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dukeofankh · 3 months

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Trying to find progressive masculine community is so exhausting.

I've flipped through local men's groups, trying to find places to explore masculinity in a chill, progressive setting. First of all, they mostly seem to be modelled after AA, and like, my gender isn't a debilitating addiction, it's part of my identity actually, but also, the invite and description of the event have maybe a short paragraph tops actually waving vaguely in the direction of what the purpose of the group is, and then ten to twenty paragraphs breaking down the rules. One spent longer talking about the hand signals he would use to direct conversation than he did describing what the conversation would be about. Another had a full paragraph explaining that if the group thought you were evading what they thought your "real" problem was, they'd probably "call you to take accountability". Like...I don't even know who these people are yet and they're already letting me know that they view it as their right, no, their duty, to bully me into seeing things their way. Like, this is in the invite.

...and this warning is there instead of any sort of breakdown of like, I dunno. Whether you should be a feminist to show up. Whether it was a safe space for queer men. What the hell they wanted to talk about. Joining a men's space is on some level inherently submitting yourself to the authority of the leaders of that group, and you don't usually get a particularly clear breakdown of what the values and goals of those leaders are, because on some level the answer is always going to be "whatever I want"

And like, unfortunately you do need to filter men to build a men's space. You do need to remove or chastise men who act in ways that are toxic or disruptive or misogynistic. If you don't things turn into an MRA chapter pretty quick. But the sort of emergency powers that leadership takes on as a result of that...just kind of naturally end up reproducing masculine heirarchies.

MensLib, the only online community of progressive dudes talking about masculinity that I'm aware of, is...on Reddit. So there is a moderator system. In theory, a moderator is there to...moderate. This is a space where people are going to be talking, and mods are there to make sure things don't get too toxic or off topic.

The issue is that, on some level, that is technically a leadership position. In a sub trying to rehabilitate masculinity. So you've got a bunch of folks who view themselves as the leaders of this bastion of goodness standing against the depredations of the misogynistic internet, guiding the hapless smooth-brain neophytes towards The True Way.

In practice, this looks like 95 percent of the posts submitted for the subreddit being rejected. That isn't hyperbole. On average, the sub has about one new post per day. Almost all posts directly relating a personal experience are deleted immediately, in favour of articles written about masculinity in traditional media publications, which are considered more trustworthy than the sus lived experiences of the guys in the sub. The post I wrote here about the effect of purity culture on male sexual shame that's sitting at about 15K notes was based on a 10K word post I wrote for Reddit that was deleted because "I didn't cite any sources to prove that there is a link between purity culture and male sexual shame, or that my experience was anything more than anecdotal". I get comments deleted on a regular basis, and after paragraphs of protesting in modmail that my comments are both fully in line with feminism and not against the rules, the mods have just finally told me that the rules don't actually drive their actions as a team. They delete anything they feel leads the conversation in a direction they personally feel is unproductive. The rule cited at the time of deletion is really just the broad category of why they decided to hit the button that says nobody is allowed to read what I wrote.

The issue is kind of twofold. First of all, progressive men do not trust other men. A good dude knows that he, individually, is a good person, but literally any other man external to him is on thin ice. Do you really want to tie your wagon to that guy? Do you trust him, really? How do you tell the difference between a guy criticizing an article because it's factually incorrect and criticising it because a woman wrote it? Probably best to play it safe and delete it. Weight of the odds, he's probably a misogynist, right? This is the internet.

And thats the other half of it. If you view yourself as part of the leadership of The Good Guys, and you're getting hatemail from incels and facists all day, you get to the point where most of the time people challenge your authority it's because they're a terrible person. It is very, very easy to get to the point where someone challenging you is seen as evidence that they are a bad person. And now someone is challenging you (and therefore bad), in an environment where you are in charge, and you have a "make your opponent disappear" button.

I know. A Reddit mod was rude to me and now I'm butthurt. It's petty and stupid. I'm just feeling like there's nowhere else to really go, and I'm pretty despondent that literally every space I've seen that even looks like it might be for progressive men has the same deeply hierarchical structure and constant status-oriented squabbling as patriarchal spaces.

#me writing stuff #positive masculinity #menslib

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elyvorg · 8 months

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The Real Reason That Sissel Refused to Help

(or: the subtle genius of Ghost Trick’s tutorial)

“I just want to find my own lost memory. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

Here’s a post in which I talk about this particular part of Ghost Trick’s story, which I’m keeping as vague as possible outside of the spoiler cut, but those who’ve finished the game should know what I’m referring to. What’s actually going on here is rather interesting, and paints our friend Sissel in a much less negative light than the face-value assumption I tend to see most people jumping to with this.

First, though, I have written a fic illustrating this idea in narrative form rather than lengthily explaining it. If you’re interested, I recommend you go read that first before reading this, because being shown is more fun than being told!

(Also, spoilers, obviously. Go play Ghost Trick if you haven’t; it’s so good and absolutely not the kind of thing you want to be spoiled for.)

So, in the original timeline, Sissel refused to help Missile save his mistresses, stating that he just wants to find his own lost memories.

It could easily seem at a glance like Sissel’s character development over the course of the game is that he started off selfish, only caring about his own mystery, and it’s only through getting attached to everyone throughout the night that he begins to care about others and the bigger picture. As such, his refusal to help Missile in the original timeline is easy to read as being born of that, since this was early on when Sissel still only cared about himself.

But… it’s not actually that simple, because Sissel isn’t as selfish in the beginning as one might think. Sure, he’ll say things like “I have to focus on my own mystery”, or “this is all for my own benefit”. But that doesn’t actually match up with his actions. His own mystery may be, in theory, his number one priority, but a remarkably close second priority for him is to save the lives of any dead person he happens to come across. Even very early on, before he’s grown to care about any of these people!

He doesn’t hesitate to save Missile, despite having zero reason to assume that this little doggie will be any help with his mystery. The second time he finds Lynne dead, when he’s getting to talk to her and learns that she doesn’t actually know much about him and probably won’t be able to help him because she’s got her own case to pursue tonight, he still reassures her that she doesn’t owe him and he’s going to save her life anyway.

And even right at Lynne’s very first death, in the game’s opening narration, Sissel makes a point that he doesn’t want to stand back and let her get shot, and that he feels bad for her, despite her being a complete stranger!

Evidently, even right at the beginning, Sissel isn’t selfish. He just thinks he is. Because cats can be tsundere like that.

Sissel: “Why am I so determined to save this woman? After all, it’s not as if I know her. My reason is twofold. Number one, I’m not the type to leave women lying around, discarded like trash.”

(Here’s a bit from later in chapter 1 featuring Sissel being amusingly surprised by his own altruistic streak. He seems to expect to only care about himself – yet here he is, not wanting to leave a stranger lying dead if he can help it. Not so selfish after all, huh?)

So if that’s not the problem in the original timeline, then what is? Why does Sissel leave Missile to deal with saving his ladies alone when he’d have no reason not to try and help? – after all, he hasn’t been given a fake time limit in this timeline! He’s not even in a hurry with his own mystery! For that matter, Sissel was still there in the junkyard at the beginning – why didn’t he just save Lynne himself?

We can get a good indication of what the issue is from that very same opening narration I was just talking about.

Sissel: “Now, I’m not the kind of guy who can just stand back and watch a poor woman get shot. But I have just one little problem… I’m already dead myself.”

Sissel: “I feel bad for her, sure. But what can I do? I’m dead. But just as I was thinking that…”

The real problem is not that he doesn’t care about saving a stranger’s life. Rather, it’s that, because he’s dead, he doesn’t think he can. He’s not expecting to magically have ghost superpowers; why would he?

And it’s just as he was thinking that he can’t do anything (which, while part of his screen-filling monologue narration, was still his thoughts and therefore something any nearby ghost could hear)… that Ray speaks up to tell him that actually he can save her.

Sissel: “Huh?” (Me? Save her? Uh, how?)

Immediately, Sissel questions the notion once again, not with a why but with a how. It’s not that he doesn’t want to; he simply doesn’t think it’s possible.

This general idea continues throughout the entire tutorial, which is absolutely packed with lines that show Sissel being deeply sceptical about the idea that he could possibly save someone’s life or alter someone’s fate.

Once Ray’s taught him about his basic ghost tricks and he’s managed to delay Lynne’s death by a few moments… she still ends up dead anyway. And Sissel thinks that’s it. Because of course he does. Even if he can stop time and manipulate objects, he has zero reason to believe that his powers can undo a death that’s already happened.

Sissel: “In the end, it looks like her fate remains unchanged. So what good are these ‘ghost tricks’ of mine? But just as I was thinking this…”

Sissel: “It looks like my ghost tricks didn’t do much good.” (She still ended up just as dead as before.)

He even ends up feeling like his new superpowers are barely worth anything, because he can play a few little tricks on someone, but that’s not enough to save someone’s life, is it?

Ray: “Isn’t it a shame to see such a pretty young woman lying here discarded like a piece of trash?” Sissel: “But what can I do? She’s already dead.”

Ray: “And while she’s resting, you can save her life.” Sissel: “Oh, sure. You make it sound so easy.”

And again, he’s very dismissive of Ray implying or telling him that he can do something about this. After all, how could that be possible any more?

In particular, there’s this vital little bit of trickery here…

Ray: “Now what do you suppose will happen if you possess a corpse?” Sissel: “Nothing, because I already tried that, remember? And nothing happened at all.”

…in which Sissel assumes his powers just don’t work on corpses, because he’s already tried and failed to do anything with “his” corpse. If he’d been alone, without Ray to guide him through things, he most likely wouldn’t have even tried to possess Lynne’s corpse in the first place, because he would have had no reason to believe it would achieve anything!

(Meanwhile, Missile in the original timeline also had zero reason to believe he could do anything for Kamila, but he was so anguished and desperate that of course he would have tried anyway. He’d try anything to save her, because he is good and loyal and Dog. So he was able to discover his time-rewinding powers where Sissel didn’t, and thus he passed that knowledge onto Sissel in the game’s timeline.)

And as Ray tells Sissel that he can in fact rewind time to redo the last moments of Lynne’s life, he’s completely dumbfounded and bewildered by the very idea of it.

Sissel: “Are you serious?! Back through time?!”

Sissel: “But this is crazy! None of it makes any sense!”

Ray: “To the time four minutes before this woman was murdered!” Sissel: “H-Hey, wait a second! I still don’t know what you’re talking about!”

What is this lamp even talking about?! Of course turning back time isn’t possible! He had no reason to believe it was possible, even as part of his new wacky ghost powers.

(Meanwhile, when Sissel is saving Missile in the game, we get a little exchange that shows Missile being completely unfazed by the idea that Sissel’s brought them back in time. It’s no weirder than humans walking around on two legs, right? One way or another, the cat can barely wrap his head around it, while the dog sees it as perfectly plausible.)

One thing Ray says more than once during the tutorial is, “The best thing to do is try it.” Because Sissel is being so stubbornly cynical that he will not take this desk lamp’s word about how useful his powers are and has to literally be pushed into trying it himself in order to believe it, every time.

Even after seeing for himself that he can go back in time and watch Lynne’s death again, Sissel still manages to be pessimistic about this.

Ray: “And there you have it. The last four minutes of her life.” Sissel: [strained] “No…!” Ray: “It’s kind of ironic, when you think about it. A woman toyed with by fate, and a man toyed with by a ghost.” Sissel: “But she still died.”

He went back in time, and she still died. There’s still apparently nothing he can do, right? No, Sissel, just have a bit of patience! This is just the mechanic that lets you understand what happens before you dive in and start changing things; you’ll get your chance soon!

And once he’s finally successfully saved Lynne…

Ray: “You used your powers to avert that woman’s fate.” Sissel: “So I did that?”

Sissel still has a moment of being surprised at the notion that he was capable of something like this.

It’s really striking to me, watching over chapter 1 again with this thought about original-timeline Sissel in mind, just how many lines to this effect there are throughout the whole thing. The writers did not need to include this many moments of Sissel being sceptical, or even any of them at all, really, in order for the tutorial to do its job as a tutorial! But they’re here anyway, because it is in fact really important to the story that Sissel is somebody who would not have tried hard enough to figure out that his powers can undo deaths unless he had someone holding his hand through it the whole way.

The way old-Missile talks about it when he’s explaining himself at the end, it’s easy to get the takeaway that the most important thing he did as Ray was to take advantage of Sissel’s supposed self-interest: by not contradicting his misconception that he’s the man in red, by telling him Lynne is the key to his mystery (a half-truth at best), and by giving him a fake time limit. And it’s not that those things didn’t help, but they’re not really the most important thing at all.

The most important thing Ray did for Sissel, the thing that Missile absolutely most needed to spend those ten years waiting to do, was exactly what it appeared to be during chapter 1: to teach him how to use his powers to save lives. Because the number one thing the Sissel from the original timeline needed but didn’t get was, quite literally, a tutorial.

There’s a little bit more to it than this, though. So, okay, Sissel in the original timeline didn’t know he had the vital time-rewinding power. But then that begs the question: why didn’t Missile just tell him that while asking for his help?

For that matter, why did Sissel leave Missile shortly after being asked for help? It can’t just be because he urgently had to go and look elsewhere for answers to his own mystery, because he’s not pressed for time here. And he was apparently chilling at the junkyard just eavesdropping on the investigators’ conversations before Missile showed up. Why the sudden shift in locations now of all times, when there’s someone here who’s actually talking to him – the first person Sissel would have been able to talk to all night – and asking him for help?

The issue here, I believe, is that this isn’t just a matter of Sissel’s lack of understanding what his powers can do. It’s also a matter of emotional state – both Sissel’s, and Missile’s. Both of them would have been incredibly stressed out and upset, Sissel due to his loss of memory and seeing deaths in front of him that he doesn’t think he can do anything about, and Missile due to his mistresses’ deaths that he also can’t do anything about, even though he has a superpower that lets him try but it just isn’t quite enough.

How would Missile and Sissel’s interaction go when they’re both so upset like this? There’s actually a fun little bite-sized example of this in the actual canon timeline. During the last desperate struggle to escape the sinking submarine…

Missile: “Sissel! Y-Y-Y… You’re not telling Miss Lynne to leave poor Miss Kamila behind, ARE YOU?!” Sissel: *sigh* “Could you just be quiet for a minute, Missile?”

Missile and Sissel are bound to be both extremely anxious and stressed in this situation – trapped in the submarine, Lynne and Kamila in danger of drowning if they don’t do something. And in that state of mind, it seems that Missile is prone to eschewing logic to be even more loudly desperately protective of his mistresses… while Sissel especially does not enjoy Missile being Loudly Boisterously Dog in his ear when he’s stressed out. After all, cats and dogs have very opposite and very incompatible ways of dealing with stress!

So it follows that the conversation between Sissel and Missile in the original timeline would likely have been an incoherent emotional mess, in which neither of them properly communicated their side of things at all. Missile must have just never even thought to tell Sissel that he can rewind time and therefore saving his ladies is actually possible in theory, because that was already obvious to him! He wouldn’t be capable of understanding why Sissel would be so reluctant about this.

As for why Sissel wasn’t just reluctant to help but outright ran away and sealed the deal – I think, more than anything, it’s got to be down to the fact that he couldn’t stand having Missile being so loud and energetic at him when he was this upset. Especially not while repeatedly saying that he can save them, which would be the exact thing Sissel has been miserably convinced that he just can’t. It follows that he’d just have wanted to run and hide somewhere Missile isn’t, where he can have some peace and quiet. Cats who are upset often like to hide and isolate themselves to feel safer.

There’s one other part in the game’s tutorial that suggests the problem originally might have been partly a matter of Sissel’s emotions:

Ray: “Hello there. How are you feeling? Not very well, I imagine. A terrible tragedy, what happened tonight.” Sissel: “………” [neutral face] Ray: “Ah, ignoring me, are you? It’s a little too early for you to be so stiff and cold, I’d say.” Sissel: [smiling] “Ah, so it was you. You were that voice in my head, right?”

This is very noteworthy, because Ray is the only person in the entire game who ever takes the time to ask Sissel how he’s feeling. He wouldn’t be feeling great after waking up dead, watching a woman die in front of him and failing to save her, would he?

It seems like old-Missile, with his years of wisdom and time to reflect on everything, realised that his approach to getting Sissel’s help last time really was way too focused on his own problems, and he never even stopped to think about how Sissel must have been feeling. So here, he presents himself as a friend, someone who cares about Sissel and his journey, because that’s exactly what Sissel needs! This poor kitty must have felt so lonely and sad and helpless in the original timeline. But hearing Ray’s words, and realising that this desk lamp is someone semi-familiar, does seem to cheer him up at least a little bit here! Sissel really is a character whose core desperate need is to just not be alone, even if you’d be hard-pressed to get him to admit that at the beginning.

Interestingly, way back when I first played Ghost Trick, on the DS soon after it came out, I found myself intrigued by Sissel in the original timeline. I vaguely toyed with the idea of writing a fic exploring how he was feeling and why he refused, though I never got around to actually doing so. Then recently, the game coming out in HD rekindled my hyperfixation and made me think about it some more and actually end up writing that fic after all. And the thing is, back then, I didn’t remotely consciously understand any of this stuff I’ve just explained here. But even so, I find it neat how I still had this wordless sense that what was going on with Sissel must have been so much more than just selfishness – that he must have been so sad in that timeline and that had to be the real basis of why he didn’t help.

#ghost trick #ghost trick phantom detective #ghost trick spoilers #sissel #sissel ghost trick #ray ghost trick #ramble

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thesherrinfordfacility · 9 months

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okay let's get them hard truths out in the open following episode 6, bearing in mind that i am in the UK and am therefore chronically sleep-deprived, and have watched the Feral Domestic™ maybe only like oh 7 times:

crowley is as much at fault as aziraphale. they are both as bad as each other. their own individual idiosyncrasies are literally the other's emotional downfall and if im honest im not entirely sure there's any way they can adequately move past it.

waxed on and on and on about it, but aziraphale's issue is not that he has any allegiance to heaven. he doesn't at all, and that is obvious in his initial reaction to the metatron, in that he essentially says that he knows his place and it is not Up Above. it is right there in the bookshop, and with crowley (even if he didn't consciously think it that explicitly at the time). he doesn't want any part of the heaven that it currently is, he has had enough and is tired of trying to be the angel that hides who he is and what he wants from his existence. that much is very much clear.

but the mantra throughout most of life is to be the change you want to see in the world. look at the major societal issues that are happening in the world today; people are rising up and fighting for what is right, and what they believe in, and wanting to make changes. now look at this opportunity that aziraphale has been given. regardless of the questionable motive of the metatron offering it to him; if you were in his position, could you say you'd find it easy to refuse that?

the issue here with aziraphale is that he (again, ill harp on about it until the cows come home) thinks that crowley - this demon that isn't a good demon because he is good and kind and gentle - would want to have his place in making that change happen; be by aziraphale's side whilst they create the world and heaven that is different from the largely shit one they've always known, hated, and feared. this is where the Pedestal comes in; like i said before, aziraphale has now been confronted with the fact that this demon, his best friend and love of his life, is acting in the way he's always acted but that aziraphale refuses to acknowledge... because to acknowledge crowley's shortcomings (which ill discuss in a sec) would be to question aziraphale's faith in him, and mean falling from the pedestal that has been aziraphale's status quo for the last few thousand years at minimum.

edit: this also needed adding because it touches on aziraphale's tendency to hold himself superior to crowley, which he also does in the Domestic scene.

crowley's issue is twofold. one, he cannot move on from the fall. second, that he is sometimes a manipulative and childish shit. the first is obvious, and his recent experiences with heaven have only compounded this (ie his conversation with gabriel/goob, where he lays into him about gabriel's part in the cruelty shown towards aziraphale to the point he almost makes goob kill/injure himself). crowley can also however be incredibly cruel borne out of his own pain. there were major hints in s2 that not only did crowley fall (no matter what the metatron says, im still not convinced he fell for only asking questions) but he fell from a great sodding height that in his mind should have made him untouchable. my thoughts on morality in heaven have already been discussed, but that must have had a huge impact on crowley; it is no wonder that it's a sore point and he feels bitter, resentful, and angry.

in the above context, id want nothing to do with heaven either. but crowley doesn't communicate and im guessing that his feelings about the fall are a No Go area in terms of what he's shared with aziraphale... so for crowley to assume that aziraphale turned down the metatron is grossly unfair - how was aziraphale necessarily meant to know how deep his trauma (if we're applying human mental health constructs) runs? he isn't to know that at all - so it does track that aziraphale would think that crowley would want to help him make a difference so they don't have to keep getting involved in the toxicity that is the heaven/hell politico-moral dichotomy.

what also upset me about the Domestic was the kiss. i loved it for what it was in isolation and it was a long time coming, and a huge movement in the dance they constantly have with each other, but it was in essence manipulative. i realise crowley was on his last emotional straw and yes, perhaps the love and devotion got too much for him to contain... but he literally just stood there and heard aziraphale tell him that he wanted crowley and he wanted them to be together. there were no qualms at all that aziraphale loves him as much as he loves aziraphale. so, what was the kiss meant to prove?

to my mind, it was manipulation; specific, a temptation. whilst very romantic and 'sweep him off his feet with the violins playing', it was also non-consensual and unwarranted on crowley's part - to the point of being derogatory and redundant (lets be clear: not a criticism on Neil for adding the kiss, im purely talking about crowley as a character and his Choices here). there was nothing to prove, nothing that that kiss could have possibly convinced aziraphale to do. so the only thing that leaves, imo, is that it was a temptation. crowley does not typically use temptation in this way, or at least that's the impression ive had throughout s1 and s2, so he chooses now is the time? to tempt aziraphale into staying with him? of course he does!

he's desperate, but also childish and immature and completely ignorant of what aziraphale is actually saying to him. aziraphale never denied him; aziraphale wanted him in this opportunity exactly by his side as he always has been. but that didn't fit with what crowley wanted, so he tried to make aziraphale bend to his will. aziraphale says the fatal words "i forgive you", but if he has (as i suspect he has) realised that crowley was trying to manipulate him... well, id probably say something as damning to crowley as 'i forgive you' too.

when aziraphale said 'nothing last forever', i realise crowley took that to mean him and the life that they built together, but it obviously wasn't that at all. aziraphale is saying that they have eternity ahead of them, that he wants to spend it with crowley, whatever has to end around them (ahem the world? apocalypse from s1, anyone?). aziraphale demonstrated consistently throughout s2 that he is trying to give crowley his own agency where heaven/hell are concerned (paraphrased but: "I want you to help me but if you don't want to, you are free to leave"). crowley however seemed that he was constantly one foot out the door in case things got Too Much (which, you know - valid) but aziraphale really did his best to make crowley not only not feel suffocated but also that crowley was wanted. and for anyone that is a tough balancing act.

the two of them have had 6000+ years of Not Really Communicating. this is the detritus that remains when they don't, and it was absolutely needed in this season. for them to break apart and break in and of themselves. s3 needs to be where they learn more about themselves than each other, and stop believing that the other is infallible, because such thinking - worship, blind faith - only ends badly.

#good omens #not the analysis this fandom wants #but the analysis that it needs #i will proof read this at some point so if shit doesnt read well or make sense just pretend that it does #aziraphale meta #s2 meta #feral domestic/final fifteen meta

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is-the-snake-video-cute · 6 months

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I've already asked this to a trusted Herp Friend:tm: (and got Many answers from a few others as well) but i wanted to ask you too.

Myself and a friend were arguing(kinda? Debating more like tbh) the ethics of defanging a snake (non-venomous or venomous) I think it's kinda cruel and also unnecessary my friend thinks it's fine bc the snake can't feel it and according to them it has no negative affect on the snake.

So what's your opinion/belied on this situation? I want to ask you bc I'd like to hear from someone who's been handling snakes a lot longer than me.

I believe it's always, always unethical. I've worked with snakes who have had venomoid surgeries (never by any facility I've worked with, they were always rescues) and those poor snakes are heartbreaking.

Venomoid surgeries, intended to render a venomous snake non-venomous, are so cruel that any decent, ethical vet will refuse to perform them. They can take different forms, including partial or complete removal of fangs, venom ducts, and venom glands.

The big issues here are twofold.

It is impossible to ever surgically render a snake non-venomous. All those components can grow back or remain semi-functional after surgery. I can't overstate this. These surgeries are useless.

Those are integral, massive components of the snake's face and jaws. Venom glands, compressor muscles, and ducts take up a lot of real estate in a venomous snake's face.

Snakes who have had venomoid surgeries often have to live with a lot of chronic pain in their faces. They have trouble opening their mouths and eating. I've met some who will drool venom. At my lab we had to make the hard choice to euthanize one of our ambassador rattlers a few months ago - she had undergone a venomoid surgery to remove her venom ducts and the compressor muscles were starting to atrophy and cause her a lot of pain. Botched surgeries are common (largely because, again, no decent vet will perform these), and that adds a whole additional host of complications.

I feel particularly strongly about this just because I know so many snakes who are suffering as a direct result of these surgeries, but yeah. Always unethical, I consider them animal abuse.

#not a rating #venomous snakes #animal abuse #snake anatomy

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ingravinoveritas · 2 months

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So what ur thoughts on the bafias nominations David been nomination for best comedy actor while Michael hasn't been nominated for anything and the fan on twitter can't understand why now I personally think after Al aggressive behaviour on a post when they got his name wrong on his favourite radio station and how her stories on ig recently just werid behaviour do u think Al may had sabotaged his chances of getting a nomination for anything

What ur thoughts

Hi there! So I am once again on the road and attending a conference in Las Vegas that just wrapped up, and now I finally have a chance to comment on today's exciting news.

I'm sure everyone has seen by now, but congrats to our lovely David on his first (main) BAFTA nom for Male Performance in a Comedy!

It seems almost surreal that David has never been nominated for a (main) BAFTA before now, and given the breadth of his other recent TV performances (Des, Litvinenko) nominating him for Good Omens season 2 is certainly a choice...especially in the absence of a nomination for Michael. Looking at the list of nominations, it appears that Best Interests was nominated for Limited Drama, as was Sharon Horgan for Leading Actress...but no nomination for Michael for Leading Actor, either. So very quickly, this starts to look like a visible and intentional snub.

In terms of why Michael would be snubbed, I think there are a few possible reasons, but none of them have anything to do with AL. Readers of my blog know that I am never hesitant to call Anna out when it is merited, but in all likelihood the BAFTA nominations were decided long before now, and in my opinion she would not have any influence on whether Michael is nominated regardless of when her social media posts were made. So it does not make sense to place blame on her in this instance.

My feeling is that the reasons for Michael's lack of a nomination (and really, David's nomination specifically for GO) are likely twofold. One is that I'm guessing Amazon/whoever submitted David for consideration didn't want to pit Michael and David against each other. If they were both competing in the same category, it could split the votes, so only nominating one of them seems the best way of avoiding that. The second reason (again, in my opinion) seems to be political.

I was surprised to recently learn that Prince William is the president of BAFTA--British followers, help me out here, because this is very, very weird to a confused American--and as we know, Michael has spoken out on a number of hot button issues over the last few months: Opening a conversation about Welsh independence. The question of the devolution of the crown estate to Wales. And of course, abolishing the title of Prince of Wales. Not to mention all of the backlash incurred by the release of The Way, which was roundly savaged in the press and accused of promoting anti-English sentiments.

Granted, there have been politically active nominees and winners at the BAFTAs in the past, but it really feels like the combination of all these things is somehow working against Michael. Let's also not forget this epic picture from the BAFTA film awards last month, with Michael giving Wills the side-eyest of Welsh side-eyes:

All this said, it is difficult (if not impossible) to think of Michael and David's performances in GO as separate things, because they are so inextricably intertwined. The reason that we got David's incredible performance as Crowley is because Michael was there as Aziraphale, and vice-versa. I think David and Michael themselves would be the first ones to say it, as well as to be in awe and so supportive of each other's acting. The response of fans to this nomination news--saying Michael is a better actor, Michael deserved to be nominated instead, etc.--is so perplexing to me, because I think he was probably the first one in line to congratulate David, and would chew out anybody who put down David's acting for any reason.

I also think that if the lack of a nomination is due to the above-mentioned political reasons, then Michael is probably wearing it like a fucking badge of honor. I think he is also happier for David than anyone else on the planet right now (because that's his boyfriend, damn it), and I truly hope the stars align and give us Michael presenting David with an award again like at the NTAs in 2021. (Michael subsequently carrying David off the stage bridal style would be the cherry on top of the already extremely homoerotic cake.)

I also feel that there is no question David is as taken aback by his nomination/Michael's lack of a nomination for GO as much as the rest of us are. While I have no idea what David's chances of winning truly are, I think he would wholeheartedly and enthusiastically share that award with Michael. And I think he will share that night with Michael no matter what, regardless of what happens on the broadcast.

So many possibilities come to mind, really. I can imagine David and Michael re-enacting Every (without the heartbreaking bits, of course) on stage. I've seen people making references to the infamous Slow Show fic/how it parallels to real life, and while I've only read part of it (haven't gotten to finish), the thought of any kiss between Michael and David is beyond gorgeous to contemplate. Not for the sake of "content" or as a joke, of course (because I don't think they would be willing to kiss as a joke, because if they were, they would've done it by now), but because we would see a facet to Michael and David's relationship that's always been there in private become public. And it would be their choice to share it with us.

Those are my reactions to the BAFTAs announcement today. I'd love to hear from my followers as well with your thoughts and comments. Thanks for writing in! x

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roaringdargon · 4 days

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For @spr-ingo "off-script". just some fun with Ingo and Emmet on their first battle together on the Multi train after Ingo returns.

I am sick and did not edit this like I wanted, but I still wanted to post today.

----

The first day back to the battle lines was a long anticipated one for Ingo. After months of successful and unsuccessful reintegration this was a goal that made his heart burn with desire. Of all the unfamiliarity that accompanied him in his day to day the conducting of battles was one that always stuck with Ingo even when he barely remembered that he was , in fact, Ingo. So now with memories barely scraping by as familiarity it was a much needed step forward for both his recovery and his sanity.

It was multi lines only for now because of further safety preparations and checks needed before allowing solo control of a giant metal death trap, but it was still so worth it. The energy stewing between himself and his brother as they awaited the arrival of their first valiant challengers was electric. They could not stop the excitement in every twitch of the wrist and stamp of their feet. This feeling of being so in sync with someone was both foreign and familiar. He and Emmet had prepared their teams, strategized, practiced and learned each other's mannerisms all over again. Even now the silence is often interrupted by future adjustments.

When the first set of challengers to make it to them showed up it was a friendly surprise. A young man in blue gaped and a young woman sporting two buns and the confidence of a champion had stars in her eyes.

"Oooooooh wow! Elesa had totally suggested we come challenge today! I had a feeling why but it's still sooo exciting!" Champion Rosa cheered in infectious excitement.

"It's so good to see you both as a duo again sirs it has been too long!" Added Nate.

The sentiment was, of course returned in twofold.

"I have been early awaiting my return as well, Miss Rosa, Mister Nate. We both are eager to resume this track together, of course!" Replied Ingo

Emmet jumped in, "Yup! Although it is currently a trial run until Ingo is completely certified again so it was not advertised. I am Emmet and I am glad it was you two who made it here first! I want this to be a fun battle. So let us do so."

"Of course!" "Yayyyy!"

There was a pause in the room that followed while everyone readied their pokemon was a bit odd afterward despite the anticipation. As if something is missing Ingo looks toward Emmet and he looks mildly panicked for some reason. Emmet glances at Ingo with a slightly intense yet guilty look.

Ingo stares and thinks for a moment then seems to understand. Of course, Emmet has mentioned that they worked in tandem in all situations. While it had been a while it was probably Ingo who took the lead in this situation before and he is feeling guilty about forgetting to remind him. It is no issue. For Ingo knows how to conduct a battle.

Before Ingo can say anything Emmet speaks up "I am Emmet, a Subway Boss. He is Ingo. We are a team! We cover each other's weaknesses! We want to see how strong you are together in turn." He finishes abruptly, pauses then adds "Anything to add, brother?"

Emmet looks over with a bead of sweat as if questioning whether or not to throw the spotlight over, but Ingo just gives him a small genuine smile. He will take it from here!

"Yes! Now then. Follow the rules and drive safely! We are headed for victory! ALL ABOOOARD!"

There is giggling and laughing from the whole room as they throw out their pokemon. This battle will be a great start on a new track to victory!

----

I thought it would be fun to have Ingo say his canon version of Emmet's multi train line and also force Emmet to say his version of Ingo's.

#ingo #emmet #post-pla #submas

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fairuzfan · 6 months

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Hi! Just wrote out a message and it didn’t send so this isn’t as concise the second time writing lol

So I read the post where you said companies participating in boycotts were working towards making a difference/impact on the current situation by putting pressure on Israel. You mentioned ben and jerrys specifically and I ended up looking it up and saw they cut ties with providing services or their products to “occupied Palestinian territory” (they got the term from the UN).

My question is, is this actually making an impact? I have a bit of trouble with reading comprehension sometimes so I wanted to make sure I was reading the post correctly!

(I’m a Vermonter and pay pretty close attention to what they do as a company. They’re really vocal around here about civil rights and human rights etc and I’m always curious to see if they’re living up to their talking points. They have a black power mural on the windows of their main location in my city. haven’t been down there in a while so it could be gone but I always thought it was cool that they are so vocal about rights issues)

Hey thanks for sending this in, no worries! I saw a few people confused as well in the notes of that post.

I remember the Ben and Jerry's campaign — a couple years ago there was a BDS campaign against them because they had a factory/distributed sales in occupied territories. This means that this is internationally agreed as Palestinian land, but Israel still builds settlements on it. Part of the focuses of BDS is to target companies on settlements, especially with the hopes that, at the very least, they will remove them, cutting the income from settlements. When companies build on settlements, more Israelis are enticed to move there to work, thereby speeding up the displacement. It won't affect the Palestinians as much because these companies on settlements are not "Palestinian," they are "Israeli," and they directly only benefit Israeli citizens.

So it has a twofold affect: 1) it stops encouraging Israelis from moving onto stolen land and 2) it prevents Israel from profiting off of their settlement.

Ben and Jerry's is no longer on the BDS list — they have agreed not to operate within settlements and only operate within Israel's "legal" borders.

So it does make an impact! It might be a bit slow at first but every company makes a difference in this case. BDS is targeted based on what the highest level of success will be (like what happened with Ben and Jerry's) and if the company commits particularly heinous crimes against Palestinians (like how HP aids the surveillance tech of Israel to spy on Palestinians) and therefore need to immediately divest. In the case of HP, the goal is to disarm the surveillance system.

It would be neigh impossible to focus on every single company that has relationships with Israel — so we want to focus on the few that will make the most direct impact rather than the many that might be difficult to find replacements for.

This is a very quick and dirty overview but this is generally how the boycott works. I would suggest checking out bdsmovement.net for more info honestly! The founder also wrote a book about it.

#this is a quick answer since i noticed more and more people were confused #but i might do a longer post sometimes later #thanks for asking #palestine #gaza #bds

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dragynkeep · 10 months

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i don't really understand the argument that aang should've killed ozai. n1. from a realistic pov, its a kids show, it's not gonna be game of thrones. but from a writing perspective he is the last air nomad, not just the last airbender. being a nomad is different to being an airbender as its the cultural aspect of it- aang carries the weight of being the last of both. he doesn't want to kill ozai because the monks believe all life is sacred, and by killing ozai, there will be no nomads left, as he felt he would've abandoned his culture.

i don't know what would've happened if he hadn't discovered a way to remove ozais bending, but i do know that it literally doesn't matter if he killed him or not. ozai loses either way, he suffers either way. the people of the other nations, including the ones from the air temples who were murdered, still get their justice because he is still being held to what he did and punished. arguably, being stripped of his bending and locked in a cell to rot is more of a punishment than death. and also, then zuko becomes fire lord. meaning if he wants, he could have ozai executed and nobody could do anything about it. the end circumstances were the same either way. aang not killing ozai was not bad, the people still got their justice, arguably more because ozai was sentenced to suffer like he inflicted on them.

the entire issue with this is twofold in that aang is not only responsible for himself & without the magical lion turtles, the earth kingdom would've been destroyed.

"we don't know what would've happened if he hadn't discovered a way to remove ozai's bending" but we do, ozai was in the process of it. ozai would've razed the earth kingdom to the ground in pursuit of his new world & continued further on with mass genocides & oppressions of non fire nation folk as he blatantly said on screen. he was doing this while aang was still quibbling with his nonviolence ethos.

& the nonviolence isn't even reflective of the air nomads in the show: we literally see in the first book that monk gyatso murked at least 20 - 30 fire nation soldiers in order to preserve his own life & the life of other air nomads fleeing.

& monk gyatso isn't the only airbender nomad to choose violence as a defensive measure, avatar yangchen also does. she straight up tells aang that while he has these cultural ethos, he isn't just responsible for himself anymore. he is responsible for the entire world & with that comes having to make hard choices even if he doesn't personally agree with them because that's his job.

here we see aang being confronted with the fact that his idealized caricature of his own culture is not the truthful representation through both monk gyatso & yangchen setting it straight: the air nomads were not devoted, peaceful spirits willing to follow a non violence ethos straight to their death, they would protect themselves. aang is responsible for protecting the world, even when he's confronted with that he accepts it.

it's only through sheer bullshittery that we get the lion turtles who show him the ability to remove bending — which then came with it's own host of ethical issues further in the series so it's not like this is a null harm issue — & even then it took a specific plot rock to the back to get him to put this into action. aang was losing, he was going to die & it's delusional to think that him following his non violence ethos to his death at the expense of a kingdom dependent on him is the "correct" choice.

especially because we've also seen aang kill before in self defense. while in the avatar spirit yes but what was to stop him from doing the same to ozai while in that same avatar spirit state. this whole devotion to a bastardization of a marginalized culture irl written by white men who have never had to face a racialized violence as the basis of aang's decision "not to kill" is borderline insulting.

also in respect to "this isn't game of thrones": people have died on screen. even as early as book 1 we were featuring on screen deaths & if a child affected by the brutality of war like jet can die violently on screen, then so can the imperialistic, genocidal dictator hellbent on again, burning an entire kingdom & not stopping there.

this whole argument hinges on the plot saving aang's ass by not letting him make that hard decision, instead offering up a last moment's holy grace which was never foreshadowed & ended up only hurting aang as a character. especially when not killing ozai only left the world in further instability as cults & secret factions devoted to wanting him to return as fire lord sprung up in the wake of zuko's coronation & put the fire nation in further turmoil when it was incredibly sensitive post war. so aang didn't even help in that regard & only caused further harm instead of helping.

#atla #atla critical #atla salt #aang #aang critical #aang salt #ais.txt #answered

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legoiscrying · 9 months

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My headcanons for the McCormicks because I love them sm...And was thinking about their family dynamic. How twofold it is. How their family bond is Bad but they still love each other. So here's some things I've came up with! All hcs btw

> Kevin and Kenny were pretty close before Karen was born. But after she was born they both became closer to her than to each other

> When Kevin got older he'd let himself be like his dad more often and it would trigger Kenny so goddamn much.

The thing I want to picture: How both Kevin and Kenny are traumatized because of the family they live in but their trauma responses are fundamentally different. Kevin would become like his dad (because he's traumatized!) and Kenny would swear to never become like his dad (because he's also traumatized!). I imagine them having conflicts because of this and silently blaming each other, but also...bonding over this. And understanding each other in the end.

> Carol and Karen relationship. It's a headcanon out of nowhere but...Despite everything, Karen would respect her mother and actually look up to her. First, I believe that Carol is a better (AKA more capable) mother figure than Stuart is a father figure. Second, Carol is the only woman in their family Karen could look up too. Third, I headcanon Karen as the least traumatized out them. It's also out of nowhere, but hear me out: Yes, Karen's life would still be tough because of the horrible state that McCormicks live in. But Karen has Kenny, who's trying to shield her as much as possible. So I imagine her growing up the most kind and caring of them all...With all that, Karen would learn and forgive, her own mother too.

> If I began this WHY WON'T I TELL HOW I SEE EVERYONE'S RELATIONSHIPS WITH CAROL...With Kenny it's like. Hear my statement. He has extreme mommy issues. He hates his parents, but his mother showed him more love than his father did, so. His feelings towards her are completed.

Kevin would ignore her I'd say. Don't acknowledge her, as it happens in families like this

> Will do the same thing for Stuart. So with him it's the same but vice versa: Kevin would be the closest to him, Karen would ignore him and Kenny would balance between hatred and bonding moments.

Summary: Their family dynamic is extremely unhealthy, but good feelings can live even after those circumstances. I just love thinking about what relationship could live in their family, except ofc Karen's and Kenny's

I love them so much

#south park #sp #kenny mccormick #kenneth mccormick #kenny #sp kenny #sp kenny mccormick #sp karen mccormick #karen mccormick #sp karen #kevin mccormick #sp kevin mccormick #sp kevin #stuart mccormick #carol mccormick

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animeomegas · 1 year

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congrats on 4k!!!! im so excited to see what everyone sends in! could you do itachi with life drawing, (maybe nude portraits hehe) maybe childhood friends? i feel like the reunion would be awkward and kind of silly (especially if it’s nude portraits lmao) i suppose this is a non massacre au too

Thank you!! I love this request, thank you for sending it in <3

...

ITACHI + CHILDHOOD FRIENDS + NUDE MODEL LIFE DRAWING

It was exhilarating seeing Itachi again.

He had changed a lot since the days when you would explore the palace together, play games in the grounds and go swimming in the lake, but then again, you had changed just as much.

You had mourned your friendship once you both became old enough that issues of propriety started being raised and Itachi's parents decided that it wasn't proper for their omega heir to go galivanting off with an alpha by himself. Yes, you'd still seen him at parties for some godawful small talk and the occasional dance, but it just wasn't the same.

But now, him being here was bringing everything flooding back.

"Mother says she's set up something for us to do in the West Tower," you explained, dragging Itachi by the hand. "Do you remember where that is?"

"Of course," Itachi laughed, following you easily. You felt giddy, like you were naughty children sneaking out to play again.

Itachi had been polite and friendly, but undoubtedly cold when he'd first arrived at the palace as your fiancé, but you had slowly but surely worn him down until it felt like nothing had changed at all from those early days.

His smile was so bright and it was fuelling your own joy twofold.

The sounds of footsteps and laughing echoed around the halls as you went, several servants giving you both amused or exasperated looks that you ignored. Itachi was here! Back with you! You would at the very least be married to an old friend that you could love and trust, and that meant the world to you.

As the door to the West Tower came in view, Itachi moved forward and grabbed the handle before you, confident in his childhood memories that he was going to the right room. As you approached behind, you were vaguely curious as to what your mother had set up for you, but if it was with Itachi, you knew you'd enjoy it.

As you walked in, you first noticed the two easels that had been set up in the room. You weren't surprised because the West Tower had some beautiful windows that made the rooms perfect for painting, but in the centre of the room where you expected to see a vase of flowers or an artfully arranged spread of fruit, was a woman wearing a flimsy dressing gown.

You sighed internally; of course your mother would choose something like this. Despite her image as a serious queen and ruler, you knew she had a playful streak a mile wide and had probably thought it hilarious to put you and Itachi into this situation knowing how traditional and modest the Uchiha family were.

Seeing you enter, the woman smiled at you both, untying the dressing gown and, yep, there was nothing underneath.

"Good afternoon," she said, voice pleasant. She sat down on a chair and arranged her body into a clearly well-practiced position. "Please let me know if there are any changes to my position that you require."

With that, she fell silent. You chanced a glance over at Itachi and the damage was just as you thought. His pale skin had turned a bright red and his eyes were wider than you'd ever seen them. His gaze was fixated on the woman.

"Itachi?" you asked hesitantly, stifling your laughter. "Are you alright?"

Itachi jumped like a frightened rabbit, ripping his gaze away from the model and looking everywhere apart from at you.

"It's- I- I- didn't realise that, this, this, this sort of thing was- ah," he stumbled over his words, but you understood his meaning nonetheless. Nude model life drawing was the kind of thing considered inappropriate in his family, but yours had always been laissez-faire about such matters.

You couldn't keep the laughter at bay any longer and a snort escaped. Itachi turned to glare at you, but the effect was far less intimidating coming from someone who looked like a tomato.

"What's wrong, 'tachi?" you teased, leaning into his personal space. "You don't like life drawing?"

He pursed his lips together, well aware that you were teasing him.

"Let's sit down and get started," he said instead of answering you. He walked over to the farthest easel confidently, arranging his pencils and paints with ease, but when he glanced up at the model once more, you could see him falter. You felt a grin creep up on your face. You had a feeling that watching Itachi was going to be far more entertaining than the life drawing.

...

After about half an hour of almost silent sketching, you were making good progress on your drawing. Alphas weren't often encouraged to peruse art, especially royal ones like yourself, but your drawing accurately reflected the amount of work you'd put in growing up.

Itachi's though? You felt your chest shake in an effort to supress your amusement. He was fairly skilled from the looks of it, but rather than complete a rough sketch and then work on the details, he had hyper focused on sketching the woman's face.

Glancing over at his canvas, you could see that her body was still comprised of only a few lines while her face and hair were fully shaded. You had also noticed him sneaking not-so-subtle glances at the model before flushing pink and returning to his work. You didn't blame him for being curious after his obviously limited experience with the naked body growing up.

"Perhaps, I should ask the servants to prepare some smelling salts in advance," you said suddenly, breaking the silence. Itachi looked up at you, eyebrows furrowed. "If you are going to behave like this on our wedding night, you may very well faint."

Itachi blinked at you for a few moments, processing what you were implying, before his face returned to that glorious shade of red that you were going to have great fun coaxing out of him at every given opportunity.

"That's-" Itachi's eyes darted over to the model who was the picture of professionalism and obviously pretending not to be able to hear you. "Do not speak of such things!"

You laughed joyfully.

"You are right, dearest fiancé. Such things are much more fun to do than speak about."

Itachi didn't deign to give that a response, instead turning back to his drawing with fervour.

You giggled to yourself, but also turned back to your drawing. You could certainly say that this was the most fun you'd ever had life drawing, and you made a mental note to thank your mother when you next saw her.

Time passed quickly once you truly focused on your drawing, which was why it was so starting when something wet hit your cheek.

You sat up in surprise, hand automatically rising to your cheek and dabbing at the wetness. You brought your hand in front of your face and saw your fingers stained with red. Blood? You felt a flash of panic, but your mind quickly corrected you. No, not blood... paint.

Your eyes darted over to Itachi but he was completely focused on sketching, his face as innocent as possible. But the little paint brush, next to a small pot of red paint that sat beside him was hardly innocent.

"You little-" you said under your breath.

"Did you say something?" Itachi asked turning to you. He feigned surprise at the paint on your face. "Oh, you have a little paint on your cheek. Did you know?"

Itachi's eyes were dancing with mirth. He was getting payback for all the teasing. Your mind started running at a mile a minute, trying to come up with a way to turn this back on him.

If everyday was going to be as entertaining as this, you couldn't wait to get married.

#4k follower event #itachi #royal au #itachi x reader #hcs #prose #x reader #reader insert

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tabithatwo · 11 months

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HONEST QUESTION by why do u think no one (until shauna did at their fight) ever called jackie out on being oblivious to other people’s feelings? Like we all know jackie is never mean on-purpose nor does she ever want to cause any harm but there are times where she has no idea that she is indeed doing so.. or is somehow influencing that.. And its like why has no one else ever tried voicing this out to her? BC we can clearly see she would’ve done something to change her behavior if it was pointed out. I just dont get why no one tried to other than the fact that it was probably just pretty privilege or people just being too scared to say so

WELL okay this question really got me thinking lmao my answer is sort of twofold so walk with me here…I don’t fully think jackie IS oblivious to other peoples feelings and I don’t think people have any issues calling her out when she misreads tone. The people who do tend to snap at the others when they say stuff that annoys them—off the top of my head shauna (obviously lol), tai, nat, mari, and van—all do at jackie at some point.

I think in canon, with the group as a whole, jackie is actually very in tune with their emotions. She corrals them at the kegger and they genuinely react positively. I think she’s honestly extra in tune with people’s emotions, perhaps partly because has to work a little harder at things. I think that’s why she’s captain.

When I say “off” in my original post, I mean that I think people can sense the way that someone picks up on and addresses behavior (aka loading time/processing/trying to problem solve when that isn’t what’s desired/etc) more than I mean that jackie is saying shit that upsets people regularly. I think that, other than shauna, jackie doesn’t upset them much more than anyone else until later in the season when things get bleaker.

Once they’re in the woods, jackie has lost her entire social script. It’s funny to me how people say she was the enforcer of society, because really I think society has kicked her ass and she’s simply learned how to exist within it and doesn’t know how to adapt to change. This isn’t the setting she’s used to, she doesn’t know how the people she’s learned and adapted to will react to these things, because who the fuck does?? It’s now unpredictable and she’s just really lost in a compounding way. We see her actually cheer people up again when things fall back into a script that she has access to—the seance, doing mistys makeup for her, etc.

As far as shauna goes, she has NO problem letting Jackie know when she’s upset with her lol. She just gives her no clue why. Shauna doesn’t communicate her feelings with anyone really and she certainly doesn’t delve into big picture things. (There’s a tai shauna tangent here that I’ll go on one day but besides that relationship, shauna is really just closed off and expects people, especially jackie, to read her mind.) Shauna snaps or gives the cold shoulder and Jackie adjusts and readjusts, until she’s fixed it the best she can.

I think that shauna’s reaction to being called out for cheating with jeff is something that greatly colors a lot of peoples’ views on jackie, when really it says a whole fucking lot more about shauna herself. Shauna is a horribly fucking unreliable narrator. We see her get confused and forget what her own lies are when she’s fessing up to callie about adam. She was writing her own narratives and letting resentment build even before the crash. So to me, taking what shauna says during that fight at face value, over what we actually see of jackie and their relationship, is a mistake. Shauna’s backed into a corner. She’s caught out. Little miss I’m with homeland security, first panic instinct is to lie is going to make shit up. She was trying to hurt jackie. That was the goal. For a myriad of reasons—I love shauna shipman don’t get it twisted lol. (And we see jackie realize shauna is tying to hurt her. Jackie tries to hurt back for a bit and she sucks at it lol and then she slips back into shocked hurt.)

So anyway, yeah. I think shauna clearly felt overshadowed, but she just does. In general. All the time. We got to see that in 2x09 when she spells it out for us in her journal lol. So using this scene to read jackie as someone who actually does the things shauna is accusing her of feels like a big jump to me.

Shaunas feelings were real. But I don’t fucking think shauna hated soccer. I don’t think jackie ever actually pushed her into her shadow, unintentionally or not. I think that jackie couldn’t navigate shauna’s emotions in any way other than placating when she could and trying to cling to her, because she was constantly terrified that shauna would leave her. Why did jackie expect shauna to go to rutgers? Probably because that’d been their entire fucking plan and jackie had no way of knowing that shauna didn’t want that anymore. I’m gonna talk more about their fight one day when it isn’t a tangent on a different topic lol, but basically I think reading what shauna says in the fight as truth is a common and inaccurate take.

To the last point, I think prettiness definitely impacts a person’s life on like every scale and makes people overlook things they might not normally, but I don’t necessarily feel like jackie got off with no feedback basically. And I don’t think she was actually that hurtful. I’ve talked about the nat situation here and how it’s unique, but that isn’t jackie being oblivious, that’s jackie trying to get an outcome. She is clearly oblivious sometimes (when she tries to give a pep talk post insane leg breaking lol, when she tells travis about who nat has hooked up with, when she is pragmatic about things like rationing food) but really she rarely says overtly hurtful shit, even on accident. She does less so than the other girls.

So I think it all comes back to that thing that a lot of viewers do—view jackie as fake. The fact that she doesn’t really give any evidence of meanness sort of was my point. Even when there is nothing bad said, general social awkwardness can be taken as an indication of insincerity. I think this is sometimes especially true when someone is overall decent at masking, at least enough that they’re superficially seen as well liked. Because then people see a hiccup (which is really an adjustment to new input) and take it as an intentional behavioral change.

(Grain of salt, I am someone who had a keen fucking interest in being as pretty as possible at her age lol, to the degree that when I was asked how I got so good at “beauty stuff” I said “well, you can be weird if you’re hot enough!” Until I learned that was actually NOT the answer people were looking for of course lmao so I am close to the subject of performative attractiveness to skate by and I also know that it only tends to cover more superficial likability—aka homecoming queen, but you’re only got like 1-2 close friends and your teammates have no issue giving you bizarre looks when you miss the mark lol)

Thanks for the ask, clearly it got me thinking. Like a lot. Many tangents and I’m not even sure how well I addressed the questions lol but I don’t feel like going back and making it more focused so this is the ramble we get!! <3

#jackie taylor #shauna shipman #jackie x shauna #asks answered #yellowjackets

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sicklyseraphnsuch · 5 months

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@bignostalgias brought my beautiful DND character to life!!!

This is Sunset, she's a wildfire druid! I affectionately describe her as a Kpop Druid, because she's very cosmopolitan in presentation - no humble homespun goods for my girl. She's Gucci or she goes home.

She's the spitfire heir to her family's ancient legacy - the keepers of an incredibly powerful (and incredibly cursed) ring that slowly but surely drives the bearer insane. There is no option to leave the ring alone because without a ring bearer, the magic will go unchecked and unleash havoc throughout the lands. As such, the ringbearer has the twofold duty of controlling the ring and keeping it secret, keeping it safe or else it could fall to the hands of less... savory individuals that would use the ring's power for destruction.

Presently, her Dad is the ringbearer (and slowly going insane as a result). Sunset is desperate to show off her strength and prove that she can inherit the ring so she can save her Dad from total insanity. And psssh, of course, she won't go mad from wearing it because she's built different. No skill issues to be found here. If Dad could just hurry up and let her inherit!!! That would solve all their problems, thank you.

The trouble is, for some unfathomable reason, her Dad doesn't want her to inherit the ring (ever if only that was possible - and it might be if his secret schemes bear fruit). He keeps pushing her to do other things like singing and dancing (which she is very good at, naturally). But she will inherit that ring and this is non-negotiable.

(In case it isn't obvious, Sunset's backstory is absolutely based off Marceline the Vampire Queen and dear Simon Petrikov. Fire instead of Ice. Sunset's a popstar to Marcy's rockstar. Note to self: put some points in performance.)

#the whole subplot is that the ring can be destroyed #but at the cost of the present bearer's life #so Sunset's dad has a choice #he can live with the curse and remain with his daughter #or he can die and spare his daughter the curse #its pretty easy to guess what he's trying to do #he just needs to figure out how to do it #what he doesnt know is that sunset is FULLY AWARE of his sneaky sneakiness #so shes even more desperate to get that ring away from him ASAP

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efangamez · 1 year

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Hey you beautiful people!

My name is EfanGamez, a very neurodivergent trans and pan creator who has created 20+ games and have gotten nearly 30,000 downloads on my games!

On this blog, you can find some stuff that I have created, as well as just some fun stuff. I'm not here to preach to people or make sales only; I just want people to enjoy what I make!

You can find my games right here. I promise they're amazing!

If you want separate stores, look below as well!

Itch.io

DriveThruRPG

Kofi

Have a wonderful day! 💜✨💜✨

MY BOUNDARIES <3

So a little PSA going forward btw! This isn't meant as a call out or anything, but a stating of boundaries with my page and communication, as well as some clear ups!

I am incredibly mentally ill and autistic, with memory loss and attention disorders, so if we communicate and things are a little wonky, let me know! Sometimes I'm unaware what I'm saying may be a little rude, so please kindly let me know!

Boundary 1: Please do not ask me to review game items of yours or someone else's! I currently am trying to simply exist in this world by eating, drinking, and showering, so I may not have time to read your games, even if they're really short. I think that, for me right now, it puts a lot of pressure on me that I just cannot deal with right now.

Boundary 2: Please do not ask for advice or tips unsolicited unless through an ask. Again, because I'm a slow texter and have memory loss, I may not be able to get back to you, and I'd much rather you just ask publicly than privately.

Boundary 3: Please no unsolicited DMs. I have learned the hard way many people on this app who DM me wanting something, trying to strike up conversations, or love bomb you, are trying to get something out of you, and I'm kinda tired of it, frankly. Some people who have DMed me have become cool peeps I can talk to, but some have manipulated me and used me, and when I was of no use, discarded me. Because of this, please ONLY DM me if I have expressed a want to otherwise! (This is for mostly random people I don't know, so if we're already talking, we should be good!)

Boundary 4:This kinda goes without saying, but please do not interact with me if you are a minor. This is an 18+ page.

Boundary 5: This one may sting for some people, but it's my personal boundary and it has nothing to do with people individually. I do not wish to be called a "friend" of yours unless I myself call you that. It's a term I hold quite dear and hold for a VERY few people. I'm more like an acquaintance to many people or even just one step up from stranger. Again, it does not mean I don't like you, I just hold friendships super close to my heart, and I've been burned calling people friend who truly are not mine.

Boundary 6: This one is kinda twofold. I want people to know that if my boundaries are crossed after warning, I will block you. My mental health cannot take constant violations of my boundaries, and thus I have to enforce them. The next is that I will ALWAYS restate a boundary with someone, because I'll never expect anyone to know a boundary without them knowing, so if it happens, I'll let you know, sometimes more than once if I know you well enough.

Boundary 7: I will ALWAYS talk about politics or human rights issues, so if you have an issue with that, please do not interact with me. I do not wish to be comrades with those who are "apolitical".

And that's it! I know it's a ton, but like I said, I'll never expect anyone to know automatically what my boundaries are, so if ya mess up, I'll let ya know very kindly!

I'll also have this up on my pinned post so that way people can know exactly my boundaries are!

Have a wonderful day to y'all, and to my fellow disabled and mentally ill baddies out there; you are absolutely loved, and please don't drive yourself to spiral because your feelings are ALWAYS valid (this goes to me too lol).

#gamedev #indie ttrpg #ttrpg #game dev #ttrpg homebrew #ttrpg podcast #trans #pan #pinny pin pin

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moreespressoformydepresso · 4 months

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Anthony has ligyrophobia, a fear of loud noises, thanks to the Tremaine household. The reason is twofold, and the combination is why he has it and nobody else in the family does.

Firstly, to him cold, harsh words are an expression of love because it’s the tone his grandmother uses most of the time, and it’s the one his aunt uses whenever she’s not losing her voice screeching at anything and everything or trying to make men chase her (unsuccessfully). His mom’s… complicated. In the rare moments she gets out of her head enough to acknowledge his existence, she’s either blank bordering on being an okay mother or screaming like she’ll die if she doesn’t cause at least one new person tinnitus. So when they’re yelling at him, he’s done something wrong to cause them to stop showing him love. In my headcanon, Anthony’s the kid that got the most pressure put on them because, as a man, he cannot marry up in society (traditionally). Therefore, he needs to act more like a lord to compensate, which to Lady Tremaine translates to “be perfect or be worthless”. This leads to a whole slew of mental issues, most prominently crippling perfectionism and anxiety to panic attacks at the idea of being even slightly below flawlessly perfect. When grandmother’s yelling, he hasn’t been perfect, and the idea of not being perfect triggers all the issues caused by always being pressured to be perfect.

Secondly, (you’ll have to stick with me for a bit here I promise it ties back to yelling) it’s my headcanon that the Tremaines only wanted daughters so they could live the lives they’d wanted vicariously through the kids. Anthony is… not a girl. So by default he’s treated worse because his family didn’t actually want him. Aside from that, given their time period I’m betting they have some old-fashioned views about violence, used in a matriarchal way. Physical pain can be used to discipline children, and Anthony is the child who always does wrong no matter how right he did, so he’s the one at the receiving end of it most of the time. He receives truly cruel punishments for so many things without ever being told beforehand that his wrongdoing wasn’t allowed that he’s learned to just accept he’s always doing wrong in some way. After some time in Auradon he realizes the matriarchs were just looking for a reason to punish him to feel in control, and hurting the kids they were projecting on would hit a bit too close to home given their fate. The thing about it is that, whenever he was about to be dragged to his punishment, whoever would hand out the disciplinary action would raise their voice. Whether it’s one of the truly rotten cousins or sisters using the fact they can get away with it to hit him or his grandmother locking him in a closet that doesn’t have enough room for him to turn around for hours to days on end, it’s always preceded by a raise in their volume. So Anthony has started associating raising voices with extreme punishments. So if a sound gets louder suddenly, it has the same effect.

These two things combine to give Anthony Ligyrophobia, and he needs a hug

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