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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 5 months

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The Hobie fandom has a lot of smut, and with a character so accepting on so many fronts, it means so much to me to see trans!readers being taken into consideration.

As a trans guy myself, I love seeking out ftm!smut. But often times, I often can't read them. Many times I'm left feeling unseen, reduced, or even feminized.

And I wanna talk about that a bit, if it's okay.

My take and feelings on FTM!smut - As a Trans Guy

Ngl as a trans guy myself I do feel a bit alienated by a lot of FTM!reader.

I'm gonna be honest - I feel like most ftm smut is written exactly as it would be a cis woman, just with the pronouns changed. Which is understandable, but not really how it works.

Cis women and trans men don't have sex the exact same, just because they're AFAB.

And I feel most smut writers haven't gone out of their way to research the sexual experiences of trans men and how we navigate the world.

Hobie smut is pretty vulgar, and I won't complaining! As a character, he has a high volume of smut, and probably the most diverse range, with Black!reader, ftm!readers, and male!readers being more common than most fandoms.

Black!Reader focuses on the unique experience of black people when in a relationship together. This unique experience is at the basis of black!reader.

But when we approach Ftm!reader - very often, our unique experience isn't reflected.

It's just assumed that because we are AFAB - there's no need to look deeper at the closer unique sexual experience trans men have - or to read up about it.

Most ftm!reader fic does not attempt to use affirming sexual language for trans men at all.

T-dicks - ie, natural clitoris enlargement you get after taking T - is a thing a lot of transitioning Trans men have.

But they're never called T-dicks in fanfiction. Only clits. It's very rare that a ftm!reader is described as having a dick - because so often the only dicks cis people recognize are natal dicks, and surgery-constructed ones.

Many cis writers may never even considered referring to a trans man's clitoris as a dick - pre or post T. They may see it as confusing to the reader, when it's not.

T-Dicks are dicks. Bottom growth didn't give you a full 3-4 inches, but you absolutely have growth and there are trans men that can penetrate with T-dicks - without surgery - if with the right partner.

The words pussy and cunt are used liberally in nearly all ftm!smut, and while many trans men are okay with these terms, I think a lot of cis writers ignore or do not know that often, terms like those can cause heavy dysphoria in a lot of ftm readers.

I don't think cis writers ever question if they might be making readers dysphoric - or showing them in a non-affirming way.

I feel like some writers believe that changing pronouns and calling the reader 'handsome' is really all it takes. Just write usual fem smut, change the pronouns - and done!

In reality, a large part of the ftm community feels uncomfortable with the word 'pussy' - and would much rather stuff like 'front hole'.

A poll on 'What do you call your downstairs?'

And I'm not saying that you can't call a trans man's genitals a pussy. And I'm not saying that a trans man calling his genitals a pussy is wrong.

I just feel like cis writers do not consider the dysphoria of their trans readers, when writing trans smut.

I feel like most cis writers don't actually seek out accounts of trans men and their sexuality.

I don't think they ever consider that these terms, talking about wetness and penetration (which many men on T can have problems with because of vaginal atrophy and dryness), breast, clits, cunts, pussy -

I don't think cis writers ever question 'Is this accessible for ftm readers that might have dysphoria? How can I make this accessible or easier for trans men who have bottom dysphoria?'

'How can I make this more affirming of them as men?'

It's the assumption that, because we're all AFAB, because we have vaginas like cis women - then naturally we must all fuck the same regardless of gender, the only thing changing being the pronouns.

That's not true.

And also - Trans Men are never really written like gay men.

Trans men having sex with men is gay sex.

And even though most writers write trans men with male OCs - they hardly ever write their sex as if they are gay men.

99.9% of the time, it isn't written that way. Its always written as if it's 'straight sex'.

The experience of how gay men have sex is never really taken account into these fics, which makes me feel like a lot of writers don't see it as gay sex at all.

At most, the ftm reader may be described as a bottom - but never as an otter or twink or bear or cub or leather or anything.

They see it as AFAB sex.

Cause If I'm getting strictly candid - I feel like if a writer wrote mtf!smut and kept focusing on the girls 'hard throbbing cock and balls' - we'd all be like 'oh wow that's very intense centering on genitals that may alienate some trans women-'

But in ftm!smut focusing on 'wet tight juicy pussy and thriving clit' is standard. It's never really questioned.

And this is not to say 'oh trans women have it better they get better smut-' No. They really don't. I'm just bringing this up to highlight the fact that we should be making sure that trans!smut is accessible and affirming to the trans people they're about.

Seeing a fic in which a gay trans man prefers to use his asshole, like most gay men fuck, is VERY VERY rare.

I feel like most cis writers never consider the fact that gay trans men may want to perform sex in an affirming, clearly coded, masculine gay way.

It's always assumed we use our front hole, are okay with it being called a pussy, have no problems getting wet, or that we don't have dicks (T-dick is a dick).

And because of that - the lack of affirming language and the lack of affirming transmasc experiences makes it very hard for me as a FTM person to read smut about ftm!readers.

I feel like most of them don't actually take our comfort - or our experiences in mind.

I feel like most don't attempt to actually read accounts of trans guys having gay sex, and what that's often like.

If you're a writer who feels guilty of any of this - you're not a bad person or a bad writer. And I genuinely thank you for including us in your work - from the bottom of my heart.

But I want to highlight this -

Trans men having sex is not a 1:1 of cis women having sex. The same way trans women having sex is not a 1:1 of cis men having sex.

Or experiences are unique - and our dysphoria does affect our sex lives, and how we navigate them.

Please, do not let this put you off writing trans men. But please keep in mind that our experience is unique.

So often I read ftm!reader and feel reduced down to my pussy. Without breasts in the equation, so much ftm!smut focuses solely on the pussy.

If you write ftm!reader please please do not let this put you off, but here's some tips I can give as a trans guy

Please do slight research of ftm anatomy, read an article about gay trans men, or go on r/ftm (subreddit) and read some posts about trans men, read some nsfw posts where trans men tell hookup tales.

Advocate has an great article called '16 things I learned from having sex with Trans Men' - which details and dispels 16 myths about trans men in bed. It's written from the POV of gay men who have been with trans men in affirming ways.

This post is in no way meant to be an attack or subliminal at any one writer. If it was one writer, I wouldn't care.

But this is something I've experienced and seen across fandoms and across writers in this fandom too. I feel the urge to write this because searching for affirming ftm!fics - I often come away feeling even more dysphoric.

Not because of the word pussy or cunt or anything -

But because of the erasure of my experience, the idea that my gender doesn't influence my experience of sex - only my AFAB genitals do.

If you write ftm!smut, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, truly.

But I feel like I had to say this.

If you read this far, thank you! This is one of my more personal venting posts but I'm also trying to raise a point and start a discussion. And you reading through this and giving me your time and understanding is already helpful enough, so thanks!

Here's Hobie.

Bye.

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female-malice · 1 year

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There's a lot of criticism of the women on TikTok who blame feminism for capitalist exploitation. They say they want to be stay-at-home moms. They don't want to work all day. And the criticisms I'm seeing are about dispelling the mythology of the stay-at-home mom. Stay-at-home moms do work all day. They live a life of daily financial abuse from their husbands. And when their husbands leave, they're destitute.

It's important to dispel the myths of wife life. But we need to pay attention to the frustration these young women feel. We need to listen to what they're actually saying.

"I don't want to work all day making money for strangers. I don't want to be alienated and alone. I want to spend my time around family."

These feelings are completely understandable and very common. They feel like feminism sold them out to capitalist exploitation. That's not exactly true. But feminism has spent quite a lot of time trying to help women tread water in a growth-dependent economic system. It's better than drowning, right?

But so many women are dissatisfied with this. And they're right to be dissatisfied.

Feminism has focused on making sure women have a stable place in the dominant economic system. But has feminism succeeded in making women leaders of this system? Not really. It hasn't worked out that way.

When men sacrifice their time, energy, and humanity competing in this economic system, they often end up in leadership. But when women make the same sacrifice, we don't get the same rewards. The system is not designed that way. Our economic system is reliant on population growth and can only function by keeping women poorer than men. If we somehow closed the salary gap, economic growth would vanish.

In order to grow the population, you need to back women into a corner. Mistreat women in the workplace and underpay them at the end of the day. Encourage women to go to college where they might meet a man and get pregnant. If women graduate with a degree instead of a baby, that degree is meaningless because it's in a woman's hand. If women break into a high paying male dominated field, harass them and suppress their professional development. Back them into a corner. Make work so awful that the traditional family myths start to sound promising.

This is not an accident. This system is not a product of men's ignorance. You can tell men "women are human too" as much as you want. They know we're human. That could not matter less. This economic system needs population growth. This economic system needs women to be disenfranchised. The system can only do what it's designed to do. It can't be reformed.

So why does feminism focus on reforming it?

These young women notice the stagnation of feminism. They notice how unhappy all the women around them are in the professional world. The men are jovial and lighthearted at work and the women are miserable. Women are making the very sober observation that men belong in the patriarchal professional world and women don't. Feminism has excavated a few new crevices in the system for women to crawl into. But women don't want crevices. Women want the world.

If feminism wants to win back the hearts of these women, it needs to figure out how to give them the world. Women can never win the world under a growth-dependent economy. The only way women can reclaim our power as the leaders of humanity is through economic degrowth.

Right now, when women think of feminism, they think of cubicles. We need to change that image. When women think of feminism, they should think of freedom from a greedy destructive system.

#cc

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letshavedeernnertogether · 1 month

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We'll meet again

the plot is: (Y/n) made a pact with Alastor, so now she will be protected from any men. (Y/n) got into trouble and everybody will see her new power. Alastor feels like he want to protect (Y/n).

tw: blood, murder and all like this

english is not my mother-tounge, so I'm very-very sorry about the mistakes I must have made :'<

also, sorry for a stupid plot (the wedding is just awful)

Part two, the power

(Y/n) came back home. In the hall her mother stopped her, "What has happened to you?!"

She guessed how awful she looked: dirty dress and shoes, messy hair, pale face. She still had trails of tears after goodbying with the demon, but a wild smile stretched on her face, because she was happy to had his protection. She felt herself more confident. She almost looked down on others.

But her mother didn't notice her strange expression, she only saw her shabby appearance.

"Nothing," (Y/n) replied, "I was just walking in the forest. You know, I like it."

Her mother looked at her like at an alien.

"You're better go upstairs and to wash yourself!"

"Sure."

(Y/n) noticed her father. He was sitting in an armchair, reading local newspaper. Well, it wasn't actually local, but it was about the nearest inhabited location.

He stared at something under her feet. It was her shadow. He definitely noticed it was darker that other shadows in the room. But he didn't say anything. It was too strange to be talked about.

When (Y/n) came to the stairs, her mother said, "You know, you won't do your forest strolls when you get married."

(Y/n) stopped.

"When I what?" she thought and turned to her mother, "Why do you think I will ever be married?"

"Your hand was asked," She answered.

"Who could be so nut?" (Y/n) smirked, hiding her fear behind sarcasm.

Her mother said the name. The name of the man, she ran away from a few hours ago.

Everything around (Y/n) began to whirl. It felt like a nightmare, very similar to reality but still very different. When you know that something is wrong but can't change anything. Like a parallel universe, what you know you don't belong, but don't know the way back home.

(Y/n) grasped the handrail to not to fall.

"Your father and I think you're very lucky to have someone like him," Her mother said, "you should not say " No."

(Y/n) was thinking. She knew why her parents thought so. (Y/n) was from an old family, just like that man. It was a good match. But (Y/n) never wanted to be married. She read about love, and sometimes she wished she had it. But her will for freedom was stronger. Moreover, she felt that no men in the world deserved her.

She stood her back to parents, and they couldn't see the change of her expression. Fear changed into despair, despair into anger, anger into sadness and after all she smiled. It was the biggest smile of her in a long time. We have such a smile in foretaste of revenge. When we feel their suffering and despair, that fill us with almost voluptuously pleasure.

She smiled widely. She could take a revenge on him. A revenge on every man. She didn't feel afraid anymore. She looked at her dark shadow and smiled more.

"I feel like something strange may happen..." She said in a low voice.

"What do you mean, (Y/n)?"

She turned to her mother, shaking her head and said, "Nothing! Nothing, Mother. Let's make it as fast as we can."

(Y/n) sat before her dressing table, putting on face powder. She liked to make her skin pale. It looked very gorgeous with the colour of her hair. She put on her dark red lipstick. Now Carmilla looked at her from the mirror and smiled with her white teeth.

"Young mistress," A maid said, "you look very beautiful."

"Thank you, Pulchra," Replied (Y/n).

"May I say something, mistress?" Pulchra asked after a while, when (Y/n) was brushing her hair.

"Sure."

"I thought you will never get married."

(Y/n) smiled.

"Not because you're bad, no!" Pulchra hastened to add, "I just thought that you're not interested in it. In love, I mean. Of course, it's also a very profitable marriage, but cupidity is even more out of your character. I just don't understand..."

(Y/n) looked at her thought the reflection in the mirror. (Y/n) noticed that since the day she made the deal, the maid turned out to be more careful in communication with her mistress. She could say that everybody in the house avoided meeting her. If she ran into someone of the servant in the corridor, they hurried to hide in the nearest room or just stopped at the wall, waiting her to pass by. (Y/n) didn't know, if it was because of her new shadow. She felt more confident, she felt the power inside of her; it was all reflected on her face and in her gait. In actual fact, none of the servants knew the reason of their dread of the one who was kind to them once. She was always kind and she respected everyone from a gardener and a maid to a butler. But now something about her frightened them. It was not a customary to talk about these reasons. If somebody dared to talk about the change in their mistress, they could feel that somebody was watching them. Chill ran down their spines, and some even told that they heard a characteristic ckracle of a radio, witch, they were sure, was not in the room.

Only her father and Pulchra knew the reason, yet never spoke about it to anyone.

They were afraid.

They didn't understand.

They didn't understand how it was possible to have a darker shadow then others. It was just abnormal. And they also were scared of her smile, that played on her thin lips, every time she noticed them scrutinizing her shadow.

(Y/n) used to take Pulchra as an elder sister, and she felt a bit sorry to cause such a fear in her. But she wasn't sure, that Pulchra wasn't participating in her marriage, because she was that maid who entered the room in the moment of harassment.

Her face didn't express any worry that moment; Pulchra seemed to be ready to close the door, if only (Y/n) hadn't cried her name. Then the door was opened wider, shining a light down on (Y/n).

"What do they all want from me?" thought (Y/n). "And would she really close that door? Maybe she thought that that man was my lover? But didn't she just say, that I wasn't interested in love?"

(Y/n) wasn't sure she'd like to know all the truth. It was typical of her not to think too much, about what was on others minds. She just returned them, what she thought they deserved.

"Don't worry, Pulchra, I know what I do," (Y/n) said with a small smile, holding a comb to the maid. "Don't think, I betray myself doing this."

The maid secured her hair at the back of her head with several pins and secured the point de venise veil.

(Y/n) stood opposite her groom. She hated him. He couldn't see her sizzling eye of Medusa behind the veil. Her dress was decorated with pearls, diamonds and a rich embroidery. The collar was high, almost touching her ears, in which small pearls shone. Milky white fabric covered all her body, only her hands were naked. All her appearance radiated grace and power.

The light in the church was dim. It was a very foggy day, and the church was barely lighted by the candles.

Her groom couldn't help but be nervous. He was swearing during all the ceremony. He couldn't understand why a woman scared him so much. Just a bride, wasn't she? Maybe it was because she didn't hold out her hands him? Or is it because of this strange expression under the veil? He couldn't see it, but he felt it. And there was also something strange under her feet. The man blamed the weak light for the too dark shadow of his bride.

His smile was strained as the priest read out well-known words. And then the priest asked the questions.

"Yes," Said the groom.

Everybody turned to (Y/n).

But she kept silent.

Everybody was waiting. Did this girl want to attract attention? It wasn't in her style. And why had the veil not yet been removed from her face? The groom tried to reach her hands but couldn't somehow.

Atmosphere had changed. Everything became darker.

"I told you, something strange might happen," (Y/n) murmured that nobody could hear her.

And then something actually happened.

The light in the church fell in such a way, that only the priest could see the (Y/n)'s and the groom's shadows. And he saw how a grimace appeared in the bride's shadow. It slowly creeped to the groom's one and grasped it. The priest could perfectly see it, because her shadow had a deeper shade of black then others ones.

When the female dark figure grasped the male shadow, the groom changed his expression. There was a pain in his face. And he was still staring at his bride.

The priest saw how her shadow began to tear the groom's shadow apart, and he saw, the groom started to bleed. In the place where her shadow touched his shadow, wounds appeared on the groom's body.

Everybody could only see the man getting red, while the priest could see a fight between shadows.

The bride stood still. She glanced from under her veil at the man's suffering and enjoied it. She loved hearing everybody's gasps of shock.

Suddenly the groom fell dead, when all of his face was red and the suit soaked with blood. A pool of blood became bigger under him and reached (Y/n). She didn't step away, letting her dress soak up the blood.

She saw how the priest was shaking.

And suddenly her shadow grew bigger, it stretched up to the ceiling, causing everyone's scream. It smiled wild, eyes burned, hands stretched aside as it wanted to embrace everyone.

"I'd like to warn you that this shadow has quite a cruel character!" She remembered.

Could it kill everyone in the church? Well, only if she let it. But this shadow liked to frighten people out of existence.

A chaos filled the church. Everybody screamed, some women cried; most people ran to the exit; some people fell and others tried to help them get up, but they also fell, knocked down by crowd mad with fear.

(Y/n) was infected with their fear, although she knew she had nothing to be afraid of.

The priest ran by the dead body and turned to (Y/n).

"You-" He pointes a shaking finger at her.

"Who?"

He couldn't see her face, but he heard her smile.

He ran out of the church.

(Y/n) raised her head. She picked up the hem of her dress, that soaked with blood, and quickly ran out though the backdoor.

She was running through the forest again, embraced with the fog that was much stronger than last time. The wind lifted her veil and threw it back as it was her actual groom.

This time (Y/n) didn't feel despair or fear. She felt free. Last time she rushed, always stumbling over the roots; the Nature was her refuge and It aggressively pulled her in Its arms. But now It was gentler. The wind softly played with her hair, the fog hugged her, bare branches whispered the congratulations to her.

(Y/n) felt like she found herself, like she found home finally.

She slowed down and went onto a path. She lowered the hem and looked around.

She was waiting for him.

She knew he would appear.

Just a thought of meeting him soon made her face blushed.

She walked farther when she heard a rustle on the left.

She turned her head to the source of the noise and saw a familiar red figure in the woods.

(Y/n) gasped and left the path. Heels of her white shoes drowned in the soft ground covered with yellow and brown leaves. She didn't take eyes of Alastor even for a moment. He disappeared and then appeared again between the tall trees, yet he stood still.

When she came closer, he showed his teeth in a smile and didn't disappear again.

"I'm ever so glad to see you again, my dear," Alastor said.

"Me too," Said (Y/n) with a big soft smile, "Thank you!"

Alator raised his eyebrows, "For what, my dear?"

"You've released me."

He chuckled, "Usually, they tell me opposite, dear hahaha" He glanced at her with a mysterious gaze, "They tell me I captivated them."

"That too," She thought.

Incredible how bad she wanted to meet him again, but now she was just speechless. She was sure, she wanted to tell him something, but all the subjects for conversation seemed stupid. She looked at him, waiting until the right words would come to her mouth.

"What are you going to do now, my dear?" Alastor asked.

She blinked.

"Um, I think there is no place for me here now haha" She stroke her hair. "The priest, I believe, takes me as a witch now, what I find quite flattering."

The demon smiled softly at her.

"I think, I'm going to move. New Orleans maybe..."

He looked at her with a surprise.

"Why is it, dear?"

"Well, it's far away from this place and I also heard it's kinda a black magic city, isn't?"

"Why, yes, dear, it is! I think my hometown suits you very well," He said.

"Your hometown?"

"Not all demons come from the hell, darling," He chuckled, "I was a human once and lived in New Orleans."

She asked several questions about his human life. Alastor's face shone with happiness when he reminded his human life. He told her, that he was a radio host (so that was why his voice was static like) and also a serial killer.

(Y/n) enjoyed listening him when he told her about his mother, job and favorite local dishes. She loved seeing happiness in his face.

"I'm definitely going to New Orleans," She thought.

Suddenly she understood something strange.

"By the way, Alastor," She drew his attention. His name tasted very special on her tongue. "Well, I somehow knew, you would appear, but still... How have you appeared here without my summoning?"

He leaned over her, "Oh, my dear, don't stuff your pretty head with such tricklish questions. That's my business to care, not yours."

"Alright, whatever you say."

He saw that he wasn't satisfied with this answer.

"Well, my dear, it's just seems that a demon, who made a pact with a human, should be with them from time to time." His smile turned out to be strained, "A little bit annoying, but what can I do."

She felt depressed that he didn't want to be here. (Y/n) didn't thought it was because of her (she respected herself too much, and thought everybody did so.) She thought he didn't enjoy to much of being here, on earth, because he had a lot of things to do. How much business could a devil have? Well, it wasn't the question she wanted to ask him. (Y/n) had another one.

"Um, Alastor," His name still felt forbidden to be said aloud, "when shall we meet again? And how? And where..?"

He touched his chin with his index finger in reflection. He was thinking.

"My dear," He said finally, "I think you need to decide it."

"I don't wanna be a burden for you-"

"My dear!" Alastor interrupted her, "You're not! Anyone but you! No no no, dearest!" He looked at her slightly covered his eyelids. "I find it very entertaining to help you with your desire."

It didn't sound like a compliment. It looked more like a hunter boasted of his hard but succeeded hunting; like he was describing his hunt for a game like a very dangerous, yet pleasant entertainment. But (Y/n) decided to take it as a compliment. It was easier that way.

She lowered her gaze, softly smiling. Did he really never thought about her as a burden? Well, she said about the burden, trying to be polite and to endear him. But she was already dear to him.

"I just wanted to say, that I'm always glad to see you, really, but I don't want to bother you..." She thought she sounded stupid, but she wanted to be frank with him, "So, I believe we can meet anytime you wish."

He looked at her with astonishment. Did she say a demon's line? It was a demon's work to fulfil a human's wish. And only like that. No human could fulfil a demon's desires. And if she was just polite, then why did she decide to be so towards him and not towards other people? She hated people so much. They only brought her pain. They betrayed her. Could he be different from them? Could he be kind to her?

"Well, my dear, you do surprise me!" Alastor said with a chuckle, "but how about this? I will be by you anytime you wish the most. Not just need me, you have my shadow for this, but when you want me to be by you."

She looked at him with her eyes wide opened.

"Then, I wish you now."

He slowly tipped his head, looking at her.

(Y/n) didn't realize when she came closer to him. She looked at her feet. She touched his fingers gently and he took her by the hand. His palm was much bigger than hers, and she felt herself very small by his side.

"My little human girl doesn't want to say goodbye?" He asked her; his voice became lower and she perfectly heard a soft radio crackle.

"She doesn't," (Y/n) said, still lowering her head.

He softly made her look up at him, taking her by her chin. Her eyes were wet. What beautiful eyes! Alastor could see branches reflected in them. Birds were flying in the sky, and her eyes were the sky. This young woman actually longed for his presence. She trusted him. What a lost girl. She really felt herself more comfortable with him, The Radio Demon, than with people.

Alastor felt aching in his chest. He hated everyone who hurt her. He wanted to take revenge even more than she did, because for the sake of others we're ready to do more than for ourselves.

He needed to protect her.

He softly ran his finger over her cheek, and she clung to his palm as a cat. She closed her eyes.

It was just a twinkling.

(Y/n) opened her eyes and moved away.

Her face was severe again.

"Goodbye, Alastor." She said in a low voice.

"We'll meet again, my dear."

"I know."

A minute ago (Y/n) was alone in the woods again.

guys, i'm very very sorry it took so long, I had a very busy week at university fakultet of philology feels like hell sometimes _(:< 」∠)_

Thank you so much for reading my works, for liking them, reposting!! it means a lot to me, to know that somebody likes what i do <3

stay tuned, the third part will be soon if my instructor in lexicology won't kill me with his new tasks in german

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanfiction #hazbin hotel x y/n #alastor x reader #alastor

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sophiaforevs · 6 months

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Between the early cancellation of Discovery, Seven/Raffi and Mariner/Jenn being erased in their respective shows, and SNW having queer coded characters but not confirming anything on screen, I'm really afraid that we're entering another "No Gays in Trek" era.

For those who don't know, 90s era star trek featured so few queer characters b/c Rick Berman largely held a policy of not wanting any homosexuality in his shows. And yes, we all remember the handful of episodes that slipped through that addressed it but the fact remains that there were no canonically queer main cast members before Into Darkness in 2016 gave us a five second shot that could be cut when whoever was showing the movie found the idea of two men in a loving relationship disgusting.

Then we got Discovery with multiple queer characters that allowed people to feel seen. And people never stopped bitching about them. The amount of times that I've had to listen to people complain that Adira's only character trait is that they're non-binary despite that literally being a single thirty second scene and never brought up again makes me understand that they very likely don't want to like the queer characters in that show. And it's not that there aren't criticisms to be made about the queer representation in Disco: Discovery Buries it's Gays before the end of the first season. Making your trans characters aliens who already have a history of gender fuckery is problematic b/c it somewhat plays into the idea that queerness is unnatural for human beings. But I never hear those complaints. Only the pronouns. Only the "We get it you're gay but don't shove it down our throats." But I don't want to get too off topic.

Now Discovery is being canceled early. And by early I mean, the writers weren't given proper notice that their show was ending. They were halfway through production and allowed to adjust the end episodes of the season to try to give a satisfying ending.

In Picard and Lower Decks, we got two sapphic relationships ("sapphic" meaning a romantic or sexual relationship between two women who aren't necessarily strictly lesbians) and they were pretty good. People had been asking for Seven to be queer and Jeri Ryan had been playing her as such since her introduction (see again: Rick Berman) and to see her finally get to express that was really healing. Mariner got off to rocky feet when the creators tried to pull a "Dumbledore is gay" where they said she was bi but didn't commit to it, but they she actually got a fairly satisfying relationship in season 3.

But in their most recent seasons, both were completely written out. Seven/Raffi gave us no explanation beyond that they "broke up." They went out of their way to keep them from being on screen together for most of the season. Mattis said in a Reddit AMA that he wanted Seven to be captain and Raffi to be first officer at the end of the season and that Starfleet would have regulations against relationships between the two despite the biggest reason Seven was promoted to captain was that she was a rule breaker. We didn't even get that much for Mariner/Jennifer. Jenn just wasn't in this season except for two background appearances.

And in Strange New Worlds there's just… nothing. SNW is the most recent new show and there's no queer representation. They code Ortegas as gay but don't actually confirm it on screen. There's just… nothing.

And this is how you loose the culture war. The bigots make enough noise that the show that is supposed to be a beacon of diversity doesn't necessarily side with them but they just kinda bow out of the conversation. They decide that it's easier to not bother than to take a stand. And so I and many many queer star trek fans are left wondering:

Does the franchise even want us any more?

#Star Trek #Prick Berman #No Gays In Trek #Disillusionment Trek

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laufire · 2 months

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tell me more about the Bruce Wayne womb envy theory

LOL. alright then.

tbh this was mostly a joke, born from this post (+ probably influenced by the way one of my mutuals talks about david 8 in the alien prequels but that's neither here nor there xDD)

(david 8 character of all time though. I have mixed opinions on both of those films but he as the common thread uniting them is *chef's kiss*)

(also I don't really believe these men / "men" in david's case want to be pregnant but that's because I can't conceive of anyone wanting to be pregant if nature has spared them the ability to become so whether they choose to or not, but I acknowledge those are MY gender issues. bruce can have others if he wants xD)

but if I was to take it seriously and run with it, I'd relate it to how I can see bruce... wanting to have had his kids earlier in life. seeing them grow, getting to enjoy them in those early stages when they're cute and fully depend on you and don't argue back, etc. that desire would be tinted with guilt in dick's case and to a lesser extent tim's, I suppose. I've always seen dick's parents and the environment in the circus presented as a positive one for dick (I have yet to read any of that court of owls shit lol), but I do think the drake's were neglectful/emotionally distant/not people tim could rely on, just not in the way or to the extent fanon presents. otoh... well, there's an argument to be made that maybe the waynes and the drakes weren't so different, or were around the same place in the spectrum of parenting in terms of good versus bad (source: thomas backhanding bruce in batman #430), and that bruce might've had blind spots with them as a result. I have yet to read any comic where bruce judges the drakes parenting though I wouldn't be surprised if they did exist, cause he's hypocritical like that. either way, I think tim's not in the same place as dick in this scale of guilt vs. saviour complex lol.

meanwhile in jason's, cass's, and damian's cases, that wouldn't be an issue because he'd seen it as sparing them pain / saving them. which wouldn't be innacurate, although there's an argument about whether being raised by bruce would've fucked them up in other ways lol.

and ironically, I think bruce would feel this saviour complex the most with jason, despite his situation with the todds (no matter whether you believe they were shitty parents or just fellow victims of circumstance or something in between) being objectively not as much of a shitshow as being raised the way cain raised cass OR being raised within a cult with the expectation of eventually leading it, like damian.

I attribute this to how bruce's classism always made him perceive taking jason in and adopting as the act of saving jason, both from his situation and from jason's "fate" of becoming a violent criminal himself, while cass and damian came to be in bruce's care under different circumstances. and second, to how bruce perceives jason's abilities vis a vis cass's or damian's. cass and damian were trained, obviously weren't born knowing, but they are "prodigies", if only because of how young they started. bruce doesn't even seem to contemplate the possibility of them distancing themselves from the fight. moreover, jason was trained later and by him, specifically because bruce felt lonely, all of which would add a feeling of responsibility for jason's end. but most of all, due to his death (+ might makes right + just world fallacy + other such fun things), jason's abilities are perceived by bruce as lesser, and as less of an ~inherent part of him.

so, yeah, jason will always trigger his saviour complex in an extra fun way xDD

all of this to conclude that now I have this vision of bruce having a weird dream soon after jason's death where things are happy at home (his parents are alive in the dream, because that's a prerequisite for a happy one), and dick is a much younger kid than he was when they first met (it's sort of implied dick is also biologically his but not outright stated), and he's pregnant, and he knows it's with jason, who's safe and sound encased in bruce's body, where nothing can reach him.

(I wrote a bruce + grief fic very recently already but this idea is also tempting me now ñalsdjfasf)

#talking to the void #replies #kittykatninja321 #can't believe I typed all that. oh well xD #my thoughts #dc thoughts #dc #dc comics #i need to sort out my tags. i always say that but i really need to lmao #continuities and volumes and shit #bruce wayne #bat clan #favourites: you raise sons #favourites: fucked up families #jason todd

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sgiandubh · 1 month

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Gooooodnight! Did you manage to finish watching the movie after all? What do you think?

Dear Ford v. Ferrari Anon,

Just finished it, after four failed attempts to get into the right mood - local time, 1:45 AM, Thursday morning. As you might know, Cancer people are very stubborn (even pertinacious) people and I am no exception to the rule.

I now totally understand why so many people wondered if I was really watching it, or confessed they could be remotely interested in doing so for about ten minutes, tops. The start is horrifically lackadaisical and I hit stop four times in a row, increasingly frustrated and feeling like a brain scattered idiot. But if you persist, this little movie, eons away from my world, could actually surprise you for the better.

Three tiny things redeemed it from the scrapheap for me: a) the Sixties, b) that Mad Men aesthetics and c) Lee Iacocca. Once this very familiar guy hit the screen, I knew I would be glued to whatever shite happened on it for the duration. Mind you, not the actor (entirely forgettable), but the business honcho whose Autobiography I read by complete accident at around 16. My brain could finally relate to something and start to make sense out of a completely alien, bloody mess. Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, things began to emerge: the script is so fucked up, I couldn't help but wonder what possessed someone as discerning as C to go for it. Other than a ferocious will to be there (anywhere, really), for further consideration, of course.

This is an underdog story through and through, and with a little bit of luck it could have been Oscar material. The reason it isn't so relies entirely on the writer's frail shoulders: I can't be arsed to check whodunit, but that person clearly bit more than they could ever chew. No Christian Bale and no Matt Damon could have dragged that script to Premier League, no matter how hard the effort. And the same person who wrote that Bale presented himself at the TIFF as a sociopathic boor has always deeply appreciated his past stellar performances (Empire of the Sun immediately comes to mind, of course). Seriously, I did and this movie is no exception: he is way better than I would have expected, especially when compared to a disappointing Damon.

What about C, then? In this very Anglo-Saxon sports stew, let's say she is an indispensable condiment, despite the absolute lack of chemistry with Bale and the sometimes formulaic presence, allowing for simplistic and expected dramatic solutions to complex situations. As in S's case, she sometimes drags along her Claire Fraser mannerisms, although less conspicuously than in Belfast elsewhere (or was it because we really don't get to see her a lot?). This particular script left me hungry for more, and not in a good way. She was very much there, she clearly worked very hard for it and yet, it feels as if she were obliterated, for some reason. That film didn't do her justice and scenes like the car tantrum could only give you a sort of nostalgic 'what if' idea:

youtube

Easily my favorite C scene of the whole movie (spoiler: there aren't many at all). But let's be blunt, here: if you have no idea about who C is, no OL mystique to boot and you just watch that movie leisurely, you'd blink twice and miss her. And not remember her at all, perhaps.

Would I recommend it? I am not sure, despite Bale's Golden Globe nomination and two rather technical Oscars (for Film and Sound Editing). It could be me, after all and sports movies have never been my jam. It's a decent way to fill in two hours and a half of emptiness, but not nearly good enough for a re-watch. I'd be merciful and give it ⭐⭐/5. For the Sixties, my Paradise Lost.

Happy, Anon?

#anon #fandom #shitshow

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buunicosplaytips · 4 months

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5 Easy ways to get into cosplaying

Welcome to my first official post! To start off this blog let's explore how to even get started in cosplaying.

Things you should know off the bat about the world of cosplay:

~ Anyone can cosplay no matter their race, gender, or disability, everyone should be able to get into cosplay

~ Under no circumstance should you change your race for a cosplay

~You should not feel pressured to be the "ideal" weight or body type of a character, unless you're cosplaying a monster or an alien you shouldn't feel like you need to drastically change yourself to be "perfect" in fact every cosplay is perfect! ^^

Now that we have established rules, let's learn how to cosplay!

Pick a character

Now this is easier said than done, believe me, but the best way to pick a character is to find a show, movie, or game that you completely love and find a character that you like or resonate with a lot, also dont feel like you can't cosplay a character because you feel like you can't do them justice or you dont look like them, were all here to have fun! for example when I first cosplayed Loki, I felt like i couldn't do them justice because I was short, chubby, and just didn't look like them at all, but when I did cosplay them, everyone loved it and I felt so confident in myself, so lesson of the day, cosplay whoever you want if it makes you happy.

2. Buy or Make

so you picked your character, awesome! Now you need to know whether to buy or make your cosplay, now there's kind of a debate on whether you should buy or make your cosplay and I'm here to say:

it doesn't matter! unless you are going into the masquerade or cosplay contest, buying is not the worst thing you can do, believe me, buying or making your cosplay is completely up to you, whether you don't know how to sew or you need a cosplay ASAP, buying is fine, or if you like the challenge or your character is niche sewing is the way to go.

3. Improve your makeup skills

If you want to cosplay for fun or your cosplays don't need makeup you can skip this part. Still, suppose you want a professional look or want to cosplay a character that doesn't have a normal skin tone you should listen, now depending on your character and where they're from. In that case, your makeup should make sense for them, for example, if your character is girly do a girly makeup look with soft features and pastels for the eyes and lips, if your character is edgy do. Edgy look with dark colors for the lips and eyes, you can even add accessories that you think your character would like, with makeup you can even transform your face, for example, I usually cosplay men. Still, I'm afab and have a naturally soft face, to fix this I do hard contour on my cheeks, I can do a more in-depth post about cosplay makeup if anyone requests it.

4. Prop making

Most characters whether theyre from an anime or game, most likely have a prop with them, whether its something small like a Tesseract for Loki or something huge like a Keyblade for Sora, now like with buying or making your cosplay this applies to your props too, if you want to buy a prop that's fine and if you want to make it that's fine too, it all depends on your character and your skill level, I will say personally that you should have some skills in prop making because depending on how niche your character is a prop for them will most likely be hard to come by, this also applies to the whole cosplay as well.

5. Having fun!

Now this is the most important thing you can do as a cosplayer, having fun and being a good sport, when you first cosplay you'll see people whose cosplay looks great, but it might make you feel small, but the thing is that they most likely started out like you, ill be honest, your first cosplay will not be your greatest one, but having a great cosplay doesn't equal to happiness, what does though is the fact that your cosplaying your favorite character and making friends who also are cosplaying their favorite character, with cosplay comes community and making friends and just connecting over the things we all love is the most important thing you can do

Well I hope you learned a lot from this or at least the basics, if you have any questions or just want to add more on to it my ask box is open all the time so feel free to pop in

I hope we start the new year strong with fun and amazing cosplays! ^^

#cosplay #cosplay help #cosplay101 #first post #cosplaying #anime cosplay #cosplayer #cosplay tips

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metanarrates · 9 months

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omegaverse has such a fascinating set of assumptions by the people who consume it and specifically posit it as queer friendly because obviously the first question is queer friendly for who, and in what way? And the answer is almost always friendly for cis people, in a way that approaches gender from a cis perspective— I’ve read some/a lot omegaverse, depending on your definition of a lot, and it often ends up regurgitating the same structures of gendered oppression and bioessentialism that people who write omegaverse argue they are breaking away from. There’s a lot I find interesting about how omegaverse as a kink trope (and one whose origins are founded on junk science to begin with) Does end up exploring gender, but not in the way that its authors argue: the amount of fics that use he/him pronouns for an omega character (lol) but then always refer to said character as a wife/queen/etc., the burgeoning proliferation of omegaverse where someone’s status as an alpha or omega ends up confirming their sex (ie when I once say someone say “the brilliant idea that all omegas have pussies,” pardon the language) leading to a blurring of gender and sex where transness is ultimately unable to exist in any meaningful way (I say this as in: omegaverse in these cases often posits a world where there IS gender-related strife, but also one where the facets that determine gender are both immutable and never questioned, but never need to be), but the fantasy of something “transgressive” and yet familiar remains the main drawing point— your favorite yaoi can now have missionary sex with a pregnancy fantasy! There is also the fact that I’ve seen people often argue that omegaverse exists as a way for (cis) women to depict misogyny and oppression familiar to them in an environment that does not harm them, because now the oppression is targeted on lithe twinks, and I’m sure that’s, to an extent, true? But not to a meaningful extent, when the vast majority of omegaverse fic is porn and when it refuses to interrogate the aspects of the societies depicted that allow it to BE both escapism and exploration. I realize you did not .. like… ask for this essay in your inbox but it’s a topic I find super interesting as someone who is interested in fanfiction trends and also analysis of those trends. Haha

NO I LOVE THIS SHIT. everyone should come into my inbox forever critiquing different aspects of popular escapist fantasy because it's interesting to discuss! "fiction/fanfiction trends and analysis of those trends" is something I'm in discord servers discussing like 24/7 actually lmao

also fully agreed with what you said abt bioessentialism and transgressiveness. omegaverse is also Massively intersexist and relies a LOT on the supposed transgressiveness of bodies with both penises and vaginas in order to sell its fantasy. there's a lot of fetishization of nonstandard bodies wrapped up in there! and of course all held together with the idea that an omega body and an alpha body must exist in certain ways, and interact sexually in certain ways.

imo, it's a way to have the idea of trans, intersex, and gay people, but not actually think meaningfully about how they exist in relation to power structures. sure, everyone is gay, everyone has a body that would likely be considered intersex in our world, but in THAT world, that's just the norm, and a norm mandated by the laws of the universe at that. people are still functionally heterosexual and cisgender and perisex by the norms of the universe. is this progressive? is this really the sort of world that's safe for lgbt people to see themselves in?

i also hate the argument that it's progressive because cisgender women can process their own oppression. firstly, as you said, they don't challenge it generally, but displacing misogynist oppression onto fictional gay men is not progressive either! i have a friend who is a gnc trans gay man and we talk a lot about how fandom stuff, esp omegaverse, makes him feel alienated and fetishized by the same people who claim that it's inclusive of people like him. i think if you're writing fiction ABOUT gay men but not even attempting to consider whether that fiction is something gay men would like to read, you've gone wrong somewhere!

I will say, however, that I do think there are trans people who do like omegaverse. ive seen other nonbinary people call omegaverse "gendery!" but that doesn't mean that it IS doing anything with its gender stuff, or that it's genuinely transgressive. in my opinion, it just means that there are trans people who aren't processing that it's a fantasy of the same power structures that exist in the real world, just reinforced and with the targets shifted. and like... sure, it's nice to see yourself, or something like yourself, treated as the norm in a fictional universe. doesn't mean that it's actually good lol.

(note to all of this: I am a perisex nonbinary lesbian, and I don't feel I'm fully familiar with how this affects intersex people, or gay/trans men. if anybody thinks i'm off base, or even just wants to weigh in, they're welcome to! this is just stuff I've noticed from reading this kind of fanfiction.)

#narrates #omegaverse cw #intersexism #homophobia #ask to tag?#my general opinion is that being lgbt or a woman does not mean that you are incapable of doing stuff that reinforces harmful structures lol #escapist fiction tag

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mitskijamie · 7 months

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Hello, i was wondering if u think roy accepting that hes gay/bi/likes jamie might change how he views his own gender id? Or maybe goes out of the way to make more lgbt friends or idek, just really curious what you think about it. Love ur blog!

I don't think it would affect his gender identity per se (as in I don't think he would stop identifying as a man) but I definitely think it would challenge the way he perceives his relationship to masculinity and manhood.

I can absolutely see him trying to make more gay friends!!! He went to a gay bar with his yoga friends and hung out with drag queens :( I think he really wants that connection with other queer people but struggles to make it because it would require him to be vulnerable and open

I'm obsessed with the idea of Roy and Trent trying to hang out because they're both late-bloomer gay men in their 40s but kind of feeling awkward because superficially they have zero experiences in common. Like, they can't really talk about men, because Trent is into silver foxes who drink fine wine and enjoy Shakespeare, and Roy is into young hunks who drink blue raspberry alcopops and read at a 5th grade level. Roy has always been in the public eye and Trent hasn't. Trent is a father and was married to a woman for years before coming out, and Roy's longest relationship with a woman ever only lasted a year. But they get to talking more about their experiences and how alienating it was to be closeted in the sports world and how they always feel like they've had to hide things from the people around them and realize they have more in common than they thought. And then they start talking about football and that's when they really start hitting it off lmaoooo

#ask #gay roy is so special to me. holding him to my chest forever #roy kent #trent crimm

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sokkastyles · 8 months

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Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Thank you for the previous response on TSR.

I was thinking about the early part of book 3, when Zuko returned to the Fire Nation. He was acting like a prince, but was he feeling confused on the inside that while he should be happy, he feels like a stranger to home, in addition to understanding that he made the wrong decision in the season 2 finale? Because, he has seen how the other nations view the Fire Nation, and after all that time away, along with the truths he has been exposed to, it could probably lead to alienation from his nation to some extent.

I would like your thoughts on this.

Oh, absolutely. He feels like a stranger not just because he realizes how empty of the love he wants his family actually is, but because he's changed so much through experiencing what life is like in the other nations and coming to the realization that fire nation greatness is a lie.

That's shown in the premiere of book three when he looks uncomfortable while being presented as the crown prince while a crowd cheers for him. Of course, part of the reason he looks uncomfortable is because he feels like he doesn't deserve praise for killing Aang since it's a lie, and part of it is also betraying Iroh, but there's also that shot of the FN armies while Zuko looks on forlornly on the balcony which is meant to tell us how Zuko is realizing what the FN really is.

This? Is nazi imagery. It's not subtle, it's a direct reference to the nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will. You see this shot a lot in science fiction shows because it's a way to instantly convey that the evil empire is Evil with a capital E.

It's also a direct contrast to the end of book three with Zuko being crowned, and looking on triumphant to a crowd of people from all the nations with Aang at his side to show unity and the end of fascism.

We also see Zuko feeling alienated by being offered the perks of being prince, because he's no longer used to being pampered and has also experienced how the other nations have suffered during the war. We see him refusing being offered things by servants or palanquin rides. Specifically the palanquin ride he doesn't understand the need for because it's only a short walk. Contrast this to Zuko in book two getting frustrated because he didn't know how to find food for himself in the wilderness.

Another scene that jumps out at me that shows Zuko's alienation from the FN is the war meeting he attends. He's stiff and silent in part because of being triggered by having to sit in another war meeting, but he also is aware of how he cannot relate at all to the discussion these people are having about how best to subjugate the Earth Kingdom people. He makes a comment in praise of the EK people which is completely misunderstood, and this also highlights how his experiences have changed him, to the point where these men who are so removed from the suffering of the other nations don't even understand what he means and Ozai takes his comment about the strength of the Earth Kingdom people as another opportunity to commit atrocities against them.

Another scene that comes to mind is in "The Beach," the way he gets frustrated at the party because he can't relate to being around these rich FN kids, and this is also one reason he blows up at Mai. I keep saying this but the fact that he tells her she has no passion in response to her chastising him for being angry is a direct consequence of the fact that Zuko is feeling all these feelings and nobody else seems to care. Nobody else sees how wrong everything is, while Zuko's stuck at this party full of FN kids who think they're so important because of who their parents are, who look the way he might have looked if he didn't have a scar, getting food for his bored girlfriend, when he's experienced true starvation directly as a result of what his people did to the rest of the world.

Of course he's angry, of course he feels alienated from it. All of these things lead up to his eventual decision to leave it behind and join team Avatar.

#zuko #atla meta

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langernameohnebedeutung · 8 months

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Not sure if you're the right person to ask this but since you've been the only one on my dash talking about the things happening in chess rn - why the fuck are chess tournaments even separated by gender?! Like, genuinely. I can guess that it started that way thanks to misogyny and "conservative values" or some shit but nowadays? The separation in physical sports still makes sense because men do tend to have an advantage over women statistically speaking, that's all fine and dandy. But in CHESS? w h y?

Okay, this is the right ask now:

I mean, it's a difficult subject. Historically, chess was treated a "male" game, so boys were trained more thoroughly, more professionally, in far greater numbers which means that chess was largely a male sphere (which, obviously and as usual, led to the common interpretation that women are less capable at playing chess because 'hey, if they were, they WOULD be playing chess, what do you mean context matters lol' which further alienated young women and further cemented the idea of chess as a male sphere and hey, what's the point of training women to begin with).

This also had a political component: In some countries, chess was a national sport, in others it plays a minor role - which also translates into different average Elo rankings per country (so unless anyone thinks people in the Soviet Union had a magical chess gene, I think we can safely assume that training as many people as possible in chess translates into a high chance of ending up with a significant number of very good chess players. And those findings we can also apply to he gender disparity.) This also led to the usual sense of entitlement among male chess players that chess is 'for them' and that women trying to get into the game are somehow corrupting the dignity of the game or being intruders or just generally are not to be welcomed. This is something you historically often see when a space was opened to women like the first female university students who experienced a bunch of harassment at the hands of their male peers)

So all of this resulted in a scenario where a lot of male chess players were openly resentful against female chess players (translating into adverse playing conditions for female players), women on average had a disadvantage due to many of them not receiving the same training as their male counterparts (which results in lower Elo rankings) as well as the collective numerical disadvantage because men outnumbered women 16:1, which means that in pretty much any competition, the odds of a man winning were 16x higher than the chance of a woman winning.

So as a solution, the female world championship was established. And real talk, I don't have an issue with that. As I said, in chess, there are no physical denominators that would make a more sensible categorisation to even the playing field. It is also a game designed to leave little to no room for luck to determine the outcome. Women are still free to participate in the "regular" Chess World Championship, it is not restricted to men only the way most physical sports are. So this is mostly about representation and honestly, from that angle, I do understand the desire to show young girls that chess isn't a "male" thing and that they too can win and that there is a community of like-minded women (which is something I think is especially important for young girls that weren't made to feel welcome in the chess playing spaces in their direct environment). Although my long-term hope would definitely be that one day, we a) do something about misogynistic discrimination women experience in general chess and b) that enough young girls receive the training and the encouragement to play chess that one day, this whole thing is no longer an issue. Right now, the surge of chess in popularity among kids, I see that as a huge chance! This is great and I hope this causes a shift in sentiment!

(Another exception: Men and women also compete together in the equestrian categories in the Olympics. Except here with women significantly outnumbering men)

The thing is, I have yet to see any explanation for stripping trans men of their titles when they transition or stripping trans women of titles AND banning them from women's competitions that isn't…just about being a dick and harassing and humiliating trans people. Especially when the FIDE wants to document this (which btw would be highly dangerous for trans people from certain members states). Not to mention a bunch of misogynistic implications to boot by pretending that AFAB people don't have a chance against AMAB people one-on-one.

This is just bullying, plain and simple.

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melandrops · 7 months

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The Magnus Archives, as told through the song Melancholy Man by the Moody Blues

Jon Sims, a man doomed by the narrative from the start. At the beginning of the end, he Knows all but Understands very little. As he trudges through the barren wasteland of the apocalypse, his failures cling to him like tree sap.

Martin has been through life event after life event, each more tragic than the last. By the time Peter comes to him he doesn't even have the energy to grieve what he knows will be his own demise. Holed up in Peter's office, Martin can do nothing but watch the person he (used to) love struggle as monsters throw themselves at Jon. He puts his head down and keeps working. This is what he can be good for.

The panopticon begins to crumble and there stand two broken, abused men who have been to hell and back. Their world has fallen to pieces around them and it only gets worse from there. Martin looks on in devastation as the love of his life becomes a god and can't help but feel true rage. They didn't ask for this.

The last thought Jon has before he dies is of the people he used to call friends. Tim, Sasha and Martin, the best people he's ever known. The people he clings onto his humanity with increasing desperation for. He can remember the way Tim spat vile curses at him, the way he said "I don't forgive you," right before he died. Jon is and always has been convinced that he doesn't deserve forgiveness. His friends were victims (so was he) and deserved better.

In the split second before Jon and Martin die, they see into the thousands of other universes before them. They see a world where they met as anyone else does, and fall in love not through trauma but through the sweet nerves of first and second dates. Perhaps there is a world where Martin's mum was never sick, and Jon never picked up that book. There are versions of Jon and Martin who are happy, who have seen difficulty but never anything like the life-ending trauma of what they've been through. They are the same people, to be sure, but the life they live is so alien to the two men who lay dying in the ruins of the panopticon.

Loss after loss after loss. Betrayal and grief and suffering one after the other. A body that doesn't feel like his own anymore. Skin that burns when he thinks about the cool feeling of lotion. Dead bodies of the people he tried to protect lay behind him as he walks forward. The dread of knowing that his every move has been choreographed. What good is knowledge and sight without the ability to use it to protect people? When the Oracle speaks a prophecy, knowing it does not make it stoppable.

Jon hopes and prays that history will be kind to him. Or at the very least, forgetful. He hopes that the people who tell his story will understand how hard he tried to be good. To do right. He hopes that they will see his wrongdoings, his horrific crimes and have the compassion to see him as someone who just wanted to be free. He hopes that they will believe him if he ever has the chance to say he never wanted any of this.

Jon and Martin were both doomed from the start. They never had a choice but to fail. Sometimes, in quiet nights, they hold each other and grieve. Their fear is a black hole in their chests, eating up all that is good in their lives. They ache for what could have been. But it could never have gone any other way.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #jon sims #martin blackwood #jonmartin #i hope this devastates you as much as it devastates me

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ordinaryschmuck · 1 month

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Quick Thoughts on the first two episodes of X-Men '97

Quick disclaimer: I wasn't a fan of the original series from the nineties. I watched all five seasons in preparation for this show and for reasons I can't explain, it just never grabbed me. When I hear people talk about how it's one of the best X-Men shows and even one of the best superhero animated shows out there, on top of Batman: The Animated Series or Spectacular Spider-Man, I was...not as into it as others were. But I was willing to keep an open mind about the revival. I like the X-Men as much as your average Marvel fan who's favorite superhero is Spider-Man could. Plus, my perspective offers a good question: Does this show offer anything of value if you're not a fan of the original series? And the answer is...Yeah, it absolutely frickin' does.

THIS was more along the lines of the show I was expecting when people talked about how great it is. A lot of what makes X-Men special is on top form here. The themes of prejudice, that anyone perceived as "other" can relate to, is on top display as the first villains we face in these two episodes are your average mutant hating humans who believe that humanity has it hard enough already without these mutants "whining" about their problems. Speaking of, the "crybabies" that humans hate share about how all they want is acceptance and the way they fear about the world judging them, their children, and the people they love. This is the bread and butter of every great X-Men story that helps makes it appealing to almost everyone. Yeah, it's cool to see mutants blow shit up as they fight aliens and robots and whatever, but if you claim the X-Men are now "too woke" because they made Morph non-binary, you haven't been paying close attention to what REALLY makes X-Men strong.

As for seeing these mutants blow shit up, you still get that in spades as the action in this show is TOP NOTCH. You got some goofy nonsense like Gambit powering up Wolverine's claws or Beast controlling a Sentinel from the inside, but also some really cool uses of everyone's powers and seeing them work as a team. I knew that the show was doing something right when they made CYCLOPS look cool. That is a very hard feat to accomplish as the first thought that comes to mind with any writer is that all Cyclops can do is shoot a laser beam. Yeah, that's what he does here too, but he's also punching and kicking people like a professional MMA fighter, using his blasts to amplify his attacks rather than being his ONLY attack. You love to see it and makes ME excited for what other kickass action we'll get in the future, because the animation is ALSO really good. It's stilted and choppy during scenes of dialogue, but it's dialogue. You don't NEED to have outstanding animation when all characters are doing is talking. The good stuff is saved for the fight scenes or for moments that just need to look a LOT more epic than they need to, and I appreciate that decision.

Another thing that's stronger is the "Soap Opera" aspect that I've heard people talk about with the original series. So many people claimed it was a soap opera for kids and...I'm going to be honest, I got that better with Gargoyles if anything else, but I feel like that aspect of the show is handled much better here. It's definitely NOT for kids, at least not for seven year olds like in the nineties. It's definitely more for OLDER kids as the series kept in mind that the target audience was going to be the adults who grew up watching this series instead of the new generation, and I feel like they're going to get a lot more than they wanted for a new series. You have Scott and Jean having a baby, Magneto leading the team, a certain person LEAVING the team, and a mind-shattering twist that leaves you wondering what could possibly come next. This show, at its best, leaves you with CHILLS during these big, dramatic moments of characters sharing their heart and souls with another or when something Earth-shattering is happening. Magneto's speech to the UN and a new anti-mutant villain was the most engaged I've been with a Marvel property since Across the Spider-Verse, holding my attention for every second to the point where I barely remembered to breath. When it was all over, I genuinely wanted there to be more.

So this revival is definitely good for someone like me who wasn't into the original series...but what about those who WERE fans? Honestly, I'm not sure how they'll feel. Almost everything seems like an improvement, but it's definitely NOT the same as the original. The animation's crisper and the writing lacks the nineties' camp for a more modern feel. It takes place almost a year after Charles Xaiver's "death," but the characters speak in a way that lacks that certain...way, you know? I like it, but will fans of the original accept it?

Plus, there are some new things that I'm not sure if X-Men fans in general are going to love. There's this weird...thing between Rogue and Magneto that feels icky and I REALLY hope they don't go there. And, without spoilers, there's this...THING that happens to Storm and it BETTER NOT be permanent. It makes sense for the story and you FEEL the weight of the drama that this moment brings, but she is too cool of a character that has this done to her. Couldn't they have done this to Morph instead? They were already screwed over in the original series, they can be screwed over again!

Overall, I'd say that X-Men '97, from these two episodes, is a good restart for this show. It brings back what fans of the original loved and improves upon it to make it more the show they idolized as kids. At least, that's my takeaway. I'm just glad to have some good X-Men content again outside of comics.

#x men 97 #x men #marvel #marvel animation #quick thoughts #what i thought about

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meanieinspace · 26 days

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Notes on Delicious in Dungeon.

The way people are praising it I thought it would be overhyped and tbh it kind of is, but that's not bad. Any story, especially an episodic story, becomes infinitely more interesting when there is sth that the author is actually invested in that's not just made up at the core of the story that informs how the characters (and the audience) relate to the world.

The first other example that comes to my mind is Alien: Echo, bc I read it recently and the author is very invested in (xeno-)biology which makes a story abt the xenomorph just so much better. Delicious in Dungeon has food.

For example the whole "mimics eat adventurers -> gold/jewel bugs lay eggs in mimics -> mimic dies -> fake gold chest appears" life cycle is a fun bit of world building, but when we're only dungeon crawling for treasure or experience the only part of that that matters is "fake gold", but since Laios & co need to look for edibility we're all invested in the whole thing.

Mimics and gold bugs may not be real but preparing food out of crabs and bugs, and food chains are. In my opinion it's not just about "realness", it's abt having a touching point between author, characters, plot and audience. A meaningful interface.

And you can't just pull meaning out of thin air. (Except if you are really interested in and knowledgable about the atmosphere and are writing a story about uuh, let's say, terraforming? idk)

So, in conclusion, Delicious in Dungeon is really good but it's not the never seen before thing people are treating it as online. Also I hate eating.

I like demons but I don't know how I feel abt the overarching plot. Hybris is kind of getting old for me personally as a theme. Fullmetal Alchemist had a very well thought out bit about hybris and autonomy (for what could be equal to the worth of a human soul? -> the only thing that is truly mine to offer is myself/my skill) which cynically put is about knowing your place or less cynically, as I said, about autonomy. Delicious in Dungeon is more about desire and truly knowing yourself, but in both cases it's kind of moralizing.

Which shouldn't really be surprising if you have demons as antagonists. I don't know what exactly I'm trying to say here. Just sth I'm chewing on.

Addendum:

Also people were going on and on abt how gay it is and I see the subtext ig but like that's all it is.

One of the least sexist anime/manga. Has to have been written by a woman. Not bc a man couldn't write like that but bc men who are into genre just simply never do for whatever reason.

#i kind of feel represented by marcille in a weird way idk why #delicious in dungeon #notes on stuff on tv

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randomfoggytiger · 6 months

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"You Don't Know the First Thing About Me"

(Fictober, Day 19)

******

When he was lamentably green, the truth was shut away-- trickled out only to desperate men and only in doses so small as to drive them further insane. He sat, he stood, and he listened, eagerly trying to fill in a patchwork of names and events, the past and the future.

Then he was assigned. Then he had a partner.

Then they had the gall to wag a finger at him, wrestle him away from his first big break, and stuff him back into a dark closet somewhere until Bill Mulder’s death.

All in all, Krycek wasn't sorry that his first round with the Syndicate ended with a car bomb and bitter feelings.

*****

Survival, Krycek decided, hinged on which truth you picked-- a lie to the world or a lie to yourself. He chose to fool the world, knowing they changed their truth every 3-5 business days, anyway. Weak, blind, close-minded drones who wanted their 'i's dotted, their 't's crossed, and their worldviews unchallenged by the widening realities of the universe. So, he played their game: caught and tossed back the ball they threw, showed them exactly what they wanted to see, told them exactly what they wanted to hear.

*****

What he learned in the Consortium’s charm school was to win friends and influence people. What he learned from his black-lunged superior was to carpe diem his way into any complication possible. What he hadn't quite learned on his own was how to get out of it.

Single-minded Mulder, foolish old men, and out-of-touch aliens chased tails, circled each other, and howled at the moon day after day, year after year-- and had nothing to show for it. He was especially disappointed with the vastly narrow-minded scope of his former partner (Krycek had given up old ciggie Spender for loss years ago when he'd stuttered "thank you, yes, thank you" over the phone.) It took Mulder nearly four years to finally stop and listen when Krycek told him what no one else would-- “There is no truth, they just make it up as they go along"-- and by then Mulder didn't want to listen.

The Consortium really did pick ‘em.

Krycek had to admit, though, that their microscopic self-indulgence had done one thing right. They’d created a woman as warm-blooded and cold hearted as himself and let her loose to wreak havoc on his life.

At the game table of allies and foes, Marita was the master: effective because she was impersonal, believable because she was polished. She’d paid him one compliment in their entire sorry acquaintance: dragged out of a train by Jeffrey Spender and into the getaway car by Krycek, Marita locked her sickly, tortured eyes on his and spat, “They'll die because they don't understand what we do.” He’d let the cryptic compliment slide-- it was probably an accurate though open-ended statement, after all-- but neither was sorry the rest of the ride was in silence.

******

Jeffrey Spender: one of those sudden plays of fate. Pushed in, given a job he hated, pushed back out; and when he resisted, Jeff got a bullet to the skull.

Apparently, not all the Syndicate had been crisped.

His loss.

Funny how Jeffy boy only fumbled around long enough to trade loyalties and die the hero's death. He didn't know the game, didn't care to learn the rules, and got cut out like a rookie.

Better to be a thrill-seeking fool than a virtuous one, Krycek reasoned: virtue grew out of a conscience; and a conscience was a fickle asset, liable to get you killed over the smallest twinge. So, he let the ethical humbugs have their fun fingerpainting with morality, watched them crawl over glass to prove that their tormented existence was bettered by a few lines they wouldn't cross. No need to go out of his way for any of them.

They always come crawling back.

*****

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023, and @fictober-event

#txf #fic #Fictober #Day 19 #2023 #mine #“You Don't Know the First Thing About Me”#Krycek #Mulder #CSM #Consortium #Syndicate #xf fanfic #xfiles #x-files

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