#like just look at any of the common dynamics or fetishes in both gay and straight sexuality

[determinate-negation]

for the record i am extremely against the liberal idea that peoples sexual preferences are “just what they like” and theres nothing deeper than that. all sexuality is psychosexuality, all of it is based in social relations and influenced by real history. it should be critiqued. however i also think this should be applied to everything instead of this weird thing people do on here where they try to insist that their specific fetishization of power dynamics is separate from those other bad fetishizations of power dynamics

#like just look at any of the common dynamics or fetishes in both gay and straight sexuality #its all fetishization of professions that have certain societal and often violent power over people #or fetishization of very real familial dynamics of power #or fetishization of circumstances of abuse #etc #mine

[cool-island-songs]

11 and 25 for the dangerous game >:3

thanks mal! <33 (from this ask game)

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

just 3 on this account cuz it's my personal, none on my fanart archiving blog, and 7 on twitter though funnily enough half of those are stranger things-related from a period where i really couldn't escape stranger things. nothing against it—i just only want to see sp stuff and i guess there was a significant enough overlap for a bit

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

generally a lot of things that annoy me stem from the trend of complaining about "fetishization" (yaoi or just shipping culture i guess?) or acting like people are doing anything wrong or in need of pathologizing for interacting with fandom in a way that was totally routine a decade ago. that they need to show they're sufficiently queer and not focused on sexuality in any ~weird way. honestly, i find that sort of thing easy enough to block out on its own (there's more of it on twitter but i just look at art over there). young people often have shame about sexuality and it's none of my business or anything i would ever argue with someone about. i just disengage

it's more the reactions people have to being told they're doing something problematic. there's this endless chain of moral rationalizations for why it's ok to like the thing that piques one's interest because actually it's woke and you don't get it, i'm gay enough to like standard yaoi tropes. some real gay people are like this! you know.. like, why engage this in the first place? why lend any credence to this viewpoint by debating it on its own terms? you don't need to justify yourself to anyone. just keep yaoifying those fake guys

people end up making really weird generalizations about gender, sexuality, mental health, drug use, etc. in an effort to enjoy the old 00s yaoi tropes. to all those who do this, I'm here to tell you you can just enjoy whatever and no one can stop you. personally, even as a smut writer, i like when characters feel whole and often enjoy a fic less if i feel someone is being reduced to gendered stereotypes or flattened in some other way that doesn't interest or challenge me. but those are my own personal feelings and highly subjective besides

i also don't think sharing some broad identity marker with the character you are writing actually shields you from poor characterization. people can "fetishize" themselves easily (and sometimes that's what people want to read/write, and who cares), and it can be hard to write well-developed characters! i just like to read and view things i enjoy on the merits of the work alone

general "you can't ship that" and "he would never top/bottom" sentiments are similarly grating. people can and do ship literally anything and it can't be stamped out so idk why people waste their time streisand effecting ships/dynamics they don't like. with both of these, there's a sense of deluded entitlement, like if people weren't making stuff for their ship/dynamic, they'd be making it for yours. i promise you that that type of hectoring actually just drives people away from what you like. in general, people are often quite fixed in who their faves are and how they like them in romantic/sexual situations. but for those like me, who really can potentially like anything if sold in a way i find compelling, this stuff really confounds and frustrates me. people are bad at getting what they want because of this need to emotionally react without thinking through the way it might impact others. sad stuff to see from adults in particular tbh

#asks #shortkingkenny #thanks for the ask and sorry it was long as hell 😭 #south park #discourse #shipping discourse

[epic-sorcerer]

Queer imagery in BBC Merlin

Content warning: kink/fetish, fisting in particular but I show I big image containing a long list of different kinks, homophobia, dom/sub dynamics, sex

Merlin is shown wearing a purple tunic in s4, despite the fact he is a servant and purple(especially with such saturation) was extremely expensive bc purple dye was so hard to make. Gwen also has a light purple dress(or maybe 2? It’s hard to tell). Even though it’s definitely lighter than Merlins tunic, it’s still expensive.

it was illegal for peasants to wear expensive fabrics because of the Sumptuary Law. Basically it makes sure that lower class people are not fashionable. However, BBC Merlin doesn’t seam to care about that law, considering Merlins other bright clothing so take this was a grain of salt.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that there’s no way they could have gotten their hands on these clothes without the help of nobles. Gwen might have, because she works with clothing and could have easily mixed blue and red dye together. Merlin probably not have because he’s never shown to be particularly materialistic or interested much in fashion, despite his bright clothes. Bright Purple would have been much, much harder to get.

It makes the most sense for Merlin and possibly Gwen too to have been gifted such expensive clothing by a noble for being a good servant. I’d imagine Arthur would be the one to give Merlin the tunic and morgana the dresses.

Why does this matter? Lavender(and also purple in general) was considered a queer color starting in the 19th century. Queer men especially were said to possess a “streak of lavender” and a serge of homophobia at the time was often referred to as the “Lavender Scare.” Purple and lavender is still used now to symbolize queerness.

Since Merlin is a modern interpretation of Arthurian myths, it would be perfectly plausible that this symbol was on purpose. Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana are both extremely popular ships and they are both shown to have a very deep form of trust(Gwen/Morgana being at the beginning of the show). Arthur and Morgana gifting Merlin and Gwen purple clothing could be show them they accept their queerness and/or signaling their own queer attraction to them.

Now, this next symbolism concerns only Merlin/Arthur.

Merlin is shown to have three neckerchiefs.

Navy blue, red, and light grey. Why does this matter? Well, let’s take a look at something called the handkerchief code, also known as the hanky code or “flagging.”

This code has its origins all the way back in time during the Wild West in the USA, but got more popular during the late 20th century in USA and UK gay bars. This code was used mainly by queer men and some nonbinary people to signal to other queers what they wanted sexually. While typically worn in people’s back pockets, a handkerchief could also be worn around one’s neck to show they are a versatile and experienced.

According to this code, Merlin is into;

Red: fisting and getting fisted. This color was hard to get an exact shade from, but the second best option was dark red for double fisting which is honestly so similar I’m not sure if it really matters much.

Light grey: stone topping and getting fucked by a stone top

Navy blue: fucking and being fucked anally

For any one wanting to make their own interpretations of Merlins neckerchief colors(the lighting makes it hard to tell the exact ones) have a look at this handy chart

Not only that, but Arthur is seen wearing a favour on his left arm in s3 ep 4.

What’s a favour? It’s a fabric strip of affection commonly given by maidens to knights before a tournament as a symbol of good luck. It’s often a very important scarf, hankcerchlif , towel, really any bit of cloth that can be tied around someone’s arm. This is also a popular trope in historical media for a female love interest to give a favour to a male one to show chemistry between them.

Regardless of your stance on Merlins gender identity, you have to admit how commonly Merlin is shown to be gender nonconforming(GNC) or otherwise be associated with “womanly” qualities. Especially in a society so heteronormative, the only “pure” option for a knight receiving a romantic gesture would have it be from a woman. If the token was from a queer man, it would also out the noble and cause lots of horrific chaos and destroy both of their reputations.

Even if it was common for women to give knights favours, queer men still existed and with that came romantic gestures—this time hopefully more secret.

Even though the favour on Arthur’s arm doesn’t look exactly like Merlin’s neckerchief, Merlin was the only person to speak with him while preparing for the tournament. Also, the original theorist who I linked in my sources also pointed out that Merlins neckerchief looks lopsided. Almost like Merlin tore off a bit of it and hastily tied it back on.

Although this theory is definitely flawed, it doesn’t matter. Arthur is still wearing a red handkerchief on his left arm. But what does that tell us exactly?

Regardless of wether or not it was Merlin’s, the red is the same shade and also implies Arthur is also into fisting. What about the placement? Sicne it’s on his left, it shows that he is a top/dom, meaning that he prefers to be the one fisting. Since it is worn around his upper arm, it shows that he is simply into the fetish, compared to what other placements mean. In another source, it shows taht upper arm means switch, but because Arthur is wearing it on his left it wouldn’t really make sense for him to signal being a “top-switch” compared to being a top and having the fetish in general.

If you look closely, you can see a different colored stripe on the favour. It’s hard to tell exactly what the color is, it could be yellow, gold, orange, etc. because the color is so dubious, I’ll just leave y’all with a list of color meanings that may apply to Arthur’s favour.

YELLOW: pisser/watersports kink

YELLOW, Pale: spitter/spit kink

MUSTARD: Has 8+ inch dick

GOLD: two looking for one

ORANGE: anything anytime

Also, it’s important to bring up what many in thsi fandom refer to as the “fisting scene.” Where Arthur threatens Merlin by showing him his gloved fist and pulling a bit at the glove.

In the blooper, you can see Merlin’s actor(Colin Morgan) breaking character and giggling as Arthur shows him his fist. Many in the fandom agree that this was a clear innuendo for fisting, and it is very well possible.

Merlin is shown hitting Arthur and saying he was just doing some horse play, but still indirectly convincing Arthur that he needs to teach Merlin a lesson. This is actually a common act in BDSM sex, where the submissive person purposely angers the dominant into punishing them in a way that somehow involves sex or fetish play.

If you look closely, you can see Merlin is wearing at kinky red fisting handkerchief, showing Merlin is perfectly capable of being a submissive fistee. Also, the hanky code also includes other symbols such as latex or rubber gloves that, surprise surprise, also mean fisting. Although it’s more likely Arthur’s gloves where made of leather, it can still further be interpreted as a fisting symbol if you want. Either way, Arthur’s favour still holds water as he is undoubtedly the dom in this situation.

Also, Merlin is very impulsive and a madlad. Tell me he wouldn’t wear his secret fetish symbols infrount of stuck up, Roman Catholics who are none the wiser. He’d probably think it’s hilarious which is probably why he wears them almost everyday. Merlin loves playfully misbehaving(and is also a brat sometimes) so it makes sense for him to have some dangerous fun.

Now, you may be asking. Why does this matter? At the end of the day, it probably wasn’t intentional. Well, there is alwyas room for doupt BUT I do have some ferther proof. One of the co writers of BBC Merlin—Johnny Capps—actually won a Stone Wall Award. You know, an award named after a core part of queer culture?

The award’s website and Wikipedia page say they give the award for art that describes the LGBT experience well. While I am unsure why or what Capps made to be nominated, it still shows he is very much in touch with queer culture. Capp himself even said at an interview about Merlin, “... in the end, deep, deep down it’s about sexuality and things you just can’t tackle head-on.”

Well, what says more about sexuality than the main characters fist fucking each other? That’s a lot of sexuality. While I am unsure of Capp’s age, he does look to be about middle age and it would make sense for him to know about a code popularized in a 70s to 90s. Especially for someone who has made multiple queer oriented stories in his life time.

Sources:

Why is purple considered the color of royalty?

Sumptuary law

How lavender became a symbol of LGBTQ resistance

How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance(part 2)

flagging opinicus rampant

Handkerchief code

DO YOU KNOW THE HANKY CODE?

Picspam: The Red Favour (Proof of Arthur Wearing Merlin's Favour in 3x04)

Five medieval love tokens

The Lady's Favour

Hanky codes

Nominees for Stonewall Awards announced

Merlin series 5 spoiler-free launch report

Pls reblog I spent hours on this /np 😭👊

#tw kink mention #tw sex talk #tw eye strain #tw homophobia #tw queerphobia #research essay #long post #Merlin #bbc Merlin #Merlin bbc #merthur #merlin/arthur #gwen/morgana #morgwen

[aphroditeslesbian]

As someone who has been very deep in fandom stuff and has gotten out of the disgusting aspects of it, I wanted to make an overview of the most obvious aspects that are problematic with ABO dynamics, because I only ever see being against ABO treated as a "preference" issue within fandom, when I think it is a political/societal issue. People only ever want to hear the most comfortable point of view on a subject, no one likes looking too deeply into fandom because it is often people's escape from reality. I too use fandom as escapism, but there are lines that shouldn't be crossed, there is a limit after which fandom can become unhealthy, and instill unhealthy ideas within already vulnerable people.

To anyone outside of my followers who might read this, I want to clarify that this analysis comes from the perspective of a lesbian who's tired of misogyny and homophobia in fandom.

So getting down to a basic view of it, a lot of ABO is set in m/m ships, in order to add either mpreg to the mix, or create a heterosexual-adjacent parallel within a same sex ship. It also uses alpha/omega dynamics as an equivalent to top/bottom, and by extension equates top/bottom to dom/sub, as the alphas are always burly, sometimes even mean, evil, dark, and the omegas are pathetic waifs, who only ever bottom, who only ever serve. This is homophobic. This is normalizing the idea that all homosexual relationships are devious or fetishistic.

My main qualms with the mpreg aspect... Mpreg is used to basically remove any need for women in fandom, and it truly shows how fandom just sees women as breeding machines/wives/mothers, so unnecessary they even take away the ability to reproduce from them, giving it over to men, so they don't have to bother writing female characters at all. These men have fully functional male anatomy, but also somehow a working uterus somewhere in the mix, which is just fantastical, but still, these are fully male characters. (Pointing it out because it will be relevant later on).

Both of these examples (mpreg and using alpha/omega as both top/bottom and dom/sub) tie into what I mentioned about the need to fit same sex relationships into heterosexual roles. You know what couples can reproduce? Male and female couples. Aka heterosexual/opposite sex attracted couples. When you take a gay ship, with same sex attracted individuals, and push them into "able to impregnate" and "able to be impregnated" boxes, you are trying to assimilate a homosexual couple into a heterosexual one, and that normalizes that only couples who can reproduce are worthy of telling stories about.

I've talked about m/m ships because they are the overall prevalent ships in most fandoms, and definitely the most common in ABO dynamics alternative universe fanfiction. However, when ABO is applied to f/f ships, something even more perverse can be observed: often, the alpha female characters are granted a penis. At this point there is no hiding that basically ABO f/f fanfiction is actually f/m fanfiction, wherein one of the characters (the alpha) is actually male, with breasts to go along with a fetishistic, unrealistic view of supposedly f/f relationships. This leads to plenty of heterosexual sex flooding the f/f tags. This leads to the idea that lesbians enjoy penis. It leads to the idea that they need penis in order to have fulfilling relationships, with "breeding" kinks, with pregnancy. Like in m/m fanfic, the alpha character has fully functioning male genitalia, even if they might present breasts.

I don't think it needs to be said that fandom often fetishizes and oversexualizes gay ships. That's already fucked up obviously, but at least outside of ABO, usually the fanfiction is actually homosexual. Through ABO fanfiction homosexual relationships are assimilated into heterosexual ones, and we're supposed to let it slide because of... Why?

The alpha/omega stuff translates into fucker and fucked, one must be the one who "wears the pants" in the relationship, one must be submissive, quiet, subservient.... Aka basic heterosexist bullshit.

This particular fanfiction trope teaches young impressionable gay people that the correct way for them to be is actually heterosexual, and it teaches heterosexual people reading fanfic that actually gay people are totally interested in opposite sex genitalia which is just... Not true. It also teaches women we are unimportant, replaceable. It takes pregnancy, this aspect of womanhood which has historically been used to oppress us, keep us down, keep us quiet and subservient... And normalizes that men could go through that too. It coopts our struggles. So you get a barrage of abortion fics, of teen pregnancy fics, of dangerous pregnancy situation fics... And they're all about men. Not a single woman with a speaking role in sight. Maybe they'll have a daughter, though, so the alpha gets to be overprotective, and they get to be seen as soft dads, and she gets to have no autonomy or personality... Bc what woman ever does?

TLDR; ABO is both homophobic and misogynistic/sexist. Drop that gross shit.

#abo #a/b/o fanfic #a/b/o dynamics #misogyny #lesbophobia #homophobia #august rants #fandom #fandom bullshit #mpreg

[thesharondefenseleague]

I hate the argument that it's straight men and women make the m/m and w/w fandom content to fuel their fetishes. Alot of the people who make fandom content are lgbtq+ Alot of them go to fandom for lgbtq content because it is lacking in most other forms of media its like fandom and podcasts where its more common and thats it.

People who arent looking for m/m and w/w have literally all other mediums to go to and they dont feel the need to make or consume fanfic or fanart to find depictions of romantic and/or sexual relationships between men and women.

Im not saying straight people dont write fics or read fic. Nor am I saying that straight people only write straight ships. There are straight people who will write m/f or w/w or m/w but both are not straight and thats explored etc.

Nor am I saying straight people dont fetishsize or that there are no problematic aspects to m/w or w/w in fandom in general.

What I am saying is that its unfair to assume that its a straight person writing or reading m/m or w/w because of mysogynistic reasons or because they are fetishizing the characters.

After all you can like a m/w romance in a mysogynistic way and only like it because you are fetishsizing the woman. Many do like m/w ships for that reason. But many also like it just because they like the romance. But the point is no one will assume by default you have a more uncomfortable reason for liking a m/w romance regardless of your gender and sexuality. Any one can like romance for innocent reasons.

But m/m or w/w that stops being true those romances suddenly stop being seen as universal its assumed there must be a more skeevy reason to like it unless you are a man who likes men or a woman who likes women. The more skeevy reasons are focused on when its not m/w the benefit of the doubt is not given.

This extends into fandoms too ship wars get nasty shippers get nasty regardless of gender dynamic of the ship. But people are so eager to label m/m the more vile by default rather than just by being the more popular ship in the ship fandom. So for example Stucky having toxic fans reflects badly on m/m fans but Reylo having toxic fans doesnt reflect badly on m/w fans.

That doublestandard imo is actually kind of homophobic. That mentality that the all m/m or w/w romance would have to offer a straight person is a tool to use against women or fapping material. But m/w romance is universal love that anyone can relate to. That is a very fucked up mentality to have imo. As is just any idea that says the gay thing is more uniquely bad.

And the real kicker is these arguments get bought up usually because of ship wars because someone's ship was m/w and the popular ship is m/m or w/w. Its never m/m vs w/w that gets bought up even though m/m has more content. This is partly because the cast is out of the fandoms hand thats on the author if there are more developed men there will be more m/m than w/w by default. But also m/m and w/w ships wont be at odds with each other in a ship war. So no need to use actual bigotry as fake wokeness to win said ship war. All this actually harmful logic just to make your ship the popular one is really what eats at me.

So the fetishizing argument is years old. I'm assuming you, anon, had the luck of missing the mid-2010s era of fandom where shipping culture was intensely fetishized. Honestly, the m/m ships and f/f ships weren't the worst of it, it was the graphic fetishization of trans people. All fandoms were affected by this. I can name a few fandoms that are still notorious for this, the MCU being one with that whole artist drawing trans Steve in odd ways (but also racist and ugly art outside of that, it was a wild time).

Though in general this hasn't been a major issue in recent years, I would say it has evolved into a different one. The reason it's called fetishistic is because shipping culture lately has been about wanting the actors - not the characters - to act out shipping fantasies. Not fanfiction, not fanart, not even realistically drawn fanart, but the two actors in the flesh acting out what they want on film so it can be out in the world forever. That is where the fetish callouts are validated, and why it's still an issue. We all watched the reaction to Mackie calling out the fandom for doing this to him and Stan, as if this isn't something that half of the Marvel actors haven't gone through since their introductions into the MCU (especially Stan, he's gone through this routine with two separate costars that this specific fandom demands he kisses/gets sexual with).

And there is plenty of misogyny in fandom. Doesn't matter what a person's gender or sexuality is, their misogyny can still shine through. And there is some overlap of that and the fetishization problem, but I do believe they have vastly different problems in general that need to be addressed separately before being addressed together.

~Mod R

[senlinyu]

Hi! First I’d just like to say thank you so much for writing and sharing your amazing stories with us! Second, if you don’t mind, I’d like to pick your brain on the topic of reading/writing redemption for Draco. I dislike reading about a deeply prejudiced Draco being redeemed and ‘changed’ by Hermione’s love or logic. It just irks me because I’ve had exhausting conversations with prejudiced people in real life, and they don’t change just because love or of a well presented argument. (1/2)

I feel like you often write Draco’s redemption arc beginning from a place where he’s already realized the error of his prejudiced ways or he never really had them, and he doesn’t need any convincing about that part. Has this been a conscious choice on your part? What do you like to see on a redemption story? Are there topics / dynamics that you’d like to explore in writing? I know this is a lot, thank you in advance! (2/2)


So this is an interesting topic for me, because I feel like I come from both sides of this in different aspects of my life.

I am an Asian minority who grew up in an almost completely white community. So, I’ve grown up dealing with racism. Not in any particularly severe ways, mind you, but in lots of little ways that add up; things like offhand discriminatory jokes from friends who didn’t even realize they were being racist, snubs, and weird kinds of racially based sexualization.

But I was also raised a conservative Christian with lots of lectures about my place as a female, the evils of evolutionists, liberals, and gays who were destroying our great country and would all go to hell, etc. etc.

So often times when I’m writing Dramione I tend to take those experiences into account. Especially with Draco.

For me, it was around the age of sixteen or so that I began to get enough of an idea about myself to start questioning the things I had simply accepted growing up and stopped wanting to just believe things because they were what I’d been told. I felt like the answers I was given weren’t enough. (It’s actually a pretty common occurrence, at least among my circle of friends, to reach the end of high-achool or the beginning of college and then start asking questions about the beliefs they were given by their parents. A lot of my friends have largely or entirely rejected the religious/conservative ideology we were raised with.)

But it’s not something that happens overnight. Although there can be a particular moment when something shocking happens that forces you to start questioning everything. 

 It’s a process of poking at the holes and realizing how many there are and then actively trying to find answers that hold. And it happens gradually, and all of a sudden, years later when you think you know better, some fucking opinion will pop into your head that you’ll realize is based on a past ideology you no longer believe and you have to try to root the whole thing out from all the insidious little corners of rationale that it’s settled itself. 

Anyway... bringing that back to Draco. I think Draco was perfectly positioned to be redeemed, not in an overnight way, but gradually over the course of the war, because of what happened but also because of the age he was.There was little room left for much illusions of greatness and superiority after that war. I feel like unless his ideology became based in pure spite, Draco would actually have difficulty maintaining his beliefs due to the age he was (they weren’t really his beliefs yet, they were his parents’) and given how degrading and traumatizing being a Death Eater was. So the reason I don’t usually write his redemption process is because I think it unfolded over the course of 6th and 7th year and I haven’t usually written his perspective in detail during that period.

But I agree with you that it’s hard to find it believable in fics that write him as changing his beliefs because Hermione managed to present an argument that’s just so logical or because he develops feelings for her and wants to sleep with her. I’ve known lots of boys who were racists as fuck and that didn’t preclude them from wanting to sleep with me, rather the racial fetish was the appeal.

Beliefs, especially when they're beliefs that a person’s identity is based in, don’t generally change that way. That’s part of the reason why most political dialogue is completely pointless right now, because the current climate leans so deeply into ideological identity that people can't give up their beliefs no matter what level of intellectual and moral dissonance it requires. They can say things that are in direct contradiction with each other and refuse to acknowledge that because the only people who would point it out are those who are “ out group.” 

I do try to touch on why Draco begins to reject his beliefs, sometimes more explicitly than other times. I often use witnessing Hermione’s torture as being one of those key moments when he realized he’s wrong, because I feel like that event had the ingredients for the beginnings of a seismic ideological shift due to the traumatic way that it combines pathos, ethos, and logos in an “argument” that was hard to look away from. (Although it could also be used in the exact reverse, depending on which way a writer wanted to tilt him ideologically.)

I’m not sure what I’ll be writing next. Probably whatever I happen to be curious about.

#dramione #senlinyuspeaks #on writing

[haikyuudescendants]

i think what the last ask regarding bokuto was about how you draw daishou masc and bokuto fem, making it somewhat heteronormative? i mean personally i'm not against it as long as not all gay ships are drawn like that. the problem what they're focusing on is with the fetishisation from a straight perspective that happens with a lot of ships so yeah :/

hi there! an apology in advance for my broken english, it's three in the morning here. 💤

as I said before, a homosexual relationship cannot be "heteronormative" because both are men, no matter how feminine or masculine one of them is. if I call them heteronormative I'm reinforcing the old and stupid gender stereotypes that we currently want to eliminate (such as thinking that there's a "woman" or a "man" in a homosexual relationship, or thinking clothes and colors have some assigned gender, for example). and I'm not gonna lie, I actually had to talk to other queer people (even if I'm queer myself) because the mean threats that anon sent me made me doubt what I was doing. like, is it really wrong? am I offending a whole community in any way? am I looking at it from an allocishet perspective even though I'm not? but they told me that it wasn't really the case.

sure, not all ships can be drawn like this (I mean- they kinda can?? because I'm nobody to dictate any rules for ships dynamics... or fiction, also a single ship can and will be drawn in a hundred different ways depending on the artist's perception) but what I'm referring to is that there are thousands of different ways a queer couple could act, so yes, I understand there's this complaint of "they always make ships very fem / masc" especially when they're made like this by heterosexual folks who have a point of view somewhat different from ours, and it's totally valid if people don't want absolutely all ships to be portrayed like this, but it's also... not wrong to do so because there are thousands of queer couples who are actually like that, and it's okay. it's, you know, the infinite expression and diversity of humanity's gender, personality, and sexuality.

plus, the fun thing about fandoms is that you can explore millions of different dynamics and ways to portray a LGBT+ couple/character in a safe and comfortable way. especially since I'm not going to mess with real relationships or real people, THAT would be fetishization because I would be messing with someone real and making them an object for my personal enjoyment, that's horrible and wrong. but I'm not, I'm just spending my free time with my fictional ships in my little bubble like everyone else!

And the funny thing here is, I didn't even categorize my ship as fem/masc before these messages. like... huh?

(you can see how some drawings are older than others lmao) but anyway, after thinking about it for a while, I assumed they were referring to the skirts, flowers, or pastel colors I often use on bokuto. I have two reasons why I portray them like this, although, in theory, I would NOT have to justify my ship preferences:

the most important reason is that it's pure projection honestly. I love the soft-kawaii-sanrio style A LOT, while my best friend is more into the emo-edgy-eboy style, so I always project our styles and some parts of our personalities into bokuto and daishō (our respective favorite characters). It was something very personal and when that anon complained about it I felt that what I was doing was wrong. my best friend was furious.

in relation with the previous point, I adore the kawaii/dark(?) ship dynamic. That was the only thing I thought really, not something like "bokuto = femenine and daishō = masculine", I just... like that dynamic a lot, and I NEVER saw anyone complain about that specific dynamic in a wlw ship although it's veeeery common for them to have it, so when I got those anonymous messages I was like "damn what?? I didn't know that pink was still considered for girls and black for boys" lol.

I mean, I hope that's what everyone mean by "fem bokuto / masc daishō". if it's about my poorly nsfw art then the reason i like to see bokuto in babydoll is because he's cute (the fandom never draws him in pretty lingerie or "provocative" outfits, C'MON, they could dress him like that! I mean, it's sexual content after all, ppl can go wild with sexual content, it's literally p0rn, BUT THEY NEVER DO IT, a shame) but uh, again, lingerie is clothing, and clothes are genderless, so... I assume then these people have never seen a real man wearing a babydoll💀. and yeah, I prefer to see him being a soft and cuddly bottom bc i got tired of seeing him in the dominant top role all the fandom puts him in, but the sexual position has literally nothing to do with being feminine or masculine, so uh— yikes?

I hope everything I wrote makes sense because honestly I'm falling asleep. Have a nice day, anon!

[leahazel]

7KPP Identity Meta

[The subject of racism in fanfic has come up, and I’ve been contemplating how and weather to change how I tag my own fics. This disorganized piece of 7KPP meta grew from those thoughts.]

Aly of @azalynestudios has said numerous times (I can’t find exact quotes right now) that in order to allow players to see themselves in the MCs they create, she wanted to make it possible for any MC of any of the kingdoms to be a member of any race, and have any physical appearance. She has also mentioned that the kingdoms are very inter-mixed racially, and that all the characters are probably multiracial (here and here, for example). She’s also talked about having multiple historical inspirations for each of the kingdoms (too many sources to link them all). 

Such is not the case for the NPCs of the different kingdoms, specifically the ones with visible sprite art. This is partly because the visual artist Bana had a huge influence in, for example, designing the fashion aesthetic of the different characters. But Aly has also stated here that the NPCs’ appearance is “closer to what the nations originally were dominated by“, compared to the more modern, diverse population. With the notable exception of post-coup Revaire. In-game, a few references are made to the “new nobility” of Revaire all having fair coloration and a similarity in appearance.

So, any player who wants to make an MC of any background have any combination of racial traits, is given solid backing both by canon text and by “word of god”. An Arland or Wellin MC who’s Black or Asian or mixed race is 100% as canon-compatible as a white one. Of course, that also means that a white Corval or Hise MC is also canon-compatible, but I think we can agree that the dynamic on that is quite different, in the same way that writing a canonically straight character into a slash relationship is very different from writing Lisle (gay) or Avalie (asexual) into a het relationship.

7KPP is a visual novel and the NPC sprites are designed for maximum visual coding. When the sprites for all the delegates from a single kingdom appear together on the screen, they are meant to look like they are obviously from the same place. With the exception of the Revaire NPCs. Clarmont is clearly designed to stand out from Gisette and Jarrod, and not just because they are siblings and he’s unrelated to them. It’s because he’s a member of Revaire’s old nobility, and they are of the new nobility. Aly explains about this, for example here.

Now, there is room to criticize this approach to portraying racial diversity, but that’s not what I’m going to do here. There has also been plenty of well-reasoned criticism on the portrayal of especially Corval and Jiyel, where despite Aly’s good intentions, harmful stereotypes had more influence on the end product than she realized. I will also not be addressing that issue in this post, but I did want to acknowledge that there are a lot of open and complex questions surrounding the issue of race in 7KPP canon. 

As a player, I took all the above issues as guiding principles when creating my MCs, including the bit about not whitewashing Corval and Hise MCs, and especially the bit about Revaire. Revaire was a huge, multicultural empire like Rome, and even though the narration in the game, and Aly’s commentary, both specifically say that the Revaire widow is of the new nobility, I made my widow Allegra an Old Blood noble, like Clarmont. Specifically so that she would stand out, like him, from among the other Revaire delegates. 

So Clarmont and Allegra’s relationship has a kind of racial subtext, because they are a dark-skinned couple in (eventually) open rebellion against a monarchy of extremely white, extremely blonde oppressors.

I feel increasingly that I, as a white writer, am not up to the complexities of writing this dynamic. Not with all the goodwill and compassion I can muster, not with all the studying and listening I can do. I’m not yet sure what I’m going to do with that revelation, though.

When I created my MCs I tried to be conscious both of the implications of canon, and of the complexities of real-life race relations. There are decisions that I might have done differently, if I were doing them now for the first time, especially when it comes to my Jiyel MCs. Most of my MCs, just like Aly says, come from families that are multiracial, going back generations. It’s more obvious with characters like Christabel, who has a white father on one side of the family and a Black mother and grandmother on the other. Less obvious with characters like Felicity and Jack, who could be easily taken for white.

And because of the way that race relations work in our world, the fact that they can be taken as white means that in a very real way, they are white. Because, well, that’s what whiteness is, that’s what it was created to do.

So I created Felicity, my Arland princess, and she was white. Not a golden-haired, blue-eyes princess, but still white, still with the peaches-and-cream complexion (actual canon description), and still with all the baggage thereof. But why must a princess be white? She doesn’t have to be, as Aly specifically said. When I created my second Arland princess, I gave that some thought, and out came Verity.

Verity is mixed race, like Felicity, but in a more obvious way. I try to describe her in a way that makes it obvious that she could not pass as white, without being othering or fetishizing. But that became difficult, because Verity married into Revaire, into the very “new nobility” above mentioned as being the only group in the modern seven kingdoms that actually is meaningfully racially homogeneous. This begins to come up in her story pretty early on, when she first meets and befriends Nerissa, a Revaire widow who -- unlike Allegra -- is of the new nobility. Deciding to make Nerissa and Claude (and their family) white was a decision that ended up having big implications.

Because, while I don’t want to exotify Verity as a character, others within the story definitely do other and fetishize her, and make her feel out of place. Once it started coming up in the drafts of my fanfics, I realized that I couldn’t ignore it. Verity is a multiracial girl living in the royal court of a multicultural empire, where the narrow slice of the elite has been striving to push everyone else out of the public sphere. This affects how she interacts with other people, and it means that with any supporting character I add to Decline and Fall, especially the nobles, I first have to give a good long think to their racial background.

It also meant that I have to give thought to Verity’s family and genealogy, especially when I decided that I wanted her ‘verse and Felicity’s to share a common root, and diverge. That means they have shared ancestors, and here I had the possibility of taking another look at Felicity’s uncomfortable whiteness. I could have decided to make Arland’s royal family white, going back through generations of whiteness, and only occasionally marrying in foreign brides, which could still account for Verity’s mixed heritage. I felt that it would be more interesting to do something else, and make the ancestors common to them both dark-skinned and curly-haired, like Verity, not fair and brunette like Felicity. 

In “Wendel Abbey”, Verity mentions to Brielle that she has a Revairian ancestor, and Brielle remarks that she must “come by her curls honestly”, that is, suggesting that her curly hair comes from Revaire heritage. But Verity corrects her and says that all her father (the King of Arland)’s family have it. I guess this is meant to represent the way that twenty years of a racially homogeneous (and oppressive) leadership have altered Revaire’s way of relating to the demographic mix of the other six kingdoms. Brielle is Black and her whole family is Black -- excepting her stepfather, who’s not mentioned directly in any of the fics (yet). The post-coup reality has affected the way she was taught to see the world.

It feels a bit like I am trying to have it both ways, both to talk about race and not talk about it, and I don’t know if I’m doing a good job. I’m not even sure that I know where I’m going with this post, even though I started writing it with such a confident attitude. I just know that these ideas have been swirling in my head for months and years, and it’s time for me to bring them out to see the outside world.

All my MCs are multiracial in the sense of their family trees, but some of them are easily identified as being characters of color. How to say this? In a modern AU, some of them would be stopped for a random check at the airport much more often than others. Allegra, Marguerite, Christabel and Verity are all on this list. Felicity, Jack, and Nerissa are not. Brielle is. Tristan is not. And so on. 

If I had thought about all these things more clearly before I created my six original MCs, maybe I would have made my Arland princess a Black girl. Or my tomboy countess. Or maybe I would have made them both Asian. Maybe I would have made my Jiyel MC Black, instead of basing her appearance on stereotypical East Asian traits, as I did with Periwinkle. I probably wouldn’t have made her white, for the reasons I outlined above -- I’m not saying that white MCs are anti-canon or wrong in any way, but it would have been too uncomfortable for me. Part of me thinks, “but then what? I would have no white MCs at all?” And another part of me replies, “Well, what if I didn’t?”

Which is kind of an empty dialogue on my part, because I went and wrote Felicity and Jack being who they are, without thinking too much about what their whiteness means, and I’m probably not gonna go back and retcon that. All the thinking that I do about it has to be retrospective.

There are other points of discomfort, like the way stats and personality interact with racist stereotype, and the way that butts up against my own personal preferences in terms of female characters. It’s no secret that Allegra is my favorite among my MCs, and also no secret that my favorite build to play is based around 75 points in manipulation. Which in a gameplay context creates a really powerful character who can broker peace treaties and fall in love and do a lot of heroic things. But nonetheless, there’s a subtext to creating a brown female character and immediately labeling her “manipulative”. Allegra’s build also took a hit to the beauty stat, as did several others of my favorite characters, and there’s a subtext there, too, like it or not.

I was especially uncomfortable with the fact that my two high-manip characters, Marguerite and Allegra, were both dark-skinned brown women. Despite the fact that they’re very different from each other, and despite the fact that I love them both, and despite that I tried to give them both deep and rich character development that makes them much more than their stats. I did create another character, Xanthine the weaver!MC, who is also based on the 75-manip build, and made her white. This... helped a little? I guess?

This is what I mean about the clash between my preferences and the racial stereotypes. The traits that create the kind of female character I’m most interested in, are ones that can easily be interpreted in a very negative light. I can’t ignore the implications of that, however much I might like to dismiss it by saying, “I just made her what I love to see.”

Of course I’m going to carry all these ideas forward, into any new game OCs I create, and especially into original fiction writing. And I want to stress that I’m just one very confused white gamer and fanfic writer, and I don’t have all the answers. I just think the questions are worth asking all the same, and to that end, I sat down and spent an hour or more writing this very confused (and confusing) spiel.

You are welcome to: reblog with comments, reblog with criticism, link to this post, post your own reflection on the race and ethnicity of your OCs, send m4e asks about any of these characters, etc. Remarks along the lines of “it’s stupid to care about racism in fandom” or “there’s nothing wrong with being white” will be roundly ignored as being beside the point. If you’ve read this far (or even skimmed it) I’m amazed and astonished. I’ve lost any gift for brevity that I ever had.

#7kpp #meta #race & racism #ocs #decline and fall #the more thought i put into this the more i realize that i know nothing #long post for ts

[imagitory]

Hi! I really, really loved the wsy you explained violetshipping. Could you maybe do the same thing forpuzzleshipping?

Guess it’s time to resurrect the fandom ask! (Feel free to send me other asks for other ships and fandoms too!

When I started shipping them: I was a puzzleshipper from the start, all the way back in 2001 when the show first started airing in America.

My thoughts: The Yugi and Yami/Atem relationship is, in my opinion, the single most important in the entire series. Yes, Kaiba is constantly Yugi’s rival and he pushes both Yugis to the brink and sparks character development in both, and yes, Jounouchi and Yugi’s friendship is the purest thing there is, but neither relationship is as developed, focused on, or compelling as Yugi and Atem’s is. Honestly, it doesn’t even matter how these two are portrayed to me: they could be best friends, like brothers, mentor and protege, lovers, soulmates, whatever, as long as they’re together and as long as the sincere love between them is sustained, and I think anyone would be hard-pressed to argue that these two don’t sincerely love each other. Yugi risked his life to put his Puzzle back together even though he was trapped inside a burning building. Atem was emotionally destroyed when Yugi sacrificed himself to the Seal of Orikalkos in his place. 

Now, of course, just like with violetshipping, there were a lot of OOC depictions of Yugi and Atem in the works that shipped them back in the day. I remember when I first started writing fanfiction how common it was for Yugi’s more “feminine-coded” traits (namely, his compassion, forgiveness, and kindness) to be expanded so that Yugi could be turned into more of the “uke” stereotype to Atem’s “seme.” Even though I look back on this and see where some people could think it simplified and in some ways fetishized a gay relationship into stereotypically masculine and feminine roles, I will still defend the older stories that did this to a degree, as they were often written by young authors who were still in the process of learning more about character and relationship development and sometimes even about their own sexuality, and to be fair to the “uke/seme” dynamic, there are some LGBT couples where one is more dominant and the other is more submissive. The only problem is how commonly that dynamic is favored in the media over different, less starkly binary dynamics, and of course, once those kinds of authors grow up, I hope they embrace a more expansive world view and don’t just write two characters together to titillate themselves and/or their audience, but because those characters have a meaningful relationship. But I would argue that although puzzleshipping can sometimes be dismissed as just being yaoi fanservice, most puzzleshippers don’t ship Yugi and Atem for the sake of fanservice, even if some of the works they might create aren’t all completely in-character. Puzzleshippers ship because of the profound relationship established in the series, not in spite of it.

What makes me happy about them: I love how much they love, support, and learn from each other! Yes, of course Yugi learns to be more confident and how to be a better duelist, but Atem also learns the value of compassion, selflessness, and friendship from Yugi. As Atem tells Yugi during the series finale in the Japanese dub, he is strong, for he has the strength of tenderness. (Plus, honestly, looking at how Atem started out in season 0 and the early chapters of the manga compared to where he ended up? Wow, did he evolve!)

What makes me sad about them: ATEM, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GOOOOOO. *cries* …Okay, seriously, though, even if it saddens me that Atem had to pass on, I’m actually impressed the show was brave enough to do that and think it was a fitting, though very bittersweet ending. Yugi was always sort of going to be in Atem’s shadow as long as they shared a body, and the series ending gives Yugi the chance to stand tall on his own with all of the lessons Atem taught him, including this new lesson Atem unknowingly left for him, which is dealing with loss and grief. This is actually why I was disappointed that in DSOD, Yugi only defeated the villain because Atem came back out of the blue and the story didn’t have Kaiba coming to grips with Atem being gone, letting go of his and Atem’s old rivalry, and seeing Yugi as the heir to Atem’s legacy and therefore his new rival. The original series and even DSOD’s own plot set up a great story about moving on and growing up after suffering a great loss, only to subvert all of it with the ending.

…But yes, even with that, ATEEEEM! *cries*

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: I touched on the uke-seme thing up there: as I said, I forgive it to a point, but I think when leaned into too much, it can result in Yugi being too passive or too reliant on Atem.

Things I look for in fanfic: Honestly, I haven’t read that many puzzleshipping fics lately, but with these guys, I want to see love! I want to see these two helping and supporting each other – knowing each other better than anyone else – playfully ribbing each other – arguing for understandable reasons – sacrificing for each other – feeling more whole together than apart.

My wishlist: I guess I’ll just repeat this from my violetshipping post – can we please have a Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monsters reboot with pretty new animation? I just haven’t been able to get into any of the newer Yu-Gi-Oh series, and honestly, it’d be great to have a Funimation dub for a show that feels much more like the original manga and maybe has the chance for more character/relationship development outside of Yugi and Atem. (I love their relationship, don’t get me wrong: I just would’ve liked it if other relationships got as much development as they got.)

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Atem I honestly don’t ship with anyone else – if he’s not with Yugi, I’m okay with him being alone. Yugi I could also see with Kaiba or Jounouchi. ^.^

My happily ever after for them: Yugi lives out the rest of his life happily and gloriously as the one and only Yugi Mutou – the King of Games – and at the end of his life, he’s sleeping peacefully in bed when a familiar light shines from his side table. For a split second, he thinks he sees the Millennium Puzzle lying on it, as it did so long ago, but instead, he sees the Pharaoh leaning up against it, smiling proudly down at him. Yugi gets up, shocked, but this time, Atem isn’t just a spirit like he was in the past: somehow he looks physical enough to touch. Atem extends his arms, saying how much he’s missed his “partner,” and Yugi bolts out of bed, his face contorting with joy, as he leaps into Atem’s arms. As he embraces the Pharaoh, he sheds his age, becoming the young boy who first put together the Puzzle once again. Light shines around both of them and they disappear, leaving only the body of old Yugi behind: light and darkness have been reunited, never to be parted again.

Fandom Ask!

#ask me #fandom ask #yugioh #yu-gi-oh! #yu-gi-oh #yugi mutou #yami yugi #atem #shipping #puzzleshipping #opinion #oh boy here i go

[ambitionsource]

also 001 zc im springing it all on u

spring it all on me baybee. i’m ready. i’m thrivin

Zay & Charlie

When I started shipping it if I did: oh if i were a viewer, i think i’d be sniffing out this storyline EARLY. literally from the moment charlie leaps up to volunteer to tutor him in 103 and then is all “you’re so unapologetically yourself” with all that Awe i’d be like... mhm. okay. mhm ok mhm mhm mhm right mhm....... although i think i would be skeptical. i would be kinda like (as i think some of you were) are they actually going to go through with this...... are they playing me 4 a fool.... but then when you watch 112 after so much build and theres the RUNNING ACROSS THE CITY TO GET TO THE AUDITION AND AINT NOOOO AWWWYWYWYWYWYAAYWAAYYYYY AND THE LOUVRE KISS LIKE WAHAHAHWAHWAHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH -- yeah i’d be in it from there. you don’t see it coming going INTO the first season, but to be honest zc kind of Owned the first season in the later half there. they were subtle in some ways but then they really just brought the mf PUNCH

My thoughts: so. clearly. i love them. fdkjshgkjsg i think i have a lot of fondness for them because they really organically blossomed in the first season in a way i wasn’t expecting. as y’all know, we broke the story for the second season first and then backtracked to s1, and i will be candid... charlie was like... not a person when we first outlined s2 JFGDSKLGKDFGKLFDH. he was in a relationship with zay, and it was supposed to be this big surprise going into the second season, but otherwise we really didn’t like... know what to do with him or honestly had THOUGHT about it. but then as we started working on s1, he just kind of... emerged, as well as their storyline of barely acquaintances to friends to unexpected lovers. and i really really love what they grew to be. they’ve been one of the best parts of writing the show tbh and i have so much fun writing their scenes, even when they’re challenging (cough 208 cough, one of the most difficult scenes i’ve ever written in anything ever)

What makes me happy about them: i love how they see the other person for who they actually are, how they can cut through the bullshit and see the other for how they wish they could be seen (charlie seeing zay as more than the popular “cool” kid that he has to put on as a sort of defense to survive at aaa, and zay seeing charlie for who he actually is beneath all of the facades he’s created to please the rest of the world) and how that allows them the courage to try and actually BE those things. like. charlie may not have ever gotten to a point of really considering accepting his own sexuality if it weren’t for zay, i think -- especially since zay then gave him this incredibly SAFE space to figure it out AND loved him at the same time. i love how they demonstrate such a Balance for one another (there’s that key word again!), like how in s1 a core part of their friendship is the fact that charlie seems to be the only person zay really has who cares about all the things he cares about but also isn’t... a crazy monster the way everyone at aaa is fDJSKFLDG. and zay brings balance to charlie in showing him its okay to have fun, to be imperfect, to throw a swear word around or not give a damn sometimes or do things just because he wants to. and that’s important! that’s major! and then i just love love love how they’re playful with one another but it comes from this very sincere fond place. their dynamic would not be what it is without their sort of teasing nature, but it NEVER feels like it’s coming from a place of animosity, it’s always this affectionate kind of banter. i’m really picky about how teasing translates into romance, and i think the way they make it work is a fave thing about them for me. i’m forgetting like 4324325 things i wanna say here but i love them MUCHO

What makes me sad about them: so. hm. yeah. you know how there are those otp ask games or gif memes and there’s always that category that’s like “it’s right, just not right now” ships? i have always disliked that category bc i think people constantly misinterpret it (or its just a poor label to apply to a ship lmao), but i think they are actually a perfect example of what i think that label is supposed to represent. charlie and zay are 100% right, but not right now. they can’t be right when charlie is still trying to figure out so much of his sexuality and his sense of acceptance, because no matter how much they love each other it’s just not fair to zay to have all these conditions on their relationship. like, it’s great that he likes him enough to be okay with it, but it shouldn’t be that way in a truly healthy situation. yknow? and when the rules keep changing or grow to be confusing (i.e. how charlie seemed to be improving in 207 but then backslid majorly in 208), you end up with like... well, miscommunications like 208. and those can be brutal.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: again, i’m just projecting based on my experience in fandom and observing fandom, but here are a handful of things i think would be common in zc fic that would drive me up the wall. 1) babying and/or pandering charlie to the point that he’s just like... this uwu baby gay that completely strips him of his complexity, surprisingly sharp sarcasm, all his uneven edges and quirks, etc. 2) fetishizing of them both or more specifically, racism surrounding the portrayal of zay 3) a complete bashing of charlie’s faith, as that goes against how he’s written + his arc as a character [ like if you gotta work thru ur own grievances with organized religion then by all means, but it would probably bother me bc of his characterization and im literally not even religious lmao ] 4) banter that crosses the line and goes into that territory of lowkey bullying or tasteless that is a squick for me

Things I look for in fanfic: so of course, characterization that allows for the complexity of both of their characters would be A1 from day one as usual. would always love something that highlights the dance thing since that is... so important to their relationship in the show lmao. people who could capture their delicate balance of banter would be whew!!!! also random but i thought about it earlier today -- when winter olympics rolls around again, who is gonna write the ice skating au? it’s only a step or two away from dance y’all, let’s SEE IT!!!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: zay would make the best of any relationship he gets into, but he and riley could be cute as i have mentioned before (altho i naturally prefer them as best friends, but they would treat each other the way they deserve which is important). there’s a character coming in s4 who i actually really enjoy with zay, but that’s a spoiler and neither here nor there... as for charlie, i again will make my vague comment about appreciating lucas x charlie... and that’s all i can say on that.............

My happily ever after for them: god i just. i want them to be happy and in love. and i mean that in that they’re happy with themselves, so they can be happy with one another. like, TRULY happy without all these conditions or strings attached. and to be able to be happy together IN PUBLIC. literally can you imagine. CAN YOU IMAGINE??

Who is the big spoon/little spoon: hmmmmmm again, i think it would vary. but i think my inclination is that typically zay is the big spoon, although i will say i think charlie is overall more cuddly (not that you’d ever assume so in public bc he’s so repressed DSJKFJDSKLGFDLKG)

What is their favorite non-sexual activity: i assume we wanna discuss the ones... that aren’t dance DJSKLFJDKGJFDLKJGKDJHLKDH. aside from the obvious, i really do think zay and charlie like to go out and explore together and just like... share experiences. like going to art museums is a big one, and seeing live performances. art is something that really connects them and i don’t think that can be understated, and one of their favorite things is experiencing art together and then getting the other to talk about their opinions on it. i also do think that while zay isn’t big on literature, he can be swayed if charlie reads to him. art completely aside, i think they like to go to the grand central market and browse / try new things. they also like window shopping, but that’s kind of funny bc their styles are so different so they’ll be like ooh and the other will be like rly. FDNSJKFDJSLGJDSG. omg they should have a day where they just get to dress the other person up all day in different stores... THERES a fun activity... zay is dressed head to toe in GAP and he’s like please set me on fire fJDSKFJDSKLGJKDLFG

send some winter hiatus asks !! or try this one

#zay x charlie #THANK U LENA #winter hiatus 2019 #on god... on gOD do they know how much i love them #maggie #judahslewis #answered

[micropenisunveiled-blog]

SPH & COMING OUT OF THE SMALL PENIS CLOSET

It is safe to say that most men who have a small penis have thought about whether or not to keep it secret or spill the beans.  Coming out of the Small Dick Closet is a decision that each individual must make for himself.  Quite honestly it is not safe for all gay men to come out of the closet.  Similarly once you disclose that you have  small penis that information has a tendency to become known.   

For some men, fantasizing about being outed becomes the stuff of a fetish.  I find the topic of Small Penis Humiliation (SPH) quite interesting. Certainly not all men with small penises have  desire to be teased or humiliated, but there is a very real portion of the small penis population that seem to enjoy it.  Based on conversations I have had with such men the SPH fetish seems to begin with the onset of adulthood.  I have received a number of personal emails on this subject, from some men who are really turned on by this dynamic.  This is a topic worthy of serious consideration for that group of men who enjoy teasing and outing.  Despite my attempts to research this topic I have found very little in the way of research into the dynamics of this particular fetish.

Why Do Men Enjoy SPH? While I have found no scientific studies about this phenomenon, my own inquiries have revealed than in every case, the men with this fetish had experienced fairly significant ridicule, humiliation, or other abuse connected to their smaller endowment during childhood or their teenage years.

I have spoken with several men who have told me that their SPH fetish began for them in their teens, during gym class. They generally had experiences with boys in gym pointing and laughing.  in some cases they were ridiculed by girls who had learned of their endowment from indiscrete peers.  One man told me that a peer touched him, forced him to touch the other boy’s penis, made him masturbate, and called him queer. 

While this is a terrible testament to the cruelty of teenagers, the men I spoke with grew past it. However, in coping with these experiences of ridicule, they began associating small penises with humiliation, and eventually with sexual pleasure. Since many, many people enjoy humiliation or degradation play as part of BDSM, I can see how this would make sense.

Most of us who live with a small penis spent some period in our lives diligently covering it up.  Some men forgo participation in high school sports, remain chaste, refuse to change in public facilities,  or otherwise work to keep their little secret just that, a secret.  For those of us who have been outed--by family, girlfriends, boyfriends, team mates, school friends, etc. the consequences can be debilitating.  

Do Men Subject to SPH Get Their Feelings Hurt?

Of the men I have spoken with, they all told me that it had hurt their feelings at first, but over the years they eventually they grew immune to it. One said he just realized he couldn't help it, as he could his weight or his hair color, and decided not to worry about it but enjoy getting the SPH attention he craved. 

My Own Outing!

When I was outed in my sophomore year at school by bullies on a sports team, by shoving me out of the locker room naked into a gym full of other students, the three bullies got suspension for three days, but I served the life sentence.  Basically the beans got spilled and my secret became common knowledge.  I became an instant pariah, an object of ridicule, and social outcaste.  Former friends avoided me because they didn’t want to be associated with me and become ridiculed themselves.  Even my brother had a tantrum telling me that he wished he weren’t my brother because people assumed he also possessed a smaller endowment.  So the consequences of an actual, real life outing, can be ego shattering.  I never really recovered my social standing in school as there was always some bully who used my personal characteristics to put me down to build himself up.  Also i had not yet learned how to “shrug off” teasing, and by reacting to it only made matters worse for myself.  That’s the way it works.  

Then Why Come Out Of The Small Penis Closet?

Given the reality of the negative consequences, why is it so arousing for some small endowed guys, to imagine themselves outed.  Part of my theory is that in these cases the smaller endowed man is actually exhibiting some control in the outing process, which he believes in inevitable.  For others the teasing has been linked to sexual activity, a potent reinforcer,  so the fetish has basically been classically conditioned into being.  For others, the actuality of being outed, is actually less anxiety provoking than managing the secret.

In the gay world, men do not come out of the gay closet to enlighten the world, they do it to feel better about themselves.  At some point the gay man realizes that his own self esteem is taking more damage from his closeted status than from anything the world might actually send his way.  

No one has any right to know about the size of your penis except your lover, so outing yourself is truly a personal decision, not a political one.  However, when the truth gets withheld because of a self perception that your penis is shameful or inadequate, then at that point you’re just damaging yourself.  Hiding a truth always most damages the person hiding the truth.

Men with a small penis on some level inherently realize that hiding the truth is not in their best interest and may begin to imaging how they would out themselves.  Imaging these scenarios allows the individual to exert some control in a situation which feels out of control.   So, why does even the mere possibility of it happening excite so many guys?  This is another one of those no “one size fits all” answer.  

So, how is a guy “outed?”

Well, the possibilities are really endless.  Here are a few of the more common ways:

A close girlfriend (or confidant):

This is probably the most common scenario.  Your wife tells her BFF that you have a small penis and requests that she doesn’t tell anyone else.  The wife then tells her small endowed hubby/partner that her BFF knows, and it’s almost like the erotic gift that keeps on giving because from that point forward every time the hubby/partner sees the BFF it provides him with an ongoing source of both excitement and/or angst.

Multiple Girlfriends:

One man I have spoken with told me that he dreamed about being outed by his girlfriend to a group of her friends.  He knew it was just a dream, but it left him feeling very uncomfortable.  And no wonder he woke up uncomfortable, because now, his whole social circle of female friends knows about his secret.  While he might be excited about this happening, and it might provide him an ongoing source of masturbation fodder, the ramifications of such a disclosure would no doubt be far reaching.

A Stranger:

One friend tells me about his girlfriend taking the initiative at a small town drug store to buy condoms, and at the counter asked the pharmacist, ion the presence of other patrons standing nearby “Do you have any small-sized condoms for my boyfriend?”  He told me that he be felt himself blush with embarrassment as everyone turned to look at him and  literally gulped. In this case he was outed by his girlfriend to a stranger in hi small town, where he knew that rumor would get retold.  He heard all of it with his own ears and even saw the expression (probably a smile) on the female clerk’s face.  

What are the risks of being Outed?  

Many guys who expressed they desire to be outed also made it very clear they would want it done in a “controlled” way.  But given human nature there is nothing controlled about the process.  The only way to keep a secret it to keep it to yourself.  Like sending a nude photo of yourself to a friend, you lose all control over it the moment you hit “send”.  You are at the mercy of that friends discretion.  And for the most part, humans are not very discrete.

People like to talk about “scandalous” news.  People do this for many reasons.  When your male friends make fun of your small penis, they are simultaneously casting themselves as “normal” or “endowed” men into a superior caste.  Bullying has always been around, and I suspect it always will.

There are some very real consequences.  Social ostracism, especially if you are in high school, been “perceived” differently by friends in the know, being teased, being ridiculed, sexual discrimination, or just being treated “differently” than how you were treated before.  All of that can happen.

What are the Benefits?  

When gay people began to come out and become recognized as “contributing citizens” and “role models” things began to change.  However things do change slowly.  Most men believe that any penis under 6 inches is “small”, when in fact recent studies have concluded that 5.17 inches in length and 4.6 inches in girth are true “average”.  Statistically is you are average 90% of guys will be between 1.15" shorter or 1.11" longer than you.  For years many men have believed that their 5 1/2inch penis was substandard, when in fact they were well within the biological norm.   As men with small dicks stand up to be counted social norms will begin to change, but again social evolution is a slow process.

So What Can You Do?

Be true to yourself.    Learn to channel your strengths and minimize your focus on your weaknesses.  As much as our popular culture will foist the notion that you are no better than your penis, it just isn’t true.  But now you have to convince other people of that.  The only way to do that is when you believe it yourself.  When you become self confident everything changes.  People stop teasing you and start respecting you.  Confidence, more than any other quality, determines the likelihood of success.  Women identify “confidence” as a key attribute in attractiveness.  

So What If You Enjoy SPH?

Be true to yourself. It is normal to have a fetish.  Assuming it is not harmful, indulge in your fetish.  And while a fetish isn’t harmful, if gets out of hand, it can be trouble. It can drive you and your sex life. Soon, it may also drive away the people close to you. You don’t have to deal with a fetish all your life. Here are a few signs  that a small penis fetish is out of control: 

It’s all you ever think about. 

It makes you lose your concentration, and you start performing poorly at work or school because of it. 

It comes up at random moments. Even when you’re not thinking about anything arousing, it comes to your mind. 

It’s ruining your relationship or preventing you from being in a relationship.

You’re starting to drive your romantic partner crazy because of it, leading to arguments, misunderstandings and awkwardness during sex. 

Some steps you can take to address a fetish are:

Confide in someone

Seek professional help which may include psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy, hypnosis, or 

Stop engaging in the habit (easier said that done, ask anyone in NA,OA or AA).

[blayzez]

I'm sorry, I know I don't usually post discourse on my blog. I'm just... really hurt right now.

At the age of 24, after spending my entire childhood forcing myself to believe I was straight because that's what my family and religion said I was supposed to be, I finally acknowledged that I was bisexual. Even then, I was still second-guessing myself: What if I only think I'm bisexual because the internet/social media makes it seem like the "In" thing? What if my sexuality is just a mask and not who I really am? What if, what if, what if. It was hard.

Then I saw Voltron. Lance seemed to have a bisexuality arc laid out for him, and it was obvious that he didn't quite know he was bi and/or wasn't emotionally ready to acknowledge it.

That was just so validating. It made me happy to know that being confused about your sexuality -- not being sure if you're the sexuality you think you might be -- was common enough to include it in a kid's show and it made me feel so much better! I was so happy, and with Lance's help (and the help of my friends and therapist), I was able to finally accept my sexuality for what it was. And I'm an adult. Think about how many kids his arc could have helped! Kids who were questioning, kids who were unsure, kids that might not being surrounded by a good support system and have to hide who they are. Lance was shaping up to be someone kids could really look up, admire, and in turn accept themselves for they are because of him.

And now that's washed down the drain. It meant so much to me, perhaps meant so much to a lot of kids that needed that role model, but it clearly meant nothing to the writers and that is just so disheartening.

This isn't even about shipping. I love K/ance with all my heart, but I would be okay with any endgame ship so long as it was written well. This includes keeping the characters in-character and allowing the romance to help in their character development. Keith was the most likely candidate -- he really did make Lance a better person and vice versa -- but if someone else filled that role and filled it well, I would have been perfectly fine with that! But that's not what we got. Instead, the boy who has been insecure ALL SERIES has to spend his only romance building up his partner and have that not be reciprocated. That most-likely-candidate boosted him up more than Lance's actual romantic partner, and that is just bad writing. That's not a good relationship. Relationships are two-way streets; you can't have only one of the partners be supportive -- they have to be EQUALLY supportive. And A//urance was not that. A//urance was rushed, did not help the characters develop in the slightest, and took away TWO great role models.

I don't like Allura. I think I've made this clear before, but I really don't like her. I was neutral to her in s1, then the whole Not-All-Galra arc happened in s2 and my opinion of her started going down at that point.

But she didn't deserve the hand she was dealt. She was the only woman of color in the main cast, and they KILL HER??? WHY????? I may not have liked her, but that doesn't mean she was a bad character! On the contrary, she was a great role model and I'm sure many girls of color looked up to her. And then they just kill her? First they take away the great role model Lance could have been as a confused bisexual character, and then they take away the only woman of color on the main cast. WHAT. THE. FUCK. You can't just do that! I feel so horrible for the kids who looked up to those characters only to have it all ripped out from under their feet.

Oh, but there was a random gay wedding at the end, so that makes it alllllllll better~

Except it doesn't. Adding in a gay wedding/kiss with little-to-no build-up is more likely to cause confusion than anything else. And it doesn't erase how dirty they did Lance and Allura. Both characters deserved better.

On the topic of shipping, yes, it was queerbait. I refused to believe the showrunners were doing that -- I absolutely refused because I trusted the showrunners completely. Surely they wouldn't have ALL OF THESE ROMANTIC PARALLELS between K/L with other canon romantic couples for nothing. Surely they wouldn't have developed K/L's relationship more than any other relationship unless there was a really good reason for it. SURELY THEY WOULDN'T BE OKAY WITH VAGUING ABOUT THE SHIP MULTIPLE TIMES AND BEING OKAY WITH DW USING K/L FOR MARKETING PURPOSES IF IT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

But nope. All of the media techniques to subtly hint at a romance used specifically for K/L meant nothing. It was just bros being bros nothing gay here.

And that is BULLSHIT.

Honestly, the whole season just screams, "SHOCK VALUE," to me. They wanted to shock people, but I don't think they really considered the repercussions of how they were doing it. I get shock value, bringing up the interest and encouraging audiences to rewatch the series to understand why the shock was actually built-up from the beginning, but there's right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Voltron took the wrong way and screwed it up royally.

To be clear, I am not against straight ships. Far from it, some of my favorite ships are heterosexual. Nor do I fetishize mlm relationships -- K/L is only the second mlm relationship I've come to really love (the first being Hau and Gladion from Pokemon Sun & Moon). It's just that K/L really struck a chord with me and with so many other people, and to take that away for the sake of a straight ship and some shitty shock value? Dirty thing to do to the show's audience. Don't build up proper LGBT+ rep UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY FUCKING HAVE IT. The only rep? Shiro, and a hastily-added Zethrid/Ezor ship. Blaytz, too, but that was glossed over tbh and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the audience (not on tumblr because we analyze everything to death lol) completely forgot about Blaytz's interaction with that make Galra. That's not proper rep. That's throwing it in and thinking, "It exists so our job is done."

Media in general has being doing LGBT+ rep dirty for SO LONG. Even when we had positive LGBT+ characters in media, they were still characters based off of gay stereotypes. They were good positive characters, but were still perpetuating a certain bias against LGBT+ by displaying these stereotypes as fact. Times are supposed to be different now. We're supposed to be progressing, making it BETTER. I really thought Voltron was going to be part of that progress, that it would give us a well-written, well-developed, well-loved LGBT+ representation for kids of this generation to look up to and admire and learn acceptance -- about themselves and about others -- from. Instead, the showrunners three half-assed, tacked on LGBT+ reps and called it a day.

THAT'S NOT COOL.

This isn't about ships. This is about proper media representation for the LGBT+ community -- something that is really scarce, even now -- and how it affects the LGBT+ community when it's done badly. This also goes for racial rep. You can take two misrepresented groups and treat them horribly and then call it good rep. IT ISN'T. The poor representation of the LGBT+ community has proved to be detrimental in society's view of them. THIS DOESN'T HELP.

*sigh*

Off the topic of that, can we talk about how shit the writing was? Because it was really shit.

I'll admit that while I like s7, it wasn't written amazingly-well. Still, it wasn't bad and did have plenty of interesting episodes. Even with all of the asspulls we got in the last episode, it was still awesome because we got to see Shiro back in his element after losing almost everything in prior seasons. It was a mix of good writing and bad writing, but the good writing made up for the bad.

The seasons previous to that were well-done. Maybe not s4, but the other seasons were well-written and really enjoyable! There's a reason the show took off; the plot maybe standard, but the characters, character dynamics, and relationships were fantastic and were the true driving force behind the series and its success.

So why was s8 so all over the place? Why were plot threads that had been hinted at or outright confirmed left hanging or tied together hastily? So many things were alluded to in previous seasons only to lead to NOTHING. WHY???

Why did everyone BUT Lance get an arc?

What was the point of Lance getting a sword if it was never going to be brought up again?

Why was Keith's arc suddenly thrown to the wayside?

Why did Allura have to DIE for her arc to reach its conclusion?

WHY?

So many people complained about bad writing in Voltron, but I had always believed that the writing in Voltron was relatively good. Sure, it had its problems (like the entirety of s4, and the MFEs being boring as shit), but it was mostly a well-rounded show with well-rounded characters.

And s8... just threw all of that away.

All of that potential, all of those good arcs -- wasted.

The writing went downhill SO fast, and it's just such a shame. Something that meant so much to me has dissolved into the mess s8 was. It's disheartening.

I also want to apologize to all of my followers who followed me because my K/L optimism and metas. I'm sorry if I got your hopes up; I really thought K/L was the logical conclusion -- everything was building up to it, right from the first episode and even continuing in s7 (hell, even s8 added to it) -- and I truly thought the writers were going to follow through with all of the logical conclusions the previous seasons built up. I had faith in them, but I was wrong. For that, I apologize. I know it's just a cartoon show, but I also know how influential and meaningful media can be -- especially for marginalized groups -- so if my hype bringing you up made your fall harder when s8 was released, I am so sorry. You didn't deserve that; nobody in the fandom did.

I'm so jaded and disillusioned right now. Voltron has been a major inspiration for me; I originally decided to be a cartoonist to bring LGBT+ representation to children's media because of Steven Universe, but it was Voltron that really motivated me to reach that goal. I looked up to Voltron -- it was my muse, my main inspiration. I've learned so much about writing -- writing character arcs, relationships, etc. -- from Voltron and all of the analyzing people did. Seeing it devolve into what it did is upsetting. Something I loved so much has let me down, and I'm hurt and disappointed.

But more than ever, I want to create cartoons that don't do this; cartoons that tie up its loose ends, follow through with obvious character relationships, puts the main characters through complete arcs, and give proper development to them all. Cartoons that have proper LGBT+ and racial representation -- with LGBT+/characters of color that can be admired, that won't fall flat, that will teach the children of the generation about acceptance of others and acceptance of yourself regardless of sexuality, skin color, gender identity, etc. Voltron failed in that aspect; it was a compelling show that failed in everything it needed to succeed in. I refuse to make that same mistake.

With that, let's all look ahead to future and enjoy the fanworks that do these wonderful characters justice. Let Voltron's failure inspire you to create and make something better, something that will be much more impactful, much more meaningful.

Don't let it get you down; let it bring you up.

#voltron #voltron s8 spoilers #discourse #negative #im sorry to have this on my blog #but i needed to let this out #my post #reika rants

[healthgnome]

Dear, Isaiah because it’s come to my attention.

It has come to my attention that the past back-and-forth of abuse accusations have been slowly resurrected and I see now that it is certainly within my time to once more explain my side. I truly wish not to be slandered and lied about on such a big platform and I wish the same for my friends, Ryan and Zayne. I genuinely try very much to be a decent, good, and helpful person. Sometimes I slip up as anyone would but I certainly know that I would never try and genuinely bully or hurt someone. For any time I might have joined in on some fun-making - trying not to go overboard and apologizing if I did end up actually hurting- I once again of course apologize for that. I go with the flow of how I think a dynamic is working and sometimes a dynamic does involve some making fun meant in no big harm. A prime example of such would be the friendships between Mark (Markiplier), Bob (Muyskerm), and Wade (LordMinion777). Where it is within understanding that they are all good friends but Wade gets the brunt of a lot of jokes. Any time there is sincere hurt, not that we have seen- but I guarantee there would be apology.

In Any Case, now that that introduction is out of the way I shall diffuse all that has been said in a post made by former friend Isaiah AKA (currently) @for-abused-kids about myself, Zayne (@thevvytchbytch) and Ryan (@literallyrealdeadstuff).

Not one of us have “stalked” your blog on a daily to find out if you have talked shit. If you mean during that whole giant commotion, sure there was a lot of digging in order to actually provide evidence for the claims we make. After that? Maybe checked out some posts to make sure there wasn’t still any sort of slander on any of our names, or we were informed of such a thing taking place. And yes, you have had their name(s) and mine on your blog in a “talking shit” kind of way.

We did not go to your house after dark, how would you know if you weren’t there. That is assumption. (and you know what they say lol) And a letter was written to your parents coming from a place of concern and explanation. I had not wished any abuse on you to happen.

As well, you are repeatedly saying that we lied to your mother telling her you ripped up the note. It was not meant to be a lie or anything of the sort, we simply had no contact and therefore wanted to make sure the note was actually read.

Hmm. I would really like to point out though that you claim that Zayne had the audacity to go to your home and deliver this note with someone who stole from your home while at the hospital. Do not act like you are not leaving out very important parts to this statement, and that the counterpart, leader, truest perpetrator, and manipulator to this was someone mentioned throughout this letter.

There was a lot of yelling between yourself and Zayne. A lot of it was not meant in harm, which was understood at least eventually; a lot of it was out of anger because something had happened, was done, or was said. And there was a lot of back and forth.

Allan was a friend of all of us for a while until he was slowly let go from all of us because he is a bad person. Personally, I stayed friends because my really fucked up brain could not handle being any more alone than I already was. You had liked him for a long time. Told us about it, or when certain things may have happened; sometimes these feelings went away (which is normal), and sometimes they were strong. I can provide proof for this too. Yes he was an awful person, and I was usually on your side when he did bully you. I did exclaim, and of course I understand how feelings work, that perhaps not being friends would be a good idea. I also told Allan this countless times but he enjoyed messing with you and I am not him nor could I control his actions.

The competition? There was a small friendly barely-a-competition thing going on in regards with Zayne. And it had barely lasted as well. At least from what I understood.

Ah yes the cum stains things. We used the word cum out of what we thought would be respect for your identifying away from femininity. Just as we would use the word “dick” or any variations thereof rather than vagina when referring to most of us and genitalia. Which sounds gross to say but we are teens, most of us horny, most everyone on T, genitals were a common point of discussion. And yes, you did leave vaginal discharge stains, or cum stains or whatever you feel most comfortable calling it, on the futon. And this is a pretty normal thing from what I know. People “get wet” and people have sexual liquids. It be like that.

From what I, and many others know, you do talk to a lot of people, including children, about your trauma.

I don’t remember you purposely triggering Zayne with Ed Sheehan, you did not have control anyway; Allan was the controller and was persistent on having that song on. However, you have attempted to physically hurt Zayne when you punched them. It did not actually hurt because it was frankly weak (not that I could do much better). What next you’re referring to after this is that Zayne was allowed by yourself to punch back; they simply know how to and are stronger than they appear.

Oh god. The Asian thing. That’s a huge bag on it’s own and has been talked about previously, you want more info on this or another post? Talk to me. Here is a link to a post with a bunch of evidence of this and other things & here is a link to a quick post by Ryan. There will also be a couple of photos at the end of this. But simply, Isaiah, your evidence was hardly; you have very white features, two very white parents, and have never presented otherwise, this coming from a very white person.

Congruently, have you seen Ryan or a picture of him recently? He has anything but thin lips. If you’d care for an example of thin, look at me. His hair is quite thick, has varying curls throughout as has been complained about and explained in the past. As well, it does deeply tangle itself if not taken care of daily. I, on the other hand never brush my hair- at the same length- and it barely gets more than a little disheveled. There is evidence of all of this. He does not at all have a small nose. Whilst not the darkest person, the summer provides a pretty good tan, more so in his youth. His father is actually not white- which is a known fact rather than a guess. If he is at least a quarter black, and has those features, I think it’s fair for him to claim that he is mixed on a hookup/dating app.

Oh, and I am quite aware of all of the arguments you’ve had about your father and his heritage. It’s what sparked that one post about the “Native American” 80’s/90s festival necklace. Which was a genuinely funny incident if you look back on it.

I have heard varying things to do with you imagining sex with anyone you are friends with. Just as I have heard varying statements about a lot of things that you exclaim to have or currently happen in your life.

We have called you straight as you have called yourself straight or straight-passing because of the fact that you were or are masc-aligned and would now prefer to date fem-aligned individuals due to trauma. But considering you are not mono-attracted to only men/masculine leaning individuals, you are not completely gay either. So if you can call yourself one you can essentially call yourself the other since you seem to be comfortable enough doing so. (I’ve recently seen a word to use for nonbinary-straight attraction! it’s “strayt”; similarly, there is “gai.” I bring these up not to make-fun or cause harm but they may be useful to you.)

In regards to Ingrid, as far as you have spoken to us and as we have seen, you have changed what you claim to have identified as whilst dating her. From secretly trans, to a cis girl, to questioning (not in this order, necessarily). Regardless, for many reasons it seems as though this was an unhealthy relationship.

You have taken stories right out of others lives and claimed them to be your own, these would be delusions, dear, not hallucinations. And it is at least a possibility that a lot of other things are delusions, too. This coming from someone who has had experiences with some sort of psychosis, delusions, hallucinations, gas lighting (from yourself, Isaiah. as well as from others.) and other such things that I can explain more if asked. And there is evidence of this all, as well.

I have never been abused by my parents. They are wonderful individuals who also try to be good, decent people. They have taken in my friends (including you, Isaiah) and done a lot to help them in times of abuse and need as well. That being said, there can be, from what I’ve seen, varying degrees and methodologies of abuse that different groups take part in. They are all horrific and I absolutely, full-heartedly, condemn all of it. But that is a fact given by apparent evidence. This being said, your parents have Not admitted to doing all of this, at least not to yourself, but to your sisters. I am genuinely curious as to why, if they’d admit doing harm to them both to you and in writing, why would they not come through with all of this to yourself?

On this topic, Stockholm syndrome, while something truly awful, is a kidnap-specific symptom. You can google how it affects others, but those websites are a lot less trust-worthy. We both went through the Hell of the junior research project and you are an academically intelligent person, you should be able to tell the difference between a trustworthy site and an untrustworthy one.

As far as your gender, speculations have been made based upon a lot of things you have said, and some seeming fetishization of nonbinary people. This is not said to invalidate your feelings or anyone else’s for that matter. It is simply that you are a rightfully suspicious individual. Again, this coming from trans people both binary and non- alike.

Regarding what I’m pretty sure is the video of you sitting on my legs, Isaiah, I don’t remember if there was an apology (whether or not in the video) but this wouldn’t be the first or last time something like this had occurred.

Finally, you have abused me. You have done me harm and I now understand that. I have tried to do a lot for you but you have done a lot to and taken advantage of me and my mental state. 

Once again here is a link to a post with A Lot of evidence. Want more? Contact me.

As always, best regards to your mental health,

former friend, Alana.

PS; Please, for the love of everything, do stop misgendering Zayne and use *their* correct pronouns ( they / them ) !

The photo below contains obviously curly hair, not-at-all thin lips, a not-at-all small nose, etc. You can see.

#forabusedkids #firstnonbinarypresident #usedandchildabused #firsttranspresident #bullying #abuse #toxic friends #toxic friendships #abusive relationships #abusive friendship #toxic relationships #tobias #isaiah #depression #anxiety #psychosis #child abuse

[lacependragon]

mantisbelle replied to your post: I’ve been thinking a lot about the MCU lately,...

The thing that’s always driven me away from the MCU is the stifingly formulaic nature of its films which have just kind of wallowed in mediocrity for a long time. Character writing never occurred to me really, and you raise some really good points without going for the obvious Whedon discussions people usually go after. Good post, ani.

The formulatic nature of the films has finally been broken to some degree, but in doing so, they destroyed all source of classic entertainment for the lowest common denominator. Thor: Ragnarok and Captain America: Civil War both have non-traditional climaxes and endings, but in doing so, they completely destroyed all the tension the classical format gave them, thus not only relying on mediocrity to create their plot and structure to begin with, but then destroying the only part of the mediocrity that actually makes the films worth watching.

(Spoilers)

Civil War’s climax is a three person battle of Captain America + Bucky vs Tony Stark. We know Tony can’t win, but the way in which he loses, and the battle as a whole, is completely dissatisfying and overall flat ending. The fight is boring, the staging is terrible, and the outcome has very little effect on well, everything. It doesn’t matter. The climatic battle has no baring on the actual storyline, it’s all about one dude’s quest for revenge and a pair of bash brothers kicking his ass. It has nothing to do with the plot of the overall movie.

Thor: Ragnarok has a similar problem in that the final battle has very little emotional impact. Sure, we see Thor get his powers full throttle, we see Valkyrie fight, but there’s... very little there. Once the heroes realize they’re outnumbered, the fight becomes “welp, time to book it” and we don’t even properly see how Loki’s whole thing works and why Sutur doesn’t try to come after them. Frankly, having two villains we know nothing about battle was boring, and the fight would have been much more interesting if there was any emotional attachment to it. Instead, we’re left dissatisfied and going “that’s it?” because there’s no character inherent in the climax. We’re also left with more questions than answers: including whether or not Bruce Banner is dead.

Like? The movie is fun and wacky, but in trying to break the formula at the very end, instead of all the way through, it becomes incredibly dissatisfying and frustrating. And while I appreciated its focus on sibling relationships, I’m still left wishing it had done more.

(End Spoilers)

The thing about media is that it can be completely mediocre in plot and still be incredibly entertaining. Look at RWBY: the plot itself isn’t all that new, and there are incredibly deep flaws in it, even disregarding completely redoing the world-building between seasons on multiple occasions, thus creating massive inconsistencies between storylines and plot developments (see: Glynda and Cinder’s powerset, the Maidens, the Relics, and the existence of Lionheart). However, the characters are incredibly dynamic and interesting.

No one likes RWBY for the story. They like it for the characters. Hence why so much of fic is AUs, moreso than any other fandom I’ve ever been in.

On the flip side, you have shows like BNHA and say, Sailor Moon. Both of them have much fewer AUs because the overall world is very flexible and provides the ability to stretch and shape it. However, the characters are still the driving factor.

I mean, a lot of things that are character focused tend to have shitty plotlines: Red vs Blue’s first five seasons are only watchable for the characterization it picks up; Slice of Life anime, such as Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura Quest, and even Yuri on Ice!!! are based entirely on characterization and relationships. Without the characters, these shows wouldn’t be interesting. And Yuri on Ice!!! being such a phenomenon isn’t just for the fact that it’s a main stream gay anime without fetishization, but also because of how well-developed and character focused the storyline was, to the point where the character losing isn’t a disappointment, but a logical progression of the relationships between the characters.

I mean, look at how many people during the airing weren’t sure who they wanted to win. Because everyone was so damn well done.

The MCU has a massive problem here that I find many blockbusters do, but because the MCU is so huge and interconnected, it becomes much, much more obvious: the characters are flat.

 We’re how many movies into the MCU and people still aren’t getting development? The main characters of these movies are identical to who they were when we first met them, if not worse or Flanderized to a huge extent.

Tony is a great example of this: he went from wanting to stop making weapons and be a better person to a controlling, ghosting, emotionally distant and manipulative, drunken bastard who tries to hold everyone under his thumb while having no attachment at all. His relationship with Pepper means nothing. His relationship with Peter means nothing. He never learns. He just gets worse and his bad traits get focused on.

And everyone is incredibly inconsistent. Every movie they believe something different. You never know what they’re thinking because no two writers, no two directors, no two editors think the same thing. There is no story bible, there is no rule of thumb. They aren’t even using comics anymore.

Steve in the Avengers movies is a Gosh Golly Christian Good Ole’ Boy who calls all women ma’am. In his own movies he’s a rough and tumble Brooklyn kid who wipes blood off his mouth and asks you to hit him again. Where’s the consistency?

Tony is an inglorious bastard all the way through, but he’s straight up a villain protagonist since Ultron. Why should we care about him? Why should we like him?

And the women. Pepper exists as Tony’s handback. Jane Foster is gone. Sif is dead. Natasha hasn’t mattered in a long time. Scarlet Witch is barely a character and mostly tits and ass. And... that’s it, isn’t it? We have Valkyrie, who’s all right, and the Black Panther ladies. Who else? Sharon Carter? Yeah, she’s changed actresses how many times?

And what about the POC characters? The black men? Black Panther did it well, but look at the rest of the universe. Rhodey’s fucking gone. Sam barely matters. Valkyrie is probably gonna die. Can you think of any other major, important, non-white characters? I can’t.

And that’s not including anything else, like Dr. Strange or Ant-Man and the huge disservice both did to their respective source material.

The fact of the matter is, the MCU is relying on being action movie blockbuster formulas to try and build a universe we should care about, but is also being incredibly formulaic, inconsistent, and flat out disrespectful to both the source material and to the fans. You can make one, two, even three movies with no characters or plot and still have them be pretty enough and have enough going to on to keep you interested (see: James Cameron’s Avatar,) but after a while, people start to notice the issues, the cracks, the inconsistencies.

And even though some directors/writers/producers/editors are trying to fix it, they’re reducing these characters to caricatures. They snap off witty one liners, laugh in the face of danger, and act like they’re all the rulers of the universe. They’re all cocky, they’re all confident, they’re all smart, they’re all witty.

And when they’re all the same, why should we care? When the laughs keep coming, when there’s no pause for serious, where are the stakes? Humour has its place, but humour for the sake of humour isn’t development, it’s lazy, especially in a series like this. Like angst for the sake of angst, it just doesn’t work. You have to mix it up, you have to use beats, you have to try. And they just aren’t.

Bad characters can be fine with a good plot, but will suffer. Good characters can carry a bad plot. But having both is a disaster waiting to happen and I think the MCU has finally hit its tipping point. It’s collapsing upon its own weight and inconsistencies and the only reason it’s still hanging on is, frankly, obsessed fans, diehard stans, asshole men, and Black Panther lovers.

#mantisbelle #mcu wank #anti mcu #ani speaks #replies

[breeeliss]

I love klance too but I feel like the pairing really killed Lance's character in fandom. It's like he exists outside of his relationships with people and he's allowed to talk about girls on camera but I feel like people only care about him when he's standing next to Keith :(

no, you’re absolutely right, and this is the negative side of shipping in a fandom where romance and relationships are not the main thrust of the show: characters are only appreciated within the context of a certain relationship and fail to be considered individually or in relation to other characters outside of that favorite ship. 

because of the popularity of klance, keith’s and lance’s characters have essentially been butchered and watered down into what they are now in fandom. and it’s gotten so bad that whenever lance or keith develop or act outside of each other, it’s perceived to be bad writing, out of character, or “doing the characters dirty,” when in reality it’s just keith and lance acting as the writers intended them to act. 

(this got fucking long wow, i’m putting it under a cut)

lance’s fandom qualities seem to be: he’s bisexual, he’s angsting harder than anyone on the team, his homesickness and his insecurity comprise his entire character, he’s a bitch to keith because he’s secretly in love with him, keith is the reason he discovers he’s bisexual, keith is his first experience with a boy, and lance becomes completely uninterested in women upon entering a relationship with keith 

and keith’s fandom qualities seem to be: he’s gay, he’s socially inept, he is incapable of showing positive emotions, he doesn’t laugh or tell jokes, he’s pining after lance, he needs lance to teach him how to love, function, and show emotions, he seems to not interact with shiro much because he has lance, and his family life/past was so horrible that lance is the only one who can help him heal from it. 

needless to say, these are all fandom fabrications and next to none of this is accurate. but these characterizations fit with this troublesome idea of romance that fandom constantly perpetuate: when you’re in a relationship, your whole character is inextricable from your partner – you need your partner to save you from yourself, complete yourself, and be your everything. anyone who’s been in more than one healthy relationships knows that that’s bullshit, but fandom doesn’t realize that. because keith can’t be a leader, can’t express his emotions, can’t get over his past without lance’s help, despite the fact that he’s canonically a very independent character and relies most heavily on shiro than anyone else. and lance’s insecurities (which, in canon, are private and never get in the way of him playing his part as a paladin of voltron) leave him unable to function in fandom and it isn’t until he has keith’s support that he can go on. 

lance and keith have been watered down to these weak, weepy, pining characters who need a partner in order for them to develop. at the same time, their relationships with other characters are completely downplayed because they’re “threats.” that’s why lance can spend an entire vlog gushing over allura, but people think they’re “friends/siblings.” it’s why keith and shiro’s deep relationship and meaningful past is reduced to this snarky, aloof sibling relationship that’s focused on shiro hooking keith up with lance. how lance grows in relation to allura and how keith grows in relation to shiro is downplayed and ignored. when you ignore these parts of their character, you begin to see canon behavior as being uncharacteristic. 

if you paid attention to how lance’s character changed in relation to allura, you’d see that his vlog is perfectly in character and shows a crush having turned into a deep love and admiration for his teammate. but if you decided to ignore that and think that lance’s bisexuality is only valid if he’s attracted to men, you’d perceive that as out of character and stereotypical. if you paid attention to how keith’s character changes in relation to shiro, you’d see that him choosing to confide in shiro about his thoughts and concerns is perfectly in character and denotes a deep relationship that goes past friendship. but if you decided to ignore that and think that keith is gay and shiro is his brother, you’d think the writers were tossing klance aside by not having keith go to lance instead. 

it also isn’t a coincidence that any pairings where lance or keith are paired with women (i.e. allurance and kallura), people make this strange conclusion that they’re cliche and boring. that allurance is a classic “persistent boy eventually gets the reluctant girl” and that kallura is “angsting prince gets the charming princess.” it’s this subtle way of undermining straight relationships while ignoring the fact that klance is a classic “rivals to lovers” dynamic that is no more cliche than anything they accuse allurance and kallura of being. if you cared enough to explore lance and keith’s characters in depth, you’d also understand that allurance and kallura are not simply these stereotypes and that they look a lot different when canon conceptions of these characters are considered and not the faulty, fandom ones people are so set on clinging too. 

literally every single corner of fandom where lance and keith exist are seeped in these weird and frankly worrying characterizations of keith and lance, and that all goes back to klance and how violently people rally around it. klance is the common denominator in all of this. although, considering the fact that m/m relationships where both men have a perceived rivalry are so often fetishized by women in fandom, this is hardly surprising at all. 

now are klance shippers gonna own up to that and realize it? honestly? probably not. 

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #lance mcclain #keith kogane #Anonymous #ask