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rejectedfables · 1 year

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I think often about Jin Guangyao’s “[I murdered] my father, my (older) brother, my wife, my son, my teacher, my friend” quote. I think about how Jin Guangyao, a man known for self effacing politeness to the point of taking blame and shame onto himself to alleviate the tempers of others, in this moment takes complete responsibility for "murders” that he absolutely did not commit. And I think about how the audience both in the story and outside it, take his words at face value.

I think there are multiple ways of interpreting who this quote is about. Obviously Father = Jin Guangshan, Wife = Qin Su, Son = Jin Rusong, those are clear. I think (older) Brother could either be Nie Mingjue or Jin Zixuan. I think "teacher” could be Wen Rouhan or Nie Mingjue. Friend could be Nie Mingjue, Su Minshan, or Xue Yang.

So I think the ONLY options for [brother, teacher, friend] (in that order) are:

NMJ, WRH, and SMS

NMJ, WRH, and XY

JZX, NMJ, and SMS

JZX, NMJ, and XY

JZX, WRH, and NMJ

JZX, WRH, and SMS

JZX, WRH, and XY

I also saw a translation where he said “friends” plural, which would reduce the list to:

NMJ, WRH, XY and SMS

JZX, NMJ, XY and SMS

JZX, WRH, SMS and NMJ

JZX, WRH, XY and NMJ

JZX, WRH, XY and SMS

However, given the importance of his relationship with NMJ, I feel like we can safely eliminate any that exclude NMJ entirely. Similarly, there cannot be characters mentioned here who are unnamed or unknown to the reader, as that wouldn’t make any Doylist sense. We are left with a list that consists of Nie Mingjue, either WRH or JZX or both, and possibly XY and/or SMS.

Regardless of which of those combinations you use, he did not directly OR EVEN DELIBERATELY murder everyone on that list. Let’s go through them:

Jin Guangshan: Yes, he deliberately ordered and orchestrated his father’s death. Outstanding, earned, poetic, no notes. (Okay maybe SOME notes, but like, listen. Listen.)

Qin Su: Qin Su killed herself. In the animation, Jin Guangyao used the skull-piercing nails to force her suicide, but this is not canon to the novel. Bicao claims that Jin Guangyao must have killed her to silence her, despite her suicide having many witnesses (including us! the readers!), but Wei Wuxian (who WAS THERE) speculates that she couldn’t handle the reality of her marriage, as illuminated to her BY Bicao, or the prospect of societal shame if it got out. However, even IF “your actions drove her to suicide” were the rubric here, that’s still not quite the same as “you murdered her”, nor does it seem to be the outcome he was hoping or planning for. “JGY murdered her” is factually inaccurate, and a blatant propaganda tactic being used against him-- but perhaps it felt emotionally true to HIM because he’s grieving his DEAD WIFE and he FEELS responsible.

Nie Mingjue: JGY spent something like 5+ years suffering physical and verbal abuse and explicit threats of death by Nie Mingjue, then was tasked with killing Nie Mingjue by his father. He did so in a sneaky way, so as to not endanger himself further or get punished for (or perhaps cause an inter-sect conflict/war by) killing the leader of a rival sect.

Wen Rouhan: JGY stabbed him in all adaptations, A+, war hero.

Jin Zixuan: JGY, on his father’s orders, orchestrated a situation that led to Jin Zixuan’s death. We cannot know for SURE that JGY wasn’t aiming for his death but we CAN say that “Wei Wuxian accidentally compelling Wen Ning to kill the ONE GUY PRESENT Wei Wuxian did NOT want to kill” (OR “WN killing JZX of his own accord against WWX’s orders”) would have been a weird bet to make. This seems highly unlikely to have been JGY’s goal, but it was certainly caused by a situation he created. He also did not actually literally kill the guy.

Su Minshan: Su She died to protect Jin Guangyao from Nie Mingjue’s fierce corpse. Jin Guangyao is only “responsible” for this in the vaguest or terms and worst faith of interpretations. Technically Su She wouldn’t have died there if not for JGY on multiple levels (wouldn’t have had to protect him, NMJ’s fierce corpse being JGY’s fault, wouldn’t have been present at all if JGY hadn’t summoned him there, etc.), but if Jin Guangyao describes this as “I murdered him” that’s... a stretch. Again, like with Qin Su, this feels like something he might say because he FEELS responsible, rather than because he actually is.

Xue Yang: JGY ordered Xue Yang’s execution (or possibly ordered a fake execution, but this seems less likely) directly before he fled, injured, to Yi City. He did not die here. Later, after reconnecting and while still following Jin Guangyao’s orders, Xue Yang was killed by other people in opposition to Jin Guangyao’s wishes and plans. Again, TECHNICALLY Xue Yang would not have died when he did were it not for Jin Guangyao, but describing it as “Jin Guangyao murdered him” is QUITE a stretch. Due to the title of the “Villainous Friends” extra, which is about JGY and XY specifically, XY seems the most likely candidate to me for “Friend” in this quote, which is bizarre because I think his death is actually the LEAST connected to Jin Guangyao. Jin Guangyao wasn’t even present, nor did Xue Yang die FOR Jin Guangyao-- just on his payroll. BUT perhaps he still felt guilty for ORDERING his execution, and simply his willingness to HAVE Xue Yang killed counted enough to make the list.

I’ll get to the last one, but I’m pausing here to say: What all of this means is that no matter who is or isn’t on that list, it is NOT an objective list of factual murders. It is a list of people who’s deaths Jin Guangyao FEELS RESPONSIBLE FOR.

Even before we get to who counts as teacher, brother, or friend, even JUST his wife solidifies this. But it isn’t JUST her either-- even if we cut SMS and XY (the other two BIG stretch candidates) from the equation, that leaves us ONLY with NMJ(friend), WRH(teacher), and JZX(brother). And Jin Zixuan is the other one that really should not make the list of people JGY “murdered”.

This is a list of people who’s deaths Jin Guangyao FEELS RESPONSIBLE FOR.

Which brings us to the last one:

Jin Rusong: The quote (I believe this is a fan translation, but not sure) "One of the opposing sect leaders lost the arguments [about the watchtowers], and went into a murderous rage, killing Jin Guangyao and Qin Su’s only son. The boy had always been a good child and the couple had loved him dearly. Under resentment, Jin Guangyao tore down the entire sect in revenge” is, to my knowledge/memory, the only real account we’re given of what happened. “Lost the arguments and went into a murderous rage” doesn’t sound like the child was found dead some time later, and they had to investigate. It sounds like it happened in public, with witnesses, immediately.

In the same scene where Bicao convinces an audience that Qin Su, who famously killed herself on screen in a room full of people with a (now) known motive for suicide, “must have” been murdered by Jin Guangyao-- in that same scene others speculate that Jin Rusong, who was famously killed by a political opponent in a “murderous rage” most likely DURING A CONFERENCE, “must have” been murdered by Jin Guangyao.

I think "I angered an opposing sect leader so much that he killed my son" being translated by JGY into "I killed my son" is EXACTLY IN LINE with the rest of his list. How is that different than "I ordered Xue Yang's assassination, and later put him in a situation that caused others to kill him" being translated to "I killed my friend"? Or “Su She died to protect me” being translated to “I killed my friend”? Or “I didn’t anticipate my brother’s unwitting involvement in a covert operation would get him accidentally killed, which no one wanted, not even the guy who did it” being translated to “I killed my brother”? Or “I tried to protect my pregnant fiancé/wife from a horrible secret I only just learned, which would ruin her life, and when someone confronted her with it TO HARM ME she couldn’t live with it and killed herself” being translated to “I killed my wife”? It’s the same!

I do not believe that Jin Guangyao killed Jin Rusong. I believe “I murdered my son” is an example of the way that Jin Guangyao speaks about himself-- always taking the maximum responsibility onto his own shoulders. If he was in any way responsible, than he was completely responsible. If he FEELS responsible, then he MAY AS WELL have murdered them.

The context of when he says this quote also matters towards how we interpret it’s meaning. He was already attempting to flee the country, aware that the cultivation world was actively turning on him for crimes that he did AND DIDN’T commit. He was surrounded by people he thought cared about him, all of whom seemed determined to stop him from achieving a safe exit. He had had all the horrible things he felt responsible for (regardless of how directly or deliberately he was involved in those events) thrown in his face by said loved ones, while they looked at him with horror. Su Minshan had just been killed trying to PROTECT HIM, and now it looked like it had been for nothing anyway. Huaisang, who he is shown as doting upon throughout their decades long relationship, has just manipulated Lan Xichen (do I even have to go into how important Lan Xichen is to him? Please say no, please say this much at LEAST is universally understood) into BEING THE ONE to STAB HIM.

In this moment, he believes that he’s going to die, and be reviled in death by society and his loved ones alike. He knows there’s nothing left he can say or do, he hasn’t had time to process Su She’s death, and Lan Xichen has JUST (accidentally) betrayed him (which he also hasn’t had time to process).

And also, notably, he had very recently been IN POSSESSION of the TIGER TALLY.

AND HE’S BEEN STABBED! To my memory this scene happens while he’s missing an arm and LAN XICHEN’S sword is still INSIDE HIS GUTS. His emotions and reasoning are probably NOT the most calm or rational right now (blood loss, pain, fear, grief, influence of the tiger tally, etc.), and this “confession” should be taken with that in mind.

I just think a lot about how “I murdered [everyone I’ve loved except for you]” is such a raw and telling line, given the context. Even if it’s more like “I murdered [everyone I’ve owed devotion to except for you]”, that’s still so painful. He blames himself for all of it. All of it! The world celebrated Wen Rouhan’s death, but Jin Guangyao added it to his personal list. Jin Guangshan is arguably the most reprehensible character in the entire story, and ruined every part of Jin Guangyao’s entire life, but he’s on the list. He did everything in his power to protect Qin Su, and when she found out the truth he continued offering her ways he could protect her, but she chose to kill herself, and she’s on the list. He tried to improve the world with the watchtowers, and someone retaliated by murdering his son, and he claimed responsibility for that too.

He knew he was being blamed for their deaths, knew it was propaganda and slander and bad faith, but he blamed himself too. So he just... accepted it. I did it. It was me, I murdered them.

And so, so, so many people, in his world and in ours, were so, so eager to agree

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endlingmusings · 6 months

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A Twitter thread by author and Assistant Director of the University Museum Of Zoology, Jack Ashby, on a recent paper discussing the identity of the last captive thylacine.

The paper itself can be found here, and its abstract reads:

"The last known captive Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) died at the Beaumaris Zoo on Hobart's Queen's Domain on the evening of Monday the 7th September 1936. However, within six months of its death the date of its capture was being inaccurately reported. Over the ensuing years there has been much debate and controversy relating to its source, sex, period of display, welfare, and more recently the fate of its remains. Whilst there has been some agreement, significant confusion has been created by the disparate, fragmentary, and often contradictory sources of evidence, with five distinctly exclusive provenances proposed for this specimen. For a species whose extinction was hastened by anthropogenic interventions, we have a moral obligation to preserve as much factual detail as possible about the Thylacine. To this end, the authors have undertaken a thorough review of the hypotheses advanced by Smith (1981) & Paddle (2000); Guiler (1986) & Bailey (2001); Sleightholme et al., 2020; Linnard et al., 2020 and Paddle & Medlock (2023), and have evaluated each against a synthesis of the evidence accrued over the previous 93 years to examine whether a definitive identification and history of the last known captive Thylacine can be determined. The authors found a sufficiently strong correlation between the evidence and the position advanced by Linnard et al., (2020) to maintain that the last captive Thylacine can be identified as the juvenile male captured at Penney's Flats on the Arthur River by 19 year old Roy and 59 year old Dan Delphin on the evening of Monday 7th July 1930."

#Thylacine #Tasmanian tiger #Marsupial #EX #Text #Photos #Live specimen #Captive #Benjamin #Upload

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cadavercowboy · 1 year

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Take It Easy

Pairing: Steve Kemp x Reader

Summary: Just how far are you willing to go to convince Steve he can trust you?

Word Count: 3.9k+

Warnings: Explicit content (18+ only). Dark themes. Implied imprisonment. Drugging. Inaccurate portrayal of how paralytics work because I’m here to be a whore, not to be factual actual. Dub-con/non-con elements (as always, please heed this warning). Nipple play. Slapping. Glove kink. Spit kink. Minor degradation. Overstimulation. Fingering. Forced orgasm.

A/N: This one’s been brewing since they released that promo pic of Steve in the freezer with his stupid, slutty little gloves.

Tricking him is something you knew would never work. But it is human nature to survive at all costs; to merely lie down and accept your fate at the mercy of a monster would be the very antithesis of self-preservation. Steve had made no attempt to dissuade your discovery of just how evil and nefarious he is and you foolishly thought yourself capable of feigning acceptance to lull him in and eventually convince him to let you go. You never expected it to backfire so spectacularly.

You’ve grown accustomed to the dimly lit environment of Steve’s bedroom, but this is something much different. This room is too cold, too bright, and too damn sterile. There’s a reeking odor, sharp and burning in your nostrils; a recognizable scent akin to bleach, or else some other strong cleaning product. The unfamiliarity of the mirrored walls you find yourself surrounded by makes you uneasy, though not nearly as much as the realization that you can’t seem to move any part of your body.

You’re lying on your back with your head slightly propped up and while you’re acutely aware that you appear to be shaking violently, you cannot move your limbs of your own accord. For a brief moment, you worry you may be paralyzed, however you can still feel your limbs. So why can’t you move them?

Although you’re unable to move your head, your eyes shift as expected and you’re horrified to learn that you’re completely naked. Your breathing increases slightly at the notion and panic seeps into your veins at the onset of distant footsteps. Albeit frustratingly vague, your foggy mind is able to conjure at least some bits and pieces of how you ended up here, even if that obscure recollection seems too strange to be reality. A wave of nausea overcomes you as you frantically look around, feeling as if the entire world is suddenly strapped to a swift-moving ferris wheel.

The sound of a door opening somewhere nearby prompts your lungs to freeze, your rapid breaths catching as you listen intently for some clue as to who has entered. Deep down, you know who’s come to join you in this dungeon, but it’s as if your mind refuses to accept the possibility. Growing more anxious as the footfalls move closer, you attempt to cover your nude body. A small sound emits from your dry throat when your arms refuse to budge. You can hear someone standing near, but you cannot see them. When they speak, you don’t need to.

“Ah, there she is.”

Steve’s familiar voice is velvety smooth, the dulcet tone and false geniality prompting a striking fear that has your body shaking even harder now. His presence serves as a terrifying reminder that you’ve found yourself in a real-life nightmare. With your eyes squeezed shut, you fight the tears that threaten to spill and desperately try to calm your breathing. In all the complexity of your hair-brained plans, you seem only to have buried yourself more deeply in Steve’s wicked clutches.

A distinct shiver rattles through you and you begrudgingly allow your eyes to ease open once more. The abundance of moisture spills over immediately. Your breathing has slowed considerably, though it has done nothing to stop the quaking of your naked frame. A subtle warmth surrounds your ankle and you want to flinch away from the sensation, but you’re still rendered incapable of movement. You glance up and your stomach heaves, a wave of dizziness making your eyes roll slightly as you moan in discomfort.

“It’s just the drugs I gave you,” Steve mentions casually, his fingertips trailing the length of your shinbone as his eyes follow the path of his hand.

All at once, you worry that Steve has somehow uncovered your plot to fool him. He’s seen right through your put-upon antics of submission and understanding and you will pay the ultimate price for betraying his trust.

While your eyes remain open, you refuse to meet Steve’s imploring gaze. Still, the suggestion of his frigid stare is an almost physical sensation upon your bare flesh. A small grunt niggles in the back of your throat as you fight against your own trembling body.

“Are you cold?” Steve ponders.

His touch settles heavily at your waist, accompanied by the weight of his condescending tone. He observes you with precise scrutiny and is quick to note the lack of goosebumps across your skin. The disappointed way he sighs only frightens you more and you convulse so powerfully that your teeth begin to chatter. It would almost be a comical confirmation of his previous inquest if only your body’s reaction were in fact on account of the temperature of the room.

“You’re scared,” he states with icy confidence, identifying the true cause of your symptom as a fat, salty tear rolls along your temple.

As much as you don’t want Steve to see evidence of your fear or weakness, his statement holds too much truth to be denied. You’re terrified. A strangled sob works its way out of you, your chest constricting and your ribs threatening to crack beneath the burden of your circumstance.

“Poor baby,” Steve coos with patronizing acidity. “You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?”

Unsure of his meaning, you watch anxiously from the corner of your eye as Steve produces a pair of black latex gloves and pulls the stretchy material over each of his long fingers, then lets them snap sharply around his slender wrists. When he lifts a silver scalpel, a bone-deep panic settles over you; the adrenaline surging suddenly through your body throws you into an alarming state of cognizance.

Fear burns hot and fierce in your stomach and you try with all your might to squirm, your mind seemingly still unwilling to accept that you can’t. Steve appears to be entertained by your predicament and tilts his head piteously as he watches your fruitless attempts to move away from the tool he wields ominously above you. An inexplicable snort of laughter bursts from him as he closes in on you, a gloved hand making contact with the curve of your shoulder before skimming lightly along your collarbone until he swirls a finger in the hollow of your throat.

“I gave you a local anesthetic,” he admits joyously, gesturing to your lower torso. “And a little bit of a paralytic.”

Steve leans in close to whisper the latter part of his confession as if he’s letting you in on a fun secret before informing you that it will begin to wear off soon, though your movement will still be limited. His expression grows eerily sinister and his hand drifts upwards to cradle your cheek, turning your head and forcing you to meet his unflinching stare.

“I’m gonna take your kidney,” he declares matter-of-factly, thumb sweeping gently along your cheekbone. “It’s one of the only organs you can live without because you have two of them. I promise you won't miss it much.”

He chuckles again then, smiling sadly as if it wounds him to inflict this on you. Regardless of his measly reassurance, you don’t want Steve to take any part of you, but he ignores your tiny whimper and instead shifts so that his free hand can reach your abdomen.

“See? You can’t feel that, can you?” he asks.

To your horror, you feel almost nothing. Your brain registers the pressure of something bearing down on you, but your nerves detect no actual sensation of touch. The realization that Steve truly does intend to maim you prompts a fresh wave of scalding tears to cascade down the sides of your face.

You try to voice your contempt, however the dryness of your numb lips refuses to let them separate and your jaw feels much too heavy to function. Instead, you only groan incoherently; the terror in your wet eyes conveying the message your lacking words cannot. Steve tuts in response, his palm massaging against your belly even though he knows you won’t feel much of the soothing gesture. The hand cupping your tear-streaked cheek shifts to cradle your skull, lifting your head from the pillow and drawing you in as he bends over your prone form.

“You wanna be mine?” he hisses coldly. “That means every part of you is mine, right? I can take anything I want.”

Although you know the answer he seeks, you can’t possibly give it. To acquiesce in such a way would only end badly for you. There must be another way.

The deadened muscles of your stiff neck twitch slightly with your frantic endeavor to move and you dare feel a modicum of relief that you’ve managed even an inkling of motion. You cry out desperately, eyes still pleading with Steve as you fight to shake your head in the hopes of stopping him. It is in no way genuine, but you’re nearly convinced Steve feels some sort of pity for you when his lips press in a flat line and he sighs as if deep in thought. His eyes scan your harried features, taking in the moist streaks that stain your skin as he weighs his options.

“I think I deserve to take something of yours,” he barks, sounding frustrated as he grabs the back of your neck and leans so close his lips nearly brush yours. “But maybe there’s something else you’d rather give me.”

He mutters seemingly to himself and you can only simper pathetically at his obvious vexation. Your lips flutter weakly, working so hard to form the needed syllables to beg him for some semblance of mercy. When your mouth purses, he knows immediately what you’re trying to communicate to him even if you can only moan pitifully.

Your breath stalls in your throat when the pressure you’d felt only slightly at your stomach moves more noticeably just above your left knee. The muscles tense beneath your skin as Steve draws his fingertips higher towards your thigh. While the movement in your limb is a good sign, the direction Steve’s hand moves is not.

Steve reaches the curve of your hip and your body itches to retreat from the tickling sensation. His eyes lock onto yours, enraptured with the way they express the reactions your body and voice cannot. His own breathing increases, his skin heating beneath the soft cashmere of his navy sweater. Even with the sleeves rolled all the way up to his elbows, he suddenly feels overly warm inside of the expensive garment.

A whine escapes you when you feel the ghost of his touch against the crease of your thigh, the delicate pressure coming without warning. As swiftly as it happened, it’s gone; sweeping down your untouched thigh instead. Over and over, Steve teases and taunts you; his tantalizing touch too much and not enough all at once. Just when your body reacts to the encroaching pleasure his fingers promise, he’s ripping it away from you all over again.

It is taboo to say the least — to be turned on by the meticulous attention from someone so blatantly evil, to be tempted by hands that have inflicted pain and death — but still, you are victim to your own debased desire. You want Steve to cease his torturous ministrations before it’s too late, before he notices the undeniable slickness you’re sure must be shining visibly between your thighs by now; a dampness that you couldn’t have prevented even if you wanted to.

Heat is born all across your skin; sweat growing along your hairline, beneath your arms, and near the warmth of your neglected center. You're not sure whether your response is due to embarrassment or something much worse. And you're even less sure you're ready to admit that particular truth — whatever it may be. Steve spots the confused surprise swimming in your shiny eyes and he relents; teasing the knuckles of two fingers along your side instead and stopping just before he touches your breast. He pays close attention to the way your eyelids flutter and your breath stutters, smiling with cruel satisfaction when he understands how easily he could have you now.

All at once, Steve’s agenda becomes startlingly clear to you. He’s not punishing you for an unearthed betrayal, he’s simply proving a point; both to you and to himself. He wants to show you how easily you’re willing to surrender, what level of depravity you’re willing to stoop to for his sake even knowing what you know about him. You only wish his assumptions were wrong.

His gloved fingers snatch the meat of your bare thigh in a tight and forceful grip, snapping your attention to him just the way he wants. Steve’s light eyes are dimmed with something hot, dark, and foreboding. He closes the space between you, holding the two middle fingers of his other hand in front of your face.

“Open your mouth.”

Finally able to gain some movement back in your jaw, your lips part — not with obedience, but with shock. You’re quick to snap your mouth shut again, much to Steve’s disapproval. He inhales sharply and his disappointment is evident in the heft of the sigh he releases.

“You’re gonna want them to be wet,” he assures you with chilling softness, the tips of his fingers coming to rest upon your sealed lips.

You refuse to open your mouth and even manage to give your head a nearly imperceptible shake to display your denial of his request. Steve laughs then and the tight smile that raises his cheeks is anything but amused. His eyes ignite with displeasure and he shakes his own head in kind.

Before you know it, the hand gripping your thigh is racing towards your face and pinching your nose so hard that you cry out in pain. You fight the uncomfortable grip Steve exerts on you until your eyes begin to water. Deprived of oxygen, your eyebrows furrow with a silent plea, however Steve does not relent until he gets the inevitable result he’s after.

The moment your mouth opens to gasp and draw a much needed breath, Steve shoves his gloved fingers past your chapped lips; four fingers painfully forcing your jaw open rather than the two he had initially offered. The digits slide deep into the warm recess and — in your desperation to suck in as much air as you can — you instantly begin to choke around them. Flecks of saliva splutter from the corners of your over-filled mouth and Steve finally lets go of your nose, opting to hold your head in place instead while he invades your throat with his hand; no doubt intentionally reaching as far as he can in order to make you gag around him.

Your tongue lifts instinctively to rid your mouth of the intrusive object and you hate the distinct, rubbery taste of the glove as Steve begins to swirl his fingers around your mouth and over the textured muscle, coating the latex in a slick layer of your spit. A line of drool splashes across your chin when he removes his hand and holds it up for you to observe, rubbing his black-tipped fingers together so your saliva shines in the overhead light.

“There, that’s better,” he praises facetiously.

Pleased with the moisture coating his gloved hand, Steve turns his attention elsewhere. His slippery fingers trail down the center of your throat and drift between your cleavage. He backtracks slightly, circling one of your nipples which immediately pebbles beneath the stimulation. Steve drags the remainder of your saliva over the sensitive skin, swirling tight circles over your areola until you inhale sharply then he blows a cool puff of air over your breast.

You can’t feel the warmth of Steve’s hand as he skims it over your numb abdomen, but you still watch him intently as he does. Your cheeks heat and you bite your tongue when his palm flattens over your pubic bone then slips lower, obscuring itself from your view between your slightly parted thighs.

The sensation of Steve’s touch is odd at first, the intensity of the stimulation partially dulled by the layer of latex that engulfs his long fingers. You find yourself wishing the anesthetic he'd given you had spread further than just your belly. With the tip of one cool digit, Steve draws a gentle line down your weeping slit, parting the humid flesh before slowly dragging back up and stopping just short of your clit. If you could squirm, you would.

With a look of deep concentration, Steve flicks — once, twice, three times — at the bundle of nerves, reveling in the squeak you release with each sharp contact. He circles the bud experimentally before adding a second finger and using the tips of both to rub firm circles around your entrance. He plays with you, teasing and kneading the dampness of your folds. The pressure of his touch passes up and down, over and over; before long, you hear the stickiness of your flesh as your juices cling to Steve’s gloves.

His covered fingers have warmed up now and your stomach knots at how wrong this all feels. When Steve pushes two fingertips shallowly inside of you, you swear your legs lift off of the table. Steve eventually turns his attention back to your visage, taking a deep breath as he spreads your slick over the length of his fingers and holds it on display right before your face. The sticky sound is deafening in the silence of the room and Steve’s tongue peeks out to test your essence.

“Open.”

The command is more forceful this time, his tone leaving no room for argument. You can’t tear your eyes away from his, even as he hooks the knuckles of two damp fingers over your teeth and drags the moistened latex over your tongue, forcing you to taste yourself as well. Steve thrusts his fingers deeper, making sure your saliva soaks several of them before he recedes and drops his hand back between your thighs.

This time, Steve enters you without warning, your cunt stretched uncomfortably around the thick girth of three fingers. You cry out, your throat dry and sore. He twists his wrist, expertly delving his digits deeper and deeper as your walls steadily give way to his unexpected intrusion. With his thumb placed perfectly, he massages your clit as his fingers swirl and plunge into your pussy as it slowly grows wetter.

Steve’s hand takes hold of your hip, pinning you in place as he begins to fingerfuck you so brutally that his palm slaps loudly against your swollen flesh. You can feel your abundant slick collecting at the base of his fingers and dripping unhurriedly between the globes of your ass; drops of your juices splash against the insides of your thighs because of how ferociously Steve pounds into you.

The sound of latex on latex squeaks wetly through the air and your thighs quiver beneath Steve’s determined assault on your drippy cunt. Your eyes pinch shut and tears fall steadily as you whimper and whine. He only encourages you, demanding that you let him hear every sound he forces from you, even pulling your jaw open with the hand not buried in your pussy.

You moan around his exploring fingers, gagging and drooling messily all over yourself as Steve stuffs your mouth full. Your teeth press firmly into his flesh when the hand working your cunt grinds blissfully into your clit and the long fingers reach deep enough to stroke the soft, sensitive spot at the front of your clenching walls.

A devastating wail breaks forth as you try to fend off the looming climax that begins to tingle in your feet and the top of your head. You don’t want to give in, to capitulate at the hands of such a beastly man. Steve, however, has other ideas. Curled over top of you, he nips harshly at the soft flesh of your throat before imparting a solid grip around your airway with his spit-soaked fingers. Somewhat regaining the ability to move, your head wags clumsily from side to side as you try pointlessly to escape in order to breathe.

“Are you gonna cum?” Steve rasps, hot breath blowing in your ear as his thumb thrums endlessly on your nerves.

You deny him almost instantly, tipping your head away from him and groaning in agonized distress even as your body ripples with undeniable pleasure. The refutation is mumbled and nearly lost amid the blatant desperation of your moans, but Steve understands just as well; your refusal igniting a frightening fury in him. The latex stings immensely when it crashes against your cheek, causing you to gasp in surprise. Steve grips your jaw, pinching your cheeks and shaking your head violently as you slobber and whine.

“You’re lying. You’re fucking lying to me!”

Steve barks the observation directly in your face, saliva landing on your already damp skin. He pinches your cheeks even harder until your jaw is forced open and he spits viciously into your mouth with a demand to swallow it. He asks his initial question once more, the danger in his eyes challenging you to lie to him again. You begin to sob as your cunt spasms and cream spills from your abused hole, your clit overstimulated and tingling immensely as Steve works you perilously close to the edge.

“N-no,” you barely manage to slur. “P-p-ple—”

The palm slapped over your sluggish mouth stops your plea before you can finish it. Steve is no longer interested in hearing you beg or lie or cry, he just wants you to surrender and let go.

“I can feel you squeezing me. You’re about to cum all over me like a filthy slut,” Steve growls, grabbing your face and forcing you to meet his burning eyes. “Don’t fucking lie, just cum.”

You breathe frantically through your nose and mewl brokenly behind his slippery hand, every muscle in your body spasming wildly as his fingers plunge deep in your pussy, spread apart and stuffing you unbearably full until your eyes roll backwards. Just as you begin to scream, Steve presses his thumb firmly to your clit and rubs back and forth with agonizing accuracy, causing your hips to rise uncontrollably into his gloved hand. You’re grateful for the limited mobility you’ve finally acquired, working your pelvis to grind your pussy into the heat of his palm, drawing out your orgasm.

Wetness spills from your core, drenching your flesh and slickening Steve’s hand as he continues to fuck his fingers shallowly into your sopping cunt. You shake and sniffle, crying from the intensity as well as the guilt that taints your climax. Tears still trickle from your eyes, soaking into your hairline as you come down from the full-body high.

Steve pushes his fingers deep into you — all the way to his knuckles until you’re uncomfortably stretched — one last time before slowly drawing them from your weak, pliant body. Your cream sticks to the wet latex, leaving tumescent streaks along the length of his slender digits. His hand slips free with a lewd sucking sound and you shiver at the sensitivity you feel between your legs, nearly crying out when Steve slaps his sticky fingers over your worn out pussy before brushing them with surprising tenderness over your heated cheek.

“You’re mine,” he whispers seriously. “And your body is mine to do what I want with. Remember that.”

Steve combs his fingers through your hair, spreading your cum through the strands before licking a stripe through the fluids he’d left behind on your cheekbone. You melt defeatedly into the hard surface beneath you, utterly exhausted and too wrung out to consider the implication of his adamantly spoken words.

Sebastian Stan Masterlist ✦ Writing Masterpost

#steve kemp x reader #steve kemp x reader smut #steve kemp smut #steve kemp fanfiction #steve kemp fanfic #steve kemp x reader fanfic #steve kemp x reader fanfiction #steve kemp #fresh #sebastian stan fanfiction #sebastian stan fanfic #sebastian stan

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highfantasy-soul · 1 month

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Oh wonderful, another YouTuber I usually agree with butchering their critical thinking skills while talking about NATLA.

Just like with Jessie Gender, I usually agree with Read With Cindy's takes on media, but, just like with Jessie, Cindy just....point blank lies about what happened in the live action Avatar?

Because I have that terminal condition of 'can't let inaccurate information remain un-challenged', here's my response to her points:

She claims that because Sokka isn't sexist, Katara has nothing to be angry about…..so colonization, genocide, a 100 year war, the fire nation murdering her mother, the broken state of the world aren't things to be mad about? Sexism is the only thing a WOMAN could POSSIBLY be angry about???

She claims they 'sanitized' Sokka's character 'removing his flaws so he has nowhere to grow' - same as the last point - do you think sexism is the only flaw a man can have? There are absolutely no other character traits available for men to have that they need to grow from?

She claims that it's only in the animated show that Katara frees Aang from the iceberg - in the live-action, she wasn't the catalyst for the story - that's just…demonstrably not true. In the live-action, Katara's waterbending is still what breaks Aang free. Just because she doesn't do it in an angry tirade doesn't mean it wasn't her power. Yet again, women can show power in MANY ways other than screaming at sexist people. In the live-action, she's waterbending despite Sokka's command for her not to, he's trying to find a mundane way to get the boat back and Katara decides to attempt to solve the problem with her waterbending - which works, but also breaks Aang free. Yet again, if you can only see 'agency' as 'screaming tirade' then you're missing out on a lot of other ways people can show their agency

She claims that they substitute showing Katara and Sokka's 'everyday life' intro for Aang's to push him as the main character rather than the Water Tribe siblings, but…that's just not true? The live action shows Aang's 'day-in-the-life' AND Sokka and Katara's - it actually shows more of Sokka and Katara's 'day-to-day' than the animated show does. So this point is just a flat out lie.

She continues on about the 'hero's journey' and how the hero 'always refuses the call' - yet….in the animated show, Katara NEVER 'refuses the call' to go with Aang - she almost abandons her family to 'answer the call' and only stops because Aang and her family don't want her to be separated from them. Please stop using the hero's journey as gospel and anything that breaks from that mold is 'bad' - but if you ARE going to use it….get better at viewing media because all that DID happen in the live-action.

Cindy claims that the 'call to adventure' in the live-action is still 'go to the north pole' but it's not - the call to adventure is helping Aang on his journey to be the Avatar - a journey that Katara and Sokka willingly go on to play a part in saving the world. Did you not watch the entire first episode and then the first part of the second? She claims that Katara had no reason to go on the journey in the live-action other than to help Aang when that's point-blank not true. She was excited about how much more bending she could do and how, because of Aang (like in the cartoon), she could now become a better waterbender. Part of her journey out of the southern tribe is STILL for herself and her own growth, not just Aang's.

Cindy makes the argument that Katara isn't a real main character in the live-action because she had nothing to do with the inciting incident (Aang being released from the iceberg) and she didn't have her own reason for going on the journey (get a waterbending master at the north pole). Both these assertions are, just factually wrong. Katara DOES free Aang from the iceberg and she DOES continue on with him because being in the world is helping her waterbending - she even got a waterbending scroll out of it and the mental training that helps her begin her journey. Not only that, but the inciting incident could also be seen as the decision to help Aang or not, it doesn't have to specifically be 'freeing him from the iceberg'. That's an incredibly narrow way to view inciting incidents.

But more than that, Cindy's assertion that those two things have to be present in order for someone to be a main character are just…really bad and narrow storytelling. You can still be a main character even if you don’t personally cause the inciting incident: ummmm…Aang? Hello? He didn't CHOOSE to be the Avatar, he was drug along and finally had to accept his role despite not wanting to at all! Not only that, but Sokka is a main character too, so is his reason for sticking with the group not good enough? Is he not actually part of the Gaang?

She goes on to say that Katara was the glue that created and held together the Gaang and in the live-action, she wasn't. That's…also literally not true as well. In the animated and live action, Sokka is totally on board immediately with saving Aang after Zuko takes him (after Katara changes his mind about turning Aang over in the first place), then she's the one who insists that they all need to continue on with Aang even after the immediate threat of the fire nation is done. In the animated show, Sokka is on board from the second episode on, so Katara isn't 'keeping everyone together' - yet. I think Cindy is drawing from future seasons with that analysis when it isn't accurate in the live-action at all. Many times in season one of the animated series, Aang is actually the one to get in between sibling squabbles and tries to keep them together, so placing all the weight of being the glue of the party on Katara is…well, parentifying Katara in a way that's not exactly the best.

Cindy also claims that live-action Katara never has any dialogue or action that does anything for the story. That's just….again, inaccurate? Genuinely it feels like she just stopped paying attention to Katara the moment she didn't scream at Sokka and just heard the 'wah wah wah' of Charlie Brown adults every other time Katara spoke. She didn't pay attention to Katara as a character at all and that says more about Cindy's view of female characters than it does the writer's. She even claims Katara didn't do anything to help in fights when….she definitely does? Just because she's not a super competent waterbender off the bat like animated Katara is, doesn't mean she doesn't try to help in battles, but it makes a lot of sense that she's easily beaten because….she has no combat training and is fighting against trained soldiers???? Sorry she isn't 'girl boss' enough for you.

At the same time, Cindy is claiming that Sokka is put in a more important role than Katara and he's learning all these new things while Katara isn't. Which tells me that Cindy doesn't put any importance into Katara learning about leadership and waterbending and keeping the emotional core of the party in tact (something she claims Katara needed to do but didn't) - she only views Sokka learning about different ways to interact with being a 'warrior' as important. Apparently, Katara struggling with her cultural trauma isn't 'a lot going on' with her character - I guess Cindy found that stuff boring and just wanted more 'heroic' stuff. Apparently sustaining the cultural traditions of her entire tribe wasn't enough going on with Katara - that stuff isn't important and at all, apparently.

Again with the complaint that Aang is 'just pulling Katara along with him on his own journey making Katara a passive observer' while…showing the scene where Katara is practicing waterbending herself and encouraging Aang to join her in training too? And HE'S actually the one being more passive???

I think Cindy fundamentally misunderstands ensemble cast stories. She makes the claim that because Katara and Sokka don't come into the story until 20 minutes in, that means they can't really be main characters. Tell that to EVERY ensemble cast that picks up new protagonists along the way! Is she also saying that Zuko isn't a main character because the show didn’t start with him? Because he didn't "cause" the inciting incident?

Of course, she then tries to claim that both Suki and Yue were relegated to 'love interest for Sokka' in the live-action but she somehow believes that that wasn't the case in the animated show?? Both Suki and Yue had SOO much more agency in the live-action than they did in the animated series! I already made a post about Suki, but Yue's post is coming.

Idk how you could ever call live-action Katara 'meek' or 'just a good girl with no flaws'. She stood up to Sokka when he wanted to turn Aang over to the firebenders, she pushed for them to go on the journey with Aang, she stood her ground against Zuko and his entire group of soldiers (ALONE!), she joined Jet in tracking the spy and attacking him and his men, she stood up for what Jet was doing (before she knew everything) and then stopped the arrow from blowing up everyone at the palace, she again stood her ground against Sokka and made him see her pov (and she accepted seeing his too), she was excited to join Aang in the spirit world, she fought back against Pakku's sexism, and she stood her ground against Zuko yet again to defend Aang. So, which one of those things was 'meek' or 'just being a good girl'?

Cindy also claims that everything about waterbending was just 'handed to Katara so easily' and she didn't have to work for it. Like, WHERE???? In the animated series, Katara was automatically great at waterbending and was doing super advanced stuff immediately! In the show, we see her practicing in every spare moment. To claim that her being given a scroll that had been hidden among her tribe for years in an effort to preserve their culture the fire benders were trying to destroy was 'cheap' and 'just handing the win to Katara without her having to work for it' is, quite frankly, pretty disgusting.

This poison of 'individuality is the only good trait, you have to do everything yourself or else it doesn't count and you had it easy' is so freaking toxic and we need to get rid of that thought process right freaking now! To have your own culture fight and risk their lives to preserve knowledge to pass down to you is a beautiful and powerful thing - to claim that it was 'the easy way out' discounts the sacrifice of all the water benders before Katara who sacrificed so that she could have that knowledge. She still had to study and practice from the scroll - would you say that reading the works of scholars before you meant you didn't actually learn anything? You needed to do all the experiments and research yourself or else you're 'lacking agency'?

Not only does she have to study and practice from the scroll, she learns from observing other benders and trying out new moves based on their techniques. She uses both the scroll and her observation of others to scrape her way into learning new waterbending techniques. Contrast that with the animated Katara that we never see training unless it's the point of the episode yet she's still doing amazing things without a hitch. Absolutely bizzare that Cindy (and so many others) complains that Katara didn't crack open an entire iceberg with her rage, but ALSO complains that she….lifted some water to stop a fireball claiming it was 'too advanced' of a move for her to be able to do…..choose one, PLEASE!

The more 'critiques' I see people making about the writing of female characters in NATLA, the more I'm afraid we're regressing massively in what we think are 'acceptable' ways to write women. It seems like they all want to go back to the early 2000s white pop feminism that lacks any nuance or intersectionality - the only thing women can be mad about it shallow sexism and the only way to SHOW they're mad is to get physical or scream their heads off. No other method of showing anger or complex reasons for anger are allowed, that's "watering it down" rather than adding layers and nuance, incorporating every aspect of a character rather then just their gender to their motivations.

Ironically, what they're doing is contributing to gender essentialism - women are this way, men are this way, the only way to fight against 'women are this way' is to scream at a hyper-sexist man and if you're not doing that (or don't have a hyper-sexist man to scream at) then you aren't actually a 'strong female character' because screaming at sexism is the only thing that makes a woman strong.

#natla #natla positivity #netflix avatar #seriously it's so disappointing to see all these 'analysis' of natla using factually incorrect information in their arguments #of seeing people regressing so hard on what is allowed to be considered 'feminine rage'#of thinking that there is only one way to show a trait and if they don't do it exactly like they did it in the animated show #then that means they didn't do it at all and none of the additions to the live-action actually exist #genuinely to claim that Katara 'had nothing going on' in the live-action is.... not gonna lie it feels racist #cultural trauma and fighting to preserve your culture apparently is 'nothing' to some people

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sclfmastery · 2 days

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Quickfire hot take but, even though I totally grasp each of us having favorite regens of the doctor and the master, both individually and together, as symbols of their ever-evolving positions along their personal and relationship journey.... I will never ever understand fan (or canon...) portrayals that draw such a sharp line of favoritism from the characters themselves.

Missy said "they're all the Doctor to me" when recalling a memory to Clara, and to me that encapsulates the enduring nature of their intense bond. To me that is THE line. Regeneration is a form of death and rebirth, but certain core traits are immutable, particularly to two people who are narrative foils, who have known each other for centuries (or possibly millennia) and keep being thrown together by fate again and again and again.

Bottom line is, every Doctor is the same person, and so is every Master. Acting as though one of them only cares for select versions of the other is just so strange to me. They aren't us. To them, it's just like loving (or hating, or both) someone through the eras of their life. Their same life, broken down into stages od evolution and devolution. It's the same person.

I can point to the exact episode (a lol very polarizing episode in Series 10) where I think this "they're not the same person from face to face" trend got exponentially more pronounced, but anyone who knows me knows what that episode is. I truly believe it's a disservice to every version of every Doctor and Master involved.

And I really don't think that Spydoc, which came soon thereafter, is just the playing-out of the consequences of a MASSIVE miscommunication between soul mates. It IS that, but not JUST. I think all of the writing about Thoschei that followed the exacerbating episode was trying to force this inaccurate distortion, this illusion of separateness, which is part of what made the events in Power of the Doctor so painful to Thoschei fans. The Doctor walked away from the Master (literally and figuratively, ironically inviting his inevitable despair--and her own demise) partly out of understandable hurt and rage and caution, but also out of a cold, repulsed misunderstanding: "Missy was willing to change and you regressed, you're a different person than she was, and you have angered me to the point of indifference; I am able to turn off caring about you because you are unrecognizable from her, the version of you that I could control save."

Maybe Whittaker's response is intended by Chibnall: we're supposed to recognize that she's wrong but HAS to be in order to survive another betrayal by the Master, which is what makes it all so tragic.

But I think fan reception has taken the whole thing ( "each Doctor and each Master is an entirely discrete self-contained being") too far, and it bothers me, so much, I think, because it's a trope that enforces the idea that love is transactional and contingent (in such a way that also perhaps unwittingly targets the socially, culturally, and economically marginalized). If you're the "good, small, manageable version" of yourself, then you're easier to love, and it's worth the investment. Otherwise, "you gambled and you lost," and you deserve to die lying in the filth of your own poor decisions. I get why that's an appealing, vindicting plot device, from the POV of an audience member who has felt hurt or even abused IRL. I understand it, I've BEEN the Doctor many times. It just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe that's just me. I could be at peace with that, as a Whovian :P.

But, in-universe, it's based on a premise that's factually erroneous! Dhawan's Master IS Missy IS Delgado IS Simm IS Jacobi IS Ainley IS Roberts IS Beevers etc etc etc. Just as Whittaker's Doctor is a RESPONSE to Capaldi's, but ALSO still IS Capaldi's. And Tennant's. And Baker's (x2). And Eccleston's. And Gatwa's. And Pertwee's. Etc etc. Dhawan's Master was the Prime Minister of the UK and also made chairs that eat people and also cried remembering the names of people she killed. It's the SAME PERSON.

Lol, not quickfire at all. It's an old bone to pick, I know. I just can't stop finding the whole trope...very itchy.

(ok to reblog...dunno if anyone would, LOL, but feel free to reblog and to comment).

I'm gonna tag some ppl I know I've chatted about this with before to see if there are new insights. And feel completely free to disagree with me on any count. @natalunasans @mostincrediblechange @drummingncise @modernwizard @nickcagestrufflehog @rearranging-deck-chairs @koschei-no-more @likeacharacterinamusical

#meta #thoschei meta #or just kinda me yelling lol)

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66-bl1tz-kr13g-fr1tz · 9 days

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//The Wire//2100Z April 19, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: ISRAELI COUNTERATTACK IN IRAN LARGELY INEFFECTIVE.//

-----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Middle East: Overnight several targets were struck in Iran following weeks of heightened tensions throughout the region. The main thrust of the attack appears to have taken the form of a drone attack on Isfahan Air Base, which appears to have not resulted in much damage.

-HomeFront-

New York: A man self-immolated outside the courthouse where Donald Trump’s latest trial was taking place in Manhattan. The name of the man has not been confirmed by authorities, however a manifesto that went live during the incident indicates the man was Max Azzarello. His condition is unknown. AC: As this incident is still developing the reasons for this extreme action are not immediately clear.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Following the revelation of the ineffectiveness of the attacks in Iran, Israeli-linked media accounts have spun the incident as not being officially sanctioned by the Israeli government…face-saving actions are only diplomatically valuable when the strike itself is effective. Consequently, it’s possible that the attack was so ineffective that Israel no longer wants credit for it.

As the conflict in the Middle East remains a delicate balance of face-saving actions and international pressure, it is likely that both Iran’s counterattack, and Israel’s response to the counterattack were intended to appear to their citizenry as effective, without actually causing much damage. Iran’s strike occurred with many hours warning, and Israel’s response was similar to recent strikes carried out in Iran over the past couple of years.

However, some details of the Israeli attack do not add up, such as Iranian statements that the attack took place using small quadcopters. If true, Iranian forces have much larger problems ahead, as these platforms only have a range of a few miles, meaning Mossad operatives would have to be extremely close to their targets inside Iran. In the past, larger drones were used (such as in the attack in Kermanshah a couple of years ago) and allegedly launched from semi-autonomous regions of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, the close geographic proximity of these locations allowing for the use of smaller drones to conduct the attack. Isfahan Air Base is vastly outside the range of any small drone system, so the seemingly minor details of this attack being carried out by small quadcopters is either factually inaccurate or the attack was launched from within Iranian territory. As a result, the possibility must be considered that more attacks and/or sabotage activities may be conducted in Iran over the next few days/weeks.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

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lepertamar · 1 day

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again thinking about this and again too meandered off to feel like adding it to a reblog addition, about a specific casual ableism overlooking i did here with the line:

(though hm. within holy-circles, tongue-price holies (eg the option that can be explicitly nonconsensually done) specifically perhaps? but that's a subset)

the idea of tongue-prices, from verbally speaking a name of g-d with the tongue, being the ONLY way to force g-d to holify someone isn’t actually canon! what’s canon is that finding out one of g-d’s names is the only way to force it. from birds:

“Although, you can find out one of Their names, of course. Then They can’t reject you. That’s how Lilith did it. So, if you’re really serious about it, why not try that?”

i know intellectually perfectly well that sign language is — linguistically and neurologically and etc — the same as speech (unlike writing, which isn’t btw! it’s a different skill), but clearly my brain casually conflated language with speech in remembering it, instead of remembering the exact wording.

so — there are probably many hand/arm-price holies who signed a name of g-d, consensually or not.

in fact! if it was done with realism/verisimilitude/research accuracy on the part of the in-universe author, it’s probably the method the fictional protagonist of the in-universe novel in chapter 5 of stars used to lose both of her hands followed by intense regret and dislike, as in Birds g-d is suspicious of and insulted by holification requests that are motivated by misunderstandings and projection about the request’s relevance or lack thereof to the actual underlying desire. i mean afaict it sounds like the unnamed novel might be an uncharitable depiction, and therefore might not have much accuracy, but otoh we never find out how the book ends, we don’t know if the depiction is negative as in bigoted/meanspirited or simply negative as in focused on the potential negative outcome of an incredibly high-risk action. and lucifer’s projection and wishful thinking in summarizing it is pretty thick. and i know i definitely prefer the reading that the situation the novel depicts is a possible one rather than impossible.

and even if it is a meanspirited fearmongering depiction, that might ironically be even more fitting: the very next two epistolary texts in Stars that appear after that novel — in chapter 6 — have a theme of the emotional valence of a text and the factual implications of it being at odds, even more specifically than the general recurrence throughout Stars of texts that explain concepts in an intensely alienating and misleading, even if not actually factually inaccurate, way. the epigraph of ch 6 is the fallen angel asriel railing against the devil-like seductive corruption of g-dfire in a way where the most interesting interpretation imo is that nothing they say is actually untrue, just a very funny ‘wow you’re talking about this like it’s a bad thing.’ and, in the book yenatru’s reading, by the angel israfil, whose treatise mentions g-d-manifestation in neatly logical and reassuringly positive terms, but terms that appear to at the very least have basically no experiential truthfulness/salience, especially by the end of the series.

#sehhinah #the stars that rise at dawn #the birds that fly at dusk #prices

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anewnewcrest · 4 months

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What kind of lessons is Martha teaching those kids? Bankruptcy?! Is the Matthews family secretly full of financial criminals lol

This is - unfortunately - an absolutely Fundie-accurate easter egg. *takes deep breath* Rant incoming in 3, 2, 1...

The IBLP (Bill Gothard's cult that the Duggar and Bates families used to follow, and some still currently follow) used so-called Wisdom Booklets (Content Warning: EVERYTHING, and they specifically talk about sexual assault and abuse in the most horrendous fashion possible. I am not kidding here. Also, be prepared to lose a few IQ points) as their homeschooling materials. The way these booklets of making people actively dumber worked is that every child from kindergarden to high school graduate worked with the same booklet, and learned the same lesson as a family, with the mother providing differentiation (meaning she's responsible for breaking it up and supplementing the materials and teaching it in ways that a 5y/o and an 18y/o and everyone in between can get something out of it, which is something even teachers with actual fucking degrees and shit would struggle with in that situation, with those materials). A family was also supposed to work through all booklets in a year, and then just repeat every year, so if you spent your whole school career homeschooled, you'd repeat these booklets 13-ish times or so. This obviously did not work for a lot of reasons, and led to disastrous educational outcomes, not least because the booklets are also factually inaccurate (like, basic 7th grade math is just... plain wrong), horrific from a didactics standpoint, and read like a 12 y/o with a thesaurus was supposed to mock up an educational resource. They also indoctrinate children into the cult, by - for example - telling children that abuse is their fault and that they need to forgive their abuser, or that they're supposed to be willing to die for their faith, amongst other horrible things.

Enter the first Duggar TV Special, 14 Children and Pregnant Again from 2004. At 21:12, the Duggar homeschooling setup is shown, and they are using this Wisdom Booklet (#35) whose "Law" (basically, indoctrination into cult rules but make it seem biblical and universal) section is about Bankruptcy to scare good cult children into never even touching a credit card, because people who have debt are stupid, lazy, greedy, proud, and impatient. No, no, this is not a fucking joke. I'm not making this shit up.

Which leads to the somewhat only famous moment where little Joy Duggar, who's about five years old and busy adding a pretty border to her worksheet because she doesn't understand a fucking word about bankruptcy and also doesn't particularly care, because again, she's five fucking years old, gets told by her mother, "Joy, bankruptcy doesn't mean you go to the bank."

So, to make a long story short, this is why 7y/o Madison Matthews knows about bankruptcy! Because fundies teach their children that!

#ama #behind the scenes #fundie snark #these people are fucking nuts

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actual-changeling · 11 months

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hi, in you post the other day you said that some authors `wrongly portray PTSD` ? can you axplain what you mean by that?

Hi anon!

I assume you are referring to this post, though I have made a couple at this point.

When it comes down to it, I mostly mean two things with that: ignoring their PTSD and trauma entirely and the portrayal being medically/factually incorrect.

I wish I could say that you can completely ignore the shit that happened to them and still write the characters as they, but in my opinion they are way to intertwined, you cannot separate Joel from his trauma because his trauma MADE him Joel, same with Ellie. Unless it is an AU and/or purposefully written out of character, you have to acknowledge their PTSD in some way. And mind you, even in most AUs people still include Sarah's death and Ellie's traumatic experiences because they are defining to their characters.

Still, my issue isn't even with people completely ignoring it (honestly if you wanna do that please do! let them be carefree and happy), the problem arises when people continue to write them the way they are, PTSD symptoms and all, but do not acknowledge it whatsoever. Ellie flinches and it's portrayed as funny, Joel is anxiously overbearing and it's written as "oh he is just like that", I am talking about authors taking serious disordered symptoms and depathologizing them. This is dangerous because it means people who aren't as educated on the matter read that and think those experiences are normal. They are not.

The second problem is people writing PTSD and other disorders in a way that is medically incorrect, either out of pure ignorance/lack of education or on purpose because it serves their plot.

Before I explain why exactly that is an issue though I wanna say that there IS a third version of this one where it is okay. If you have PTSD/whatever disorder it is about and write it in a way that provides catharsis to you or helps you process something that is 100% alright, you are not contributing to the problem. Writing is personal and sometimes we don't want the shit we go through on the daily to be as heavy as it actually is, just the comfort we can come up with. So if you are reading this and worried I mean you: I don't, promise.

Now, the problem. I think the most obvious one is the fact that it is inaccurate representation that can not only give people false information but also contribute to stereotypes. If you are not educated enough to write an accurate portrayal of PTSD the one you do write will be based on ableist stereotypes society throws at us.

I have read fics not just in this fandom but basically all the other ones I have been in where panic attacks and triggers are healed by "the power of love", where panic attacks are always excessive hyperventilation and laying on the floor and it's the only symptom they have, where bad memories are erased because the person they like suddenly does love them back. Any symptoms that would require someone to actually understand how trauma affects someone are just fully erased or ignored. People get triggered and it's either "haha funny look how they flinch" or "you are evil for showing symptoms" - not even intentionally, but the way people write about it expresses exactly that to someone who has PTSD. There are inaccurate depictions of dissociation like "they pass out and need to be carried home" which is simply not how it works at all, or contradictory things like "they dissociated the whole time but still remember every little things" (if you didn't know, dissociation prevents memories from forming, it is not possible to heavily dissociate and then remember everything afterward).

I could go on and on about the shit I have seen, but I think this explains what exactly I meant by "inaccurate portrayals of PTSD". It contributes to ableism and stereotypes and unless you have PTSD yourself you have no business writing it like this. Trauma isn't your playground, either do it properly or not at all.

I hope this helped you understand anon, feel free to leave another ask if you have more questions or need something clarified, I am always happy to respond! I hope you have a good day <3

#alex answers asks #the last of us #tlou #joel and ellie #joel miller #ellie williams

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sarucane · 6 months

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OFMD Spiral Parallel Analysis 45: Izzy Being Wrong 3

Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from season 1 to season 2, but in season 2 everything goes deeper than season 1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, then the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, and then it weaves them together to create a symphony.

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In the first two posts I wrote in this series, I had this whole clever thing where Izzy's wrongness fell into two categories

Izzy's directly wrong: He makes a statement that is factually incorrect or proved wrong by later events within the same episode

Izzy's indirectly wrong: he demonstrates a profoundly inaccurate understanding, which is later contradicted by his own character development and/or by the show's overall narrative itself.

And then I got to episode 6 and the categories broke down, because (as so often happens, god bless 'em) the writers of this brilliant insane gay pirate comedy thoroughly outsmarted me.

As Episode 6 digs deeper into the dynamics between the characters, Izzy's continues to be wrong--but I think it stops being useful to divide Izzy's incorrectness into categories. In the second half of this season, Izzy operates under certain Category 1 directly wrong ideas of what is and is not happening to characters in the story; he then comes to category 2 conclusions, which simply miss the point.

In the early part of the story, Izzy's wrongness was more or less understandable. Thinking Stede was a moron or that pirates can only retire through death is ultimately wrong, but Izzy was reaching a reasonable and relatively unbiased conclusion with the evidence available to him. But as the drama intensifies, and the other characters develop--leaving him behind--Izzy's wrongness intensifies to maintain his denial, and he gets further and further away from the deeper truths around him.

Episode 6

This is another episode where Izzy is the villain to triumph over, and another episode that starts with Izzy being right and goes downhill from there.

These quotes neatly highlight the limits of Izzy's understanding of the situation (that he's the villain in a romcom). In episodes 6-9, Izzy operates on a long succession of factually incorrect assumptions. These assumptions are only possible because Izzy is self-blinding, because he wants to maintain the status quo that was working for him or to get a promotion (an intensification of the status quo). And it's not really a surprise that he'd be this far off: he spent all three of the last episodes being obviously wrong.

And all that being said, despite the fact that he's a villain this year and a right homophobic asshole to boot--every time I take still images of Izzy being wrong, he tends to just look scared and sad. Which is rather a stronger driver of denial than anger or outrage.

Poor asshole.

So this is a "no Izzy it isn't" old school "you're wrong" moment.

And now we're at "repressed homosexuality" moment, that sort of foreshadows what's going to happen to Izzy in this episode. He doesn't get what's going on, he's too caught up in his own shit to do anything but fumble around scared and looking in the wrong direction.

Also he's letting Ed out of the harness wrong, so "factually wrong" back to Category 1.

Izzy now reveals a false assumption: Ed's connection to Stede is shallow Never mind that Fang's about to burst into tears over an actual pet, which is in fact long dead. If Stede goes away, Izzy figures the feelings and personality changes will go away too. But Stede's more complex than a dog (NOTHING AGAINST DOGS), and Ed's relationship with him is more complex than a pet. Izzy's wrong in thinking that this intervention will lead to the outcome he wants.

Izzy's attempting to use the past to overpower the present, here. At some point in the past, Ed said that love makes people weak. And these are pirates, violent men in a violent world, so weakness is bad. The idea that Ed was wrong, or that he might be able to change his mind--not even worth mentioning. Ed hasn't even noticed it consciously yet.

Well now he's just lying, category 1 old school again.

That's not how being in love works, Iz. Stede's not a doggy (AGAIN DOGS ARE THE BESTEST NOTHING AGAINST DOGGOS THEY'RE JUST LESS COMPLEX THAN PEOPLE)

Izzy already showed his wrong assumption about Ed's bond to Stede, but now he demonstrates how that extends to Stede himself: he believes that Stede is neither clever nor special. That Stede is unworthy of someone like Ed.

Izzy doesn't lie at all in this scene, yet he completely misleads Stede for his own aims. He wants Stede to do the fuckery so Ed will kill Stede, because he's working under his false ideas about what that'll mean for Ed. But he's trying so hard that he ends up working against himself.

Izzy going all Mrs. Danvers on Stede actually gives Stede the idea that will deepen the bond between him and Ed well beyond something Izzy can touch. Stede adds the kraken to the fuckery because of this interaction with Izzy, and because he wants to impress Ed.

And now Izzy makes his own bed based on his assumption about Stede. And he also hints at an assumption that will become more clear in later episodes: Ed is only acting like this because of Stede, so all Izzy has to do to make the world "right" again is to get rid of Stede.

Nah, it'll be a challenge but it'll all work out, Izzy.

Episodes 7&8

Not much Izzy in these episodes, but he still manages to be super wrong.

Ed's in love, Izzy, he doesn't have a parasite.

Izzy doesn't even need to be in this episode to be wrong! And it's a good old factually inaccurate wrongness: Izzy thinks that sending Calico Jack will work to remove Ed from Stede's ship. It didn't.

Episode 9

When Izzy monologues at Ed to try to get him to let Stede die, he reveals multiple layers of wrongness. Let's start here:

Izzy's assuming that what was true then is true now, but people change. Ed changed. Izzy doesn't want to.

Izzy's characterizing making Ed watch the man he loves die painfully as "loyalty." We're now back to Izzy viewing Stede as the only obstacle in the way of a reversion to the status quo--and also we're back to thinking that love is weak, and weakness is bad. Same old shit.

Two wrongs in one line here!

Wrong 1: Ed is doing all he's done for Stede, nothing to do with "what makes Ed happy."

Wrong 2: Ed acting like this is Ed destroying himself, not Ed growing as a goddamn person.

Now Izzy's just bullshitting, because there's nothing clean about a man begging for his life, then bleeding out from being riddled with lead.

Izzy, no he does not.

Izzy throws this in later, and at this point he's just working against himself: Ed made his decision a second ago and Izzy's been The Worst today, if anything this probably cemented Ed's decision.

And now Izzy's making factually untrue statements...

...and he's also got the wrong end of the stick, because by the next morning Ivan and Fang will be front and center doing this:

Which also reveals Izzy's wrongness about what he said all the way back in Episode 4, when Ed suggested Izzy take over for him after he "retired."