#I feel bad that I didn't think to add captions in the original :')

[babycharmander]

TW ANTISEMITISM. THERE WILL BE DEPICTIONS OF ANTISEMITIC ARTWORK AND TEXT IN THIS POST.

Okay so, this is not the kind of post I normally make, ever, nor a sort of post I ever wanted to make. But this is an incredibly important issue that goes beyond fandom stuff, and I've talked with a few other people about it to confirm that it is something concerning.

I want to start by saying that I am not Jewish, but I know that you should never let antisemitism get its foot in the door. (If anyone who reads this is Jewish and needs to correct me on anything, please do so immediately.)

This was posted to the tags yesterday:

[ID: A screenshot of a post from @/liu4ka. The caption at the top reads "well he looks at me / and i look at him / and then he smiles" in very small, stylized text. The image below is artwork of Otto, facing right, with his eyes squinted and his mouth in a skewed, toothy grin, with his hands held up in a strange way. /end ID]

This picture looks perfectly fine at first glance... but the thing is, that caption you see there was not the original caption. I managed to get a screenshot of it before it was changed, and the original caption was this:

[ID: A screenshot of the original caption of the above post, which reads "well he looks at me / and i look at him / and then he smiles like sly jew" /end ID]

That's... a weird way to describe a smile. I'd wondered if this was referencing something, and apparently the first two lines are lyrics from a Weird Al song, but the third line is definitely not. That was making alarm bells ring in my mind, along with the pose Otto was in (which I'll explain in a moment).

Still, I wanted to give this user the benefit of a doubt, because it's entirely possible to unknowingly say something that sounds Bad. So I looked at their other account on VK (which is a Russian website that is, as I understand it, similar to Facebook--they have the same name there and post some of the same art). It didn't take me long before I found... this (photo taken with the google translate app). (I hate sharing this, but I need to show proof here):

[ID: A photo of a computer screen taken from the Google Translate app. It features a character facing right, with their eyes narrowed and with a toothy grin on their face and their hands clasped in a specific way in reference to the "happy merchant" Nazi meme. The caption reads "SCARY JEWISH MUSIC PLAYS." /end ID]

It's not in the screenshot here, but the post this was in also had a song linked with it whose title directly referenced the "happy merchant" meme.

If you're not familiar with that meme, please look it up, as I'm NOT comfortable putting that image on my blog. But it's an image people should be familiar with because it is VERY FREQUENTLY referenced by white supremacists and nazis, and that's what's being referenced here.

Obviously not every single piece of art with a character giving a sly look is going to be a reference to that meme, but CONTEXT is important. The Otto image isn't posed exactly like the meme--the hands are not the same--but alongside the original caption AND given the other art this same artist has drawn, I don't think there's any room for doubt here.

What also doesn't help the case is that there was misinformation going around that Otto was canonically Jewish, so I don't think any of this is coincidental.

I feel awful writing this stuff up. I never wanted to make a post like this, but this was a case where I felt like I should not remain quiet. Once again, this is something that goes beyond fandom. Antisemitism is not something you ever, EVER want let through the door, ANYWHERE. I do not want it in this community, and you shouldn't either.

If any member of the Jewish community wants to correct me on anything or add to this, please do so.

Thank you.

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #tw antisemitism

[paragonraptors]

Hello, I absolutely adore that last piece of yours. The one from Andromeda. My question is - what are your favourite aspects of the game. I played the demo version (first ten hours) and I have mixed feelings about it. So I would like to know what kept you hooked on it if that's alright?

Thank you! You've just asked me the one question I have spent the last like 5 years thinking about. So, well...[cracks knuckles]. As much as I hate saying it, I feel like the first 10 hours are a poor representation of the game, depending on how quickly you progress through the main story. For better or worse, Andromeda's first act frontloads you with a lot of side quests, and I think a lot of the ways it presents its setting and ideas in that time can leave someone apprehensive about how it grapples with its themes later on. If you're willing after reading this, I'd grab it on sale for super cheap or borrow it from a friend/the library and give it at least until finishing the mission to rescue the Moshae on Voeld. (This is around the 15-20 hr mark.) Loyalty missions begin to trigger after that and you really start getting into the thick of it. Though I think they're worth doing as you progress (you are rewarded for it in the final mission), anything that's not in the main quest and companion tabs of the journal can pretty much be ignored without consequence and completed post-game.

Despite all the online shit, it was love at first sight for me. I played at launch and got close to finishing before the first major patch came out. A lot of what probably kept me in my first playthrough was that the idea I had for my Ryder fit really well into what the game gave me, so I was deeply invested in my PC. I think that can really influence one's enjoyment of an RPG.

Ryder is not Shepard, and Ryder's canonical backstory as a 22 year-old nepotism baby who, from what we can tell, had a fairly cushy life growing up on the Citadel until fairly recently is kind of essential for the story to work. I joked in a caption that ME:A is a YA dystopia, but I'm also completely serious about that. It still has a lot of the core cosmic horror themes of the original trilogy, but with a much more scrappy, unexperienced, underdog flavor that you get with a younger protagonist. I liked this in contrast to Shepard being highly and unquestionably competent and having already experienced significant trauma before the story starts via their origin or psych profile. It almost forces you to create an entirely different perspective on Mass Effect's universe as a whole.

Beyond that, it really hit on things I felt were missing from the original trilogy, and especially in comparison to ME1, it's an incredibly compelling introduction to a new trilogy. (I believe it is a disservice to compare ME:A to the original trilogy as a whole, and have come to these opinions by almost exclusively comparing it to 1.)

I really enjoyed the roleplay system. I think the casual/professional/logical/emotional wheel and the impulse actions were a good move away from the paragon/renegade thing. It allowed for choices to not get locked into the appearance of being "good" and "bad" or a kind of set personality type. I like that Ryder gets a psychological profile and relationship bios that are updated as you progress.

I'm a huge fan of all the characters. They carry this game. I think their flaws are interesting and add depth to what's appealing about them. I think the voice performances are just fantastic across the board. I really loved how the NPCs interact with each other and that they have distinct and active relationships outside of Ryder, which is something we didn't really get for the Normandy crew until 3. I love that the Tempest is a small scouting vessel with a crew of 11 all sharing *one toilet*. It's a MIRACLE they are not actively trying to kill each other! Especially when you consider the Normandy was so big it had a whole staff you just straight up didn't really get to know, and Shepard's squadmates were sometimes actually trying to kill each other-- And they at least had three toilets!!

The male characters were written with a vulnerable emotional depth we rarely get to see, especially in video games, and especially in the Mass Effect universe. Hearing them openly talk about their emotions without deflection, and sometimes even gawking at the idea of deflection, was really refreshing. Its easy to get caught up in Alec's whole thing, but the themes of masculinity and fatherhood in other characters' stories (Drack, Vetra, Gil, Jaal, and Liam particularly) offers some nice balance and reflection to that narrative to the point I believe they are intentional supplements/foils to what Alec's got going on.

This game is PACKED with ambient dialogue and text, and it makes the world feel so alive. The message boards, emails, and data pads you find throughout are so good. The ones on the Tempest and New Tuchanka in particular are my favorites, but even the text you can pull up from the forward stations have some delightful little bits. It's unfortunate that ambient dialogue/banter can get cut off by the slightest thing, and the only workaround is to just stop dead in your tracks the second you hear someone talking, but I love listening to the dialogue. It's crazy to me how much made the cut to be recorded and put in the final product despite the known time crunch issues of the game's production.

I've always favored Bioware's map design over of a lot of open-world games, and this one isn't any different. Though I wish they were more fleshed out, there's a solid attempt at introducing different mechanics for different areas of the game to switch things up. I lament the loss of controlling squadmate powers, but the combat is still fun and I enjoy the fluidity of the class system for mechanical and narrative purposes. I really enjoy Remnant sudoku.

For all the flack Andromeda caught about bad animation, it has some of my favorite bits of animation in an AAA video game. For every awkward animation there is a wonderfully charming and well-done one. I wish I could get into specifics without spoilers, but there's a list of ones that get me every time. I've also always considered these cosmetic flaws to be a feature I enjoy in games. So what Ryder runs kind of weird up and down stairs? Geralt Witcher3 can't walk stairs very well either, yet that somehow never came up when people would compare the two.

Your mileage could greatly vary when it comes to the main story. Upon several replays (through the whole series), really getting into the codices, and reading the novels, I think they were setting up a lot of really cool things that expanded on the ideas of the first three. Cosmic horror, creationism, the integration of organic life and artificial intelligence, regulation vs deregulation, autonomy and self-governance, resilience against entropy and destruction. However, I can see how it could come off as half-baked, thoughtless, even irresponsible. It's not perfect. It's clearly rushed in places and unfinished. I don't really have a counter-argument to this as it does also deal with sensitive topics- specifically colonialism and genocide- where people's tolerance can vary significantly. While Ryder can be fairly principled about the problems you encounter, and can often speak out or refuse to be complicit, not everything is handled delicately. Sometimes you will say "Man, I wish I could do this other thing instead of the options I'm given." or "Oof, that could have been written A Bit Better." It struggles to balance the shoot-em-up gameplay with the Moral Questions. I take it as the necessary, but flawed, result of not hand-holding and spelling everything out for an M-rated open-world RPG that can only offer so many variables, but not everyone feels that way, nor do they have to.

With all that said, this is just one of those games I keep coming back to and finding something new to love about it or a detail that illuminates something in an entirely new way. I think it's a shame that as far as we know, subsequent sequels have been cancelled. Much like ME1, the ending left me ready for more.

#ive been working on this all day hopefully i dont regret expressing Opinions online

[peemanne]

Yakuza 2 (2006) Review: Turning Up the Heat

i'm just copying the intro from the last one and you cannot stop me Hey, it's Pee again! So there's this site called Backloggd that's basically just letterboxd for video games and I've been writing a bunch of reviews there, with a bunch of longer ones for RGG games because of course so. I've got one currently cooking for 0 and in the meanwhile, I've decided to put them up here too, for archiving or whatever. I also get to put silly captions on them now. So with that out of the way, here's the original Yakuza 2

Also might as well plug my backloggd in here if you wanna see the rest of the stuff I've done hehehehehe

This review contains minor spoilers. Reviewed on Jul 16, 2023 Completed on the Playstation 2 (via PCSX 2) Rating: 9/10 (4.5 Stars)

I really, really liked Yakuza 2. The more I think about it, the more I just think to myself "Damn, I really really liked that one". Should probably preface this review with a little disclaimer: I've been playing these games in an odd order. Started with 0, played the original 1+2, played Like a Dragon, then Judgment, and then went to the Remastered Collection. And even after all of that, I still look back at this entry, which came so early in the franchise, and I look back at it pretty fondly.

I'll start off with the combat. I admittedly did not enjoy the original Yakuza's combat that much. It was serviceable, and laid out some great groundwork that would be expanded upon for a whole series, but ultimately Kiryu didn't feel that good to control. The janky camera definitely didn't help that much. But when I went to Yakuza 2, I could immediately feel the difference. Kiryu is as smooth as butter here. He's fast, even right off that bat. He's strong, which is made to feel even better with the immaculate sound design returning from the first game. The heat actions are really beefy feeling in this one. Yakuza 2's combat doesn't feel dated at all. It also gave us ultimate essence, which is the funniest heat action ever. Shoutout to the PS2 faxxing gif. The combat shines even more via some pretty sick boss fights. This game introduced Feel the Heat, which really adds a lot to the experience. I'd like to highlight Hayashi for this. He just randomly shows up with a LOT of health bars, a fun moveset, and 2 different phases, the second one having him RIP OUT some pipes from the wall and use them as kali sticks. And when you finally beat him down, his FTH has him backed up and stuck against the wall, and Kiryu delivers some of the most heavy feeling punches in the series. All of this added up for a super memorable fight, even though he held almost 0 story importance.

Speaking of Hayashi, Evil Itself is an amazing track that I wish they remixed for Kiwami 2. Speaking of Evil Itself, let's talk about the soundtrack. The original 2 PS2 games have a pretty unique sound compared to the rest of the series. It has this rough, harsh edge to it, and it really makes it feel like its own thing. Aside from the aforementioned Evil Itself, some pretty good stand out tracks for me are Hit & Kill, The Grudge, Bad Fortune Flower, and North Menace. Then there's A Scattered Moment, which is an amazing final boss theme. It personally makes the final boss for me, it's such a beautiful track. There's also, of course, the GOAT, Outlaw's Lullaby. One of the best regular fight themes in the series, made even better with the Kiwami remix. I love Outlaw's Lullaby so much. It's half the reason I went back to Sotenbori so much. I'd just ride the taxi just to get into street fights for no reason just to hear more Outlaw's Lullaby. I will now go listen to it again. I love it. I love it so much. I love it so mu

Anyways, the story. I understand it's definitely a love-or-hate-it kind of deal. If you've played this game before, you are DEFINITELY aware the shenanigans that occur during the finale. But in spite of all of those shenanigans, I can't bring myself to dislike this game's story. The main driving force for it is probably the main villain, Ryuji Goda. He has such a rich presence, and he absolutely steals the show whenever his mug shows up on screen. Some might call his motivations stupid, but I think they fit his character well. And especially during the later parts of the game, you only grow to like him even more. Aside from Ryuji, though, the other characters are really good too. Kiryu's characterized pretty well here, with the events of the first game still coming back to affect him. Kaoru's a pretty cool character, and her relationship with Kiryu brings out the strengths in both their characters. Plus it's just really sick fighting with her. Killer Kawara's a pretty interesting case part of the story, with his past and all coming back into the spotlight in the present. I only wish he got more screentime, but he's one of the more interesting parts of the story for me. Also Date's with him. And Date's still the goat. What a guy. Again, even with all the super goofy plot twists, I just really like Yakuza 2's story. I wouldn't say it's one of the stronger ones in the series, but I do think it still stands as a pretty decent plot with some amazing characters. I'd also just like to say that this game has one of my favorite scenes in the series, that being the one with Kiryu smoking in the rain.

Yakuza 2 surprised me as a strong entry in the series. I am of the belief that this game has barely aged at all, and I would definitely recommend it to any yakuza fan who hasn't given it a try yet. It's a very unique experience, and it's fun to see just how far this series has come, and just how strong it was even back then. Anyways listen to As a man, as a brother

#rgg #ryu ga gotoku #like a dragon #yakuza #yakuza 2 #game review #ramblings of the pee-man

[protectspock]

Dancing Queen + Star Trek, now with captions :)

#I feel bad that I didn't think to add captions in the original :') #but I posted the last one at 4am after feverishly editing it through the night so I wasn't exactly in my right mind lol #anyway this is maybe my favorite thing I've ever made and sometimes i just watch it when i'm feeling sad lol #vid #txt #captioned

[softer-ua]

in regards to what you pointed out a few posts ago, ngl one of my least favorite fandom things is when they make Kaminari the Har Har Stupid Joking ADHD Bi Playboy Who Is Never Serious Trope. like, he's very smart, 'worst in ___ area of a UA course' is very impressive and I don't remember if it even said that or just that he was studying with some other students, worried about his grades overall, calls himself stupid with implied insecurities about it, and didn't think he was very smart compared to the other people in the course. quirk overuse makes him loopy, incoherent, and think everything's funny. and yeah, he's a bit of a flirt and made a few perverted comments and actions that he clearly didn't think through that well. I'm pretty sure he's not ever stated to be bi in the manga because it was written by a coward, so I think people should think more about why they're associating and pairing together the idea of "hot flirty playboy who if legally able would sleep with everyone he meets" with emphasis or joke in the captions of whatever the content is on him being bi. I don't think this is inherently bad, even put together, but the execution feels kind of :/ and shallow. and I mainly just wish they'd pause to consider if there's any reason (subconscious or intentional) why one of those makes them think about the other, and at the very least lean back to see if they're blatantly making those traits centric around each other and tweak how they're showing them a little. Part of this is also because it's basically his fanon sexuality, but then they stick together "oh he's bi and everyone thinks that" and "he's made flirty or perverted comments and actions in canon at some point" and then mentally exaggerate and have this Canon Image of him as *waves hand at above* and I don't think that's happening consciously in most cases but. again. Cookiecutter Bi Party Playboy Who's Made a Date Offer to Everyone In The Building. not a flirty Person or a Playboy who is bi and flirts with more than one genders

I myself headcanon him as adhd and while the exact sexuality depends on my mood I think of/have him as bi in a lot of my content, but it's the same thing with why non adhd people see how he acts and label "adhd!" Especially about comprehension speed and derpy acting and intelligence and attention span jokes/tropes. Again, not bad in and of itself, but the specific parts of his behavior that make them think he's adhd, or that they start making jokes about or Ha Ha ADHD'ing, or that they think is why we project ADHD on him, (which they aren't necessarily wrong about, but like right in a really disrespectful look at how funny this is oh look squirrel way that's only funny when adhd people are doing it and it isn't all mocking like that) when they see other people calling him adhd, are the wrong ones, I think, and it shows in their characterization of him.

I'm not saying that any of those traits are bad in a character, but as a queer adhd girl with very high annual test scores and Gifted Kid Intelligence but extremely poor grades, focus, and brain damage (admittedly nothing like his, it was a longterm passive thing that mainly just made me have a Lot of Really Bad headaches, and closest thing it did to me was make me sluggish and emotional on bad days and also techincally have the potential kill my language bit if left untreated or the surgery messed up, which it didn't, and it won't be a problem again. but even after explaining that it wasn't cancer or any sort of tumor, and after seeing it do very little at all to affect my behavior outside of irritability and performance, because y'know, constant migraines, gone after the surgery but this was before that, Certain People I Was Vaguely Kind Of Acquaintances With started to treat my like I was a fragile glass thing going to to drop dead and revive myself speaking like a comic relief cartoon crazy person at any moment which was. patronizing.) I've since had surgery for, the way the fandom combines them into stereotypes and portrays them really just rubs me the wrong way- "Flirty Bi(tm) Playboy" "Har Har ADHD Can't Focus Or Get Things After They're Explained To Him, He's Still Confused And An Idiot" "Stupid Person With Brain Damage Who Can't Take Care Of Or Think For Themself And Acts Stupid And Funny For People To Laugh At" which tbh is super ableist even and especially when people irl do fit that description, and also reminds me of the Autistic Person Freaking Out And Being Dramatic sense of humor. And I know it's not helped by canon, because it done for comic relief and to limit his powers, but explored more I think it as a limitation could have been used way more interestingly than canon did and also call me biased but that quirk induced brain frying sounds at least as concerning as Izuku's quirk's backlash.

And it's a shame!! Because he's so much more interesting than that! Instead, the fandom gives me the Cookicutter Funny Bi ADHD Flirt Who's An Idiot and I am sad about it.

tbh it reminds me of what happened to percy jackson, esp with the ADHD Idiot Trope thing. which sucks because apparently it originated in the author making up stories around characters like his adhd and dyslexic kid inspired by Greek myths to tell him after running out of actual myths because it was his special interest and he wanted more. and then the series got kind of all over the place and the fandom processed that the adhd and dyslexic main character who does dumb things sometimes but is very combat smart and great at strategizing and leading gets bad grades and has trouble focusing and has, y'know, adhd, and made him the ADHD Idiot and erased his Gifted Kid girl friend's traits and ADHD and dyslexia into No Nonsense Calls Him an Idiot And Thinks He's Stupid And Has To Tell Him What To Do And Manage His Life For Him and honestly that just kind of sucks and it reminds me of what happened to fandom Kaminari. and now that I think of it people have jirou like that around him a lot too.

im fine with you answering this publicly if you want or have something to add but probably tag as ableism and maybe a biphobia mention content warning for people who don't have the energy to deal with thinking about those kinds of negative things rn because I kind of Went Off About It

I love this! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences 💚(and double thank you for tag suggestions)💚

I couldn’t agree more that a lot of fandom has messed up Kami’s character, which is why I’ve kinda been posting more about him cause he’s just stuck in my head.

I think a lot of fandoms have trouble with characters like this, people have a hard time with duality in characters and fast/fun posts are easier to make if you flatten a character down.

The did it to Kami, they did it to Percy, they did it to Ron Weasley, they do it to Thor, the list goes on. If being the Smart One ™️ isn’t your thing and you can be goofy than you get pigeonholed into the idiot trope.

I feel for Kami a lot(probably because I have adhd/brain damage too)

It sucks when you’re smart but it’s not the traditional, measurable kind of smart(even if by national comparison Kami technically is).

I got terrible grades growing up, and I pretty much got the absolute lowest gpa you can get and still graduate. But absolutely no one would have known if I didn’t tell them, because I’m not dumb.

(It’s okay if you are “dumb”, I love me a head empty just vibes friend. You’re 100% valid, stil worthy of joining discussions, and should be listened to and taken seriously. This just isn’t about that tho)

I joke sometimes that I’m clever and witty but not smart, because that’s exactly what it feels like.

I have lots of thoughts and ideas that I think I articulate pretty well, I am excellent at finding the humor in things and expressing it in a way that’s funny to others too, and there is almost zero problems I can’t find a work around. And the people in my life love it, and they love to use it.

But eventually everyone in my life finds out that I’m not smart. They see the way I have to pause to Google how to calculate a tip, that I don’t know the name of all 50 states or even where to find them on a map, or I legitimately just can not spell (if you ever see a post where it looks like I used a weird word choice it’s probably because I tried 4 times and autocorrect+Google couldn’t help me and voice to text wasn’t an option)

No one ever questions my intelligence until they find out about my adhd and/or catch me struggling with it. After the mask comes off it’s like they can’t even hear me anymore, nothing I say could be true or matter because I’m now just the goofy accident prone spacy girl. My family literally calls me Spacy

And ya know what sometimes I just let people think that because it’s easier, it’s easier than explaining that I’m dyslexic and that I didn’t have a single geography/history clas until 10th grade and shocker the capital of Iowa doesn’t come up much by then. And it’s easier for me to laugh off losing my keys again than dwell on the fact that sometimes it feels like I’m losing my marbles.

And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if after this post I get a lot more “fact checkers” and push back on anything else I post.(not talking about people who want to genuinely engage,y’all are always welcome, I’m talking those people who don’t wanna look it up themselves but no longer trust me to know what I’m talking about)

Kami is a sweet brilliant boy. He’s in a nationally high ranking school, he loves the weather channel, he’s careful about his quirk that could easily hurt his friends in combat, he has a very high emotional intelligence level, he wears dorky shirts with electricity puns on them, and he pays attention to his friends and remembers a lot of little things about them.

He wants to be a hero and he takes that seriously, and the series has tried time and time again to tell y’all that smiling and laughter are an important part of that. Kami excels at this part! So what if his history grades don’t rival the top of the class, the top 5 students would struggle hard to do what Kami does.

Iida can’t relax, Momos rather shy, Todo struggles with social cues, Midoriya is canonically not funny, and jfc where to even begin with Katsuki. I’m certain they’ll all grow up to be excellent heros in their own right, but none of them are going to bring the level of joy and camaraderie that Denki can. You can’t test that into someone.

Kami also just notices people differently and has any easy way of joining in with them, he doesn’t struggle approaching Katsuki or Shinso. Sure he doesn’t hit the the nail on the head the same way Deku does but he’s the only one who has the guts and skills to try. Also he’s not that kinda friend, he’s not looking to a save these guys but pal around with them

I think Kami 100% realizes what a special case and tough nut to crack Bakugo is, I don’t think he’s just careless or too dumb realize his life’s at stake or whatever.

I think he’s purposely testing Bakugos boundaries all while trying to not be a threat to Katsukis actual ego and calling Bakugo out when he needs it in a way that not to serious. Kami knows how to be just goofy enough that he’s approachable. He’s also keyed in that the way to Bakugo is through Deku, meanwhile everyone else is stuck believing the opposite.

Kami also realized how important music is to Jiro and saw an opportunity to let her display her skills and combin the two worlds she lives, and he wasn’t afraid to get some back lash from her for it.

Like Deku Kami isn’t afraid to be uncomfortable. You really can’t teach that level of social ease, you can teach the posture and feed people a couple of lines but it’ll never hit the same. Funny approachable people have spent a lifetime learning the craft, usually out of necessity.

It’s actually what gives me the biggest adhd vibes from him, because adhd is (speculated to be) a dopamine deficiency disorder. People with adhd are constantly trying to raise their dopamine levels, and that means looking for praise and reward and nothing makes the human brain light up faster than postative human connections.

Adhd children struggle a lot with connecting with peers and often find making people laugh a fast way into people’s circles and makes it more likely people will overlook being interrupted or spaced out on.

Also adhd people are pretty much forced by their own brain structures to be genuine in all they do, low dopamine levels make it very hard to do things you don’t enjoy because there no promise of dopamine from the activity and you don’t have enough to spare, plus impulsiveness makes it really hard to not show when you do or don’t enjoy something.

I agree that Kami is also painted as overly perverted at times, he’s a little flirty but in a fun casual way but it’s not the foundation of his personality and it’s really mellowed out over the course of the series.

And while I subscribe to the bi hc from his interactions with Jiro and Shinso, we should all be very mindful that we don’t lump these characteristics together. The are separate facets of his personality that are not dependent on each other in anyway.

Kami deserves all the respect and love, I can’t wait to see our electric king again 🖤⚡️🖤

#tw ableism #ableism #tw biphobia #biphobia #softy answers #I have a sorta sad one shot about Kami and his quirks effects #should i post it?

[fearlyssa]

Something to consider

In honor of Karlie’s birthday today here’s something for those who don't believe Taylor could be with Karlie because they chose to only believe Taylor’s own words: a list of the lyrics on Reputation (Taylor’s own words) that reference Karlie vs those that reference Joe. I tried my best to be impartial and include everything on both sides but just a warning it’s SUPER long! So if you don’t feel like reading it or don’t have the time then keep scrolling. But for anyone who’s interested here’s what I came up with (including explanations of the references and links if I have them; feel free to disagree or add any I missed, I tried to think of everything so I realize some may be a bit of a stretch)

Lyrics that point to Karlie:

Ready for it:

1. Younger than my exes (she’s 26 today, younger than most people Taylor has supposedly dated, male or female)

2. No one has to know (they’re closeted)

End Game:

3. We got big reputations (they’re both famous; Joe was relatively unknown until recently)

4. You and me would be a big conversation (they’re both famous and both women who are supposedly dating men so if they were found out - at least right now - it would cause a scandal)

Don't blame me:

5. I would cross the line, I would waste my time, I'd lose my mind

6. For you I would fall from grace, just to touch your face (This applies to the line above as well; her reputation would be ruined if people found out she was lying about her dating life causing her to “fall from grace” but she loves her enough to risk it by continuing to date her secretly)

7. I once was poison ivy but now I’m your Daisy (at first listen this line might sound like nothing more than a Mavel and/or Great Gatsby reference but according to this person they both like Marvel comics and check out how the daisy she drew in the handwritten lyrics in one of the Reputation magazines looks just like the one Karlie posted from their Big Sur trip in 2014. 👀

Delicate:

8. Dark jeans and your Nikes (she models for Adidas now but was doing Nike ads when they met)

9. Never seen that color blue (maybe a stretch but Karlie's eyes are a shade of green that can sometimes look blue so that may be a shade of blue she's never seen before. And I won’t add this to the list because it’s not Karlie-specific but the girls back home line is also not necessarily straight as lesbians and bisexuals, just like guys, date women and ‘back home’ can reference anyone who’s not from exactly where you’re from. They’re from different parts of the country for instance)

So it goes:

10. All eyes on us (they're both famous, have been on stage together three times and used to often be seen together by paps in public - which I do believe was on purpose; this line reminds me of the chorus of This is what you came for too)

11. Lipstick on your face (there's candids of Karlie with lipstick smudged on her face in pictures with Taylor from July 14th 2014 - as well as pictures of Taylor from her 25th birthday - and I believe another day too -, where she’s with Karlie and has on one shade of lipstick but a while has Karlie’s shade of lipstick smudged over hers and vice versa. Note how their lipstick looks in the top two photos from her birthday party compared vs the bottom two)

Gorgous:

12. I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk (the weird way Karlie says important)

13. Your magnetic field being a little too strong (they’re very physically affectionate with each other and often bump shoulders when sitting next to each other as if they literally have magnets in them)

14. I got a boyfriend, he's older than us (she often dates guys older than her and Karlie is younger than them and her. Imo it refers to her bearding with Calvin specifically)

15. You’re so Gorgeous I can’t say anything to your face (At VSFS 2013 where they first met Taylor looks in awe of her like she doesn’t know what to say. She definitely looks like she thinks she’s gorgeous and while the term could refer to anyone, it's usually a female descriptor and she's literally a model for a living who is known for her beauty and has, seemingly on purpose, used the word on IG right around when the song came out. And on an unrelated note I also want to point out that the ‘If you got a girlfriend’ line is not strictly male-oriented so although it’s not specifically Karlie-related it could still apply to a bisexual or lesbian woman)

King of my heart:

16. like trying on clothes (another somewhat female reference and she's a model so she does that for a living so therefore even more often than most people)

17. Move to me like a Motown beat (As mentioned in the caption of their IG post about it she & Karlie listened to Motown while getting ready for the Met Gala in 2014 so it's safe to say they’re both fans of the genre and enjoy listening to it together)

18. American queen (I know they're both American but Karlie has referred to her as an American dream before which you'll notice was the original lyrics when Taylor was writing & recording the song)

19. Your love is a secret I'm hoping, praying, dying to keep (this is pretty obvious but if she’s closeted then her love life is obviously a secret she’d want to keep)

20. Drinking beer out of plastic cups (I know this line is pretty general and she seems to be referring to a different time when she was up on a roof but it should be noted that the only time she’s been seen drinking beer in a plastic cup prior to the album coming out she was with Karlie)

Dress:

21. Our secret moments in a crowded room, they got no idea about me and you (you can see them having private moments at events in candid photos and videos such at award shows, the VSFS and at the 1975 concert. All times when tons of people were around but didn’t seem to notice or care if they were affectionate with each other because everyone knows they’re close and just thinks they’re friends)

22. Golden tattoo (they wore them together at Drake's birthday party last October. And maybe this is reaching but some of them were stars and “gold star” lesbians are those who have never “been with” a man, Idk about Taylor, but Karlie is rumored to be one.)

23. I don't want you like a best friend (they’re known as best friends so that one’s obvious)

24. I’m spilling wine in the bathtub (in the photo of her and Karlie getting ready for the Met Gala in 2014 you can see that Taylor has drunk wine in the bathroom with Karlie before)

25. Everyone thinks that they know us but they know nothing (A common problem when you’re famous because a lot of people know OF you but don’t really KNOW you or your relationships like they might think they do. She also references this in the album prologue but when it comes to Joe, not many people knew of him before he dated her so he doesn’t have a big reputation or people who think they know him) Dancing with our hands tied:

26. I loved you in secret (again sounds like it references being closeted)

27. 25 years old (Karlie’s age up until today and *almost* Taylor’s age when Kissgate happened)

28. People started talking putting us through our paces (again sounds like it refers to Kissate; people didn't talk about her and Joe, only the media did months later when the album was already finished and she says never to believe them anyway. Plus you have to wonder how they already knew of her secret relationship with him even before pictures had come out of them together)

29. I had a bad feeling...but we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied (they were dancing closely/kind of kissing at a 1975 concert in 2014 and someone got a video and pictures that made it into many articles starting Kissgate. You can see in pictures how upset Karlie and their friends looked walking back from the concert that night carrying a very drunk Taylor. Maybe she knew there'd be a shit storm about it the next day but didn't care and did it anyway because she was so drunk. Their hands would then have been tied metaphorically speaking and they would’ve had to do what they had to do which was to keep dating guys publicly and to stop being seen alone together)

30. I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would decide us (as the world sometimes tries to do with gay relationships, not so much straight ones)

31. So baby can we dance, oh through an avalanche (same points as above ^)

Call it what you want:

32. My baby's fit like a daydream (I know "fit" is English slang but still, Karlie is quite physically fit - she literally ran a marathon like the day after the song came out and in the Vouge Best friends video Taylor mentions her shiny abs)

33. Walking with his head down (I realize she's not a man but being as tall as she is she does do that a lot)

34. So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to (some people say they're friends, others say they're in a romantic relationship, a lot of people think they broke up or are no longer friends and don’t even talk anymore etc.)

New Year's Day:

35. This is maybe a slight stretch but the references to a girl's party and polaroids that she often takes with her friends make me think of women and not really men, and as someone whose been to her house I can vouch that she has a lot of polaroids of her female friends; many of Karlie specifically displayed in her sitting room as well as a photo of them at Big Sur that she keeps in one of her bathrooms but not as many photos of guys who it’s hard to imagine would fit in all that well at a party like that but maybe that’s just me)

lyrics that refer to Joe:

In general:

1. The words he, him & his (and anything else masculine-sounding like the word handsome and king in reference to a current relationship. I guess this is a bunch of references but I didn’t actually count how many times she said he on the album because that would be a lot. lol):

Ready for it:

2. Younger than my exes (some of them anyway; her two most recent ones)

Don't blame me:

3. Toying with them older guys (he's younger than Calvin and Tom as is she however note that she's admitting to using them which seems like more of a reference to a bearding contract unless we're to believe she's admitting to being horrible to her exes)

Delicate:

4. never seen that color blue (his eyes are blue)

5. girls back home (they live in different counties)

So it goes:

6. wear you like a necklace (she has one with his initial on it. I’ve been told it’s a lesbian term as well but I didn’t add it to Karlie’s list as it’s not specific to her)

Gorgeous:

7. I got a boyfriend he's older than us -Sunset & vine (where his movie premiere was last October although we now know the song was written in September and interestingly enough the area is also well-known for it's gay bars)

King of my heart:

8. king of my heart (king is a male term and they have royalty in England)

9. Say you fancy me not fancy stuff (fancy is British slang for liking someone)

10. salute to me I'm your American queen (she’s American and he’s from the UK where they still have royalty)

Dress:

11. flashback when you met me your buzz cut, my hair bleached (if it's in fact true that they met at the Met Gala in 2016 that they both attended then that's a reference to the hairstyles they both had at the time though tbh the timeline doesn't really make sense for that to be true)

Call it what you want:

12. My baby's fit like a daydream (Fit is British slang for attractive and he's also physically fit)

13. Call it what you want (in reference to weather or not the relationship is real)

14. I want to wear his initial on a chain around my neck (because she wears a necklace with a J on it)

So there you go. I'm not saying you have to believe the album is about Karlie or not about Joe but there do appear to be a LOT more references to her so I'll just leave it up to you to decide what you want to believe, I just thought I'd post this to prove that there is in fact evidence to support Kaylor, it's not just a baseless conspiracy theory.

#Taylor Swift #Karlie Kloss #Kaylor #Joe Alwyn #Reputation