballers do?

and, if not the kids, what makes her leave?

2) ginny later becomes a quidditch reporter

jkr tells us ginny works for the prophet. that's quite a statement given their past treatment of harry. how does that work?

the prophet is obviously written, meaning that ginny writes. meaning that she hasn't been put off writing by her past with tom. she actually probably enjoys it, or else she'd have done radio.

this also means that she has a good relationship with the press/enjoys that aspect of the job.

wizards live to be very old, meaning that it's very unlikely you'd just do one thing your entire life. like, firstly, athletes generally have multiple careers because they're not fit forever, but also i reckon ginny would get bored out of her mind doing one thing forever. even being a sports reporter - she'd need to be challenged, have new projects. esp. because while she would be busy with the kids probably when they are small (mid-20s to mid-30s), but she'd have more time on her hands later on.

so having stated the above, when i'm outlining ginny's career and planning ahead, it's like: okay, where do i go from here? how do i work in the themes i've evoked in the first few paragraphs, while using what i know from jkr.

i think the sad reality is that you can't both be an amazing quidditch player, have a busy husband and be a mother to three children. ginny will have to realise, at some point, that she's not superwoman. so, because she has her kids so young, i don't think she plays professionally to the end of her physical abilities (which generally for athletes is in their early 40s). i think that would be a lovely, wishful take to have if you were a bit delusional about the state of the world, but that's not a castles!take, lol. so, i think: yeah, she does quit for the kids. not right away after james (i think she does try to do it all for a while) but maybe after albus/lily.

but i also think that when i look at my millennial friends who have quit or are quitting law to raise families (of which there are too many because the legal industry is awful, but that's a different issue), it's generally actually not a binary choice. for most of them, it's not a: i'm quitting to raise my kids and be a housewife, anymore. it's actually a combination of the disillusion and the kids, and oftentimes choosing another career that is more compatible with family life, rather than no career at all. for them, it's like: yes, i could kill myself at work and at home if i really cared about my work, but capitalism is a hellscape anyway, the way the industry has treated me is not satisfactory and i'd rather try and do something else that is more fulfilling, even if it means less money.

so, applying that to ginny, it's like: i don't think she just quits because of the kids. i think she quits because she tries to do it all and is exhausted but also becomes a bit disillusioned with quidditch, like a lot of millenials did with their job. and, i don't see ginny ever disliking the sport itself, cause clearly that's something she loves, but i could see her getting a bit tired of the industry she is in. if you look at footballers, they're almost considered to be "things" that clubs trade amongst themselves, rather than people. there is often a lot of jealousy between players, that then ends up broadcast everywhere in the media. the environment seems pretty toxic, to be honest, and i could see how that would get on her nerves (esp. since she's very opinionated).

lastly, i'm actually setting her up to be a writer full-stop, as well as a sports reporter. i'm saying this quite bluntly here because tbh, if you read between the lines in castles, at this stage, it's already been heavily implied. like, i don't think ginny "just" writes press coverage of games, again i don't think that would keep her challenged enough. but i do see her writing non-fiction books about quidditch as well, and maybe player biographies, and ultimately probably fiction stories using that experience. because i think she's a writer at heart and that it's something that she would find more fulfilling, and more compatible with the kids. especially because the publishing/journalism industry, to her, would be so easy. she's already famous, people like her, she's not gonna struggle to get published or make ends meet. it would be something that she truly cares about and feels fulfilled by but that is more compatible with the kids. especially because as mentioned above, as they grow up and get to hogwarts, she will have more time to work on her hands, and i think her writing will grow.

so with castles at the moment, it's both about showing the reality of joining the workforce right now (and the feeling of doubt and inadequacy and uncertainty that can result from that) but also laying down the foundations of what their careers will look like later. this is also true for harry. this whole chapter that you've just read wasn't just me writing angst cause i missed it (although.... that too 😅) it was also setting up the foundations for: him taking on a leadership role (see 9/11 itself) and him getting out of the field (him being "scared" of death), etc.

for ginny, me setting her up as a "writer" was the first step, going as back as chapter 8. like, i already knew where i wanted her career to go, and so when it came to telling her story, the fact that it was through letters wasn't just a writing trick, it was also a way to set her up as someone who likes writing, for later. similarly, setting her up as this person who's good with the press and sort of understands how the game is played is also laying the foundations for her being a journalist later.

lastly, me setting her up to quit the harpies allows me to 1) give her a bit more professional satisfaction with a team that's actually good and will allow her to win the league, 2) show that sometimes you get your dream job and it's actually not your dream job once you discover the reality of it (to my point about disillusioned millennials earlier) and you end up being much better somewhere else and that's okay - it's not failing, and lastly 3) show the realities of that industry, and what might really irritate her to the point that she quits in the future. like, the magpies are great now, but what if they get bought out by someone else? what if her work environment is randomly changed by forces she can't fight on her own. again, what ginny wants is control in her life and her writing is something she can control much better than her quidditch skills, which get monetised by people who invest in players like they're basically cattle.

but i do think quidditch is something she loves, and which also teaches her her worth and to advocate well for herself, which is an amazing skill to have if you're going to be a journalist. like, she was lowballed once by the club, she learnt, and negotiated much better. that's a fantastic skill to carry over.

so, idk, i guess those are my thoughts and the sort of trajectory i'm thinking of when it comes to ginny's career. hope this makes sense!

[ladsofsorrow24]

get ready to read me dumping all of my feelings for makima here (spoilers in the read more!)

while i was doing laundry just now, i'm reminded of how i felt when i first read chainsaw man, and how... empty i felt after finishing part 1. i can't remember when did i first read it, because it's been... a while but i do remember at the time, what really caught me off guard about makima is how... much i excused her behavior towards denji and everyone around her just because she's in a form of a woman.

god, that's the biggest mistake i made right there.

i actually felt betrayed by fujimoto when i finished reading chapter 74 for the first time. seeing makima laughed at denji's face for naively putting his faith on her. it felt like i was the one being mocked. i actually had to take a break after reading it because i felt so angry at makima.

but now, after... going through some traumatic shit myself that's pretty similar to what happened to denji... i kinda felt like a fool for believing makima's... facade in the first two chapters. and i think that also has something to do with the current climate of feminism and how... asian culture had this weird gender essentialism thing where people can't process the thought of women being evil without being outright obnoxious/rude about it. combined the two, and you got people reading fictional works and thought "ah there's no way this female character is evil, she's too nice"

hell, just like me, there are people out there who think of this when it comes to women in their lives too.

and to see this manga tackle such... sensitive issue in this very subtle way, i'm also grateful to fujimoto for not... ridiculing denji too much for believing makima. he's not at fault here, no matter how much stupid mistakes he made, i can never blame him for falling into makima's traps. because he is starving for affection, for acceptance, for kindness. just like a lot of people, he have difficulty understanding that not all kindness, acceptance and affection are unconditional.

but we always tried our best to think positively of other people. so no, it's not your fault if you ended up trusting the wrong person, things... happened. for a reason, i hope so.

and just like i mentioned before about asian's gender essentialism bs and the current social climate regarding gender equality etc, it is very rare to see women, especially evil women represented in a way that isn't a) obnoxiously loud, b) boldly sexual and c) stupidly weak when confronted with men

so, really, i'm glad i picked up the manga again after i throw it away from my first reading. because now i get to appreciate just how... complex makima as a character is. in my current mindset, i'm able to enjoy how cool yet terrifying she is. but also how... surprisingly vulnerable her inner mind is, after knowing that what she really desires is nothing more than just an equal-footing relationship with another person. it makes me realized that... really even abusers are still human beings.

i'm not trying to forgive abusers here, they're actively doing things for their own selfish reasons, but. i think there is merit in understanding how... bad people can become bad. "nature vs nurture" and all that.

tldr'; i just think makima is pretty fucking neat and people who be like "oh she's truly evil" can benefit from looking at her character in a more nuanced way. especially if you're someone aspiring to write complex character with subtle mannerisms.

[doberbutts]

A lot of arguments I see against people with PCOS + hyperandrogenism calling themselves intersex is due to PCOS being a chronic illness, which is honestly very strange to me. Intersex conditionals also being chronic illnesses is far from exclusive to PCOS, but it's an argument I see used against it often.

Like you said, I often see TERFs and radfems arguing against it too. Mainly because they believe that being considered intersex would make them less of women. Whenever I look through the tag or look into online PCOS spaces, I see cis women angry in droves against the idea of being considered intersex because it means (at least in their mind) that they're not women. Femininity and honestly (as much as radfems would hate the idea) gender dysphoria from said perceived loss of femininity is so common in these spaces. Being seen as intersex in their eyes seems like another way their womanhood and femininity is being stripped from them.

I'm genderqueer so not having a connection to womanhood or femininity has never really been a problem for me (I'm personally much more concerned about my risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease due to PCOS). But it is a struggle for a lot of woman to lose that femininity (especially woman of color in these spaces since they're often hyperfeminized or hypermasculinized due to race/ethnicity) they desire and being called intersex can often add salt to that wound.

Their hated of PCOS + hyperandrogenism being considered intersex comes from intersexism + transphobia and how rampent they unfortunatly are in PCOS spaces, but it also tends to come from dysphoria from being defeminized due to things such as body hair, weight, wide shoulders, longer clitorises, and deeper voices that all come from hyperandrogenism (doubly so if you're not white). I think education on what being intersex actually entails and how it doesn't take away from your gender would be incredibly helpful and take away from the stigma in these spaces. A lot of people who say that PCOS + hyperandrogenism can't be intersex are radfems yeah, but a lot of them are also women who struggle with their connection to womanhood/femininity and feel like being intersex would just be a further attack on said womanhood.

Even though I no longer identify as a woman and haven't for over half a decade, I struggled a lot to fit the mold of womanhood and femininity due to being a PoC with pretty severe hyperandrogenism. And for people (especially WoC) who want to be seen as feminine and as woman, PCOS can make that struggle much more difficult. I've been diagnosed for a decade and this has been my observation in these spaces. Hopefully this can give some perspective.

Eh, like the discussion regarding MRAs, I'm not so willing to let terfs off the hook that easily.

If radical feminism had not spread the poison that gender ambiguity, masculine traits on women, intersex as a condition period, and higher amounts of testosterone were somehow "un-womanly" or "mannish" in the first place, we would not be here talking about this today. If they had instead chosen to embrace their transgender and intersex sisters, there would be no "de-feminizing" of intersex women. But because they have decided to instead vilify traits associated with trans women at the cost of implying (or sometimes, outright stating) that intersex women are not "real women", they're now forced to eat crow as their theory is working against them and, really, against up to 10% of all cis women.

If they had chosen inclusivity, they would not have to worry that being labeled intersex takes away their womanhood. Their own theory has blown up in their faces, and they're mad about it.

And because these radfems have spread this poison, now we have other cis women who are not radfems who still believe in what they have spread, who are now also harmed by this notion that they may be "lesser" "fake" "half" women due to a circumstance they were born with.

All they had to do was accept trans and intersex women and not vilify masculine traits on women.

[cherrypink-t]

Did the cis women in anyone else’s life take their transition personally, like really fucking personally? Cause mine did. For awhile it seemed like some of the women in my family felt personally slighted or something. As if me doing what I wanted with my body was an insult to them somehow.

For example my great grandmother had a lot to say about my transition, most of which I actually didn’t listen to. I honestly never planned on coming out to her, we weren’t close, she wasn’t going to be around for all that long (she was like 87), I didn’t really see a reason in bugging her about it. She was very progressive on most issues so that wasn’t why I didn’t want to come out to her, it really just seemed like a hassel. But she apparently noticed that my chest seemed different (not in a creepy way it’s very noticeable if someone was used to seeing me in a bra not a binder) and asked my aunt who outed me to her. So when I went over to her house to help my grandma care for her the first thing I’m met with when I walk into her room is something along the lines of, “why don’t you want to be a woman? Women are amazing?,” along with something else I didn’t hear cause I just told her to mind her own business and walked away. I’d always found that almost lectured odd because I’ve literally never said anything about women in regards to my transition other than the fact that I’m not one. I was able to force an apology for this by just refusing to go over and help take care of her. I know it wasn’t sincere but she was always extremely stubborn, and never said sorry for anything so it felt like a win in my book. Maybe that was mean of me but not much I can do about it now.

My aunt had a semi similar comment. I mentioned that I didn’t want to go to Texas because of the laws there (at the time they weren’t as crazy as now but still bad) and she went on this weird rant about women that ended with, “but you think being a woman is the worst thing in the world,” then finish it with, “well I guess it is,” referring to how women are treated especially in places like Texas. This whole conversation felt just so accusatory, and kinda te/rfy. I don’t mind discussing feminism and things like that with her but she turned a convo about me not wanting to go to Texas because of the anti-trans laws there into what seemed like a competition about who had it worse. Then seemed to turn this whole thing on me, as if I was transitioning to avoid misogyny which is just classic te/rf talk. Because obviously me declaring that I’m a trans guy means everyone treats me like a man now /s.

In both these conversations it really felt like they considered me transitioning to be somehow hurting them. Idk, maybe it’s because I’m the only person in the youngest generation of our family born afab, and they feel frustrated now there’s not a daughter in the family or something. It’s just so frustrating cause I’ve never said anything bad about women or anything like that. I’m just not one and for some reason they act like that’s me insulting them.

Idk, I’m just honestly trying to make sense of all the weird interactions I’ve had since coming out as trans masc. I don’t get why they happen and they always seem to come out of nowhere. It’s like people think I’ve done something mean just by transitioning which is ridiculous. I just hate that I can’t talk about some of my problems to my aunt anymore. We used to be so close and now it feels like whenever something about me being trans comes up there’s a divide between us.

[a-faggot-with-opinions]

completely the opposite experience to the straight transmasc before (and keeping in mind that people can have contradictory experiences), as a bi transmasc, I'm very directly pushed to be gay. to the extent of constantly having "you're meant to give birth, if you don't give birth your health will decline worse in your later years" rhetoric shoved at me by otherwise pro-choice family that would never push this on a young adult cishet woman.

the closest I've come to a straight relationship, is still weaponized against me to this day in an awful mix of lesbophobia and transphobia. it's especially rough because as a protective person, it's very difficult to not lash back out when lesbophobic stereotypes are wielded against that friend.

an ex-partner of mine has also tried to medically detransition (if that's how you would term the addition of unwanted feminizing hormones, while someone is already/still/continuously undergoing masculinizing hrt) me during kinky sex without my consent or knowledge, which I don't believe to be a common experience. (yes, i let my medical providers know and health concerns are handled).

then, of course there's the pressure to not be a burden - to be only t4t gay and thus not predatory towards women or cis men. further: safety concerns re the direct above experience + the standard safety concerns about rape and murder, both of which are unfortunately prevalent here, particularly regarding AFAB people (hate AGAB language, but it is an unfortunately accurate descriptor herein) that are too obviously non-"standard" (ethnicity, race, and gender all most prevalently).

!

[in-my-feels-probably]

Vi el anuncio de 800 seguidores, felicidades, cariño!

I would like a petyr baelish or robb stark matchup with me. I'm intj 6w5, slytherclaw. extremely introverted, i enjoy reading (especially yanderes), i have great knowledge of almost everything (a bit of sam tarly vibes i guess)

I love cats, also dogs. I suffer from depression and anxiety disorder, I find it difficult to communicate well with people, I often stutter due to nerves. I am bisexual.

I suffer from avoidant attachment and self-sabotage (sorry, it seems I'm talking to a psychologist jsjsj)

I adore history, literature, feminism. When I'm interested in something, I don't stop until I find out everything.

I appreciate cunning, intelligence and wisdom.like the sweet warmth of a friend. I am a pisces sun, a pisces moon and a capricorn ascendant.

If I was with Robb, I would make political alliances because I value duty over love.

With petyr, I feel that gossip and protection of Sansa (my favorite character) would unite us. however, I feel that he could say the most powerful words and I begin to doubt. With petyr, it makes my wits wake up

hi!

thank you for participating :)

you’re probably gonna be my last followers celebration post if nobody else requests, but i’m already halfway to 900, so hopefully i see you next time!

i’m gonna go with robb on this one, i find him easier to write for, hope that’s alright with you :)

anyways, let’s get into it!

i think robb would really like an introvert. he’s probably used to girls coming up to him and trying to win him over. they’d always come to him, so he’d never have to do any work. but you, you’d be a challenge. he’d take interest in you, and have to be the one to start the conversations for once. he’d like that you were a good listener, and that you didn’t try and tell him what he wanted to here. once you warmed up to him, i think he’d find you really interesting. if you grew up in winterfell with him, talking to you would get much easier, and you’d become good friends who could really talk to each other.

you’d make him think, and give him a sense of wonder. i don’t think robb really has an interest in gaining knowledge. he wouldn’t read in his free time at least. but he’d love listening to you talk about whatever book you were reading. it wouldn’t seem so boring when it was you it was coming from. and it would be a good conversation starter. he’d see you reading a new book, and it would be an excuse to come up and ask you about it.

i think he’d really understand your depression and anxiety. he had to grow up really quickly once he left winterfell, and he’d understand the dread you sometimes feel. he himself probably panics a lot under the weight of the amount of people who depend on him, and he’s really appreciate having a person who understands how crippling that feeling could be. he’d know he could come talk to you about it. he definitely wouldn’t mind your stuttering, either. he’d actually find it very endearing. another incentive to come talk to you and get you to smile. it would make him smile too. i also think he finds it difficult to talk to people. he’s good at being a lord, but finds it hard to find the right words to express what he’s thinking and feeling. but around you, you’d make him feel comfortable so he wouldn’t have to worry about that. you’d give him the time to find the right words. for that, he’d want to talk to you all the time.

robb is intelligent, but in a different way than you are. he isn’t as academically inclined, but he’s wise in his own way. you’d match each other well in that regard, and be able to offer each other insight. while you’d have common values, your sense of duty would parallel his sense of love. he values duty, but love trumps duty for him. you’re the other way around. you’d have to come to some sort of agreement that fit you both, and made you better together.

i think during the war, he’d find time to spend with you away from all the other lords and men who needed his attention during the day. he’d be exhausted, and would want to find you and talk to you about something entirely different.

he’d find you in your tent, dramatically collapsing into the chair beside you. you’d put down your book, offering him a smile.

“bad day, your grace?”

“you don’t have to call me that,” he’d grin, setting his eyes on his lap. “not when we’re alone, at least.”

you’d ignore his comment, nudging his shoulder. “seriously. are you alright?”

he’d choose to ignore your question as well, nudging your shoulder back. he’d sigh, wanting to clear his mind of the day’s pressures.

he’d clear his throat. “tell me something. something new, something i don’t know.”

“that’s quite a lot, i think you need to be more specific,” you’d muse, and he’d scoff, rolling his eyes.

“hmm, alright,” you’d ponder, thinking. you’d glance down at your book, and robb would smile as he scanned the words on the page. much different than the battle plans he was looking over earlier that day.

“the dothraki believe the moon to be a goddess, wife of the sun,” you finally said, turning to robb.

he smiled softly. “is that so? and what do you think?”

“i think…that the sun shines bright. in a different way than the moon, the moon is solitary. it rises on its own, just as the sun sets. she’s strong, but she’s alone. her job is to light up the night sky, and yet the one she’s supposed to guide cannot see her. it’s sad, if you think about it. they’re married, and yet they only see each other in passing.”

robb sat with your words for a minute, in awe of how you think. he gazed at you softly, offering his own opinion.

“maybe that’s why the sun shines so bright,” he added, speaking softly. “so she can see him before he goes.”

you smiled at his words, leaning into him. “maybe.”

—

hi! thank you again for participating, and i hope you enjoyed this :)

[kiefbowl]

me: tumblr and the internet at large is an important populous tool for women especially with regards to feminism, both as a political movement and as a scholarly pursuit. public spaces for women are declining and the internet provides a space to speak freely with other women to create ideas, connections, networks, art, and political organization. the very act of reading another women’s politicized words is a transgressive act against our male centered cultures. when we come together to create a collection of ideas whether in agreement or not we pave a path towards female enlightenment that is sprung from female minds alone. tumblr is invaluable to conscious raising and mobilization efforts.

also me: lol I’m not reading all that

[lesbianbluesey]

went through your karen tag recently and omg how does it feel to have the most correct takes. i genuinely don't understand people who claim to like karen but then also want her to have ended up with gr*h*m. like he sucks so bad and personally i got the impression that they toned it down in the show but in the book the way he acts about her abortion is absolutely disgusting like. just throw out the whole man at this point. "she'll realise she wants to be a mother" fuck off and die.

thank youu for appreciating my takes 😌Yeah I do think his character is generally flattened/not as fleshed out in the show compared to the book also you don’t get monologues from every character in the show like you do in the book his internal monologue at points is like so… yikes.. to me. Literally positions himself as a victim for Karen not reciprocating his love for her and not wanting the life he wants for them, the whole bitter “women always seem to come out on top (unlike poor disenfranchised beta males like me)” thing like it was giving meninist energy at times. And then like you said everything about his reaction to her abortion is just awful and you read in the book how awful it made Karen feel and the dehumanizing element of how he ended up viewing her.. like I honestly don’t get why people downplay how bad it was whether in their minds or when talking about the ship. Especially since tjr has her flaws in terms of feminism and so does djats, but I do actually think their storyline was meant to showcase a more realistic/dangerous side to a type of romance you see portrayed a lot with a self-possessed woman who wants to be non-monongomous and free and not marry or have children, and a guy who is like a white Knight to her and convinces her she actually wants those things/needs to change to his idea of womanhood. I’m glad this story never went there and took the “love conquers all” approach, and that it was shown as something that would inevitably implode. (Which is why I find it very hilarious that there are people who read the book and go “the moral of the story is that because Daisy and Billy are framed as not being able to work as a functional relationship rn / are as dysfunctional and messy as they are they should not be shipped romantically” and then go “Karen and Graham are so wholesome and perfect wish they got their happy ending :(((“ like those are both flawed relationships where love that was there (from Graham to Karen which she did not reciprocate in the book, between Billy and Daisy who both explicitly admit that they were in love with each other reiterating both those points because some takes I’ve seen um,,) didn’t out way problems that were there. You can ship it or not based on what’s compelling to you (for me toxic twin flames mutually pining and sublimating through their art >>>> whatever that is any day of the week). 

I also don’t really understand how people can love Karen and love them and definitely not how they can want the ship to be her endgame… I’m not going to say something as extreme as that they can’r genuinely like her while liking it, I mean I ship my favs with trash men all the time and I tend to have my reasons that I’m cognizant of for why the dynamic appeals to me. But these people definitely enjoy her character in a very different way than I do / have very different priorities than mine regarding her and I do find myself side eyeing more than a little bit. Nice guy pursuer ships tend to attract the most insufferable people to go hard for them (show! Eddie x Camila is another example of this, and I think there’s a similar tendency to be over sympathetic to Graham and show! Eddie for not getting to *win*. Which on it’s own annoying, but especially if I’m seeing someone express that this is how they feel but then call Daisy pathetic for her feelings for Billy I am BITING. Especially because, pathetic how??? Billy is obsessed with her 😭) 

I can’t bring myself to be particularly upset that Graham’s *feelings* were given less air time in the show than in the book, regardless of effects on the story or losing certain scenes. I think the specific line they had him say in the show (literally telling her she will be alone forever because she doesn’t want to have kids / have the type of white picket fence life he wants fuck off!) struck a lot of people as more obviously terrible than his response in the book but like… his response - and his whole mentality around it - in the book is terrible! I think some of the various crit about the show making certain characters worse is because the chars in the show aren’t able to justify/narrativize their actions and motivations and everything to the audience in the same way, and that effecting how people perceive them, more than the characters actually acting/being worse than they’re written to be in the book and this is an example to me, and I kind of judge people a little for having so much sympathy for Graham in the book or show (like your favs are your favs, but I’ve yet to see someone who loves his character be appropriately critical of him not saying they don’t exist I just haven’t seen it. and those types of fans are rarer for chars in his archetypes, you see more of people wanting to call them pure and unproblematic cinnamon rolls. And like I said same goes for how people tend to perceive him and Karen as the “unproblematic couple”). 

[sweetmastermind]

Hi, may I ask you something?

I don't know if you are reading about kdrama actors too as well as you do for kpop idols. But I really want to ask this.

Park Seojoon seems to be every girls' dream boyfriend. But this statement he made in 2014, which literally contains misogyny, is a complete fiasco.

He said, "I grew up in a family like that so I also think my kids should be raised by their mother. I heard the one's childhood forever shapes the person's perspective on life. It seems unloved childhood leads to problematic adult life. Either he won't have good social skills, or he could end up being a felon to be extreme. I will be their good fatherly figure, but the children need their mom. It could be wrong but to me, this is an answer now."

He also said he won't change his thoughts on his ideal future spouse that she should leave her job to take care of her family.

He then replied to the question asking what features are attractive to him, "I find women who bring about my protective instinct attractive. I feel like if they are tall, they are going to be fine living alone. I like women who keep me worried. And skinny women tend to be like that."

Soon he will be cast in a Marvel movie with Brie Larson, one of the most feminist and activist women in the entire entertainment industry. Brie Larson is the exact opposite of the woman he dreamed of.

Can I ask you if he's changed his mind? Or is he still a caveman?

By the way, I may not have the right to comment, but I want to say. It's okay for a person to love someone younger than himself in appearance. But insisting on a woman whose height does not even reach his shoulders in order to appear more masculine and strong is an indication of an inferiority complex to me. Moreover, now women should exist in all parts of our lives. It is the right of every woman to work, earn her own money and take care of herself. I'm not going to be able to swallow this conversation.

+ it makes me furious that "feminist" fans take a break for defence him. Unbelivable!!

-Thank you!!

Hi, sorry but im not doing readings regarding that theme and racism, because it would be irresponsible of me to confirm or deny something we can't have confirmation of at the moment. I believe that sooner or later you will see how is a person, and if he is partaking in that marvel movie, something might come up in interviews

I understand and agree that his view is just a no, but Korean society (and +others) is still deeply rooted in the misogynist mindset, men and women too. And I completely agree that a lot of fans tend to defend public people because they put them on a pedestal, and for them, they do not wrong, their standard for them is so high that when their faves do something that is not part of their belief they turn on the blind eye

I talk about it with another anon, but there is a lot of misconception regarding feminism, how the radical movements and the hembrism concept just mixed together. All that + the inner misogynist mindset a lot of people, especially women have, creates a lot of problems and is a stone in the path

These themes are difficult because of culture and your own set of beliefs, which may differ from person to person, what you consider is correct or wrong may not be the same for others. So for me, it really is irresponsible to give a response to that, with the information that is public is up to every fan to choose if they want to support or not someone. Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear, i understand your point, but as a reader, I need to be responsible for what I put out