#imagine hating women so much you ignored established character building (some of it from your own damn movie) and gave a man a whole family | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kaypeace21 · 3 years

Text

DID theory part 3: St novels/comics/spotify list analyses

*read part 2 of DID theory-first! You’ll be lost otherwise, seriously XD. First, I’ll say -I find the ST comics/ books as canon as the st movie inspirations . I don’t consider the books/comics ‘literal canon’ (cause they contradict the show ( like Max and billy meeting a year before s2 in runaway max - but meeting as little kids in s3, or El’s age being wrong in suspicious minds, in the d&D comic Will’s friends instead of him /Jonathan building castle byers, etc) .

So I think we shouldn’t take it literally - but more like the st movie lists - filled with foreshadowing/symbolism and other eastereggs (That the Duffers may have told them to add). So here’s some more (possible) alter / DID hints...

‘Suspicious minds’ novel

- Brenner equates k*lling rabbits to h*rting kids. And he’ll hurt (kid) Kali (the bunny in the analogy) if Terry tries running away from him . I wonder if Lonnie used a similar threat against jonathan? Jon could be giving only a partial truth to why he cried for a week (about the bunny story)?

-Kali “hops” like a bunny then talks about tigers obsessively (linking her to rabbits/tigers similar to the other alters/Will/Lonnie). Terry also imagines tigers and kali says to Alice they can all be tigers together.

- one of the only male psychic experiments (who can see the future) is gay

- Terry is into lord of the rings, like Will. Has her and her boyfriend dress as sam & frodo (m/m ship). Terry calls her and her friends “the fellowship”.

-when Terry/Alice were injected with d**gs -they hallucinated rainbows.yikes.

- Alice (like Lonnie) is a car mechanic. She can see the future like Will the wise and says “monsters of course my mind has them as long as they stayed in there, everything would be alright? Wouldn’t it?” (in her visions she saw the demogorgan).

(completed) graphic ST novels (by Jody Hozer) so far (+ other st comics).

*Jody Hozer writes all the graphic novels (every novel is 4 chapters each) - the will byers comic, number 6 comic , into the fire comic, and at the moment she’s writing the d&d series and the summer camp series (which isn’t done yet). Then there’s the occasional 1 chapter st comics not written by her.

- Number 6 has (the ability to foresee the future like Will the wise/Alice) and has an ab*sive dad.

When having a nightmare of the demogorgan ...she says as she wakes up “screw you dad” (another hint the demogrgan -aka in d&d means ‘deep father’ ...is Lonnie).

- when number 6 and others run they say they’re’ “rabbiting”(which yes technically makes sense but I found such an uncommon phrase odd.)

- The (summer camp and d&d graphic novels aren’t completed yet) but they establish d&d creatures are based off real life people the boys don’t like in real life. Or that d&d is used as an outlet to explain true events from their pasts -but they just give the true stories a d&d fantasy slant.

- Which brings me to the halloween oneshot(not by Hozer),taking place before s1. Will tells a scary story told to him by Jonathan, and originally told to him by Lonnie. Says the boys have to keep it a secret cause it was something he was never supposed to tell to anyone. Mike says he has to finish the story he started. It’s about a “ch*lld-eater” monster first attacking a boy near the quarry (like where Will was found) and attacking kids in a library (where Will was also found in s1).When the child sees the sheriff she bangs on the library door begging for help-he ignores her , walks away, and tells the other cops to never speak of what they saw as she screams for help. Because the previous sheriff was in kahoots with the monster. It def had some ... uh questionable imagery too 0_0

The vine in the mouth is also like the one in Will’s mouth (when Joyce found him in the library).And of course Dustin asks whether or not something like that could be covered up.

- In the “bully comic” (about troy) also not by Jody. We focus on Troy and his ab*sive dad (who encourages him to fight/ditch his best friend). The dad has a drinking problem (gets fired), calls Troy a “mess” , pushes him, and constantly encourages Troy to be vi*lent/macho. He pretty much tries sabotaging the relationship Troy has with his friend (which I could see Lonnie doing in the future with byler).The dad/troy is framed similarly to when Billy gives Max a ride home- after both ab*sers give bad advice saying not to hang out with their friend (after witnessing them fight in the school parking lot). Dad also laughs about almost k*lling a squirrel (a trait we see troy mimic)- and we see El feel guilty about k*lling a squirrel in s2. At the end of the comic- Troy (like Will) after making up with his bff james- moves leaving his best friend behind.

- (into the fire) Twins: (one was normal with no powers living in the real world and the twin with fire powers is trapped in a dark sunless “cold” world styled like a psych facility/medieval fantasy) . pics in link.She hated her reflection cause it reminded her of being betrayed by her normal non powered twin who left her behind in the ‘cold’ place. She’d call herself a ‘hunter’ who would defend herself and attack others to never be hurt again. Her powers being unleashed were described like opening “a door.” And she loves her twin deep down and just wants friends . And fire twin goes to the “other side” to reunite with her reflection and find happiness in the real world. *also there’s sunflower/bunny symbols which she lights on fire-which can relate back to Will/Terry/Lonnie etc. The twins = Will & Will the wise (mf)

Mirrors also connect to Will and Will the wise via the canon spotify playlists too.

Will playlist (song: mirror in the bathroom)-Mirror in the bathroom Please talk free.The door is locked -Just you and me.Mirror in the bathroom recompense for all my crimes of self defense.Cures you whisper make no sense!Drift gently into Mental illness.

Demogorgan playlist ( from perspective of Will the wise aka the mf) (song: are you dead yet? )-”polluted soul through a mirror I behold.Throw a punch, shards bleed on the floor. tearing me apart. but I don't care anymore.Should I regret or ask myself are you dead yet?Wake up, don't cry. Regenerate to deny the truth. The fiction you live in blindfolds your eyes. Disclosure, self loathing, this time you've gone too far.Or could it be, my nemesis, that you are me?

(*st ‘into the fire’ comic. the fire powered twin’s thoughts echo the song)

*I think this foreshadows the later plot points of mf (will the wise ) and Will interacting via mirrors. The fire-wielding twin and the non powered twin had a lot of mirror imagery. Including the fire powered twin (Who denies reality/and imagines herself in a fantasy world) punching her reflection because it reminds her of her non-powered twin. Here’s some cover art from the novels showing how much they emphasize mirrors.

*And in s4 movies Black swan - “the black and white swan twins (two halves of the same person-Nina)” had creepy mirror imagery. In long kiss goodnight the women with DID talks to her “ (supposed)dark 1/2″ via a mirror (in a dream). in ‘the visit’ the teen girl who’s dad abandoned her when young- refuses to look in the mirror (and it’s never explained why she hates her reflection). So yes I think we’ll see this in s4 or 5. We already see the mf take on the appearance of Billy when talking to him.

- Will in “zombie boy” comic is afraid he’s a monster.

also lets appreciate the lil byler moment of Mike and Will being the only zombies and mike comforting him. honestly , though, the characters were pretty out of character for most of this 1 ch comic (until the end) tbh.

- in the “d&d comic” mf is (possibly) described as a “protector” (aka like how i said the mf is probably a perpetrator alter- which are misguided protectors).

*update now that it’s finished... hinting Will created everything subconsciously.

‘Runaway Max’ novel (before s3)

(I didn’t get time to read this book unlike ‘suspicious minds’ -so can’t show screen shots of everything others talked about. May read it eventually)

-Max compares Billy to ‘her monster’ and a ‘shadow’ that will attack anyone that comes close (mf parallel).

- Dart k*lled a cat, El’s papa tried to force her to k*ll a cat. And Billy when seeing a d*ad cat lights it on fire for a “viking funeral”. A connection to WW (who has fire powers) and El & dart.

-Max and Billy both are into cars and bond over fixing them (similar to Lonnie’s interest in fixing up cars). And since Lonnie tried to brag to Jonathan about fixing a car up and Will is into tech it wouldn’t be a stretch that Lonnie and Will were into fixing cars together (like Max/billy who would hang out at a autoshop in Cali) . Similar to Will ,max says hanging with Billy wasn’t always so bad- which made things more confusing to her.

- Max compares Billy being beat up by Neil: to ‘punching a pocket of a baseball glove’. This is interesting since this book was pre-s3 which was when they established the connection of billy and his dad to baseball (similar to s1 saying Lonnie taught Will baseball).

-Billy’s friend is a nice ‘music snob’ . He tries distracting Max with music while Billy is burning the cat. Which reminds me of Jonathan trying to distract Will from their parents fighting in the next room-with music

- Max’s bio dad is a criminal who takes her to shady bars, and Max fears he’d ‘get bored of her’. Max also ran away from her mom to her dad’s 2x.Which reminds me of Jonathan thinking Will ran to Lonnie’s in s1.

-Max mentions how Billy misses his friends after moving out of Cali. And he starts acting even worse-after the move. Which will probably be the case for Will (at least a bit) when moving to California.

-Billy tells Max Neil isn’t his ‘real dad’ either because Neil can’t be a father to anyone.

-Billy also tells Max who (at the time ) is 12 years old not to act “easy” and breaks her best friend’s (Nate’s) arm over someone joking he was Max’s boyfriend and also cause Nate tried to get in between Billy bullying Max. Eventually all her Cali friends ditch her cause they’re afraid of Billy.And Ugh- why could I see Lonnie doing something like this in the future with Will/his new friends.

- Creepily Max says Billy doesn’t fool around with her like other girls not because of her age or being family. But cause she wasn’t ‘attractive’. This whole excerpt gave me the heeby jeebies,on so many levels, honestly. Almost like he’s jealous- and controlling her cause he doesn’t want Max to have any love interests. Maybe i’m just missing the context? But ugh... excerpt:

Will byers secret Files

-Hopper gets scared by a pumpkin-scarecrow. And in Will’s canon journal when talking about the mindflayer and his nightmares draws the same scare-crow , Hopper saw. There’s also a lot of s4-5 foreshadowing in the book... but that’s a post for another day.

Darkness on the edge of town (Hopper novel)

*didn’t get time to read this (except the preview)

I think it’s more foreshadowing for future seasons though- cult/supposed ritual k*llings, people being wrongly blamed for those crimes-like the hellfire club , most likely. (similar to the guy number 3 in the number 6 comic) saint john in the novel also has the same brain control powers as 3- similar to the mf. .” When a blackout plunges the boroughs into chaos, Hopper must escape the the mobs in the streets to make sure his family is safe and stop Saint John from fulfilling his prophecy.” I already talked about here- how the next few seasons would start having more religious symbolism/a future apocalypse (based on what we’ve seen in the show/s4 movies). Although, i think there’s quite a few differences between (the novel’s) saint john and Will the wise. Hopper is also a star wars nerd like the boys (alter hint)

Canon spotify songs (posted after s2/before s3) hinting at DID/ alter /lonnie stuff-

Will and Will the wise (aka the mf) being an alter

*Used Will and the demogorgan playlist (which i think has perspectives of Will the wise aka the mf, demogorgan, and Lonnie).

Besides the mirror songs previously mentioned...

Will (cold inside)-Doctor the problem's in my chest.My heart feels cold as ice but it's anybody's guess?Doctor can you help me cause I don't feel right?Better make it fast before I change my mind. Doctor can you help me cause I don't feel right?Better make it fast before I change my mindWell it's cold, cold, cold, cold inside. Darker in the day than the dead of night Cold, cold, cold, cold inside...Counselor give me some advice Tell me how hard will I fall if I live a double life?

El (ghost)-your ghost, the ghost of you.It keeps me awake.My friends had you figured out.Yeah they saw what's inside of you. You tried hiding another you.But your evil was coming through... living in the shade Your cold heart makes my spirit shake.

El (monster Lead me home)-I don't know what, what I was afraid of, I was afraid oooof...Monster take me somewhere...We walk in shadow.Monster lead me home.Where there is no place to hide.Stranger on the other side We walk in shadow.Monster lead me home.

The’ innerworld’/ other hints Max, El, Hopper, and Billy are alters of Will’s

Max (Logical song)-I know it sounds absurd. Please tell me who I am, who I am, who I am, who I am?

EL(Buzzcut season)-I remember when your head caught flame It kissed your scalp and caressed your brain ...nothing's wrong when nothing's true. I live in a hologram with you Where all the things that we do for fun . Play along (make-believe it's hyper real) But I live in a hologram with you.

Billy (broken bones)-Broken bones.Stay alone. If I see only what I believe -reality's bound by what I conceive

Max (Why can’t i touch it)-Well, it seems so real.I can see it.And it seems so real-I can feel it.And it seems so real-I can taste it.And it seems so real-I can hear it.So why can't I touch it?

Hopper (breakers)-Just to keep me from losing my mind .It's so easy to drown in the dream.Oh, and everything is not what it seems This life is but a dream.Shatter illusions that hold your spirit down ...From the inside, so it seems.Oh, I'm telling you it's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a dream It's all a It's all a dream.”

Max (comfortably numb)-When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye.I turned to look but it was gone.I cannot put my finger on it now.The child is grown.The dream is gone.I have become comfortably numb.

Max (Kids aren’t alright)-Still it's hard Hard to see Fragile lives, shattered dreams...What the hell is going on? The cruelest dream, reality.

El(team)-Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams. And you know we're on each other's team

Hopper (denial twist) ( just change ‘she’ to ‘he’)-Just because she makes you feel wrong she don't mean to be mean or hurt you on purpose, boy!Take a tip and do yourself a little service...by playing a different role Ya, by playing a different role, oh.The boat ya you know she's rockin' it.And the truth well ya know there's no stoppin' it.So what, somebody left you in a rut and wants to be the one who's in control.But the feeling that you're under can really make you wonder.How the hell she can be so cold?So now you're mad, denying the truth.And it's getting in the wisdom in the back of your tooth

El (the story)-You see the smile that's on my mouth.It's hiding the words that don't come out.And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed.They don't know my head is a mess.No they don't know who I really am.And they don't know what I've been through

El (hero) ( pretty much alludes to El being a construct of Will’s mind similar to his juju zombies in the d&d story he wrote )-Who knows what you'll find when you look inside (billy’s mind)?Haunted beach (billy flashback), roll the dice.The zombies in the corner aren't amused (d&d ref).Play the part of the blushing bride...Out of view, cloaked by night...My spirit dims, but I feel the force"No longer in my hands," (loses powers) .I say to you .I could've been a hero, I could've been a zero.Could've been all these thingsI could've been nothing, I could've had something.Could've been all these things.And if I am unable, tell him that I'll try but underneath the table will spin the wheel and hope for gold. Oh, and where it stops, nobody knows.

Max (it’s real)-I don't know who's behind the wheel.Sometimes I feel like I don't know The deal.But when I tell you how I feel-Believe me when I say It's real.I skated on a frozen Sea.It's real as far as I Can see?

Max (Halloween)-Because your role is planned for you there's nothing you can do.

El (White rabbit... alice and wonderland/lonnie ref)-And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall...When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.

demogrogan(Dimensions of horror)-Gaze upon the ancient face you dread (lonnie)... Passing through the doors, into Dimensions Of Horror. Haunting visions from the past, rise once more.Realms of darkness, terror, death and gore.Scream in fear, your sanity is lost

demogorgan (SCHORCHED)-Terrorizing madness. Vivid dreams. internal. Hallucinating the unknown. Abstract entities prey.Through superhuman abilities.Fragments of memory erased.

demogrogan (Calling from a dream)-the shadow king...seven spirits (7 ref) Swarming around his head.Close your eyes.Listen to my call. Our bond will bring us together again.I will wait for you. For our hearts still beat as one.Listen to my calling from a dream. (integration?)

Maybe a coincidence or a hint at Will having both male &female alters?Billy (dude looks like a lady)- What a funky lady...Oh, he was a lady.Dude looks like a lady. Hopper (turn the page)-All the same old cliches,"Is that a woman or a man?" Max ( rebel rebel) (this was on her her pre s3 spotify list + post s3 “wrapped list”)- you got your mother in a whirl, doesn’t know if you’re a boy or girl?

SHIT DAD/ AB*SIVE FAMILY

*trigger w*rning ahead for dark themes like s**ual ab*se

demogorgan (my children)My children I never loved them.Why feel that way when their existence is my business?My children...feral vessals of my selfinterest...So don't lean on me man 'Cause I ain't got nothing to give.Don't lean on me man 'Cause I ain't got nothing to give.My children they're right behind you My children they're gonna beat you.My children if you let them Oh, oh, my children.

demogorgan (black dahlia-window): I’m not quoting the lyrics you can just look it up. it’s messed up.Based on the 1st person pov of Gilles de Rais -k**ler and p*d*rest who also kidnapped a cleric.

Will (creature comfort)-Some boys hate themselves.Spend their lives resenting their fathers... hate their bodies .Stand in the mirror (another mirror ref) and wait for the feedback.Some boys get too much, too much love, too much touch.

Jonathan’s Playlist- We’re happy family: “Eating refried beans (poverty). Gulpin’ down Thorazines (pills for a mood disorder). We ain’t got no friends (s2 ref). Our troubles never end. Daddy likes men. Daddy’s telling LIES.”

Jonathan’s playlist-Enter sandman: “Don’t forget my son. Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight, Exit light, Enter night. Take my hand, we’re off to never-never land. Something’s wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight. Dreams of LIARS and of things that will bite, yeah. Hush little baby don’t say a word, and never mind that noise you heard. It’s just the beasts under your bed, in your closet in your head.”

Jonathan (The killing moon-guy sings this)-So soon you'll take me up in your arms. Too late to beg you or cancel it. Against your will!He will wait until you give yourself to him...In starlit nights I saw you.So cruelly you kissed me... unwillingly mine.

jonathan (haunted)-You and I both know that the house is haunted And you and I both know that the ghost is me. You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains.Well back then , it didn't seem so strange...In the midnight hour..I was busy trying to charm that snake. When the sun came up we had no place to hide...You and I both know that the house is haunted yeah you and I both know that the ghost is YOU! You used to walk around screaming, all slamming all 'dem doors Well I'm all grown up now and I don't scare easy no more But you and I both know.

Hopper (Confession)-Now I'm on the low Confession, to a virgin ghost Admission, force you know.

hopper (Tomorrow ) Yeah, and back when s*x and amph*tamines were the staples of our childhood physique.

Max (Last caress)-I got something to say.I k**led your baby today.And it doesn't matter much to me.As long as it's de*d.Well I got something to say.I r*ped your mother today.And it doesn't matter much to me.As long as she spread. (Lonnie pov? Neil?messed up song to be on Max’s list)

hopper House of the rising sun- And my father was a gamblin' man Way down in New Orleans... And the only time he's satisfied Is when he's on a drunk

Max Poor relations-An attitude, no patience, he's paper thin.Talking over everything you have to say...Don't correct the things he said, what's the use?Can't handle violence.Can't handle violence.Learning to love the abuse you can't live without.Your familiar oppression, your daily injustice...That loser man that belongs to you, he's ruling you.

el (sweet dreams are made of this)- Some of them want to use you ...Some of them want to ab*se you.Sweet dreams are made of this...Hold your head up.Keep your head up, movin' on.

Max (Alternative ulster)-They say they're a part of you.And that's not true, you know.They say they've got control of you.And that's a lie, you know.They say you will never Be free, free, free

max In bloom-”Sometimes at night I let it get to me.And last night it had me down and feeling NUMB...And thinking back upon those days Way way back when I was young.I was such a little shit.Cos I was always on the run.Well you know just what they say-Just like father then like son.Don't delude me with your sympathy.Cos I can do this on my own.And this will be the last time-That I break down and wanna crawl to bed. “(since Billy has a playlist I found this song choice being on hers instead of his interesting- in fact almost all of Max’s songs are from the 1st person perspective of a boy unlike the other gals.)

Max (comfortably numb)-The child is grown.The dream is gone.I have become comfortably NUMB.

hopper (numb)-Honey, here I go again Down that crooked road of sin.My momma locked me out again And hung me high to rust under the rain I am NUMB( 8x)....Little bluebird at my window Sing a pretty song for me Don't you know that you can fly, fly, fly away Don't you know that you can leave I am numb.

other psych songs

Hopper (life of sin)-Every morning when I rise I look in the mirror (another mirror ref) and despise the sight of everything and all that I've become. The level of my medicating some might find intimidating But that's alright cause' it don't bother me none.

Max (Moon over marin)- “Dive in my scalding wooden tub (connects to mf/el)...There, wasn't that a nice visit?Don't forget, a psychiatrist is on duty twenty-four hours a day in the blue room...Drink plenty of water when you take these.Now you can relax.” ( I wonder if stranger writers saying to “drink plenty of water” is secretly a line said by a psych person in s4?)

Max (Feeling ok)-My doctor says that I should take it -At least I won't have to keep faking.I know, someday I'll find it-Where I, I least expect it.Today I know I feel ok.

Max ( Going gets tough)-.No home since the fire.Me and the ash can't settle down...So I sink another round-Placebo for pain.And there's no one for to blame . I refuse to accept-That my work is all in vain...Still always remembering .When the going gets tough .That the labor of our love-Will reward us soon enough.

Max (Comfortably numb)-Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)Is there anybody in there?Just nod if you can hear me.Is there anyone home?Come on now-I hear you're feeling down.Well I can ease your pain .Get you on your feet again.Relax // Now I've got that feeling once again.I can't explain . you would not understand.This is not how I am. I have become comfortably numb.I have become comfortably numb //Okay (okay, okay, okay)Just a little pinprick.There'll be no more, ah .But you may feel a little sick.Can you stand up?I do believe it's working, good.That'll keep you going through the show.Come on it's time to go// Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.

Explanations of Why the mf (WIll the wise)behaves the way he does

demogorgan (ww) (Cowards starved)- friends think of me as a priest.I had to show them that the weakest hands Can still make impressive fires. (aka MF = will the wise)

demogorgan (ww) (Unmerciful):I will be reborn...Tranquil demeanor.Now devoured.Surfacing malice...I can't reconcile the torment others bring unto me.I will not take any reproach.Turning the other cheek.Relentless hatred consumes.Control released.Absolved of all compassion.I am free .Look into my hate filled eyes and tell me What do you see?Surging aura of my rage Paralyzing you in fear.

Demogorgan (ww) (bodies-Beaten why for (why for)?Can't take much more.(Here we go, here we go, here we go).One, nothing wrong with me,Two, nothing wrong with me.Three, nothing wrong with me.Four, nothing wrong with me.One, something's got to give.Two, something's got to give.Three, something's got to give now...You're all by yourself but you're not alone...Driven by hate consumed by fear.

demogrgan (ww)-Orbs used as transmitters carry electromagnetic beams from above (affecting magnetic fields in the show).Silence, manipulated, tortured ...How immune is your system of suffering?Its in the blood of suffering (familial ref).Its in the blood.

Demogrgan (Monster)-I shoot the lights out..Whoa, just another lonely night...None of who you get it, ain't nobody cold as this.A zombie (will ref) with no conscience .Everybody knows I'm a motherfucking monster. Everybody wanna know what my Achilles' heel is? Love I don't get enough of it.

#stranger things #will byers #stranger things comics #did theory

84 notes · View notes

jeannereames · 3 years

Text

Writing Advice, Part the Fifth

I’ve had several questions about aspects of writing, some directly related to historicals, some more general about writing women. So this is the fifth of a series of posts that address these questions. Because they spanned three different anonymous asks, some with several queries, I’ll address them without necessarily quoting the asks, at least in full.

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Accuracy of Character Worldview (without pissing off readers)

In my second post on Writing Advice, I outlined 3 essential elements to good historical fiction when it came to world-building:

1) Understanding how people in that world thought about life, the universe, and everything.

2) Getting people, events, countries, and cultures right, barring deliberate change for narrative purposes.

3) The Niggling Details

I’m finally getting to point #1, and wish to combine it with another ask:

How can we properly write characters in historical fiction while keeping their actions and way of thinking accurate, but also keeping them likable? For example, I have a problem with authors trying to make their characters too "woke" to the point it's unrealistic to the time period they live in, unless it's well written or actually serves the plot, but I know that when I write I don't want my readers to hate my characters (or me, for that matter) for being sexist even though it would be the most expected thing for someone living in that time period.

This is one of the trickier parts of writing historical fiction. There are a couple possible ways to handle it.

But first, the author must recognize that one reader’s “too much” is another’s “not enough.” 😉 Some of this goes back to what I’ve discussed in other posts, especially Part II, regarding genre expectations. Traditional, mainstream historicals allow/expect a lot more historical detail than some genre historicals.

Returning to handling unpalatable historical attitudes, there are three (3) basic approaches:

First, you can minimize or ignore whatever is the offending opinion. This is kinda cheating, but it is an option, so I mention it. If you don’t want to deal with a protagonist tolerant of slavery, don’t give them a lot of slaves (or any slaves). Or don’t put women in your novel is you want to avoid sexist attitudes about women.

More honest, I think, is to find a way to acknowledge unpopular attitudes internally to the story via characters. There are two primary ways to do that.

One, introduce an outsider who has different views. This is probably the most common tool used by historical fiction authors. It not only allows the author to deal with unpleasant attitudes but can also be used to explain other unfamiliar aspects of the society. I’m using this approach in my current series where the two main characters come from very different cultures.

Two, somewhat trickier but what I tried in Dancing with the Lion, assign to an (historical) character an atypical perspective, and provide a reason for them to hold it. After all, attitudes change in societies because they’re challenged from within. So, it’s completely reasonable to imagine a character a bit “ahead of their time” as long as they have a reason to be, something established within the world of the novel.

For instance, in DwtL, I have Alexandros express more progressive ideas about the capabilities of women as a direct result of his mother’s (and sisters’) influence. I also have female characters who themselves challenge the roles society gives to them, including Myrtalē and Kleopatra, but even tertiary characters like Kynannē, who has fought in battle.

By contrast, at least at first, Hephaistion is rather conventional about women, adopting standard misogynistic ideas—yet he holds more progressive views of war and violence, questioning their glorification.

Thus, one can spread out among various characters views that appeal more to a modern audience without making someone act completely out-of-character for their time period.

Aside from those general approaches, NARRATIVE FRAMING affects how readers will receive antiquated and offensive attitudes in your characters.

First is the WHO. If the person expressing the antiquated view is a villain or even an antagonist, the author need worry less. Or one may decide to confront negative attitudes head-on. For instance, a slave would have much to say about slavery quite different from a slave-owner. Or one can use a character’s developmental arc to lead them to question previously held beliefs (sort of what happens to Hephaistion on several fronts in Dancing with the Lion).

What if you, the author, need to handle such views in your protagonist(s) whose likability you want to maintain, but who can hardly announce an emancipation proclamation two thousand years early? Proto-racist and ethnocentric views in a novel about ancient Greece or Rome will surprise no reader. But here, again, we as authors must remember we’re writing historical fiction, not history, and be a bit judicious in the language we choose, in both narrative and dialogue. There’s a big difference between translating or otherwise reproducing historical documents versus how we describe things in our own writing, especially fictional. Even in dialogue, it’s important to consider the audience one is writing for.

In short: Do we want to tacitly promote attitudes that may be historical but ugly, by having the characters we want readers to identify with voice those attitudes without check?

My personal answer is “No.”

This brings us back to (internal) narrative framing. So for instance, if writing a novel set in 1850 and the cowboy protagonist uses the N-word without thinking, have another character (perhaps the local preacher) respond with something like, “I thought you were a good Christian man, Joshua. Why employ such an unkind word?” Because even in the 1800s, the N-word was derogatory (whereas negro was not). Or, as in Dancing with the Lion, when Alexandros occasionally says something thoughtless about women’s experiences, the women in his life (Myrtalē, Kleopatra, or later Kampaspē) pull him up short.

Ergo, your protag has expressed an historically appropriate attitude and been called on it, within the narrative, by a character who might be expected to do so. That gives the reader a “voice” in the story. For characters the author wants the reader to like/identify with, one can have those characters learn from their mistakes, and/or express more sympathetic ideas on other occasions. So Alexandros may say stupid shit about women occasionally because he’s a Macedonian male, but then he, in turn, shows himself to be more sympathetic in scenes such as Myrtalē’s trip to look in on the injured Hephaistion. There, Hephaistion’s uncle (and even his father) are rude to Myrtalē/Olympias, but Alexandros respects her medical knowledge as equal to the (male) physician Philippos of Arkania. Thus, while Alexandros can be misogynistic at times, when compared to other men, he’s miles ahead.

That’s narrative framing.

Finally: TIMING matters as part of that framing. For characters the author wants the reader to like, withhold evidence of unappealing attitudes until you’ve established that character as a likeable person in smaller ways.

So as mentioned, Hephaistion begins the novel with fairly conventional views of women. It’s not really until tutoring Kleopatra and befriending Kampaspe that those views begin to change. But I also don’t show him expressing those conventional views until after I’ve used events to SHOW (not tell) that his fundamental nature is kind: noticing and caring how Alexandros is treated, his special concern for his horse Brephas who he hand-raised from birth, etc. Once Hephaistion has been established as a “nice person,” the reader is far more likely to excuse era-appropriate views expressed by him—especially as part of his character development arc.

Again, narrative framing is a super important tool in presenting offensive or out-of-date attitudes. Who says it, when that person says it, and how the narrative is arranged around it (e.g., framed) all contribute to how the reader perceives those views, and (in turn) the person who expresses them.

#writing advice #writing life #historical fiction #worldviews #responsible historical fiction #fiction writing #asks #writing advice part the fifth

6 notes · View notes

piratemadi · 3 years

Note

please make your critical post of supernatural those are literally the only posts about supernatural i care about, especially since i side eye the heck out of the many people who give supernatural a pass because they ship two boring white dudes (dean and castiel) PLEASE

omg ok nobody make fun of me for posting an earnest criticism of this show i enjoy critical analysis and being a hater

i think most of why this show sucks has already been covered pretty thoroughly but these r the main things abt it that piss ME off.

the racism runs so SO deep. supernatural is supposed to be an exploration of americana thru horror (and i’ll give them that. like the idea of deconstructing america and all its fallacies thru horror is genius and in competent hands it would be absolutely incredible. but anyway) but it only really scrapes the surface of what is inherently horrific about americana! something like that is supposed to be an INTERROGATION of monstrosity and how america (and western society more broadly) creates monsters out of human beings and how white christian morals are established as the ONLY acceptable morals and how anyone who falls outside of those norms (non christian, non white, lgbt, people with substance use disorders, prisoners, the poor, indigenous people/cultures etc) are monsterized, so to speak, because of an oppressive and unloving colonial society. like u cannot have a horror narrative abt monsters attacking family values and white suburban life without invoking some very old and racist conventions! but instead of subverting that supernatural just reinforces it! it consistently fails to make any kind of real statement because the most demonized parts of society are the people who are also treated the WORST in canon! native american beliefs are stolen and turned into stupid bogeymen without the show ever featuring a native character or seriously grappling with the inherent violence of america as a colonial state, black men are consistently portrayed as angry and evil while black women are treated like shit (dean’s happy ending at the end of s5 is with a white woman he fucked one time instead of with the black woman who he was in love with??), impoverished people are mostly ignored and when they’re not theyre monsters (theres one episode centered around a poor rural family that commits murder and cannibalism. no supernatural stuff or monsters. just poor people. thats the scare).

theres this consistent fixation on preserving american suburbia, on saving “normal” (read: white middle class) people and it sets up this dynamic of like. the “real world” is the white middle class and then there’s hunters including our mains who defend that “real world” against monsters and demons, which is just Everything Else. and the writers PRETEND to struggle w the question of monsters and what makes one but they just toss it around without ever actually committing to answering that question with compassion or narrative coherency. they have multiple episodes about characters who were raised human, who want to be human, but have to be killed because of an inherent evil nature. there’s a plot in the early seasons about how one of the main characters has demonic powers, and instead of saying that doesnt make him inherently bad and he’s allowed to fully access all parts of himself without being fundamentally evil, they consistently frame intrinsically neutral traits as inherently evil specifically because they go against a christian ideal of morality! and eventually he learns to suppress these powers and that’s that!

and then it establishes christianity as the guiding principle of america, not in a way of like “american culture and history is deeply steeped in white supremacist protestantism that has led to incredibly fucked up views on god and love and morality and thats what we have to deal with as people who live here”, but in a way of like “the christian god is real and he’s a white guy who fucking hates you.” which like. Ok. they bastardize and trivialize any religions that arent christian while building the entire series on christianity. Ok. like i guess its possible to write stories about white christianity without implying that every other religion is full of shit but supernatural did not do that on any level

its also just. really poorly written. i genuinely loved the first season i thought it was really well paced and that the characters were introduced really well like the first season is a GOOD horror story in terms of family as horror and the inherent terror of americana. but the pacing and the character development started tripping up in s2. by s3 they started raising the stakes Exponentially which honestly is such a kiss of death for good fiction like every season mounting a bigger badder antagonist than the last one is the surest way to kill a story bc it means the earlier entries in that story become basically meaningless in the face of the new bad guy. u dont need to raise the stakes to write a good story! a well written story abt the horror and drama of a close knit and unhealthy family caught up in something they don’t really understand isn’t Less emotionally resonant than, like, having to stop the world from ending, because at the end of the day its Fiction and none of it matters beyond what u can make the audience really Feel. im not gonna feel sorrow if 7 billion fake little people die. i didnt cry when the death star blew up whatever planet it blew up. what DOES make me feel sorrow is a few truly well written characters whose relationships are complicated and tragic and whose motivations i can understand and whose inner lives i can imagine. raising the stakes destroys a good story and thats exactly what happened to supernatural (not that the racism and misogyny and american protestant moralizing wasn’t killing it already)

also, the misogyny makes the female characters basically impossible to watch. like not a single person on that show is a good actor (except sterling k brown love u king u were the best actor that show ever saw) but they didnt even give any of the women anything to work with. its literally so cringey to watch any woman onscreen except maybe like. bela talbot and she was treated like utter shit.

god. you know that expression dont fall in love with potential? i dont do that w people i do it w fiction. i came off black sails and the untamed and frankenstein and i watched the first couple seasons of supernatural with my friend and it was like...there was so much room for it to SAY something about monsters and how society creates them thru violence and how deeply horrific american protestantism is. like theres so many questions and concepts that it brought up that it never actually SAID something about. shithole of wasted potential. and yeah dean and castiel is stupid there i said it

#again i KNOWW everybody knows it sucks and doesnt care #im a hater!#asks

32 notes · View notes

psychpunk45 · 6 years

Text

So I wanna talk about why I have a problem with people absolutely HATING Jaune’s character.

Typically, the reasons I see are things like “they make him more important than he should be” or “he’s too much like the usual male anime protagonist.” I wanna talk about why both of these arguments are incredibly misguided.

To address the first one: obviously, he shouldn’t be more important than any of team RWBY. But the show has never treated him like he is. However, when you look outside of team RWBY, it was established from Volume 1 that Jaune would be the most significant male character in the show, if not the most significant character outside of team RWBY.

How do we know this? Well, who would be considered the protagonist of the show? I think we all can agree that it’s Ruby Rose, with the rest of team RWBY close behind her. But this is clearly Ruby’s story, first and foremost. So when Ruby goes to Beacon, how are we introduced to everyone else? Well, Yang is on the ship with her and we learn that she’s her sister, but she ditches her as soon as she finds her other friends. Weiss chastises Ruby for accidentally knocking over (and wasting) her dust and insults her. Blake then somewhat takes up for Ruby, but abruptly walks away and doesn’t try to make friends. (Note: I’m not trying to say that ANY of these girls are bad people, at all, but this is exactly what happens right at the beginning.) Right after this first indcident, who is the first person to attempt to make friends with Ruby? It’s Jaune. Sure, he’s Vomit Boy and he has a LOT of issues with masculinity (which I’ll get to), but this moment establishes Jaune’s role in the series right from the get-go: he and Ruby are two somewhat goofy, somewhat misfit kids who others don’t get, kids who make mistakes but are ultimately well-meaning. Their other moment in Volume 1 of Ruby encouraging him as a leader and Jaune’s story arc in Volume 1 also establish him as an important character. This was part of Monty’s vision.

Side note: going off this, it’s a pet peeve of mine when people say Pyrrha died solely to advance Jaune’s plot. Believe me, she was my favorite and I was very upset when she died. And I HATE when women do nothing but serve male protagonists. But 1) this very clearly affected Ruby, Nora, Ren and the others as well and 2) this was well within believability for her character because of who she’s based on and who they established that she was. She was too good for Remnant. She was too self-sacrificing. While this changed a lot for Jaune, it affected everyone else the rest of the world around her as well. If you didn’t like what Jaune meant to her and everything leading up to her death, well, then I’m surprised you didn’t hate the show during Volume 3 and I’m surprised that you’re still watching. Some shows aren’t for everyone.

Going off the second argument (“he’s a typical anime protagonist”), the thing about RWBY is that it subverts a lot of tropes. We have ideas of who Jaune, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are in Volume 1, but even within this first volume, we learn that they are so much more than just a trope. RWBY as a show loves to make a character seem like they embody a stereotype and then flip it on its head. They’ve done this with all four of these characters as well as others. With Jaune specifically, we see them address the effects of expectations of manhood directly. He feels as though he must carry on his family name. He feels as though he needs a woman’s romantic attention and glory to be worth anything. He feels as though he can’t address the direct bullying he’s dealing with in a healthy manner because he needs to “be a man” and deal with it himself. Within Volume 1, we see him overcome this: remember how he straight-up said to Pyrrha that he had “all this macho stuff in his head”? Yeah, the show directly addresses this as a toxic masculinity issue. And he learns from his mistakes and becomes better for it. He learns to trust his teammates and learns to ask for help, which shows his growth right from the beginning.

But the thing is, Jaune doesn’t even act like a typical anime protagonist. Sure, he has some typical masculine traits at the beginning. But he very quickly becomes the “strategist,” the one who hangs back, the one who comes up with ideas but doesn’t physically execute them. This is NOT how a typical anime protagonist acts. Do you think for one second that Naruto or Eren Yaeger would accept being “the strategist” and waiting in the background while others did their fighting for them? Absolutely not. They would lose their tempers, feel as though they needed to take on the fighting themselves. This shows how expectations of masculinity still affect them, but Jaune has decided not to let all this get to him. He has decided to find a role more suitable for him and try to be the best he can be at the role.

You know who acts more like an anime protagonist? Ruby Rose. Because that’s who she is. She heads right into danger without a second thought and kicks ass (this is not a put-down or criticism, this is just who she is). Jaune does not. In fact, Jaune discourages rushing into danger with Pyrrha. Jaune is not the bravest character and that’s okay.

Ironically, another issue with trying to put Jaune into this mold of being “a typical male anime protagonist” is that it ignores where he comes from. Jaune is based on Joan of Arc. The main male characters (other than Sun) are both based on women, as Ren is based on Mulan. They both embody more “feminine” traits as well: Ren cooks and is typically quiet and passive while Jaune doesn’t go straight to the front lines in battle and has no problem wearing a dress in order to fulfill a promise (even though everyone laughs at him for this). In fact, someone could probably argue that Jaune and Ren have more “feminine” traits than the women on the show, especially when compared to Ruby, Yang, and Nora, who are all loud, tough, and heavy hitters in battle. This show subverts a lot of tropes, but by ignoring this issue, another problem arises: we are still valuing masculine traits more than feminine ones. We praise Ruby, Yang, and Nora for being the way that they are, and I personally love them for who they are. But by hating on Jaune and by basically ignoring that Ren exists (which is a whole other can of worms that I’m not opening right now), even though they are men and the others are women, we are acting as though masculine traits still have more value. We are de-valuing them and who they are based on.

(WARNING: from this point, I’m going to address the newest RWBY episode, 5.11, so don’t read this if you don’t want it spoiled.)

So why am I bringing this up now? Why is this relevant to recent events? As I imagine some of you have already thought, Jaune does lose his temper in the latest episode. He does jump headfirst into danger without considering the consequences. But this is out of character for him. He has finally reached his breaking point after losing the woman he loves, the person who believed in him when nobody else would, who helped him grow and become a better person. The person who meant the most in the world to him. It is understandable that he reacts the way he does. While I still don’t believe Pyrrha’s death was just for Jaune, it certainly affected him at least slightly more than everyone else, and we are reminded of that again here.

I terms of saving Weiss, I have no idea if he will or not. I have no idea where they’re taking his character romantically (although I would be surprised if they set him up with Weiss or Ruby at this point). But this episode was building up to something with him. Not to mention that this show is FULL of women saving men, each other, and themselves. Is it really the end of the world if a man saves a woman one time, especially in a universe that empowers women much more than a lot of other action shows? Do we want Jaune to be a useless character forever? He has to do something. He has to become something. He’s not a static character and never has been. He is a main focus in the show, more so than Ren and Nora have been established to be, more so than Qrow or Ozpin or Sun. And focusing on him isn’t sexist at all. Making him grow as a character isn’t sexist at all. Allowing him to prove himself isn’t sexist at all. He has been the weakest member of the team for this entire show, and he clearly has to become stronger if he wants to survive. And let’s not forget the woman he’s based on. Let’s not forget what he comes from and how he’s grown so far and appreciate what he becomes from here.

Disclaimer: before people come for me, I consider myself a feminist and Jaune has never been my favorite (my fave was Pyrrha and now it’s probably between Yang, Weiss and Nora). I don’t think that he deserves more importance than any of team RWBY. But I think to say that the show is “making him more important than he really is” ignores how they’ve always treated him and how important they established him to be from the beginning. If you want him to die (which, again, based on his character inspiration, I wouldn’t be shocked if he does eventually) or want him to not exist at all as a character, read or write fan fiction without him in it. But he’s been a significant part of the show and I really don’t think is deserving of the hate he’s gotten from many parts of the FNDM. He doesn’t have to be your favorite, but he certainly deserves the space they’ve given him in the show thus far. He’s been an important friend for Ruby and has become a good role model for young boys trying to navigate the world, especially in terms of bullying and expectations of manhood.

#rwby #jaune arc #rwby analysis

264 notes · View notes

themonolithicmystique · 6 years

Text

Jessica Jones, Guardians, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and just all sorts of growth

This is probably the one where we really got off the handle, so just keep that in mind.

macrocondy3point0 After many trials and tribulations they finally arrive at the border And are greeted by Shuri 's toe

twitchystitch jessica looks up and up, and up some more "...Okay. It's a REALLY convincing illusion." shuri pokes them with her toe "With really good animatronics and shit."

macrocondy3point0 We haven't really established much about Shuri here have we? Other than she's really big and hangs out with Mantis (I think I should mention from the movie, Shuri is also meme trash) https://youtu.be/HTqNOGeGNeU https://youtu.be/Pe0qZQTDeHw

twitchystitch SHE IS A MEMING FIEND im assumign that shuri saw them coming from a distance and just had to be the first to greet them

macrocondy3point0 How did they not notice her?

twitchystitch she somehow overhard their talks on the phone with friends and

twitchystitch she couldn't resist the urge to greet them my guess is that they wren't paying attentio nwhere they should, she craated some kind of camoflauge cloak solely for this ocassion and jessica really is not expecting the giants to be Real

macrocondy3point0 How's patsy react?

twitchystitch jessica is stubbornly refusing to acknwoeldge obvious patsy is like "SHE'S EVEN PRETTIER THAN I THOUGHT SHE WOULD BE" about to swoon heart eyes ad sclaped hands *clasped

macrocondy3point0 And of course, where there's unrestrained excitement There's Mantis

twitchystitch OOOOH I HADNT EVEN THOUGHT OF HER see after ifrst both of them think something is a bit odd about the sky it's a lovely but unusual shade and then it starts MOVING THAT IS NOT THE SKY THAT ISS A REALLY GIANT LADY

macrocondy3point0 Her hand rushin down to scoop them both up

twitchystitch jessica makes a small startled noise, her skepticism is desperately trying to hold on

twitchystitch patsy is holding onto the nearest bit of finger for dear life they are brought up to m assive face dominated by huge lips which smooch 'em

macrocondy3point0 Shuri was impressive enough, but Someone as curvy as Mantis

twitchystitch "HI NEW FRINEDS!!!"

macrocondy3point0 What sort of thoughts do you think Mantis has about them at first?

twitchystitch "SO SMALL AND SO CUTE!" she instantly picks up on jessica's cynicism and skeptical nature and this makes her sad but it also makes her obligated to get her to be Happy (also consider that promximity to them makes Jessica increasingly strong, that she can do things like make Mantis move

twitchystitch only a tiny bit but still she is now extremely strong

macrocondy3point0 Once the shock wears off, she's gonna HATE it How do you think she first notices?

twitchystitch like first sign is that she pushes on mantis' finger and the finger moves this finger is as long as a continent, possibly jessica notices that as odd but so big that she cant process it but then some other time shel eans on mantis' foot mantis is slightly psuhed aside SHE CANT IGNORE THAT

macrocondy3point0 and that's only after a few minutes exposure An idea It's not just that she's gotten stronger, but that the vast majority of actions take ludicrously few calories to achieve So if doing something like pushing aside Mantis' finger barely burns, say, 10 Most average, everyday activities don't burn any at all

twitchystitch ooooh this sounds really interesting she might be fueled by calorie consumption now but it takes very ltitle to do ANYTHING, as you say so she starts building up a LOT of fat VERY fast

macrocondy3point0 Which in turn means that she holds onto calories REALLY easily

twitchystitch since almsot nothing can burn off an appreciable amount

macrocondy3point0 And since they're in Wakanda and being given food meant for Wakandan women

twitchystitch who are of course huge and strong its far more than she can easily process? LOTS OF WEIGHT

macrocondy3point0 How much do you think she packs on over their first night?

twitchystitch around, say, 50 pounds extra at this point she's cautious about what she eats

macrocondy3point0 (Also) (I bought this WG pack with Jessica and Patsy once, and)

Husky fat Jessica is a major cute

twitchystitch YES i was thinking the same thing?? i have a new favorite thing: Jessica being LArge and happy

Even the first one here is very good

twitchystitch THESE ARE REALLY GOOD TRANSITIONAL PICS chubby jessica is ludicrous degrees of Cute

twitchystitch (now i wonder if anyone has done JEssica devouring Kilgrave; I've a fondness for retributive vore) OMGOSH SHE IS ADORABLE THERE???? why is husky jessica so endearing

twitchystitch in the new turning of the marvel Earth, this is a standard look for models now reporters gotta be CHUB to make an impression

twitchystitch jessica becomign the calmer, more patient one is appealing imagine that as they get ultra husky Jessica becomes a lot more laid back and calmer

twitchystitch while patsy is increasingly less patient and has no more impulse control jessica IS her impulse control

twitchystitch jessica is totally capable of draining inentire kegs with ease now jessica is strong enough to jump to the moon and back with no calorie expenditure she just likes sitting around and not having to do anything

macrocondy3point0 I love it when characters get so big that they don't even need underwear for modesty's sake

twitchystitch SAME after you get to a certain point

twitchystitch underwear is impractical and too confining (your own body mass is your modesty somehow it makes sense to them

macrocondy3point0 Consider Jessica being remarkably cool for her weight Like, she barely produces much body heat So she's very chill to the touch

twitchystitch oooh i like this a lot its a good contrast to the ultra warm giants one time danny made a drink cold by hiding it in her fat folds for a while

macrocondy3point0 Imagine Jessica and Patsy meeting Okoye and Peter

twitchystitch (i have no diea what the defender dynamic is but im forced to assume they now all live together and its like a goofy sitcom) A GREAT DUO MEET UP jessica is stunned at them not just because of the size but because peter is blasting music real loud "HOW DID YOU EVEN GET A MUSIC THING THT BIG" she pauses "WHY IS IT ALL OLD SCHOOL MUSIC"

macrocondy3point0 Honestly, we don't address it much

macrocondy3point0 but those two must look INCREDIBLY lewd to outsiders

twitchystitch two gigantic immensely curvaceous women all dressed in the nude in the LEWD to say nothing of how touchy feely they are weith each other (a fun idea for mixing it up with these concepts; introduce someone who has nothing to do with the situation and how they freak out over the Lewdness) im forced to assume that these two are basically draped over one another

macrocondy3point0 One perfectly smooth, the other exceptionaly hairy Both sweating profusely

twitchystitch perfectly contrasting one another, in polar opposite ways

twitchystitch jessica takes a picture okoye notices the noice and picks them up "And who are you, spying on us?"

macrocondy3point0 the two of them get instantly soaked Is Okoye actually mad at being spied on, or is she teasing?

twitchystitch teasing she only gets mad when it's serious she would be mad at, say, loki showing up to Ruin everything (if you ever need someone to show up and cause trouble for Plot fun, loki is always there to do just that) she's just teasing these tiny new yorkers

macrocondy3point0 Not that she lets on, of course

twitchystitch she enjoys teasing and scaring regular human sized people in the sense of HEIGHT, of course (they're hardly human sized in girth) she gently squeezes them, smirking and combined with her sweat, it makes them all woozy in a pleasant way

macrocondy3point0 How long do you think it takes the two of them to pass the ton mark?

twitchystitch a couple of weeks, as while they retain almost all calories it takes them some time to start getting bigger appetites oens suitable to their station

macrocondy3point0 that's a good cat post

twitchystitch a thing non-cat owners never seem to be told about is how DANG WEIRD cats are at this moment my cat is sitting next to me, guarding my soda SHE IS A STEELY EYED SENTINEL, WHO ONLY OCASIONALLY FLEES FROM HER OWN SHADOW AND SMALL BUGS

macrocondy3point0 I love this AU we've created

twitchystitch it's so nice and full of Goodness got any ideas for an official name for it??

macrocondy3point0 Not really, unfortunately

twitchystitch ah well; if you tihnk of anything, i'm open to ideas~

macrocondy3point0 I'd imagine it takes a while for the two of them to really put on weight Or at least Jessica

macrocondy3point0 i'm thinking Mantis only really makes her stronger and calorie retentive Patsy burns calories at a normal rate, but Wakandan food tastes good

twitchystitch YES its a combination of mantis' feelings on her and jessica's powers making her retain callories patsy is more or less a normal human, minus the alterations but wakandan food is so filling and so good

macrocondy3point0 Jessica might not want to bloat up too fast

twitchystitch (plot twist, one of theire original reasons for closing borders was because they noticed that their food kept making outlanders super chub)

macrocondy3point0 Jessica is straining her clothes, and can go a long time without food So she eats sparsely

twitchystitch every time she does, she gains a notable amount of weight every meal her seams start straining

macrocondy3point0 She doesn't MIND the weight gain, thanks to Mantis' influence But she doesn't really want to burst her clothes

twitchystitch "I like these clothes. They're iconic and shit!" she's trying to moderate her weight gain and she's doing pretty well considering that

macrocondy3point0 (Her rear is always prominently outlined)

twitchystitch well, proximity to mantis and moderation do NOT mix (giant jessica butt is a must)

macrocondy3point0 It's the first thing that starts growing

twitchystitch imagine jessica initially being super smug about her engorging ass and then slightly concerned about how its starting to strain her pants "I like it getting big but... okay, seriously, what the hell?"

macrocondy3point0 When do you think she figures out that it's the food?

twitchystitch i want to say surprisingly like a week in she initially asumes its a weird function of her powers takes her that long to work out that its her food intake causing it

macrocondy3point0 Patsy's own gain probably helps her figure it out

twitchystitch "Okay, me getting fat as hell is one thing and a gifted thing, but patsy's regular human. No one in hell this is just about me."

twitchystitch she dmeands to know what the hell the Wakandans put in their food "the stuff of hopes and dreams" she is told, with a sttraight face (its a matter of national pride to mess with foriegners like thaT) (like australia and drop bears)

macrocondy3point0 (Patsy: Significantly gassier than Jessica?) (Especially given her increasingly short temper and impulse control?)

twitchystitch YES jessica has a LOT of self control patsy has none she will start aruging about something and just

twitchystitch let out a massive belch it is somehow angry

macrocondy3point0 How long does that switch take?

twitchystitch three weeks they get used to the food theier new states of being and the food and new state of mind makes jessica calm down a lot and just sit back while patsy is free to be the loud one with the shift in polinteness going in the world now she adapts not longer there after to being gassy and not caring

macrocondy3point0 For as much as Patsy eats, she's still behind Jessica in overall weight)

twitchystitch yes jessica is just the queen of massive weight patsy could stuff her face nonestop for a whole day and jessica could still make more weight in a signle leisurely meal

macrocondy3point0 She might not eat much, but whenever she does deign to eat, she eats a LOT and since she doesn't use any of it, it all goes to her body

twitchystitch YES table's creak a she eats and her digestive systme converts every gram into more biomass

macrocondy3point0 Patsy becomes incredibly jealous

twitchystitch in their world now, big is the new beautiful

macrocondy3point0 Even though Jessica would like to keep her clothes intact, she also gets a very smug sense of satisfaction in letting Patsy come close to touching her, and then surging ahead with a leisurely breakfast

twitchystitch whether your a giant or a fatblob, hyper curvy milf or just muscular, you gotta get BIG and she is super jealous jessica LOVES winning but she's more quietly smug than outright "AHAH HA" about it patsy seethes with envy wakandan cooks love jessica because she is an excellent taster

macrocondy3point0 I forget, did we decide if Wakandan women are taller on average? Instead of just the royal guard?

twitchystitch i dont think we discussed that but i think its a fine idea; how about the average wakandan woman is upwards of 7 feet but not to the extremes of the reroyal guard?

macrocondy3point0 They tend to baby the two outsiders

twitchystitch they're so small and kind of grumpy and its ADORABLE they can feed them all they want

macrocondy3point0 Even though Jessica can easily bench press ALL of them At once

twitchystitch they enjoy carrying them about like pudgy baskets the entire population of wakanda she could do it (including the giants?)

macrocondy3point0 Possibly would strain her enough to make her actually use all that excess energy

twitchystitch imagine Jessica doing something like punching out a god or similar ultimate foe

twitchystitch and reverting to her original build (she immediately would get back to building up the bulk) (she would probably be considering their Ultimate back up weapon in this case)

macrocondy3point0 Well, in case Mantis doesn't instantly take care of the problem like she does all problems

twitchystitch sometimes she doesn't notice in time or was distracted by a passing bug in her defense, the bug is VERY cute

macrocondy3point0 Imagine Mantis expanding random bugs to massive proportions because she takes a fancy to them for a moment

twitchystitch "LOOK AT THIS CUTE BUG" the ladybug is now the size of a truck or the Helicarrier

macrocondy3point0 I say the latter It's still tiny to Mantis but to everyone else

twitchystitch yes should the bugs have their mannerisms altered? like the bigger they get they become docile

macrocondy3point0 Yes.

twitchystitch giant beetles that people tame and ride like really big ranch animals shield's new base of operations is a very large ladybug

macrocondy3point0 They also become very soft

twitchystitch there's also a giant hive of kaiju ants, even mantis isn't sure why she made Those YES still chitinous but its squishy springy they make soft squeaking sounds

macrocondy3point0 What other sorts do you think she's expanded?

twitchystitch i feel like the uglier or more unlovable it is the more likely she has taken a shine to it and madde it big and Loved mantis is drawn to the things no one else considers

macrocondy3point0 So like?

twitchystitch so like an ACTUAL mantis or two cockroaches scorpions and spiders

macrocondy3point0 The mantises are as big as her

twitchystitch all just sort of roamign the land like mobile pillows with legs

macrocondy3point0 She's fascinated by them

twitchystitch YES they wiggle their antannaes at each other having a thoughtful conversation

twitchystitch "Oh my!" shes ays "how insightufl!"

macrocondy3point0 Their pincers and arms aren't sharp at all anymore Just large masses of squish

twitchystitch they instinctively hug things instead of biting off the heads of meates, they just bonk their heads together Mantis really rubbed off on them

macrocondy3point0 Even the other Guardians think it's just a little weird

twitchystitch "Mantis, we love you and endorse you but the bug thing is... weird, it's just weird, okay?" rocket yells, "THIS ONE IS MAKING GOO GOO EYES AT ME, I SWEAR, IT TOTALLY IS!!!"

macrocondy3point0 She responds by creating big bug friends for all of them

twitchystitch OBVIOUSLY they need to be more familiar with the bugs to love them properly peter: OH GOD THE SPIDER IS IN MY HAIR ITS IN MY HAAAAIR! (im forced to assume that spider man is riding the spider and is just kind of there) everyone gets their own bug friend tthat terrifies them bucky refuses to leave whatever he lives in wakanda HE DIDNT ASK FOR BUGS

macrocondy3point0 He keeps getting more, because Mantis is sad he doesn't like them and keeps sending more

twitchystitch all of them in bucky' house are impossible bugs from the pre-Cambrian era those really REALLY big bugs but

twitchystitch even more onstrous and spooky looking and huge now "YOURE WELCOME" she says cheerfully

macrocondy3point0 But soft

twitchystitch bucky silently vows revenge somhow they are squishy and huggable the bugs are like giant living plushies basically imagine bug themed plushies but Alive, that is what mantis creates

macrocondy3point0 They really just keep going on about their business, but with all their needs permanently taken care of They'll take empathetic impulses from mantis and do what she asks because she asks REALLY nicely

twitchystitch if someone with the right powers asks the bugs, they say they do as she asks because she is so sweet and nice the spiders web people up because clearly they need some nap times the bugs do their best to be Helpful but go about it in weays that tend to annoy people

macrocondy3point0 Imagine that happening to Okoye Standing on duty when a massive squishy spider sneaks up on her and webs her up

twitchystitch she is left trapped and wiggling and ENRAGED bits of her sweat sizzlign throug hthe webs the spider gives her a swing as if to say 'oh come on, you needed a nap'

macrocondy3point0 Imagine their bites being able to calm people down

macrocondy3point0 Mantis basically transforms their venom into feel good juice

twitchystitch I LIKE THIS EVEN MORE scorpions sting peoplee and they fall down, giggling and wobblign cheerfully all venom becomes Happiness

macrocondy3point0 Temporary bloating too

twitchystitch (des tihs effect bug themed heroes too??)

macrocondy3point0 i'd say so

twitchystitch people hit with the venom swell up even ones wheere its just thematic like Ant Man

twitchystitch spider man too scott kisses a date and she bloats up and gets all giggly

macrocondy3point0 Oh my god I love that What happens if he and wasp kiss

twitchystitch MUTUAL BLOAD AND GIGGLY but becacues a wasp's venom is more powerful than an ant's he gets more of it while she starts floating

macrocondy3point0 Do keep going I love this idea

macrocondy3point0 And might even ask for a quick write-up tonight Just because it's so great

twitchystitch i'd be good wit hthat!

macrocondy3point0 Do you think you could? A couple of quick paragraphs at most

twitchystitch like say peter gives MJ a peck on the chee and she starts floating up too, getting super giggly (yes! i could definitely do that!)

macrocondy3point0 I'll leave you to it! sorry

twitchystitch :)

macrocondy3point0 (Be sure they get Big) (Like, a quick peck produces Big) (A deep kiss?)

twitchystitch ULTRA BIG the more passionate and deep the kiss the more big

macrocondy3point0 Scott and Peter have a great power at their disposal

twitchystitch kisses that make BWOOMPH

macrocondy3point0 All thanks to Mantis

twitchystitch more powerful than super strength or size shifting

macrocondy3point0 It makes Peter's dates awkward though Scott mostly does it to Hope

twitchystitch often surprising her with pecks on the cheek her cheeks swell up and her curves swell out before her body expands hugely

macrocondy3point0 She finds it highly endearing

twitchystitch (MJ likes to tease Peter by inviting him to deliver one of those venom smooches)

macrocondy3point0 Also Definitely Black Widow

twitchystitch OH MAN I TOTALLY FROGOT ABOUT HER

twitchystitch YES DEFINITELY her venom kisses are EXTREMELY strong

macrocondy3point0 How much more than Peter or Scott?

twitchystitch hmm lets say that if Scott makes people bouncier and floaty and peter makes them swell out and almost eweightless than natasha renders anyone she kisses into a soft blob that floats completely free of gravity possibly going where she wants them to?

macrocondy3point0 Also, I'd imagine that they take much longer to deflate

twitchystitch yes with it depending on the venom strength of whoever does it

twitchystitch natasha takes the longest for them to deflate

macrocondy3point0 Peter's are quicker, but keeping in with the whole thing about Spider-Man having massive potential, they get big fast

macrocondy3point0 (It does make keeping a secret identity awkward)

twitchystitch just posted! YES he meekly is followed around by a stream of would be girlfriends that are interested in a quick smooch MJ is almost permanently kind of round because she REALLY likes being like this (she ends up developing self inflation powers as a consequnece its just what mantis does to ya

macrocondy3point0 (If I can go for maximum sin?)

macrocondy3point0 (What about Aunt May)

twitchystitch ALSO EFFECTED doesnt matter if the kisses are platonic or not the venom must flow into recipiewnts of affection or teasing, in black widow's case

macrocondy3point0 Who do you think Nat smooches most often?

twitchystitch apart from villains to keep them under control? she smooches hawkeye a lot in a platonic sense

macrocondy3point0 Yeah?

twitchystitch hawkeye ends up floating up even though he's fairly resistent to it through sheer stubbornness (hulk would also be effected

twitchystitch through sheer vulnerability to genuine affection

macrocondy3point0 But yes, aunt may

twitchystitch what if the kisses go both ways? like if they are kissed the effect happens so she gives peter an affectionate peck and starts swelling

macrocondy3point0 Which is especially cute given how slender and sinewy he usually is

twitchystitch YES

macrocondy3point0 Imagine if the first time he found out about Mantis' effect was giving Aunt May a good night kiss

macrocondy3point0 and the sheer SHOCK of it

twitchystitch getting him with his own venom? YES he comes to the compelte strong conclusion HE HAS DOOM KISS POWERS he declares he must remain forever celibate

macrocondy3point0 And yet

twitchystitch this lasts all of six hours when MJ pops up in the morning for a 'SUP SUP' smooch

macrocondy3point0 She doesn't know yet, but she kisses him full on the lips the second she sees him (She rushed in so fast, she didn't even notice Aunt May still floating on the ceiling)

twitchystitch aunt may is just "??????" just finding out he was Spider Man was enough of a shock and since MJ gets a full lip kiss the effect is much strongero n her

macrocondy3point0 Of course since it calms her down, she doesn't mind too much

twitchystitch she goes straight to full balloon VERY quickly MJ is DELIGHTED "SHIT ive never felt GIDDY before, this is frickin sweet"

macrocondy3point0 They run out of room VERY fast and she's still inflating

macrocondy3point0 Peter is MORTIFIED

twitchystitch he is pressed between a wall and MJ's expanding body (which she finds very pleasing indeed)

macrocondy3point0 Neither of them leaves until she starts deflating by like noon By which time she's already clammoring for more and eager to tell EVERYONE

twitchystitch by this point manits power's are doing enough weird things that the city just rolls with it and SHE GRABS PETER: "AGAIN, DUDE, AGAIN!!!" she busts into school, significnatly larger than before and yells

twitchystitch "SUP SUP GUESS WHAT PETE DOES NOW!"" he is mortifeied beyond measure

macrocondy3point0 Guess what you just did

macrocondy3point0 You just convinced me that needs its own mini-story

twitchystitch !!! THIS PLEASES ME

macrocondy3point0 Significantly larger MJ dragging peter into school, loudly announcing what he can do, and getting him to kiss as many girls as possible Think you can?

twitchystitch (i am seriously all about MJ developing inflate powers as a result too) YES I DEFINITELY CAN

twitchystitch mind sending in a prompt for that?

macrocondy3point0 Sent

twitchystitch AWESOME

macrocondy3point0 Looking forward to it (YOu think you could make notes about her voice and bounciness?)

twitchystitch -thumbs up!- my energy for talks feels pretty much spent for the day

macrocondy3point0 sorry

twitchystitch mind if i go off now?

macrocondy3point0 I don't mind but like

macrocondy3point0 This new direction has me VERY enthused sorry

twitchystitch (I can definitely do that!) its cool like having more suggestions for stuff would also be good for the writing of that

macrocondy3point0 I might send like five or six because i have so many ideas

twitchystitch (i glad i can help you come up with stuff that gets you so enthused, too!)

twitchystitch THESE ARE ALL GOOD go right ahead! heck whenever i give you an idea u got open permission to send it in

macrocondy3point0 Before you go, one more thing how often does MJ smooch Peter, and is the effect any different than when he smooches her?

twitchystitch hmmm i say that MJ is EXYREMEELY smoochy with peter it makes him floaty and get very rounded she loves doing this and then hugging him its like turning him into al iving plush

macrocondy3point0 Good thing he has his webs to pull himself along

twitchystitch sometimes she walks around, using his web as a leash or towline to keep him coming along

macrocondy3point0 Mantis bringing world peace leads to a lot of situations like this

twitchystitch all over the world sudden swells of bizarre and new powers makign everyone Happy

macrocondy3point0 Former heroes using their powers for weird things like this (Honestly, Peter spends more time bloated than MJ)

twitchystitch A world of Strangeness but Happiness

macrocondy3point0 (She's very dominant)

twitchystitch YES because she is so kissy and domineering

twitchystitch just grabbing him and smooching him until he bloats up

macrocondy3point0 she definitely loves doing it to random people too

twitchystitch i super endorse this dynamic sure she can inflate herself but she loves making other people puffed and floating and happy

macrocondy3point0 Do you think his venom is more potent if he releases it while inflated?

twitchystitch YES if he kisses while inflated people dont just go straight to balloon

twitchystitch but become much much larger

macrocondy3point0 MJ definitely loves getting kisses from him while he's blown up

twitchystitch imagine her clinging to him and recieving dozens of kisses

macrocondy3point0 (Does she have any cute nicknames for him?)

twitchystitch and as she swelled bigger and keeps him right against her body she calls him thigs like balloon boy, puffed up pete, puffy, things of that narure if its balloon or smooch related she's made a pun nickname for him

macrocondy3point0 (Also) (everyone with this power)

macrocondy3point0 (Massive lips)

twitchystitch YES, OF COURSE gigantic lips are one of my jams MJ typically puffs up her lips to large size even normally but anyone who gets hit by this especially if kissed

macrocondy3point0 Great on girls, great on boys

twitchystitch because the venom first goes to the lips gigantic pfufy smooching lips

macrocondy3point0 Peter becoming highly dependent on MJ

twitchystitch !!!! THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ADDITION

twitchystitch he becomes extremely fidgety and distressed wtihout an MJ kiss every few hours

macrocondy3point0 It probably takes a while though Like, she spends more time heavily inflated at first

twitchystitch im thinking that eventually, even her default is super curvy and puffy by this world's standards

macrocondy3point0 Because of how much she likes the sensation

twitchystitch YES

macrocondy3point0 How so?

twitchystitch even after she discovers that she enjoys pumping others up, she spends a lot of time like that LIKE SAY she is always at least a bit balloonified, so that her curves are puffed up huge lips, gigantic curves, a tendency to float when she walks

twitchystitch a surprisingly high pitched voice

macrocondy3point0 Of course, even though she's perfectly capable of doing so herself

twitchystitch when she hugs you, you sink into her

macrocondy3point0 she absolutely loves using Peter for it

twitchystitch yes she grabs him, pulls him into a kiss "It's mroe fun this way, ain't it Pete?" SMOOCH PUFF UP

macrocondy3point0 No I mean, to inflate other people

twitchystitch THAT TOO she yanks people in pushes them into a kiss with him and then they are orb shaped and floating up all giddy idea, some of that happiness is always transfered to MJ she gets giggly as an after effect

macrocondy3point0 This is all very good. (She probably insists on keeping him in a stretchy spider-man outfit at all times) (Just so everyone knows exactly what she has)

twitchystitch yes! its like he's wearing a sign she can pointe to and yell "LOOKIT MY MAN" its also convenient for the bwoomphing up

macrocondy3point0 It's been like a week since Peter wasn't floating. He finds that distantly concerning, but not too much.

twitchystitch it just feels too good to be a REAL bother and MJ likes it so he's happy with it

macrocondy3point0 what do you think becomes of Gwen?

twitchystitch i want to say she becomes MJ's partner in, if not crime, inflatation shennaigans

twitchystitch the more reserved and sweet one about it while MJ is more domineering about it

macrocondy3point0 She's usually riding on top of Peter

twitchystitch in er defense it is very very comfy up there peter doesnt mind whatever makes the girls happy makes him content

macrocondy3point0 What's his diameter on average anyways?

twitchystitch 12 foot diameter, maybe?

macrocondy3point0 Makes it rather difficult getting him inside

twitchystitch sure they could deflate him but

twitchystitch MJ gets mad at the notion HER PRECIOUS PARKER NOT BEING PUMPED UP AND HAPPY SHE WILL DESTROY WHOEVER SAID THAT but first she has to get him inside gwen and MJ just trying to shove hi mthrough the doorway, he squeaks al ot

macrocondy3point0 Fortunately, anyone who gets pumped up is quite malleable

twitchystitch they're almost like living huggable clay mj likes to sqush his cheeks until he giggles in this case, he rapidly ends up cube shaped

macrocondy3point0 So they're able to just

twitchystitch because of doorway

macrocondy3point0 stuff him through the door They also reassume their normal spherical form after a time Thing is most rooms aren't really large enough to let him do that so he winds up squishing up against stuff

twitchystitch their bodies tremble and eventually pop back into shape the rooms are just full of peter mj prefers to sleep like this now, with him as the bed or blanket

macrocondy3point0 gently kissing various parts of him for extra soft

twitchystitch its like kneading

twitchystitch but more fun for her

macrocondy3point0 This wasn't what he epected his life to be like when he started superheroing But it's nice

twitchystitch he didnt expect to get a girlfriend adn now he has MJ who is VERY nice and makes him happy

macrocondy3point0 Do you think she likes to mess with Aunt May too

twitchystitch yep! its more like good natured pranking aunt may isnt sure what she expected from what is basically gonna be her daughter in law

macrocondy3point0 Is there any difference in the way Gwen and MJ puff up?

twitchystitch i feel like MJ does it more gradualy; a bit of her arm here, her face there

twitchystitch its like a transformation sequence gwen likes to do it all at once if she can

macrocondy3point0 And their final forms?

twitchystitch but smoothly, while MJ's actual growth is abrupt hmmm i'm thinking that Gwen is a full round balloon while MJ is powerfu lenoguh that she can retain roughly human form, it's just well, extremely plush she CAN become a clasiscal round balloon if she feels like it, too

macrocondy3point0 All this inflating definitely pushes up their average heights if they ever return to fully deflated forms

twitchystitch YES how tall are you thinking

macrocondy3point0 Like 20 foot at least For all three

twitchystitch OOOOH YES (ironically a long time ago i contemplated mary jane having giantification powers) MJ is often at this huge size when she can, since she spends so much time a little bit inflated gwen a little bit less while Peter spends so much time inflated he has no idea of his new size until he is deflate

macrocondy3point0 Peter's likely tallest of the lot, really

twitchystitch and ironically the most submissive and totally devoted to their whims

macrocondy3point0 he never really stood a chance MJ is just too forceful a personality

twitchystitch she basically sat down, put her arm around him and said "yo you're my boy now" and he was like "okay" THIS IS HIS LIFE NOW

macrocondy3point0 and that was BEFORE all this

twitchystitch (i am EXTREMELY on board for this MJ/Peter dynamic) now he is literally living on a tether by her hand and very cool with it, too

macrocondy3point0 She's the one who wears the webshooters now They're the only way she has enough leverage to properly drag him along

twitchystitch "she's the one who wears the webshooters" is like code for dominance and he is the first one to insist that of course she ought to do it imagine her webbing his wrist and tugging him along "Cmon pete, we got places to be" (he sometimes catcheis himself about to say 'yes ma'am)

macrocondy3point0 What's an average day look like for them?

twitchystitch they head out, doing thier thing, going to get food and make sure all three of them are fed up with peter floating by on MJ's wrist usually she feeds him by hand because he's EXTREMELY passive

macrocondy3point0 MJ tips their servers with kisses

macrocondy3point0 they normally dont' complain

twitchystitch hard to complain when you get puffed up and full of JOY from it! then they usually wind up in the first adventure of the day such as herding giant beetles which are clogging up traffic

macrocondy3point0 oooh yeah They still get involved in various superheroics But it's more of the "solve a nuisacne" variety than fighting villains

twitchystitch exaclty!! oen time a whole bunch of balloon people got stuck and the job was to

twitchystitch figure out a way to get them to be unstuck

macrocondy3point0 MJ's solution was to make Peter REALLY big and then use his mass to shove them out into the open and tether them down until they deflated

twitchystitch YES she gave him a strong push and it was like shot-putting (this should be a sport) (bowling with giant puffed ups)

macrocondy3point0 Imagine their team-ups with Scott and Hope

twitchystitch technically its the Bug Team up but everyone knows its the smoochy puffing kiss guys and the ladies who give thme thier marching orders

macrocondy3point0 Hope allows scott to keep his form most of the time

macrocondy3point0 She's the one who gets puffed up most often Because she's a LOT better at using her body while in that state

twitchystitch her wasp powers make her good at navigating while in that state

macrocondy3point0 Scott tends to get overwhelmed by the euphoria

twitchystitch (also her wasp stings make peopel puff up too) IDEA SCOTT TENDS TO randomly switch size while puffed up one second he might go sub atomic in giddiness the next become a hundred feet high still orb-shaped either way

macrocondy3point0 You see why she doesn't trust him with it And prefer he smooch her into enormity

twitchystitch "Clearly im the only one that can be trsusted with this power" she say as she pulls him into a kiss that leaves her the size of a building and shockingly fleet for her size

macrocondy3point0 are there any meaningful differences between scott and peter's kisses?

twitchystitch HMMM i'd say that scott's kisses take place immediately, while peter's take a longer time to happen (additionally scott is more of a lovestruck fool everytime he smooches while peter is just going with whatever's happening

macrocondy3point0 Imagine the two of them interacting

twitchystitch they might be in balloon form or not but peter is like just swooning over them, while otherwise just sort of he sits and wobbles like he's grooving to inaudible music scott does his best to act like a big brother while a bit miffed that peter is technically more experienced with this than he is now

macrocondy3point0 still, if hope says no, it MEANS no (A great idea)

twitchystitch Hope's word, as far as he's concerned is much worse than the word of deities because

macrocondy3point0 (Jessica comes back) (MJ spies her)

twitchystitch her retribution is more swift and mad

macrocondy3point0 (Instant infatuation)

twitchystitch YES MJ takes one look at this Cool Badass and just heart eyes (IMAGINE MJ HAVING A POSTER OF HER EVEN BEFORE THIS HAPPENED

macrocondy3point0 how big would she be by the time she returns?

twitchystitch Jesisca: when the hell did they make posters of me??? her weight is probably

twitchystitch incalculablew by mundane means shei s SO heavy that her legs shouldn't be able to move at all but she's so strong it doesn't matter she just uses hoverchairs and doesn't care (if she's no talelr than before, than MJ will be 20 feet tall and able to pick her up squish hug that sounds ADORABLE

macrocondy3point0 the shock of what she saw in Wakanda means she's not TOO Surprised by what's going on here, but It's still a little eyebrow raising especially since she doesn't remember this spider guy being a big-lipped puffball

twitchystitch MJ is like "She is so HUGE, like its if you turned one of my balloon guys into solid fat... I LOVE HER."

twitchystitch jessica is like "I rmemeber you being a guy in way too much trouble WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED" peter points vaugely at MJ "she told me to smooch her" jessica: that explains fuck all peter: -shrugs-

macrocondy3point0 Jessica's probably wide enough to fill up a street

twitchystitch the streets shake when she walks

macrocondy3point0 and given that we said she was strong enough to move Mantis' finger on her first day of knowing her, a few months in Wakanda have made her POWERFUL

twitchystitch partly from the force of how much strength she exerts to move a sinclge stpe

twitchystitch NOW IF SHE WANTED TO she could probably kick the earth out of orbit she makes canon hulk look puny (IRONICALLY)

macrocondy3point0 And yet very chill about it

twitchystitch she's the most powerful Gifted in the world but she doesn't flaunt it or brag about it or ever really show it she's cool enoguh to know she doesn't need to show off

macrocondy3point0 She's ALSO not immune to a good smooching

twitchystitch MJ suddenly materializing 20 feet of lovestruck fangirl SMOOHC and jessica is puffing up

macrocondy3point0 those enormous lips smothering her head And pumping her entire body full of venom

twitchystitch her first thought is what the heck right after that as those lips are so soft

macrocondy3point0 Question is, is that enough to generate lift?

twitchystitch and the breath so nice

macrocondy3point0 Given her sheer weight

twitchystitch she thinks "...hey... that's kind of... nice..." and PPOMPH HMMM it does sound appealing for Jessica to be ballooned but so heavy she remained groundbound? imagine the huge bloaty fat ball still on the ground

macrocondy3point0 How MUCH does she expand though?

twitchystitch im imagining her fat spreading out so its something like a rather lumpy pancake OR, possibly

twitchystitch her body expanded to the point where her fat becomes a smooth orb the latter is obviously gonna be MUCH larger

macrocondy3point0 so you know which I prefer It's still very much got the texture and consistentcy of flab, but compeltely rounded out And yet STILL not enough to make her float It's like she's full of heavy gases

twitchystitch YES i like this some flying type people land in her sink in and are lost for hours

twitchystitch its liek quicksand but harmless and soft and fun

macrocondy3point0 MJ has wasp airlift her to a more open area

twitchystitch Jessica likes the opportunity to spread out not so much MJ making constant HORRIBLE PUNS at jssica's expense but she can live with it

macrocondy3point0 oooh what sort of HORRIBLE PUNS?

twitchystitch like say "This place looks great, Jess. Feel like 'spreading out'?" "Yeah sure" she says as she flattens

twitchystitch expanding outwards "that sounds like-" she stops the pun hit her "GODDAMIT, MJ."

macrocondy3point0 Imagine Mary Jane becoming damned and determiend to figure out what it takes to get her off the ground

twitchystitch do they need to get ever flyer on earth lifting her? A REALLY big helicarrier? the mother of all repulsor engines? she WILL FIND A WAY

twitchystitch SHE WILL GET THAT GIRL AIRBORNE

macrocondy3point0 I mean more how many kisses does it take To get a jessica balloon floating

twitchystitch MJ is willing to find out at least a hundred? each one smothering jessica's increasingly large face in MJ lip prints she is gonna test the HELL out of that

macrocondy3point0 How's Jess feel about that?

twitchystitch initially annoyed

twitchystitch but the kisses feel so NICE

macrocondy3point0 (Also, some of those kisses are DEFINITELY from Peter)

twitchystitch she starts swooning but she still acts

macrocondy3point0 (Especially since his are more potent)

twitchystitch reluctantly grumpy imagine peter and MJ smooching her from either side of her face like two fairies kissing a giant while JEssica pretends she's not flattered "yeah yeah, do whatever you guys feel like..."

macrocondy3point0 Oh my god

macrocondy3point0 Just had an idea Imagine Jessica idly talking about Wakanda and all the things she saw over there, and specifically bringing up the giant insect population And what she saw a spider doing to Okoye once and MJ starting to put things together in her head regarding Peter If ONE spider-bite made him Spider-Man...

twitchystitch OOOOOOOOH "So... what would ANOTHER do??" she asks with a devilish grin

macrocondy3point0 From THAT kind of spider

twitchystitch THE GIANT HUGGY SPIDER

macrocondy3point0 Peter's too caught up in smooching jessica to notice they're talking about him

twitchystitch jessica: Hey. happy dude. They're talking about you. PEter: ...whaaat... -smooching sounds-

macrocondy3point0 Imagine how chilly Jessica's body must be at that scale

twitchystitch soothing and cool just like jessica hereslf says MJ being a total DWEEB jessica just GROANS

macrocondy3point0 Assuming she CAN make Jessica float

macrocondy3point0 how big will she get by that point?

twitchystitch .... CITY SIZED?

macrocondy3point0 Imagine how ridiculously puffy her face would be by that point

twitchystitch just a mass of soft, her eyes not even visible dominated by a gargantuan pair of lips

macrocondy3point0 The sudden jolt of movement when she takes off, though

twitchystitch SHE IS ABOVE THE GROUND ITS GETTING BELOW HER

twitchystitch "SHIT I FORGOT WHAT MOMENTUM FELT LIKE?!"

macrocondy3point0 She'd also have to be in a RIDICULOUSLY good mood

twitchystitch to others she looks pretty mild but to anyone who knows her the faint smile and ocasional giggle SHE IS NONSTOP ULTRA HAPPY the rest of the Defenders do a spit take at this with perfect unison

macrocondy3point0 How long does it take, do you think?

twitchystitch to get off the ground or to reach this size?

macrocondy3point0 Well, they both come with one another

twitchystitch with her sheer size it takes her several days to clear the ground comepletely

twitchystitch after peter is introduced to the giant spider (he and the spdier spend a long time just talking to each other, somehow he says 'you dont just smooch at the start of a date') and he returns with buffed spider powers

macrocondy3point0 you know that MJ takes them all to Wakanda To show off what she's done with Jessica

twitchystitch it still takes a week of work or so to start pumping up jessica to floating size

macrocondy3point0 (Imagine Okoye and Peter being puffier than when she left thanks to that spider)

twitchystitch IMAGINE MJ REACTING TO SHURI AND OKOYE YES

twitchystitch okoye now looks utra thicc thanks to the puffiness while peter quill is almost mega chub from thep uffiness massive lips for both all the better for smooching each other up

macrocondy3point0 Okoye's slope downwards and rest upon her chest

twitchystitch SHE HAS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PUFF SMOOCHES peter's face can fit between 'em qulll, specifically all of peter parker can vanishe between her lips

macrocondy3point0 Also, even though Okoye has been bitten more often by the spider trying to force her to rest, Peter has more of an allergic reation So she spends a lot of time just sort of lying down, rocking back and forth in her own softness

twitchystitch she is literally allergic to calming down the spider looms over them approvingly peter rocking in her own massive body (whoop, i am feeling tired - u -

macrocondy3point0 OK, last thing I swear Compared to the stature we left her lift, muscled with a massive gut, how much has Okoye puffed up?

twitchystitch NMMMHMMM

twitchystitch i feel that she looks VERY thicc overall due to thep uffing? it looks rather MILFy with her curves and softness HOWEVER she's still got a ton of muscle on open display she's just enormously squsihy to boot even her muscle is soft to the touch

macrocondy3point0 that puffiness doesn't JUST amplify fat after all

twitchystitch you poke, you sink into it ultra soft puff effect

macrocondy3point0 (What about her nipples?)

twitchystitch i lowkey love puff nipples permanently engorged maybe super big relative to her boob size?

macrocondy3point0 oh?

twitchystitch her nips being very big relative to her boobs, always making indents against whatever is covering her boobs if her hair is down and long enoguh to go there you can still make out the nips against her hair

macrocondy3point0 well, if she had hair

twitchystitch sometimes she pokes them and her finger sinks in

twitchystitch (CANT BELEIVE I FORGOT)

macrocondy3point0 How big have her breasts gotten anyways? Because I was thinking for all her growth they initially remained modest But with this...

twitchystitch quill routinely swoons over her hmm consider some boob growth as a result of th espider's attention bringing out some of her maternal side and thus, boob size her boobs might still be modest by the new standareds of growth like maybe bigger than her head?

macrocondy3point0 They slope to the side because of the sheer mass of her belly

twitchystitch if thats not too small YES she seems a bit proud of how powerfu her stomach is that even boobs like hers are forced aside by its mass

macrocondy3point0 It DEFINITELY rests on the ground now

twitchystitch still got muscle on it she effortlessly moves because of pure Strength

macrocondy3point0 Also, idea Her butt is where the spider bites her most often, so that has gotten particularly big

twitchystitch YES her butt is almost as big as her belly?

twitchystitch (ultra soft and squishy quill sleeps on it most of nights

macrocondy3point0 like she wouldn't adore smothering her with it

twitchystitch imagine okoye just leanign back, massive butt pressing into quill' whole body with a smug smirk all the while

macrocondy3point0 which is impressive, given how much quill has puffed up she basically has parade float proportions now

twitchystitch she even floats up with movements, now and then she can float right into Okoye's arms

macrocondy3point0 why is it that the spider bites her too anyways?

twitchystitch spreading the love it felt bad that quill wasn't getting bites too insufficiently puffy

macrocondy3point0 (Also, while they've gotten big from multiple bites, don't forget that they get HUGE when bitten)

twitchystitch YES

macrocondy3point0 (And loving wrapped up in spider webs)

twitchystitch like a single spider bite will cause massive growth in the associated area the spider is like a therapist, will web you up and bite you until you are calm and in a position to discuss things imagine the puffed upe peopel being all wrapped up and loving it squeeing happily at the wraps

macrocondy3point0 (Ball Okoye)

twitchystitch she swells up into a massive round shape that peter can hug

macrocondy3point0 No more border guarding puffy nap time~

twitchystitch she just yawns rolls against peter

macrocondy3point0 (Of course it's less a ball and more a ball with three massive boulders)

twitchystitch dozes off the boulders make for more leverage! and more squish for naps

macrocondy3point0 Peter usually winds up bitten in her sleep and wakes up surprised that she can't move while Okoye is slowly deflating

twitchystitch that spider is super fussy when it comes to them it wants them to haev a balance of snuggle

macrocondy3point0 imagine peter's hairs puffing up too~

twitchystitch becoming a big, squishy mass, perhaps? rising up over her head, almost poofed up squishy to the touch

macrocondy3point0 well her body hair too

twitchystitch a fine layer of squish all over her body

macrocondy3point0 does anything happen with their sweating?

twitchystitch the sweat becoming like bubbles that float up and go on until they hit something Consider: the sweat causing mild puffing in whatever they hit

macrocondy3point0 wakanda is coated in them

twitchystitch literal pockets of swelling all over wakanda trees puffed up cliffsides that are more misty than usual because sweat bubbles popped and are reaining down mist turning whatever it tocuhes into Soft

macrocondy3point0 Okoye simply rubs the slope of her belly and looks out over the scope of the nation

macrocondy3point0 nodding to herself

twitchystitch she sees the gentled, puffed sight of the land and she thinks

"i have done good things"

macrocondy3point0 and then CHOMP

twitchystitch SPIDER THINKS SHE NEEDS MORE HAPPY the spider deserves to be its own character

macrocondy3point0 OK, very very last thing, I swear, then I let you go Sorry to keep extending this but it's so good (Peter - puffing - bulge -how much?)

twitchystitch > u <

twitchystitch MAXIMUM BULGE (ALL THE BULGE SIZE I SAY

macrocondy3point0 HOW MUCH

twitchystitch HOW ABOUT big as okoye's belly?

macrocondy3point0 Jesus how do they keep him modest?

twitchystitch HMMMM either the local fabrics are really, REALLY stretchy or with his current mindset he doesn't mind so much and

twitchystitch MJ is proud of what she has made (assuming that this is Spider Man Peter, not peter quill?

macrocondy3point0 it's often the tether point for webs yes

twitchystitch MJ: LOOK AT MY DUDE~! peter: -has just enough sheepishness to blush-

macrocondy3point0 Modesty's long out the window, and MJ wants to show off EVERYTHING she's got

twitchystitch she probably wears very little especially when puffed up because of this same pride peter is an extension of that

macrocondy3point0 is it usually flaccid or erect?

twitchystitch typically flaccid he's usually too chill to have a strong reaction otherwise MJ prides herself on able to get a Reaction out of him she says with lots of eyebrow wiggling

macrocondy3point0 Jessica's VERY impressed by it

twitchystitch "Holy shit." she gives a thumbs up at MJ

macrocondy3point0 a very slow, squeaky thumbs up

twitchystitch she doesnt move much but its so impressive that she just has to do SOMETHING

macrocondy3point0 MJ often angles him so she can sleep on it

twitchystitch (WHY IS THAT SUCH A CUTE IMAGE)

macrocondy3point0 what exactly does MJ do to get a reaction?

twitchystitch soetimes its as subtle as winking at him or puffing herselfe up to a size that he can see easily and sliding herself against him but she's not much for subtlety normally so its often things like just kissing him in a non-puffing up way the slightest tocuh from her can have a STRONG reaction from him

macrocondy3point0 how much does it expand?

twitchystitch well going by how that Okoye belly size is flaccid state lets say it gets at least a third larger? (possibly when its just a small reaction)

macrocondy3point0 peter squeaking meekly

twitchystitch (IT GOT MORE ADORABLE)

macrocondy3point0 jessica getting to watch the whole thing

twitchystitch MJ just grinning wickedly jessica raising her eyebrows very slightly

macrocondy3point0 he really is just her boy toy this is very good

twitchystitch boy toy peter being totally dominated by MJ is my new favorite thing i did not even know i wanted more of this but now i really do

#Extended conversations #twitchystitch #Marvel Growth AU

7 notes · View notes

thessaliah · 6 years

Note

What are favorite and least favorite portrayal of Servants in Fate?

Uhh, there’s a lot? I’ll assume with portrayals, you mean how legends or historical backgrounds were adapted and reinvented and if I like them? Keep in mind there are a lot I like and a lot I’m lukewarm I don’t mention here. Some get me more passionate than others.

Favorites (in no particular order).- Arturia, Merlin and most Round Table. You can tell that Nasu adores Arthuriana stuff and knows it deeply to come out with twists that make sense. Arturia and Mordred are one of the few genderbends who aren’t inherently lazy in Type Moon (unlike others made to just cash in Arturia’s design popularity and get no effort to explain why nobody thought they were women or ignored this - note, this doesn’t mean I dislike them, because I’m fond of Nero and the rest too, but it’s a strike down when you want to talk about this subject). Camelot is, to date, my favorite thing Nasu wrote next to Garden of Avalon because he has such grasp in these characters to make them unique, flawed and tragic. He isn’t afraid to make his female characters here in the wrong, something I deeply appreciate because makes them more sympathetic. The Lion-King was a gift. Yes, sure sometimes isn’t perfect (the characterization switch of Saber Alter from cooly angry tyrant to kuudere), but he usually takes a great care about their portrayal in a serious manner.- Oda siblings, Nobunaga and Nobuyuki: Guda Guda 2 was so good to turn Nobunaga from a joke character to a serious one with layers, she along with Arturia and her son, became the third serious genderbent, where she suffered the consequences of being a woman and it explains her ascension to power as damyo through Nobuyuki’s sacrifice who she found out later, in the event, never rebelled against her but was trying to expose her detractors and with his sacrifice, he was showing nobody should defy his sister. They hurt my heart.- Solomon: He’s a departure of the Judeo-Christian Solomon, but because a lot of him seems taken off the Islamic version (where he’s literally the world most perfect ruler ever, literally Godsent to build an ideal kingdom which would only last as he lived). He follows Nasu’s most complex king character of the recent years (I like Nero but she lacks ‘something’ for me to see her as a ruler character) to stand next to Arturia and classics, addressing old Fate questions about rulership, humanity, and heroism. I appreciate that, just like Arturia, Nasu obviously knew what he was doing and only adapted his background to Nasuverse to keep it creative but fresh.- Asterios: This is how you write a classic mythological monster and keep him sympathetic without erasing what he was, just give an explanation, and not try to portray the hero who slain him as a ‘loser’. Theseus was the first one who saw Asterios as a human being in his short published backstory and tried to comfort him when he died. - Leonardo Da Vinci: Her portrayal isn’t perfect, but it’s refreshing to see old theories come to life about Da Vinci (homosexuality, transsexuality). Da Vinci has the honor of being one of the few characters who actually has a love life that doesn’t involve sucking up to the main character or their love interest in life, goals that don’t involve the main character as the center of their lives, and has an exploration of her issues with loneliness and isolated she feels without involving the main character in her interlude (it’s a monologue). In other words, she’s allowed to be more than just Servant arm candy which is rare for a FGO original.- Florence Nightingale: I absolutely love Nightingale portrayal as Berserker, not so much without ME (we see her in Dantes event), but this asexual, aromantic, completely madwoman, in a good and bad sense, who is focused, intense and eloquent when she wants, intimidating men and women with her one-track mind mission to heal and purify, shows a bit how war takes the sanity of even the most saintly of people and yet they still remain themselves to the core.- Edmond Dantes: Nasu told everyone to watch Gankutsuou one day and said “come up with a Count of Monte Cristo who is nothing like that one”, and they did it. They did it and managed to make him iconic in portrayal too, without the stigma of having to compete with the Gonzo show classic. Against all odds, like poor publicity, limited event, Daganrompa design, he became one of FGO’s most popular originals, because they explored his entire personality and issues in a character-focused event, plus his backstory fits in with Nasuverse, expanding on the character without erasing any of his classic elements.- Most Victoriana characters: Sherlock Holmes, James Moriarty, Frankenstein, Nursery Rhyme, Jekyll&Hyde, Helena, etc. I’m putting them in the same bag because they got a creative twist for Nasuverse characterization that was well handled, IMO, and were changed for setting purposes and to explore a concept rather than pander a fetish.- Lobo: Great adaptation and portrayal. A literal wolf got more development and introspection than the majority of Epic of Remnants appearing characters. This will never cease to be funny.- Tomoe Gozen: I don’t care much about her character, but gets a honorable mention because they actually keep her true to her legend and background instead of removing it to make her a pure sword waifu who loves the protagonist as they did with a number of characters.

Least favorite (controversial talk and triggers ahead):- Sherezade: I can’t even bring myself to explain how much they botched her and how much I absolutely loathe her. Any other characters in this list annoy me or irk me at very worst, but this one makes me angry. Her entire character is so offensive I can’t articulate it now or this would become far too long. She was one of my favorite childhood heroines, so it makes me extra salty. Let’s just say that they took one of world’s most memorable feminism icons as a nerves of steel creative woman who earned her happy ending and got everything in life to portray her as a mix of broken coward (and a joke after Agartha) full of misandry and internalized misogyny, who kidnapped and brainwashed people, including women, to be murderers and rapists to live her twisted fantasy, but wait, she was ‘cured’ by a good man’s spinning rainbow giant drill while she was told her purpose in life was to make babies. And her happy ending was the result of that man’s wish. Yes, she could have been a take of a broken pedestal who actually overcame her issues and became heroic after a growing up process (even if I disliked that interpretation), but instead of that, she was saved by boy Fergus, and this action is even referred on her profile: her happy ending has resulted of his wish. This is a thing that happened. I have no words to say how utterly crushed I feel regarding her. How they destroyed the core of her character appeal, twisted it and didn’t even allowed her the agency to earn her happy ending.- Altera: Or how to take a fairly interesting warlord and historical figure, remove everything that makes him Attila the Hun to pretend a bland robotic alien weapon waifu was him, even though all her struggle and ‘arc’ isn’t even focused on it, it just becomes an excuse to make her a Servant. Imagine if Arturia’s struggle in Fate wasn’t about her King Arthur related stuff and Camelot fall but about “oh my I’m a dragon hybrid who sided with humans in the end of the age of mystery, Shirou!”, something Nasu could have done since it’s also an aspect of her character, but had the good sense to focus on the fact she’s bloody King Arthur. That her arc is a literally a rehash of “robotic waifu becomes a person, goes against her program” which was already done by Sakura and BB (and Arc a decade before them) masterfully not so long ago, in Fate/Extra CCC, but they were actually well written (in comparison to Extella) so it makes her look extra bad. She was also inserted into the story out nowhere, just like this Velber thing which it’s not even mentioned once in all Extra (the Beasts were, ironically!) and stole the spotlight of characters who were your allies and Servants before, like Gilgamesh and Archer. When Sakura and Gilgamesh got added in CCC, Nasu never removed the focus on the three originals, rather he worked to give everyone their own routes. Extella was a reminder of those fanfics that retcon previously established canon to warp the plot focused on a new OC Mary Sue character who is more special than others with the entire plot orbiting around them, and you can’t escape this. Fortunately, she underperformed so badly as a main heroine of Fate in Japan that Nasu might think twice about pulling this again.- Medusa: I have a hate/love thing with Medusa, because as a character on her own, she started ok, beyond the gross sexual assault thing they never acknowledge as bad and irks me (but this is common in most female characters of TM, and some male ones like Shiki). I like her in FHA, her relationship and devotion to Sakura. However, yeah, she’s Medusa my all-time favorite Greek figure whom I adored since I was a child and her portrayal as a version of Medusa leaves a lot to be desired: removing her sexual relationship with Poseidon (which some versions involve rape, but in most of them they were lovers) to make her ‘pure’ and then portray her as ‘seductive’ was the worst decision Nasu could take in FHA when she was meant to parallel with Sakura’s domestic and sexual abuse, in FSN, so the character became kind of confusing to me. It just feels her character was overwritten to appeal purity-waifu lovers and twisted a bit. Her design (the BDSM outfit) is just ridiculous too. I can’t forgive there weren’t snakes, but with the appearance of Gorgon, this is salvaged that a bit (enemy gorgon is better looking than the playable one too, fff). Gorgon is what I wanted Medusa to be, but sadly that kitty-hood wearing “Ana” comes along with Gorgon (with her dog collar!). I don’t hate her, I have some kind of complicated relationship because my standards for Medusa are higher than usual and her character got overwritten as much as Gilgamesh with the years so it gets confusing (but without giving the attention Gilgamesh got too, so makes it harder to grasp what Nasu is doing now). The Perseus-bashing stuff also get me because, like Medusa’s portrayal, isn’t consistent. See, Medusa was originally Perseus, Nasu just genderbent him in FSN because he needed more girls. Their personalities are extremely alike based on what we see him in Prototype and he’s called like Shinji in FHA when he wasn’t at all (just to make her more sympathetic than the hero who actually killed her was ‘bad’ See why Asterios is a good example and why Medusa isn’t about how to handle this, it’s like she was a test run, IMO)? But in leaked FGO lines reveals Medusa is fine with Perseus now, except for Gorgon who wants to kill him, but she wants to kill everyone even the protagonist. This “characterization marches on” makes it all muddy and confusing. Gilgamesh has a similar problem, but I wasn’t attached to him, so I don’t care much.-Artemis (and Orion): Does this need an explanation?-Fionn and most Irish heroes, but Fionn is the main offender: From a mix of Irish King Arthur and Merlin in legends to a complete joke character whose entire kit and powers get stolen by you know who. Fionn is a disgrace to his legendary counterpart. Diarmuid was ok in Zero (not in FGO tho), Cu is fine (and even gets his noncon old habits called out in FHA!), Medb is one of the few female villains who don’t get whitewashed (though she loses a lot of layers of her mythical counterpart), the rest is… eh. -Kiyohime: Not the worst offender, but becomes a proof how the obsession with “pure” waifu-ideal for insecure otaku ruins a potentially interesting character and makes her super gross and problematic without owning up what she is by the fandom and, sometimes, canon. In legend, Kiyohime was a scorned woman whose lover, a monk Anchin, abandoned her after he regretted their relationship (which includes sex, several times). That’s the thing: they were in a relationship with a promise to stick together and he dumps her and runs off. She becomes enraged by his actions that become a serpent who chases him, but she was the one wronged, even if his death was extreme, it portrays her as a tragic character who lost it after a real betrayal. What does FGO does? Oh boy, FGO Kiyohime is just a crazy stalker creepy yandere who killed a monk (who was gay, by the way) who rejected her when she nightcrawled to his room (in case this gets lost in translation, google what is “nightcrawling” to get the extra disgusting implication), but because she insisted as the creepy obsessive woman she is, he promised her to meet her again to get her off his neck and escape, even though he had already made clear he wasn’t into her (or women) at all. She gets offended when he, the victim, runs away, chases and kills him. Now imagine if Kiyohime was a creepy stalker guy who slipped into a lesbian nun’s room when she sleeps to demand sex and a relationship and she tells him to sod off, but he doesn’t get the memo and chases after she escapes and burns her to death when she’s hiding because he was jilted. Now you get why her character is beyond gross. I shouldn’t even need to genderflip the story, but it seems some fans are too easily mislead by a cute waifu antics teehee. It’s fine to like her as long as you’re aware of her a problematic character and not a “cinnamon roll”. She rubs me wrong because it’s obviously an attempt to cash in with yandere-fans by twisting a story of a scorned woman who is lost in grief and anger which causes a tragedy. But it seems that otaku would take a gay man-burning crazy stalker over a nonvirgin. On the other hand, I REALLY love her design. It feels like a complete and absolutely tragedy of a waste character because I love her VA, her Art and classy design (summer and normal version) and NP, but the change made to her character was really appalling. -Beowulf: I don’t have strong feelings about him, but he’s one of the most world-famous heroes and yet he’s a footnote whose appearances consist on lose the fight to some of Nasu’s favorites (Li Shu Wen and Martha). He feels less than a character and more “That guy Nasu uses to show off how tough his favorites are in a fist fight”. Also his design sucks, his art is good but I just dislike the ‘modern’ look unless you’re going all hammy about it like Kintoki.-Caligula: He’s not a character, he’s just Nero’s accessory and blind worshipper for no reason. If they bothered to keep up with his historical background, he’ll be more into his horse and Iskandar, and, maybe, Iskandar’s horse. He has no real personality beyond NERO NERO NERO. Kind of a shame because his design is ok, and he is potentially interesting as a gross unhinged emperor.-Siegfried: Siegfried is… a good boy, but he became an unfunny joke that I can’t longer take seriously as a character thanks to FGO. He’s in serious need of a makeover. Introducing Kiemhild and Hagen could be a good start, he’s savagable, just not so fond of what he is now.-Elizabeth Bathory-Carmilla: Not so much that I dislike them as characters, but it kind of rubs me the wrong way the one that should be an older woman with a torture fetish is portrayed as a dragon idol while Carmilla, the one immortalized as a young girl by Le Fanu, is the older woman. If they switched designs, and made Carmilla a catgirl instead of a dragon girl, preferably, but I don’t mind them at all, just this kind of irks me because they kind of switched their usual thing? It’s not dislike, just confusion.- Mephistopheles: Or let’s take a famous devil in a classic to make him a murderous clown. What could go wrong? What’s even the point of this character, really? I love his artist and his VA, but this takes the cake of the most wasted character in FGO and has zero to do with his portrayal. I mean, I get the adaptation about homunculus stuff, but it was kind of too jarring switch because none of his traits are like Mephistopheles, like AT ALL. Erik was kind of wasted and made a bishie cosplaying Freddy Krueger, but at least he keeps the Christine stuff and a mask, to say “Oh right this is the Phantom of the Opera.” Nothing about Mephistopheles makes me think “This is Mephistopheles!” It’s like Nasu and his boys were talking about character concepts and one was “Hey, guys, I just rented It, and I want to add an evil clown in FGO!”, “Sounds great, but who can be? We can’t just steal Pennywise, he’s copyrighted.” “I know, let’s make him Mephistopheles!” “Why?” “Er, it sounds like how a devilish clown would call himself” and boom. Something like that.

#fate grand order #fate series #favorite and least favorite portrayals #opinion #angra mainyu is my favorite servant #but I can't put him there #I think

23 notes · View notes

casantaloupe · 7 years

Text

So for my creative writing class I had to write a story of a character I made up meeting a zombie for the first time. So that happened. Anyway, I kinda liked it so here it is under the cut

Allow me to describe for you the first time I encountered the undead. It’s a moment that sticks with you, not just because of how terrifying it is, but because of how often you’ve imagined it before. And how wrong you were each of those times. You see, I’d always imagined that someday I’d run into some slow, sniffling, mostly-dead-but-not-really mass of rotting tissue in a dark alley, slowly cutting off my only escape and dooming me to a final five or six minutes of pure terror before it eviscerated my sorry ass. Or, if I was feeling particularly confident that day, I’d imagine how it would feel to run into that same situation and beat the living shit out of it. Well, non-living shit. You get the idea.

I’d imagine it cutting me off in the alley and slowly ambling toward me, my resolve hardening as the threat grew closer. Then, if I was feeling romantic, perhaps there would be a distressed, scantily-clad, damsel behind me, relying on me for her defense. Naturally, this fantasy would progress to me absolutely brutalizing this poor undead bastard, somehow without ruining my hair, and then the aforementioned damsel would be so impressed by my stunning display of masculinity and martial affinity that she would demand that I make love to her right then and there, undead corpse (is that superfluous?) notwithstanding.

And then I would wake up and remember that, considering who I am as a person and the women that I typically keep company with, this situation would probably be reversed. Whatever woman was unfortunate enough to babysit my useless ass would go re-murder the creature while I hid behind a dumpster, taking solace in the fact that I wasn’t the only trash in the alley and letting out a few super-manly squeaks whenever a piece of the undead getting its shit kicked in happened to land near me.

But, surprisingly enough, neither of these things is what happened the first time I met an undead. For one thing, we met at the Wendy’s drive through. On the other hand, I honestly didn’t realize what it was until I’d literally touched it. Now, I recognize, and freely admit, that I’m a grade A, FDA-approved dumbass. But this might’ve been the single dumbest moment of my life. Actually, I take that back. That thing with the C4 in the fireplace probably was (shut up, I needed to hide a birthday present). But this was the second dumbest moment of my life.

As I said before, I was in the Wendy’s drive through. You’d think that a literal zombie apocalypse would close down Wendy’s, or at least the drive through, but you’d be wrong. Living dead in the streets? Fuck it, let’s get a frosty.

The zombie had apparently had the same thought, and I ended up stuck behind him (them? Does gender carry over into zombieness? I kinda doubt it. I mean, I guess I could’ve asked them for their preferred pronouns but I don’t know how to spell argghghhgughghugh very well. Shit I just did. Ok, I don’t want to type that every time I refer to it. Or try to figure out plurals and possessives and all that shit. Fuck it, I’m just gonna use them. Or it. They/it can eat a dick-shaped brain if they don’t like it.) So here we were. Me, in my ’97 Toyota Avalon, in line for a Baconator and a frosty. The zombie, just standing right by the window doing nothing while a tired teenager who wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with this tried to convince it to go away. Now, I had the windows up and had some music on (Here I Go Again by White Snake. What? I’d had a shitty day and needed some motivation to go on. You try listening to that song and not getting motivated. Hell, it almost motivated me to order a chicken sandwich instead of the Baconator. Almost.), so I didn’t hear any of this. All I saw was delicious beef and bacon, and some stupid fuck standing in my way. So I honked. A lot. And when that did nothing, I did what any rational human being would do: I kept honking. Because I’m a problem-solver.

After about thirty seconds of honking, my attention span was stretched to the breaking point and I decided to get out of the car (pro tip: NEVER GET OUT OF THE CAR EVER YOU STUPID ASSHOLE) and confront this idiot standing in the way of my impending lunch. Now, I’m not normally a very aggressive person, but when I get hungry, things change. Snickers had it right. So I walk up to the thing in my way, and with all the confidence of a 22-year-old who’s never punched anything before, but has played about 300 hours of Tekken, I grab the figure’s shoulder and say, “Hey buddy, why don’t you AGHH OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!!?”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Wow, that was an unexpected way for that sentence to end. He went from bluster and belligerence to abject pants-pissing terror in the space of 3 words.” To which I would reply with: 1. You clearly don’t know me very well, that happens about once a week. And 2. Let’s see you almost eskimo kiss a zombie and not freak out. Quit judging me. Asshole.

So yeah, the thing turns around and it’s a zombie. Right in front of me. About 3 inches from my dumb face. And this was honestly one of the most surreal moments of my life. It was like I was so scared I went all the way back around the spectrum to calm again. Like my body didn’t know what to do with this insane spike of emotion, so it just said “Fuck it. No emotions for you.”

The zombie stood just in front of me. They were about 6 foot 2, just within the “kind of intimidating but not overly so” range of heights. They were wearing a large hoodie, which explains why I didn’t realize it was a zombie until I literally touched it. And its face was…weird. Like, really weird. Its mouth was open to a point that was unsettling without being obvious why. See, if it had been just slightly ajar it would’ve looked like someone breathing through their mouth, and if it had been wide open it would’ve looked like someone who was either really surprised or trying to catch some food in their mouth. Instead it was at an awkward in-between stage. Like the middle school of mouth openings. Like it couldn’t really decide what it wanted to be, so it decided to be half of all the things it thought was cool and that ended up being literally the worst choice it could’ve possibly made and all the other kids made fun of it and it had to sit at the lunch table all alone eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches on white bread and trying to pretend like it wanted to get picked last for kickball… sorry, what was I talking about? Right, the zombie. So its mouth was weird, we’ve established that. And projected a little bit. Moving on.

Stepping back and taking in the whole face, everything just moved further down the uncanny valley. Their face held a blank expression, as expected for a zombie, but it’s hard to describe what kind. You see, there are several types of blank expressions. There’s the blank expression you have when you watch someone steal your parking space right in front of you. The kind of blank expression where you just sit there and blink a couple times, staring off in a random direction like you’re Jim in The Office and there’s a camera watching you. This is the kind where you have to take a second to process. To sit there and think, “Wow, did that really just happen? Does God really hate me that much? Is this payback for candy bar I stole when I was 9? Who knew God was such a petty bitch.” This is what I call the Angry Blank.

There’s also the Confused Blank. This is the kind of blank expression where it’s your first day of college and you walk into your first class, all excited for this new journey you’re about to take and all the friends you’re gonna make, and you spend the first 15 minutes of class accidentally daydreaming about how great the next four years are gonna be and then you look up at the board and see a bunch of bullshit equations on the board and wonder what the fuck is going on, why are there equations in a first-year religion class, and then look around and see no one else questioning it, and then realize that you’re in the wrong room and this is a vector calculus course and your dumb ass could barely pass algebra 0.5 so you stand up and have to awkwardly step over about 13 seniors who are all trying to take notes and then the professor notices and stops talking for a second and you know he’s staring at you but you can’t turn around because it’s like you’re Frodo and the professor is the eye of Sauron and if you look at him he’ll steal your soul or some shit and you run out of the room and straight back to your dorm where you get on the computer and drop your religion class so you never have to go in that building again. That kind of blank expression.

And there are a few other types, but they aren’t relevant here so I’m going to ignore them like I’m a GOP senator and they’re climate change evidence. The zombie had a strange mixture of these two blank expressions on their face, like they were angry and trying to process it, but then while they were processing the anger they forgot why they were angry. So now they were just walking around, angry, hoping to run into something that would give them a brain-blast or something and remind them of why they were angry.

I took in all of this in about a second and a half, so terrified that I felt calm again, as I mentioned before. The zombie just stood there and looked at me, its dead eyes (both in the literal sense and the figurative sense) locked somewhere above my left shoulder, which was honestly the scariest part of the whole encounter. Either it was looking at something behind me, in which case I badly wanted to see what it was but didn’t want to turn away from the zombie in front of me because fear. Or it simply couldn’t focus its eyes on me and that was the best it could get, which is pretty creepy. We both stood there for a while, me not moving because I was afraid that its vision was based on movement like it was a goddamned T-rex and the zombie not moving because who the fuck knows? Eventually, the poor teenager working the window asked me if I was gonna order anything, drawing the zombie’s attention back to the window, and that was enough to break my reverie. I broke and sprinted the five feet to my car, got in so fast I slammed my head against the roof, possibly giving myself a concussion, and hauled ass out of that drive through, narrowly missing the zombie on my way out.

I drove straight to the Wendy’s on the other side of town and ordered myself a Baconator and two frosties because I’d fucking earned them. I just stared death in the face and ran away like a little bitch. I needed the calories if I was gonna keep running like that. Endurance had never been my strong suit.

#i like this class lol #this was fun as hell to write #writing

1 note · View note

the-bounce-back · 5 years

Text

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s safe to say that you lot are stressed right now. Stressing about gifts, stressing about outfits, stressing about your plans...stressing about whether your man is actually your man…

But I digress.

I say “you lot”, because this has literally never been - and most likely will never be - me. I definitely get clumped together with so-called Bitter Women™, because I genuinely believe that Valentine’s Day is a capitalist scam, designed to feed into women's insecurities of not having a significant other to blow money on them at expensive restaurants, spa breaks and cute gifts on the day.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I completely understand the hype. I’ve had a few amazing Valentine’s Day in my life - who doesn’t like dressing up, spending quality time with their favourite person and getting wined, dined and 69’d (if that’s what you’re into)? My point is that this can literally be done on any of the other 364 days of the year (baecations during summer months will always be better than shivering your nipples off in a freakum dress in February) when everything isn’t fully booked, overpriced and coming with so much pressure to get it “right”. But to each their own!

Coincidentally, this is the first year in a while that I am single on Valentines Day - and happily so. (Well, technically last year was - but I don’t count that because I was on a business trip and too busy abusing the company tab to reflect on or care about how I felt about being single again. Good times.). The main reason I’m happy about being single on Valentine’s Day - and every other day of the year - is because I’ve finally gotten to a place where I can give all the love, attention, appreciation and support to someone who genuinely deserves it: my damn self.

Yes, I definitely cringed and wanted to throw up while writing that. But on the other hand, I love love… So deal with it.

I reckon that the process of falling in love with yourself is rather complex, hard to explain and definitely varies from individual to individual. I’d say I’m a little more than halfway there - there are definitely some areas that I need to work on in order to fully love myself. I think the following three points - and everything that they include - are crucial and applicable to most people’s journey’s to self-love. You just need to identify the areas that you need to improve upon.

Learn how to love your own company.

Yes. I’m very much aware that everyone and their deaf great grandmother has heard that you should travel solo, take yourself out for dAtEs and set aside time every day to yourself. I’m also exhausted of hearing it. But hear me out.

Besides the obvious benefits of learning to love having time to yourself - like not using the company of significant others, friends and family members as distractions from your emotional insecurities (T is for Triggered!) - there are some often overlooked advantages of committing to being solo dolo for a while. Most of this I learned after deciding to get my own place in uni after living in a pigsty/caucasian bando as well as after my ex moved out, and I honestly hope that everyone gets to go through this at some point in their life as it is very character building.

Firstly, putting yourself in a position where there is no means of distracting yourself from actually feeling is something that I believe is a crucial part of the process of falling in love with yourself; regardless of if it’s the first time in doing so, or simply a case of finding your way back to self-love after traumatic experiences or being emotionally led astray in some other way. It’s one of those things that will probably be very uncomfortable at first, but once you get through the initial pain of it, you’ll probably end up addicted to it. When I found myself alone again after the break up I literally went out of my way to avoid being alone by ensuring I was constantly surrounded by people, and trying pretty much every unhealthy coping mechanism under the sun. However, it got to the point where it was starting to take a serious toll on my health, so I ended up unwillingly spending a lot of time alone.

It was a really hard time for me because I was suddenly forced to confront the feelings I had made such an effort to suppress. It soon became very clear that only talking about it in therapy once a week wasn’t enough and I had to just let myself feel whatever feelings came up. I could write a whole dissertation about that specific time of my life - about coming to terms with how the breakup had forced a truckload of self-blame and self-hate on me - but this blog is about healing and positivity, so I’m going to focus on the outcome of forcing myself to confront my feelings instead.

After a while it became very apparent to me that the loneliness I felt for a long time was slowly but surely morphing into genuine emotional independence. It took a long time, but little by little I found myself treasuring every moment I had to myself to just think and reflect on my life, my past, establishing my goals and planning my future. It’s very hard to put into words exactly how much learning how to be alone has affected my life positively, but if you have ever gone through and overcome something I really recommend to just take a moment to yourself to consider how you first felt when it happened to you, and then consider where you are now.

Trust me. When you finally realise how strong and resilient you have become from all the time doing you, my best guess is that you too will become addicted to being alone and focusing purely on yourself and your peace. Partly because you’ll be aware that you don’t need anyone else to hold your hand through the madness that is guaranteed to pop up every now and again, and partly because you’ll realise that a lot of the sh*t that you used to be afraid to confront head on can’t even hurt you anymore.

Secondly and finally - solo trips and solo dates are f*cking great. Once you get past the insecurity of being alone in public - as well as realising that your company is amazing - you’ll probably never want to go see a movie with your loud-ass, annoying-ass friends ever again. Just believe me on this.

Embrace both the easy and difficult parts of #self-care.

I’d like to start off by saying that I absolutely adore this #self-care movement that's emerged over the past years. I love that I can put my phone in airplane mode, ignore everyone, spend my last pennies before my next payday on scented candles, wine and glitter nail polish, and then go home to stare at the wall for hours in a bubble bath with a face mask on and scream that it’s #self-care.

I mean… I was definitely doing all this before the movement, but at least now I have an excuse. Love it.

All jokes aside - although the above is important, I feel like people end up overseeing the actual hard part of taking care of their mental health and genuinely convince themselves that smearing mashed up banana on their faces three nights a week will magically make everything in their life better. For me, self care extends to making yourself comfortable with being emotionally uncomfortable and brutally honest with yourself. Learning how to critically challenge your own thought processes and feelings - especially in relation to your perception of self-worth - is imperative in order to truly care for yourself.

“But Liv! Isn’t criticising yourself the polar opposite of caring for yourself? How am I supposed to embrace #self-care if I’m constantly questioning myself?”

Excellent question, beloved alter ego! I’m glad you asked. The way I see it, there’s a thin line between criticising your actual self and criticising your mindset, if that makes sense. A good example of this is self-deprecation, even if it’s just as a joke. You might make one little mistake at work or say something wrong and joke about how dumb you are and then move on with your day. No harm done, right?

Wrong. At least for me, that is. I’ve gotten so accustomed to dragging myself on a daily basis as a jOkE that it never really occurred to me that constantly joking about being a dumb b*tch might actually end up with me subconsciously internalising it and lowkey believing it. I came across the video below and it really made me rethink how I regard myself.

Peak, right? I’m always very self-aware of all my faults and shortcomings but it’s actually only recently I’ve become aware of how mean I am to myself (Although not going to lie, this video is probably a bad example because I definitely talk to my friends like this, too). Hearing the stuff you usually internalise said out loud really makes you realise how hurtful it is - and immensely damaging to your perception of self-worth.

Hopefully you see where I’m going with this; Enter the Self-Care G-Check™. This is where you catch yourself thinking self-deprecating thoughts and force yourself to figure out why you think whatever thing you’ve done wrong warrants such a spiteful internal attack. Chances are, you’ll either have a concrete reason as to why you’re being so hard on yourself about it (and work on easing up on yourself), or you’ll just realise that you’re being horrible to yourself for no reason and stop. This is definitely the hardest part for me and what I need to work the hardest on, even though I have gotten significantly better at not immediately blaming myself for everything bad that happens in my life.

Another approach to #self-care to consider is literally imagining that you are in an actual relationship with yourself - which to be fair, you are. This is particularly helpful if you are or have been in a relationship before, because I reckon it will make it easier to understand - but not necessarily.

When you’re in a relationship with someone, you (hopefully) are your significant others peace of mind, inspiration, support system, biggest cheerleader and head over heels in luuurve. You also (again… hopefully) genuinely care about their thoughts and feelings, and want to make them feel appreciated, loved and to see their worth. If you’re lucky enough to feel/have felt this way about someone, I dare you to argue as to why you shouldn’t apply the same energy to yourself.

If you think about it, the concept of thinking that someone else is more worthy of all our love and support than ourselves is extremely bizarre. It genuinely frustrates me that I’ve actually felt like this before, and I really hope that whoever this resonates with takes the time to reevaluate their emotional priorities - because as morbid and cliche as it may sound, at the end of the day we only really have ourselves to depend on in this life. I genuinely worry that there are some people that will lay on their deathbeds and realise that they lived their entire life pleasing others and neglecting their own happiness, hopes and dreams.

Wow, that got dark. But you get the point, I hope - putting yourself first regardless of if you’re in a relationship or not is imperative in terms of self-care. Feel free to treat yourself to a banana face mask once you master this. You’ve earned it.

Know thyself.

So this point pretty much ties up the previous two and is self-explanatory. Based on my own experience, I can genuinely say that learning how to be comfortable alone with my thoughts and critically analysing my negative and self-deprecating feelings about myself has given me a new level of respect and understanding for my psyche. I can confidently say that I am still learning the full extent of my worth and strength, and I am becoming more aware of how mindblowingly amazing I am with every day that passes - and I really hope that everyone reading this can feel like this or are already feeling like this.

Of course, I appreciate that everyone’s process differs wildly - that goes without saying. Only you know what’s holding you back from letting you love and appreciate yourself the way you deserve, and you owe it to yourself to figure yourself out and know exactly what to do to care for you in the best way. In all honesty, these points are extremely fluid - you can definitely bend and redefine them in a way that makes them more relevant to you and your growth.

The most important thing for me is that everyone reading this comes away realising that regardless of if they are single, in a relationship or in any other kind of arrangement really and truly understand that love and happiness stems from you, and not anybody or anything else. Especially not a sh*tty and tacky holiday.

I really and truly believe that if you take the time out to delve deeper into the three points above and really get to know yourself, you’ll start to see yourself in a much more positive light. Being able to identify and truly appreciate your strengths - while simultaneously constructively addressing your flaws - is such an imperative skill to possess while being stuck in a capitalist and patriarchal society that literally thrives off of women's’ ever-growing insecurities and misery.

Hopefully this time next year - regardless of if you’re single or in a healthy, happy and supportive relationship - you’ll feel empowered enough to reject the spirit of this moronic capitalist trap that people call Valentines Day.

...If that’s what you want to do, of course. Do whatever makes you happy - but I’m not going to lie, I’m definitely taking advantage of the half-price chocolate and sweets that come on the day after. Get with the winning (and financially responsible) team, beloved.

Love,

Liv

#selfhelp #goals #Empowerment #selflove

0 notes

unionrising · 7 years

Photo

Who are the trolls?

What we know about the men (and sometimes women) who spend their days trying to provoke a reaction on the internet.

Dissociative anonymity ("my actions can't be attributed to my person"); invisibility ("nobody can tell what I look like, or judge my tone"); asynchronicity ("my actions do not occur in real-time"); solipsistic Introjection ("I can't see these people, I have to guess at who they are and their intent"); dissociative imagination ("this is not the real world, these are not real people"); and minimising authority ("there are no authority figures here, I can act freely").

"There’s the disturbing possibility that people are creating online environments purely to express the type of racist, homophobic, or sexist speech that is no longer acceptable in public society, at work, or even at home.”

Feminist writer Lindy West receives a daily deluge of hate on Twitter and Facebook for her work on everything from body image to rape. The abuse became unbearable when one tormentor created a fake Twitter account for West’s father, who had recently passed away, and tweeted cruel comments about West.

Alt-Right Racists Teach Newbies How To Troll

Andrew Anglin’s blog, The Daily Stormer, is an anti-semitic breeding ground for racist trolls that Anglin claims is the “most visited alt-right website” in the world. “Now is the time to reach out to the masses to exponentially increase our numbers and finish (((them))),” Anglin wrote; the triple parentheses is alt-right code for Jews. ...encouraging his followers to continue being as racist as possible.“So make sure to tone down the hate speech and bigotry, okay guys? We have to appeal to norms,” he wrote in a post. “LOL! Just kidding. Keep on gassing kikes as usual, my friends. Don’t ever change.”

The Unbelievable Harassment Black Women Face Daily on Twitter

“I get attacked on a daily basis," she told AlterNet in an interview. “There’s not a day that goes by when someone isn’t trolling or harassing me. But what I’ve also noticed is that the kind of direct defense that I receive has been relatively minimal, and it usually comes from the same people every time. Some people say to me, 'Oh I see you’re handling it, so I figure that you’ve got it' or 'You’re such a strong woman. You got it. You take it on your shoulders and you’re just so good at it.' And I don’t know if it’s the strong black women trope or something else, but a lot of people feel I don’t need the help and so they don’t. I also think some people are afraid of catching the same kind of heat if they intervene directly.”

"I've had lynching threats. People send me terrible historical pictures of our ancestors being lynched. So proportionately speaking, if you're not a person of color, you will not get that. Let's say there are 100 insults in the world, there are more of them that apply to us. When a white woman gets terrible harassment about being raped, attacked or killed, that's very serious as well. But there's no way she can get the lynching threats with historical pictures of black people. So there's a whole other section of ugly, hideous things people feel they can say to us."

The truth about trolls and the men they worship

A man who threatens women can generate more concern within the tech industry than female victims of abuse. Andrew "weev" Auernheimer, a well-known provocateur, hacker, and anti-Semite, is part of an internet subculture where might makes right, where the only moral code is for the superior to enforce their will on the inferior.

The “alt-right” now had an opportunity to inject racism, misogyny, and xenophobia into mainstream American politics. Provocative but obscure online rhetoric was quickly morphing into something more serious and powerful: the normalization of the politics of hate.

What was once obscure rhetoric and hate speech festering in the backwaters of the internet has since bloomed into a loose-knit extremist movement with the prospect of unprecedented influence in the White House. Here's how it happened.

2014 - Gamergate trolls target female video game developers and journalists, creating a model for the social-media mobs of the alt-right.

April 2015 - The New York Times and the Washington Post each partner with author Peter Schweizer, Breitbart's senior editor-at-large, for reporting based on his controversial investigative book Clinton Cash. During the 2016 election, Breitbart News offers a "free global broadcast" of the film adaptation—written and produced by Bannon.

June 2015 - Donald Trump announces his candidacy for president, electrifying white nationalists with his disparagement of Mexican criminals and "rapists." Trump soon garners endorsements from nearly two dozen neo-Nazi, KKK, and other extremist leaders.

October 2015 - Trump tweets an image of himself as Pepe the Frog, a symbol of the alt-right.

March 2016 - Milo Yiannopoulos and a fellow Breitbart writer publish a lengthy "Establishment Conservative's Guide to the Alt-Right," denying the movement's leaders are racist and calling them "dangerously bright."

September 2016 - "Racialist" leaders, led by Richard Spencer, hold a press conference characterized as a "coming-out party" for the movement. Yiannopoulos ramps up a tour of college campuses. The Anti-Defamation League lists cartoon character Pepe the Frog as a hate symbol.

November 2016 - Spencer says the alt-right is "the vanguard of Trumpian populism" and will be a "critical force" pushing Trump "in the right direction." Trump names Bannon as his White House chief strategist.

It never would have happened without Trump acting as troll in chief. Already admired by extremists for his ongoing birther crusade against President Barack Obama, Trump riveted their attention when he announced his White House run and vowed to build a border wall to keep out Mexican criminals and "rapists." That soon earned him praise from a who's who of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and militia supporters.

Prior to Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon, former head of the alt-right “news” website Breitbart, as his campaign chief (and later White House chief strategist), many people and members of the media wrote off the site and its reporters as trolling the general populace — even though it claimed around 8 million readers at the beginning of the year, a number that would jump to over 18 million thanks to the election. As polls and pundits dismissed Trump’s chances of winning in the lead-up to the election, many people dismissed alt-right trolling, too.

"It's not just that [journalists] are leftists and cucks," anti-Semite Richard Spencer railed at a recent meeting filmed by The Atlantic. "Indeed, one wonders if these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem."

"I am not a troll, but I kind of get them," says Spencer. "They are real and in some ways they have advanced the movement more than I have."

Trump's brazen political style thrilled the trolls—and he showed them, by engaging them throughout his campaign, that they could have political currency.

It’s not a failure of human intelligence that many people failed to take “trolling” more seriously. Much in the same way that fake news on Facebook was easy to dismiss until people realized its potential to massively influence many voters’ viewpoints, trolling obfuscates truth and reality, often through satirical means, in order to mask sincere propaganda.

The alt-right has elevated fringe trolling into a virulent form of propaganda that Spencer and others dub "meme magic." Trolls push hateful memes such as the Jewish "Happy Merchant" and the black "dindu nuffin" (a slur meant to echo "I didn't do nothin'") without fear of censure, thanks to the anonymity of Twitter and other platforms. Some journalists have speculated that the spread of this content is in part the work of Russian troll farms, though the extent of foreign involvement is unknown.

San Francisco-based entrepreneur and alt-right blogger Curtis Yarvin laid out a political philosophy known as neoreaction or the "Dark Enlightenment." Combining a technocratic sensibility with reactionary political thought, neoreaction rejects Enlightenment concepts such as democracy and equality and instead advocates something much closer to authoritarianism.

Peter Thiel, who reportedly donated more than $1 million to Trump's campaign and was named to his transition team in November, has circled neoreactionary ideas. "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible," he wrote on the Cato Institute's blog in 2009, adding that women and "welfare beneficiaries" have through their voting habits "rendered the notion of 'capitalist democracy' into an oxymoron."

Trolling distorts reality in order to trick you into dismissing its message

Meme culture allowed the alt-right’s white supremacy to spread online. “Don’t feed the trolls” failed spectacularly as a tactic during the 2016 election cycle, stunning many people who assumed the alt-right’s tactics were juvenile and easily seen-through.

One of the most significant and pernicious ways that members of the alt-right use trolling is to create a sincerity-proof chamber of distortion surrounding what their actual message is. They do this by pretending that what they’re really doing is satirically spoofing how progressives and members of the media view conservatives.

If you try to play along with the alt-right’s hyperbole by intellectualizing it (for example, by painting it primarily as cultural commentary), dismissing it as trolling, or simply ignoring it altogether, you risk glossing over actual dangerous messages: racist, misogynistic, bigoted, and violent symbolism and language.

Anglin lays out the unifying themes of the alt-right movement — misogyny, anti-Semitism, racism, and white nationalism — and explains how meme culture, trolling, and conspiracy theories have linked them under one umbrella term. Further garnishing that hate-filled combination with a large dollop of irony is what allows the alt-right’s troll culture, according to Anglin, to spread its white supremacist message.

Anglin acknowledges in his blog post that the alt-right’s use of ironic hyperbole “can be confusing to the mainstream, given the level of irony involved. The amount of humor and vulgarity confuses people.”

But he’s also very clear that the point of using irony is to mask something utterly straightforward: “The true nature of the movement, however, is serious and idealistic.” In a postmodern, post-ironic culture, he argues, “absolute idealism must be couched in irony in order to be taken seriously.”

What Anglin calls “idealism,” many people consider dangerous white nationalism.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/09/trolls-men-witch-hunt-internet

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/trump-white-nationalists-hate-racism-power

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/alt-right-timeline-bannon-breitbart-trump

http://www.vox.com/2016/11/23/13659634/alt-right-trolling

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/12/4693710/the-end-of-kindness-weev-and-the-cult-of-the-angry-young-man

http://www.alternet.org/unbelievable-harassment-black-women-face-daily-twitter

http://www.newstatesman.com/helen-lewis/2013/07/who-are-trolls

http://www.vocativ.com/354901/alt-right-racists-teach-newbies-how-to-troll-following-hillary-clinton-speech/

http://b1nd1.deviantart.com/art/Internet-Jerks-207469542

http://www.neontommy.com/news/2015/02/twitter-ceo-vows-fix-trolling-problem

#milo yiannopoulos #richard spencer #steve bannon #weev #andrew anglin #curtis yarvin #peter thiel #breitbart #stop trump #white supremecists #misogyny #anti-semitism #racism

18 notes · View notes

foursprout-blog · 6 years

Text

20 Things 20-Somethings Should Do Right Now To Build A Life That Feels Good

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/20-things-20-somethings-should-do-right-now-to-build-a-life-that-feels-good/

20 Things 20-Somethings Should Do Right Now To Build A Life That Feels Good

Twenty20/ @meganmeza

1. Make a budget. Calculate all your expenses. Subtract the total from your net income. Use the remainder to cushion your emergency fund, retirement savings, and your short-term goals (vacation, new car, wedding, etc.).

2. Pay down your debt. I don’t care how low the interest rate is or what kind of debt it is — debt is debt. Stop justifying why you’re only putting down the minimum payment. This is stopping you from taking risks in your career, exploring your interests/hobbies, and essentially everything else that you want to do with your life. Your future self deserves a life free of financial anxiety. Please, for the love of god, create a swift debt-repayment plan and implement it now.

3. Unplug. The Internet is a wonderful place (you’re reading this right now!), but it’s important to know its role in your life. Establish boundaries. Read a physical book. Take a walk in nature. Host a night of board games with your friends. Write in a physical journal. Set aside some time every day to shut down the laptop, put away your phone and tuck away your tablet.

4. Slow down. A consequence of being part of a digital era, we feel the pressure to do something all the time. We have to be the all-star at work. We have to update our social media. We have to have an immaculate home. We have to look our best 24/7. Just say no. Sooner rather than later you’ll burn out and crash. Let some things fall to the wayside — intentionally.

5. Develop habits, not goals. Happiness is a byproduct of progress, not achievement. The problem with goals is that it’s a constant treadmill — you accomplish one, you set your sights on another. It’s much more fulfilling to concentrate on developing daily habits & routines. For example, waking up early, exercising each day, or bringing your lunch to work 4 out of the 5 days of the week. Sooner than later, these habits will become ingrained and you’ll be living a happier and healthier lifestyle.

6. Learn to live with people you dislike. I don’t mean live in a literal sense — I mean not losing your shit when you encounter sexist, racist, homophobic or just, in general, rude, ungrateful or ignorant people. This has been the most difficult things that I have had to work on. I’m a minority at about three intersections (a woman of colour who is queer), so quite understandably I get a little sensitive when someone says something ignorant about one of the communities of which I, in some part, belong to. But… these people will populate society until I die. I learned that it’s okay to not get along with everyone. I don’t need to waste my time trying to change their mind.

7. Experiment, take risks, and make plenty of mistakes. Now, more than ever, is the perfect time to experiment. We are the sum of our experiences — so experience as much as possible. Make mistakes, learn from them, and then go on and make different ones. I don’t mean this to insinuate that you should get all the mistakes out of your system while you’re young, because you’ll certainly make mistakes when you’re older. I mean take bold actions now so you can learn more about yourself in the process.

8. Pursue your hobbies. How many times have you told someone, “I would love to take a class on [x],” or, “This sports league looks great,” but never actually followed-through on signing up? Or decided that it’s not worth your money? Or even worse, determine that you have no one to go with and don’t want to do it alone? We don’t take our interests seriously — to our detriment. It’s as if we would rather sit at home instead mind-numbingly scrolling through social media or going out drinking with our friends, as if we don’t do that enough. Don’t get bogged down by the details of the thing. Just explore what you like, make new friends, and see where it leads. You’ll be a happier and more fulfilled person because of it.

9. Read books, not just blogs and articles. I’ve mentioned before that I consider reading a duty. No, it’s not because it’ll help you succeed in school or in your career, although it greatly increases your odds, but because you’ll be a better person for it. There is a literally a book out there to help you understand and process every single emotion you have ever felt and will ever feel in your life. Books help you become a more nuanced and thoughtful person. Books humble you. Books validate you. Books challenge you. Books grow you. Books save you from making perilous mistakes. Books accompany you when you’re feeling alienated and misunderstood.

10. Accept that progress is not linear, especially in your career. We have this unhealthy misconception that our career trajectory goes something like this: attend school → secure entry-level job → put in work for 1 – 3 years → receive steady promotions → end up in upper management. In reality, it looks more like this: school → take a break → work a low-wage job → return to school → work another low-wage job → quit to work at another low-wage job → question all your life choices → pick up a few side-hustles → get promoted at work → catch a lucky break → start earning a decent income doing what you love.

11. Learn how to be present. Seriously. In the words of Brianna Wiest, “The past is obsolete and the future is pending. You may attach yourself to these concepts, they are just figments of your imagination. It is a false comfort you get from them. Learn to be comforted and even astounded at what you have right now, and how beautiful it is.” Appreciate what it means to be alive now, not what it will mean to be alive in five years from now. Social media throws out all these qualifiers for happiness: You just need to be debt free and then you will be happy. You just have to buy this shirt and you will effortlessly cool and then you will be happy. You just need to wake up at 5:00 a.m. every morning and be productive as f*ck and you will be happy. You don’t need to do any of these things in order to appreciate all the wonderful things in your life that you have already. That’s not being unambitious. That’s pragmatic gratitude.

12. Take things slow. Life is (usually) much longer than you think. Not everything requires your immediate attention. You don’t need to cross things off your To Do List as fast as possible. You don’t need to overwork yourself to chase a promotion that you want to receive by some arbitrary deadline you set for yourself. Relax. Take a deep breath. Take time to meander, laze around, and, most importantly, think! Decide to take the long way home. Explore a new neighbourhood in your city. Spend an entire evening watching terrible reality tv (yes, you can watch tv). Enjoy yourself. Enjoy the journey of your becoming. As Seneca famously said, “Life, if well lived, is long enough.”

13. Stop talking about what you’re going to do and just do it. With the rise of social media, we run into the problem of putting the cart before the horse; talking the talk before walking the walk. We need to stop doing that. As I start new projects, whether it’s practicing law or pursuing my writing, I have to constantly remind myself that it’s much better to just work on things privately and release it when it’s done. Have the results speak for itself.

14. Evaluate where your sources of information comes from. We think we understand a particular issue or topic because we read a few articles about it from a newspaper, online publication or, perhaps more accurately, a blogger or writer we enjoy. But instead of just taking their word for it, we need to take a step back and see what biases, perspectives or political leanings that the source has. I’m not saying that it’s terrible to receive information from sources that align with your opinions or perspectives, I’m simply stating that we need to recognize that.

15. Construct the environment you need in order to facilitate “deep work.” Do you work best at home? Or do you enjoy working alongside other creatives in a co-working space? Do you listen to music while you work? Or can you only think when it’s absolutely silent? Determine what’s the most optimal setting for you to do your best work.

16. Don’t live for today. Live for tomorrow. And the week after that. And the month after that. For some reason, we experience dissonance from our future selves; we can’t connect with who we will be in 10 years. That’s why we have no problem eating tons of junk food, going for long periods of time without exercising, and impulsively buying ephemeral pleasures instead of contributing to our retirement savings. If we stay on this path, our future self is going to hate us. Start creating habits that will help ourselves out in a year, 5 years, 10 years from now. It’s not self-restraint. It’s self-discipline.

17. Ensure your actions sync up with your words. The people whose opinions you value don’t care about how much you make, what you wear, or what car is parked in your garage. People care about your character, the respect you give to others, and the commitments you make and keep. Build a reputation on being someone of integrity and principles.

18. Stop saying what people want to hear. If you’re honest, and you have some evidence to back up your position, people will respect you much more than simply being a mouthpiece for their pre-existing beliefs. Sucking up to people, whether it’s a boss or an influencer, does no one a favour. Be willing to be critical, when the situation calls for it, and hold firm on your beliefs. Good decisions, or the journey towards making decisions, are never based on “yes men (or women).” Have the courage to stand out, if you really do have a valid and unique contribution to make. People might disagree on the merits of the opinion, but they will respect you.

19. Be unabashedly ambitious about the real things. If your definition of a good life is to live out of a camper and drive across the country for the rest of your life, then be stubbornly unwavering about it. Do what it takes to get there. Hey, it may not be my idea of a good time, but at least it’s a more purposeful goal than just earning a certain level of income to buy status symbols.

20. Ask yourself the hard questions. Underneath the expensive clothes, accessories, and home — who are you really? What do you stand for? What will you defend? What matters to you? What makes up your ideal day? Who do you want to surround yourself with? What do you want to achieve? What gifts can you contribute to the world? Answer the tough questions, before someone else answers them for you.

#Happiness

0 notes

foursprouthappiness-blog · 6 years

Text

20 Things 20-Somethings Should Do Right Now To Build A Life That Feels Good

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/20-things-20-somethings-should-do-right-now-to-build-a-life-that-feels-good-2/

20 Things 20-Somethings Should Do Right Now To Build A Life That Feels Good

Twenty20/ @meganmeza

#Happiness

0 notes