#i was reliant on them for existing

[the-knife-consumer]

I feel lame for not having many ocs tbh. Whatever i do what i want forever

#idk i feel like my entire art is only ever used on drawing pre existing characters #usually from popular ips i feel so shallow. #any ocs i make i never get attached to. and if i do im too nervous to post them #or like with my fandom intrests i love them so intensely and then a month or so later #i dont give a shit anymore. i wish i wasnt so reliant on pre existing characters with pre existing personalities to draw #my attention. and draw in general. #bc when im not in an intense intrest phase i cant draw for shit. thatd be a perfect time to draw my ocs right? #but i need to be intensely intrested to draw in the first place. and they aren't fleshed out they dont have content #yhere is no book or movie or show or game. ive gotta do all of that. but that passion isn't there #i get no big ideas for stories of my own. no characters with compelling backgrounds everytging i do #just feels like a rehash or repackaging of something else. #and insult to injury. usually i can pinpoint exactly which pre exosting character im ripping from #which nothing wrong witg inspiration. if it was anyone else i'd be like fuck yeag dude thats awesome #but because its me it feels like stealing stealing stealing i cant think of anything on my own so i must steal #idk. whatever. #i mean i do have ocs but i havent drawn them in fucking forever it feels like. and i love them ig #for once i cant really pinpoint where i pulled them from. but too nervous to post them on #this blog and also again. drawing them feels like a chore because the obsession isnt there #vent #whateverrrrr my interps are baller my lines are swagular. im gonna make it whatever #and also i feel like a flake with my intrests and its not deliberate but sometimes i feel like im #pullibg people in from fandoms then pulling a switcheroo gotcha on them by being invested #in something else #which obviously im fucking not thats stupid im not doing this on purpose #but it still feels so yuuuuucky like im sorry ik this isnt what you folloed me for. sorry #SJATEVER i win at art wbatever whatever

[perenlop]

The gay tension between Izzy Moonbow and Sunny Starscout in the g5 comics

#hmmm why are you talking about how magnificent ur best friends sparkle is... why are you upset that shes hanging out with other people #are u gay or something #anyways mlp is poking at my brain and shunks released a vid on it so i wanted to check the comics #and i accidentally clicked on the g5 ones instead. whoops #but there arent a lot so im flipping through them #whenever they flash back to g4 it gives me whiplash bc the artstyle is different #is the implication that the ponies evolved to have more humanlike faces or something #and its not just a different art style #god i wish g5 was its own thing that wasnt so reliant on g4 as a prequel soooooooo bad #i think the conflict between the races and the awkward worldbuilding would be so much more forgivable if it was #also i wanted g5 counterparts. where is g5 spike where is g5 applejack where is g5 minty #part of the fun of toyline generations to me is seeing how each generation shifts up the designs of existing characters #its fun to see the evolution #echoed voice

[masked-and-doomed]

I think if anyone loved me the same way I love them I would be okay for once

#perhaps the reason why I'm into my 3 boyfriends is the fact i know they're desperate enough and mentally ill enough to #love me in the same obsessive and reliant way. #the people i love. that i have my heart BLEEDING because of their existence.. they don't rely on me the way i do for them. #they dont NEED me the way i NEED them. #truly. i want someone to reciprocate like I do. love me and hurt me. please. hurt me because you know you cant love me any way else. #so i can feel something. #i just sound ungrateful for my friends. really. #negative #/negative

[zroqravity]

If any of you somehow have the ability to get me a long-term working visa litrally anywhere I'll owe you my life istg

#i need to get away from my parents but god damn did they do a good job making sure i have to be reliant on them for as long as possible #i cant even legally exist in a place for too long without them #visas are genuenly such a fucked concept holy shit #anyways feeling like shit rn sorrt for the rant✌️ #rant post

[mostbrilliantidiot]

I did the thing. I called the pharmacy.

No they don't have my meds. Who knows when they will. But I did the phone call

#ramblings #would looooove to exist unmedicated mostly because i hate making phonecalls and appointments and being reliant on unreliable systems for #day to day basic functions #if my meds just. showed up. id have no problem with them

[shuttershocky]

So on Monday (January 22), China will be seeking public comments on a proposal for new online game rules that includes limiting rewards for consecutive spending and daily logins, and even more critically, banning luck-based draw mechanics, which would include everything from lootboxes to every single gacha game in existence.

While there's been pushback to this because of the massive loss to Tencent and Netease and the sheer size of China's gacha playerbase, I genuinely hope this causes real change, especially when some of the biggest gacha games in the world are Chinese themselves and can't simply pull out of the country.

What's probably going to happen is you simply need to verify age before you can make an account for a gacha game now, but imagine a world where gachas are instead forced to rework themselves into honest video games reliant on being actually well designed and of high quality without the crutch of FOMO and gacha keeping them afloat lol

[corpus-incorporated]

I wish I knew going into it that getting medicated was going to ruin my life and that I was better off raw-dogging my mental illness instead. At the time I envisioned all of those happy people who claimed medication had completely changed their lives and god, I wanted that so desperately. Needless to say I didn’t get that.

#now I’m literally reliant on medications to fix problems that didn’t exist before i started them #d3da5 mental breakdown watch

[prokopetz]

One of the occupational hazards of being so preoccupied with game design as a discipline is that sometimes I'll have dreams that are just some unknown force explaining an idea for a game to me, and last night I dreamed what is possibly the most obnoxious mechanical premise for a game I've ever come up with.

In brief, it was a traditional JRPG-style game with an atypical levelling-up scheme. Rather than gaining XP or levelling up at milestones, party members would grow in power by finding and absorbing or ingesting these little extradimensional parasites, represented in the dream as small grub- or fetus-like creatures with smiling humanoid faces. These parasites would be found as treasure and enemy drops, and could freely be given to any party member, except for the player character; the player character alone was unable to use them for Plot Reasons, and was entirely reliant on equipment to grow in power instead.

Absorbing a parasite both granted permanent stat boosts and unlocked weird psychic powers. However, they'd also cause progressive personality changes in the party members to which they were assigned, reflected by changes in dialogue and interactions, and eventually in granting or denying access to particular side quests. This function of the parasites was undocumented, and would likely go unnoticed by the player on their initial playthrough, as they'd level up as they went and would never see the unmodified dialogues.

A further wrinkle is that this effect was mediated by the game's expected progression. Farming parasites and "over-levelling" beyond where the game expected you to be would accelerate the personality changes, while going deliberately under-levelled would slow them (i.e., by giving your party members more time to acclimate to having bugs in their brains); like the personality changes themselves, the existence of these hidden modifiers would not be hinted at to the player.

If you spent a long enough stretch of the game sufficiently over-levelled, you'd eventually receive a non-standard game over where your party would betray, kill, and eat the player character. Furthermore, this non-standard ending had a deliberate "eclipse phase" whereby it would wait for a while after you hit the required threshold before pulling the trigger, in particular making sure that you've saved at least once, leaving your save file irrevocably fucked.

As a final twist, the non-standard game over would only trigger after resting; though the game's mechanics would heavily incentivise resting on a regular basis, it would theoretically be possible to massively over-level your party on purpose and avoid the bad ending simply by never resting again, potentially as a speedrun strat. However, doing so would alter the game's ending to replace the usual final boss with a hopeless solo boss fight against your own massively over-levelled party.

#concepts #gaming #video games #violence mention #death mention #cannibalism mention #body horror mention #insects mention #swearing

[heytherecentaurs]

The relationship between Kristen and Cassandra is not fair to either of them.

Kristen should not have to be responsible for the wellbeing of an entire goddess. She’s 16. That isn’t a fair expectation by any standard. You can’t tell me other Cleric students have this weight on their shoulders. Clerics of Helio or most other established gods certainly don’t. They just have to do normal cleric shit. Ostentatia Wallace didn’t have to do this, and she had a more personal relationship with Logran Soulforger than most.

And it isn’t fair to Cassandra because her very existence is reliant on a teenager who has been fucked up by religion since childhood. Neither deserve this but they can’t get away from each other without it being horrible for both of them.

I feel so sorry for both of them.

#dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fantasy high junior year spoilers #fhjy #kristen applebees

[mortalityplays]

the 'will people feed you' discourse rn is very funny and hopefully a wake up call to some of the rude freaks scattered out there across europe, but I do want to note that the cultures we're talking about are cultures of the affluent. literally everywhere I have visited, working class people share food as a matter of course. everywhere I have visited, working class people push drinks and snacks on you the moment you walk in the door. there's a layer to this conversation that only exists among people who have the choice to be miserly and unaffected by their neighbours behaving the same way.

the first time I experienced being completely shut out of another family's mealtime, it was when I was a teenager on an exchange trip to the netherlands. I was staying with this family, and literally reliant on them for food and housing. The day I arrived they explained to me what time mealtimes were, and that I would not be fed unless I arrived at the table on time. One morning I was running a little behind because I had trouble figuring out how the shower worked, and when I came downstairs my hosts were already eating. They hadn't set a place for me, and they all ignored me and continued conversing in dutch. When I timidly tried to serve myself, they gave me look as if I had just walked in off the street and started raiding the refrigerator. They were an intimidatingly affluent family.

one morning the mother had to drop me off early at my work placement, before the building opened. I was sitting outside on a wall for like 50 minutes by myself with nothing to do, and an older lady running a food cart nearby started chatting to me (she wanted to know I was okay, because I was like 15 and not in school, and was very interested to hear that I was on exchange from scotland). she offered me a free breakfast, and when I said I'd already eaten she gave me a drink and a packet of crisps to keep for lunch, and kept trying to make me try fried things that were apparently dutch specialities but were way too much for me at 8am. she was very sweet and funny, and had infinitely more in common with the poorer dutch students who I would meet at a separate pan-european thing later than with any of the kids or parents around the upper middle class academy we were paired with that year. people are people everywhere, some are just more inclined to worry about appearances than others.

[diluc33rpm]

1/3 Do we have a moral obligation to care for others? To what extent?

as in are you morally obligated to listen to this entire album? absolutely

#no lol nobody has a moral obligation to do shit #the concept of universal morality is crack anyway #you can PERSONALLY have morals that you believe should be standardised and/or that you view as obligating you to stick to certain actions #that’s the actual definition of the term & everyone’s gonna have them on some level it comes with existing and having a point of view #but whenever someone says ‘good person’/‘bad person’/‘decent person’ that’s never ever going to be an objective pronouncement #it’s always in relation to their own principles and no ones are the exact same. there’s only a such thing as #the level of difference we can tolerate between our own and other peoples #so trying to conform to any ‘golden standard’ of acceptable or unacceptable. proper or improper. unproblematic or problematic #is ultimately only going to work in your own eyes. theres no secret intrinsic way to be Objectively Accepted by everyone you meet #like its common to say that you Should care for other people because we’re reliant on each other species wise but #it’s patently obvious you don’t *have* to. cough cough jeff bezos and every other 1% fuck #if you’re asking what i think personally honestly my sense is ironically pretty much what it says on this album cover #i’m not obligated to be compassionate (no one is) but i will #not to be a savior or to assert some high ground of ‘good’ through acts i’m too tired for that shit. catholicism and all can go burn #all i want is just to make this bitch of an earth an easier place to live in #we’re all gonna die. might as well be kind and go down kicking and clawing to see shit improve even in the smallest ways

[oscalesoffeeling]

ya know what. sometimes i feel guilty for needing my f/os to feel at all safe and secure and happy and loved and good enough and content etc etc in my life :(

#like i'm Not a big tough guy. #i'm just not. i'm a sickly little guy. like literally i'm super fucking sick all the time... #and i like rely on them so much mentally. ya know. i can't sleep without them bc i'm so scared of sleep and sleeping and the dark and #being alone. i hate being alone so much. it makes having alters of at least one (don't ask unless we're Actually friends) #of my f/os. bc he's usually fucking around towards the front taking care of me all day. but that has its trials and tribulations too. guy #in my head is always there (/pos and /neg. we have multitudes.) #and idk. i feel. invalidated in my masculinity *balloon deflating soundbite* bc of it ngl. that i'm the weak feminine one in every #relationship i'm in. that's some shit i gotta sort through myself. internalized toxic masculinity and transphobia. #bc it indicates nothing of who i actually am and how my relationships actually work. i'm just a feminine guy ya know. #and i see things all the time that are like (not vague bc i couldn't name names if i tried) 'all these femme shippers are detracting from #the masc shippers by being all frail and petite and feminine and reliant on their f/os!!!' as if being frail and petite and feminine and #reliant is the problem and not the sheer amount of attention more femme aligned shippers get over masc shippers in the community. #like men can be frail and petite and reliant and cry cry cry and yell and gush 24/7 about their f/os and still be masc. #the problem is when we discuss self shippers at large we usually picture a much more cishet white female crowd than what actually exists #bc those kinds of people tend to get more attention. #i'm sure there's a lot to unpack there about what makes them popular but i would prefer not to see posts that shit on #people for being frail and emotional and dependent. bc i am those things and i'm a man who is those things g-ddamnit. #i've only seen like maybe three or four posts like that but c'mon.... #ellie rambles about stuff #/vent

[eamour]

mental over physical.

in my post called "feeling over desire", i have already talked about the importance of fulfillment from within rather than without. i went as far to tell you that when you desire something, it can only ever be fulfilled in imagination and not in your physical reality. today, i'll tell you why exactly that’s the case with the explanation of "states".

key points

key points from former post

you are desiring to feel (inner self), not to actually have (outer self). therefore, you seek fulfillment from within.

by wanting things physically only and refusing to feel good about already having them in imagination, you are conditioning your desires.

what you can’t experience within, you can’t experience without. that way, you are making yourself reliant on outer change.

it’s impossible to give you something you desire internally, externally. it won’t and cannot satisfy you.

your aim isn’t the confirmation of the outer world. it’s the confirmation of imagination and experiencing your desire‘s existence there.

determination of the physical.

first of all, states are crucial. a state determines your thoughts — along with your behaviour, perception, experience and reactions to the physical world — as they come from your feeling aka the state that you are currently occupying. this is important for you to understand because depending on which state you are identifying with, you will reflect it into your material world. conversely, that means that you can never express a state you are not already embodying mentally.

an unfulfilling state.

now, if you aren’t already occupying the state or embodying the version of yourself who has your desire, receiving it in the physical world will not and cannot satisfy you. if you are in an oppositional state, yet manage to obtain results physically, it won't be able to fulfill you. you need to get into the state of your wish being fulfilled FIRST and experience it in imagination BEFORE you can get it in the 3D. that’s also the way you normally go about manifesting things.

experience of a state.

it’s because you aren’t experiencing the outer world, you are experiencing your state. you can only ever experience your state. the outer world is just a conformation of the state you currently happen to be in. although the 3D is a depiction of your imagination, your state or who you are in imagination still determines how your outer world is going to look like.

inner feeling of desire.

again, to desire means to occupy a state, a desired state. when you desire, it’s coming from within, not from without. only your inner self can desire. because after all, your desire is just a feeling — a feeling only your inner self can feel. your outer self, on the other hand, can only give you physical insight on your inner self. and inner feelings can only be fulfilled with feelings from within.

my example.

i remember i was in a relationship once which was very perfect to begin with. however, somehow, i would find myself in a state where i would feel unloved, as if i'm being lied to or just generally doubt my partner’s adoration and affection for me. the more i felt that way and the more i persisted in it, i managed to pull them away — even though everything was seemingly perfect on the outside, it didn’t really feel as perfect on the inside.

see, your physical manifestation can be as desirable as possible but if you happen to be in a contrary state, you won’t be able to keep the physical, nor be content with it.

with affection and adoration, ella.

#loablr #loa tumblr #shiftblr #law of assumption #neville goddard #edward art #loassumption #loa #manifestation #manifesting #manifest #the law of assumption #manifest it #manifesting it #master manifestor #spiritual #spirituality #affirmations #shifting realities #reality shift #reality shifting #assumptions #assumption #affirmation #consciousness is the only reality #imagination creates reality #everybody is you pushed out #eiypo #feeling is the secret #how to manifest

[adoregojo]

secret admirer.

hihihihihihihihi, i cannot believe i actually slept for two days in a row? wth? and also that i never did this kind of posts? im such a lazy bum mb yall, I promise I'll write a real fic soon. summary: bllk characters as your secret admirers: isagi, bachira, chigiri, reo. how they fell, what do they do, how did they confess.

isagi.y

him. just him.

you once held his shirt collar to stop him from planting flatly on the floor.

and when you walked away, you walked with his heart in your palms.

yea, just like that

but honestly, isagi himself didn't knew he was such a big sap inside

and the moment he realised you two shared a few classes was the second he almost kneeled and thanked the sky itself for this.

an absolute swoon from looking at your side profile.

he once was long gone within the abyss of daydreaming about you, he genuinely just couldn't look away.

then got called out by the teacher for being too distracted.

definitely prayed that you didn't see that.

writes your name unintentionally in his notebook.

gets so embarrassed about it later and rips the paper.

still dose it again the next day and almost ripped the whole book apart form cringing at himself.

he once was musing over you too much to the point that your name slipped out unwittingly on the dinner table.

his parents couldn't stop teasing him about it, wondering when they would see you walking down their house door.

leaves love notes in your locker almost everyday.

it's something short and simple like: "you look pretty today."

then when he goes home he'll realize how dumb that was because you literally look the prettiest everyday.

dumb, dumby.

takes time to make the first move though.

he just feels like you're way, farther away from his reach.

it's okay, he still considers himself lucky to be one of those who got admire you.

he just hoped you saw him behind all of them, even if it was a glance.

chigiri.h

omgg pretty boyyy

despite chigiri being a confident and self-reliant, the trigger words of his old injury was like a pulling a pin of a grenade to his still-raw sorrowness. something that'll always haunt him.

and what dose he dare to say when they were nothing but truthful? like a salt to his wounds, he tends to just take it and suck it up, or at least try to ignore it for his sake.

but everything flipped when you stood up for him.

from that moment on. chigiri knew that he was far a goner.

out of everyone here he's definitely the most romantic one.

reads all your favourite books and analysis it.

probably named a cat after you.

like isagi he writes love letters for you.

just a little too poetic..

it it's short then it's something like: "loving you is like breathing." or "i hope your days are filled with the same joy you give me with your existence only."

but mostly is: "my definition of love, i see the true meaning of living behind your hue of life. you shall lighten my soul with your existence alone, i was born to see you shin each day, witnessing you is a blessing from heaven itself. the day that i stop seeing you as the owner of the stars is the day my body shall vanish, yet my soul will know it way back to you. from your only and one your admirer."

what a lovesick clown.

he might be a smooth talker on the outside, but trust me the butterflies of sentimental keeps on swirling in his stomach on the sight of you.

told his mother and sister about you.

it was his biggest regrets.

because the next day his sister shouted your name in a demand for you to spend the night for the 'meeting of the future in law'.

he had to physically drag her back to the car, freaking embarrassing.

couldn't meet your eyes for a while after that.

wants to hold your hand.

like, really badly.

it's just that feeling your skin against his cold, pristine hands must've feel like the loveliest, cosiest thing.

the thoughts alone are making him go crazy.

he confessed first, just couldn't help himself.

he just hoped if you would go to the end of the world alongside with him.

bachira.m

the sunshine boy himself.

the definition of fell first AND fell harder.

it all started when the class was ordered to work as duo for a project, something he always despised.

you may say that because bachira was definitely not having the word 'smart' in his book, you'd be right actually.

but mainly since no one really wanted to group up with him.

it was embarrassing, to just sit there and wait to be picked was putting him under the lights that pointed him out as the most pitiful creature in the room.

then you pocked him on the shoulder, and asked him if he wanted to be your partner.

and when he didn't see the sarcasm reeking from you, he knew he tripped hard, and couldn't find it anywhere in his feet to back him up.

it was strange, bachira never had a company, let alone a crush.

but the signs were there, and were painfully vulnerable.

painted you in art class multiple times; you with a smile, you reading a book, you sniffing a sunflower.

maybe also you and him... holding hands or hugging...

stares at your face a way, way too long.

he tells himself it's to crave your features better and detailed.

even he doesn't believe that however.

he draws your eyes a lot.

his second favourite colour is your eyes hue.

he was never the best at writing romantic poems, and his hand writing is just........

so he insisted gets you a gift!

which is a rock.

yes you heard me, rock.

he would even paint a little face with a smile on it and leave it on your desk by the end of the day.

almost went bald from joy when you had it hanging as a small march on your bag.

and when you had a bad day, that goes unnoticed by him.

so imagine your surprise when you would find two pairs of rocks, one kissing the other who had a sad expression on it face.

that somehow that foster a blissful smile on your face. like that little action extinct any remains of the past negative you carried.

and bachira was more than happy to be the reason for your happiness.

definitely rambles about you to his mom.

and his monster.

he once ha a dream about you two smooching.

cried when he woke up because he wanted it to be real more than anything.

you two confessed first, at the same time.

and boy was he dancing on cloud nine at it.

he almost smooch you that moment and then.

reo.m

it's mister perfect everyone, cheer.

you fell first, he fell harder.

no, literally. you fell. tripped flat on the floor.

and somehow, that made the reo mikage heart move.

?????????

love at first (fall??) sight.

he definitely leaves a trail of gifts for you everywhere.

your chair, desk, locker, bag.

he switches between chocolate and flowers to letters and perfumes, necklaces, etc..

you say how he picked them?

easy, see something that reminds him of you, he buys.

and it's pretty foolish since he sees you in almost everything.

reo is convinced that you're within everything that shins beautifully.

he actually paid the teachers to let him be in the same classroom as you.

paid even more to get a seat next to you.

rip to whoever was sitting next to you.

he once heard that a guy was bothering you.

the next day the guy was the talking of school because he suddenly moved out of town due to his dad losing his job.

hm, must be karma then.

has a shrine of you.

but you didn't hear that from me.

talks about you none stop to nagi and ba-ya.

genuinely sobbed when he imagined you with someone else.

has a flight under your name.

made a makeshift doll of you so he can practice his confessions on.

had a mental breakdown of the idea of you rejecting him.

reo can the most horrible, miserable day to a human kind to live.

then he sees you smiling

BOOM

he's all happy and smiling again, also a little giddy.

you once greeted him good morning, the next day he was planing what ring would suit you the most.

had two planes to write on the sky: 'will you go out with me?' and your name next to it in a shade of a heart.

now, you definitely cannot reject that. (Please don't)

have a nice day everyone.

#blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock #isagi x reader #bachira x reader #reo x reader #chigiri hyoma x reader #chigiri x reader #yoichi isagi x reader #bachira meguru x reader #reo mikage x reader

[zznico]

i hate how people are so scared of mischaracterization that they take characters and completely twist them into another form of mischaracterization

yes will solace is a traumatized person he gets hurt he gets scared he isn’t someone who exists to emotionally sedate nico at any given moment, but since what does that mean suddenly he’s incapable of being caring at all??? the pjo fandom doesn’t like to view trauma as individual manifestations but instead the word trauma makes people think oh this person must automatically be closed off and angry and hyper dependent and i hate it so much because you can’t write will solace without making him still caring to his core even if he isn’t able to care for someone he wants to, he wants to help everyone around him because he sees what happens when he doesn’t

and same with nico, he can’t stay closed off and hyper independent forever. he lost his caretaker in an instant when he was 10 years old and was forced in a state of hyper independence because he was homeless and alone and when someone takes him and forcibly cares for him he will become physically and emotionally reliant on them whether he wants it or not, even if this doesn’t mean he’s incapable of caring for other people

solangelo is hyper codependent, will solace needs to take care of other people as much as he needs to be taken care of because it’s the only way to soothe his anxiety and control issues is to know he himself can confirm nothing is wrong, and same goes for nico to care for others to ensure no one he loves can be lost and because of this they take care of each other endlessly

their whole relationship is about balance. write it balanced

#solangelo 🌅🌌 #will solace #nico di angelo #pjo #hoo #toa #own post

[transmutationisms]

can you elaborate some on how the formulation of comphet sucks? i’m not super familiar with it & i trust your thoughts

well i am just some guy blogging also you can read the essay here if you're interested.

there is a clear streak of sexual conservatism that runs through the text (eg, the equation of bdsm with violence & 'vanilla' sex with a 'natural' & intrinsically 'feminine' sexuality that is being stifled; the failure to contextualise sex work as work; the attempt to differentiate gay men from lesbians on the grounds that gay men have too much casual sex & large age gaps in their relationships...) & these are not just local issues because they're all connected to the fact that rich is fundamentally uninterested in questioning gender (that is, the construction of womanhood itself) the way she is in questioning heterosexuality.

her formulation therefore always falls back on the notion of a shared biological basis for a 'female' existence, one that is continually violated & encroached upon by the male violence that oppresses it. to understand 'compulsory heterosexuality' in light of a concept of gender as biological, transhistorical, & inescapable thus becomes a call to reclaim a kind of mythologised prelapsarian 'female–female' relationship that is being artificially suppressed & oppressed under conditions of patriarchy. the question rich raises as animating the paper is: would women choose heterosexuality if they were not constrained into it? but never is this category 'women' historicised or problematised in the same way (glibly we might ask: would people choose womanhood, or indeed manhood, if we were not constrained into them...?); for rich the sexes simply exist; the question lies only in the correct relations between & within them.

i don't really find her idea of a 'lesbian continuum' is particularly useful & i think it elides discussion of the material factors that enforce heterosexuality with a more idealist, psychologised discourse about the comparative emotional 'valuation' of basically any interpersonal relationship. but that move away from material analysis also just characterises the whole essay, really, because again, rich takes as a point of departure the presumption of the reality & primacy of the sexgender binary whilst trying to analyse the artificiality of heterosexuality alone. really this is just business as usual in terms of talking out both sides of your mouth for radical feminism though, & indeed for any feminism reliant on essentialisms at its core.

#adrienne rich