#but where are my ridiculously op women

[yellowocaballero]

Reading 'Solo Leveling' (a webtoon/webnovel about a guy who uses a game-like interface to level up and fight monsters and become ridiculously OP and the coolest and hottest guy in the whole wide world) really proves something to me that I've thought about.

The goal of a story is to achieve what it wants to achieve. Different genres have different certain marks the story should achieve. If it doesn't hit those marks, it's not a good example of the genre. In a lot of was it's not even a good story - it doesn't entertain the audience in the way that they want to be entertained. A romance novel isn't a bad story because it doesn't feature great action scenes, but neither is it a bad story because it doesn't delve deep into the sociopolitical implications of neocolonialism. Does it make the reader feel happy? Is it cathartic? Is there a happy ending? Then it's a good romance story - even if you think stories shouldn't need happy endings.

The 'satisfaction' of stories like Solo Leveling is the fact that is very entertaining to watch a guy be super powerful and mow down bad guys and have everybody around him go "WHOAH that's a cool guy". Maybe it's cool because you're projecting, or maybe you like great action scenes, or because you like 'underdog gets powerful' stories. It's a power fantasy. That is the goal of Solo Leveling, and so long as I'm going "WHOAH COOL", then it's a good story. And Solo Leveling is the example of the power fantasy video game dungeon OP protag. It does those elements, it executes them competently, it's a good story.

This is the third of these types of stories I've read more than 5 chapters of. The first was Omniscent Reader's Viewpoint. And baby. This is no ORV.

ORV a big reaction to Solo Levelling in a lot of ways, since Solo Levelling was very genre defining and influential, and it's hard to write these OP stories without having a relationship to Solo Leveling. It's like the most popular webtoon out there. The OP hero, the gaming interface and rules, the gods fucking you up, power fantasy - they're all checked off by ORV. It doesn't subvert them much. You watch kdj pull one over on a shmuck and you're like HEY YA BABY and you watch him utterly decimate some schmuck and you're like WHOAH COOL. You like ORV, basically, for the same reasons you like Solo Leveling. They're the same genre and in a lot of ways the same story.

But ORV has driven me nuts and after a while Solo Leveling has gotten boring. Because ORV has a fantastic supporting cast that puts the MC's OPness in relative perspective. Because there's cool action scenes with different teams, of different dynamics, giving freshness to each chapter. Because you get to see kdj slowly implement some nuts gambit of the course of the entire arc and when we finally hit the end point where it all comes together it's FUCK YEAH. I'm leaving out the actual depth here. But ORV and Solo Leveling do the same thing, except ORV has a great deal of other story elements that build into the main 'point' and escalate the satisfaction, joy, and intensity of those points. You don't read these OP hero novels for the supporting cast. You read it to watch a dude be cool. But ORV's supporting cast - and, like, the fact that they're actual characters, even the women - gives us a lot of other smaller 'hey yeah!' moments, gives it buildup, makes the OP moments meaningful, and gives a grand climax and huge satisfaction when kdj does what the SL guy did by himself. And the supporting cast is only one example of this. A story is a good story if it accomplishes its point, but a story like SL will never really deliver its promises nearly as well as ORV could. Not because ORV is deep and has """themes""" or fucked up shit like that. The 'WHOAH COOL's are just better. Because ORV knows why stories are good and what makes a good story.

Anyway I'm fucking begging you I have tears in my eyes this is why your fic needs more than the hot ship of the day I promise it won't detract from the ship it will make the ship BETTER but you have to get WHY you like these homosexuals so much and it's NOT just because they're CUTE sometimes there's OTHER REASONS THAT ARE IMPORTANT LIKE THE WOMAN YOU'VE BOOTED AND -

#you're killing me smalls #my writing #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #solo leveling #solo leveling is good at what it does bc i've read 120 chapters of it #but it's not great because i don't actually care #man really early on the MC had PTSD and I felt like we were doing something with that #and why he was so desperate to grow stronger and i felt like that was a good character motivation for the #hashtag grindset #we like characters for other reasons than projection. i prommy. prommy i swear #the funny thing is that literlaly everybody who reads all 1 million words of orv #are a kim dokja kinnie and you do have to project insanely #because the story self-selects for kdj kinnies #if you weren't insane in the exact same way kdj was insane #you wouldn't have fucking finished orv now would you

[pagannatural]

1.19

Provenance

-the episode where they come so close to talking about Sam’s fat crush on Dean that I almost choked the first time I saw it

part I

-Sam beckons Dean away from his conversation with a woman at the bar. Like he flags him down and Dean is like Ope sorry lady my little brother who I spend every waking moment with needs to talk to me right now, no it can’t wait yeah I just do whatever he wants at all hours.

-Dean offers to try setting Sam up and Sam says he can get his own dates.

Dean says You could but you don’t. A rare moment of Dean plainly acknowledging that Sam could get it.

Sam’s expression is so hesitant. Dean says “nothing” but looks worried. Sam changes the subject back like he doesn’t actually want to talk about it. Usually Sam is vocal and pushes Dean to talk, but on this topic it’s the opposite.

Purely a theory but they’re both acting like this issue has come up before, like Oh it’s this again. And by before I mean way back before Stanford, this issue of Why isn’t Sam interested in anyone. The way Dean kind of mutters to himself passive aggressively and the way Sam answers but just moves on, the way he seems more needy in the first half of this episode.

-Dean’s eyes wander and Sam gets his attention again. His tone is less irritated and more puppyish and insistent. Dean says the case can wait until first thing and goes back to talk to the bar women and Sam calls after him forlornly.

His expression KILLS me. He wants Dean’s attention soso bad. He smiles after this though, because he loves Dean and finds him endearing.

-Sam lies artfully to the auction house guy. Dean tries to order champagne from him and calls him chuckles. Dean is good at defying authority by confronting, ridiculing, and fighting it.

-Sam says he took an art history course to meet girls and I believe him. He probably really wanted to meet someone to get his mind off of Dean.

-Dean asks Sam to call Sarah. It’s like he recognizes this puppy version of Sam and knows whatever he does doesn’t seem to help, so he’s trying to supply him with the one thing he really can’t do himself. He’s always controlling about Sam’s sex life but this time it’s coming from concern. And probably his own guilt, like he’s trying to repair something.

-Sarah asks Sam why he hasn’t been dating and he looks troubled, doesn’t answer. Next scene is Dean sharpening a knife.

Knives are symbolic of masculinity and of separation, of cutting things away. They’re often suggestive of the risk of being seduced by a man or of being penetrated.

As Dean sharpens his knife, he hedges around asking Sam if he slept with her, trying to keep it casual.

He doesn’t look casual. He only puts the knife aside when Sam changes the subject to the case. It makes the conversation feel sexually charged. Dean is also trying to give Sam some separation by pushing him toward Sarah, and it’s not working. He’s dangerous, to Sam, who’s trying to resist him.

-Sam is not happy about Dean pretending to forget his wallet to try and set him up with Sarah. He looks at Dean like he’s let him down, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing, like he really doesn’t like this.

He looks at Sarah, a very pretty art dealer, like she’s a bucket of slugs on his clean floor.

And he’s facing Dean, with his shoulder to her, until Dean physically leaves. He doesn’t blush or act embarrassed or anything when Dean pushes him toward her, he just seems uninterested and offended that Dean isn’t listening to him.

#samdean #supernatural #spn meta #spn 1x19 #I’m including too many images so this post has to be two parts sorry #wincest

[max1461]

God I hate r/greentext. Why do I go on r/greentext.

Ok, so, let's break this down. Obviously both parents of the 4chan OP are at fault here. The mom is at fault for cheating, and the dad is at fault for abandoning his kids in response. The kids were innocent in this situation and they relied on him; when you have a responsibility for someone's care you cannot just abandon them because you feel hurt. Furthermore, it seems both the parents have been extremely callous about the whole situation (the dad forcing a name change, seeking to legally disavow the children who loved and relied on him, the mom laughing about the whole situation). These seem to be people who have been horrible to the vulnerable children in their care as a result of their own relationship drama and it is absolutely condemnable.

Next: the 4chan OP's response ridiculous, hateful and irrational. I am not going to judge the 4chan OP for blaming his mother more than his father. People often have a complex relationship to those who have wronged them, and even though I think the father's actions were completely heinous, it's not my place to tell the OP how to feel about that. In general I'm more likely to take this level of anger from a child at one of their parents as evidence that the parent probably didn't treat them well; OP feels how he feels about his parents and that is his business. However, his extension of his anger at his mother to all women is nothing but awful and hateful, and serves to harm more innocent people and make the world a worse place. Does he not care about his sister, who was just as much a victim in this as he was? That stands out to me particularly. How can he be so callous as to see someone who was abandoned just like he was, hurt like he was, and say "you have the same genitals as the person who wronged me, so I hate you too". It's unimaginable to me. One way or another, he's doing the same thing his father did: taking out his valid anger at one person on innocent bystanders, people who are at no fault, because they bear superficial relation to the person who wronged him. Why? Why do people not see the irrationality, the pointlessness of this, and the amount of hurt it causes?

But, ok, all of what I have described so far is principally sad. We live in a fucked up world where people are hurt and go on to hurt others. It doesn't surprise or offend me, though it makes me angry at the world. But what really fucks me up here are the comments, the commentary of people who are not involved.

The screenshotted comments are the top comments. The top commenter is a guy justifying abandoning your children because you feel emasculated. It is plain as day in the third comment how much more empathy he extends to the father in this scenario than he extends to the mother or any of the children. Why? Because the father has the same fucking genitals as him? It makes me feel such despair, and seeing everyone agree with him makes me feel such despair, the sheer thought-terminating irrational evil of sexism, by which these people can advocate abandoning those who rely on you because they are more concerned with the feeling of emasculation than with how it would feel to have your parent stop loving you because of something someone else did.

I hate this. I hate everything about this. The set of ideologies being used and propped up and replicated here are evil, cycles of hurt for the sake of cycles of hurt. Every r/greentext and r/4chan thread is like this. This is vile, it's truly vile to me. I hate that the world is like this, I hate that people find any of this compelling or reasonable. I hate this.

#I am going fucking insane

[melonteee]

When I watched most of your one piece videos and before I ever saw your real face I thought you'd be someone around your 30s or 40s. 😁

One reason was your voice and accent. I'm not that familiar with Australian accents except for OzzyMan (I'm ESL).

Another reason was your One Piece Women video. The way you talked about fanservice and women's body types was, not gonna lie, not sth young people in these times say that often because they've been infested by radfems and their rhetoric and espouse them constantly.

I saw the beginning of a video essay recently where the YouTuber straight up said that female characters who have been "sexualized" whatever definition he used there, don't count as good female characters at all and in any sense.

In other words, a female character who in some way shape or form appeals to men in a sexual way doesn't have any worth as a female character. Popular radical feminism on the internet.

When you started talking about the OP women without going into that direction I breathed a sigh of relief. You said that sexy character design for the women wasn't a big deal but that the lack of variety wasn't good.

And that was, at least where I was, the mainstream talking point in the early 10's about anime/cartoon characters. So, yeah, I thought you'd be older. 💕

Haha no I'm afraid I'm in my youthful mid 20s! That radfem rabbit hole was one I remember being in when I was 13-18 on Tumblr, but I avoid that kinda stuff like the plague now because radfem beliefs tend to be a dog whistle for terfs. And I'm saying this because if anyone reading this falls prey to the whole "women are biologically superior to men" rhetoric, I really need you to be careful, as that can and will nosedive into terf territory.

As for the sexualisation stuff, the whole "characters who have been "'sexualized" don't count as good female characters at all and in any sense" is ridiculous, because no matter what kind of female character you make, they will be sexualised in some way shape or form by men who find them attractive.

BUT honestly the biggest thing for me is like, this demonisation of sexuality and sexyness? Because, as a gay woman, I am also sexualising characters like Nami. Just because I'm not a man doesn't mean it's automatically redundant that I also find Nami extremely sexy and stare at her tits waiting for them to bounce. There's literally nothing wrong with Oda enjoying women, or enjoying tits or ass, he is allowed to make a female character that embodies his desires. But, as you said here, and as I said in my video, the problem is he's doing that with EVERY woman. I personally don't have any grudges for how Oda draws Nami and Robin, I just truly wish it wasn't every damn woman in One Piece lmao.

Honestly I'm in such a weird place with it because, again, I like women. I like looking at tits and I like looking at women. My unpopular opinion is I also find Nami's design very sexy and very pleasing because...I like tits too LMAO and I always feel like us gay women are forgotten about in the conversation of One Piece girls and their bodies. I'm not going to pretend I HATE the girl designs in One Piece because I really don't, but of course there is a difference when a man does it compared to when a woman does it.

My view on it will always be...the issue isn't men looking at fictional women in any kind of sexual way, it's that WOMEN are demonised when they do the same thing back for fictional men. If women draw fictional men being sexy, being objectified (although you can't objectify a fictional character really but you get what I mean), they seem to be swarmed by men who find that gross and detestable. But when men do the same thing back to fictional women... it's fine and natural?? So pointing at the one piece girls, saying it's too sexual and demonising it, is counter productive in my opinion.

As an individual, you are allowed to be uncomfortable with it, you are allowed to wish they looked different, but I don't think anyone has any right to say they SHOULDN'T look like that. Because that creates this air of "Well we can't put our own desires in fictional characters full stop!" and then this weird guilt is felt amongst all parties.

Equality to me is not taking away the bikini armour from a female character, it's allowing both the male AND female characters to be able to wear that bikini armour. Everyone is allowed to have their sexual desires and sexual preferences in fictional characters.

I love Nami, I love her big boobies, I JUST wish Zoro's tits bounced as much as hers did. That is all!

#ask #melonask

[somethingmissingthiswaycomes]

I just read a post I would have liked to reblog for some points, but not for others — so I think I'll just muse about it in my own post.

The post was about the dichotomy of TME and TMA — terms I at first accepted without thought and then began to criticize and eventually grew annoyed with, then saw them as a straight up red flag because of how big the center circle of the Venn diagram seems to be between people who use those terms regularly online and people who use them to disparage trans people who were assigned female at birth. The crossover with people who use insults like "theyfab" seemed to be pretty big too. And it's inaccurate of course; you can't say anyone is transmisogyny exempt based on an innate aspect of their identity. And people who use TME as an insult (seemingly anyone who used it at all) seem to all be hateful about transmascs having terms like transandrophobia to describe their experiences.

But the post that made me muse right now started out saying that yes, it's not precise, it's not fully accurate, but there's something experienced in perpetuity by transfemmes, assigned male at birth, that isn't experienced by anyone who can convincingly assert that they're not trans women — and TMA is trying to reach for that, and transmisogynists wouldn't grant us any language to describe our experiences.

I've been wrong a lot about fundamental things, and realizing where I've been wrong tends to start with a feeling that there's something I'm trying to reject, because it's uncomfortable to me or violates my previous worldview. Learning I was trans, learning about plurality, the process of noticing transandrophobia within the trans community... and long before that, when I lost the faith I'd been raised in and came to recognize it as highly damaging. It's deeply unpleasant for these shifts to happen.

I've been getting a feeling like that lately, but I wasn't sure where it was placed exactly. Each time I notice a problem with my worldview, I get more cautious about what possible new problems could crop up. It makes things, well, more uncomfortable.

Anyway, this one post I'm mulling over phrased things in a way that made me start looking more closely at what it is I've been avoiding. Because my mistrust of people who talk about TMAs and TMEs came alongside a rising pride and solidarity in transmasculinity, and a frustration with people who deny the trans community language by calling us "transandrophobia truthers" and other closed-minded, bigoted nonsense. (It's so fucking frustrating.) So... I haven't been looking for discussions about the terms TMA/TME outside of the hateful context it was showing up for me in.

And this post I'm mulling over mentioned requiring language to talk about experiences, and that clicked. It clicked with me that, while there are a whole lot of people playing boys v girls 2.0 in all this, there's an underlying need to be able to discuss the unique experiences that come with every aspect of who and what we are — and we're trying to categorize, categorize, categorize.

Part of what made me decide not to engage with the post that made me start talking about this is that the OP brought up the idea of transfeminine people who were assigned female at birth... and how that's, to them, a ridiculous idea. The thing is, it's not, and accepting that is part of not overcategorizing. It's an unusual thing, but it's real, and it can mean different things. You can't restrict the type of people who can exist.

But it's true that there are experiences specific to one's assigned gender (like AMAB) and to one's physiological reality associated with it that, in an intersection with a specific or adjacent actual gender (like trans woman, transfeminine, or transneutral with perceived femininity), are important to recognize as, for the most part, unique.

My ability to be specific here breaks down, though, because I know from reading the words of certain intersex people that a lot of the intersection of transfeminine and perisex AMAB isn't actually unique unless you ignore intersex people. I don't think I can say more than that. I don't think I can get nuanced enough.

But I can use an "opposite" example to try to draw a parallel. Because there is an AFAB trans experience that isn't shared by perisex trans people who were assigned male at birth: the risk of pregnancy, and specifically restrictions on bodies with uteruses. That's a difference that TERFs like to prey on to drive a wedge in the trans community. They like to convince us that they're the only ones who care about that part of our lived experiences. That is wrong. And we shouldn't let that difference divide us.

In the same vein, we shouldn't let that difference being something that could divide us turn the topic into one that trans people who have uteruses need to sacrifice in order to stand together with trans people who don't. I think that's contributed to transmasculine erasure. The assertion that it must be so would fall under the umbrella of transandrophobia, a much needed term for the sake of discussing that.

Now back to transmisogyny affected/exempt. An argument I've often shared and agreed with and been fervent about is that it's just recreating the AFAB/AMAB binary. And I have seen people argue that no it's not, it's different, but in recognizing how often it's used that way by bad actors, I decided to ignore that argument. I'd say it doesn't matter; it may as well be that.

I think I've been wrong. And I've known I was wrong, in the back of my mind, for a while. My initial acceptance of the TMA/TME dichotomy had me making that same argument, so it felt like something I had moved beyond. Now I'm letting myself look at it more closely, I'm coming to a less accepting-it-on-faith understanding of the argument.

I'm also forming a new way of explaining my own experiences as a genderfluid person. Hopefully doing so will help to articulate what I'm thinking;

I am, currently, TME. Not in the literal sense that I don't experience transmisogyny at all, but in the sense of, "I have a body that allows me to avoid and avert transmisogyny directed explicitly at my person." I'm affected by transmisogyny in a lot of ways I've been working through for some time now, and it's for that reason that I still await better terms for this concept—but using these terms as I believe good faith actors do, while I'm not exempt from transmisogyny in general, I am TME.

But I won't always be.

I am a genderfluid person who was assigned female at birth. I started testosterone a few years back, and then I stopped because I wasn't sure how far I wanted to take it. I've been coming to terms with the fact that I need to go further and I may have to be on HRT indefinably to be able to be my full, real self... but I'm still also a woman. And it will cause me dysphoria if I can't present as a woman at times when my body has been fully affected by testosterone.

I don't know if I'll be able to be stealth in any direction. I will be affected by transmisogyny in a way I'm not right now. The difference between how I'm affected by transmisogyny now and how I will be then can, at the moment, be communicated with "I'm TME now, but I'll be TMA when I transition."

And that terrifies me, honestly. I had recognized that terror as being me internalizing transmisogyny, but not as me being afraid of it. I know I'll be more comfortable with myself, but...

The forms of transmisogyny experienced specifically by people who are perpetually perceived as male (or "supposed to be male") while presenting as female are more scary than what I experience now.

And that is worth being able to talk about.

And that is worth having a term for.

And I suppose "TME" and "TMA" are the terms people are using right now, at least online. Imprecise language is something we have to work around sometimes.

I do hope that the discussion can evolve language that doesn't so easily allow bad actors to use otherwise potentially useful terms as a weapon of lateral bigotry.

And, in general, I hope the discussion can move in a direction that discourages that more by rejecting separation of trans people into boxes based on AGAB without erasing experiences that come with AGAB. Categories are good and useful to a point — but not as boxes so much as colors we're painted with. You can't split people into groups based on any one category they're colored with without forcing some people within those groups to de-prioritize something else they are.

...

This feels like it could be a draft for a real good blog post, but I know I won't post it if I wait and try to rewrite things later, so it'll have to be the finished thing.

It's been a while since I tried to add to the conversation like this. Gonna turn my anons off in case of problems. I am OUT of spoons and won't be able to respond to any opinion about this, but feel free to say things anyway if you're nice.

#transmisogyny #transandrophobia #trans unity #tme/tma #trans discussion #multigender #genderfluid #I hope to God this doesn't get screenshotted by someone who wants to be an ass about something I said in here 🤞 #I want these thoughts to be added to the conversation without having to compromise my mental health by continuing to interact about it #hoping that's not too much to ask #hoping it's not a mistake to be all vulnerable about my gender in a post like this lol #I'm out of speech spoons #Nervous to post but feeling like it's important #and a one and a two and a

[spacelazarwolf]

I haven’t SEEN you talk about this but I absolutely could be wrong so if that’s the case I apologize and understand you passing over this ask.

Um this ask is maybe more a small vent than anything with like….a point? But there’s a post going around, popped up on my dash a lot today and yesterday, about decoupling gendered language from pregnancy and reproductive rights language. The post is the tumblr OP responding to an original twitter post about the issue and it goes something like “something something this is why I stand with my trans sisters” which there is obviously nothing inherently wrong with that!!! Stand with our trans sisters pls!! They need support and solidarity without any qualifiers!!!

But the notes are filled with, including addendums from tumblr op, response after response saying “trans men, trans mascs and non binary ppl can talk about this but don’t center yourself; talking over women and trans femmes is so tiring to deal with” and I’m just.

I’m tired of being angry and bitter ya know? I’m tired of feeling angry at my own community and then feeling guilty about it and then feeling angrier bc I’m feeling guilty. I’m so damn tired.

i feel like this one is especially ridiculous bc like????????? i'm sorry but PREGNANCY??????? an issue that literally does not affect trans people who don't have a uterus???????????????? like i'm sorry but this is a case where it's trans women and femmes and other trans people who don't have a uterus need to not be talking over trans men and mascs and other trans people who do have a uterus. like that's just fucking insane what the fuck. like i'm so tired of this environment we've created where trans women are the ultimate authorities on literally anything that could possibly affect any trans person at all, and that's how you get situations like laverne cox having to apologize for erasing trans men in conversations about abortion and having to admit that her first response was to seek solidarity with cis women rather than stand up for trans people who can get pregnant because it makes the conversation more "complicated." and like that's a situation in which an apology was actually given! usually it's just "fuck you i care more about cis women's comfort than your existence because they're the ones i want validation from, not you." it just fucking sucks.

#ask avishai #atm

[pinkandpurple360]

https://www.tumblr.com/crooked-wasteland/726843568652697600/how-many-times-does-a-writer-have-to-poorly-write

I feel Millie had so much potential, this would have been such an interesting take.

I think it might still be explored since Sallie May is coming back soon in season 3. Hopefully Millie’s non too because she’s a favourite of mine just for being a mom who is actually alive, and for having a personality.

But damn is it sad to see a main character not get focus until over halfway through the shows runtime. I’m sorry but more than any other character Moxxie just hogs the spotlight. And Loona gets very very little, even though Loonas episode was about her and another big female character, it was so focussed on male approval and male feelings that it was just plain ridiculous. Just like Vias episode was about male feelings. Why not have Loona and Bees rivalry be about Bee being rich and social, versus Loona growing up poor and isolated. That’s the only reason they’re so different.

Bee: “Don’t be so awkward girl! Let your guard down! Forget your worries! Being all nervous like this is just silly!”

Loona: “That’s rich, coming from someone who’s never had to put up her guard, living in a nice big house like this at the top of the food chain, where you don’t even have to work a day in your life I’d bet!”

Bee: “what’s that supposed to mean? You think I don’t have pressure! I was nice enough to let you come here to my home you little—“ but then Bee notices Loonas slightly scared face and stops herself…and there we go. This ain’t hard. Bee got mad at a compliment ffs.

I think the accusation that Millie’s mom is abusive is kindve…much? She clearly states that Millie gets too violent and carried away, seeing red, and she’s unlike Sallie who can keep her cool and hide things better. That’s not good either, but it’s not like Millie’s mom gave her different treatment for no reason. And it’s not idk “trans privilege” or whatever op was implying. (??) Isn’t that what the scene was trying to say? Millie goes too far and makes a mess? She’s very intense. And man I wish it was Millie who gave that speech at the end to get her own parents approval, not fuckin moxxie. And people are going to lose their shit if Viv doesn’t rewrite the lines about Mills being afraid moxxie will find someone better and “she should just jump”

These below, are all such facts. Viv needs to stop writing women and let another woman do it, because her own very deep misogyny is cartoonishly 1950s, it is coming through at every turn. There needs to be more non-Viv non fujoshi female presence in the writing team, grow up and stop calling this a show ‘about boys’ , it’s 2024. Since Viv has said herself that animation is a male dominated field, she should be the change she wants to see in the world.

“Women are just sadistic angry bitches and men are really delicate inside and need to be taken care of” stfu…some women are mean, some are soft, some men are tough, some men aren’t. Cmon. It’s 2024 soon.

Also:

STOP. KILLING. OR. ERASING. MOMS.

#helluva boss critical #misogyny in writing

[radfem-rage]

Hiii, as a teenage radfem, i wanted to say that i absolutely LOVE your posts and opinions. I remember when i tried to find a platform to get comfortable with, i tried Twitter, but i fastly noticed that if a real woman ever had a critical opinion about Trans "women" they would get called fascists (which i find absolutely ridiculous, considering that all the radfems i knew where left-wing.) but after i installed tumblr i loved it instantly, there are countless women with critical thinking, and also a lot of radfems which i feel more secure with, also considering that the only woman with the same identical views as me is my grandma.

I really hope you and all the terfs on this app have an amazing day.

Hi girl! Thank you so much! GC opinions are allowed ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter and I see a lot more women speaking out now, which is great! Too bad the terf tags on this platform are full of “kys terfs” and “terfs suck” lol. Tra are obsessed with us.

I definitely prefer instagram but the best posts can be found on Tumblr for sure. So many smart women here, especially @burningtheroots and @annoyingradfem

Have a nice day ops-icologa and you fellow terfs! ❤️

[arklayraven]

I don't know where this need to gender art styles came from, but I hate it and wish for it to stop.

I'm bringing this up because some people in the OM fandom now are calling this/these art style(s) "masculine".

Why they call it masculine you ask? The way Barbatos jawline is drawn apparently, etc... (BOY I WISH I WAS JOKING).

I can only suspect they call these art styles "feminine" now.

How dare a demon, who is a man, look masculine in art styles every so often! The nerve of those artist! FIRE THEM! (Fucking sarcasm here fyi, but I swear I heard people spew this same crap over Asmo when he was drawn more masculine looking than feminine. Over the damn demon of gender fluidity! Also for Mammon too, when he was drawn feminine presenting in that dame card, some people really didn't like that. lol And there's more examples I could share too fyi, but it could go on for awhile.)

Do you know how much this pisses me off? This shit honestly comes off kinda queer/transphobic to me, and will make peoples gender dysphoria kick in. Whether they are trans or not, because this shit will mess people up.

Imagine being either a man or woman, then being told your art is too feminine or masculine compared to how you look/present/identify. Even accused you didn't draw it because it doesn't fit with you. Or saying you must be a man/woman because your art is too feminine/masculine.

It's art, a art style, either unique to the artist, or similar to others. It doesn't need to be gendered, especially as a insult to the artist and their style of work.

And before you say "It's not a insult. It's just my personal opinion. People don't use it as a insult." No, it's often used as a insult I've noticed.

Also this is like a alternate way of telling men or women, trans/queer or not, they are too feminine or masculine as a insult/attack.

"You look too masculine" to a trans woman or women in general, queer or not. But if they are queer, and you hate butch women? Fuck you.

"You look too feminine" to a trans man or men in general, queer or not. Do not tell me men, queer or not, can't be feminine, because I swear--

Here's some other examples I found from others being told their art was too masculine/feminine in the past. Identities of people kept hidden but sharing the posts because of how ridiculous some are.

Yep. The manga artist of JJBA got damn dragged into this mess too, countless times.

So true, OP. And same can be said for guys who draw men too feminine. Do what makes you happy, fuck what others say or believe is "law of art".

The list goes on...

The idea of having to gender art and art styles, because of how feminine or masculine it looks to you. Is ridiculous, unnecessary and just displays how you view femininity and masculinity should be like.

"Women should only draw flowers and cute things."

"Men should only draw cars and dark gritty things."

This shit is old and needs to be left in the past where it belongs. Art is vast and has no limits or rules on expression, especially in art styles.

Rant over.

#;little raven speaks #;raven om calamity #shares off for now

[colourful-void]

Going Through All the Mastermind Gin Arguments on TVTropes

Only I get progressively more and more ridiculous as the arguments begin to break me.

Incorrect! We see Gin get pulled to the ceiling in Chapter 3 as a result of magnets in the collar. He DOES have a collar.

It *must* be important? Really? There's no way this is a funny gag. None. Come on, you can do better than that. The idea of little kids using adults/older siblings as toys to play with isn't even uncommon, how many gags are there of little girls dressing up their fathers in fancy outfits to play tea party? This doesn't hold weight.

"He's suspicious because he's not suspicious!" That's what this argument boils down to.

?????? What on earth is this trying to argue??? Gin can die in the game so he must be dying for the game? Sara can die in the game too? Most of these deaths are mini game game overs, and you can get gin as a partner often in these. You know who else you can often get as a partner? The other characters who have personal info available.

1: I can't believe "A child didn't talk about going into the next grade while he's in a murder game where he could die" is actually listed as reason why he's secertly an evil mastermind. You know what, you're so close. Maybe the reason Gin doesn't expect to graduate to middle school is because he could die! In this murder game. That he's trapped in. Like everyone else. Come on...

2: That's a joke my guy! That is a joke about attractive men who flirt with a lot of women being referred to as "Lady Killers"! If anything its foreshadowing about Megumi, but it's not an implication on Gin's part unless you're reaching. Midori calls him a lady killer as a reference, and to unsettle the audience by implying he's been watching the whole time.

This is the only one I don't have a solid rebuttal to, I admit. Gin sure does respond with ellipses. Does that mean he's secretly an evil mastermind? I.. still don't see this as being anything to make a case on, but I will concede this one. One point.

before we go any further, I wanna say that Op is in fact trans, alright? okay.

...

Top ten reasons Gin is seceretly evil and killed over a dozen people: he maybe kind of misgendered a guy, possibly we're not sure.

Nope it's just a child playing with a toy. It really could be that simple. I won't rule out that there's something hidden within Mew-chan, but somehow I doubt an entire fucking human head has just been chilling in there for several days and no one has commented on the smell, and it's somehow not leaked any fluids which would stain the plush.

"This 12 year old is: *Procceds to list off autistic traits*! Clearly they're trying to avoid suspicion!"

This is the part of the analysis where I stop and give up.

#yttd #your turn to die #old post I found in drafts #gin ibushi #ibushi gin #mastermind gin #tvtropes #this is all lighthearted btw #messing around #not sure if there were any other arguments but I ain’t gonna go check #long post #a bit

[larathia]

The Great Cleric has some odd side themes.

Now, I'll admit up front, its 'side themes' are why I watch/read it, because I'm curious where those will go. And its MAIN theme is the standard "Japanese dude dies, reincarnates in a fantasy game world, and becomes ridiculously OP while surrounded by women with helium in their chests", which you can throw a dart at a crunchyroll update list and hit three of.

But the side themes are all, like, negative.

Transport a Japanese workaholic to a fantasy game world with an unfamiliar success metric and he will absolutely work himself SO HARD that everyone around him nicknames him 'masochist' and 'zombie'.

Present this workaholic with a fantasy drug and just tell him it will 'help him improve faster', and HE WILL TAKE THE DRUG ALL THE DAMN TIME. Even if it's visually, nasally, and gastronomically repulsive. And even if he can't actually tell whether it's helping him improve or not. And he'll even take this horrible drug, willingly and of his own volition (it does not appear to have ANY addictive properties) after he finds out it's STOPPING him from progressing and might have rendered him asexual. (I do appreciate that the series notes that that's a MAYBE, and honestly maybe the guy was ALWAYS asexual and just never thought about it). Like dude, you're so lucky you got yourself shot to death on Earth before some opportunistic bastard introduced you to cocaine. You're even luckier that the drug you've psychologically addicted yourself to is so completely repulsive that the people that have it will straight up give it to you just to get rid of it. If they recognized how much you truly value it you'd be so very, very broke.

Sans regulation, the medical profession can hold entire populations hostage. I have to admit as an American watching a Japanese person's take on medical debt, this is my actual favorite side plot. Because it does address that yes, for some healers, the important thing is being able to heal people's hurts. And for others, it's about making some serious coin. And that it doesn't take much on the part of the latter group to seriously sour the barrel, and once it's soured it gets progressively harder to fix the damage.

#the great cleric #larathia reviews

[ezrisdax-archive]

TOS?

send me a tv show/book/fandom and i’ll say the top 5 things i’d change about it

Klingons, their design is rooted in a lot of orientalism and blackface and I'd change that in a heartbeat.

I don't want Rand to leave! I'd have kept her on for the whole show honestly. I always liked she wasn't afraid to give some attitude back and how her and Uhura seemed close, it'd have been nice to see that play out the whole time.

Keep Uhura in gold. I like her in red mind you, I think the colour even suits her more but Uhura in gold makes more sense, I know comms can fall into ops but she's part of the command crew and in Galileo Seven she plays the part of Spock to Kirk when Spock and McCoy are gone so it's clear she's got her own command chops.

Have Sulu fully in charge one episode, I'd have liked to have seen that, like a lot of the material later always says he was and he gets his own command and everything but I wanna actually see it.

Horta in Starfleet and - no I'm kidding, there's just a few episodes I'd have rewritten. Less women swooning over the main trio. Like I get it it's the time period and hey, I'm attracted to the main trio as well but I felt like especially in season three there were ridiculous moments of that. Now they had some really good episodes where they didn't obviously but then some just awful ones. Also like, Turnabout Intruder. I don't care for that episode. I'll be honest I haven't watched the original series in a while so I can't think of any others off the top of my head but I know whenever I watch TOS there's parts I just sigh at.

#replies in thirty minutes or they're free #ob-kirkseyeliner-1 #beej talks star trek

[because-of-a-friend]

Shapeshifter!Jeonghan

MASTERLIST

Thank you for all of your requests @blizzardfluffykpop​ !!!! I loved them both and had so much fun doing it! Again, sorry to everyone for letting this account die for awhile, hopefully I can get back on track! I only have one of my drafts left and then I can start answering new requests! 

Warnings: Supernatural themes, let me know if I missed anything!

Word Count: 1K

As always gif doesn’t belong to me, if you like it, the link to the OP is right there so you can go give them some love!!!

Oh god can you even imagine him as a shapeshifter

He’s already mischievous enough

But with the ability to look like whoever he wants???

His antics would become insufferable

You get scary good at memorizing not only Jeonghan’s mannerisms but those of everyone around you

Because the amount of times he’ll turn into someone you know to prank you or get you to buy him coffee is insane

But once you get good at telling him apart from everyone even when he’s shifted into someone you know

He doesn’t stand a chance

Your best friend walks up to you but she’s wearing a smirk that she never has before

“Don’t even open your mouth, Yoon. Better luck next time.”

Once it gets to the point where he can’t prank you

He’ll just make you an unwilling accomplice in all his antics

You’ll just be out in a coffee shop when you take notice of a stranger who is acting exactly like Jeonghan

And you try to get him to sit down or cut it out without doing anything

But he always ends up making a scene of some sort

You’ve learned that if you go too far to try and stop him, he’ll just make you part of the scene

It’s not too bad

Usually he’ll just do some over exaggerated fall or something else ridiculous that makes everyone laugh

Sometimes he walks up to you and loudly announces that he has your order for rash cream

So you still give him an annoyed look when you know what he’s about to do

That doesn’t always work out for you either

One time you stared down a random women for ten minutes before realizing she was not, in fact, Jeonghan in disguise when he walked into the restaurant and waved at you

You felt so bad about glaring down a random stranger that you bought a dessert and had the waiter send it to her table lol

When you get angry at a friend and vent to Jeonghan, he loves to shift into them and mock them with their own face to make you feel better

Or if you have to have a serious conversation with someone and you’re nervous about it, he’ll shift into that person so you can practice

There’s a certain tall, buff, tatted character he created that he’ll turn into to intimidate away guys who creep on girls in bars or at bus stops or wherever really

If he makes a mistake and has to face someone for it, he’ll shift into someone who looks really nervous or innocent so that maybe they’ll go easy on him

Sometimes he just spends random days as other people for the fun of it

Sometimes he’ll change into someone who was rude to him and do something embarrassing in front of a bunch of people with camera phones so that hopefully footage of the incident will end up online

Which you find to be PURE EVIL

But he doesn’t want to hear it lol

He’ll shift into you when you’re unsure of an outfit you’re trying on so you can fully inspect how it looks on you

One time you had him turn into you and go meet with a professor you didn’t like to talk about your grade so you didn’t have to

He brings it up anytime you try to chastise him for using his powers for morally questionable purposes lol

Speaking of which

Halloween is when Jeonghan thrives while walking the line between right and wrong

He always insists that you guys go trick-or-treating

“Jeonghan, we’re grown adults, we can buy our own candy”

“Why would we do that when we can get so much for free?”

He’ll change into a kid

And make a circle around a decent sized area

Once he figures out who’s got the good candy, he’ll hit those houses again like ten different times as ten different kids

It’s truthfully so ridiculous

But you have to admit that it’s nice to just have a free pile of candy (the good kind) at the end of the evening 

If he knows you can handle it

Jeonghan will 100% shift into the monsters from the horror movies you guys watch to scare you around your place lol 

Or when you guys go to an actual grown-up Halloween party

Instead of getting a costume

He’ll just shift into an actual monster that he knows

Jun was so mad the year Jeonghan showed up as him lol

Jeonghan’s jokes definitely didn’t help

“Well ONE of us is gonna have to go home and change”

“And it’s YOU, hyung, you could be literally anything or anyone else”

Your life gets much wilder with Jeonghan around

Not just because of him

He’s only one being and once you get a handle on it, you’re pretty comfortable around his abilities

But since meeting him, the world of the supernatural has been opened up to you

It can all be very intimidating

(You actually couldn’t hang out with Jun for a hot minute after you found out he was a demon because it freaked you out so much - Jun never lets you live that down lol)

Sometimes Jeonghan and the other boys get ever so slightly annoyed with you because you ask each of them a million questions about what they are and how they exist and what powers they have

They also feel flattered sometimes because you’re just so fascinated and amazed by what’s just normal aspects of who they are

Although, before you got good at spotting Jeonghan when he was shifted into someone else

He messed with you a bit by turning into the other boys and lying to you about certain aspects of their species

To this day, Seokmin doesn’t understand why you direct him away from waterfalls when you’re all hiking together or where on earth you got the idea that waterfalls could be somehow fatal to vampires

Jeonghan is always right behind you two, trying to conceal his laughter

#jeonghan #yoon jeonghan #seventeen #svt #jeonghan imagines #jeonghan scenarios #jeonghan fanfic #jeonghan fluff #yoon jeonghan imagines #yoon jeonghan scenarios #yoon jeonghan fanfic #yoon jeonghan fluff #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen fanfic #seventeen fluff #svt imagines #svt scenarios #svt fanfic #svt fluff

[zorosroronoas]

LONG RANT AHEAD (sorry)

lol I'm glad you mentioned Sanji because he's my biggest problem with the manga. Sanji is only amazing in the LA.

I'm on the Wano arc right now and the dude just used the invisibility suit to spy on Nami and Robin naked and had the most dramatic reaction to Shinobu being a kunoichi who dares not to be a thin young girl with big breasts (and he did the same with Kokoro before the time skip... not saying I wanted a 19-year-old to be attracted to somebody's grandmother, but the way she "didn't count" as a mermaid because of her age and body type was gross).

I don't even want to talk about Alvida, or how Big Mom, the only major female villain in the series, is drawn as a grotesque fat woman who's obsessed with food.

Oda can draw Senor Pink, a fat man who dresses like a baby, as someone with women thirsting over him, but he can't have a cute fat girl in the story who is found attractive by Sanji? (but hey, at least Sanji has shown how open-minded he is by liking girls with 3 eyes and fishtails).

If the only women you think deserve to be seen as attractive are girls in their 20s with zero belly fat and a big rack, then you have a limited mindset (and it doesn't help that he also draws underage girls like Pudding, Rebecca, and Shirahoshi like that too). I haven't gotten there yet, but I saw that Shinobu goes back to being young and thin and Sanji praises her "glow up" and I'm just... what fat woman hurt Oda? As a fat woman, am I not allowed to be mad at fatphobia? But if I point these things out, suddenly I'm a weirdo who is "jealous" (sure, I'm jealous of a drawing made by a pervert who is friends with sex offenders. Give me a break, fandom).

Fishman Island has been my least favorite arc so far because of how insufferable Sanji behaved. And let's not even get started on all the creepy and weird things he did in other arcs like Thriller Bark, Punk Hazard, and the list goes on and on because OH MY GOD *Jesse Pinkman voice* HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT!

Rebecca is a gladiator girl who's been victimized her whole life, but Oda has her wear a bikini top and a thong the entire time and makes creepy comments in his q&a about how this underage character he wrote might end up naked. Sometimes I got confused because Robin, Hancock, and Tashigi look too much alike. And speaking of Tashigi, she is the definition of "go on girl, give us nothing" because she literally does nothing. She's always losing and being ridiculed, and of course Smoker opened up her shirt when they switched bodies to expose her titties, because what teenage boy doesn't want to see that? (nevermind that any teenage boy that started reading this in the 90s would be a grown-ass man right now, and Oda ignores his Japanese female fanbase when they criticize the way he draws women. It's not just Western women who are not okay with this).

Robin should be on the same level as Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji and have the Haki because she's a Devil Fruits user with an incredible power, and yet her character hasn't done much since Enies Lobby.

Momonosuke is an EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY and Oda wrote him as a pervert who likes to grope Nami. And the stuff with Brook is terrible too, but Brook has nowhere near the same amount of page-time as Sanji does, so of course I'm going to complain about Sanji more. And no one in the fandom is trying to brainwash me that Brook is a feminist ally like they do with Sanji lol

I love OP and it has so many emotional moments where I cried reading (Chopper's and pretty much every Straw Hat's backstory, Usopp leaving the crew, Robin wanting to live, Luffy declaring war on the government to save Robin, Luffy fighting like hell to save Ace, Mr. 2 sacrificing himself so Luffy and the other pirates can escape Marineford, Law and Corazon's backstory, the list goes on), but JFC, I can't just sit by and pretend that it's a flawless story and say nothing negative about it because there's plenty of negative stuff on it.

I don't understand why this fandom is like this, but I guess I can't be a "true fan" of OP if I'm not kissing Oda's ass and acting like this millionaire is the ultimate master of storytelling.

It's not okay to teach boys to disrespect women, it's not okay to make fun of fat women, and it's not okay to add transphobic jokes (I didn't even touch on that but you know what I mean). I don't know why people want to shut down that criticism.

I love One Piece. I care about it. I understand that you can't spend all day focusing on the negative. But this story is hardly ever criticized, anyway. It's not an underdog manga. It's one of the most popular franchises in the world.

I apologize that this got so long. -OPLA anon

omg, pls don't apologize, you are so right on literally EVERYTHING.

i've written a minor rant about sanji when i was reading the manga, but my opinion of him has only gotten worse. like you said he is absolutely insufferable & only gets worse with time. what is worse is that his bullshit & misogyny is portrayed as 'charming', it drive me insane. oda tries so hard to continuously push the 'sanji is such a goodhearted & kind boy' & i'm just... really? except if you're an 'ugly' woman i guess.

to each their own, but it also grinds my gears how queer &/or transfem sanji is such a huge headcanon in the fandom. like... sanji... the biggest queerphobe in one piece. give me a fucking break. in general fandom loves sanji way too much considering what he actually is like as a character.

i thank the lord everyday for opla!sanji tbh, he's a godsend & i can't believe i've seen ppl complain about him being 'overcorrected'.

i've said this before, but it's utterly ridiculous how nami & robin (not to mention the other women in op) haven't had a major role or win in several arcs. they're constantly fighting the runt of the litter.

don't get me started on tashigi & punk hazard. it still drives me nuts that oda had zoro hold back on fighting monet bc she was a woman. it goes completely against the point of zoro's backstory. & then tashigi, who's supposed to be an echo of kuina, literally is never able to do shit?? like?? what's the point, oda? that women can't be good fighters after all?

speaking on punk hazard, sanji's entire behavior while he's in nami's body is abhorrent.

both momonosuke being a perv as well as his dad, oden, going to brothels since he was like six or some shit is so goddamn disgusting, like.... again what's the point??

brook is also an issue but i think fandom mostly ignores his existence & admittedly i do too.

& boy howdy, the fatphobia is truly rampant. you have every right to be upset & criticize it. i sincerely hope they keep alvida as a fat woman & skip the whole 'getting pretty & thin' bs altogether in opla. i was watching reactions to opla a while back & to see ppl going like 'does she have the devil fruit powers yet? oh no, she's not thin.' during her last scene in 1.08, like that shit is totally normal & not problematic as hell is just.... wow. they really expect that crap to happen & have no problem with it.

on the subject of shinobu, it really just goes to illustrate what i said, which is that oda never really changes. he still treats fat women like shit decades later & that's a major issue. he hasn't learned or bettered himself at all.

i think it is always fair to criticize the media one enjoys, particularly on things that are actually harmful. i find it necessary even.

nobody is saying that it's not okay to like one piece or that you're a bad person for it, but it is important to look at it critically for god's sake.

sorry if i missed anything, but like i said i agree with you on everything & more, so don't ever worry about ranting at me, i'm more than open to it lmao.

#answered #opla anon <3 #long post

[killervibe]

I trust your opinion on The Flash most of all, so how did you feel about Cecile’s character trajectory? I was not a fan of what they did with her character, but I also thought the level of hate she ended up getting seemed unjustified? Everything from the way she was dealing with her grief over Joe’s death during Armageddon to her getting a super suit, she was torn apart for. I never understood the hyper-focus on her in later seasons, but I also think the hate the she gets is insane.

Thank you for asking me this. I'm actually excited to write another Flash essay-response. I missed this.

In short, yes, I found Cecile's meta arc frustrating and confusing but I do not hate her character nor do I have an issue with a middle-aged hero existing.

The problem and fandom obsession with Cecile is multifaceted. She was a doomed character of inherently flawed writing, but her fall from grace through fandom's eyes is nothing short of misogynoir.

The Seal ??? you're going to compare a black woman to an animal for your satisfaction? In a world where black women are constantly described as animalistic and primitive? There is only one character who gets just as much ceaseless vitriolic hate as Cecile and that is Iris.

First and foremost, I would like to raise that where I have seen the absolute worst treatment towards Cecile and Dani N is Twitter--I left Flash Twitter 5 years ago (though I was never truly fully on it) because of the sheer racial animosity I felt on there as a biracial person. I've read so much disgusting racialized hate towards Dani N (including from fans of Candice and Iris, no less and it saddens me to see the community disillusioned into believing that to be protective of a black lead means that any other black character is an enemy destined to be pitted against her) especially in terms of questioning or diminishing her blackness. It was disgusting and it still is.

The problem with empaths/telepaths/mind control powers is that they become limitless very quickly when no boundaries are set in place. Her powers were confusing and used for exceedingly expository purposes that felt like a cop-out the longer it went on. I cannot tell you how many times I have lost my understanding of the "science" plots in the last 3 and a half seasons and that is a good chunk of Cecile's meta problems.

Season 4 worked because Cecile's powers were bounded to her pregnancy. She served as an adequate neutralizer against The Thinker which was needed at the time. Her powers should've had an expiry date and ended when Jenna was born. Or, more accurately, her powers should've been Jenna's. Cecile's powers manifested upon Jenna's conception, it would've served that the source of her abilities came from the baby, not herself. Without going into too much detail, this could've nicely allowed Nora (and Bart) to have family closer in age to be a part of their eventual Flash Fam team roster. Of course, it didn't pan out that way. They needed to give Cecile's powers concrete limits without evolving or "levelling up" in a way that overshadows the titular character. This is a given! They gave her everything and it was ridiculous, empath/telepathy/mind possession/emotive projection - like yeah. It's too much. It's annoying and it's too much!

In Stargirl, the Brainwaves were eliminated early on in the series because they were OP. Those writers were cognizant of that fact and woven in a compelling story that served to ensure that the empath/mind control characters were set in their place without overthrowing the entire capacity of the main heroes of the show.

Cecile made a great lawyer, but she failed spectacularly at all of her crucial lawyering post s3.

And it's a writing problem. Lazy effort went into how to include any in-universe plausible legal processes in this show. S4 Barry trial and S7 KF trial are glaringly obvious examples like this. But we should have known that the majority of the responsibility of these flaws lays in the hands of the writers inability to do justice to ANY of their female characters, which goes exponentially for the black women. So of course I am not surprised that they blundered with Cecile as she was promoted from supporting to main cast.

Nora Allen? Murdered (x150). Tess Morgan, the founder of STAR LABS name? Murdered & never revived unlike the 500 Wells. Linda? Disappeared. Francine? Dead. Tina McGee? Disappeared. Jesse? Erased from existence. Caitlin/Killer Frost/Crystal Frost/Khione? Murdered three times, reduced to repetitive abusive love interest storylines and retconned storylines into oblivion. Cynthia? Murdered. Kamilla? Treated like dirt & disappeared. Marlize? Same. Sue? Disappeared. Joanie? Disappeared. Jenna? Disappeared. Carla and Cisco's mom? Both also awful. Meena? Disappeared. Alexa? Who? Esperanza? Murdered. Allegra was okay ish, and I know there are more (Ralph's mom, Becky Sharpe, but really, I think I've made my point...) but that literally leaves us with Cecile, Iris, and Nora I/II as our black female leads who had to face the brunt of the worst writing (and most hatred when it was their "time" to shine).

This show cannot execute motherhood properly. It refuses to. See: Iris s5 and literally every mother to ever mother on this show except for Nora Allen...

But also, both the creators and the fandom seem to hold this ideology that motherhood is the end all and be all of life and value? Show runners have said again and again that The Flash would have to end when Iris is pregnant because that's when it's "over" ??? I did not understand that when it was first said and I still do not understand that. This concept of femininity directly tied to the merit associated to motherhood is a good chunk of the reasoning behind people claim to hate Cecile--Because she is a superhero who has sacrificed as a single mother and now struggles with balancing her desires vs her obligations? Cecile, who has been written as a black woman who canonically struggled to society's standards of excellence causing her stress and anguish to the point of mental break? I appreciated the s7 psycho-pirate and mental health struggles she had - so I wasn't horrified to see that she struggled with grief in s8's plot. The type of mental health issues that these storylines explored is a real lived experience that many women have, and I find it fascinating that there is this double standard here. This is a superhero show. Like...we're hating her for, what, exactly? For being a superhero and wanting to help people?

I mourn Cecile's "downfall" because she was a great addition to the West family as a supportive cast. I mourn the fact that Iris and Cecile never really had a great relationship despite both being mains. I mourn the fact that she was given more weight than Iris in the last season instead of supporting and encouraging her. Because that's why her role was elevated in the last season, to replace Joe in his absence as Iris' number #1 cheerleader. But it never properly translated that way and that is a shame. That said, her role in the show shouldn't have been strictly reduced to "Mother" and "Grandmother" --That isn't fair. I adored the way she spoke to Nora I in s5 but she did deserve to go on adventures the same way Joe has since s1. Why shouldn't she? I think this is what Eric Wallace was trying to achieve and I applaud him for the idea but have to criticize the execution. The show has failed her in her area of expertise of being a successful lawyer, mocked her by putting her through a pregnancy for a child they couldn't commit to, and then kicked her character into the lion's den for death by turning her into an OP'd meta at the mercy of a prejudiced fanbase already notoriously well-known for mistreating black talent. This could've easily been avoided with more clever solutions that positions Barry--the creator of Gideon--as the focus and true mastermind behind Team Flash plans.

#the flash #cecile horton #s9 #9x13 #tkv rambles #ask #anon

[spoonsforminutes]

I keep seeing posts of people hating on afab autistics (with the word white tacked onto it for people to sound progressive) accusing ‘low support/high functioning’ (put it in quotation marks because I know people don’t like functioning labels including me) afabs of ‘centring ourselves’ in the autism community especially on social media, accusing us of turning autism into a ‘quirk/superpower’ and saying we aren’t taking it seriously. What’s worse, a recent post I saw was by an autistic woman herself! When I called her a misogynist, she said I was ‘misunderstanding’ her post 😡

I understood perfectly well the ever ongoing debate on how there are ‘too many autistic afabs’ now. It was baffling to me that OP has a pretty large following for posting content on how she is constantly treated badly for being afab, then contributes to the stigma and responds to autism moms accusing afabs of ‘minimising’ our condition?!! I lost all my sympathy for them.

Idk, I’m just tired of afabs constantly being told we are taking resources, and now even ‘space’ online (can’t friggin win) when talking about health conditions/autism. We are always ‘taking from people who have it worse’ according to others. We are ‘taking high support needs people’s voices’. Exhausting.

I MEANT TO ANSWER THIS IN APRIL IM SO SORRY

With everything that's been going on in the sphere of gender issues, it's definitely made me realize that quite a few women or afab individuals have taken the misogynistic treatment they faced and then projected it onto others, perhaps as a way to process all the hurt and trauma. It's definitely not okay to do, but oftentimes projection is a way that people try to soothe themselves, but all it does is create more problems. As an afab individual myself who largely acts able-bodied despite the harm it does to my health, I've had a lot of people attempt to use my femininity to both praise my damaging work ethic while also sowing doubt into my own abilities, which is super fucking ableist to anyone regardless of their disability. Feminism should work to be more inclusive because whenever there are discussions around women's rights, a lot of it is rightfully on empowering women and balancing out gender inequality, but I don't think a lot of it can apply to those with disabilities. I think bout what happened to the term "girlboss": originally, it tries to empower women and womanhood to positions of power, but then the term became a meme and with it, all of its credibility was lost. Sexism turned it into a term where women in power can be ridiculed because "girlbossing" has shifted where the idea of afab individuals receiving authority is treated as a mockery due to undeserved effort, and that's ultimately what sexism is: anything outside of manhood and traditional masculinity is not given the same respect and thus allows anyone to degrade a whole person's effort based on their gender alone.

I hate functioning labels as well because by that logic, the fact that I'm college-educated and working makes it seem like I don't require support, but I do. EVERYONE needs support, but because the U.S. in particular is obsessed with individuality, community and mutual aid has been ridiculed by the capitalist mindset. Although I'm not autistic, I've had quite a few autistic friends, and genuinely I think autism is so cool. Like with my own disability, it can definitely suck ass, but everyone I've known with autism has strengths surrounding intelligence and humor. What's so wrong with considering it a superpower? It's literally your life and how you function, and especially since many able-bodied people want to make disability and neurodiversity a bad thing so that they can shame you, refusing to play into that and empowering yourself is huge. Plus, it's genuinely fun to upset people by being yourself. And since this particular autistic woman is complaining about both gender and autism, her projection just shows why ableism needs to be openly discussed and pointed out. I will probably struggle with internalized ableism all my life because neither culture nor disability awareness currently allow me to truly live life WITH a disability. Unfortunately, I feel that too much of the conversation is still about hiding or minimizing disability to appease the thoughts of others.

Sexism is also the reason for why people will complain about too many afab individuals with autism. I feel like the autistic community is well aware of the difficulties in being afab and getting a diagnosis because sexism is alive and well in our perspective of health. While getting my degree, I realized that gym bros are not actually wrong when they talk bout health and fitness; the actual issue again stems from how we view health and disability. Not only are gym bros operating on this assumption that everyone's health is fully able-bodied, but also they assume that every health issue can be fixed with a healthy lifestyle which isn't true? Ignoring the fact that research still uses white cisgender male data as the human physiological default, if you have an enzyme that doesn't function correctly in metabolism, intense exercise will definitely make you sicker, not better. It's the same with disability. With autism, the diagnostic criteria is supposed to help identify what possible supports you could need, but it still depends on what is actually helpful to you personally. With this economic crisis and the potential downfall of capitalism, disability is actually a great way to talk bout how capitalism isn't possible for anyone because productivity and the economy are talked about as if they are magical forces instead of behavior carried out by people. Capitalism pushes even able-bodied standards, so by supporting disability, we can also argue for better conditions for everyone, but that's the ideal scenario.

I ramble a lot when I write because writing is essentially how I think, but yeah, it's unfortunate that she's currently using her platform to push harmful ideas about gender, disability, and autism. No matter how severe your disability is, there is no such thing as taking away needed resources because those resources are for you. It's great if you don't need as much support as others, but if you need support, you should absolutely be allowed to do anything that makes your life easier. I'm largely going to be ignoring what society thinks bout disability and even about life in general because doing what society thinks has only ever hurt me. It's very funny to me when people try to complain about marginalized people as if we're the problem, not the people and the systems who reinforce the perspective that asking for help, asking for accommodations, is somehow a big ask. It's not, and I think we should be more mean about it because it's wild that we let people dictate what kind of support we can ask for.

To all of my autistic followers: hope you had a wonderful April, and please feel free to correct me on anything! I'm always learning, and your voice is incredibly important.

#disabled #disability #spoonie #mental health #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #autism spectrum disorder #autism #gender #cw ableism #i dont get why people try to dictate what others do #we aren't playing oppression Olympics #you dont have to suffer to prove you deserve help #wedding speaks