#Some people just don’t realize that there doesn’t have to be a dichotomy

[snake-with-scallions]

So, I’ve noticed that there are two fanon interpretations of Patton floating around, one where he’s an innocent precious baby who can do no wrong, and the other where he’s some kind of demon who does everything wrong, and I really want people to know that both interpretations are equally wrong

#Some people just don’t realize that there doesn’t have to be a dichotomy #Patton is a three dimensional character who has flaws #but on the other hand the flaws aren’t his only characteristic #sanders sides #patton sanders #tss #ts sides #thomas sanders

[helluvabinge]

I’m seeing some weird takes on Stolitz from the most recent episode that I very much disagree with. My biggest beef is with the idea that Blitz and Stolas are acting like the end of season 2 never happened, because... um... no. That is definitely not the case.

So let’s look at WHY that’s not the case, and we’re going to start by taking a moment to look at where the Stolitz relationship was in season 1. Or rather, where Stolitz and Blitz both thought their relationship was....

Stolas sees Blitz as a long lost friend who he has amazing sexual chemistry with. He also sees Blitz as almost an exact opposite of Stella. Stella and Stolas had terrible sexual chemistry and Stella was always mean to him, whereas Stolas and Blitz have consistently great sex and Blitz is... somewhat nice to him. And even when Blitz is mean, Stolas has interpreted it largely as flirting and has responded accordingly. He walks into Ozzie’s thinking they’re on the same page, but by the end of the episode, he realizes that Blitz never saw their relationship that way. Blitz is actually very unhappy about the arrangement, though he is still willing to keep it going for the book.

Meanwhile, Blitz has no idea how much Stolas values the emotional side of their relationship. He doesn’t realize how much Stolas admires him, how much he enjoyed the time they spent together (both as children and adults), or how much Stolas wants to have a relationship with him. And it’s ironic because Blitz very much wants a romantic relationship as well. He’s incredibly jealous of M&M’s relationship and he craves closeness from those around him, while also being terrified of that closeness. All of the people he had been close with or had relationships with are gone now and they all blame him for that, which has done quite a number on his self-esteem. Because of this, Blitz spends the season completely blind to the thought that Stolas might actually like him, and when he acts ashamed of Blitz at Ozzie’s, that only confirms it for him.

While Stolas ends season 2 realizing that his image of Blitz’s feelings was completely wrong, Blitz leaves season 2 feeling like his worst fear about how Stolas feels is completely right.

So what does that do as we enter season 2?

Well the first thing it does is split Blitz and Stella’s dichotomy in Stolas’ mind. While before he was willing to put up with Stella because he had Blitz on the side, he’s now actually willing to deal with the Stella problem head-on, as we see in episode 1. However, it also allows him to be more honest with Blitz, which I’ll get to in a moment.

For Blitz though, it actually doesn’t change much on the surface. Blitz leaves Stolas’s house in season 1 with the assumption that he’s just taking a break for one night, but then they’ll go back to the usual arrangement.

This sets up a dynamic where Stolas is going to be different and Blitz is going to be a little thrown off by that, which I can only hope will push him into realizing that his view of Stolas is just as riddled with misunderstandings as Stolas’s view of him was.

So let’s break down episode 2.

1. “My dick’s good, but it’s not that good.”

When Via goes missing, Blitz knows he’s in trouble. And when Moxie suggests he exchange sexual favors to get out of it, Blitz doesn’t find anything wrong with that idea on principle. He still thinks his relationship with Stolas is only about exchanging sex for favors, so it’s not that he isn’t willing. He just doesn’t think it will work this time around.

Aaaand he’s right.

2. “Bliiiiiiiitz!”

I don’t think it’s terribly notable that Stolas doesn’t call him “Blitzy“ here. After all, he’s furious. Why would he use a cutesy nickname? It is notable that he doesn’t call him “Blitzy“ at all in this episode, but we’ll come back to that.

The real thing I want to point out is that Stolas is very much focused on his daughter. He’s not revisiting much about his relationship with Blitz in this moment or in any other moment of the episode. He has much bigger fish to fry. Aside from the occasional horniness, he stays focused.

3. The transformation + “Oh, like your memory is so great?“

First, yes. Blitz is very impressed with human Stolas. Does he think Stolas is hot? Is he just impressed by the magic itself? (We already know from Truth Seekers that he has a bit of a competence kink when it comes to Stolas) Not sure, but he likes what he sees.

Aaaand he’s his usual sunshiny self. What’s interesting though, is that Stolas doesn’t respond with flirting like he generally did in... well, pretty much every other episode when Blitz was an asshole. Instead, he snaps right back at him. It’s more of a response we’re used to seeing from him when he’s with Stella than when he’s with Blitz. (Though not quite as scathing)

Blitz doesn’t seem to notice the difference, but... well, we’ll get there.

4. Stolas’s sunglasses

I don’t have anything related to Stolitz to say about this. I just think it’s a fucking brilliant design choice for human Stolas. Well done!

Meanwhile, I hate Blitz’s human ears SO much.

5. “Blitz, we don’t have time for this. Via could be anywhere.”

Again, Blitz. Not Blitzy.

But what I really want to talk about here is the way that Bltiz looks at Stolas. He’s seeing a new side of Stolas and it’s really tugging on his heart. But then, very quickly, he puts his game face on. Because if there’s one thing that’s undeniably good about Blitz, it’s that he protects the people he cares about. He will fight like crazy to get them out of trouble and he will focus until the mission is accomplished.

“Don’t worry. I’m on it.“

And then when he tells Stolas that Via’s in great hands with Loona, that little smile that Stolas gives him. Because A. Stolas recognizes the pride and trust that Stolas has for Loona as her father and B. because he always has felt safe and protected when he was with Blitz. Even if their relationship is not what he wanted, he still trusts Blitz to help him with the most important thing - finding Via.

6. “If your performance on stage is half as good as it is in bed, you’ll leave them breathless.“

Once again, Stolas doesn’t call him Blitzy. Not even when he’s clearly about to finally say something flirty. But also, the way he flirts in this episode is different. Before, the flirting was generally Stolas giving very explicit descriptions of what he wanted done to him or what he wanted to do to Blitz. It was a reminder of his horniness, not a compliment. Whereas this was a compliment and an ego boost, and Blitz actually likes it. You can see the way he swallows and the smile right before the camera cuts away.

Not only has Stolas figured out a way to flirt that is not triggering Blitz to think about his fears and unease with their relationship, but it’s also just flirting in a way that really works for Blitz.

This is an exciting new development.

7. Stolas laughing at Blitz’s jokes when no one else does.

I love this reminder that Stolas isn’t just pining after a false image of Blitz formed from their single interaction as children. The things he liked about Blitz back then are still part of who he is now. He has a macabre sense of humor and Stolas absolutely loves that.

Then Blitz winks at him and Stolas... um... yeah, he’s starting to have some feelings again. But this definitely isn’t the time or place for those feelings, so Stolas quickly chugs a bottle of acid water to cool down.

8. “She’s mine and I love her!“

I absolutely love how quickly Stolas realizes that something is wrong. He spots it the moment Blitz goes off script and he’s actually worried for him. Stolas is starting to see Blitz for who he is, baggage and all, and I’m actually really excited for what that means for their relationship going forward.

And of course, now it’s Blitz’s turn to be distracted. He wants to get back to Loona and patch up their relationship (and yeah, I agree with people who wish there was at least a small moment between Loona and Blitz at the end of the episode, but that’s a whole other post), so he stops thinking about Stolas. He grabs Stolas’ hand and he does not let go until they actually find their daughters.

I don’t think that Blitz has consciously noticed a huge difference in Stolas, but he’s starting to react to that difference in the ways that he responds to and allows himself to be close to Stolas.

Again, it’s not much in this episode, but it gives us some tantalizing hints about where they’re headed with Stolitz and I’m very excited to see future episodes.

#stolitz #Helluva Boss #helluva stolas #helluva blitzo #helluva stolitz #stolas #blitzo #helluva boss spoilers

[meenawrites]

Neteyam and Spider

Guys it's SO important to me that Neteyam cared about Spider. 

In my own personal mind, at first, Neteyam went to meet Spider because both Kiri and Lo'ak were obsessed with the human boy at the lab. He knew his mom disliked the kid though so he mainly went to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't hurt his siblings. But it becomes clear pretty quickly that the kid is harmless. He's just quick and curious and frankly kind of entertaining. 

I think Neteyam would remain semi-wary because for him, especially at a young age, his parents can do no wrong so he has a hard time reconciling what's he's seeing and how his mom feels about the kid. 

In my mind I think the final straw for him, kind of the deciding factor on his personal view of Spider would be an incident that I'm going to write in my Spider Chronicles, but it involves Spider saving Tuk when she was a baby during that dangerous moment when everyone's backs are turned for a split second. Spider gets injured in the process and that's when he realizes two things: Spider's human body makes him way more fragile than he thought and that his parents are not gods, they're flawed. I think that realization comes early to all the kids except Tuk because of Neytiri especially's treatment of Spider (like earlier than other kids have the realization that like my parents are people not perfect). 

And I think he takes it upon himself to try to make up for some of the pain his parents have caused the boy, so he helps him carve his first bow or maybe gives him his old one. I can see him replicating the fishing experience he had with Jake but in private with Spider instead or looking after him more closely after the incident. 

I think Neteyam actually has a tight ball of protectiveness reserved for Spider but he's careful about when and where he shows it because he doesn't want Neytiri to hate Spider more if he overtly shows how much he cares about the boy. The other kids already do and he can see how much it irks his mom so in front of her and Jake he takes a bit more of a neutral stance to kind of keep the peace, which his parents don't pick up on right? Just more of him having this burden of being the eldest and feeling like he kind of has to take care of everyone's feelings. 

I don't think Neteyam and Spider aren't close, I think their dynamic just has more layers to it than Spider's relationship with the other siblings do. Lo'ak and Spider are equals to each other, partners in crime, both always down for an adventure. Kiri is his best friend and has always seen him as himself, not human, not like he doesn't belong, just him. Tuk views him no differently either and is kind of blind or at least kept in the dark for the most part about the issues surrounding Spider. But Neteyam is painfully aware of how human Spider is, not in a way of we're fundamentally different, but in the way of he's different, he's treated differently, he's smaller than us, not as fast, and the mere air could kill him. He's just painfully aware of how much of a risk being human in this environment puts Spider in so he always has an eye out for him. 

I think Spider would have a bit of a love hate relationship with how Neteyam views/treats him because of that. Like Spider has worked so hard to make up for his disadvantages in the environment and to keep up with them, and he hates Neteyam reminding him how different they are even if he is looking out for him. The other part of him loves that Neteyam cares and craves his attention. I think there's also the dissonance of Spider being older than Neteyam but Neteyam treating him like the younger one of the two. Part of Spider hates it because he's learned he's not allowed to be weak or vulnerable because there's been no one to take care of him or put his well being first, so it feels weird that someone younger than him is. But the part that craves care and attention also loves it. I imagine their relationship being very laden with that kind of dichotomy of Spider's fear of being vulnerable and his need to be cared for. 

I think the only reason we don't see Neteyam and Spider be as close in the movie as he is with Kiri and Lo'ak for example is precisely for the reasons I listed above, just that the connotation of their relationship is different. 

As he grows up, Neteyam finds himself having to keep a weird balance between being the responsible child, trying to give Spider as much attention as possible but not letting Neytiri really see that, and his duties as a taronyu and son of the Olo'eyktan. 

It's overwhelming frankly, but Neteyam's disposition makes him keep quiet. I think he actually is able to relax on the rare occasions he gets some snippets of alone time with Spider because they actually spend time quietly together. Like Spider can be hyper and a handful but he's also able to tone it down and just exist for a while, and he knows Neteyam kind of needs that. So sometimes they just spend like 20 minutes laying on the forest floor next to each other during Neteyam's free time or kind of talk quietly about random things, maybe some human books Spider read recently. I imagine Neteyam would be quite into human literature so he gets it secondhand from Spider cause he doesn't have time to indulge in it himself. 

When his parents leave Spider behind to the RDA, it kills him. He'd still had faith in his parents enough that they wouldn't at least, and no matter how he tried to rationalize it in the months following, it still felt wrong to him. 

Then the RDA have found them and attack, and Lo'ak is like we can't leave Spider. I don't think Neteyam follows simply because it's Lo'ak asking because we know he does have some authority as the eldest and could have been more insistent about not going back. I think he realized that if they went back to their parents right then and asked them to help get Spider back, they wouldn't consider him a priority AGAIN, so Lo'ak and Neteyam going back for him now are really the only chance he has of escaping the RDA's clutches. So of course he turns back with Lo'ak. He already felt like he'd failed Spider a first time, he wouldn't let it happen again, not to someone he considered his responsibility and he cared for so much. 

So yeah... they make me sad and I need more of them just talking or bonding like please.

#spider socorro #spider soccoro #spider soccorro #Neteyam #Neteyam deserves the world #Neteyam best big bro #He was just a kid #Avatar 2 #Avatar the way of water #Neytiri #Jake Sully #Kiri #Kiri x Spider #Lo'ak #Tuk #Tuktirey

[ewingstan]

Alright, so a lot of characters are pretty good parallels for Taylor, some even to the extent that they’re acknowledged as such by the text. Basically every group leader gets this treatment: Satyr is noted to share Skitter’s creativity in power usage as well as her murky place in the hero-villain dichotomy. The similarity between Taylor and Jack Slash becomes an important plot point when it prompts Golem to realize Jack’s secondary power, letting him turn the tide of the fight. Weld commiserates with Taylor on the oil rig about not being able to turn away from the fight. And Teacher shares a place with Khepri in the highly specific “mind controller whose specific abilities give them the capacity to become exponentially dangerous” category.

But you know who she isn’t deliberately compared to as often? Trickster. Which is kind of weird, as Francis Krouse is startlingly similar to Taylor in a lot of ways, and their points of divergence are really useful for identifying what Wildbow is doing with these characters. 

Skitter and Trickster are both incredibly quick thinkers who use their wits to win fights they have no business winning. This sometimes feels like it gets forgotten, since the one team plan Krouse proposed with the Undersiders is the one that got Brian dissected, but Krouse was able to come ahead of the Wards, quickly dispatch a rampaging Cody clone with an unknown power set (once on-screen and multiple times off-screen), and substantially contribute to the fight against Leviathan. Hell, even his quick thinking on how to appease Accord after Sundancer interrupted their meeting shows a pretty amazing ability to stay calm and think on his feet in the face of extreme danger. The main problem is that he’s much better at working alone than directing a team—unlike the Queen Administrator. This is even specifically called out during his e-sport days:

 This is partially due to never really being on the same page as others—he doesn’t seem to genuinely care about many people, and will default to brutal tactics that his teammates won’t get behind. This is less of a problem for Taylor, both because she has a much stronger bond with her teammates and because they tend to match and exacerbate her more ruthless tendencies.

On the subject of teammates, its worth noting how both Taylor and Krouse are able to get others to follow them for reasons outside of any natural charisma. Skitter is a notably bad speaker, relying on people to follow her through shock-and-awe tactics. She cultivates an intimidating reputation to scare potential enemies off and keep her subjects on the Boardwalk in line. She gets old nemeses like Lung, Shadow-Stalker, and the entire Protectorate to work with her by presenting herself as mythically competent and necessary to the defeat of larger enemies. She makes herself a legend, someone you work with because you really don’t want to work against her. But she’s not a leader like Chevalier, or even Faultline; there’s very few people who follow her because she’s an inspiring presence or worthy friend. They exist, but they’re few and far between. As Tattletale notes, Taylor never really asks for help. She just maneuvers you into a position where you have no choice but to work with her.

Meanwhile, Trickster actually has some natural charisma. He’s a good negotiator, and has a flair for the dramatic which could make him easily likable. But he’s not really using this to get the Travellers to follow him; most of them are in some stage of coming to hate him, even. He doesn’t make himself very pleasant to be around in the best of times; even before the Simurgh he “thrived on being annoying.” He just happens to be the only one with an idea of how to move forwards, so they have to follow along or risk getting left behind to deal with their strange new status quo. Even at the beginning, they didn’t follow Krouse because he was their friend—they followed him because they wanted to help Noelle, and didn’t want to be stuck in the walled-off city, and Krouse seemed to be pretty good at the whole “villain” thing so they might as well work under his leadership for the foreseeable future. This maps on pretty well to how Taylor’s eventual leadership role was largely due to being the only Undersider with an actual goal for the future—something she would carry into her de-facto leadership of the Chicago Wards.

But what moving forwards means isn’t very clear for Trickster, who up until Coil approached him seemed to just be going through the motions. There’s no actual way he can find to fix Noelle, he doesn’t care for his teammates enough to find contentment in their companionship. He’s convinced that he’ll always be hated, and decided that’s okay, he can take it, just keep using them before they hate you enough to walk away.

He’s convinced that he’ll  always be in danger and decided that’s okay, he’s good at getting out of scrapes and he doesn’t have much to keep him going anyway, so he might as well keep plunging into danger.

He’s convinced that the Simurgh has already doomed him and that no future is available, so he may as well doom himself for the person he loves.

This is, I maintain, the main substantial difference between Krouse and Taylor. Trickster is what Skitter would be without hope.

Taylor always has something driving her. She latches on to causes: finding the Undersider’s sponsor, rescuing Dinah, stopping Jack Slash. She is absolutely convinced that she can throw herself at any problem and find a way of overcoming it. It’s why she picks fights against people like Mannequin or Lung, and part of the reason she’s able to come away successful. Krouse has much less confidence; he doesn’t think his problems are actually solvable, and doesn’t let himself believe he can take on larger threats, even though his tactical abilities could actually be up to the task if he committed to them. So he runs, or settles for strategic defeats.

Same with allies: Taylor and Krouse faced similar problems in joining their teams. Rachel and Bitch both felt threatened by the new members’ introduction, resentful of their sway among the rest of the team. Both responded with violence multiple times before their conflict was “resolved,” one way or another. Krouse saw this as a problem he would work around until he couldn’t: he kept Cody on board without trying to patch things up, until he cut his losses, decided he was too much of a liability, and sold him to Accord as a scapegoat.

Taylor, in contrast, never gave up on Rachel as a potential ally: she made the effort to befriend her after facing nothing but cold shoulders and aggression, and then made the effort again after their relationship seemed completely unworkable in the wake of the data heist. And while Taylor certainly doesn’t give the same level of grace to most people, I think its a pretty clear indication of their differences that when presented with the same problem, Taylor made her strongest ally while Krouse made his biggest enemy. Taylor had hope that she could get to Rachel. Krouse never even considered making an effort to pacify Cody.

Finally, there’s the fact that Krouse has no real big picture he’s fighting for like Skitter. Not really, anyway. He goes through the motions of searching for a cure for Noelle, trying to find a way back to their home dimension, but he doesn’t really believe its possible.

As such, there’s no point in working hard for a future that’s impossible. He doesn’t ingratiate himself with his teammates because they won’t actually be helpful. He plays fast and loose with the unspoken rules because hey, its not like he can go on like this forever anyway, so he might as well get a death-on-sight order. The only thing he can do is live for the present—for Noelle. Keep her alive, safe and sated, even if she hates him. He lets himself hope for a real future after getting hired by Coil, but it doesn’t last—Coil makes no obvious attempt to follow through on his promises, and eventually Noelle goes on her rampage and the possibility of saving her is smashed completely.

And this is where it gets really interesting. At the beginning of Gold Morning, Lisa asks Taylor how she’d like to spend what would surely be her last days on earth. Doing anything but fighting barely seems to cross Taylor’s mind. It’s not clear if she actually thinks they have a chance, but she fully commits herself to it. At the end of the Echidna arc, the Travellers go to do what they’ve always promised: stop Noelle if she ever lost control.

And like Taylor, Krouse decides to go out fighting instead.

As with Skitter facing down Scion, chances of success are pretty much near zero here. He betrays his friends to do it, even pushing them into the line of fire, much like Taylor does as Khepri. The difference is that Taylor was motivated to save humanity, while Krouse was motivated by....what? A desire to stay loyal to the one person who gave him a chance to be decent? A need to help what’s left of his girlfriend go on a revenge-spree against the world? Maybe he just never stopped listening to what motivated him at the start:

Taylor made her play as Khepri because she saw a narrow hope, and took it. Krouse made his play because he’d lost all hope, and decided the only thing he could do was self-destruct spectacularly alongside the person he loved.

#wildbow #worm #parahumans #francis krouse #taylor hebert #trickster #skitter #khepri #noelle meinhardt #leo says #leo reads worm

[just-antithings]

I think antis fail to realize that if they actually cared about keeping people safe, they wouldn’t be pointing fingers at others and say “well you like xyz so your community has more predators than ours! Just because one person got outed doesn’t mean we all are!”

Listen, no community is 100% safe. There are predators in both antiship and proship communities.

The difference is that proshippers call these people out very quickly and give tips to others about what behavior patterns to look out for.

Antis on the other hand do not, they don’t question and aren’t skeptic of someone who has “pedos/freaks/proship/proshit dni” or etc in bio.

Antis don’t tell people to stay vigilant anymore. They created this dangerous “good vs evil” dichotomy in fandoms. And instead of actually addressing the problem in their community, they’ll find excuses not to

“Proshippers are bound to be predators because they like xyz in fiction” (sounds like the moral panic from the past where people who liked superhero comics were called a danger to children)

“Well there’s so many of us, it’s just going to happen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “

They don’t want to take responsibility. They just let it happen. They don’t question it.

And that’s why situations occur in which some adult, who puts themselves into the “morally pure” role, (under which abusers often hide) tries to “cure” a minor from “proshipping” because they are “safe” and can be trusted

Remember, people. Don’t trust anyone blindly regardless of what they identify as or which label they use.

I’m not saying everyone out there is trying to harm you, but you should have a healthier level of skepticism. Get to know people first and don’t share too much about yourself to people you don’t know.

👆👆👆👆

#mod erin #ask #just anti things

[thedandelionthief]

mygo gender / sexuality thoughts while i procrastinate on my schoolwork:

tomori is so genderqueer. i think she’d have felt a disconnect from femininity since she was younger, always being drawn towards more androgynous clothing, haircuts, etc. she feels as thought it frees her from expectations, and just makes her feel more.. like herself. i think she’d feel a disconnection from her body too, but a lot of her discomfort with being seen as a girl is because to her, she’s just tomori. she doesn’t understand why what gender she is should matter, or change the way people perceive her. she uses any pronouns, but for the most part people just use she/her since she isn’t exactly open about her identity yet.

taki… now this girl is just a straight up lesbian, and she’s known it even before she had the words to describe her feelings. her first and only long-standing crush is on tomori. i think she’d primarily use she/her, but like. she wouldn’t hate it if someone used he/him. she doesn’t think it’s anyone’s business to know, but also doesn’t care enough to keep it hidden, so most people who know her are aware that she’s gay.

anon is having a crisis at the moment. well maybe not right in the canon moment because she has plenty of other things to be worrying about, but ever since joining myGO she’s realized her precious assumptions about herself weren’t quite true. i think anon would be the type to realize she likes girls probably sometime in middle school, but she’d downplay it as just a little “girl crush” that everyone gets and move on, focusing more on the boys she finds attractive. but she’s slowly starting to realize that even if she does find some boys attractive, she’d be happier spending her life with a woman. one day the realization will hit her like a truck, but for now she’s just kind of a repressed sapphic.

soyo is a lesbian and she’s very aware of this fact. she’s not particularly open about it, but it’s not a very well-kept secret either. all of the former members of CRYCHIC know. in the falls quickly/falls harder dichotomy, she is absolutely the falls harder. she’s also the first lesbian character to fulfill the jealous girlfriend archetype so good for her

lastly raana. that is a nonbinary lesbian if i’ve ever seen one. they’re out as nonbinary and honestly just don’t care enough about people’s opinions to let their judgement bother them. they’re just kinda vibing and trying out new things with their gender presentation all the time. for the most part, they express themself however they please. it feels like every time you see raana they have a new ring or different nail polish on or a progressively shorter and shaggier haircut. they use they/them for the most part, but similarly to tomori, don’t really care what people use for them!

#takamatsu tomori #shiina taki #chihaya anon #nagasaki soyo #kaname raana #mygo #bandori

[stranger-rants]

What you said about Steve is so true. I like him, but I do agree after season 1, his character did kind of lose what had made him more interesting there. Some people in the fandom refer to him as a "redeemed mean girl," when we don't really see him as such, you know. Like, I know it's been a year in season 2 since 1, but some part of me definitely think it would've been more interesting to see him have some relapses, where he lashes out and goes back to "King Steve" for just a minute, and goes for where he knows hurts most, only for him to realize and try to backtrack or try to fix it and feeling awful for all that progress down the drain, y'know

He does “relapse” sometimes into being mean, but it’s less relapse and more being given the room to have human emotions. He can be King Steve and an interesting character at the same time - even “a good guy,” but the narrative (and fans) have to let him be that person. The Good and Bad false dichotomy is truly killing creativity. People have complex emotions. The “good” guys do bad things sometimes. The “bad” guys can make “good” choices. Furthermore, just because a character has changed from “bad” to “good,” doesn’t mean they have had significant character growth.

Character growth is not a bad to good progression. It’s the development the character is allowed to go through within the narrative which doesn’t require any moral or ethical changes. Steve had an interesting development in season two, I think, because he had to figure out what kind of person he wanted to be without his popularity, his posse, and… Nancy, but before he could really reach his potential, they made him The Ultimate Babysitter aka the only teenager on duty to protect the party which would have been okay if it was character growth for Steve, but it wasn’t. Steve as The Ultimate Babysitter became a plot device.

Steve’s role has literally involved moving the plot forward by getting the characters where they need to be and preventing those characters from injury and/or dying. Steve doesn’t exist for Steve. He exists for everyone else, and that’s kind of the problem. As such, they don’t really know what to do with Steve. The Duffers wanted him to be The Bully but when that fell through because they “fell in love” with Joe, they didn’t really have a backup plan. To me, that becomes more obvious in the third season when his rivalry with Billy - which had the most potential narratively for Steve - was dropped in order for Steve to be The Comedic Relief.

…and when I say this, I am not saying this with a shipping lens. Steve had his own antagonist. He had the makings of a character foil in Billy, who was another up and coming “king” of Hawkins. It would have been more interesting and helpful for his character development, to see Steve really having to come to terms with the kind of person he was before through his interactions with Billy rather than Steve just existing to “make up for” the kind of person he was before by being The Nice Guy Who Does Stuff for People now. The sailor suit. The ha ha Steve is a dumb loser version we get in season three did nothing for him.

Even within the story line that they chose for him, they dropped the ball on opportunities for him to wrestle with his feelings and emotions in any way that matters. Befriending Robin could have been a great opportunity for him to reflect on his queerphobic attitude towards other people before her, but no. We skip right to Steve is The Best Ally who reacts to situations like these in a socially acceptable manner despite not really showing the steps he would need to take to unlearn his past beliefs, and to me things like that aren’t fair because Steve gets a “tell, don’t show” kind of characterization that benefits his image to fans but does nothing for his actual character growth.

Compare that with Billy who does have quite an intense trajectory in his character development which ends in a pretty significant self sacrifice, but people don’t give him the same benefit of the doubt in personal, moral, and ethical growth from season two despite there being no evidence of him going around saying and doing the same harmful things he was doing before. It feels like Billy is at least awarded with a narratively satisfying arc in terms of development, but denied humanity by The Duffers and their fan base for really callous reasons while Steve is denied narratively satisfying character development while praised for basically nothing other than being a plot device.

#asks #steve harrington

[flannelsandviolets]

google searching "am i butch?" || 001

It starts with an idea, a possibility. Could I be butch? 

I’ve known that I like women ever since I discovered it was possible - that was around the age of 11 or 12. Over the years, I’ve fluctuated between bisexual, pansexual, queer, sapphic, but eventually at age 22 coming to the conclusion that I am, most likely, just a lesbian. 

I’ve also been on a journey with my gender identity - at age 14 I came out as a trans man, and I lived as a trans man for seven years. However, people change over time, and people’s identities can change too. I realized earlier this year that I no longer identified as a trans man, in fact, I didn’t really identify with any gender at all. I started labeling myself as agender. I stopped taking testosterone (for several reasons). 

For several months, I thought about what I wanted to do moving forward. Life would surely be easier if I no longer made my transness visible and public… so after those months of deliberation, I decided to detransition and try to live as a woman. This didn’t last very long. I went into a residential mental health treatment program, and being in a social setting with dozens of my peers quickly made me realize something. I didn’t want to be perceived as a woman, I didn’t want to live as a woman, there was something fundamentally unrelatable about womanhood. But I didn’t want to live as a man either. I am nonbinary, and I wanted to be perceived that way. So I came out again, explaining what I have just explained to you, that I don’t want to try to force myself to live as a woman when I am not one - even if it would be “easier” I would not be happy. 

I’m still very connected to masculinity, even though I am no longer a man. And I’m still very connected to femininity, even though I feel so disconnected from womanhood itself; I was raised female, I was socialized as female, I have spent about two-thirds of my life as female, of course I feel some sort of connection to it. This dichotomy of feeling simultaneously masculine and feminine is pretty damn confusing, and might deserve its own post eventually. But for right now, I am content with knowing I live with a foot in each world. 

That brings us to where I am today. I’m firm in my identity as an agender queer lesbian. I started to learn more about being a lesbian and different identities within the lesbian community, and that led to learning about being butch. At first, I thought I knew what being butch meant - that’s just a masculine lesbian, right? 

Doing some research, especially hearing directly from people who identified as butch, showed me that my view of butchness was very narrow. Being butch is more than just being a masculine lesbian. It’s a gender identity, it’s a feeling. It’s a choice, and simultaneously it’s not a choice - being butch is integral to who you are, it’s not a costume you can take on or off. But choosing to embody that identity, that part is a choice. Is being butch even something I can claim for myself? Or do I have to wait for others to view me in that way, to perceive me as masculine enough to deserve the title? There’s this energy, this feeling, that I am masculine and feminine all at once, I am this weird little creature who doesn’t quite fit in either world. Being butch is about how I present myself, and it’s about how I feel inside. 

I’ve spent so long rejecting the label of “butch” that I never stopped to explore what it could mean for me. “I can’t be butch, I’m a trans man,” or, “I can’t be butch, I like some feminine things.” 

I think being butch can give me a new lens to view my connection to womanhood and femininity. My gender and my sexuality are both so deeply and inherently tied to the experience of womanhood (or lack of it), and trying to describe those experiences in any other words, words that DON’T acknowledge those ties, is simply insufficient. But trying to define myself as a woman is not accurate either, even as a butch woman. I am agender, I am queer, I am sapphic. And I just might be butch too. 

#queer #queer essay #lgbtq #lgbtq essay #my queer diary #lesbian #lesbian essay #butch #butch lesbian #personal post #nonbinary lesbian #nb lesbian

[nappingpaperclip]

happy very late trans day of visibility we stay winning 💪💪 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

Trans people please rb and add your gfms and cashapps 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

Gonna get a bit personal cause to be honest? I don’t think non trans people really understand what it is like to be trans right now and some of y’all really need to hear this.

People outside of the man/woman sex dichotomy have existed in every culture throughout history since humans have existed. Yet people are still using the argument that being trans is a “trend” that young people are falling/being groomed into

This rhetoric leeches out of politics into the minds of young people, who turn around and externalize it onto their peers. Trans people, and especially young trans people are being bullied, harassed, followed home, beaten, raped, brutalized, and killed every day because of this line of thinking.

It’s literally the same argument used against gay people in the early 2000’s and 2010’s. I was there. I heard it growing up. It made it take much longer for me to realize that I was bisexual because of it. Because I didn’t want to be just hop on a “trend.” Well, more like I didn’t want to be accused of that. I didn’t want to be seen as less than over something I didn’t think was that big of a deal.

To be honest, I find that it was more accurate to say that I was being groomed into being a cis straight girl.

As someone who was actually groomed, and who knew I was not cis before that btw thank you very much, it’s fucking frustrating to see this argument be used to make it harder for me and other people like me to safely exist. It’s so fucking frustrating to see people co-opt my OWN trauma to take away my agency, and make it 1000x more dangerous for trans people, and especially trans women, to just literally exist.

Others tell us that our existence is a violation of biology, science, logic, or reason. Laughs in biology student. The human body is a complex organism with many moving and changeable parts. Humans are complex emotional beings with incredibly diverse cultures and roles within their respective societies. Biology isn’t as simple as XY and XX, and I’m tired of hearing this argument from people who don’t understand basic biology, and who don’t understand how language, science, and gender relate to culture.

It’s frustrating because even the “gender abolitionists” who claim to want to throw off the roles of womanhood still try to pin me and people like me into roles that fit their narrow worldview.

I cannot escape the roles that other people push on me, ever. I just want to exist. I can’t use EITHER bathroom without feeling unwelcome and unsafe. I can’t use a computer without articles and videos bashing trans people and our “dangerous gender ideology” or whatever popping up and ruining my day by making me feel guilty for literally just existing. I can’t look at the comments section on any post mentioning trans people, especially from my own local news, without seeing hateful comments wishing people like me death, saying we are all pedophile groomers, that we are delusional and should be locked up, that we need to be rounded up and shot to protect the children or traditional families or whatever.

Even the way people LOOK at me is dehumanizing and at times, humiliating.

I can’t go a single day at work or at school or in public without being stared at like I am some kind of freak because people can’t immediately tell what genitals I have. It doesn’t matter how polite I am or how small I make myself.

We remember the way you treat us. It sticks with us, shapes how we feel about ourselves and how we interact with the world. Just one of the many moments that still sticks with me was recently when I spoke at a city council meeting. I had a progress flag and a picture of Nex Benedict. This lady sat next to me and was kind and polite, until she saw the flag, and then she clammed up and refused to talk to me when I tried politely asking her something. You’d think I’d threatened her or was violating her rights just by being there the way she was looking at me.

Do y’all understand how fucking bad that feels? Seeing people make the connection, seeing the way their face drops as you watch them lose respect and all care for you in real time? Over something you can’t control? Something that doesn’t even effect them?

People literally see me and freeze, give me whale eyes and refuse to speak to me because they can’t tell what I am. I am a person. I try my best to be good and do good. Why is that not enough?

I’ve been told my whole life to just shut up and take it. No. No, I won’t do that. That doesn’t suit me at all. If you have a problem with that, that says more about you than it does me. You don’t get to complain about trans people making themselves be heard or making our transness a “part of our personality” when y’all harass and bully and kill us every day. It’s part of my personality because of the way I’ve been treated for it. I spent years of my life wishing and begging and dreaming that I was not trans, but it didn’t work. I tried very hard for so long to convince myself that I was cis. I can’t be something I’m not. My transness is a part of me and I will spend the rest of my life fighting for basic kindness and respect because of it.

If you wanted us to shut up then you’d leave us alone. Our existence is not part of some grand scheme or conspiracy. Our bodies and lives are not collateral damage.

Trans people are just people. We just want to be treated like people. We just want to live our lives without being forced into a box all the time.

You don’t have to “get it,” you don’t even have to agree, but you do have to respect our agency and respect that we know ourselves better than you do. Mind your own damn business. What we do to our bodies, how we dress or act, what bathroom we use, it does not affect you. Live and let live. Our existence should not be stomped out because it makes some people uncomfortable or confused.

We are people. We deserve to live. Let us live. Let trans people live

And to any other trans folk reading this: thank you for being here. You are a boundless, beautiful soul, and you are so, so loved. Your life is precious. Please keep fighting with us. I know it is scary right now but we will make it through this.

Our stories, our love, our hopes and dreams can never be stomped out or erased. I’m holding your hand and fighting with you. Let’s show love to the most vulnerable members of our community, like the black trans women and black trans men who need our support now more than ever, and the young ones who are terrified to go to school. You deserve to live. We all deserve to live. Your community is waiting for you with open arms. We will always cherish and support you, no matter what.

Sorry for the long personal post. I hope nothing but safety and love to everyone reading this, even if my existence or this post makes you upset. We are all human and everything else is secondary. Political, gender, class and other labels just divide us when we would be stronger together.

Love is always, always more powerful and more fufilling than hate.

If you can spare a few bucks please consider supporting my partner’s top surgery and survival fund. Thank you 💕

#.txt #trans #transgender #trans day of visibility #tdov #tdov 2024 #happy tdov

[lottiecrabie]

i really wanna get into writing but idk how.. any advice?

okay if you mean actually just Writing, i fear the best advice i could give you is Just Start. i know i’ve said it often and i know i’ve warned how annoying it is to hear, but the truth is that you won’t get better at writing if you don’t do it. practice is absolutely necessary and needed. i’ve posted the first english fic i’ve ever written a little while ago and if you haven’t seen it, Trust me it was atrocious. i had to start there before i could get to where i am now.

the best way to start writing is to have a story you want to tell. i think that’s what will motivate you the most. if there’s any idea that is really inspiring, that’s been trotting your head, that interests you, throw yourself into it! that’ll make you want to write a lot more.

i cannot even begin to tell you the number of times i’ve started a story and haven’t finished it. i think that’s just part of writing, or at least Practicing writing: you’ve got some idea, write two chapters of it, one, a flashforward moment, then let it rest in your drafts if you get more invested in some other fleeting thing. at least you’ll have scratched that itch and gotten in some practice.

if you don’t have The Great Idea yet, there’s tons of small blurbs on the internet that could get you out of that initial rust. writing short scenes or concepts is a great way to practice without the Brainy part of writing, which is, at least to me, Plotting.

honestly writing fanfiction has definitely made me improve and helped me develop my style. it’s a way to keep me accountable and practice writing a lot more; you see how slow i can be to write, and that’s With the motivation of readership! imagine how hell it is when it’s just me and the google doc. having constant validation, feedback and readers was personally been an excellent way to get me to Do the actual writing. my yearly word count has increased exponentially since i’ve joined the ff community a few years ago. so posting your work, even if you’re a little insecure, even if you’re not fully proud, might at least motivate you to Continue doing it!

in terms of actual content, i’ve always been a pretty raw and intuitive writer, so i can’t give much advice on how to figure it out. plus, i have a very distinct style — imageries, vibes over plot, flowery prose, running sentences, personification, em dashes — which doesn’t mean it will be yours, and doesn’t mean yours will be in any way wrong or bad. there’s very clinical and technical writing that can be genius, it’s just not what i do. follow what feels right.

but still here’s a few advices i could give:

if you’re trying to get more prose-esque, i’d say a good way is to work with Images. try tying feelings and thoughts to something extremely concrete and vivid. it’s a good way to create an interesting dichotomy between those two opposites.

i think dialogues are essential to a story, but that’s probably because it’s what i like reading the most. dont lose yourself in the boring, normal conversations; i don’t need to hear every hey hi how are you doing. try jumping directly into the action.

i usually start a scene with a dialogue, throwing people directly into the scene, or with some sort of establishing shot. painting the scene of where and how the characters stand, what the decor looks like, perhaps offering the reader with necessary information.

try ending a scene with a high. again, to me that’s usually a dialogue — still none of that nice to see you bye goodbye stuff. the last line, to me, is usually a quip of some sort. if not a dialogue, there’s some sort of Punch to the end of scene in the action. a realization, a feeling, a moment. if you can’t find a way to end it with a bang, then maybe the scene isn’t necessary and shouldn’t be there at all. you’re building literary tension throughout each scene: i need to feel like there’s some climax even in small capsules.

very important!!! write paragraphs! to me it’s extremely arduous to read a story that has these long paragraphs i have to scroll through for ages to get to the bottom. i lose focus and motivation pretty quickly. one paragraph, one idea. follow that religiously. if you think it’s getting a bit too long, hack it. remember most people read on their phone now, too. one single paragraph shouldn’t take the entire scene.

you don’t have to write Heavy plots. i personally focus on the characters and their journey, which is just as valid! if you can’t seem to find these complex twisting ideas, maybe you can just tell the story of two people falling in love and developing together. that’s just as nice.

wow i actually had more advices than i thought. well, i think that’s it:) good luck:) i believe in you<3

#you’ll never get better if you don’t write always remember that #writing advice #ask

[reasoningdaily]

In the hierarchy of Black male hairstyles that capture the complex duality of his position in America, none is higher than the Jheri curl. By itself, the hairstyle is a chemical manipulation of one’s God-given curl pattern that creates luxurious, flowing curls. During the 1970s and the late ’80s, Jheri curls were the preferred hairstyle of West Coast gang members, making the mashup of stern-faced violence and soft (possibly even moist), flamboyant curls strange bedfellows. The dichotomy was an opulent disturbance, a menacing luxuriousness. A juxtaposition of wealth framed by violence — both impending and imagined.

A beautiful mess.

Ice Cube and Tucker Carlson are jumbo shrimp.

They are amazingly awful. They are icy hot.

Carlson is the Jheri curl on top of Ice Cube’s head.

It makes no sense. And yet here we are, in the year of our Lord Beyoncé, with the sentient soggy boat shoe and the man who gave us “Fuck tha Police” joining forces to vibrate over their nonconformity.

Recently, Carlson, the perpetually stiff business suit, and O’Shea Jackson, bka Ice Cube, the fitted baseball cap, appeared on video for a conversation about topics like the police, race, inflation, Black people, more race, cancel culture and race.

Cube labels himself an independent thinker and believes that this scares most in the mainstream, who are locked into the matrix of sheep thinking. He believes that because he’s defiant in his independent thought, he’s finding himself on the outside looking in with most conversations.

“I tried to go on ′The View’ — they didn’t have me on ′The View,’” Ice Cube told Carlson.

“A few of the [hosts] ... just really didn’t like where I was coming from,” he continued. ”That’s what I was told by the producers. I don’t know if the producers was just copping out and using some of the hosts to not have me come on and explain myself.”

It didn’t occur to Cube that “The View” didn’t want anything to do with his unvaccinated ass. Or that they had no use for his quasi-Republican position on politics. According to Cube, the issue was that he’s not willing to “go along to get along.”

See, Ice Cube is a Black man who believes he’s at the unique precipice of free thought. Not quite hotep and not full MAGA, he has what he believes are unconventional thoughts on how Black America can not only survive, but thrive in a two-party system that doesn’t appear to care about Black people’s needs. And this is where Ice Cube isn’t wrong. Democrats take Black women for granted, which is wild when you realize that they are the backbone of the Democratic Party. Black women not only disproportionately vote Democrat, they have actually saved America more than a few times.

But that doesn’t mean you completely abandon the party. Ice Cube seems to believe that cozying up to the opposition — which includes bigots like Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump, the former president turned indictment hound — is the way to Black America’s promised land. But Cube completely misses that those he’s spending time with are partly to blame for why we’re here. Carlson is not an impartial participant; he’s grand wizard No. 1 of pot-stirring a potential race war. He’s built his entire career around saying the things that racists believe while acting as if he’s not a racist.

Like defending the “great replacement” theory but not calling it out by name:

I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement,’ if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World. But they become hysterical because that’s what’s happening actually. Let’s just say it: That’s true.

Or claiming that “criminal white supremacy ... doesn’t exist”:

Or going on and on about his apparent hatred for diversity:

Ice Cube is not a stupid man. He’s one of the few early hip-hop stars who has parlayed a rap career into a successful acting career and turned three-on-three basketball with washed-up NBA players — which could have easily been a laughable exhibition — into something of a sport. So it’s disingenuous for Cube to act as though he’s just sitting across from a journalist and having an exchange of thoughts when Carlson is not only an architect of chaos, but using his platform to spread vicious stereotypes about the people Cube claims to love.

So the two men do the dance — Carlson, the perpetually wide-eyed bigot who acts as if he doesn’t know that Cube has crossed over to the dark side, and Cube, the prophetic lyricist whose narcissism can’t handle that his “Contract With Black America” wasn’t warmly received by Democrats.

Oh, you didn’t know that’s what started it? Then let me take you back. In 2020, Cube created a manifesto born of the Black uprising after the police killings of unarmed Black men, women and children. Cube considered it a living document that would be a start to address, among other things, police and prison reform. Democrats liked the plan but didn’t act on it. However, Trump’s 2020 campaign reached out to Cube to incorporate portions of the CWBA into a document it was working on, called the “Platinum Plan.” While Cube never met with Trump, that didn’t stop the campaign from clout-chasing off Cube’s name.

“Leaders gonna lead, haters gonna hate,” Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser to the 2020 campaign, wrote online after noting that Cube helped with the Platinum Plan. “Thank you for leading!”

Cube then went on a world news tour explaining himself while losing more ground.

“Every side is the Darkside for us here in America,” he tweeted, while defending his work with Trump. “They’re all the same until something changes for us. They all lie and they all cheat but we can’t afford not to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan.”

Except it isn’t. There are limits to this shit. Not everyone is privy to the conversation. What’s saddest about Ice Cube filming an interview and car ride around Los Angeles with Carlson is that he’s not even wise enough to realize he’s being played. The conversation isn’t furthering race relations in this country; it’s actually empowering Carlson’s beliefs about the ineffectiveness of Barack Obama’s presidency and the Black Lives Matter movement. And it’s difficult to hear Carlson call Cube one of the “least obedient entertainers in LA.”

But this is what happens when money grows up. In truth, Tucker Carlson and Ice Cube are just two abundantly wealthy men riding around Cube’s former neighborhood and laughing from the comfort of their chauffeur-driven vehicle. At one point, the two men end up behind a tour bus taking riders through historic movie locations in Los Angeles. It’s a surreal moment, as the back of the bus is emblazoned with photos of a young Cube from his days in the group N.W.A. At one point, Carlson asks if Cube wants to get out and say “hi” to the people on the bus, who are surely his fans.

“No,” Cube says emphatically. “Not unless they want to give us money.”

And there it is, folks. No need to stare longingly for the person Cube used to be, as even he wouldn’t recognize himself. Tucker Carlson and Ice Cube are just two capitalists sharing a moment that doesn’t look like anything we ever thought we’d see, and yet somehow it makes sense.

#Ice Cube Should Have Checked Himself Before He Wrecked Himself With Tucker Carlson #Ice Cube #gop fuckery #dumb asses #nwa no mo

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

"Early in my career, I got a lot of really bad advice. I was a young guitar player. I started this career really, really young. I did my first national tour at 15 and dropped out of high school at 17 to try to do this full-time. And at the time, I had so many people telling me what I needed to do in order to be successful in this industry — people saying, 'You need to show more skin'; 'If you have a boyfriend, you can't say that you're dating anybody because you need to appear available'; all this kind of stuff. And looking back, obviously, that's not the kind of attention that I wanted to get; I wanted to be known as a guitar player, and that was it. So once I realized that, I went the complete opposite way and I started really dressing down. I dyed my hair darker — not 'brown brown' but darker, darker blond — to stand out less. And I'd wear a men's large t-shirt onstage and baggy cargo shorts and started touring with heavier bands. And I was, like, 'I don't wanna be a hot chick. I just wanna be a guitar player.' And that's not who I am either. And I kept getting pulled back and forth through this dichotomy of, like, 'No, you have to be the sex symbol,' and, 'No. You don't wanna be known for that. You have to just be a serious musician.' And the reality is where I am doesn't fit into either of those molds. And it wasn't until I started just dressing how I wanna dress and acting how I wanna act… And, yeah, if I have a boyfriend, I'm gonna tell the world about it because I love him. And I don't need to appear single and I don't need to have fans think they have a chance with me in order to be respected and have people coming to my shows. And once I just started embracing who I actually am as a person, that's when great opportunities and great successes started coming to me. And when I was trying to just fit into some mold or another mold, I was just chasing something that wasn't authentic; it wasn't really who I am. So I just wish that I could go back and tell my younger self, 'Stop trying to fit into what other people tell you you should be, and just be who you are.'"

Full interview in here.

#Nita Strauss #2023 interviews #2023 news #Nita Strauss news

[cynosra]

Some time ago, I wrote a post about All For One being lame. Since then, I've spent some time reexamining my opinion of him.

At that time, I argued he was inferior to most of the other villains in BNHA because he's lacking their complexity. However, after thinking it over again, I realized that my problem with All For One isn't necessarily his lack of complexity. I actually don't mind him not having a sympathetic background (so far) or an interesting character arc or a plausible ideology. What bothers me about him is that – to me – he's lacking charisma and memorability. He doesn't really have anything that makes him stand out to me.

In my previous post, I made it sound like I only enjoy villains with complex backgrounds and motivations, but that's not true, actually. Recently, I've been watching Yugioh Zexal for the first time in my life (because why not) and its most prominent villain in the second half, Vector, somehow managed to become one of my favorite characters of all time – even though he is (seemingly) evil just for shits and giggles. He's evil because he can – kinda like All For One. Unlike All For One, however, Vector steals every single scene he's in. He manipulates, betrays, kills, and trolls people left and right for the pettiest of reasons, but he's just so gosh darn entertaining, over the top, and quirky about it that it's always a joy to watch him on screen. Vector is an absolute treat of a villain.

Coming back to All For One, it's not like I want him to act as cartoonishly over the top as Vector does.

All For One acting like this

or this

wouldn't exactly fit the tone of BNHA.

However, my issue with All For One is that he's supposed to be this incredibly charismatic criminal mastermind, but so far his charisma seems to be more of an informed attribute rather than anything else. He admittedly had some great scenes during the Hideout Raid arc, but that was more than 250 chapters ago. Additionally, in my opinion, nothing he's shown so far (even in Kamino) is on par with Dabi's dance or Tomura's speech about the dichotomy between heroes and villains. And I think that is what ultimately rubs me the wrong way about him.

That All For One is completely overshadowed by Tomura and Dabi in terms of complexity is a given. But that he can't even keep up with them when it comes to charisma and entertainment factor is kinda disappointing.

Of course, whether a character is seen as charismatic or not depends on the viewer. Charisma, to me, is a subjective thing. Yet, it's an open secret that many people would have preferred Tomura as the final villain over All For One. (For the record, I'm not one of them). I know, most of them argue that it's due to Tomura's growth as a villain feeling pointless with All For One as the real main antagonist. (Never mind the fact that Tomura has actually never really been able to grow into his own, but that's a whole other can of worms.) However, maybe the reception of him as the final villain would be better if he felt less like some tryhard trying to emulate every single generic villain trope the world has ever seen.

On the other hand, maybe that's the point. He may steal all the quirks in the world, manipulate every human being he comes across, become the most powerful entity in the universe, and yet he'll still be unable to forge his own identity as a villain aside from some comic book demon lord and develop emotions strong enough to allow him to steal One For All. So, on his own, without Tomura, he's quite pathetic. He's nothing, really. But, maybe that's what he was intended to be.

(Still wish he was more entertaining, though.)

#bnha #bnha spoilers #all for one #afo #shigaraki tomura #yugioh zexal #vector #all for one is still one of my least favorite characters in bnha #but i think i can appreciate his writing a bit more now #but really only a little

[kittybug99]

Rant:

You know, I dont really mind gender reveal parties in general. It’s a party (bar the extreme examples of people setting fire to forests they’re usually fine). Humans are social creatures. We will literally find any excuse to gather and eat food and share excitement. And babies are SOSOSO exciting! thats a good thing! so now we have the technology so you can see one of the socially consequential surprises (peenIS or peenISNT) about babies early on, hurrah for technological advancements! but damn if some people don’t take the gender binary way too seriously.

I recall being about 5 or so when my elder sibling (AFAB - this is relevant) pointed out to me the color binary because as a child their favoriete color was blue and I the parroting infant I was retorted “but blue is a BOY color” to which they replied “there’s no such thing as boy and girl colors.” Sometimes you’re so blinded by cultural grooming that all it takes is one person saying something that shatters the glass. I realized that the only girl colors were pink and purple and boys got all of the rest of them and decided that that was unfair and thus agreed that the boy-color/girl-color dichotomy was socially constructed and thus bullshit (I mean, not in so eloquent of words).

Anyway, my SIL sent a black and white pic of my nibling painting a wooden heart and asked “any guesses as to the gender before we announce?” and I guessed dinosaur, sibling guessed human. She then sent a color video of nibling painting the heart pink and said “Oh, we’re gonna have a GIRL, you’re gonna have a SISTER, and what color is that? is it PINK???”

Like, bud. itself probably just because shes a preschool teacher so thats just always how she talks to him, but like it’s so gross??? like its so obviously unconscious coaching? I know she doesn’t mean any harm, but like damn! Teach them young that pink is a girl color.

#personal #I did guess correctly though because SIL said the lab tech was 98% sure #you don’t say 98% sure if you see a penis #if you see a penis you see a penis #if you dont see a penis it might just be hiding #anyway I did guess female and told my sibling because I wanted to guess because I love a gamble even with zero stakes #babies are fun but can we stop closely associating their genetalia with their proposed future gender role? #its gross #thats gonna be an adult some day #treat them with respect

[queerfictionwriter]

Are you a Gold Star lesbian? (Just in case you don't know what it means, a Gold Star lesbian is a lesbian that has never had the sex with a guy and would never have any intentions of ever doing so)

Usually, I wouldn’t answer an ask like this. Usually I’d delete or ignore it, for a lot of reasons. But you’ve caught me on a bad day nonny, so to you I say:

What in the unbridled, everliving FUCK made you think it was okay to send this????

Because, NEWSFLASH! This? Was not okay! You don’t get to go up to random strangers on the street and start asking them questions about their sex lives, and you sure as hell don’t get to pull that shit on the internet because you’re a coward hiding behind the anon option. My sexual orientation, behaviour and partners are none of your fucking business. Period.

But, since you’ve presented your whole ass to me for target practise and I am a woman who doesn’t believe in turning down opportunities for a good time, here’s an itemized list of everything wrong with your ask:

1) It’s rude. Like, your-grandma-would-slap-you-for-this levels of rude.

2) I know I already said it, but it bears repeating: my sexual orientation, partners, and behaviour is none of your fucking business, and never will be.

3) The term “gold star lesbian” is pretty offensive. Because it implies that if a woman realizes she’s a lesbian later in life, after having boyfriends--or even a marriage, which may or may not include kids--that she is somehow “lesser” for it. Everyone’s journey is different, and pretending that there’s some “gold star” tier of any sexuality is not only weird and obsessive, it also unnecessarily shames people for needing time to discover themselves.

4) A corollary to #3: the very concept of a “gold star lesbian” is also inherently sexist, because you’re not only demeaning women who are romantically and sexually attracted to men, you’re also implying a really gross dichotomy wherein women are “pure”--or “golden”, if you will--until they have been touched by a man, which taints them, because men are somehow dirty?

5) This logic leads to the idea that having sex with a man inherently devalues women--which smacks of not only Conservative Christian ideology and abstinence-only deceit-based sex ed, but also of emotionally-stunted Puritanical values, and establishes men as an inherent threat to women, which is:

6) A putrescent pile of TERF horseshit. Men are not monsters, women are not innocent angels, and sex is not inherently degrading no matter who you have it with, how many times you have it, what kind of sex you have, or how many people you have it with as long as consent is given by all parties.

7) As a final note, this kind of rhetoric is really, really damaging to lesbians who have been the victims of sexual assault perpetrated by men, because by your stated definition, a lesbian assault survivor is “tainted” and no longer a “gold star”, and that is a whole lot of salt in a very deep wound that absolutely no one in that situation deserves.

I have no idea what possessed you to send me this ask, but I would strongly recommend that you get off the internet and go think about your fucking life choices.

#why are people like this #sometimes people suck #don't do this #don't be a dick #feminism #sex is not the enemy #wlw #lesbians #LGBTQIA #queer community #Twist loses her shit