#because in practical terms

[anneapocalypse]

So, just curious how many writers and creators will have to be forcibly outed by relentless harassment before we acknowledge that "This queer characters was written by a cishet person and that's why they're bad" is not good criticism.

#yes i'm just going to come out and say it i'm talking about sera #not exclusively but i am talking about her #'but her writer actually iS A--' you don't know that! it doesn't matter! and i don't care! #just say that you do not like the character. #people will reblog posts about the latest actor or YA author or whatever getting forced out of the closet and be like #'wow. :( that's terrible.' #and then GO RIGHT BACK TO DOING IT #when are we going to learn #when are we going to stop doing this BEFORE somebody is forcibly outed #because in practical terms #that means you have to be okay with queer characters being written by straight people. #you have to stop weaponizing that against writers you don't like. #you have to be willing to critique the writing on its own merits #without using the writer's (assumed) identity to prop up your arguments #that's how it works #but who wants to actually change the way they talk about media #when tearing apart people's identities for clout is far more entertaining. #gwaren exports #fandom problems #fandom critical

[inkskinned]

it is hard to explain without sounding vain or stupid - but the more attractive others find you, the more you're allowed to do. the easier your life is.

i have been on both sides of this. i am queer and cuban. i grew up poor. for a long time i didn't know "how" to dress - and i still don't. i make my sister pick out any important outfits. i have adhd in spades: i was never "cool and quiet", i was the weird kid who didn't understand how "normal" people behave. i was bullied so hard that the "social outcasts" wouldn't even talk to me.

i got my teeth straightened. i cut my hair and learned how to style it. i got into makeup. it didn't matter, at first, if i actually liked what i was doing - it mattered how people responded to it. like a magic trick; the right dress and winged eyeliner and suddenly i was no longer too weird for all of it. i could wear the ugly pokemon shirt and it was just "ironic" or a "cute interest."

when i am seen as pretty, people listen. they laugh at my jokes. they allow me to be weird and a little spacey. i can trust that if i need something, people will generally help me. privilege suddenly rushes in: pretty does buy things. pretty people get treated more gently.

i am the same ugly little girl, is the thing. still odd. still not-quite-fitting-in. still scrambling. still angry and afraid and full of bad things. of course it became my obsession. of course i stopped eating. i had seen, in real time, the exact way it could change my life - simply always be perfect, and things can be easy. people will "overlook" all the other things. i used to have panic attacks at the idea others would see me without makeup - what would they think? even for a simple friend hangout, i'd spend a few hours getting ready. after all, it seemed so obvious to me: these people liked me because i was pretty.

i worry about how much i'm being a bad activist: i understand that "pretty" is determined by white, het, cis, able-bodied hegemonies. if i was really an ally, wouldn't i rally against all of this? recently there's been a "clean girl" trend which copies latinx aesthetics: dark slicked-back hair, hoop earrings. i almost never wear my hair like that; i can hear the middle school guidance counsellor advising me that i might fare better if i toned it down on the culture.

the problem is that i can take pretty on and off. that i have seen how different my life is on a day where i try and a day where i don't. i told my therapist i want to believe the difference is confidence, but it's not. and when you have seen it, you can't unsee it. it lives inside your brain. it rots there; taunting. i get rewarded for following the rules. i am punished for breaking them. end of story.

pretty people can get what they want. pretty people can feel confident without others asking where they got their nerve from. pretty people can be weird and different. pretty people get to have emotions; it's different when they get aggressive, it's pretty when they cry with frustration.

of course people care about this. of course it has crawled into you. of course you want to be seen as attractive. it's not vanity: it's self-preservation.

#pretty in this post is a stand in for . literally all forms of normativity #warm up #tbd maybe idk #ps! hi!! i'm queer!!!!!!!!! it is how i identify! if you tag this 'q slur' i will fight you!!! #i am using it here in the EXACT way it is NOT a slur !! i am identifying as a queer person! #this is EXACTLY how people reclaim it !!! #it's like practically ACADEMIC in this usage!! #please do any reading into what the fuck the history of the word ''queer'' is before telling me #as someone identifying as queer #that i'm a slur. that the place i find comfort in is a slur #''well it makes me uncomfortable if people use it for me'' #im sorry to hear that dude. that sucks. i hope things get easier for you soon #but you don't get to take it from ME #in case you can't tell by the REST of this piece #i DID hear queer used as slur against me. i DID get bullied with it. i DID hear a lot of shit said #i also heard it about lesbians #about ''being gay'' #about pretty much any fucking term that could describe me. #i like queer. i like how it feels. and it's mine. #you don't get to undo the work i've done personally because it makes u uncomfortable #it's ahistoric to pretend like there are ''safe'' ways to identitfy if ur queer. #none exist. it has never been safe to be like this.

[screamingfromuz]

Listen. LISTEN, the longer I spend in the academic world, I am more convinced that describing Judaism and Jews as a religion/ethnic grope/ethnoreligion is unhelpful outside of Academic circles.

The best way to explain Judaism is using the tribe model. A lot of times Judaism is a community first and a religion second, i.e., your level of religiousness is rarely a thing that alienate you from the community.

Think of other tribes, like the Sámi, Aboriginal Australians, Māori, Yurok, Inuit ect. Each have their own unique religion, but we do not think of them as a religious group, because the tribal identity is more important, and the religion is considered part of the culture, not the opposite.

IMORTANT SIDENOTE: I am aware that many of those tribes, and other tribes have a big chunk of Christians in them, usually more Christians than those who follow the indigenous religion of the tribe. BUT for the sake of discussion, I am equating Judaism to the section that does follow the indigenous religion of the tribe.

So, despite the fact that the religious structures of Judaism is very integral to Judaism, it is partly because of the community based focus of Judaism. The most basic example is the Minyan, the fact that prayer is preferred to be done in a group. Or the fact that the Sader is meant to be a celebrated in a group. and so on.

SO, ethnoreligion is a great academic term, but for outside that world? A tribe is a much better term to explain Judaism.

#jumblr #judaism #ethnoreligion #the problem of using academic terms outside academia is that they require the ACADEMIC CONTEXT #and I found that presenting Jews as a tribe makes a lot of the comparison to Christianity go away #and helps explain the solidarity a lot of Jews find toward other indigenous tribes #because we have a lot in common #the Jewish tribe is just far more spread out than most tribes #yes #this is an oversimplification #but sometimes you have to do it in order to get the point #Judaism is a closed practice #just like the faith of many other tribes

[aroaceleovaldez]

we're all in agreement Jason just totally bit Krios, right? "unarmed, 1v1 combat" Jason bit that guy. chomp chomp.

#pjo #riordanverse #jason grace #hand to hand combat more like. teeth. #i believe there is a practical fighting term called ''the wet cat defense'' #which is just. flailing. but its extremely effective because it's not tactical or structured #so it's too unpredictable even against skilled fighters #anyways that's what jason did #yeah he's an extremely well-trained fighter and whatever #but like. he *could* also just bite and flail and that works just fine #dude was raised by wolves ''biting and flailing'' is a valid tactic

[saionjeans]

thinking again about the touga wrapping saionji’s hand flashback framed as this moment of romantic tenderness but also I find it very difficult to read touga so charitably, especially when he then thanks saionji in a way that implies that he likes being able to hurt him??? which isn’t to say that I think touga utterly lacks all genuine feeling, but he obviously conceives of love through a logic of power and domination (due to his own formative abuse), and thus enjoys the ability to not only hurt saionji but also then tenderly patch up the wounds he caused as a way of making saionji vulnerable and thus dependent on him.

to help or care for another can be a genuine, tender moment of affection, but based on what we know of touga and the framework through which he has learned to view the world, even saionji’s cherished shining memory is permeated with this logic of power and control. touga appreciates saionji because saionji doesn’t seem to mind being made vulnerable to soothe touga’s highly fragile ego.

and what makes that scene so fascinating is the way it’s directly contrasted with touga actively manipulating saionji into hurting him in the present. touga admits that the wound is in fact minimal, but he makes a great show of being in tremendous pain, exaggerating the force with which saionji struck him. even when touga is ostensibly making himself vulnerable, a reversal of their formative kendo injury moment (sparring practice versus a “real” duel), he is still the one in control of saionji, playing up his pain to exacerbate saionji’s guilt, without revealing any real pain, certainly no pain true enough to render him actually vulnerable.

touga fosters a dependency complex with saionji and nanami just as akio does with anthy and utena by positioning himself as the ultimate victim even as he hurts and manipulates others to hold power over them. when nanami spends all day trying to catch a stray kitten to give to her brother who she knows loves cats, she is admonished for getting her dress dirty, at which point touga swoops in an comforts her, so that all nanami can remember is the comfort he provided her instead of the sacrifices she made for his love. when touga hurts saionji during kendo practice, he then tenderly wraps his hand so that all saionji can later recall is the intimacy of the act instead of who hurt him in the first place. when wild animals stampede across the school, tsuwabuki swoops in to recuse her until all she can remember is the boy who saved her from peril.

except, not really. tsuwabuki exists to emphasize the problematics of this logic, to signal to the viewer the exact mechanisms of manipulation touga is employing, and how creepy it seems even to nanami herself when these tactics are not employed with care and subtlety. even touga is nowhere near as subtle as akio, who fosters an environment of stifling conformity and then presents himself as a subversive rebel who is both powerful enough to excite but grounded enough to be a comforting presence.

and that is the entire function of the prince, is it not? to save princesses from the violence of a system they themselves have an active role in maintaining. to foster a dependency complex wherein they cannot envision a world beyond your imposed limits, and then scoff and dismiss and deride them when they struggle to escape. to blame the victim for being victimized by a victim who was, once, victimized in turn. to sit back to back on a stationary bicycle — cycling in place as the sun goes down.

#u #analysis #manalysis #touga #saionji #nanami #akio #tsuwabuki #it’s funny because if you defined ‘favorite character’ by ‘character you hold the most affection for’ #touga would probably be at the very bottom of the list alongside like. ruka #but in terms of characters I find most COMPELLING #he’s honestly up there right next to nanami and anthy #he and tsuwabuki and akio are just three sides of the same hamantaschen (topical reference) #some just have more tact and more practice than others!!

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

are transwomen lying and they dont actually trick straight men into sex because that is a flex to them

or are those men bisexual in denial

or are straight men really so misogynistic and uneducated about female anatomy they think an inverted penis is the same as a vulva and vagine

or have straight men rotten their brains with porn to the point they are attracted to femininity more than women

edit: not about victimblaming - it is not okay to lie about your sex to a sexual partner ever. im just wondering about the how

#polls #i mean if theres a term for the practice it probably happens at least sometimes #i just saw an except from an interview with a transwoman who said he had men eating his genitals for 2 months #without realising #and it made me wonder #because i didnt think he passed that well but also the more #obvious beauty surgeries someone has the less natural it looks the more sexless it looks #but i just cant imagine seeing someone fully naked and having sex and not noticing that something is different? #like how is that possible? #this is not a debate on if its okay or not it obviously is unconsensual and not okay #im just wondering

[total-drama-brainrot]

TD World Tour AU, where Noah doesn't tell Owen that Alejandro is an eel in London... In Area 51, Noah is accidentally splashed with an alien truth potion (which wears off after a few days) and he talks to Owen... Owen asks Noah what he truly thinks about Alejandro, and Truth-Potion Affected Noah says this: "I have mixed feelings for Alejandro. He's a brilliant, interesting guy and I like him, but I don't trust him. He's like a slippery eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil. Basically, Heather with social skills. Wait a minute, why am I telling you this?!"... What if Alejandro secretly heard Noah call him all those conflicting things + Alejandro also learns that Noah is affected with an alien truth potion? 👽

Alright, you got me. I'm an absolute sucker for truth potion plots, especially when the character(s) effected by them are usually either pathological liars or incredibly secretive- of which Noah absolutely falls into the second category, given he shares so little personal information.

I'll gloss over why Noah declined to shit-talk Alejandro in London (though there's so many ways this change in behaviour could be justified) since the focal point of this hypothetical centred around their time in Nevada, so let's start from the beginning of the Area 51 challenge.

Area 51:

Before we start, it'll have to be established that no one was eliminated in London. Let's say that the majority vote went towards Duncan (team CIRRRRH voted him out immediately because they found his re-admission to the competition unfair, I guess. I imagine he'd also vote himself, if not as a plan to escape the competition he'd been actively skiving from, then just as an act of spite) but Chris instead claimed it was a rewards challenge- much like he does in Greece- because he doesn't want to let Duncan slip away again so soon.

I see no reason to alter the first part of the challenge- the sneaking into Area 51 portion- since team CIRRRRH's course of entry is fairly straightforward. Noah's presence doesn't make much of a difference to how it would play out; the majority of them throw their rocks and run, Owen gets lasered over the fence and Owen-napped, ect ect.

When both teams have managed to make their way into the Black Box Warehouse, Noah immediately suggests they should prioritise rescuing Owen. Tyler's quick to agree, since he's a firm believer in the "no man left behind" mentality (and he probably makes a not-so-subtle jab towards Noah for his chance of tune compared to London, where both he and Owen did leave Tyler behind) leaving Duncan and Alejandro to split from the group- Duncan in search of Gwen, and Alejandro just takes the opportunity to finally be free from his 'incompetent teammates' and prioritises finding an artifact.

Noah and Tyler come across the contraption Owen's trapped in, Tyler punches it in a futile effort to break it open, and the face hugger cube drops into Noah's hands. This is where the point of divergence comes into play; Tyler has his E.T. moment with one of the face huggers, but Noah- who's a tad bit more observant than Alejandro, and used to dodging surprise attacks from his various older siblings (and Izzy)- anticipates his own face hugger attack and promptly starts a game of cat-and-mouse with a taser alien hot on his heels.

The commotion of which attracts the rest of his team. Alejandro and Duncan arrive on the scene to see Tyler being electrocuted by an alien and Noah running in circles evading another.

Duncan attempts to rip the face hugger from Tyler's face, finding success at the cost of sending Tyler trampling into Owen's captive contraption (essentially taking Alejandro's canonical place in this scene) and inadvertently freeing Owen.

Meanwhile, Alejandro swipes up the nearest box he can find and snags the alien chasing Noah, who's still very loudly panicking as he flees, and succeeds! The alien is swiftly captured into the box, netting team CIRRRRH their artifact, and Noah promptly goes careening into the nearest tower of junk in his face hugger-fuelled hysteria. This causes another box to topple from the peak of the tower, landing directly on Noah's head and spilling its contents onto the bookworm- glass vials filled with a mysterious, luminescent cobalt blue liquid shatter into pieces drenching Noah in whatever they contained. (i.e. truth potion.)

Owen has his false-amnesia moment, characterised by his Joker makeover, and Alejandro enacts his revenge post-hypnotic suggestion after being addressed as "Al" one too many times.

Noah, understandably, swiftly objects to Owen's treatment and demands that Alejandro snap him out of it. Alejandro concedes, and Owen's brought back to himself. At least, for a moment, before the fatigue of having his mind messed with sends Owen into near-catatonia (the same as canon), meaning he has to be ferried through the Warehouse and back to the Jet by Alejandro and Duncan.

Things carry on canonically from there; Noah's just sort of there for the most part, though there'd be a minor hint to his newfound proclivity for honesty. Something along the lines of him giving an uncharacteristically honest answer to Owen as to who he's voting- Tyler, of course, since he was the one who ultimately threw the challenge for them... and also because Tyler still holds some resentment towards Noah for what happened in London, and Noah feels guilty about it every time he looks at the jock. Wait, why did he say that?

Sometime between this and the elimination scene, Noah wipes the truth-goop off of himself, but not before the effects have already started.

Tyler's voted out, yada yada yada.

The Jet:

Thus begins the start of "Picnic at Hanging Dork". Team CIRRRRH, consisting of just Alejandro, Duncan, Owen and Noah, are slumming it up in the Economy Cabin. Alejandro tries to rally his team by asking how to break apart Courtney and Heather's tentative co-operation. Owen suggests having Alejandro seduce Heather, since it worked for both Bridgette and Leshawna. Duncan makes his "Babe Olympics" comment. Noah pipes up that playing with someone's feelings is pretty scummy, even for someone competing for a million dollars.

Alejandro takes Noah's reluctance towards his methodology poorly; he hadn't spoken up before, when Alejandro had utilized the same strategy against other girls- and even Owen noticed that, so surely Noah did too- so why was he to outwardly against him using the same tricks? Duncan agrees, and offers ''his'' idea of having Alejandro flirt with Courtney to throw both her and Heather off their games (since Heather has an obvious crush on Alejandro), and things follow canon.

Then, the scene between Alejandro and Courtney happens. Noah scoffs at the display from the side lines, prompting Owen to ask him why he's so against Alejandro's plan.

"I mean, you never said anything before, when he flirted with Bridgette and Leshawna." Owen comments, light-hearted in nature but with an underlying questioning tone.

Noah's eyes flicker with a cobalt glow, easily mistaken for a trick of the light, and he speaks without even thinking.

"Yeah, because I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Bridgette was happenstance, and Leshawna's whole deal could've been a coincidence, or some massive misunderstanding. But this?" Noah extends an accusing hand out towards a smug looking Alejandro, then pans it over to a flattered Courtney, "He's outright toying with Courtney's feelings after she was cheated on in front of an international audience. It's scummy."

Owen nods in understanding, momentary contemplation evident in the pouted curve of his lips, and he chimes in.

"Does that mean you don't like Al?"

"I never said that."

"Well, how do you feel about him, then?"

Again, a flash of blue light against the hickory backdrop of Noah's eyes, and he responds thoughtlessly.

"I guess I have mixed feelings about him. On the one hand, he's slippery, like an eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil. He's like if you took all of the worst aspects of Heather, wrapped them up in a pretty package, and gave them social skills..." He holds his hands out before him in a scale-like manner, with the left tipped downwards and tie right raised by his chin. Then, the two hands swap positions.

"And on the other hand, he's brilliant. I've never met anyone as talented as Alejandro; he's smart, he's athletic, he's funny. It's almost unfair just how perfect everything about him is- even his face is perfect. It's ridiculous! Infuriating, even. It's so hard to dislike him, even when I know he's bad news, but that doesn't mean I trust him."

Owen stands slack jawed beside his best friend, both impressed and stunned at the raw honesty of Noah's tirade. Noah, now a little more aware of himself, realises that he's said more than he intended to- more than he thinks he's ever spoken in one go throughout the entirety of Total Drama. He's not usually one for speeches, after all, let alone honest ones.

He's always been the type to play his cards close to his chest, so why...?

"I, uh, didn't mean to go off like that."

And he also didn't mean to admit it, either. What was going on?

The look Owen gives him is, in a word, vivid. The blonde has a shit-eating grin stretching across his face, a sort of elated smugness practically glowing from his features.

"Sounds like someone has a cruuuush!~"

What? No? No! Not at all, where would Owen even get that idea?!

Noah splutters to correct Owen's assumption (to disastrous results, because he does sort-of has a crush on Alejandro, so the truth potion doesn't allow him to outright deny it), and in his preoccupied state he misses how a calculating pair of sage green eyes never seems to stray from him.

Alejandro has a lot to think about in regards to a certain cynic, it seems.

#I'd like to apologise for taking this idea and running with it. #Cutting myself off here before I breach 2k+ words or else I'll be here all day. #Sort of entered actual Writing Mode at the end there instead of Outline Mode but this idea is. So Full Of Potential I couldn't help myself. #But from here it'd basically be Alejandro using his newfound knowledge of Noah's crush on him to his advantage. #Whilst Noah's doing his best (and failing) to deny that he has any feelings for Alejandro. #Eventually leading to the two of them having a Bonding Moment where Alejandro gets Noah to divulge some personal information. #And in turn- or an effort to garner some trust (to be abused later)- Alejandro also lets himself be vulnerable towards Noah. #Something something Alejandro tries to use Noah as a pawn but ends up catching feelings of his own. #Then of course the potion wears off and Noah goes back to being just as prickly and standoffish as he was before. #A point of conflict maybe? Imagine bearing your soul out to someone only for them to close themself off to you not even days afterwards. #...Also imagine being practically forced to divulge information about yourself to someone you don't trust because of a truth potion. #Oh yeah. That's some good angst material right there. #Especially is you have Alejandro be- if not fully aware- than at least suspect that Noah's not being agreeable on his own terms. #Anon why have you given me The Thoughts?? I can't keep brainstorming AUs when I already have fics to work on!! #ophe's ranting in the tags again #total drama #td noah #td alejandro #team chris is really really really really hot #alenoah #-ish #silly ideas #other's ideas #long post #replies #kinda drafty in here (posts from the drafts)

[burlowbeanie]

Sooo funny to me that Peglar and Bridgens are out here having a functional tender communicative relationship with guilt-free understandings of their respective sexualities and desires and with clear boundaries that both reflect their personal preferences and keep them safe from retaliation, while every other man out here is like “what the fuck are emotions. I’m going to die. I want to kill this guy. Nvm turns out i was just horny. I want to fuck this guy. I’m going to kill myself. Our wedding was on Tuesday. We’ve broken up five times since then. I’m going to murder him. I’m starving and I’m sure he is responsible somehow. It was a beautiful ceremony. There is a great darkness within us all. The murder will be an act of mercy that neither of us can fully understand or recognize as such. If you ask me how i’m doing i will say i’m fine and i’m so emotionally stunted that I genuinely believe it. I’m still angry and hungry and horny and freezing and it’s all my dead ex husband’s fault.”

#the terror #diversity win: exactly two of the awful colonizer white dudes dying of their own stupidity have a healthy and practical relationship #this show is really good. somehow. #i have actual thoughts too but right now i am only able to think about it in terms of jokes #(apologies for repeating simmons' fucking bonkers binary between the Good Gays Who Fuck On Land (if at all) vs Evil Gays Who Fuck On Boats) #(because yeah this post is kinda giving that. and that is not exactly what the show is doing thank god. i just want to make this joke)

[chucktaylorupset]

its been a million years.  percy has gone from young millenial to squarely gen z.  i think that while he’s up on that mountain demanding the gods pay their fucking child support, he should tell hera at the top of his sixteen year old pipsqueak lungs that polyamory is a thing now and she doesn’t have to define her marriage the traditional way if she doesn’t want to.  she’s the goddess of all marriages!  that includes these modern ones too!!

hera is like zeus would you agree to an open relationship zeus is like SOLD i have been trying to do this for years, completely neglects to read the fine print that this goes two ways before signing on the dotted line for this deal with the prada wearing devil because fundamentally, zeus is an asshole

hera starts hooking up with committed married couples and having SUPREMELY powerful demigod children.  they are all her favorites and she lavishes them with powers and gifts and attention.  she has, unlike the other gods, no millenia of experience with mortal children to temper her reaction, and so this whole move honestly causes more problems than not.

meanwhile hades and persephone; poeseidon and amphirite; dionysus and ariadne; all of them have been trying to talk to hera about this thing for DECADES and then perseus fucking protagonist powers jackson comes in and turns a quarter of a century into wasted work.

#my post #pjo #it's very key that zeus is big butthurt about this #and that most of the olympians are ethically nonmonogamous thanks to some great work done by either aphrodite or eros #back at the end of the 1900s #being a child of hera is extremely weird because you're not prepared for it like most single parents of demigods are #also most of heras partners come out okay but ALL of them are 'blessed' to never be divorced which uh #can have some variability in terms of results #gods are complicated kids #a lot of hera demigods come up with parents who have very healthy relationships and pass on those emotional intelligence skills! #and then they start coming into their powers and suddenly they inherit a girlboss pta mom who will speak to the manager #and WILL support them taking over the world cause it's what they deserve. if that's what they want <3 #most of them are emotionally healthy enough that they don't even Want to take over the world but uh. they sure are offered that as option #if they want to #hera kids have the Oposite problem of a lot of demigods who have gods practiced in loving mortal kids #they're like i cannot stress how much we Do Not Have To Prove Ourselves to her #we have to be very careful about wanting things she will just handle them to us also #once we get married we can't divorce she would either kill us or it would Be A Thing for the rest of our lives #it's... very stressful to be a child of hera #they mostly try to befriend the chill party kids because they need to catch some Chill

[zappedbyzabka]

Sacrificial lamb and all that

#baby baby baby #He said :( #and #he said ☹️ #The way Kreese stared at him and hovered like a hungry wolf ready to pounce the whole time #the way Johnny tried not to cry and sweat and went straight into the arms of his predator like he has for YEARS #because he’d been literally in Kreese’s hands. Given to him and left with him. for YEARS. #And the way he stared up at him so desperate and melted into his grasp #let him swipe his hurting nose and obeyed when he made him do something he didn’t want to #because who else does he have. And his mom wasn’t there. and he had to go home with bruises all over him and no one #to Sid. to be mocked and laughed at some more. to cry all alone in his bed thinking about how the man he trusted and loved hurt him #And I think Kreese was more jealous. murderously so. that Johnny clearly wanted to be on good terms with LaRusso rather than so mad he lost #and by the time he realized he went too far and he lost his little champion—whom he ‘loves most besides CK’—he decided to get revenge on #Miyagi and Daniel. because it’s THEIR fault he did that to johnny in the first place. he hates them both with a passion. HE was humiliated #in front of his boy and the rest of the cobras by Miyagi. and Daniel…he changed Johnny. he practically took him away from Kreese. #Man is delusional cause that’s 10000% how he sees things #and GOD the way he begs Johnny to come back in ck. and then hurt him more because ‘thats what was best for him’ #and Johnny moves away from his touch and stares at him like an abused animal but still lets him stay #because he still loves him despite everything #he knows Kreese is in his own reality and does love him. but he realized his worth to an extent #realized its not okay for Kreese to have done all those things to him #and brainwashed him #and he was being victim blamed the whole time Kreese came back to cobra kai #I cant. #I’m SCREAMING. everything was taken from him but it was his fault because he ‘shouldnt have let Kreese come back’ #Only unobservant idiots ignore the fact that he was abused his whole life just so they can hate on him constantly. #johnny lawrence #cobra kai #karate kid #Still love Kreese though

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 26

someday if i can figure out how the hell people get these things made i would like to do some little destiny & malice acrylic charms. i think those are so fun. and while i mostly want them for Myself i figure that if i DID figure out the process, i should maybe open up the option to anyone else that might want them, soooo...

informal poll: if i figure out how all that works, would any of y'all be into that, and approximately how many of you?

#day 26 #year 5 #my ocs #destiny chainsaw #malice winterfang #i know i've said i don't really like the idea of commissions and this isnt like a PROMISE or anything #i still have a lot of research to do before i commit to a shop of any kind #BUT. i think like a redbubble or something in that vein might be a manageable project #i mention stickers specifically because that seems like a very manageable thing to produce and ship even if i didnt go through like #a service to do so #particularly because i dont think id get a TON of orders for my niche OCs lol #but if i got some practice with something small like this it MIIIIGHT help me build up to making things for a larger market like... #say... well you know what i'm about over here lmao #we've basically all but gotten the official blessings of the powers that be to make homestuck merch without fear of reprisal at this point #ANYWAY that would be a ways off and be a much MUCH bigger project both artistically and in terms of like #me learning how Online Commerce works from the seller end. #BUT I HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING IT. and it seems to me that it would at least be relatively simple to sell like. prints of old art maybe #i dunno! like i said i'll see how the poll shakes out while i do a bit more research

[deanpinterester]

if yall haven't seen it already, i super recommend this ongoing youtube series by the movie rabbit hole that unravels a lot of those instances where a movie claims to "have zero CGI". it really uplifts the knowledge that practical effects and CGI really go hand in hand, except that the CGI side is often left in the dust when it comes to acknowledging the work that goes into making these bombastic movies.

this is the first video, where he discusses multiple movies but mainly top gun maverick, one of said movies that claims it has no CGI.

the second video just came out, and focuses on christopher nolan movies, another set of movies that people claim have very little CGI.

in the future, i believe he also plans to cover the injustice that stunt performers often face, which is related to this topic. in pursuit of being able to say a movie "has no CGI whatsoever!" or that an actor "did all their own stunts!", you end up leaving out the CG artists and stunt performers, very important parts of the industry that are often hardly acknowledged while everyone goes nuts over how real and authentic the movie is. movies are a team effort! let's not leave anyone behind! especially not the people whom the movies literally could not be made without!

#uhhhh me #video #i'm rly passionate abt this topic bc 1) i am in this industry and i know people who are cg artists #2) i feel like this is a topic that is so not talked about. people will only talk shit about cgi. they rarely praise it. #i've talked about this before but like. we all love that baby yoda from the mandalorian was a real puppet #but NOBODY on the internet likes to talk about the part where at LEAST 50% of baby yoda's scenes are CGI #AND YOU JUST COULDN'T TELL. BECAUSE IT WAS THAT GOOD #they did a perfect blend of practical and CGI. something that i often see you guys talk about in terms of how to properly use CGI in movies #and yet nobody really wants to talk about that!! everyone just wants to talk abt the practical part! #(that's not me being accusatory btw i'm just exasperated) #so i rly hope this series sheds a lot more light on how practical stuff and CGI meld together #for people who didn't previously know how it all worked #Youtube

[mask131]

You know... It is REALLY easy to do the whole "voodoo doll" trope or practice while avoiding any cultural appropriation, religious misrepresentation or racist cliche. Just... don't call it "voodoo".

Because if you are not aware, this practice of using a doll or figurine to bewitch or curse or put a spell onto a person, is actually older than the creation of vodou and its various branches. It can be found in medieval Europe. Several European countries have their own specific words and terms for this magical practice - a pratice attested since very early days. Heck it was even present in Greco-Roman Antiquity!

So... there is nothing forcing you to constantly say "voodoo doll" when talking about a spell-through-puppet. Except a bad habit that the United-States media imposed onto the rest of the world, I guess...

And, as the bitter old cynical soul that I am, I will definitively grumble something about how it is very telling that Americans did not choose to pick one of the several European terms and words for this magical practice and rather latched desperately onto a term related to a discriminized, fantasized and misrepresented Black religion... grumble grumble grumble.

But I will be fair to Americans and leave the possibility of the doubt. Because we all know the common American is a bit too lazy to do thorough research or be interested in anything outside of its own country, and so it is possible that all those people did sincerely believe that the idea of "magical bewitching figurines" was created on American land - because as we ALL know, everything was invented in America and for or by Americans, right? So of course it is bound to be the "voodoo doll" because it can't possibly have existed before the United-States were founded right?

Grumble grumble grumble.

#yeah i'm bitter about it #voodoo doll #it is especially obvious for me because I'm French right #and there's a lot of books about the history of witches in Europe right #magic #and they all carefully avoid any anachronism by not using the term voodoo doll #cause its overuse is REALLY something very American #witchcraft #spell #bewitching #european magic #language #european witchcraft #magical practices #my rant of the day

[dragonnarrative-writes]

GhostGaz Week - 2nd chances // road trip

This one is more of a dialogue based character study than anything else, I think. I felt unhinged writing it even though very little happens.

@ghostgazweek

CW: use of cigarettes, littering, discussions of gender and sexuality, past dating experiences, brief reference to simon riley's terrible awful service experiences

Gaz doesn’t hate land transport, but he’d much rather be on a helicopter than in this silent car with Ghost right now. He’s viciously bored. If it was Price, he’d know how to carry a conversation. But fresh off his third milk run with Ghost, he’s floundering. He checks the clock and groans. There’s another hour before they hit the tarmac and head home.

Desperation for something to talk about makes him blurt, “You ever been in love?”

Ghost doesn’t give much indication that he’s heard, eyes never leaving the road, hand relaxed on the top of the steering wheel. Sometimes Gaz wishes he was a photographer. The Ghost in the driver’s seat would make a great campaign poster. He’s bulky with all his gear. Solid. The picture of a man. This is the guy protecting the innocent by risking himself. A skull faced badass.

“Take the wheel,” Ghost says.

Used to the routine by now, Gaz leans over the arm rest to hold the car steady while Ghost pulls pulls a cigarette from a pack and lights it. But where he usually only lifts his balaclava over the bridge of his nose, he reaches up to take the whole thing off. It’s the work of a moment for him to light the cigarette and open the window. Gaz finds himself looking between the empty road and Ghost’s scarred jaw and the shape of his nose.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Gaz says, settling back into his seat. He tries not to stare, but it’s hard. Without the mask, Ghost is still the picture of a man. Just... different.

“Why’d you ask?”

“Huh?”

Ghost tilts his head to make brief eye contact, then looks back at the road. “Why’d you ask if I’ve ever been in love?”

Oh. “Just… curious, I guess,” Gaz flounders. “I feel like we should know each other better by now.”

The silence is near painful as Ghost takes a drag from his cigarette, and then another. Gaz can’t decide what’s worse - if he’s being ignored or if Ghost is actively offended. He’s about to apologize when he gets an answer.

“Been in love a few times. Puppy love 'fore I joined up, told myself I woulda proposed to ‘er if things were different, but probably not. Was all over the place.” He takes another drag, exhales as he talks. “Had a crush on another private in basic, gave it a go when we graduated. Dated in secret for about a year before I broke things off. Hurt a bit but tha’s a part of it all, yeah?”

“Why’d you break up?”

“Didn’t like being his secret,” Ghost says around another puff of smoke. “He didn’t like my daddy issues.”

Gaz feels his eyebrows crawl up beneath is cap. “Didn’t know you liked men.”

That makes Ghost - Simon? - laugh. “Yeah, well, now we know each other better, I guess.”

Gaz's ears burn a bit. Into the silence, he offers, “Me too. I mean… I’m… not strictly heterosexual…?”

“You askin’ me?” the man snorts a laugh. “’ve seen your beauty serums, Gaz. I know you ain’t straight. Best egg in the carton.”

Gaz scrunches his nose, he can't help it. “What does that even mean?”

Ghost grins that grin. The one that makes Price shoot his whiskey. “You ever have dreams where you’re a girl?”

“What?” Gaz blanches. Five years ago, he’d have answered, doesn’t everybody? But he’s learned his lesson since then. “No.”

Ghost’s grin doesn’t falter. “I do.”

“Bullshit,” Gaz says, because what? What even is this conversation?

“Third love of my life made me go to therapy,” Ghost continues, like he didn’t just rock Gaz’s world on its axis. “Learned a lot. Admittedly before the Ghost thing. Broke up because the therapy was working. And then all the Ghost shit happened.”

“Of course.” What else is there to say?

“Flirted with someone a couple times in the last six months, but either I’ve been too subtle or they’re not interested.”

Gaz gropes around for an appropriate response because I've only ever seen you stare silently at people feels a bit rude. “Maybe it’s the mask? You’re hard to read.”

“Maybe so,” is the answer he gets. “What about you? Ever been in love, Garrick?”

The question shouldn’t startle him, but it does. He stumbles over his answer. “I dunno. Maybe. Had crushes when I was kid. Dated in sixth form, but I don’t know if that counts.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I was a kid, yeah? Everything feels intense when you’re young,” Gaz shrugs. “Doesn’t mean it’s love.”

Ghost is quiet for a moment, nodding to himself. Finally he says, “M’ therapist says that just because it’s a kid that feels it don't make the feelings less valid. If anything, feelings are more intense for kids. Puppy love is still love.”

The realization that Ghost is a romantic snaps into place. He sits with that for a beat before saying, “Well, she cheated on me with my mate, so that ended. Took a long time for me to get over that one.”

“That’s shite,” Ghost mumbles. “You datin’ now?”

“Not much time for a civilian relationship,” Gaz admits with a shrug. “And I’m not… out on base. I’m not not, just… I don’t really care to have people in my business.”

“Fair,” Ghost answers. He flicks his cigarette out the window. “Well, if you ever do think about dating on base, keep me in mind.”

Gaz might pull something in his neck, he snaps to look at Ghost so fast. “Huh?”

Ghost just laughs.

#GhostGazWeek #dragonnarrativewrites fanfiction #gaz appreciation nation #manic pixie dream ghost #ghostgaz #none of these stories this week have been linked to each other #i just headcannon simon and kyle as queer in so many ways #and simon has the tism rizz that means intentional flirting is very difficult for him #he's been flirting with kyle since they met #except the “flirting” is standing in the same room no talking no eye contact just vibes #“hold the wheel while i grab a smoke” is practically a proposition to him #he took off his mask because in his head they're already in a polycule with price and roach #obviously being in a polycule and “dating” are not the same in his head but they're related #price does not know about this polycule yet but he will #roach was the one who defined the terms queerplatonic and polycule to simon #obviously simon would like for things to be less platonic

[labyrynth]

so…somehow topaz is not only managing to embody “rampant capitalist” but also “insidious colonizer”???

like babe maybe try not launching an armed alien invasion of their home threatening to extract every single resource of potential value. or like. dumping a 700yr old debt on a planet that has been entirely isolated for most of that.

hey speaking of how it’s been 700 years since this supposed loan was made—why are you sweeping in to demand hundreds of years of interest on a loan you didn’t care enough to collect more than 400 years ago…conveniently AFTER you decided that maybe there was something to exploit here after all?

like goddamn when they announced “topaz and numby” i thought the pig was supposed to be NUMBY and yet Here We Are

#moi #hsr #honkai star rail #hsr topaz #topaz & numby #capitalism is capitalism i guess #the worst part is i can’t even tell if they meant for her to come off like such a straight up cunt? #like it feels like they’re trying to spin it like ‘oh well she’s just doing her job and trying to help—‘ uhh no #one does not waltz in after not lifting a finger to help just to extract what little wealth this planet has #‘the IPC may seem heartless and cruel’ YEAH BECAUSE IT IS. ITS LITERALLY A HEARTLESS CORPORATION #THAT HAS CANONICALLY ENGAGED IN UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES #‘oh well oh my home planet outside corporations fucked up the environment massively and people were suffering— #BUT THEN THE IPC SAVED THE DAY! and all it cost was signing your life over to a faceless corporation that doesn’t give a shit about you :)’ #WHO DO YOU THINK FUCKED UP THE ENVIRONMENT TO BEGIN WITH????? #‘so i’ve decided to be gracious and kind and FORGIVE your planets (cough supposed) debts… #…​provided you sign your entire planet’s population to my glorious corporation.’ #‘(and if you don’t agree to these terms then we will take your planet by force and extract every ounce of wealth)’ #like HELLO??????? #this whole situation is manipulative as hell

[total-drama-brainrot]

do you think that somewhere, deep deep down inside heather, shes kinda into p!noah? (apologies, i’ve just seen the alejandro connection with p!noah and i was trying to stuff alenoaheather in with it)

anyway, ur b pfp messed me up when i was looking for u through who i follow and i was kinda just chanting ophe until i found it TT-TT

I think, deep deep down inside, Heather has a lot of introspective re-evaluation to do before she can even consider admitting to herself that she likes someone. And she's iconic for that. That doesn't stop her from forming crushes on people, mind you.

As for liking p!Noah? Well, (as a Noaheather Enjoyer myself) a lot of Heather's potential romance partners, in my mind at least, stem from the connections she can/does make with them. She's slow to open herself up to people, and really prickly, so for her to have positive feelings for someone else is a novelty. (*cough*gray-aro Heather real*cough*)

If Heather was able to foster some sort of rapport between herself and p!Noah, let's say by offering him something akin to an alliance (since it's only strategic to have a wildcard like Noah's turned out to be on her side- keep your enemies close and all), and see behind the many layers of crazy and deceit? She'd probably have a sense of begrudging respect for him, at least. It takes smarts and dedication to keep up a ruse like his for so long- Heather herself couldn't keep up the "nice girl" act for more than a few episodes- and she knows that Noah's deceptively smart.

Maybe that begrudging respect could blossom into more? Who's to say.

Maybe p!Noah also respects Heather's ruthlessness and cunning, since she was able to scheme and sabotage her way into the final three on Island. She's interesting, and Noah appreciates people who are interesting.

The main drawback of liking someone as eccentric as p!Noah is, as we saw with Izzy and Owen in canon, Heather would need to be able to keep up with him.

Obviously, Noah's not nearly as hyper and fickle as Izzy is, but he's just as impulsive and detached from reality. Heather can appreciate his cleverness and craftiness all she wants- if she can't deal with his callous madness, she'd have very little luck in trying to romance him.

The B pfp was an impulsive choice on my part but I'm not sorry for it because B deserves more recognition for literally carrying his whole team for the first few episodes. I do apologise for any confusion though!

#what i'm trying to say is p!noah could probably go toe-to-toe with heather strategy wise but doesn't because Your Boy is too invested-- #in playing heinous practical jokes on the rest of the cast to dedicate himself to Actually Competing. and heather knows this. #and the only person heather's ever been canonically attracted to is someone who can 'equal' her in terms of strategy so... #though now i've given myself the idea of p!noah allowing heather to 'trick' him into an alliance because he thinks it'd be funny/interestin #playing the part of heather's guileless pawn. she'd quickly catch on to his act though bc she's a smart cookie. #then it'd be a game of Schemer's Chicken to see who calls out the other's 'wilful ignorance' first #it's a good thing this AU is strictly hypothetical because idk how it'd choose between ships. #total drama #psycho!noah au #noaheather #replies