#toxic masculinity in a nutshell

[mpregfanatic197]

I will defend Ganta Igarashi till the day I die. Ganta is honestly my comfort character 😭

Plus Ganta can be a badass too, have you read the manga? Even in the anime he does fight back when push comes to shove, and he did save Shiro's life in episode fuckin' 2! And beat Senji/Crow in a fight at Carnival Corpse, and beat Yoh's bitchy as fuck sister humming bird or whatever.

Ganta haters just piss me off.

[ultravioletqueen]

I've finally decided to post this!

Elysia Korenos is a college student whose parents work for S.T.Y.X. She often goes to the organization's headquarters with her parents because she hopes to work for S.T.Y.X as an engineer one day.

Elysia falls into the adorkable category; meaning she's a very sweet person, but at the same time, she's considered quite a nerd. She has the bad habit of info-dumping wildly when asked about topics that interest her (don't ask her anything about engineering or Dungeons & Dragons because she'll just turn bananas). There are times when she comes across as quite awkward and the opposite of refined.

However, Elysia also knows how to be serious and has a strong sense of independence. Thanks to this independence, she manages to avoid depending on others or being seen as someone who can't do things alone. She knows she's just as capable as anyone else.

Elysia and Idia met through online games. Elysia is also an otaku, so these two started chatting regularly. It was a great experience for both of them to find someone who wouldn't trash them for talking about their interests. Thanks to Elysia's initiative, they started seeing each other in real life as well.

Both Elysia and Idia like each other as more than friends, but they both have a poor self-image and think they might ruin one of the few friendships they have, so they keep quiet about their feelings for each other until they have the courage to confess.

Elysia loves engineering! Her hobby is making small robots that help her complete certain tasks and give her important reminders.

Her unique magic, called "Spark of Life," allows her to give sentience to inanimate objects like the robots she makes. She can remove their spark at will if she feels threatened.

Now I'll talk about the mixed-race twins, Hazel and Sammy.

Hazel and Sammy were born to a human woman and a fairy. However, due to their mother Svetlana's obsessive and toxic behavior, their father ended their relationship without knowing that Svetlana was pregnant with his children. However, out of spite, she decided not to tell him about her children and would raise them alone if necessary. Thus, these two were born.

The twins' mother was always very unequal with her children, preferring Sammy over Hazel because, in her words, "Sammy is just like his father when he was young," and that the bond she has with him is special because of this (she's a boy mom, in a nutshell). This caused Hazel to be neglected by her mother and to become her emotional punching bag, where she projected her insecurities.

Despite his mother's care, Sammy (fortunately) grew up feeling uncomfortable around his mother and always wanted to look out for his sister, whether it was trying to defend her when his mother got angry with her or passing her food when her mother punished her. The twins have a strong bond and have always had each other's backs for as long as they can remember.

Hazel is a shy and meek girl due to her mother's treatment, which made her fear social interactions throughout her life and made her unwilling to tolerate people yelling at her. Hazel clearly has issues with her self-esteem, considering herself unimportant and always prioritizing others over herself, believing that other people's problems are her responsibility.

Hazel is very gentle and sweet, being quite tender to those who know her and a great friend. Many consider her affable temperament worthy of a princess.

Sammy is a himbo. He's not the brightest light bulb in the room, but he has a big heart and is the opposite of toxic masculinity. He's quite well-liked by the people in his dorm and has great social skills, making friends in seconds.

Sammy tries to be independent from his mother and is always clear with his sister that her attention makes him uncomfortable. Because of this, Sammy has very strict rules about his personal space while in NRC.

Sammy becomes friends with Silver the moment he develops diasomnia. Sammy follows him around like a lost puppy. Silver likes his optimism and energy. Sammy makes sure Silver doesn't fall asleep in class and helps Sammy with subjects he doesn't understand.

Sammy introduces Silver to his sister by taking him to one of Hazel's ballet recitals since his mother wasn't showing up again and he didn't want to go alone. After the show, they manage to have a conversation where Silver manages to stay awake without any problems. He also has a chat with Hazel about horseback riding. Hazel loves horses, but her mother refuses to pay for her riding lessons (despite paying for her brother's). Silver offers to teach her for free, which Hazel accepts.

Silver and Hazel form a friendship through horseback riding, which helps Hazel feel more confident by talking more about herself and being more assertive, and Hazel's presence helps Silver be more active and not fall asleep so easily.

Silver tends to treat Hazel like a delicate flower, considering her attitude similar to that of a princess, which makes Hazel blush since she's not used to receiving attention from boys, much less from boys as chivalrous as Silver, whom she sees as a knight in shining armor (literally).

Their romantic dynamic is literally knight and princess: Silver is very patient and protective of Hazel, and Hazel always feels safe with Silver.

Sammy takes the relationship with humor and happiness, since he thinks that Silver's influence helps his sister a lot to be more confident and is more than happy that Silver spends time with her (he wants them to get married someday).

(Español)

¡Por fin he decidido publicae esto!

Elysia Korenos es una universitaria cuyos padres trabajan en S.T.Y.X, ella suele ir a los cuarteles de la organización con sus padres ya que ella desea poder trabajar en la organización S.T.Y.X algún día como ingeniera.

Elysia es una chica que entra en la categoría de adorkable; osea ella es una persona muy dulce pero al mismo tiempo es considerada bastante nerd, tiene el mal hábito de hacer info-dumping a lo loco cuando le preguntan algo sobre los temas que le interesan(no le preguntes nada acerca de ingeniería o calabozos y dragones porque ella se pondrá bananas) y hay veces en las que muestra ser una persona bastante incomoda y todo lo contrario a refinada.

Sin embargo Elysia también sabe como ser sería y tiene un gran sentido de independencia, gracias a esta independencia ella se las arregla para no depender de otros o que los demás la vean como alguien que no puede hacer las cosas sola, ella sabe que es igual de capaz que los demás.

Elysia e Idia se conocieron gracias a los juegos online, siendo Elysia también una otaku estos dos empezaron a chatear muy seguido, para los dos es una gran experiencia poder encontrar a alguien que no les tire basura por hablar de sus intereses y gracias a la iniciativa de elysia ambos empezaron a verse en la vida real también.

Tanto Elysia como Idia se gustan como más que amigos, pero ambos tienen una mala imagen de si mismos y piensan que podrían arruinar una de las pocas amistades que tienen, así que guardan silencio sobre sus sentimientos por el otro hasta que tengan el valor de confesarse.

¡Elysia adora la ingeniería! Tiene de hobbie hacer pequeños robots que le ayudan a hacer ciertas tareas y le hacen recordatorios importantes.

Su magia única se llama "chispa de la vida" y le permite darle conzciencia a objetos inanimados como los robots que ella hace, ella puede quitarles la chispa a voluntad si se siente amenazada.

Ahora hablaré de los mellizos mestizos, hazel y Sammy.

Hazel y Sammy nacieron de una mujer humana y un hada, sin embargo debido a las conductas obsesivas y toxias de su madre svetlana su padre terminó su relación sin saber que svetlana estaba embarazada de él, sin embargo ella decidió por despecho no decirle de sus hijos y que los criaria ella sola si era necesario, así fue que nacieron estos dos.

La madre de los mellizos siempre fue muy desigual con sus hijos, prefiriendo a Sammy por sobre hazel debido a que según sus palabras "Sammy es igual a su papa cuando era joven" y que el vínculo que ella tiene con el es especial por esto mismo(es una boy mom en pocas palabras), lo que provocó que hazel fuera descuidada por su madre y fuera su saco de boxeo emocional donde proyectaba sus inseguridades.

Pese a la atención de su madre sammy(afortunadamente) creció sintiéndose incómodo con su madre y siempre quiso velar por su hermana, ya sea tratando de defenderla cuando su madre de enojaba con ella o pasandole comida cuando su madre la castigaba sin comer, los mellizos tienen un vínculo fuerte y siempre tienen la espalda del otro desde que tienen memoria.

Hazel es una muchacha tímida y mansa debido al trato de su madre, que hizo que temiera las interacciones sociales con su vida y que no soportará que la gente le gritase, hazel tiene claros problemas con su autoestima ya que se considera no importante y siempre prioriza a los demás por sobre si misma al creer que los problemas de otros son su responsabilidad.

Hazel es muy gentil y dulce, siendo alguien bastante tierna para los que la conocen y una gran amiga, muchos consideran su temperamento afable digno de una princesa.

Sammy es un himbo, el no es la bombilla más brillante del lugar pero tiene un gran corazón y es todo lo contrario a la masculinidad toxica, llegando a ser bastante querido por la gente de su dormitorio y tiene una gran capacidad social para hacer amigos en segundos.

Sammy trata de ser independiente de su madre y siempre es claro con su hermana con que sus atenciones lo incomodan, por esto mismo Sammy tiene reglas muy estrictas con su espacio personal estando en nrc.

Sammy se hace amigo de silver el momento en el que llega a diasomnia, siendo Sammy alguien que lo sigue a todas partes como un cachorro perdido y silver le agrada su optimismo y energía, aparte de que Sammy se asegura de que silver no se duerma en las clases y silver ayuda a Sammy con materias que no entiende.

Sammy hace que silver conozca a su hermana al llevarlo con el a uno de los recitales de ballet de hazel ya que su madre no iba a aparecer de nuevo y no queria ir solo, depsues del espectáculo ellos logran tener una conversación donde silver logra mantenerse despierto sin problemas y tiene una charla con hazel sobre equitación, ya que hazel adora los caballos pero su madre se niega a pagarle clases de equitación(pese a que si se las paga a su hermano) y silver ofrece a enseñarle sin costo alguno, lo que hazel acepta.

Silver y hazel forman una amistad a través de la equitación, que ayuda a hazel a sentirse más segura con hablar más de sí misma y poder ser más asertiva, y la presencia de hazel ayuda a silver a estar más activo y que no se duerma con tanta facilidad.

Silver suele tratar a hazel como una flor delicada ya que considera que sus actitudes son similares a las de una princesa, lo que no para de hacer sonrojar a hazel ya que no está acostumbrada a recibir atención de chicos, mucho menos de chicos tan caballerosos como silver, a quien ve como un caballero en brillante armadura(literalmente).

Su dinámica amorosa es literalmente caballero y princesa, silver es muy paciente y protector con hazel y hazel siempre se siente segura con silver.

Sammy se toma la relación con humor y felicidad, ya que piensa que la influencia de silver ayuda muchísimo a su hermana a ser más confiada y está más que feliz de que silver pase tiempo con ella(el quiere que se casen algún día).

[sapphires-sapphic-void]

My irl friends in a nutshell:

Token straight christian girl who is actually very supportive

Token straight man but toxic masculine transphobe edition that I want to cut off/punch on the nuts

Gay mentally ill person

Gay trans mentally ill person

Gay mentally ill person

Child I have somehow adopted

Other child I have somehow adopted that keeps asking to do war crimes

Closeted

Gay, trans, and mentally ill dad friend

This bitch I don't talk to much

Chill anime dude

Chill anime dude

Slightly unhinged anime dude

Note I am out to like 2 of these people

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

social media’s in a nutshell, but the people who actually use them.

Twitter: So did I you know your an awful person?

also twitter: Racism, racism, racism, sexism, your best friend talking about a dog they saw, sexism, sexism, homophobia, homophobia, homophobia, transphobia, NSFW art from a mutual, transphobia, transphobia, and then the worst take in the history of worst takes by some 13 year old or maybe it was actually 30 something you can’t tell.

YouTube: “why YouTube has become a capitalist hellhole for anyone who dares speak about anything not consumer friendly: A video essay” 4 hours and 50 minutes long, 40,895 views.

also YouTube: “me and my friend are mermaids btw here’s how to do the mermaid spell! Easy in 1 step!” 26 minutes long.

also also YouTube: “I COMMITED TAX FRAUD AND TRIED TO OUTRUN THE AUTHORITIES CHALLENGE 24 HOUR CHALLENGE PART 1 OF 279” 10 minutes long and has almost a billion views.

also also also YouTube: “beheading” 13 minutes long, with 1,600 views.

ALSO ALSO ALSO ALSO YouTube: “HUGGY WUGGY TOILET NAKED VORE?” 20 minutes long, 8 million views.

4chan: be me> sexless loser> finds amazing wonderful woman who loves me for me> she’s fat> keep her until someone else comes> me and her do exercise and eat better> she becomes 100/10> gets married> has kids> love of my life>

also 4chan: ROBOTS, /B/ WE MUST UNITE THIS FUCKER BLENDERED A CAT WE MUST KILL HIM>

THAT (insert string of slurs) WILL GET WHAT’S COMING TO HIM>

FOUND HIS ADDRESS AT 404 CATBLENDER MAN STREET>

AUTHORITIES CALLED I GOT THE RSPCA AT THE HOUSE LETS GO /B/ FUCK YEAH THIS IS A WIN FOR ALL THE ROBOTS LETS GO>

also also 4chan: *the most graphic picture you have ever seen that haunts your soul and your life you will never be the same* hey /b/ look what I found>

also also also 4chan: guys, *insert the most out of pocket slur filled green post you hav ever seen* and that’s why I think (insert minority) are degenerates>

tiktok: *video of hatsune miku dancing with the caption* it’s not okay to encourage ED$ instead be kind and respectful and not be f@tphobic and @blei$t

also TikTok: *a video plays before quickly cutting out replaced with a new one* YOU ARE MAKING PEOPLE UNALIVE THEMSELVES WITH THIS TIKTOK GET HELP TRANS PEOPLE AREN’T GŘOÖMËRS AND PDFILES YOU ARE AWFUL!

also also TikTok: *a video plays of a montage of red and black text* you never saw me as real, you never saw me. I’m going to k1ll myself soon, life is too hard my parents have taken away my ps5 and my phones I am making this on my friends phone. Good bye cruel world.

also also also TikTok: *dangerous things happen in quick succession* “so that’s how you do a deep clean of your home!” comments : girly😭 NO you can’t use 🔥 on wooden floorboards 😰

comments: 💀💀💀 bro’s using chemical weapons to clean her sink💀💀💀

Comments: BLEACH IN YOUR FISHTANK? GIRL ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOUR BF’S DISCUS😬

comments: okay you did so many things wrong here and genuinely I’m surprised your are still alive-1

Cleangirly: no it was pretty safe idk what you mean🤷‍♀️

Comments:WHAT DO YOU MEAN SAFE? YOU SET A FIRE TO CLEAN THE FLOORBOARDS?-2

Also also also ALSO TikTok: *a video explaining why if you hate the color blue your a narcissist* yeah anyone who hates blue is a big red flag girlies

Tumblr: “guys penis” 1 million notes

also tumblr: *a long post explaining the intricacies of sexuality, sexism, the queer identity, toxic masculinity, and how colonialism and racism plays into it.* so yeah long post whoops.

reblog: *the most loaded toxic reblog you have ever seen* woman should all be killed.

reblog: *starts out making some form of sense then devolves* ALL MEN ARE RAPISTS AND SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH NOW

reblog: *a story relating heavily to the post, which makes the original post better by its addition* so yeah some other re blogs are missing the point but you really put my experience into words thank you <3

reblog: *a picture of the tags filled with the weirdest take you have ever seen* Uhh who are you and can you leave tumblr? Thanks?

also also tumblr: gifly the gif, share gifly the gif because look at him *mindbogglingly fast images flash*

Quora: “why is the sky blue?”

answer 1: because god made it that way in his infinite wisdom

answer 2: because *long winded but concise explanation on how it works* I have a doctorate in this subject.

awnser 3: Long story short, it’s not blue it’s the ozone or something.

Facebook: “meemaw want to add you as a friend” *presses yes, anyone you have ever known tangentially appears in the Facebook friends page*

Also Facebook: “Gerald is my husband who I love”

Comments: that’s nice Geraldine, happy anniversary

Comments: *long winded conspiracy theory* that’s why the illegals want to rule the world and destroy us all

also also also Facebook: *random 5minute crafts video* TOP TEN LIFE HACKS FOR COOKING!

comments: oh what an amazing video! -Geraldine

comments: YOU CAN MAKE THE POPPED CORN WITH A COKA COLA CAN?

comments: I am showing this to my dear wife Geraldine. -Gerald

omegle: *video starts live-streaming and you see an older man’s cock* “…” “…” “you 13?” “…” *ends chat*

also Omegle: *you and a guy talk for ages* that was awesome here’s my socials! See you soon friend!

reddit: “why the Reddit mods are power hungry” *it is a screenshot of a screenshot talking about mod abuse.* “REDDIT WANTS US SILENT WE MUST FIGHT!” *deleted post*

also Reddit: “top ten anime wifus in (PEDO BAIT SHOW) and why I’d fuck them”

also also Reddit: “how do you fix a bolted screw valve on a pressure cooker…”

Vine: *5 seconds of comedy*

[mangocheesecakeicecream]

What we want to focus on is this notion of autonomy this vision of self-sufficiency that some hyper masculine real man is supposed to maintain here's the dilemma about all this you heard me stated it earlier here it is again the problem with all of this fetishization of autonomy and this is just one among many of its problems is that in order for men to pursue it they do so by relying on others the fantasy of a real man whose speech action and enjoyment negates the phallic function can only be sustained by men relying on others the fantasy of autonomy presupposes the reality of heteronomy what does this mean for men in relationships and remember I'm not talking about what's behind your swimsuit zone I'm talking about masculine subjects you can have a vulva and be a masculine subject here's what it means here's how it plays out relationally speaking only by reducing one's partners to their parts can masculine subjects feel whole that's what this amounts to that's what the phallic function amounts to on the side of masculinity the masculine subject is the one who repeatedly almost without fail reduces their partner to a part and it's a part that allows them the masculine subject to feel whole again let's try and be categorical here maybe even at the risk of an axiom the fact of heteronomy is the repressed precondition for masculine fantasies of autonomy and don't forget in the midst of all this because these fantasies are primarily focused on figures of hyper masculinity real men past and present they are essentially homoerotic even and especially when ostensibly straight men purport to enjoy women at the level of their parts the masculine fantasy of autonomy that papers over the fact of heteronomy is homoerotic and I spell hommo with two M's just like Lacan notice how he puts this in L’Etourdit it's on page 54 of our version we might say and I think we should say following Lacan that these fantasies that prop up masculine identity they are hommosexuated again adding an extra m to the Greek prefix homo meaning same to remind us that it's men spelled with two M's that Lacan means to designate here when he says that it is a homosexuated structure why you want it in a nutshell it's because the masculine fantasy that men carry into their partnerships their relationships their sexual encounters with other is always a fantasy of another man a real man a bigger Longer harder more enjoying man you see just take a look at POV porn take a look at most straight porn very rarely does it occur without a penis being involved and Lacan's wager here is that part and parcel of the masculine subject is a fantasy that is structured and oriented towards other men not women in fact the straighter you are the more we start seeing homosexuated fantasies which doesn't mean you're gay hear me now it means that the structure of masculinity that sends men so toxically so often in the direction of feminized bodies is one that moves or is moved by a vision of hyper masculinity where the dicks are bigger than yours where they stay harder longer than yours where they cum more than yours where they enjoy more than yours and Lacan's point is damn that's a lot of time spent thinking about other dicks now that's a little crass but it captures what he's up to when he adds that extra M to his claim that masculine fantasy is homosexuated I would add even to go further that masculine fantasies are thommosexuated because they're ultimately fantasies of an uncastrated man a man who lives Fuller Freer and less constrained who enjoys more abundantly than all the sons you see it's really not more than that

L'Étourdit - Thommosexuated Universe by Samuel McCormick

[twothpaste]

Sorry if this sounds a bit dumb, but what is Claus’s relationship with Porky in your Intermission AU? How do they view each other and how did they stand and how are they currently standing with each other. I read that part of the fic where Porky goes to Ness and Paula’s apartment and made a scene there and it feels like that’s where Claus is done with him and their. “Friendship”

Aw, man, these two are an absolute trainwreck! Claus n' Porky's relationship was one of the things that sparked the whole AU, truth be told. This premise of taking fantastical events from the games, and translating them into grounded experiences young people often go through irl... What if instead of Porky converting Claus into a brainwashed cyborg supersoldier, the whole thing was literally just an abusive friendship? That's basically the first fic in a nutshell. The more I wrote and thought about it though, the more intricate and sad and harrowing it got. I have so much rattling around in my head about these two, and it's been oozing out of my ears like Cheez Whiz for a year and a half 🫠. I'll put the charcuterie board below the cut:

Intermission Claus and Porky have a lot more in common than you'd expect (I think this is true in canon, too, but that's a whole other post). They were both outta place college freshmen, masking their insecurities with overconfident edgelord personas. They shared a lot of the same interests (video games, Reddit, misinterpreting messages about toxic masculinity in Berserk and Fight Club). They've got a lot of similar baggage, worst of all. Broken families, woes over their emotionally unavailable fathers, mental health problems that sometimes alienate them from their loved ones… Porky appealed to Claus' broken ego, making this guilt-ridden once-neglected kid feel exclusively cool and smart and valued. Porky, an always-neglected kid (with no fucking friends), absolutely relished Claus' earnest company and undivided attention. You'd almost think it could've been good for them. Havin' a mutual confidant to vent their frustrations to, bonding through genuine solidarity. But since Porky is Porky, he doesn't know how to maintain friendships without being a possessive megalomaniac about it. And since Claus is naive and impressionable by nature, he fell for it hook line n' sinker.

He coaxed Claus away from his other friends. Gradually got this dude parroting his vernacular and his bullheaded attitude. Which, of course, made Ness n' pals less willing to put up with Claus. "You're practically my double," Porky might've joked. N' Claus wouldda laughed it up, mistaking it for praise. Porky takes advantage of Claus' emotional volatility. He can rile him up into tirades, or flip him into horrific dissociative states, at a moment's notice. Instead of cybernetic mind-control, it's all the weird ways abusers isolate victims, and re-wire their personality and behavior. Most abusers don't exactly do this stuff consciously - and it's obviously just as unacceptable whether it's conscious or not - but I kinda wanna leave Porky's manipulation up to reader interpretation. Is he deliberately pulling strings like a puppetmaster, here? Does he think that's what he's doing? Or is he blindly channeling his parents' behavior, since it's all he's ever known? Maybe all of the above…

There's all these miserable layers to it, like?? How Porky's vendetta against Ness provoked the whole thing. (He drove his first and last best friend away in middle school, never got over it, and now is out to spite him by hoarding their lovable fun upstanding mutual college acquaintance.) How Claus is still frantically trying to emulate his father's masculinity at this stage, and how that's leading him down a dangerous path with Porky. (Trying his very best to forgive a now-reformed Flint for 3 years of griefstricken alcoholic absence - while Porky throws a wrench in his efforts, stoking his righteous anger to keep him bitter and isolated.) How Porky emulates Aloysius almost inevitably, despite hating his father's guts, 'cause after torching his friendship with Ness he was left with no other role models. How Claus yearns for acceptance and approval, and gets this twisted version of it from a guy who treats him like an action figure. How Porky's secretly vehemently jealous of Claus' tight bond with Lucas - 'cause he himself has been self-sabotaging his relationship with Picky for years. How Claus put up with being taken advantage of and dehumanized, 'cause his self esteem is so terrible - but the last straw for him was seeing Porky treat Picky like shit. 'Cause he'd never in a million years even dream of treating Lucas like that. Forgive me if it's a lot, but every bit of it makes me feel like [this].

In the aftermath of it all, I think Porky does realize (deep, deep, deep down) he's ruined what couldda been a really positive friendship for the both of 'em. And he does feel deliriously guilty about it. But he never admits fault. Just blames Ness n' Lucas n' Paula, resigns to hate Claus forevermore, and stews about it endlessly. Even though he knows all it's accomplishing is making him more lonesome and miserable. His Peter-Pan-esque immortal childhood, in Intermission AU, is deconstructed into this sad sick shell of a guy who simply refuses to grow up. (Or confront his guilt, or mature as a person, or apologize to anyone, etc etc…) And his "Absolutely Safe Capsule" is really is just his self-inflicted friendlessness. Maybe he resigns himself to it. If he doesn't have any friends, no one can "betray" him anymore. And he won't have to hurt like this ever again 🥲

Claus, on the other hand, walks away with this erratic mix of anger and pity towards Porky. Which often turns inward - blaming himself for getting so sucked into it, for bein' such a d-bag to his own friends & brother under Porky's influence. Graciously now he's got several absolute real ones he can talk to about it. He ultimately ends up pinning most of the blame on Aloysius (who kinda lives rent free in his head, even though they only met once). But regardless, he can barely stand to think much about Porky. Much less to be in a room with him. Which is a shame, considering they've got at least 2 more years at the same college. I might do more with 'em in the future.

If anyone's interested in these two - aside from Intermission (the fic) (the first one), there's more Claus n' Porky woes in Hunker. Especially [Chapter 20] (which can be read as a oneshot 😉🤐).

[daggerzine]

“I am a Cliché” A documentary film about Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex (2021- review by Dina Hornreich)

There is a so-called “Afro Punk”

<https://www.spoonersnofun.com/afropunk> movement which is yet another tangent to consider upon adding the social construct of race to this ongoing mix of sex & gender rock’n roll activism which allows us to arrive at another level of understanding entirely.

Kimberlé Crenshaw calls this approach “intersectionality” which (in a nutshell) can be explained thusly: if we all live under this male white corporate tyranny which favors a “mythical norm” (cf: Audre Lorde) by promoting greed, violence, & misogyny (i.e. toxic masculinity); then black men may have some advantages because (at least) they are still male, and white women may have some advantages because (at least) they are still white.

But what do black women have working in their favor? <insert cricket noises here>

Enter Marian Elliott (i.e. Poly Styrene) who was a pioneer amongst the outsider world of rock’n roll n*ggers (sic) who found little camaraderie amongst the punks in whom she sought substantial inspiration in the late 1970s. She was very different amongst the regular lot of Sex Pistols inspired bands like Joy Division or even the Slits <https://www.slitsdoc.com/>.

However, her legacy continues to inspire droves of feminist/black punks who also perpetuate this unending dire feeling that needed, wanted, and deserved to express share with an audience. From zines like Osa Atoe’s “Shotgun Seamstress” <https://softskull.com/books/shotgun-seamstress/> to Rachel Aggs’ variety of bands (Shopping, Trash Kit, and Sacred Paws) <https://www.lostmap.com/visitations-rachel-aggs>, her influential contributions remain impeccably unassailable.

When I first discovered her music in the summer of 1995, I was living on a kibbutz in Israel near the city of Netanya which was likely the optimal time and place for me to best appreciate her shrieking critiques of consumer culture and its perpetuation of misogyny, racial oppression, and gender essentialism. It remains the first and only time that I ever looked at the cover art for a recorded album and felt entirely at home in my own skin (before I even opened the package!); and then listening to her music clearly solidifies that sentiment even further.

At that time, there was little else that could validate at the same level of impact that purchasing a copy of “Germ-free Adolescents” at a record store in the bus station in Tel Aviv as it did for me in 1995. In fact, when I returned to the US for my junior year of college at the end of the summer, my male friends relentlessly teased me about the obvious similarities I shared with Poly; and then refused to concede that she was equally important to the movement as Joe Strummer more readily gets recognized. The only legitimate piece of music writing that I could find which seemed to do her work justice was a brief chapter in Richie Unterberger’s 1998 book “Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll" <http://www.richieunterberger.com/ulrhome.html>.

The radical ways in which she was spotlighting the propagandistic nature of advertising as it relies heavily on manipulating (and otherwise exploiting) human emotional vulnerabilities (involving guilt, shame, and blame) just to sell consumers a completely fabricated self-concept of gender identity. As a young British woman of partial Somali descent (on her father’s side), there is no respite from her internalization of the stigmas that her innate differences invited (given the experiences that her appearance manifested); and so the overwhelmingly complicated struggles that she faced on a regular basis made every waking moment of her life an arduous endeavor. It was a relentless onslaught of arduous challenges with very little recognition for the substantial emotional investment that she threw into her every effort with almost nothing to show for it at the end. Pills, drugs, and similar remedies are poor distractions from this harsh realization.

The film reinforces how the “punk” label often reveals itself to be an increasingly illusory category – given some of its more “miscellaneous” categorical aspects – and an overall lack of coherent focus which only suggested that its purpose was merely allowing for our ongoing right to be asserting our existence in a cruel and unjust world.

We are not people who were built with the solid foundation to layer on so much pressure given that fragility; as such, she eventually collapsed (mentally, physically, and socio-emotionally) from the toll that trying to find validation in a scene that only mocks any level of commercial or mainstream validation at its outset. So she escaped to the religious fervor of the Hare Krishna movement in India; and struggled in her more conventional roles as wife, mother, etc. I’m not clear on how she elected that particular community, as I’m inclined to think her father may have been Muslim, but I am not really sure how supportive they were for those endeavors.

Because she stood up for herself in these unsustainably creative and political ways leaving herself immeasurably depleted while lacking the resources to keep herself going, there was no escaping the stigmas of successive “breakdowns” – and other concomitant pathologies which only punish her for taking that kind of artistic risk in her work in the first place. (It seems inappropriate for her estranged daughter to even weigh in on such matters, in the first place.)

It’s not clear if she was ever able to take a step back to fully appreciate such influential contributions, and it seems Celeste made this film simply to be able to do that work for her own healing in order to have a more peaceful ending. (Eventually, there was another iteration of her band, X-Ray Spex, involving collaborations with her daughter prior to her eventual passing to breast cancer.) I often wonder how successful most “rockstar” types can be as parents given the demands of that kind of career; especially back in the 1970s. It’s a very demanding lifestyle even though music is considered “the language of the spirit” (and punk didn’t always have that unifying, healing kind of creative vibe).

“I am a cliché” clearly provides ample testimony to the limitations for trying to thrive as a feminist punk rocker while trying to negotiate a suffocating oppression that is created by male white corporate tyrants looking for “the next big thing.” No matter how much Poly tried to find solace from being a trailblazer, the limited availability of resources for supporting this kind of endeavor made the toll of that risk completely unsustainable. There is no glamorization of her life despite these accomplishments, but her legacy remains all the more significant as a result.

www.polystyrenefilm.net

[writing-for-life]

Let's go choose violence:

3, 8, 9, 25 for The Sandman :3c

Rubs hands gleefully…

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr 

Of course not screenshotting as everyone’s entitled to their opinion, so this is just a thing *I* find hard to understand/get my head around:

“Neil Gaiman ran out of ideas, and that’s why he killed off Morpheus.”

I mean, you could say he wanted to conclude his arc, and with that I agree. And thank fuck he did, because if Murphy were still alive, we would need to suffer the horrible takes that DC has foisted upon us ever since. But it is so completely incomprehensible to me when I read that there was no sign that Morpheus would off himself before World’s End or TKO. That it came out of nowhere, that it made the whole thing completely depressing and insufferable and sends a "bad" message. 

It all was right there, from the start. You can’t read "The Sound of her Wings" and not see that he’s absolutely haunted by the narrative, and how much comfort he finds in her. And you don’t need to read the whole thing and then just see it in hindsight (it's something I hear/read quite often). It’s clear as day if you are willing to go down the line of thinking that the Endless aren’t people but concepts. I personally think that’s where people can trip up. And I even get it--of course we want to humanise them because we are human. But they are not. They are mirrors and foils that are supposed to make us think about our own humanity (and we recognise it in them, but that still doesn’t make them human--they just show us human traits and what this mortal coil is about. Carry it and abandon it in equal measures).

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about 

Everyone apart from me of course 😂

"Hob Gadling is any shape or form the personification of hope, and his sole purpose is to (squee! UwU) save Murphy from his bleak existence".

No he ain’t. Hope is Hope, and she is a little girl (blows a raspberry right in your face). If Hob''s anything, he is humanity in a nutshell: ugly, self-serving, opportunist, but also feeling, caring and redeemable. But especially the first part is harder to woobify.

Did I also mention I have this take that making Dream's relationship to Hob all about romance and sex forgets about the importance of friendship, and why it's actually so important for the plot? Plus, that we have a tendency to erase male friendship and hence lean into toxic masculinity if we make every glance and every touch and every close emotional bond about: "Oh, they want to fuck?", and that's decidedly *not* progressive? Yeah, about that... (ship them, it's fine, no problem whatsoever, just be aware it's not the *only* take, and I will stick my neck out now and say: it won't be canon).

9. worst part of canon

That’s a tricky one because I can make sense of pretty much everything to be fair, but if I had to choose, it’s that Morpheus’ failed relationship to Nada created ripples that basically doomed every black woman connected to his arc (not *all* black women, I think that’s actually a misinterpretation, as is that Morpheus is racist, which he conceptually can't be). And as soon as he’s dead, we get token Gwen who isn’t doomed by the narrative anymore. And said Gwen *really* is a token black woman with no true agency of her own—her entire purpose is to serve the redemption of the slave trader. And that Neil actually confirmed this was *intentional* in The Sandman Companion. I get why he made that narrative choice, but to me, it still looks bad. I have hopes though he moved on from that take and we don’t get to see it in the show (the signs are there, so fingers crossed).

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Ties in with 3: That The Sandman should have a different, “more hopeful” ending. 

But quite a few others: 

You *should* write fanfics about XYZ because there’s not enough of it. 

You *should* elevate supporting characters to main characters because they are ABC.

You *shouldn’t* focus so much on the main character because he’s a guy/male-presenting (I mean, he’s the protagonist, so there’s that).

You *should* ship m/m because it makes problematic dynamics less problematic. 

You *shouldn’t* ship m/f because it’s heteronormative. My favourite: Johanna Constantine is bi, you *shouldn’t* ship her with a guy, because again: Heteronormative. Erm, I hate to break it to people (and speaking from experience): That’s how being bi works, and we like m, f and nb equally? And we happen to want sex with m, f and nb? And we pretty much have blinkers on when it comes to falling in love with a *person*, or what we find hot/sexually arousing? And I swear if I read shit like that once more, I’ll get heteronormative out of sheer spite and will smite people.

You *should* or *shouldn't* ship. Both fine. And/but there's certainly more to The Sandman than blorbofication and allosexualisation of everything.

So yeah, pretty much anything that involves a *should*. You can do whatever the fuck you like as long as you don’t lose your ability to critically engage with it. Plus, the space has to be welcoming for everyone, and that’s sometimes hard for creators and people who don’s serve/like the main flavour. And therein lies the problem, because critical engagement doesn’t always happen, and a lot of good stuff disappears in amongst the noise…

[tyrannuspitch]

more seriously it is REALLY interesting to me that, on one hand, we have people claiming that the original thor movies were "toxically masculine" for asking you to "take everything so seriously", and ragnarok was actually doing a Feminist Act in fixing this (by... making men express less emotion), and on the other hand we've always had misogynists claiming that the original thor movies are an embarrassment, too silly/cheesy/camp/melodramatic/etc, clearly Gay And For Girls.

like. a LOT of people get uncomfortable when they see men expressing too much sincere, vulnerable emotion. but here one group that's mostly cis women says the problem is masculinity, and another group that's mostly cis men says the problem is femininity. like... you see something you that doesn't meet your gendered standards/expectations, and you get uncomfortable... and then you try to justify it through gender war. the whole zeitgeist in a nutshell.

(but also, somehow, the solution to "bad" masculinity is "good" masculinity, never femininity, and that "good" masculinity is closer to the ideal/norm, and yet this is apparently "camp"... gender non-conformity can be good in theory, but in practice... not like that! never like that!!!)

[beardedmrbean]

It's really odd seeing another anon take what I said out of context. I could've sworn I was being clear.

I said you often hear people hide how much they hate men by saying they hate toxic masc-linity.

Which is pointless when that term is so vague and used for not only all masculinity, but every bad thing related too or done by men in general, in addition to men in general. It deflects all criticism and says they should blame themselves.

Also, the narrative should not be, "hatred of masc-ness has led to hatred of men," no people look at it that way since viewing men as victims of almost anything is taboo in society.

Also, scum men like the ones they said don't really hide how much they hate women by saying they hate toxic femininity, like I said. no, they're pretty blatant. And if that's not them being blatant, they're morons.

No one deserves to be treated badly for traits they can't control. Much like you've said in the past

Love this blog! Hope I didn't take up too much of your time!

>No one deserves to be treated badly for traits they can't control. Much like you've said in the past

That's everything in a nutshell right there.

[yesterdayiwrote]

This is toxic masculinity in a nutshell by the way. One man speaks up on something he thinks will benefit himself and his colleagues, and instead gets it turned into a joke at his expense accusing him of vanity. Whoever did this sucks.

But on top of this, someone was in that meeting and witnessed it happen and decided to go and tell a journalist, presumably with the intention of making George look stupid. Adam Cooper isn't reporting this to highlight the issue, he's reporting this to try and make George look unreasonable for a perfectly logical request. He's adding to the idea that he's the punchline.

They're all perpetuating the idea that wanting to be hygienic is a negative trait for a man. Its completely fucked up.

George trying to argue for all the drivers to have access to private bathrooms they don’t share with the public and getting shower facilities at non European circuits, and another driver making fun of him is just… the exact state of discourse I’ve come to expect from F1

Arguments for drivers to have private bathroom access are especially pointed after George was filmed by a TikTok influencer, while going to the bathroom in Australia last year, a deep invasion of privacy and borderline sexual harassment

[canyouheatmeuponafrozennight]

Enuma Elish

Like Ajax, rather than a review, I only have assorted thoughts. It might be a little hard to get feelings for a cosmogony, but there is much to think about it (as shown by how my edition had the tablets in 100 pages and 300 pages of discussion on them)

Raised by RPGs, including the tabletop kind, Tiamat to me was FHD woman for most of my life. Finding out now that she is a water goddess is about as much as a shock as finding out Bahamut is not Megaflare Dragon, but an enormous fish.

There is an ambivalence in how she is treated in the book that my edition denounced as just sexism, and it is possible that it was just the values of the time truly, but seeing through modern lenses, I can swing it both ways. In a nutshell, the male gods are trying to convince another bigger man to be the one to kill Tiamat, as she is just a woman, and a woman can't beat a man, of course. They say so after surrendering before her, knowing they can't defeat her. This is a masculine behavior, toxic masculinity if you will; A man will downplay, underestimate, belittle a woman, but as a front to not admit the inferiority they feel to her, when she's greater than them. I don't necessarily think a character exhibiting a flaw is endorsement by the author, even if it's the good guys, so I can see this scene as social commentary. They're cowardly cowering before Tiamat, seeking someone else to fight her, but still thinking she's "just a woman." It is unsightly behavior, and unbefitting for a god, a fool would take it at face value, but I do think maybe the author was being critical of the behavior.

Tiamat is very interesting as a character, as a primeval goddess, I'll probably think about her for much longer, and most likely will let her influence my future writing too. Marduk is a bit interesting, but there's little to create or imagine around him. Being a storm god who slayed a dragon/serpent who then turned into rivers, I can see a little of Susanoo in him, though, which is an interesting cultural inheritance, but the overall aspects of the stories are so different I wouldn't boldly claim Susanoo descends from him.

-x-

Why do you think myths so often feature patricide? Cronus kills Uranus, and is then killed by Zeus. Kagutsuchi kills Izanami on birth. YHVH is too ultimate to be killed, but instead gets betrayed by Lucifer then by Adam. Egyptian myth also isn't exactly the same, but close enough via Horus and Set (I think this episode is very close to Ea and Apsu, despite everything). In Enuma Elish, Ea kills Apsu, then Marduk kills Tiamat. I think the root of it is in how the child is meant to surpass the parent. The authors of all these theogonies, either intentionally or subconsciously, all portrayed that in their work. (Paradise Lost diverges in that rather than the new surpassing the old, it is how the child must leave the nest, but still is a story about the relationships of father and child.)

-x-

What is the world they are in before the world is created? I see it as being Tiamat's womb. She is in the world, and she is the world, they're all inside the waters of her womb. The "net meant to capture the insides of Tiamat" to me means "the net that captures the Tiamat that is inside."

The initial world was just water, no sound, no movement. With the creation of the gods, sound appeared, and the old ones hated it. Ea kills Apsu, and creates a blank space within Tiamat, where it used to be Apsu (if you see the two being united as a Yin Yang, the masculine side of the water became void or air now). In this void, Ea could create Marduk, the ultimate god without any influence from Tiamat or Apsu (I'd liken this to the birth of a human free from the Original Sin; setting aside whether that human would be a godslayer, they'd surely exhibit 10 times the aura of the average man too).

Now that there is space/air, the winds can be created, and the wind creates waves in this world of water. The stillness is broken, both sound and movement exist and those who enjoyed the lull that was existing can't take it anymore. To me this is the most significant part of the story, the biggest message, in a way: Those who want to preserve the status quo will try to annihilate those who bring change, and this myth validates those who break the stillness. It says that the correct path is the path that kills the dogmas. This patricide, more than any other, denounces the old ways (the ways of our parents) and pushes the children to be the creators of their own ideal world.

However, it doesn't blindly order the children to knock down the sandcastle and invent something new: The new world is created from the remains of our parents. Apsu and Tiamat are both used to create the world, Kingu is sacrificed to create humankind. Doing away with the old isn't scorched earth, it's evolution, it's development. "Rebel, but not without a cause."

[aspoonofsugar]

Jaune The Maid

Jaune alludes to Joan of Arc , who is famous for hearing the voices of the angels, for leading her people towards victory and for dying as a martyr.

So far, this allusion has not played a major role and its references have mostly been easter eggs in volume 1 throughout the Jaunidice's arc. However, I will argue that the set-up is here for it to be perfectly integrated into Jaune's arc. Not only that, but it can easily become the thematic heart of his story.

JAUNE- A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ANIMA

The anima is the archetype of the life itself. (“Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious,” Carl Jung)

According to Jung, the anima is "the inner feminine side of a man". I prefer to define it as one's "opposite self" aka an archetype made of traits we (think we) lack and so look for in a partner. In literature, the anima is used to develop romantic relationships. A character ends up with someone, who complements them and brings out qualities they initially haven't.

Whatever the definition you prefer, the idea of anima is the crux of Jaune's arc. He starts the series as a slave to toxic masculinity:

Jaune: I don’t want help! I don’t want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!

Still, thanks to Pyrrha's influence he moves past that and starts embracing his "feminine side" more:

This is Jaune's story in a nutshell. He is a boy, who wants to be a hero, but discovers that to become one, he must accept he is a damsel as well.

In general, the Vale arc sets up a gap between Pyrrha, Jaune and their approaches to heroism.

On the one hand Jaune wants to become a hero to run away from who he is:

Jaune: Cause this is always what I’ve wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough.

This is why he symbolically enters Beacon through cheating. He acts as someone he is not.

On the other hand Pyrrha is a hero simply because that is the person she wants and chooses to be:

Red-Haired Woman: I don’t think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn’t a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.

The choice between being a hero and being herself is never really a choice because being a Huntress is a part of who Pyrrha is. So, her final sacrifice is not really a negation of the self, but a result of who she deep down is.

Since Beacon, Jaune has been struggling to overcome this gap by following into Pyrrha's footsteps.

He keeps integrating with her both physically:

Blacksmith: That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where’d you get it from?

And spiritually:

Jaune: No. I don’t think I’m healing her. Our Aura heals our bodies. It feels… it feels more like I’m using my Aura to amplify hers!

Nora: Wait, aren’t you worried about running out?

Jaune: Pyrrha once told me I’ve got a lot of it. I still believe her.

This integration leads him to grow, but also forces him to fight the same foes (Cinder) and to face the same challenges and pain (killing Penny). In this way, Jaune is slowly becoming more like Pyrrha and he is acquiring the feminine traits he initially refuses. In other words, he is integrating with his own anima.

This process symbolically goes through 4 phases, known as the Four Stages of the Anima:

Jung distinguished four broad stages of the anima, analogous to levels of the Eros cult described in the late classical period. He personified them as Eve, Helen, Mary and Sophia. [“The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16, par. 361. ]

Pyrrha is for Jaune the personification of 3 of these stages:

1-"In the first stage, Eve, the anima is indistinguishable from the personal mother. The man cannot function well without a close tie to a woman".

Jaune: Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!

Weiss: By who? Your mother?

Jaune: A-and Pyrrha!

2-"In the second stage, personified in the historical figure of Helen of Troy, the anima is a collective and ideal sexual image" (“All is dross that is not Helen” – Marlowe).

3-"The third stage, Mary, manifests in religious feelings and a capacity for lasting relationships."

Some people fall in love for life Others never get it right Love's fickle when it calls One thing that I know for sure Longer than our lives endure You're my forever fall

This means that even if she is dead, Pyrrha keeps being a key character for Jaune and a big part of his life:

Pyrrha: I want you to know that I’m just happy to be a part of your life. I’ll always be here for you, Jaune.

JAUNE'S ANGEL

Jaune: She should be standing here...

Red-Haired Woman: She is.

Pyrrha will always be at Jaune's side, even if just as an inner voice to guide him. After all, isn't Joan of Arc inspired in her quest by the voices of the angels?

Well, Pyrrha is Jaune's personal angel. Her sacrifice and example guide him throughout his journey. This is why the scene in Lost is so ethereal and yet needs no more elaboration.

Who is the Red Haired Woman? Is she Pyrrha's mother? Is she a manifestation of Pyrrha herself? Is she real? Is she a vision? It does not matter. Thematically, she is Jaune's inner self, that part of him who is forever bonded to Pyrrha (aka his anima :P). She appears to once again guide him and inspire him to be the best possible version of himself.

Pyrrha keeps living through Jaune, who is her legacy and this is why she keeps standing:

Nora: Pyrrha may not be by our side anymore, but we can fight like she is.

Jaune: And in a way... she will be.

4 DEATHS- 4 GIFTS

Pyrrha is Jaune's anima and his inner guide, but where exactly is she leading him? The answer is towards self-actualization. In RWBY this happens through the 4 gifts of the Gods:

Pyrrha: It’s not about why; it’s about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both.

All the characters are going through Knowledge, Creation, Destruction and Choice in different ways. When it comes to Jaune, his journey is articulated through the 4 alchemical deaths:

Jaune’s arc is about living Pyrrha’s death over and over again with different scenarios and outcomes. This happens so that in the end he can finally overcome it.

So far, it has happened three times and each time has been in the climax of an important battle.

The Battle of Beacon has him witness powerlessly to Pyrrha’s death (lack of knowledge and passivity).

The Battle of Haven has him saving Weiss (creation).

The Battle of Atlas has him killing Penny (destruction).

What is more, every time Jaune becomes more proactive and conscious of what he is doing.

In Beacon he has no idea of what is happening. He works with little information and things happen to him without him being able to do anything.

In Haven his actions lead to Weiss being in danger, but he manages to save her. That said, he does not do it consciously. He unlocks his Semblance because of emotional stress. It is an unconscious choice and not a conscious one.

In Atlas he makes a specific conscious choice, but it is a choice that is forced on him because of external circumstances. It is also a choice that is meant to challenge and temporally break him.

Every death do far has symbolized one of the gifts. Pyrrha (Knowledge), Weiss (Creation), Penny (Destruction). By going through them he is painfully understanding the Cycle of Life Death and his role in it as well. This fits a character whose main motivation is grief and whose allusion is intertwined with the idea of martyrdom. Jaune is specifically the character that I think will deconstruct/invert this idea. Joan of Arc dies a martyr, while Jaune has to go through others' martyrdoms over and over. He must understand them, accept them and move forward despite the pain.

So, 3 gifts/deaths out and 1 to go. This last death has to be about Choice. Jaune's stance on it needs to convey he has understood the theme fully and that he is choosing who he wants to be. There is only 1 character that can challenge him to choose between Creation and Destruction and who has been a constant in all the climatic deaths so far:

Cinder is the perpetrator of each death and the one who has been hurting Jaune (and all the others) personally and cruelly. She is also the Maiden of Choice and if she wants her arc to have any kind of positive resolution she must fully understand this idea. Only in this way she can become fit enough to embody it.

However, as for now, she is far far far away from it. She has been ignoring her insecurities and pushing away any chance of positive development. So, can she still grow into a true Maiden? And how does Jaune figure in all of this?

MAIDENS AT HEART

Winter: No, Penny. You were always the real Maiden at heart.

Each arc has so far had 2 Maidens. The first is the titular Maiden, who can create tornados and has flaming eyes. The second is the Maiden at heart, who even without powers understands the theme and what being a Maiden truly means.

Raven and Yang are the 2 Maidens of Knowledge, while Winter and Penny are the 2 Maidens of Creation. Symbolically, they meet in front of a vault at the climax of an arc and the Maiden at heart shows the other who they should aim to become. What is more, usually this meeting calls back an early interaction between the 2 same characters.

Here it's what happens between Yang and Raven:

Yang: Oh, shut up!! You don't know the first thing about strength! You turn your back on people, you run away when things get too hard, you put others in harm's way instead of yourself!! You might be powerful, but that doesn't make you strong.

Raven: Who do you think you are, lecturing me?! Standing there, shaking like a scared little girl?!

Yang: Yeah, I'm scared. But I'm still standing here!

Here comes instead the Winter and Penny's interaction:

Winter: I was just a machine… just… following orders.

Penny: You were my friend.

Winter: Thank you… for trusting me with this. When you’re… gone…

Penny: I won’t be gone, I’ll be part of you.

Yang shows Raven what being strong and smart really looks like. She also proves to her that knowledge does not need to be a cage preventing you from doing the right thing. Their whole conversation in front of the vault also mirrors their previous interaction in the camp. There Raven tries to lecture and to teach Yang, while here she proves to her mother she is already a better person than her.

Penny assures Winter about her humanity and through her sacrifice she affirms the themes of friendship and trust. After having been cared and taught by Winter, she is finally paying the favor back, as shown by her repeating Winter's words about not really being gone verbatim.

So, what about Cinder and Choice? Obviously Cinder's Maiden at heart is Pyrrha.

CINDER AND PYRRHA'S FAILED COMMUNICATION

Pyrrha: Do you believe in destiny?

Cinder: Yes.

Like the other couples of Maidens, Cinder and Pyrrha meet during the climax of an arc and the Maiden at heart tries to teach the titular Maiden an important truth.

The problem is that Cinder kills Pyrrha before she can fully express what Choice and Destiny are really about. So, in a sense, here Pyrrha fails at communication. This is kind of the main struggle of her arc:

Pyrrha: Tell her exactly what you said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines. Just... be honest.

Jaune: But what if I-

Pyrrha: Jaune. You can't get it wrong if it's the truth.

Jaune: You're right. Thanks, Pyrrha! Good talk, Ren!

Nora: Practice what you preach, Pyrrha.

What goes in the way of her relationship with Jaune is on her part the inability to fully express what she feels. Moreover, Pyrrha's link to the idea of communication is shown also through 2 other details:

Her weapons - Milò (her spear) and Akuou (her shield) mean respectively to talk and to listen. One needs to both attack and defend to be a balanced fighter. Similarly, one needs to both talk and listen to be in a balanced relationship and to communicate effectively.

The setting of her fight with Cinder - Pyrrha and Cinder's fight happens on the top of Beacon Tower aka a Communication Tower. Pyrrha's sacrifice is born specifically by the necessity to stop the tower from falling, so that communication among countries can be maintained.

Pyrrha loses her weapons in the fight, just like the tower falls and world communication is lost. So, it is really not surprising that even her attempt to get through Cinder fails.

Cinder herself refuses to listen to others and symbolically she is once again the one who gets in the way of World Communication in volume 8, where she damages Amity and refuses Penny's attempt to understand her:

Penny: Why are you doing this? Why serve someone like Salem?

Cinder: I don’t serve anyone. And you wouldn’t either, if you weren't built that way.

So, Pyrrha doesn't manage to reveal her truth to Cinder, who on her part stubbornly keeps closing herself up to others. Still, before the end Cinder needs to learn Pyrrha's lesson.

Luckily, Pyrrha might have failed with Cinder, but her struggle to open up and to grow close to Jaune has resulted in her successfully passing on her teaching to him:

Pyrrha: Do you believe in destiny?

Jaune: Um... I-I don't know. I guess that depends on how you view it.

Pyrrha: When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather... some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life.

BECOMING A TRUE MAIDEN

To summarize, here is the situation:

Cinder still remembers Pyrrha's words, but she does not understand their meaning

Pyrrha has died apparently for nothing since she could not convey the truth to Cinder

Jaune needs to fully integrate with Pyrrha, his anima, so that he can reach self-actualization and become a true hero like her

There is a very simple way these plotlines and arcs can all come together and that is if Jaune himself becomes Cinder's Maiden at heart. He can be the one showing Cinder what Choice and Maidenhood truly are. It can happen in a scene that mirrors Cinder/Pyrrha, Cinder/Jaune and Pyrrha/Jaune's past interactions.

It would be a meaningful way for Cinder to finally become a true Maiden and to make a defining self-actualizing Choice. This choice will lead to Cinder's death (the 4th and final alchemical death), but will also save the world.

It would give additional meaning to Pyrrha's story by making her instrumental in saving the world, not because of her prowess as a fighter, but through her relationship with Jaune. In the end, her major contribution would be thanks to that young love which was cut short by her premature death and that nobody of the People in ChargeTM considered as important.

Finally, for the story to make Jaune symbolically a "Maiden" would be a fitting crowning moment for his arc. The childish boy who wanted to be a hero and a knight so badly finally realizes his dream... by turning into a sensible and wise Maiden. It would show clearly he has fully integratred with his feminine traits (Pyrrha, his anima) and would pay a neat homage to his allusion.

I mean, isn't Joan of Arc famous as the Maid of Orleans?

[scarefox]

I posted 13,011 times in 2022

That's 6,716 more posts than 2021!

2,713 posts created (21%)

10,298 posts reblogged (79%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@veertjed

@mbrainspaz

@bobafvcks

@daxianme

@braceletofteeth

I tagged 10,701 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#kinnporsche - 2,864 posts

#lol - 1,472 posts

#not me the series - 745 posts

#vegas x pete - 741 posts

#bible wichapas - 423 posts

#gun atthaphan - 415 posts

#kinn x porsche - 415 posts

#build jakapan - 379 posts

#cutie pie the series - 311 posts

#taemin - 307 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#it would maybe make me get a little maserati merch (keychain or something because i am poor and will never have the money for the real deal)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Them mentioning the anti-equal marriage laws and homoph*bia in Thailand

also @ people who complain that the 'same-sex arranged marriage plot' is unrealistic in Thailand.... that's the point.

463 notes - Posted April 2, 2022

#4

504 notes - Posted April 2, 2022

#3

KinnPorsche in a nutshell but also a huge mood in general

525 notes - Posted July 7, 2022

#2

This is us next week

685 notes - Posted July 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

what I really like about “Love and Leashes”

calls out toxic masculinity, heteronormativity, sexism, harassment and homophobia right from the start till the end

Femdom and Malesub 👌

even though it’s a romcom about B-D-S-M it doesn’t mock it or drags it into a parody, from the first trailer I expected it to be more comedic but I am glad it isn’t that much (it has funny parts but also handles the topic seriously)

it is actually really educational!!

includes some psychological aspects

includes fails

they both communicate and set boundaries!

aftercare

the glasses as subtle sign of “consent” in the office is clever

talks about non-sexual and sexual B-D-S-M relationships, while pointing out that it’s different for everyone and you should just do what fits you all best

draws a big line between consent and assault, shows safety precautions 

separation between daily life, romantic feelings and sessions (if you are in D/s relationship this is not always a 24/7 thing...)

supportive non-prude mom

fucc kink shaming in the year of 2022

THEY ARE BOTH LOVELY

(the OST is nice too!)

1,554 notes - Posted February 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[june-egbert-official]

"If you relate my experience to yours I will act needlessly aggressive and tough to prove how I'm not a chick" is fucking toxic masculinity in a nutshell

Not even with a new coat of paint it's just. Straight up toxic masculinity.

you can never be prepared enough to face the anti gender essentialism machismo

[witchesbe-like]

WHAT IS YOUR SHADOW SELF AND HOW DO YOU WORK WITH IT

In a nutshell your shadow self is all the parts of your consciousness that you have rejected either because it’s not accepted in society, or because in some way you are embarrassed of that aspect being a part of you. (Think high school but in your brain. You want to fit in, be accepted but even within yourself.) Your shadow self doesn’t necessarily have to be dark and creepy - although it can be. Most of the time it’s just parts of us we didn’t integrate into our personality as a whole, so there’s a piece of us that is rejected or in the ‘shadows’.

When first realizing your shadow self you may experience some weirdness. You may realize you have rejected large parts of yourself in order to ‘stay safe’ or ‘fit in’. OR you might find it to be the opposite and you don’t have a whole lot of shadow self that was rejected and you feel pretty comfortable being who you are. There is no wrong way to have a shadow self; it is just a part of who you are. 

Why are some parts of us rejected? Mostly it’s because of society. Humans are social creatures and we want to fit it (albeit in some way) we want to have friends and partners. You or I may have rejected pieces of ourselves because we deemed them shameful and not wanting to admit that we may like certain things to society. 

What are some things that would be a part of your shadow self? That is unique to each of us. But some things may include the feeling of anger, hate, or jealousy. But they can also be ‘lighter’ feelings like liking something that is considered embarrassing such as an interest in something not common in ‘regular society.’ And that can mean different things for different groups of people. For instance if someone comes from a very toxic masculine family the thought of them liking cross stitch or knitting might be embarrassing to them, but not really to me or any number of people. But for this individual who feels like they are ‘supposed’ to be a certain way that interest is not an option and becomes shelved so to speak. 

How do we work with our shadow selves? Really for me it’s about getting to know yourself. You can sit down with a paper and something to write with and jot down all the ‘negative’ or ‘darker’ qualities you may have. Do you get too angry sometimes? Do you feel rage at your neighbor because they have nicer stuff? What do these emotions mean to you and most importantly how do they complete you? 

You can also do a tarot reading and ask questions like….

What energy surrounds my shadow self? 

What can I learn from my shadow self? 

What is my shadow self trying to tell me? 

Write down your interpretations and keep a log of your answers. You can revisit them again and re-pull cards to see where you are at, at a later date. The tarot is probably my favorite tool when working with my shadow self because it’s all about self discovery.

Sometimes the concept of positivity is pushed too far. We like to think we are always happy creatures but when in reality we are full circle creatures that experience a full range of emotions including the light and darker sides. And this is all OK, it’s perfectly natural and apart of who we are. 

Working with your shadow self is just about accepting who you are, all parts of you, and realizing that you are the sum of all your parts, not just the ones you or anyone else finds acceptable. And once you open up to your shadow self, you can experience being closer to living your truth.