#also not for nothing but THIS is why Identity Politics Bad

[bogunicorn]

reading the news is so exhausting bc at this point it's just wall-to-wall opinion pieces of z*onists saying the dumbest shit possible with their entire chests and then crying about how the entire world is against them because they invented a new definition for the word "genocide" and nobody with a partially working brain wants to adopt it

#bog post #politics #'you can't say that jewish people are capable of genocide!' #fun fact: yeah you totally can #bc 'genocide' is a definition for a set of behaviors #not predicated on faith #i don't see 'except when jewish people do it' scribbled under it #it's fucking embarrassing #this is not an invitation to shit on jewish people or judaism in my mentions btw #the existence of evil evangelicals isn't permission to decide every christian is a sociopath #ISIS is not permission to be islamophobic to random muslims #don't be a fucking shithead #stay salty #and frankly the non-zionist jews in your life could use some sympathy if you have it to spare #bc they're catching more hands than usual from people who were just looking for an excuse #also not for nothing but THIS is why Identity Politics Bad #bc people are so convinced that being CALLED bigoted is worse then BEING bigoted #that they'll breathlessly defend literal actual internationally recognized genocide #because that's less scary than the possibility of pro-genocide zionists calling them anti-semitic

[annabelle--cane]

I got into tma in 2022 on a road trip with no internet and then only tangentially interacted with the fandom (light hcs, fanart) and I am. so compelled to understand what the fandom was like in 2020. what were the takes. why was it so awful. does it explain why every time I try to look into protocol I get a rancid Vibe and jump back 5 feet.

to preface: on scale, it really wasn't any worse than your average fandom, it just A) got Very popular over a short period and B) that period was during a time of particularly high stress where many people suddenly could only experience a social life online. tma is also a fairly political and progressive work, which inevitably leads to certain kinds of Takes. it also got Very popular right at the point where the episodes were reaching their peak of explicit social commentary and sustained morbid tone, which, especially combined with point B from above, drew out some really visceral reactions from a lot of people. nothing was actually inherently rancid about 2020-2021 tma fandom, there was just a bit of a perfect storm of factors.

having said that. some common discourse themes:

the perennial shipping discourse. georgie is the only one of our leads to have never killed a person, but really, I pinky promise that your ship between two unrepentant serial killers is 100x more problematic than my ship between two unrepentant serial killers.

asexuality: how dangerous is it? on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being "mostly" to 5 being "completely," how humiliating is it to be asexual? what is the singular true asexual experience that is unproblematic to write about?

wow, jonny was so out of line for writing this episode, what gives him the right to--oh he said it's directly based on personal experiences? so sorry, my bad, I'll learn for next time. wow, jonny was so out of line for writing this epi--

I did not like this episode. this is obviously a direct act of violence against me. why would an episode be Not Good when there is, in the world, Sadness?

hello, I have sorted all of the characters into a simple chart that clearly delineates which of them are completely irredeemable monsters with no interiority or motives and which of them are perfect angel victims who have only ever been nice and never hurt anyone, ever (and if they did hurt someone then that person deserved it). if I see you adding nuance to any of my rulings, I will kill you. this also extends to the podcast writers. #ilovebinaries.

the characters... are queer... and maybe even other marginalized identities as well... and yet, they do bad things? there's not even a single completely morally innocent character? by god, did they not think about the implications this might have!

web!martin. lol people are so stupid for thinking that the theory is at all plausible, media comprehension much? that would lichrally imply that a queer, poor, mentally ill character might be capable of badness. what do you mean we are currently listening to an arc where he's an accomplice to serial murder.

#transmasc-wizard #answered #tma

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

So I am a bit ashamed given modern day politics to admit that I'm left leaning at all. Even if I'm a just Left of Center Libertarian.

But the reason why is because of the fact that a huge swath of the left has an issue when it comes to words. Specifically changing the meaning of words until they mean next to nothing at all.

What do I mean by this? Well let's consider, what words have been made to mean nothing by the left:

Gender

Sex

Abortion

Genocide

Nazi

Man

Woman

Child

Family

Capitalism

Communism

Socialism

Fascism

Racism

Sexism

Etc

The list goes on and on and on.

Nazi more or less now means, "I don't like you and you don't agree with me thus forth I will bestow this label on you so as to smear you publicly"

Gender used to mean sex and now it both does and does not mean sex and even is now used to mean "Identity" with that was never what it meant.

Genocide is SUPPOSED to mean the intentional removal of a group of people through killing them or breeding them out by sterilization or intentional delusion of their bloodline. (Example of this is the raping of Uyghur Muslim women by Han chinese men and the sterilization of the Uyghur Muslim men by chemical castration or actual castration). Now it just means, "People dying in war is genocide. People not being allowed to chemically castrate themselves is genocide. People being allowed to eat meat is genocide". IE: It means nothing at all.

And then there's my favorite phrase from the left.

"This is a threat to our Democracy" which actually translates to: This is a threat to the power of Democrats therefore we need to smear and slander anyone pushing whatever is being pushed currently. And we will use weasel words normies use in order to scare them away from whatever this thing being pushed is".

First and foremost, we DO NOT live in a Democracy. We live in a Constitutional Republic. Secondly, when people want power as BADLY as Dems and will lie, cheat, steal, and smear to get there, you should be concerned. I mean for god sake, people consider a very TINY riot at the capital with 99.99% of people unarmed completely, while we also know feds were in the crowd, an "Insurrection"; But then will not consider fire bombing the security office outside the White House, the pushing down of the WH fence, and the burning of a historical church across the street, and the injuring and killing of several Guards and Police the same thing.

So basically, it's a "If we are in power, everything we do, no matter what it is, is fine and reasonable. If you are in power anything we do to try to remove you from power is fine and reasonable.", situation.

That's why I don't like most of the left. Because they think they are gods. Their "Moral" is correct even when it never stops changing. Look at their defense of slavery in the middle east all because, "Those poor oppressed Arabs". I'm sorry but what?! SO slavery is FINE so long as it's non white doing it? That's what I'm hearing right? And sadly a lot of the time it's "YES! That is what you are hearing". If time has taught me anything it's that most of the left is a brainwashed, uneducated cult. They believe EVERYTHING outside of their cult views as evil and thus forth need to lie about it to make everyone else NOT involved or not informed also have the same resentment towards the people they hate.

And it was the last straw when I saw post after post after post of leftists excusing rape. And then people like Hasan Piker calling Kids, "Colonizers" while in the breath before talking about violent removal of people is fine if they are colonizers.

No leftists. You need to understand something very clearly. The "Right" you view as so bad and evil are consistent in most of their morals. But you view everything in bad faith. Thus can't see past your own bias long enough to realize the actual evil ones are you.

And understand. I'm not calling EVERYONE on the left evil. But if you worship the left, you probably are evil. Even if you believe you are doing "The right thing" that doesn't mean you are. And it's about time you realized that.

[goldmanguyperson]

a little message to my therian friends: Do not use the Therian Guide Forums.

The owner of the site, Dustwolf, is transphobic and supports it under the guise of “allowing free speech” as well as supposedly defending biology. Specifically, he is against and tacitly supports people who are against especially genders based around species, or who are otherwise outside of the binary and whatever could be considered in between. He did nothing about people arguing to me that they do not need to respect a person’s gender because of culture or (bad) biology.

He essentially told me that they deserve to have “free speech”. Told me that he was doing what he was to “protect the community”. Like, protect who? The bigots? Your small little bigoted group of therians? Really?

Other things—Sysmedicalism was endorsed by the previous owner (and also literal child predator and bestiality committer. he has since been banned but co owner Dustwolf remains as sole owner) LycanTheory. The wording he uses includes rejecting self diagnoses of disorders that go under the label of plurality, and asks way too much personal, even confidential information of systems—“why should we accept anybody’s claims of ‘plurality’ without a professional diagnosis or history of treatment”. r/systemcringe talking points get regurgitated there as well.

The forums also allow discussion of zoophilia while at the same time banning mention of consent, and i really hope i do not have to explain why this is pretty gross and dangerous.

Rejected and banned members on the forum get labeled as “human”. Disrespecting somebody’s identity for any reason is pretty disgusting. Don’t particularly care what theyve done to make people believe they should be treated that way.

Dustwolf and previous co-owner LycanTheory have advocated for therian seperatism and clearly look down on non-therians under the alterhuman umbrella. Dustwolf does so while simultaneously trying to dunk on feminism and “identity politics”.

I saw kids applying to be on these forums when i was first trying to learn about my otherkinity and found this website (it is considerably high up in search results relating to therian information). I am worried for them. Please warn people against using this website as best you can. The sense of community you might get there is just not worth the potential damage to your identity journey and emotional state.

A deeper look can be found at this link: https://invisibleotherkin.neocities.org/Resource-Masterlist/Therian-Guide-Beware

#otherkin #therian #alterhuman #plurality #therian guide forums

[qqueenofhades]

I'm not sure if you can answer this, but what is it that (in general, not just based on the current state of affairs) seems to cause people in more left leaning circles to constantly underestimate the danger that the far right poses?

Like, this seems to be a consistent pattern, given what I've read up on men like Ernst Thalmann and the like, who keep on treating the right wing as being less of a threat than the center or not as left as the left. For that matter, why do they keep insisting that the center is worse than the right, even when it's pretty evidently not the case?

My quasi-educated guess would be that it's because of something called "the psychology of small differences." See where people who live next door to each other, in the same neighborhood, or in the same country (or in countries right next to each other) hate each other far more than unknown people far away, because these people are almost like them but then aren't, and that's a threat to their identity and their sense of themselves. Hence we have leftists insisting that liberals or even centrists are somehow Much Worse!!! than literal far-right fascists, even if it makes no sense, because it doesn't have to do with logic, reality, or an objective appraisal of the situation, but a threat to their personal sense of themselves and/or selfish view of themselves as clearly the best and most moral ever. As such, something something people who almost agree with them, but not quite, are actually worse than their open enemies.

Also, I'm glad you mentioned Ernst Thalmann. People should read up on him. He was the leader of the German Communist Party from 1925-33, and played an explicit part in aligning them with Stalinist Russia and vigorously demonizing the liberal/left-wing establishment German political party, the Social Democrats, as "social fascists" who were obviously worse than the boorish failed artist Austrian populist guy running for the National Socialist Workers' Party:

....except the National Socialist Workers' Party was, you know, the Nazis, the guy running for them was Adolf Hitler, Thalmann spent so much time attacking the Social Democrats as "just as bad" that it was impossible for the German leftist and liberal/socialist/communist factions to work together, and Hitler was elected in 1933. Good thing nothing bad happened after that, right?

Anyway. Don't be Ernst Thalmann. The end.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

[inchidentally]

What do you think was the turning point in Lando and Oscar's relationship?

I really want to know what other ppl think about this bc for me personally I don't think that moment has even come yet! I made this post about a landmark landoscar moment but I don't think that's been the big turning point into them going ahhh this is it, this is what our friendship is.

like I've said before in my way too many text posts, Lando has stayed thrown by the fact that Oscar doesn't even remotely fit into the Carlos and Daniel type of teammate he's used to. Lando's shown Oscar his quiet side, his fidgety side, his cocky side, his bratty side, his naughty/flirty side and all of them get the same quiet fond indulgent response from Oscar. guys like Carlos and Daniel have known exactly how to play Lando almost from day one and we get all this great content. but apart from a little bit of sass back sometimes, Oscar stays in that very passive role and the content we get from them is Oscar watching his very famous, very well-established and charismatic teammate that he's used to watching on a phone screen. occasionally we get glimpses of Prema or Alpine Oscar come out but it's very rare.

I feel like he's wanted to just get his head down this season and prove himself the way he's said he feels he needs to. he's clearly taking nothing for granted and I don't think we're going to see him start to fully relax until a good few races into 2024. Lando is F1/McLaren establishment by now and personally I think Oscar puts Lando into the same category of things that he's trying to prove himself to. that was terrible sentence structure but you get what I mean ??

(rest under a cut bc yeah I overdo it and also just my opinion so pls nobody take it seriously)

the general standard for F1 rookies is either to latch onto the personality of their teammate or show up with a persona already in place. in both cases it's because young men have crazy amounts of insecurity but are also desperate to ingratiate themselves into a group as fast as possible. Lando was kind of an exception bc he entered F1 basically as a zygote. he went from being Carlos' baby to Daniel's baby right up until the late 2022 season. but since then we've seen Lando learn how to do the flirty humor and cocky joking that pretty much all drivers use to navigate each other. Lando's not naturally as much of a cabrón as the rest of them but he's found a way to fit in that feels natural and that also tracks with his streamer/youtuber identity.

but literally NONE of that F1 rookie standard behavior fits Oscar. I was talking about this with @landofication and how Oscar's confidence and unbotheredness comes from a such genuinely harmless place - he simply doesn't perform for anyone and he doesn't fib to people even casually. he's incredibly well-raised and respectful and polite but he won't ever say things he doesn't mean. he won't talk for the sake of filling a lull in conversation AND he also won't say something controversial/opinionated if it seems unnecessary or cocky. for example !! Alpine made an absolutely wild assumption about his future without even speaking to him first and he very calmly stood up for himself and later on made a good humored joke about the drama when he signed the extension with McLaren. he's been more mature and calm than men twice and three times his age.

that kind of honesty is why it feels completely authentic when Oscar forgets the cameras are on him and he just tracks Lando's every move and laughs at all of Lando's jokes and forgets he's supposed to play a role. same with how genuinely supportive he always is of Lando even when he himself has had a bad performance. he also doesn't want to make himself being a Lando fanboy into ~hilarious media fodder~ he's just being open about respecting and really liking Lando. kind of like how he can giggle and get bashful about gay innuendo or a guy play-flirting with him (or Lando getting raunchy to make him blush) but I've genuinely never seen him bro-zone someone or play at acting gay for laughs. he can see why the flirting and raunch is funny but he doesn't get why acting gay would be funny.

and I'm not having a go at guys who do that kind of humor or saying that they're doing it offensively! I've said before that a lot of what Americans view as "gay" in non-American male friendships is extremely standard straight dude behavior everywhere else. flirting and being physical with your bros is different from flirting with women to them precisely because they won't date or have sex w their bros. there's no need for nohomo because it was never homo lol the lines are very clear. also a lot of that humor in F1 is a common survival tactic in male pro sports. like a way to have fun and bond while also knowing that cameras are aiming at you every second you're not in your driver's room or hotel room. it's way better to diffuse the tension of being constantly watched by being silly and flirty with your bros rather than trying to hold a real conversation.

but it's just not Oscar personally to initiate that stuff for laughs or to know how to pick up those jokes and play ball. just like how he's not starry-eyed about Lando as a joke! he's just genuinely got this fanboy crush he's dealing with as best he can during a high pressure rookie season. he's not bothering to try and complicate things further or push himself into Lando's existing social life.

BUT poor Lando is definitely still in the process trying to figure Oscar out. the little fixations Lando already has of his own like Oscar's name and Oscar being such a good boy who blushes at sex jokes and Oscar being so mature and patient even when Lando is fed up with filming and having a blood sugar drop are so cute to me because Lando's been slowly picking up on what Oscar genuinely likes about him and where his boundaries are. the photo of Oscar on lando.jpg with the heart caption right underneath it was unbearably vulnerable. such a tiny way to say I really like my new teammate even if I don't understand him yet.

I do however think it's driving Lando iNsAnE that Oscar has no concept of casual PDA. I'm hoping he's seen by now that Oscar isn't even like that with Lily and that it isn't at all personal. but oh my god he's so ready to be able to hug and cuddle Oscar and do everything he does with Carlos and Daniel and his pre-F1 big brothers like Max F, George and Alex. I'm all for respecting people's physical boundaries but hopefully Oscar thinks back to Lando's reaction here and let's Lando latch onto him more often.

aaaaaand that's all to say that I think we're going to have to be patient to see where Lando and Oscar land in terms of what sort of deeper friendship they have. their teammates relationship has already been tested thoroughly in just one season and it seems so solid which has obviously been first priority. but between Lando having such a full social life already and Oscar having gotten used to being by himself or socializing very privately I'm not expecting a carlando or dando type thing where they share friends or hobbies until they've gotten to know each other better individually. which in a way for me is really sweet because the amount that they already sync up and are comfortable together and share their team duties despite not having that immediate jokey rapport is just !!! I really love that. sort of how silly bubbly Lando is my beloved but quieter and more thoughtful Lando is maybe even a little bit more my beloved?

anyway thankfully we've got three more years locked down to keep seeing them feel each other out (huhuahauhsfhh)

#landoscar #mctwinks #it is so dangerous to ask me these things I rly hope you don't mind me being insane #mine #inchreplies

[hezuart]

Hey! Dyt that they have Ruined Striker’s Character in Helluva Boss? I Loved The Striker that we had in Season 1 but in Season 2 it feels a bit off for me, I don’t know where to put my finger on it. It’s like he lost that sense of character that he had in Season 1, It’s hard for me to explain it. I guess I shouldn’t have expected as much for This Series but sadly Love it and would it be Bad if I thought that Striker and Blitz should have ended up Together and take his offer in The Harvest Moon festival Episode? (if they did take that offer, I would’ve loved to see them taking down some Overlords in Hell, Plus Something about Their interactions made me Ship Them More Than Stolas, Wondered what actually happened if he joined the I.M.P?? I mean he nearly did but Oh Well) and Also Blitz has a Horse!? Does Loona know about this!? WT-!?

Reasons why Striker's character is "ruined" since season 2:

1. His arrogance has been upped to a ridiculous degree (big d*ck statues of himself) He was only arrogant around Moxie because they hated each other, but Striker showed off in physical skill and song. Not sexually? 2. In season 1, he was stealthy, unknown, and very cunning. In season 2, he is brash, famous, and dumb. (He tries to kill Stolas in a public setting without protecting his own identity, he's apparently a well-known killer for hire in Wrath, and he doesn't kill Stolas immediately after finally tying him up in the alleyway. 3. In season 1 he wiped the floor with Moxie, Millie, and Blitz, while in season 2, randomly, Millie & Moxie and Blitz defeat him easily and twice, making him look pathetic. 4. In season 1 he was hired by Stella, a high-class goetia to kill Stolas, and thus was provided angelic weapons to do so. He hates upper-class demons and to be working for one is a high level of irony that adds more to his character; but it also hinted that he was playing dirty, that he would eventually use these weapons to turn against Stella to kill other high-class demons to fight against the political power balance (which is what he invited Blitz to) and Stella provided a great boon for him; extremely rare, dangerous weapons. In season 2, he's seen working for Crimson. However, he is the one providing his resume, almost begging to be hired by a (supposed to be) low-class IMp Mob Boss, but outside of maybe money, Crimson has nothing of value to offer in comparison to the hot deal that was Stella's offering. 5. In season 1, he is brutal but thorough with his attacks. He doesn't play with his toys. In season 2, he drags Stolas's torture out, messing around and playing with him for no good reason. (Yeah, Stella ordered that, but she ordered it LATER, AFTER Stolas was captured, and even that is against what season 1 Stella wanted, she wanted him dead ASAP. There is no reason to torture Stolas, especially if it leaves things open for him to escape. 6. His voice actor changed. Bosco does a really good job, but it's just not the same. Striker was probably the best villain in the series, and now he's just kind of a villain of the we(a)k kind of character I just don't care about anymore.

His character was only slightly better in the Fizzarolli past episode, but just seeing him dumbly pay attention to Fizz's song just solidified he's a joke now. Season 1 Striker would never do that. He would have sniffed out Blitz and gone after him immediately. Maybe have even shot Fizz; Crimson ordered him not to hurt him, but I dont think Striker would give a damn at that point. I agree that Striker and Blitz would be a far more interesting dynamic. Actually fighting against the power instead of Blitz just... sleeping with said power. Blitz wrapped himself up in Stolas, basically becoming his s*x slave in exchange for the book. Blitz even runs a business for sinners, sinners of which are dangerous towards imps and overpopulating Hell's upper layer. Striker offers him an out, Striker offers him everything. He offers him change, he offers him a chance to be someone. Stolas on the other hand still hasn't changed his classist attitude. A part of him will always disrespect Blitz, and I don't know if the writers will ever address it at this point. I mean, Blitz was confirmed to have been attracted to him. It very well could have happened.

#striker #helluva boss #helluva boss critical #text post

[vrisrezis]

Hii! Could I request A Gwen Stacy x fem! reader where Gwen takes the reader on a date and ends up introducing her to her dad

Anyway I love your writing style!

AAAA I LVOE THIS.IDEA SMM!! I was kinda planning on writing something like this so enjoy 👍🏾

You and Gwen haven’t went on a date in what feels like forever, honestly. Granted, it’s kinda hard to make dates constant, what with you both saving your respective worlds and all. You insisted this date be in her universe, because most of them are at yours and you also think Gwen’s universe is so nice to look at, so beautiful and you can’t help but love the colors. You in fact, make the conscious effort to tell her how beautiful her world is everytime you’re over.

You two ended up eating at some restaurant you wanted to try out, and of course, who is she to say no to you?

At this point in your relationship, you’ve been dating for a full year now. And gwen has yet to introduce you to her father. You figure she must have her reasons, so you don’t question it. Around the time you two started dating, you knew she had a complicated relationship with him upon revealing her secret identity. You know things have been looking up for them since then, but you understand why it must be hard for her to show you to her father.

Perhaps he was scared to meet you because you’re from another dimension, or something.

But you assumed incorrectly! Because George wanted nothing more than to meet you. He had asked gwen on multiple occasions, and everytime she had to come up with some excuse as to why you couldn’t meet up with him today.

George had come to the conclusion that maybe you were just scared to meet him, scared to make a bad first impression or something. He was of course, wrong as well.

So when he saw his daughter walk out of a restaurant, hand in hand with you, he knew exactly who you were. A great opportunity to not only meet you, but perhaps to make you comfortable around him.

You feel your girlfriend tense, and you wonder why for a moment, before noticing a large man approaching you both. It doesn’t take you long to figure out who the man is, you give a big grin to the larger man. “Mr Stacy! Oh it is a pleasure to finally meet you!” you say, quickly removing your hand from Gwen’s in order to politely shake his. He gives you a smile, seemingly pleased by your politeness and apparent friendliness. “Oh please, the pleasure is all mine. I’m honored to meet somebody that my daughter talks about nonstop.” he says with a grin, and you see some red coat your girlfriends cheeks. “Dad!” he laughs at Gwen’s state, especially when you start to grin as well. You nudge her, “aww, you talk about me? Nonstop?”

She rolls her eyes, “okay, we were just leaving!” she says in an embarrassed tone, and her dad simply laughs. “Okay okay, I’ll let you lovebirds be.” he turns to you, “it was nice to finally meet you though, come over for dinner sometime will ya?” he says, and you nod in excitement while your girlfriend groans in the background.

#spidergwen x reader #gwen stacy x you #gwen stacy x reader #spiderwoman x reader #atsv x reader #atsv x you #atsv x y/n

[the1975attheirverybest]

Matty Healy and Palestine

as many of you will have noticed, since the October 7 attacks and the subsequent Gazan crisis, I have, on a weekly basis, been receiving asks and DMs asking me to justify Matty’s silence on the matter. Furthermore, any time that I have criticized another celebrity or public figure (even on matters that have nothing to do with speaking up about Gaza) I have received “oh what about matty being silent about Palestine?” As a “rebuttal.” Let this be my official response ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Matty’s silence is disappointing to me.

His justification for his silence is, in my opinion, dumb and invalid. The argument that people shouldn’t look to him and Brittany Broski for political activism is reductive. It assumes all criticism of celebrities on the matter is performative. He is not the same as Broski and it’s either stupid or willfully dismissive (or both) of him to put himself and Broski in the same camp.

In my mind, whatever his reasons may be, it’s still disappointing.

I recognize that his current position might have something to do with the backlash he’s received this summer.

Personally, I don’t find that to be a legitimate argument for being silent but I respect it if that’s how he feels.

My disappointment in him with respect to this particular issue in no way negates what I belief about him: that he’s a good guy, that he stands up for what’s right, etc.

Nor do I think it erases his track record as an artist who is vocal about social politics and views his voice as part of his artistic identity.

I’m fine being disappointed with him and also being a fan. I don’t find those two things to be in conflict with one another.

I prefer to have a relationship with the artists that I love where I treat them as human beings. That includes not disposing of them the second that we have a disagreement.

What I do find odd, though, is people’s obsession with his silence. Gaza has been under attack for close to 100 days. So, for close to 100 days, there are those of you who woke up every week determined to ask me about this again and again and again and again….

It makes me wonder why? What about him falling short as a human being but still being worthy of respect really has your panties in a bunch like that?

Have you ever considered, instead of demanding an explanation of me, maybe putting that obsessive energy into calling your reps? Donating? Protesting?

Especially when, it would seem, I’m the only blog in 75blr who is consistently being pressed on this issue.

It’s starting to feel racist

I’m not your token Palestinian fan and don’t appreciate being treated as such.

I’m also not Matty’s spokesperson. PR manager, etc. so why is my opinion constantly questioned?

Again, it’s only me who’s getting those asks, and I have to wonder, are you all implying that I’m a bad fan? A bad Palestinian? Who the fuck are you to judge that? Tokenizing aspects of my identity that I’ve chosen to share online is an act of aggression. So I’m drawing a boundary here.

I will not be commenting on the whole “Matty’s silence on Palestine” issue any more. Please respect that.

#matty healy #the 1975

[myersesque]

i'm never gonna forgive the internet for acting like autigender is ~identifying as autism~ and not a descriptor for the actual common neuroqueer experience in which your perception and/or understanding of gender is significantly influenced by your autism to the point where you experience gender in a uniquely autistic way - and yeah, not every autistic person is like that - no shit, it's a spectrum for a reason - but i am, and there's nothing wrong with acknowledging that as part of my identity. my gender is influenced by my special interests (i have a collection of horror-themed xenogenders); it's also influenced by my personal perception of gender as a whole (male and female are manmade social constructs that you certainly can adhere to, if that feels right to you, but i have never fit neatly into any offered box - or seen the purpose in having the boxes anyway - and so choose to just sort of lie over the top of all of them like a cabaret performer sprawling dramatically over a piano), a perception that would be incredibly different if i were allistic (gender being a social construct is arguably why it's meaningless to me - i don't understand the purpose of it, the same way i don't understand the importance of eye contact to seem polite, or why being honest is bad, or why people will answer a completely different question to the one you asked).

#idk it just. enrages me #that this SUPER HELPFUL term was treated like a joke #it was transphobic AND ableist imo #og #gender tag #autigender #neuroqueer

[lucifugousart]

"DIO's Heaven" A jjba world building theory no one asked for that has been TORTURING me for years.

❗❗ SPOILERS FOR PARTS 1-6❗❗

OK LET'S GO "The Heaven pertaining the soul, WHERE it'll go." Tl;dr: Heaven is a place. Here's how:

We know that in the Jojo universe Hell and Heaven are equally talked about as a religious belief. In part 1 young Dio was sure his Father was going to end up in Hell for the atrocities he committed his whole life.

And again, in part 6 Dio specifies that the Heaven he talks about is where the human spirit will go after death. With the introduction of stands, the visual personification of souls, we clearly see this happen multiple times, especially the ascension to Heaven, where they'll finally find peace.

In part 5 we'll also see how, ironically, dying is the only way to escape the chains of Fate. The same Fate that has been object of both oppression AND obsession for Dio since his young age. He believed it was in his Destiny to accomplish his early goals, being Jojo also part of this bigger plan. Of course he was wrong.

Failing to realize how Jojo was the closest person to him (and how attached he was), this dumb man ends up killing him and then regretting the act. I don't wanna go too much in detail about it because we all have read the manga and perfectly know what happens, so, Dio just lost the most important person in his life and had 100 years to overthink about it at the bottom of the sea. Perhaps, taking jojo's body wasn't what Destiny meant for them as "being two that make one" and this dumb dumb can't go back in time. ...or can he? Let's proceed in order

All Dio wants is happiness (relatable, i know) that can only be found in Heaven. Why? We'll see this later, i wanna focus first on how to get there. Because as we said, Heaven is an actual place. But reaching it isn't very easy, especially if you're not dead. Also there's another MAIN issue: Dio isn't human. By rejecting his humanity through the stone mask he basically lost any little chance to ascend to Heaven, because believe it or not: vampires may have a soul, but they're damned. After death there's absolute nothing, no Hell either. Just this:

But Dio knew this well. His death was a temporary but necessary phase, he'll write about it in his journal (he simply wasn't expecting it to happen like THAT, sigh) and his plan is safe also thanks to an unexpected gift, a little trinket, that carries his consciousness and dna.

Let's recap Dio's instructions to get to Heaven:

-A trustworthy friend. “He must be someone who is not interested in political power, fame, wealth, or sexual desire, and who chooses the will of God before the law of humans.” I will talk about God a lot as ideal, but even if we have a tangible proof of saints existing in JJBA I still don’t wanna claim God’s existence as certain. We have Dio doubting it himself (“If God exists”) and sure there is a force ruling the events, but I have a quite different view on what this force actually is. Let’s continue;

-His stand, The World, and “courage”. “I must have the courage to destroy my Stand momentarily. As it disintegrates, my Stand will absorb the souls of the 36 sinners and will give birth to something utterly new.” -The souls of 36 humans who have sinned, “because those who havesinned harbor a strong power within.” It is said that we, humankind as a whole, are “sinners who need God’s grace” and that the true distinction between a bad person, worthy of going to Hell, and a good person, worthy of Heaven while being forgiven for their sins, resides in the ability to feel “regret” for their own actions. I believe the sinners being from the Green Dolphin street Prison’s lowest circle was providential: they’re all criminals who voluntarily rejected God, their soul already belongs to Hell. So why? There’s a deep symbolism in this.

The sinners are a reference to Dio’s past identity, the man who rejected humanity in favor of world domination (Actually not just that, but now it’s not the time for an in-depth analysis of Dio’s psyche). Such a person would never reach Heaven, right? Well, the key is in “regret”.

Exactly because Dio regretted his actions attaining Heaven it’s not impossible, just very difficult. We said he was gonna use the souls of sinners, but sinners go in the opposite direction, to Hell. So how is it possible? The trick is in the number: 36 has a double meaning. If we look at it mathematically, the sum of the integers from 1 to 36 is 666, the number of the Beast (and Dio was referred to as the Evil in opposition to the Good, with a name so contrasting to make everything even more interesting). On the other hand, 36 has also very positive meanings: the actual number of texts in Holy Scriptures is 36, it’s said that in every generation there are exactly 36 perfectly righteous people alive (we could easily also call them saints) and the world only continues to exist in their merit as they contain a spark of the Divine Light within them, that same light that first shone for 36 hours after its creation and before being replaced by the Sun… But most importantly, 36 has a meaning of rebirth. It’s two times 18, which carries the meaning of “life” (from the Hebrew letters that spell “chai”, meaning "living") so 36 translates into “two lives”. Thinking about it, it’s exactly what happens through the Green baby: Dio reincarnating as someone new, a new pure lifeform free from his sins, no more damned.

-The cryptic 14 phrases, engraved into The World, so that he couldn’t forget them. I believe these phrases carry Dio’s past but also his Future. Something that after his rebirth would let him not forget where he came from, but also remember where he’s going. Which is why they’re so important and spark a reaction in the Green Baby:

“Whatever is born will "awaken". It will show interest in the 14 words that my trusted friend will utter... My friend will trust me and I will become his "friend".” We’ll witness the first Gravity-induced fusion in the entire series, something that will become more familiar later in Jojolion.

-”Lastly, I need an appropriate location. North latitude, 28 degrees, 24 minutes, West longitude 80 degrees, 36 minutes. Go there and wait for the New Moon. That's when Heaven will come.” AND THIS, RIGHT HERE, IS WHERE WE START. The foundation of how Heaven, Gravity and Fate, Souls and Stands work in the Jojoverse. And also where things start being complicated. The best way to explain everything is starting from Pucci and his role in Dio's plan, then moving back to the first manifestation of Stands. As i said before, in PB the existence of God is in doubt because we don’t have any tangible proof, it's simply an idea sustained by faith. What if i tell you that God, as an actual figure, is actually a product of human actions and everything is governed by Gravity/Fate instead? We know that Dio and Pucci encounter was a product of Gravity, and so was their fusion: there's a reason why he tripped on him, of all people.

It's exact after this moment, when all left to do is "waiting for Heaven to come" that we get the first actual manifestation of the Divine: the recurrence of number 3.

Biblically, the number 3 represents Divine wholeness, completeness and perfection. If there ever was a desire to highlight an idea, thought, event or noteworthy figure for their prominence, the number 3 was used to put a Divine stamp of completion or fullfilment on the subject.

Now i'm not saying that Dio is God or became one (THAT would be interesting and i already valued the possibility some years ago), but seems like in the Jojoverse there's no room for coincidences and everything happens as planned by Destiny, so these 3 people being the sons of Dio and drawn to Pucci are exactly where they were meant to be. If God doesn't exist, this is still the proof of how Dio is getting closer to the ruling force of the Universe: Gravity. And through it, finally find happiness. So, we're waiting for Heaven and we have a very specific place where to go for make it happen. Cape Canaveral: the most optimal place to launch a rocket. But what does this have to do with Heaven? OH, MORE THAN YOU IMAGINE. Because it is a place. But i never said it was on Earth.

To understand our destination better, i wanna make a step back. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says “and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” We said we don’t have real evidence of God, but spirits DO go somewhere. Foo will say it clearly: the spirit/soul can’t stay on Earth for long, with the only exception of a sudden or tragic death, tying them to a specific place. In most cases, they have unfinished business as the deceased person does not accept the way in which they died (like Riemi or Kira and his father). But once this soul is freed, and if they're worthy, they all go in the same direction: up in the sky, welcomed by a very bright light.

Heaven is often described as the "highest place" and in the Scriptures, in both Hebrew (shamayim) and Greek (ouranos), it can be translated as "sky".

The first line of the Bible also states that Heaven is created along with the creation of the Earth (Genesis 1). SO. We're looking for a VERY bright something in the sky, created post Big Bang and as old as the entire Universe, which is also deeply subject to Gravity. I already have a very clear idea in mind, but let's also drag in the mix what Pucci knows: the World, a stand involved with the manipulation of TIME, was NECESSARY for reaching of the conditions to attain Heaven. Who's that pokemon? It's a Quasar!

An astronomical object of VERY high luminosity found in the centres of some galaxies and powered by gas spiraling at high velocity into an extremely large black hole. SO IS HEAVEN A QUASAR?!? Ahah no, but there, at its core, that's where our bus ticket is.

Quasars are some of the brightest objects known, able to outshine all the other stars and can be trillions of times brighter than the Sun. They were much more common when the universe was young, must have been able to form after the universe began to expand. But any simple one won't do, no. To find Heaven we must identify the first, oldest quasar in the Universe, which hosts a very peculiar and unique, primordial, supermassive black hole: the gate for true, unfettered happiness. I'll try to make this as simple as possible leaving out every superflous notion or math about general theory of relativity or we'll NEVER be able to get to the point. At the start i hinted to the possibility of going back in time. Yes and no, it's a bit more complicated than just press rewind but Pucci was right, it IS involved with attaining Heaven.

In astronomy, a black hole is a physical location of no return because Gravity is so strong that nothing -not even light- can escape. As you get closer to it, the flow of time slows down progressively to the extreme. From an outside viewpoint it's like time stops.

At its center, a black hole is thought to have a singularity point: a location where matter is compressed down to infinity and all conceptions of time and space completely break down. Some even call it "Reverse creation". But as we said, to reach Heaven we seek something way more specific.

As far as we know distant objects are seen as they existed in the past and quasars are the most distant and oldest that astronomers have been able to detect. The most distant quasars are seen at a time when the universe was one tenth its present age, roughly a billion years after the Big Bang. So we're not fully able to find our special primordial black hole, unless we have a way to get closer in a matter of time: Made in Heaven's ability to accelerate time to infinity through gravitational power manipulation will be providential in this. By moving back in time we get to reach and go over the Cosmic Microwave Background, a remnant from an early hot, opaque plasma stage post Big Bang and an evidence of it being the origin of the Universe, the beginning of time. We have zero knowledge of what's behind it as we can't observe it.

Assuming that Made in Heaven brings us there, what now? In the designed location, moving at infinite speed towards the singularity point of a black hole as old as the Universe itself, and with time SLOWING down once we meet the Singularity point, WHERE are we going? Incredibly, our answer can be found in the Book of the dead. In Ancient Egypt it was believed that the afterlife was a mirror image of life on Earth. Death was only a transition, not a completion, and opened the way to the possibility of eternal happiness. So let's consider this:

An entire universe behind a black hole, exactly like the one we know, but unaffected by the laws of Gravity as the Fate we know that keeps everyone in chains. Where a soul lives like any their normal life on Earth, but free to act outside any binary AND with the lack of the "Evil" that messed with their previous life, with the promise of a happy otherworldly existence. A chance of rebirth, staying true to yourself, but aware of mistakes you won't commit again. Now if this isn't Heaven i don't know what it is... It makes sense that through Made in Heaven only living organisms could reach such place, as the dead are already subject to the laws of Gravity in their predestined travel to either Hell or Heaven. But things got messed up by Pucci's intentions, as his stand ability is subject to his own belief, desires and psyche.

It is possible that "knowing your future in advace resulting in peace of mind and happiness" belief caused Pucci and Emporio to travel back in the course of Time jumping in a new world where destiny will repeat itself, hence the ability to see the nearest future as vision. And this is anywhere near to what truly Heaven is supposed to be. Happiness won't come from reviving your life exactly like it was (in fact the sole differences we spot are due the people that were already dead being replaced by their own version belonging to that world) but as we said it's the act of being FREE from the laws of Gravity. I believe this shift of intention is what caused Pucci's demise and Emporio's travel to a secondary parallel universe, hinting the existence of a multiverse where every world is connected to the others through the numerous black holes that reside in them. But neither of them would lead to the afterlife except for one. How much does this complicate things? Very.

Probably if Dio and Pucci were able to spend more time together, with Dio explaining better his view and belief, nothing of the canon timeline since before Pucci's death (his death included) would ever happen and everyone would be living their best life in Heaven. Or even better, if Dio were able to realize his plan before the events of part 3... (all the pain of SDC... gone, never existed. Sigh.)

Identifying Heaven as an Universe (including space and time, planets, stars, galaxies, all the forms of matter, energy, the souls of every creature and humanity) makes everything extremely interesting when we look at how the Jojoverse works.

Given that the gate for Heaven is a Quasar, it's known that sometimes they shoot out pairs of straight jets, containing matter moving close to the speed of light in a tight beam, to distances far beyond the galaxies they live in: how does this affect the worlds these beams reach?

For a start, we can assume that with Creation every living creature is born with a soul, that is shaped after the individual's choices, experience and psyche. In various religions it's attribuited to the Divine spark gifted by Gods. The references to light are so many that is difficult to call them a coincidence in a setting where "coincidence" isn't really something possible with Gravity's laws. Back to our matter escaped from Heaven, if it were to get in touch with a normal soul, we'd probably have an evolution reaction: natural born stand users.

I believe that the particles coming from Heaven, engaging with the soul that originated there, would trigger a violent reaction shaping the original soul into something more complex (and i would say dormant) that always belonged to the user. We'll learn with part 3 that not everyone has the spiritual strenght to bear this evolution, like when stands are induced later on. So are stand arrows involved too? The answer might surprise you.

Let's take a step back and move to the Poles, approximately 50k years ago, when a meteorite crash-landed on Earth around Cape York, Greenland and later on, in that same site, a misterious disease was found, leading to the creation of stand arrows 2to acquire the powers of Gods".

The fact everything happened at the poles is very relevant to this theory, especially a certain discovery. Let me introduce you to Neutrinos: a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass, it was almost believed they didn't have any at all. There are different types of neutrinos and they're the most abundant particles in the Universe, although very difficult to detect too. It is possible that a large fraction of the dark matter of the universe consists of primordial, Big Bang neutrinos.

The type that is relevant to us is high-energy cosmic neutrinos that are born in the CENTER of quasars, expulsed by jets and able to cross the Universe without interacting with matter and without any delays on their way. But at the Pole was found a particle that "shouldn't exist" shooting straight up out of the ice and seems to move straight back in direction of the quasar that originated it. Some scientists dared to call it "a ghost particle". Let's add this up to the evolution of the soul, the rules of Gravity and the guys that wanted to gain the power of a God: if the metallic material of the meteorite, infused with the ghost particle, were to come in contact with the organism where the souls resides... Did i already mention that they interact through Gravity?

Lastly, this whole system would give us a reasonable explanation for certain stand abilities, like Vanilla Ice's and Okuyasu's (being possibly connected to a black hole's singularity point, allowing them to destroy the matter they absorb with no turning back) or others, seen afterwards, capable to move objects or people through different dimensions and/or parallel worlds. Lastly, i wanna spend two words regarding Dio's resolve and why i firmly believe that he regretted his actions. Dio's a person who tends to live a lot in the past and lets it influence his future. I don't think though that his search for Happiness was meant for the whole humanity, like Pucci tried to achieve. Dio's wish was more selfish and limited to himself, perhaps to his trustworthy friend too, but nothing more. He sacrificed himself for something once, that didn't lead him to happyness as he might have thought at the start of Phantom Blood, but is ready to give up on everything a second time with no hesitation. No feelings of grandiosity or power, he recognized his mistakes and wanted to restart everything once again.

And maybe living a normal life for once. Who knows, maybe letting people be close to him without paranoid tendencies too... True, unfettered happines probably lies in the simplicity of conducting your life following your own decisions, and not Fate's. Or your abusive father's.

So this is Heaven. I know it's long, delirious at some traits and all, but i thought these corrispondences were neat and worth of being shared. So if you got till here and enjoyed it, thank you for your time!

#dio brando #dio jjba #Dio's heaven #Heaven jjba #Jjba #jojos bizarre adventure #manga theory #mothtalks #stone ocean #enrico pucci

[mauesartetc]

Hi, I just want to vent: I've gotten huge amounts of backlash for posting my criticisms of Helluva Boss on reddit, especially about Stolas' and Stella's relationship-stating why I think it's a bad depiction of abuse etc. And while I've said things that were insensitive and out of line, I find it very hypocritical that many fans defend Vivziepop to high heaven and act like she's some kinda goddess of writing who can do no wrong.

It's clear to me that many fans are so passionately defensive of the writing because find Stolas and his experiences relatable, and thus they see any criticism of his character and how the abuse is written as a personal attack.

Not gonna mention any names, but I've seen certain people say things that basically dismiss all critics as "immature kids who don't get real mature art like Helluva Boss" and explain the inconsistensies and plot holes with handwaves that while plausible, ignore the rule of "show don't tell". It all feels like ass-kissing and refusing to acknowledge that your fave show has flaws to me.

I really hate the dismissal of any critics as "abuse apologists" when the show itself is terrible at handling the topic of abuse, plays abusive behavior for laughs and depicts things that are toxic as "cute".

I also want to add that some people have justified Stella's one-note personality by saying "real maturity is accepting that sometimes people are just jerks" I find that a shoddy excuse.

I don't believe that any person on the planet is a jerk for no real reason, because real people aren't political strawmen or enemies in a war-propaganda film designed to incite rage and disgust-they have reasons for their actions even if they are disagreeable. To me, the comfortable fantasy is believing that the people who hurt you are evil monsters who only exist to inflict misery, when the truth is that they are their own people with positive and sympathetic qualities like everyone else.

These are my thoughts, I would like to hear yours on what I said.

"Immature kids who don't get real mature art like Helluva Boss"

LMAO okay if that person considers Helluva Boss "mature art", I'm convinced they've never consumed any other media intended for an adult demographic, and therefore have nothing to compare it to. The only time Helluva felt like a show for adults (to me, anyway) was Moxxie and Millie's song in "Ozzie's", where they have the confidence to reaffirm for themselves that they don't need to be kinky to have a fulfilling sex life. That's a message actual adults can relate to and need to hear. But the rest of the show comes off like it was written by edgy teens who think they know how to balance comedy and drama just because they've seen BoJack Horseman. Spoilers- They don't.

You're allowed to like it, you're allowed to think it's a good show overall, but... mature? Is it really? C'mon now.

Here's the thing: When people know they have no argument, they start mischaracterizing their opponent's position so it's easier for them to take the moral high ground. Easier for them to "win". Oh, you're not a fan of this show? You must be an abuse apologist, or a homophobe. They make these claims despite having little to no evidence they're true, just so they can disregard reasonable criticism and retreat to their comfortable little bubble where no one disagrees with them.

And you see this kind of rabid defense whenever someone has developed such an unhealthy attachment to something they like that it's become a vital part of their identity. They feel, at least subconsciously, that any attack on that thing is an attack on them. Why do you think some sports fans throw a fit when their team loses?

This is partly why I feel it's important to criticize media you like in addition to media you don't, understanding that nothing made by human hands will ever be perfect. If you can get some emotional distance from it, you won't get heated every time someone expresses the tiniest beef with it. Because chances are, it might also be a criticism you've made.

But I think at this point it's best to just disengage. If someone's made their mind up on a particular topic, no amount of convincing will change it. Leaving the conversation (or not entering it in the first place) is always an option. Block that subreddit if you have to. If you think they're wrong, let them be wrong. In a few years, they might find some sense of identity outside the stuff they enjoy, or they might not. It's not really your concern. The only real winner in an internet argument is the one who has a life outside of it.

#helluva boss #helluva critical #fandom #ask #chinesegal

[darlingpwease]

Hello, I am back with another question! :) Since it’s a common troupe in the transmigrator/isekai genre to try to ‘fix’ the plot so nothing bad happens to the novel world, what do you think might happen if the opposite happens? Like a transmigrator!reader doesn’t try to force anything to happen because these characters in the novel world aren’t just fictional creations - they are real people, with emotions and can think for themselves. They just go with flow while being content in their new life as a background character, focusing on bettering themselves and learning new skills, but don’t realize that just being themselves and treat everyone with respect and kindness in Sisheng Peak, they’ve attracted the attention of Chu Wanning, Mo Ran, Shi Mei, and Xue Meng?

lifeboat

but today this boat is going down

CW transmigration, unhealthy behaviour (obsessiveness, possessiveness), mention of suicide (xue meng), mention of forced kiss (mo ran), mention of mind control (shi mei), mention of amnesia

... It's hard with them all, but the System tells — promises — you that this is an easy and not dusty job, in which your only task is to be a minor character who has to die to add cheap drama and dog blood.

The fourth disciple of Sisheng Peak, who was accepted reluctantly after several attempts and refusals to be with anyone else, which touched Chu Wanning's heart. A cute little ball of the sun, "too pure too innocent for this world", whose role is to wag their fluffy tail like a tiny puppy and look with devoted eyes. In the dog trio 'Mo Ran / You / Shi Mei', you were supposed to be that fragile white lotus, whose death symbolizes a radical change in everything and that death is always there.

You should be moderately playful, moderately optimistic, moderately friendly, absolutely innocent and pure — a foil for both Mo Ran, wild and unfiltered, and Shi Mei, who hiding his face behind a mask. Xue Meng was the closest to you, despite the different personalities — he also suffered from deaths and losses, but survived, while you are destined to die.

... The problem is that before your role becomes one of stable and permanent, you need to play it qualitatively so that the world accepts you. But the System assures you that it will be easy for you — it's much easier than it even sounds! — and you don't have the opportunity to refuse or say "maybe we'll change it?".

You start far enough away from the main plot, after Chu Wanning became the elder of Sisheng Peak, but before Shi Mei became a disciple, although by that time you were already considered a disciple of Chu Wanning. Even if he was unyielding and tough, you didn't mind — a little kindness here, a little tenderness there, here to disturb the cold Shizun with tenderness, there to stun with an unexpected offer to take care of cleaning the house. You didn't understand much about this "white lotus type who raises death flags from the very beginning", so you acted on a hunch, trying to get along with the spoiled and arrogant Xue Meng and make the "snow queen" stop looking at you with... suspicion?... You were not sure yourself — all these games began to tire you out and even annoy you, especially when Xue Meng, with whom you should be on good terms, was not so willing to contact.

"EVERYONE HAS DIFFICULTIES, BUT THE MAIN THING IS EXPERIENCE,"

the System lovingly tells you when you are lying on the bed, completely unaware of what you are doing wrong. But you just have to try harder, right? Right?... Not a damn thing like that — you don't understand how to get close to Chu Wanning or Xue Meng, but, fortunately, you manage to find Shi Mei even before he became your 'shidi'. And, to your almost shame, even knowing that he is probably fooling around and using a fake identity, you feel good with him — Shi Mei is charming, sweet, polite and introverted, and although he needs time to recharge, he willingly spends it with you when you take the initiative, even if clearly not understanding why you mess with him.

Even if everyone else avoids him, you feel so good with him that you can't help but get carried away by following him and almost naturally immersing yourself in the role of an innocent and kind student, trustingly purring that he is amazing and everything alive should be treated with equality, patience and respect, and when you take by inertia his hand, then it seems so small and cold to the touch.

Perhaps you are too desperate even for an imaginary sense of success, but you can't help but seek his company, even if Xue Meng almost jealously capriciously says that you are no longer running after him and 'this is strange', and you want to agree, but you are too inspired by Shi Me. He's just so kind, and smart, and empathetic, and gentle, and looks like a porcelain doll, but even when he shows stubbornness, you can't help but nod, agreeing with almost everything if only the plot would move on with your participation.

... When Shi Mei becomes a disciple of Chu Wanning, you practically run to him with delight, purring with pleasure — and only in the evening you realize that this was the first time he smiled at you so... strangely, but you prefer to think that it was 'affectionate'.

Chu Wanning looks askance, but is silent, even when you have not come to him for more than a few weeks; next to Shi Mei, your nervousness becomes weaker and lighter, as if you are resting in your small garden, caressing your cute delicate flower, finally seeing the fruits of your care and attention with cooing over. Shi Mei is weak and has no talents, but for you he is the only thing that continues to keep you sane, convincing you that you will cope while you hide under the trees in the rain, huddling together under an umbrella, whispering about all sorts of nonsense and unimportant things that make you happy and giggling, and on for the first time, a happy smile appears on his scarlet lips, which is so tender and bright that your heart stops for a moment.

Obviously, he can only be a fairy — no less.

He's so cute.

And the fact that you get along with Mo Ran almost from the fly, as if blessed, cannot but please you, finally letting you exhale. Chu Wanning finally thaws and allows you to hover around him calmly, caring; Xue Meng clearly begins to consider you 'his person' after long emotional caresses, giving him time to thaw, although his personality itself does not get better; Mo Ran turns out to be a very kind and gentle boy with comets shining in his black eyes, and your gentle Shi Mei, although he has ceased to be the center of your attention, still remains a safe haven.

Perhaps this role is really good!

“I'm sorry I'm so late... you're not busy, right?... I know we've been talking less lately, but...

I have something for you.”

"THE CHARACTER SHI MEI USED A KEY PLOT ITEM ON YOU IN THE LAST TIME SESSION, WHICH WOULD LEAD TO THE COMPLETE ERASURE OF YOUR PERSONALITY AND THE CULTIVATION OF DEVOTION TO SHI MEI. TO PREVENT THIS, AN ALTERNATIVE LINE WAS CREATED. BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE AND DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN."

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN," still the same loving, but a little more formidable and domineering.

You wake up in your bed, although you were sure that a few minutes ago you saw your Shi Mei, in whose gentle eyes devils glittered.

"IT WAS A DOOMED LINE. JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD. CURRENT TIME POINT: THE DAY AFTER MO RAN AND SHI MEI AGREED."

... You tend to learn from your mistakes. Shi Mei seems a little lost, but clearly does not remember anything, and you tend to believe that this is much deeper than the "disappearance of one event" — the system does not respond, but you have the assumption that since your world is the "original", their memories were only implanted. Unfortunately, you haven't made any notes on trees or other places to check whether this theory is real, but in any case you remember.

Mo Ran has a clear look of black eyes, more like an incipient thunderstorm, a pale face and aquiline features. He becomes more distrustful and quieter, like a tense spring, and for a moment you think it would be better to let Shi Mei do what he had to do — in the end, it would also be dramatic, right? — but the System interrupts your question, explaining that the item inhabits the heart and leaves an imprint on the mind — and you are not so experienced yet, while its main and most important goal is, first of all, to preserve your mind, and only then to perform a specialized function. And although you have a question about both the term and the vague wording, you agree, realizing that it is difficult to formulate this question differently if it puts an end almost immediately.

"I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS SOUNDS AMBIGUOUS. JUST MOVE AND WORK, I'LL STEP IN WHEN IT'S NECESSARY."

And you're working.

Mo Ran does not pull away from you, but you are still more persistent and gentle, hoping to maintain the relationship to a warm enough degree that his "departure" will be a blow to you. After all, "death at the hands of a distraught best friend" is a good enough plot for dog blood and death for a hero of your type, isn't it?

... Shi Mei behaves calmly, almost gently, and although he is more like the same Shi Mei in your "first timeline", timidly touching your hand with his fingertips, gently smiling, coquettishly brushing hair forward with a shy gesture, you try to keep yourself in control, although you feel an almost obsessive desire to take his hands and cry from how beautiful he is — but the System reminds you that in your case it is still irrational to get involved with a future villain, "don't forget your role and the future, especially considering your past experience with him," and you can only continue to cling to Mo Ran.

It's funny and cheerful with Mo Ran — he's funny, loud and open, and although you see him getting darker and more depressed, as if consumed by paranoid and unhealthy thoughts, while something flashes in his pupils that you can't identify, you only encourage and play along. His skin is not as hot as it used to be, but you still press it to you in an attempt to warm it, and even when he, hiding face in your shoulder, hoarsely asks "why", you continue. Chu Wanning hesitantly pulls his hand towards you, but almost immediately takes it away, — and you pretend not to notice, cooing and purring with Mo Ran, who is distracted from obsessive thoughts only when you are near.

In this life, you have become less affectionate and active, but it seems to have given more results, from which you cannot help but suspect whether you should just... to abandon activity and allow yourself to get involved only in the most important moments and engage in initiating relationships, while leaving other moments to others. In the end, Xue Meng is more than willing to pull you along, Shi Mei lays his head on your shoulder and Mo Ran squeezes your shoulders almost to the point of bleeding, but you, as gentle and caring, only comfort him.

Chu Wanning? You... you yourself do not understand what he is doing, even if you feel that it is somehow wrong, does not fit the role of a cold and indifferent shizun, — but you still regularly come and help with small things, bringing sweets and small gifts, and with almost amazement for a moment catch yourself thinking that in this life he has become more gentle around you. Maybe because you live longer — you need to wait for the moment when the flower blooms to the fullest, and when Mo Ran, who has become even more contradictory and aggressive, will kill you.

In your free time, you try yourself in the role of your character, being kind and calm, as befits a "real white lotus", devoted to close people and betrayed by one of them. It's strange almost to the point of being unaccustomed or disgusted, but over time you learn how best to be "pure and spotless", as if a little more and you can immediately ascend to heaven.

... You know what you are doing when Mo Ran "goes crazy" — after all, the role of a young, just blossoming person, full of youthful hopes and who did not know the sorrows and difficulties of the world to the extent that gives others despair, makes you a wonderful lamb.

"BEAUTY MUST BE TARNISHED," the System says approvingly, and you agree, going to a confrontation with your former best friend, knowing that it will only bring death. Straightening your shoulders, you are not at all afraid of what awaits you, — your body is only trembling a little, — you have been preparing for this scene since your childhood in this world, looking into the brilliant purple black eyes of the person you once hugged as the most precious thing you have, and he desperately clung to you.

“... Do you think you can do something?”

You give your best, even when you start hurting your body, knowing that this scene must be intense and intense so that you shine like a shooting star.

... Even if they were doomed from the very beginning, like a tiny puppy in a battle with a huge dog...

“... You've always been too good.”

... But instead of emptiness in your chest, there is blood in your mouth,

and you don't know which one of you it belongs to

"INVASION OF UNIDENTIFIED AGGRESSIVE ENERGY, VIOLATION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE BARRIER OF THIS TIME LINE. AN ALTERNATIVE TIME LINE IS BEING CREATED. BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE AND DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN."

"IT'S OKAY."

you hear the soft, soothing voice of the System when you wake up in bed in your adult body, not much younger than the one you were in your... past life? time line? — you yourself are not sure what to call it.

"THIS IS A WORLD OF SPECIAL COMPLEXITY, IT IS NORMAL TO EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES. ALTHOUGH THE SECOND STAGE IS USUALLY THE MOST PROBLEMATIC, DIFFICULTIES WITH COMPLETING THE FIRST ONE ARE ALSO COMMON."

This is your second restart, the first time you've been so close to the end, and you... you need some time alone.

"... UNDERSTAND. GET SOME REST."

You are sure that everything is right now. Mo Ran has a flower, Shi Mei "died", Chu Wanning... Chu Wanning sometimes grabs you by the clothes and tries not to let you out of sight for a long time, although he does not understand why, you can read these vague and unidentified feelings in his eyes — fortunately, you continue to bring sweets and help him, even if it no longer makes sense now. A familiar routine helps you to distract yourself and think about many things, but not about those that bring you anxiety or anger. He behaves a little strange, but you believe that this is normal, because, frankly, you no longer have the strength to feel sorry even for yourself. To live a life where you were forced to see the death of people you were close to, and twice face problems over which you had no control, and have a strange "interference" from the outside, which even the System cannot recognize, — "IT IS CAUSED NOT BY SYSTEMIC REASONS, BUT BY INTRA-WORLD ONES, AND WE CANNOT KNOW ISN'T THIS A SIGN THAT THE HEAVEN OF THAT WORLD REJECTED YOU OR NOT", — and you're not sure if you can even try to "preserve" the correct appearance of the world. Why can't you be like Xue Meng? Because you are kind? What are you missing? Why does the world have to be permanently reset to factory settings?

... You communicate especially closely with Xue Meng, although in this life it is enough for you to have a warm superficial relationship with everyone — System does not require you to actively inject yourself emotionally, unlike early attempts, and you just relax, although it is a little hard for you to sleep at night. Now it is much easier and simpler to help people — passing through almost the third circle, you already know in advance all such moments, from which you are only required to remember and behave affectionately. Although it's a little... strange to see all the dead people alive again, but you're okay with it, thinking that all you have to do is survive this life and it's almost over. The second stage will be much easier — and simpler; System promises that it will make it easier for you in the second stage, and you are ready to cry and kiss its hands, because you definitely won't stand it twenty more times if this attempt is successful.

It is much easier to communicate with Xue Meng in this life — maybe because in the past, after you lost almost everyone, you stuck together to fight Taxian-jun's bloody regime and kill him, and you, having lived through many situations of a suspension bridge, in a sense became soft for him, ignoring even his obvious overbearing and aggressive nature, with easy withdrawal to emotions, narcissism and pampering. Rather, it even became something cute — especially with how hard he endures loneliness, difficult to cope with negative emotions and needs a light, soft relaxation that only others can give to cope with his ebullient energy. And even if at first Xue Meng is too inclined to give what he considers delicious or beautiful only himself, not paying attention to your preferences, over time he becomes more attentive, even more spreading the peacock tail in front of you, which sometimes becomes even more unbearable, but for some reason you like, even moments of his constant subconscious rivalry only to then relent and go on about it — and then immediately get back into the pose of pride, refusing on principle.

But you... you really like it for some reason. It's much easier, better with him — and when you let him lead you, letting go of control, lazily watching his skirmishes with Mo Ran, who in this life is much more inclined to circle around you, which further irritates the almost overprotective Xue Meng, or Shi Mei, with whom you sometimes sit together and aimlessly you talk, usually about some books or other little things, you feel so calm. Perhaps it was worth choosing Xue Meng from the very beginning — although he also annoys you like no other, it is quite cozy and calm with him, even despite his need for emotional support, which, however, Shi Mei can also provide, almost completely removing the need for you to strain beyond measure, only convincing Xue Meng that you are here with him and taking care of him.

He's almost like a child, but in the nicest way.

Yes, even when his pride becomes clinginess, and overprotection becomes possessiveness, and his fingers almost dig into your hand, telling you not to go anywhere, in an even more aggressive way, you still wave and nod.

You don't worry at all anymore, it's still kept within the storyline, and if he's a little weird about you, it will add drama to the theme of "a minor beta couple where one member dies." System says nothing, agreeing rather than refuting, maybe because it sees that you have absolutely no energy, but you no longer worry, giving yourself the desired rest.

After all, you deserve it, right? After all this work, it's only fair that you rest knowing what's ahead.

After all, you have no faith now that death will be "heroic" anyway.

You are no longer trying to be stronger to "defeat" Mo Ran, or to fight back against anyone else. You just allow yourself to be lazy, aimless and careless, hoping that it will help you, even if Chu Wanning clearly disapproves of such laziness (or something else?) and Xue Meng tries to convince you to train with him by clinging to your clothes — you train no more than the necessary minimum, preferring to watch Xue Meng and praise him.

“Just be with me! I can take care and protect you! I'll be strong enough for you — just stop looking around and doubting!”

... When Sisheng Peak was destroyed, becoming the first target on Taxian-jun's path, you did not even try to continue the fight or stand at the head of the opposition with Xue Meng, as it was before.

Although, you are sure that your actions made no sense or reason for anyone.

"THE FIRST HALF WAS OVER. THE LEVEL IS SATISFACTORY. THE TIME LINE WAS FIXED AS THE MAIN ONE. PLEASE GET READY TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS..."

"HELLO, HOST. CALL ME THE SYSTEM. AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, YOUR TASK IS TO QUALITATIVELY PLAY YOUR PERSONALITY, WHO IS A MINOR CHARACTER AND THE FOURTH DISCIPLE OF SISHENG PEAK. CURRENT TIME POINT: MO RAN WOKE UP AGAIN IN HIS SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD BODY AFTER HE DIED."

For some reason it seems vaguely familiar, but perhaps you have heard this somewhere before. You don't remember much about waking up on the bed, looking around sleepily. The body is both familiar and unfamiliar, as is the environment around it.

Obviously, these are memories of your body, considering that you are here for the first time, although even these thoughts seem familiar.

"YOU JUST HAVE TO BE AN INNOCENT AND KIND DISCIPLE. GIVEN YOUR PERSONALITY AND EXPERIENCE, IT WILL BE EASY. DON'T BE AFRAID OF ANYTHING AND BE SURE THAT I WILL BE WITH YOU UNTIL THE END."

Sounds simple enough. Just be nice until the end of the plot? You might as well be a salty fish and enjoy life as a minor character without interfering in their lives in any way. In the end, it's not that your intervention makes sense or matters — as long as the plot is moving, they're all doing what they should and think is right. Are you ready to take responsibility for the characters, if now they are real people, and not their life or future depends on your actions, but the future of the whole world? Of course not. This is your first task — you should work responsibly and efficiently!

... You really don't know what's wrong when CHU WANNING gently lifts your face, looking into your eyes, before saying that he is ready to be your teacher and promises to teach you everything he knows and take care of you — which is definitely not in his personality! And although the fact that XUE MENG takes you by the sleeve and says that you are his friend, without accepting objections, you are still ready to accept, but the way SHI MEI himself approaches you when you are sitting under a tree, smiling so affectionately in a familiar way, starting a dialogue is so familiar to you, as if you've been talking to him all your life — you're already starting to think 'a little weird'.

And you treat Mo Ran's friendliness and affectionateness normally, until the System informs you that he has been reborn — only to dig his fingers into your clothes as soon as he wakes up after the punishment, while you are at his bedside to take care of him together with Shi Mei (which, however, causes dissatisfaction with Xue Meng, who is sure that you are wasting your time on someone like this useless dog and should train with him instead). Mo Ran's face hides in your shoulder, but you do not dare to ask what is wrong, except to comfort and purr that the teacher was forced to do this, such rules — but Mo Ran's grip only becomes stronger when his hands squeeze you by the waist, as if he wants to say something, express, but not can't find a word.

And you feel that something is wrong, unable to ignore it anymore — you could have pretended earlier that Chu Wanning's friendliness was a 'weakness for the cute', or that Xue Meng 'wanted to have a cute friend', or that Shi Mei 'was fascinated by your aura', while Mo Ran is 'just very kind, despite all the horrors of life that he has experienced' — but Mo Ran's too strong reaction, especially considering the story about your 'past' life that the System gave, is inadequate.

"NO. THERE IS NO MISTAKE. CHARACTERS CANNOT BEHAVE "INADEQUATELY". THE DATA AND BEHAVIORS OF THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT DIGITAL DATA, BUT A FLEXIBLE SPECTRUM EMANATING FROM EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO THEM, THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURES. THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS YOU DEPENDS ONLY ON YOUR ACTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS."

When Chu Wanning hugs you tightly to him, without explaining anything, during your cleaning of his room, you also say nothing, only allowing him to do it, although you can almost feel the flame of something burning inside him that you are not able to recognize.

And even when Shi Mei puts his head on your shoulder, lovingly intertwining his fingers with yours, almost cooing while it's raining, and in his eyes you can read something that defies explanation, like looking into a deep lake and seeing there the outlines of what you don't want to see even in nightmares.

You just try to be kind and responsive, helping and being helpful, even if their problems are intuitive and easy for you, as if you have not even once or twice, but three or five times encountered them — or maybe even more.

And although it seems boring or useless, at some point you even begin to have fun — and the four of you walk around the sect to find something to do, although Mo Ran and Xue Meng prefer to continue verbally fighting and fiddling like in the good old days.

good old days?

“... Do you... remember anything strange sometimes? For example, something that didn't happen, but you are sure it was?”

You stop from cleaning, looking over your shoulder at Chu Wanning, who is creating a new mechanism — but now the gaze of the black eyes is directed at you.

And you want to say that 'no', but something inside you is slipping viciously, as if it's a lie — so you just shake your head in denial.

He doesn't say anything, but for some reason you feel ashamed.

“... I'm your teacher. If something bothers you, you should contact me. I'll take care of you.”

You don't say anything, but nod, although you don't look at him, — but feel his gaze burning so intensely for the first time.

Something's wrong.

“... IN SOME WORLDS, CHARACTERS CAN SENSE THE EXISTENCE OF THE SYSTEM IF THEIR CONNECTION TO HEAVEN IS TOO STRONG. IT'S NOTHING SCARY. WE CAN ALWAYS CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE BRANCH AND ERASE UNNECESSARY MEMORIES AND MOMENTS.”

“I'll protect you. It doesn't matter at what cost. Just stay with me.”

Maybe you can fix it then?!

#❖.my jewelry #🥮 — husky and his white cat shizun #✉.shi mei #✉.chu wanning #✉.xue meng #✉.mo ran #🧸.yandere au #🧸.drama #🧸.quickt #🧸.unhealthy #yandere character

[subzeroparade]

lore question: do you think laurence had good intentions when he brought the old blood to yharnam, or do you think it was entirely out of self interest?

I think, like with any compelling/relatable character, it's a mix of both. 

(Caveat: the way I describe Laurence’s character here is mostly based on how I write him, since it requires the most engagement with lore while being thoughtful enough to build and shape a believable person with a compelling arc). 

I think there’s a significant degree of sincerity and good intentions that drive him to bring the old blood to Yharnam. Based on the info we get in-game, the scourge does not manifest immediately, and the effects of the old blood are real and miraculous. (He also benefits personally from the effects of the blood in my headcanon, so in a sense he sees himself as proof, and denial of that is unjust and frustrating). He seems to believe it’s worth abandoning a career/life at Byrgenwerth and drawing the ire of his mentor to bring this into the world. But surely there’s bit of ego there too, a bit of “if you won’t do it, then I will.” Part of the way I interpret Laurence is through personal experience - I left academia right when my career should have kicked off. So when write him, I write from that point of view of realising now that I’ve left, I need to do something to prove myself - to prove this wasn’t a waste. I think the old blood is the ideal vehicle for personal ambition, too. It’s for the good of the people, but also his own reputation, his own need to be important, to have done something worthwhile, to prove Byrgenwerth wrong.  Most of us who were at one time deeply entrenched in academia (professionally) can have a hard time seeing past it, and use it to measure our worth. When you leave, unless you have another kind of identity to latch on to, it’s easy to become unmoored. 

But I’d argue the way he went about it - via the Church and the acquisition of political power, and the kind of Foucauldian control of the definition of healing and normalcy vs insight and/or madness, for example - all these are obviously coloured by a kind of pragmatic cruelty. I don’t think any of Laurence’s bad or heartless decisions (the ashen plague if you attribute it to the Church, or the horrors of the Orphanage) are couched in wanton cruelty - wanton cruelty is usually not very smart. They are strategic sacrifices he thinks are justified in the pursuit of his goals. I imagine when everything is going well it's easy to point to the blood’s benefits and say they outweigh the cost. But upon the emergence of the scourge I think he would find greater need to justify himself, rationalise his actions, even the worst ones, by the notion that if we can just fix the blood, get ascension to work properly, this will have been worth it. Rather than back off, he doubles down. To do otherwise would be to admit failure. To admit that the whole enterprise, and everything that props it up, is worth nothing.

Someone left a comment on my work once describing Laurence as “cruel in a way you'd not expect” which I really like. I think he’s much more interesting without this dichotomy of blatantly tyrannical vs entirely good-intentioned. It’s a question of circumstance, of which buttons can be pushed and which sacrifices can be made, and how to weigh the value of whole city, or a single person, against the goal of ascension/a cure for the scourge. 

It’s also why I love thinking about the period where he starts to lose his grip on the situation, and begin to change; and why I write the Moon Deal going down as it did - another thing, perhaps the most critical one, that he thought he’d have control over - and instead that spirals out of his grasp, too, and he loses the thing he never really wanted to sacrifice in the first place. The shock of it, for a character so in control of the narrative, is irresistible.  anyway tldr I forgive him like the French forgive Napoleon. Ty for the ask! Here's a little recent holyvicar doodle.

#ask #bloodborne #lore #lore speculation based on the lived truth of my insanely petty graduate department #laurence the first vicar #ludwig the holy blade #Ive called him a charlatan but I think it's more nuanced than that #but he's still my favourite uppity ex-academic-turned-charlatan-turned-burning-deer babygirl

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Bigots and Failed Promises of Mass Effect games

(I had this thing in my drafts for almost a month, and it would have stayed there if not for the wonderful post by @androidtrashfire, because I saw it, and I was like: "Fuck it, I have to rant about these games." I love Mass Effect, and I really think we should critique it. We should criticize things we love because silence = compliance.)

So I was talking to @liss-art recently about the bigoted fans in the Mass Effect fandom, and I think I need to make a post about it because it's something that really, truly bothers me, and it needs to be addressed.

Canon

Mass Effect is a story about deeply flawed people with a lot of problems, and through them it touches on issues like xenophobia, sexism, corruption, elitism, morality, identity. That's why we like it, right? But why are there so many bigots in the fandom? My theory is that it happens because Mass Effect, for all its supposed complexity, only touches on these issues without giving any meaningful commentary on them.

Here are a few obvious examples:

The Quarians are a distasteful allegory of the Roma people (right down to their accents). They are persecuted and ostracized for creating Geth, but the game never gives us any socio-political reasons why the Quarians did that. They just developed real AI because they were naive and stupid? Or because they were the only ones smart enough to do it? Did they do it in secret? Why did other races not make the same mistake?

Same with the Batarians. Yes, the game mentions tensions between humans and Batarians because humans try to claim territories that Batarians think are theirs, but that's about it. Batarians are all racist slave traders and they're bad, don't think about it, here's some memes about 300,000 of them dying, good job. And yes, I know you can read more about their history in the Codex (why is it an Asari who writes about Batarian history,btw?), but it's basically the same thing as saying D*mbledore is gay (I really am sorry for this reference). If no one ever mentions this rich Batarian history, then it doesn't exist.

And please don't get me started on Hanar. They "mercifully" saved the Drell by inviting them to their planet, immediately assimilated them into their own faith and also put them in conditions where they have to train as assassins from the ripe old age of 6 and eventually die of sci-fi lung cancer. But don't worry about it, Drell actually love to serve the Hanar, they do it willingly and consider their servitude an honor. Do you really want to criticize some stupid jellyfish who talk funny? Do you really want to talk about why the so-called Council races do nothing about it? LOL

Another thing the trilogy does is present entire races, including humans, as amorphous blobs. Do all Asari believe in the same "goddess"? Do all Turians obey the same Primarch? Well, what's important is that all humans in this bright future speak English.

But what about the genophage? That's a profound story, right? Well, not really, and it raises more questions than it answers. We hear a lot about how brutal, aggressive, and short-tempered Krogans are, but every single Krogan we meet is extremely well-mannered, and they only resort to violence against other races in dire circumstances. So why not save them? Does the game really present you with this moral dilemma or not?

And can anyone tell me why Salarians are allowed to abduct and experiment on sentient beings, and why Turians are allowed to wage wars? Why does no one talk about Asari in this context?

I really want to say that at least the characters are well written, but I can't because they're not.

Kaidan is a good example of this. We are told about his implant, we are told that he has chronic pain, but do we see him suffer from it? Do we see him in those moments of weakness and vulnerability?

The scene where he gets annoyed with Jenkins acting like he's a circus monkey who has to do a trick and biotically throws a cup at him was cut from the game. We occasionally hear him mention some of the side effects of his migraines ("Too many lights, too much noise"), but that's about it. What has happened to "show, don't tell"? And no, I'm not saying that the writers should feed me the story or walk me through it. What I am saying is that if you gloss over your characters' mistakes, flaws, and circumstances, you're getting people to ignore them. Do people who call Kaidan "boring" and insult him think about how his chronic pain, his trauma from Brain Camp, and the loss of Jenkins and Ashley affect who he is? Hell no.

Thane is another great example. What Mass Effect is telling us as a story is that you can completely abandon your family and your child and be forgiven if your reason for doing it is good and heroic enough. Like avenging your dead wife, because of course there has to be a dead woman thrown somewhere.

Everyone's favorite Garrus (mine too) is a cop whose character arc basically consists of deciding that he is above the law (since the law forbids him from killing people he thinks should die) and then involving his squadmate/friend/partner (depending on your playthrough) in the public assassination of his former squadmate, whom he never even bothered to confront first. Are there any consequences for Garrus for his actions? No. Again, it's all glossed over, and that's unfortunate because it removes the conflict and therefore the character development and depth.

And if you're going to tell me that ME is just a space opera, and that I should just enjoy the spectacle and the romance, then I'm going to tell you that I know that, and that I think it's a wonderful spectacle, and that some of the romance subplots are absolutely amazing story-wise, but the superficial commentary (or lack thereof) on the most important issues that ME covers actually harms the audience.

Fandom

On the one hand, we have people making mods that remove all the clothes from all the female characters (or remove all of femShep's organs and replace them with giant tits). We have people reposting that horrible, horrible art of Miranda and Jack fighting, tearing each other's hair and clothes, and maleShep smirking and saying "I should stay". We have people who say ME2 is the best game in the series because "there are no f*gs". On the other hand, we have people saying things like "there are two Commander Shepards - female and the wrong one". We have people who say "only weird people play as dudebro in 2024". We have people who think that simply playing as a female character is some kind of feminist statement, and that it makes them better and smarter than everyone else (the same people who use the term "dude gamer" as an insult). And all of those things are kind of the trilogy's fault.

Both maleShep and femShep have the same story. The only differences are the romance options, sexist remarks directed only at femShep, and flirtations from various NPCs directed only at femShep. What this tells you is that sexism exists in the Mass Effect universe, and only women suffer from it. It also tells you that only women are worth flirting with.

Another thing this game does (and modern games like Cyberpunk do the same thing) is equate the female experience to the male experience by giving both femShep and maleShep the same lines.

So there are some mixed signals here. Sexism exists and doesn't exist in this universe, Shepard is both genderless and very gendered, romances with underdeveloped characters are all over the place, and bigots thrive in this kind of environment.

The lack of commentary, the lack of perspective, the disastrous worldbuilding allows you to freely choose your sexist, racist adventure and not be punished by the story in any way.

Mirrors

There's a passage from Solaris that I absolutely adore and think about often.

"We don't want to conquer the cosmos, we simply want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the frontiers of the cosmos. […] We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is."

I think that perfectly describes what Mass Effect is as a universe. And in a way, it's a reason why it's so compelling. It's just empty enough for us to invest in it, to fill in the blanks of that narrative with the stories of our own. And it's also a reason why this fandom is a fucking hellscape.

#mass effect #my thoughts #kaidan alenko #thane krios #garrus vakarian #commander shepard #sorry not sorry for the wall of text because this is important

[fubuwu]

Fuck it. Since I'm being spat on and tarnished by jc antis I'm unashamedly doing call out posts as they have harassed me on all my posts and got their little friends to gang up on me. Starting with this "lovely" person

Calling me an abuse apologist just because I said that madame yu had tough love methods..... I was in no way excusing her abuse towards wwx with that FYI. Wwx wasnt even mentioned in the og post.... Never once denied she was abusive in the post either (in fact i ackowledged her abuse numerous times in the post and how her children act around her. But apparently you willfully missed that part). I said she had tough love methods towards her children. NOT WWX. Wwx was not her child or have you forgotten that? She has a tough love attitude in the sense that she toughens up her kids, expects no nonsense, wants them to strive to do better, get on with it, stiff upper lip attitude etc. This does not mean it's a good parenting tactic.

---

Using tough love to describe her parenting technique isn't a compliment. Apparently some of you don't know what it means because tough love, whilst there is love and good intentions behind the actions, it can also have unintended bad consequences on your children and is not a form of love you should expose your child to if you want them to become normal, emotionally stable people.

---

It can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms and suppressing emotions amongst other things I won't go into. I was in no way complimenting her. It was a critique. That should have been obvious. But in your words, ig some of you don't have reading comprehension.

---

To accuse me of something so extreme as excusing abuse over a FICTIONAL CHARACTER and trying to get all your friends to agree and jump on my posts because I never explicitly made the above points obvious is what a bully would do. You know nothing about me and decided to make such allegations over a single post. I will not stand for this bullying.

---

YOU should be ashamed of your behavior. I've seen your other posts and how you talk about and to REAL PEOPLE.

---

You acting all morally superior whilst attacking me and many others like this makes you an abusive person FYI. And I won't sit there and take it from you or your friends.

---

Moving on to specimen number two

This person has been spamming my notifications jumping on EVERY post, being disrespectful and pretty much accusing me, an ace person, for being ignorant about MY OWN IDENTITY and using ace stereotypes just because I surmised that jc could be ace due to his lack of interest in romance.

---

Echoing the words used by another user in the thread, but denying that such ace persons exist is acephobic in itself. I'm an ace person who isnt interested in relationships outside anything that is close, platonic but meaningful. Many others in the jc fandom say the same thing which is why they see themselves in him. A large portion of the jc fandom are actually ace in fact and we love to see him used in ace rep posts. We're already made to feel like freaks, so to have that thrown in my face is very hurtful. Above all twisting my words and making out I said every ace person hates romance is very disingenuous. I NEVER once said that in the post. I wont have my character attacked and lied about like that.

---

Also, once again TWISTING my words, implying I was pissed off about the incel claims when it was so obvious that I was merely asking out of curiosity where these claims come from?? Because it was never implied in the canon text. There was no anger or malice behind my questions. It was all open discussion. I can see now that this was mental gymnastics at play here to justify your hcs that you know are not canon and use it as an excuse to attack my posts with your friends, all because you were proven wrong. You lashed out on what was an otherwise polite discussion. That behavior is all entirely on you.

---

Ive only ever been respectful in my posts and they were never done to provoke arguments or hate on others opinions. So to wake up and be accused of all sorts over a fictional character is very hurtful and just shows how terribly low your side of the fandom has to stoop just to prove a point and hate on jc.

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Im not tolerating it and these blatant LIES any longer. I hope other jc antis read these posts and see how nasty you all are. And if anyone thinks this sort of treatment is okay, then you need to look inwardly and step away from the computer. I'm done here.

#jiang cheng #mo dao zu shi #I'm fed up #I'm going to stand up for myself. I'm not going to sit there and let these bullies spread all this bs without saying my piece #My posts have all been respectful and open to discourse #But this..... #This is bullying. Especially when I specifically asked on my posts to just block and move on if you disagree with me. But you disrespected #That shared my posts with slanderous claims knowing full well it will draw the attention of your friends #I'm willing to engage in discourse but this isn't discourse. This is bullying. #Jc fans I suggest you block these people if you haven't already #Don't bring hate to them that will only make us just as bad as they are and I won't stoop to their level #Block and continue to make content #I want to believe that the mdzs fandom is still pure and fun to be in #I shouldn't have to block to do that... #But it looks like I don't have much of a choice