#then you should NOT be engaging with either the media in question or any of its fans

[renamamiya]

I think it would behoove a lot of people to read this quote irt Astarion's character made by Neil Newbon himself.

https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3s-astarion-neil-newbon-on-acting-the-truth-of-trauma-as-a-survivor-theres-a-lot-of-stuff-that-came-very-close-to-home/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com

"You have to play every reality, you have to play every side of him."

It's just.... baffling to act like people who get ANY of the 'bad' endings are like bad people for doing so. These endings aren't added just to be some "teehee isn't this so messed up *wink wink*" kind of thing. They were put in with reason, they were included with intention. All the endings a character can get are explorations Of that character. Both how these characters can make a better life for themselves, or how they can fall to the worst outcome. All of these endings are "realities" the character can end up at depending on how their life goes. Astarion's ascension, Gale either dying or becoming power hungry, Shadowheart becoming a Dark Justiciar. ALL of these were added with the reason to let you play the game and see how vastly different their lives can turn out.

Ultimately, Baldur's Gate 3 is an *RPG*. A Role-playing game, one that's based on DND. Having "good" and "evil" choices is literally one of the largest aspects of DND and the Baldur’s Gate series. DND literally CREATED the Good/Neutral/Evil - Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic axis, all with the intention of both characters in universe, and player's own created characters to be able to explore ANY of the four corners. All of these choices, routes, and endings exist both as a result of the exploration of how their life could be affected by support/lack of it, as well as how they could potentially shift across the alignment chart due to their development. Because ultimately development doesn't automatically mean "person becomes a better person and achieves the ending they deserve", both in real life and in the game it can just as easily come to "person ends up arriving to the worst possible outcome they could have possibly had."

Ultimately I have to say as well, if people are bad for even exploring these routes to see how the development takes place, then by this logic you must know that you're also essentially stating that the developers are also horrible for ever including these options into the game from the first place, right?

#baldurs gate 3 #putting this in the main tag because its like actually BAFFLING to me how many people are like trying to state this #like this is quite genuinely *Basics of Engaging with Media 101* #some ppl are genuinely seeing people state “im going to do this route to see how the staff developed this character in it” #and making the most crazy leaps of logic and taking it into absolutely bad faith interpretations #like I'm going to be honest but if you cant see people say theyre going to do it for that reason without accusing them of being fucked up #then you should NOT be engaging with either the media in question or any of its fans #like the staff and even VA themselves are saying these are aspects of the characters and their stories #if you disregard that then this just quite literally is not the game for you #and if you read all this and try to say 'op is trying to romaticize these endings' THAT IS LITERALLY THE KIND OF TAKE IM TALKING ABOUT

[beggars-opera]

Museum pet peeve of the day: asking random trivia questions. Either on a tour on on social media. "Who knows what year was X built?" "What does this contraption do?"

It's fine if you're framing it as a "are you a fan of this thing, test your knowledge with a quiz" (one of my favorites did this today) but so often it's just following the letter of the "be interactive" law without following the spirit.

Either you know the answer, and feel superior, or you don't, and feel like an idiot because you think you should have known.

If you're going to actually engage with your audience, you need to give them the opportunity for actual feedback and discussion, dangit. Ask them their opinion about something. Ask them how they feel about a scenario. Ask them if they have any experiences that mirror what you're talking about. Ask them something that will encourage them to do something besides reciting some factoid they remember from elementary school.

#museums #education #history

[talks-with-the-void]

Fluid kintypes - identity doesn't need to be static

I used to be a wolf, once. Not in a past-life sense, but in a therian sense - I was a wolf therian and then I wasn't. Sounds weird to you? I'm not surprised!

Something that I have repeatedly been told by other therians and otherkin is "you are what you are and if you find out you are something else - well, then you never were the first thing at all." Especially when I joined the community several years ago, I saw this statement everywhere. But let me tell you: it's not true. I had several different kintypes over the years (side note: we are plural and for the sake of this post I am simplifying some internal structure things. if you want the complicated details, feel free to ask! /gen), started as a wolf therian, then I was a cryptid, a dinosaur, a dragon and some kind of monster. Now I am Khhanivore (from Love, Death and Robots) and Mewtu (from Pokemon, Mewtu is the German spelling) - and a raptor kintype is coming back. (I am also a werewolf, but that's not a kintype, that's just Purely Me And My Whole Essence)

"Okay Istasha, but isn't that just questioning or maybe flickertypes?", you might ask. Fair point, but no.

I honestly never really questioned my kintypes - if I truly question something, it turns out to either be a hearttype or Nothing at All. As for kintypes, I just know - all of us just know what we are, it's like chilling and one day, suddenly, one of us is like "oh, I am a horse. alright, carry on" and that's it. Our kintypes stay with us for several months at least, theoretically they could stay forever but tend to change along the way - which brings me to the next point. They aren't flickertypes either. We only really get fictionflickers and sometimes animalflickers and those are extremely short and always tied to media we are currently consuming - they feel, technically, like kintypes to me. For example, if I watch a lot of Supernatural, I sometimes get an intense feeling of belonging there, of being a non-canon character, of being part of the story, etc. I am this non-canon character in that moment, I might even get pseudo-memories or shifts, but as soon as I don't engage with that show too much again, it instantly fades.

Our kintypes don't work like that. Take my re-emerging dinosaur kintype as an example. I was walking somewhere a few days ago and suddenly had a pahntom sensation in my legs and feet and in the same moment I knew "ah shit, new kintype". I gave it a day because maaayyybe it's nothing? But deep down I already knew what was going on, so I have an Utahraptor kintype now. I am this. I identify as this through and through and it feels like I've always been this way. But it wasn't - a week ago I wasn't a dinosaur and now I am. I did not choose it, I did not engage with any dinosaur media at all, it just happened.

My kintypes have always been changing and trust me when I say I had a complete identity crisis when my wolf kintype first went away. But over the years Ive learned to accepot it - my identy is not static, it never was and it never will be and that's okay!

It doesn't make my kintypes less important or less real and it also doesn't mean I never was a wolf. I was. And then I wasn't.

I honestly think it is so, so damaging to still have this "kintypes are static"-sentient floating around in the community, because that's simply not true for all of us. For me, it honestly even makes more sense this way. Our brain has always been unstable, I lacked a true identity for so long. We grew up with untreated BPD andf although the symptoms are 95% under my control now (read: it's in remission), our brain still has a ton of habits from that time, like clinging onto different things to try and form an identity, to try and fill the void where a person should be. And the fact that the void is filled now, that I finally am enough of a person to fill it, this habit never changed. Our brain still randomly grabs things and makes them one of us, leading to fluid kintypes.

Let me end this with saying: being wrong about a kintype is fine. Figuring out you are X instaed of Y and never were Y is fine. But it is also fine to be X today and Y tomorrow.

I think I've said this before but I'll say it again: we, as a community, need to take our identities less and more serious at the same time. Let's stop the gatekeeping and policing others, let's stop overanalyzing ourselves so much. Let's stop looking for rules and asking "is it possible to be this?" over and over again - because the answer is yes. There are literally no rules as to how, why and what you can be. In order to be otherkin you need to do exactly one thing: identify as The Thing in question. Nothing else. On the other hand, we need to kindly educate those who confuse identify as and identify with, we need to kindly educate young therians who "choose their theriotypes", we need to make sure we are not watered down to being "a fun thing you can do".

I sometimes feel like the focus and effort of this community is in good faith but in the wrong place - static kintypes is one of them.

There are no limits. Be who you are today and if you are something else tomorrow, be that then. <3

#alterhuman #otherkin #alterhumanity #nonhuman #nonhumanity #plurality #psychological otherkin #therian #fluid kintypes

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Do you do “cuteness”/safety ratings?

I do not. I am not a fan of the concept of “ratings” blogs in general, honestly. There’s a couple of reasons for that.

Firstly, I am a Tumblr Old, and every ratings-type blog I’ve ever seen that existed to tell people if animal content was okay or not has imploded over time. Sometimes that has been related to their content/topic of choice, sometimes not. It happened when the first blogs like that showed up, and it’s still happening now. Either way, they seem to be a direct path to endless drama, and I want none of that, thanks.

Second, ratings blogs have to be really, really tightly curated to the expertise of the blogger in order to be trustworthy, accurate sources. And when you’re in a position of being seen as an expert on animal stuff by the internet, it’s incredibly tempting to step outside your area of expertise to pass judgement on things. People like your opinions and want to hear them! You’re respected for your knowledge! It is a seductive, seductive path to being far too comfortable speaking outside your wheelhouse.

This is actually part of why the blog slowed down a few years ago and eventually went on hiatus for a while: as it got more and more popular, people wanted me to cover more and more things, and I ended up kinda paralyzed by the need to do so much research in order to respond to those requests. I didn’t want to spread misinformation, but it was so hard to just say no and not try to answer questions. I’m much more comfortable now setting boundaries for myself about what I know enough to address and what I don’t have the appropriate credentials for.

Third, to do any successful science communication - which is what running a rating blog effectively is - you have to know what you don’t know! This is something that comes with time and professional experience in a field. You can’t speedrun it or skip it. And if you don’t know what you don’t know on a topic you want to write about, you’re at high risk of spreading misinformation. Guess what? I know this one from experience! There were times I overreached in the early days of WADTT, either because I didn’t know I was unaware of something, or because it just felt so good to have people want to know what I thought! (My goal is to find the time to go back and share those posts with updated, corrected content and commentary).

As mentioned above, I do a lot of work to be comfortable with not knowing things. I either do the research needed to find an answer when I run into an unknown, admit I don’t know and can’t answer, or simply don’t engage with the topic if I can’t contribute productively. This is where a lot of ratings blogs run into issues, as they generally reflect just the individual knowledge of the blogger(s) writing them. There’s a big difference between having an opinion that you discuss with your friends, and having an opinion that you share with thousands or tens of thousands of people. If you’ve shared an incorrect opinion about something in a way that’s amplified across tumblr, even if you fix your mistake publicly, there’s no way to stop the earlier misinformation from continuing to spread.

And fourth, there’s that word I keep using: authoritative. Content that provides a rating is very black-and-white. This is bad. This is good. Do support this, don’t support that. Unfortunately, there are so, so few situations involving animals are actually that clear cut. This is especially true when we’re talking about recorded animal media, like photos, videos, and even documentaries, because a lot of the context has been removed. So that authoritative perspective? It’s really just someone on the internet telling you what you should believe.

I’d rather teach people how to think about animal content and draw their own conclusion. People gain so much more knowledge from engaging with the concepts themselves. If you just give someone an answer about a video being ok or not, for instance, they don’t learn how to assess the next one themselves. But if you teach them what questions to ask, how to work through what they want to learn, how to assess context, and where to find the information they need, they’re able to do it themselves with content in the future. Teaching and encouraging independent analysis of animal media is a much better way to stop misinformation or unethical content from spreading compared to just telling people some stuff is bad and they should stop sharing it.

So nope, no ratings here. Sometimes I’ll comment on things that my professional background allows me to be comfortable having an authoritative opinion on (e.g. the danger of unmonitored interactions between dogs and babies) but most of the time, I’m going to tell you what I see, what I know, what I don’t know, and what my thoughts are and why. My goal in running this blog and teaching people is about the journey, not the destination.

#blog ethos #teach a man to fish etc

[weirdstrangeandawful]

What is whump?

I get asked this question a lot so I figured I'd just make a post about it! I doubt a lot of people will see this since I'm a small whump blog but at least a few people will have a quick reference.

The short answer is that whump is a fictional genre of media. Like any genre, it's difficult for one person to entirely characterise but I'll do my best.

Whump is a fictional genre focused on the experience of pain. This can be physical pain or emotional pain. The pain could be acute or chronic. The focus could be on the recovery from the pain or on the pain itself. It's a super versatile genre!

Some frequently asked questions:

Okay, but how is this different from hurt/comfort?

This is a complicated question (hard to entirely characterise an entire genre, eh?) and it really depends on the writer. For me, hurt/comfort is a subset of whump where the comfort is required whilst whump is the larger, overarching genre where comfort is not an absolute necessity, but many others have different opinions!

What is a whumpee?

You'll often hear writers (especially prompt writers) in the whump community refer to characters as 'whumpee', 'whumper', and 'caretaker'. These are placeholder names like your good old A, B, and C. 'Whumpee' refers to the character experiencing the pain (literally 'the one being whumped'); 'whumper' is the (optional) character causing or contributing to the pain; and 'caretaker' is the (also optional) character helping care for the whumpee and alleviating the pain.

Why would I support someone who thinks people should experience pain?

Pain and adversity are facts of life. In fact, many of us as whump writers and readers engage with the genre to cope with pain and adversity in our real lives. It's important to remember that whump is a fictional genre and someone's interest in the fictional themes portrayed really aren't a reflection of what goes on in their real life. The name 'whump' may be contemporary but this is definitely not a contemporary genre (Shakespearean tragedies anyone?) so there is no use criticising its existence. If you don't like it, that's okay! Scroll on by and block the #whump tag if you need to. Like many artists, we're an accepting community and won't judge. In fact, we probably understand better than most that there is too much pain in the world and not everyone wants to read about more of it.

What's the difference between whump and BSDM/kink?

This is a complicated and very individualised answer. The oversimplified answer is that BDSM and kink are explicitly sexual/sensual whilst whump is not necessarily related to sex. But that is extremely oversimplified and doesn't cover all or even most people's experiences with either whump or BDSM/kink. The most generalised answer I can give is that whump is an overarching genre whilst BDSM and kink are individualised cultural practices and activites. But even that needs nuance and context to understand and apply. For me personally, I don't like combining the two because I experience them in very different ways, but that's just my experience!

Edit: I realise that I was not clear in the above answer. BDSM and kink are absolutely not inherently sexual at all. In my personal experience, I've found there to be a lot more overlap between BDSM/kink and sexual experiences than with whump but this is not true for many and maybe most people. No one person is qualified to answer this question.

#whump #whump community #what is whump #informational post #frequently asked questions

[hazbin-but-good]

another hazbin hotel rewrite/redesign?

yup! and i'm so serious about it that i made a whole blog for it. i'm a white queer ex-cath tran doing this as an art and writing exercise, so feedback from other creatives + jewish and/or racialized folks is especially welcome.

i'm putting this post and only this post in the main tags for visibility. also, not gonna link my main, but i do make my own original stuff, and i encourage fans and haters alike to do the same.

anyway, here's a mostly good-faith 1.7k-word essay on the original. i think it's pretty funny and brings up some less talked-about points. correct me on the facts, disagree with my opinions, and ask clarifying questions, but don't come at me with any piss-poor reading comprehension.

the hellaverse is garbage, and here's why

cw: strong language, stronger opinions, intersectional feminist critical discourse analysis

1. vivienne medrano, the person

medrano was born as a well-off white-passing latina (salvadoran-american) in bougieass frederick, maryland. while attending new york's top art school, she got popular on deviantart-tumblr-twitter by being a prolific multifandom fujoshi furry who's more into ornamental character design than storytelling. upon graduation, she leveraged her fanbase and industry connections to make the hazbin and helluva boss pilots, get helluva made for youtube, and get hazbin made for amazon prime.

like every woman online, she gets harassed for no good reason, and as a certified autist, i will defend her right to be dumb, weird, annoying, and bad with words. however, there are legit reasons to criticize her:

racism, misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia, some antisemitism, past transphobia, past ableism

shitty boss, bad friend

cowardly, vindictive, manipulative, thoughtless behavior

skeevy friends

sucks at taking criticism

in short, i think she desperately needs a PR person and someone to clean up her digital footprint.

2. medrano's art

incurious

inauthentic

noncommittal

creatively stagnant

overindulgent, and the indulgence isn't even fun

shallow and childish framed as complex and mature

bland and boring framed as shocking and subversive

to be clear, i'm at peace with the existence of suckass art like this; i just think the money, attention, and praise it gets are unearned and should go to more interesting works, of which there are infinite.

medrano's had the time, money, and social cache to grow as an artist, learn from the best, and take creative risks, but she hasn't. if she truly has nothing more to offer, she should let her collaborators take the wheel, but she doesn't do that either. instead, she keeps getting more and more resources to make the same baby bullshit, and that pisses me off. she could be the nicest person ever, and this fundamental arrogance would still make her art blow.

stop with the pointless guilt: liking medrano's work does not make you stupid or evil. however, if you stay in the kiddie pool of culture, if you refuse to engage with a diversity of art, if the hellaverse is your point of reference for anything media-related, you can't expect to have your opinions on art, media, or culture taken seriously. you have not earned a seat at the table. you gotta hit the books first.

i cannot emphasize enough how much incredible stuff is out there if you're willing to look further than what social media and streaming services put right in front of you. if you come away from this blog having learned about just one new artist or piece of art, i'll be a happy camper.

3. the hellaverse

a. empty and confused

hazbin and helluva's content and marketing has no clear target audience. the subjects are inappropiate for teens, but the execution is too childish for adults, and lemme tell you what i don't mean by that, first.

not inherently inappropriate for teens:

sex and sexuality

violence, including when it intersects with the above

politics and religion

not inherently childish:

animation (any style)

comedy

episodic writing and/or loose continuity

young characters

fun, happiness, optimism, the power of friendship, cuteness, tenderness, sincerity, etc.

what i mean is that these shows are literally about adult characters who fuck, smoke, drink, do drugs, go clubbing, work full-time, manage their own finances, and deal with stuff like bureaucracy, sexual violence, domestic abuse, marriage, divorce, late adoption, and family estrangement.

however, none of these "adult" things are given enough specificity to create drama or comedy. it's all too stock, vague, flat, weirdly sanitized, and thus utterly banal—pure aesthetics on top of bad saturday morning cartoons. it's exactly what i'd expect from a sheltered disney kid who needs to log off and get into their local gay scene ASAP so their only contact with things like poverty, policing, addiction, and sex work stops being facile movies and TV.

if the shows were aware of this and played with it, that could be amazing, but they're not. they give you the mickey mouse version of the world with a straight face and then play looney tunes sound effects to try to make you laugh and sad_violin.mp3 to try to make you cry. now that's funny.

b. old and tired

let's make like americans and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. even within the confines of the USA, home of the hays code, the red scare, and reaganite propaganda, this neopuritan fascist state ruled by 1000 megachurches in a trenchcoat, the indie/underground animation scene has been doing crazier shit for decades. anti-war films in the 60's, bakshi movies in the 70's, the simpsons shorts and r-rated movies in the 80's, adult swim and MTV in the 90's, flash/newgrounds/youtube in the 00's, streaming in the 2010's—so what are we doing in the 2020's with this wet white rice drowned in expired ketchup? i feel crazy making this point because it's obvious if you've watched these things, but if you haven't, you're gonna be like "well, there's gotta be something new here". no! there isn't! in the words of jimmy "the scot" jordan, nothing, nothing, NOTHING!

c. ideological purgatory

actually, there is one thing in these shows i've never seen before: the presbysterianism. shout out some interesting or at least intentional presbysterian art in the comments, because the way these ideas are presented here is not compelling. it just makes the rainbow neoliberalism even more confusing and contradictory.

i guess the big presbysterian things are protestanism, calvinism, and, uh, big church government? presbysterians, get your shit together. get your brand down. catholics have BDSM and vampires, evangelicals have TV and corporatism; what do you have? celtic crosses? no wonder medrano has such uninspired ideas on divinity.

d. queer deficiency

when i look at a piece of art, i ask myself: "what does this give me that i can't get from the hunchback of notre dame (1996)?" if the answer is as limp as "uhh, gay people, i guess", i can probably look for my gay shit elsewhere and rewatch the hunchback of notre dame (1996) in the meantime.

but let's say that you have no standards. you've been waiting for ages for a show about gays by the gays for the gays, and by god you're gonna get it. this is it! here we go! time for some

generic twink obliteration

male sexuality as aggression and dominance displays

WLW (sex and chemistry not included)

a couple straight femdoms

and the stalest sex jokes known to man

...yeah, it's not very queer. and by "queer", i mean "questioning or subverting gender norms (including sexual roles) within a given cultural context regardless of creator identity and intent". i'm not a queer studies scholar so LMK if there's a more specific term for this, but whatever you call it, it's not in the hellaverse much.

there's not even any transness, literal or metaphorical, just ancient drag jokes. i guess the writers thought we would've been too controversial. so much for an indie animation studio that prides itself in the diversity of its staff both above and below the line, bakshi-style. i wonder how medrano, a bisexual woman, would've felt if told that a lesbian main couple in hazbin would be "too controversial".

4. spindlehorse and the vivziepop brand

spindlehorse toons underpays its overworked staff and keeps outsourcing more and more labor to even more overworked freelancers overseas to cut costs. a rainbow sweatshop is still a sweatshop, and just because these practices may be "industry standard" doesn't make them any more ethical.

the studio has also been repeatedly accused by current and former employees and contractors of creating a hostile and abusive workplace. AFAIK, it still has no dedicated HR person, and victims are too afraid of retaliation like blacklisting and online harassment to speak out.

this is exactly the stuff that unions exist to prevent. as i'm writing this, the IATSE (the parent union of TAG, which is the parent union of all US animation unions) is negotiating with entertainment industry executives for better working conditions, and if the execs fuck around like last year, it's strike time again. so watch this space, voice your support, and don't cross any picket lines.

i hope spindlehorse unionizes, but until then and for these reasons, i don't think you should give money to the company.

first of all, all content on amazon-owned platforms is ok to pirate, and all youtube ads are ok to block. everyone involved in making the episodes has (or should have) been paid upfront, so you're not taking the bread out of anyone's mouth.

next, let's look at the succulent offerings of the official vivziepop merch shop:

$10 pins and keychains

$15 sticker packs

$20 mugs and acrylic cutouts

$25 shirts

$30 metal cards (not even tarot)

$40 lounge pants

$50 mini backpacks

random $80 skateboard deck

forgive my latin americanness, but this is all stuff you can get made by a local metalsmith, print/sublimation shop, or just crafty people in your life. it's cheaper, customizable, and better for the environment to skip all the shipping and packaging. also, not painting your own skateboard is poser shit.

the hazbin website also has $15 pins, one $20 keychain, and $6 trading card packs. people are weird about trading cards, so if for some reason you wanna gamble for a mass-produced bit of cardboard, plastic, and tinfoil, at least bulk-order for all the vivziepoppers in your area so it's less of a huge waste. better yet, trace the designs and make infinite bootlegs.

at the end of the day, buying merch is not activism. your bulk order of trading cards will not save any wage slaves from getting evicted from their overpriced studio apartments. however, the shop links you to all the credited artists/designers, and more of your bucks will actually reach them if you buy their designs directly, then turn them into body pillows or life-sized bronze statues or whatever the fuck.

go through the credits of any episode of helluva or hazbin, and you'll find even more creatives you might wanna support. get jinkx monsoon's albums on CD. subscribe to actually good artist, animator, and composer gooseworx. lots of voice actors now have patreon, cameo, or self-hosted pages where you can write better lines for their characters and have them read it. these things may not look as shiny as Official Merch™, but we all need less plastic shit and more culture anyway.

#spindlehorse #vivziepop #hellaverse #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #spindlehorse critical #vivziepop critical #hazbin hotel critical #helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel rewrite #hazbin hotel redesign #helluva boss redesign #communism #degrowth

[haechanskins]

Intoxic8 - Bang Chan and Changbin (pt.1)

☆ note: this is my first post and my first writing after some great years, hope you enjoy! i would really appreciate if you let a comment with your thoughts

☆ genre: smut, fluffy at the beginning, toxic at the end

☆ warnings: this will be kinda messy, be prepared; f!reader, smut, bondage, choking, teasing, friends with benefits (kinda fluffy), friends to enemies to lovers (toxic), degrading, angry sex, hatefuck, persecution and maybe more (?)

☆ wc: 3k

click here to see the pool. ☆

clique aqui para ler em português. ☆

————————☆————————☆————————

"You really don't change, huh? Trying to get attention with these tweets?!" A notification popped up on the screen; my expression of laughter turned into doubt. Changbin. Changbin has sent a DM. "Damn, get off my back!" I thought before responding.

Changbin was my best friend and confidant; he knew that when I posted things like today, it was because I was genuinely lonely or had a lot of built-up desire, and to be honest, it was both. Our feud began when he was dating, and his ex didn't like me, going so far as to threaten me. Changbin, driven by the emotions of his past relationship, grew suspicious of me and distanced himself. Now, a year after their tumultuous breakup, I see him faded and completely empty. Even with no more contact between us, Changbin insists on tormenting and offending me whenever he can. We're no longer friends, we're not rivals either; in fact, we're nothing. But I know he harbors an incessant hatred for me, and personally, with each passing day, it becomes disillusionment. The feeling I carry is that our friendship was once unbreakable and beautiful; today, I see that our separation was laden with disappointments and caused me to lose faith in the gentle figure Changbin portrayed to me.

"You're really craving me, and you don't know how to ask." I replied and blocked my phone; if he thinks he can test my patience this time, he's very wrong. "Why would I want you?" he questioned. I wondered if he really wanted to engage in this senseless debate. "Well, you criticized a silly tweet of mine. Either it's desire, or you really have too much free time!" My message was viewed, and that was it.

Days passed since our interaction, and I continued posting on social media as usual. A phrase passed through my timeline: "I have boobs... and you have hands... I think that we can do something with that information." A momentary burst of laughter escaped, retweet! Not even 15 minutes passed, and the notifications started:

"You should stop this."

"Preserve the image that people have of you."

"If there is any, actually." - Changbin said.

"You again? I must be very hot." I sent with disgust. What image should people have of me? What do I owe them to need to maintain a dignified image?

"Yes."

The immediate response was a shock; Changbin doesn't usually yield or agree easily—something was wrong. He's proud, never gives in, and no matter how close we were for years, that would never change; it never did.

"You only confirmed something I already knew!" I replied and tweeted, "Being hot is a burden..." and then, in less than seconds, Christopher Bahng, my closest friend, responded: "True... I'm coming over, leave the window open!"

He was definitely the best in the world, both in advice and in bed. I never had and doubt I'll ever have an oral as good as his. Details aside, Chris always came to my house; after all, he lived at the corner of my street, already knowing where the stairs were to climb up, so he didn't even need to notify me. My parents didn't like him much, as sweet as the guy was, they thought he was indecent and always asked when I would get close to Changbin again. That's the conflict, a conflict of interests. The Bahng family has a network of cosmetic products, just like mine, in which Changbin's parents have a partnership.

"Are these hands okay?" Chris asked, appearing at the window and waving them as he entered. The purple LED light in my room illuminated part of his face, making his eyes even brighter than usual. "Did you really come just to fuck me, Christopher?"

"Is there anything more important right now? Only if you want, you know I don't refuse anything for a hottie like you." he said, laughing and lying down beside me on the bed. I nestled in his arms and began to speak. "Changbin called me... just to annoy me, I guess. He could stop hating me; the real reasons never existed," my voice carried a tone of sadness, not that I really cared, but it hurt in a certain way. "What did he say, love?" he asked, turning my face slightly, and our eyes met. It was like my home; Chris was my home, about to be destroyed without us even knowing. I explained everything, and he could only say, "I always knew he had some kind of repressed love for you." with a laugh and holding my face. "Seriously, you should try to meet and talk... a friendship of years isn't thrown away because of an ex-relationship. Besides, him invading your space out of nowhere is at least a lack of awareness and respect!" he said calmly. "I love you so much," I said, hugging the boy who reciprocated saying "I love you even more!" and planted a kiss on my shoulder.

At that moment, my phone vibrates, and Chris's curious eyes search for the device on the bed. He laughs and asks, "Why am I a jerk?" and laughs even more at my confused face. "Because your ex-best friend won't stop messaging you, saying I'm a jerk?" My jaw drops; it's impossible to have reached this level. Ten messages in a row, Chris laughed and talked about how desperate Changbin was while my anger grew. "I'm going to reply." I said. "Give me the phone" I asked, taking a deep breath. As he ran his hand through his curls, he realized I wasn't happy. "Hey, don't do this. There's no need to waste your time." I remained silent as the dark-eyed gaze of the brunette conveyed a comforting feeling. "I'm not offended babe, the anger is his... it's not your fault if he doesn't think about the consequences of his actions!" Chris was right, but I needed to take it out on something before I thought about it even more.

"They're good." I whispered, watching Chris's eyebrows change expression in confusion. "These hands are good!" I said, taking one of his fingers to my mouth, with little time for reaction. Chris had already pulled me by the waist for a hungry and electrifying kiss; every touch of his made my body shiver entirely, and I yielded to his movements. I sat on his lap, and soon his hands went under the thin nightgown that covered my entire body, his hands roamed my almost bare back, and his moist lips touched my neck. Our heavy breaths filled the room's silence in an exciting way. "May I?" he asked, bringing his hands close to my breasts. "You must!" I replied impatiently; one of his hands remained there, massaging, and the other was on my nape holding my hair. I rarely took steps that led us forward during the act; Chris had all the initiatives, but I had a billion-dollar energy running through my body as if my libido were about to explode. I stopped our kiss and stood up; a doubtful and worried look fell on me from his eyes "Do you want to stop? Is everything okay?" he asked. "Everything's great" I replied with a pounding heart. He sat at the edge of the bed and called me for a careful hug, but unlike what I imagined, I turned my back to him and took off the thin fabric I was wearing. I felt his hands touching my now exposed waist, pulling me closer. I turned to face him, and his eyes fixed on my breasts as if he were hungry. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, and his eyes met mine. "You're beautiful," he said "You're too beautiful" he repeated, emphasizing, and I felt my face start to blush. "You're sexy, and THIS" pointing to the clothes on the floor and to me, "is too much provocation!" he affirmed while pulling the edge of my panties and kissing my belly, moving to the thighs. Soon, I was again on the boy's lap, but completely naked, and he was loving having a complete view of everything. Abruptly, my back met the mattress, and Chris's mouth started to make a trail on every inch of my body, giving some love bites to my breasts every time he passed by them. He smiled openly and without stopping. Honestly, I didn't understand the reason, but I liked seeing his spontaneous and lively reactions, and for the first time, I felt an even greater desire to try more. "Chris?" I noticed him completely lost in the curves of my body. "Babe?" - "Yes?" he looked at me from bottom to top. "I want to try what you had mentioned." His expression didn't remain firm; he was excited but scared. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Absolutely, I think it's the moment" I said, and I saw his eyes darken like the night sky and shine like the stars that inhabit it. "We'll have to improvise, but it could work" said. "Under the bed, there's a box with yarn and also an old rope, does that work?" "Yes" he answered, already reaching for the box. Next to my bed, there was a desk, and in its drawer, an unused vibrator, I thought to myself for a moment. "We need to agree on something" he said "What?" I asked as the boy wound the yarn around his hand to make it thicker to tie me up. "Colors. Green means I can continue, yellow to go carefully or to change, red to stop immediately. Okay?" he explained, and I nodded. Chris and I had enormous freedom, so we talked about fetishes, random desires, impossible dreams... one of these fetishes discussed was BDSM, and it would be a lie if I denied that I had never felt interested or said that such topics didn't bring me a certain excitement. Maybe it was the way Chris described it, but curiosity was growing in me... less courage, but today was a different day!

Chris asked me to bring my hands to my back, and as gently as possible, he tied my wrists. The next step was to place the rope on my neck and run it down the length of my belly, then move to my back, and that's when the strands of wool came in, encircling my breasts and waist. During each knot, he showered kisses on my body, asking if everything was okay, and it truly was, everything was fantastic. After finishing the ties, his gaze changed, and his hand found my neck; our lips collided again, even hotter, and Chris displayed all his need right there.

"For the words I'm going to use, use the codes we talked about, okay?" he asked, and I just nodded in agreement. "I didn't hear that" he said authoritatively. "I want to hear you answering" he continued. "Yes" I replied, feeling my butt receive a strong slap. "Yes, sir!" he corrected. "Yes, sir" I murmured. "Good girl!" he exclaimed, turning me around and making me lean over the bed. "Decided to include your own toy here?!" He laughed, turning on the slightly vibrating object. Chris clicked the speed button three times and set it to the maximum. "Let's see how much you can take." He touched the vibrator to my clit, inserting two fingers into me. "You're so wet; did just that get you like this?" he teased. "Yes" I whispered, trying to contain the moans. Chris then reprimanded me with a look, and I corrected, "Yes, sir!" An involuntary loud moan escaped, "you won't moan or speak unless I ask you to" Christopher said "You also won't cum until I give permission" he said, and I could already feel my intimacy throbbing. The pressure to stay silent was difficult and disturbing in a way.

Many thoughts raced through my head with each act. My desire was to touch him or be able to touch myself when he stops just to provoke me—a discomfort in my wrist bonds begins, and then I physically understand the purpose, the tension running through the body, and the desperation to want more and more. The moans start to become uncontrollable. "I said you can't moan or speak unless I allow it!" Christopher said firmly, giving a hard slap on my butt, making me moan even louder. His look of satisfaction was evident; his smile was evident. "Please" I whispered. "You're entitled to three words. What are they?" Chris said, sitting me in front of him and putting his hand on my neck again; his hand was huge and fit perfectly there. "Fuck me now" I begged, and so the night went on.

☆————————☆

The sound of the door slamming downstairs made me wake up slowly. A familiar male voice resonated through the house. Due to sleepiness, I didn't recognize it and closed my eyes again. My parents never entered my room until 2PM to check if I'm okay, so Christopher spent the nights with me and left as soon as I went downstairs for lunch, knowing that no one would be on the side of the house where my room is. This started when I entered university, and on Fridays, I usually spent day and night in the lab, coming home very tired; there was no way to wake me up on Saturday mornings.

"I bet she'll be very happy to see you here, Bin" my mother's voice became louder, and steps headed toward my room. For a few seconds, I tried to understand what was happening. "It's a nightmare, it's a nightmare, wake up!" I repeated, pinching myself. "What's a nightmare, angel?" I heard Chris's husky voice enveloping me in his arms. Two knocks on my door, we looked at each other alarmed; on the clock, it's 8AM, the doorknob turns, but the door is locked. "And now?" I whisper. Chris puts his finger in front of his own mouth to ask for silence while my mother calls my name, saying, "Bin came to see you, said you talked and resolved things." Son of a bitch!

I see Chris's messy curls as he moves carefully around the room to get dressed, and I feel like I'm going to pass out from anger; if it weren't for this desperation, I would spend the whole morning wrapped up in him. "Your wardrobe makes noise; say you're going to get up and change into pajamas, and I'll get into it in case your mother comes into the room" he murmured in my ear. What a mess!

"I'll open it now; I need to change my pajamas" I said, following the plan that could go very wrong. As soon as I see the shirtless boy hiding among the clothes, I feel guilt and love; as soon as he settled in, he winked and smiled. I closed the wardrobe doors and opened the bedroom door, seeing Changbin with the most mocking face possible. "Long time no see!" Changbin said, hugging me as he entered my room. "Good morning, daughter. I'll let you talk."

"You're very shameless" I said, slapping his arm. "And you're attention-seeking, a slut!" he retorted. What did he come here to do? It made no sense whatsoever; it was a chaotic and utterly ridiculous scenario.

"Where is he?" he asked. "Are you kidding me? You come to my house, wake me up at 8 in the fucking morning, pretend we're settled for my mom's sake, all just to look for Chris? Who are you?" I shout without realizing, pushing him toward the closed door.

"Won't you answer me?" he asks again. "I want you to fuck off, Seo Changbin. Get out of my house." I said with disgust. Changbin held my arms and approached my ear, whispering, "Do you want me to fuck like you do with Bahng every night?" I let go, slapped his face, and opened the door in silence for him to leave. He laughed silently, stroking his cheek, and staring at me as he descended the stairs.

I locked the door again and opened the wardrobe for Christopher to come out. I was already in tears, and he watched every inch of my body to make sure everything was okay. "Hey, I'm here," he said, hugging me and planting a kiss on my forehead. "I'm here..." he repeated. That's how we stayed for a while until lunchtime arrived, and he had to leave.

Evening arrives, and nothing lets me stay still. I can't stop thinking about what Changbin did in the morning; it was madness, complete madness.

"Thinking about me?" the message comes instantly. Did he change his number?

"You're disgusting," I replied and blocked his new number. Soon, another message comes through Twitter.

"I know you're thinking about me!" he asserted and continued, "I just need one night to make you forget Bahng, the idiot."

"I don't want to forget him; I want to forget you. Leave me alone."

"What does he have that I don't?" he persisted.

"Do I really need to answer that, Changbin? Do I need to draw a picture of our entire last year? Do I need to say who welcomed me and who takes care of me every day? Fuck you, damn it!"

"Okay, then." And the conversation ended just like that, out of nowhere. I wanted to end him in every way; only anger ran through my body. I put on my headphones and fell into a deep sleep, only to be awakened again by light taps on the window. "Come in" I said without turning around. As usual, I feel my waist being embraced and feel comfort again.

"You'd accept anyone, wouldn't you?" The voice wasn't the only one that climbed my window every night; it was Changbin's. I jumped up in shock. "What are you doing here? What the hell is this?"

What comes next? What are your thoughts? 'Intoxic8' was the winning story in the poll and will be divided into two parts! I hope you enjoyed it so far ♡

#kpop bg smut #kpop smut #stray kids x reader #stray kids x you #stray kids smut #changbin x you #changbin x reader #changbin smut #bang chan x you #bang chan x reader #bang chan smut #haechanskins

[coochiequeens]

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/warmington-female-rugby-players-complain-trans-opponent-hits-too-hard

Female rugby players are not used to feeling like they have been hit by a bus on the field. Or a truck.

A veteran female rugby player, who plays for the Stoney Creek Camels senior women’s team, said she was hit so hard in a recent game, it felt like a man delivering the tackle.

This transgender player, known as Ash — said to have registered as a non-binary person who identifies as female — stands about 5-foot-10 and weighs up to 220 pounds. 

“We are women,” said a female player on the receiving end of a tackle. “It’s a whole other thing playing rugby against men.” 

Or one who used to be — especially one of that size, who is also said to have been an MVP at the men’s level just last season. 

“I had never been hit like that before, even at the competitive women’s level,” said the player. “There was so much more brute force. There are women who are bigger than him, but no girl hits like that. This is a strong human.” 

“The player is a nice person, but that is not the point,” said the female player. “We are now at a disadvantage.”

This story has sparked a lot of discussion within the rugby community – many comparing it to the Leah Thomas swimming issue in the United States. But as one female player pointed out, competitive swimmers have their own lane and there are no collisions. In rugby, it’s all collisions, all the time. She said Ash’s legs are massive and strong, and “you feel the hits from (them) the next day.”

Diana Murphy a friend of some of the players, tweeted: “Three women’s rugby players had to be removed from a game and treated for injuries from hits sustained by a transwoman” and that she feels “Trans have no place in women’s sports.” Rugby Canada said there were no illlegal hits, but sources in the game said Ash received a yellow card from the referee for a hit to the head of one female player. Ash was pulled from the game. Players said they are not clear whether it was at the insistence of the referee or the Fergus coach. Either way, Rugby Canada said this is a federal inclusion issue and not only is this transgender player welcomed in the league, but the law protects that person from discrimination.

“We are aware of the matter in question but would advise that Rugby Canada has received no formal complaints,” said Managing Director Tania Richards. “All rugby played in Canada abides by federal government laws which regulates inclusion in sports."

She said there were no players hurt and there were no illegal hits as has been suggested on social media. What there has been, said Richards, is online harassment of the transgender player. The Fergus club has not yet responded, but has forwarded our request to speak with Ash. Meanwhile, there are some players who feel they should not have to play against someone who was recently considered male, but are afraid to reveal their identities for fear of being targeted or cancelled themselves.

All sides use the word “complicated” when talking about this matter. Rugby Ontario sent a communique to members, saying “for those who attended Sunday’s board meeting, you are aware of some concerns that have arisen about player safety in the context of a transplayer playing in club games” and “we are working closely with Rugby Canada senior staff on the matter and are together developing action and communication plans, informed by the counsel of their third-party crisis management PR agency.” They also asked, “if you are contacted by anyone in the community or the media, please do not engage by offering any opinion or comment on the situation.” What they don’t seem to be doing is fully accepting there are some female players who don’t feel comfortable going up against a transitioning opponent in a physical sport where size and strength play a role. One player said the collision she had with trans player Ash was unlike any other impact she has felt in all her years playing rugby.

#save women’s sports saturday #Women's sports is not a retirement plan for older men #Women's sports is not for mediocre male athletes #Rugby Canada

[jotun-design-party]

on fandom orientalism, ft. a quick visual example:

the example on the right is something i drew solely using references of the top results i saw on pinterest upon searching "jotun loki." please don’t roast my inconsistent handwriting

south asian cultures are often jumbled together for white artists of all kinds (authors, artists, movie directors) to create a sense of mystery and make things look "more foreign."

note: this doesn't touch on the antiblack racism in canon jötun designs; this post is primarily about fandom-sourced fetishization. i heavily encourage people to reblog and add onto this post anything i may have missed or added nuance

cut: links on orientalism, in-media examples, how this manifests in fandom-made content

i'd like to start off by saying that this post is a white person telling other white people how to spot orientalism in relation to fiction. i am by no means an expert on any of this, but my goal here is to start creating a less ignorant space that doesn't push people out of fandom.

i'm just trying to stir up more conversations about this and get other white people to think more critically about how they engage with the content they consume. nerd shit should never come with a sacrifice and it's extremely upsetting to see people of color consistently forced out of fandom communities, especially when modern superhero comics began as a way for jewish people to have a voice.

if this post upsets you, i don't want to hear it. don't tell me, "it's not that deep," or, "keep politics out of comics." it is that deep, and superhero comics have always been political. if you have the urge to leave a comment or send an anon about how you don't think it's a big deal, feel free to block me instead, because i don't care and you'll just get blocked anyway 👍

with that out of the way,

Q:

A:

there are countless ways to design a character in a way that makes it clear that they are an alien, or to make them sexy, and there is no excuse to perpetuate stereotype that put real-life people in danger to do so.

"Orientalist paintings and other forms of material culture... depict an 'exotic' and therefore racialized, feminized, and often sexualized culture from a distant land." [¹]

there are so many examples of this in loki fic and art. it's extremely common to see loki depicted as a feminine object of desire. they may have longer hair. clothing that serves more as an accessory than an outfit, that isn't suited to protect them from either the harsh cold of jötunheim or the sunburns one might get when surrounded by reflections of the sun off the snow. draped in jewelry, and in a compromising position.

i'm sure you can imagine how this can get especially out of hand in relation to thorki. i would speak more on thor's presence as both the white aesir prince or the strong barbaric jötun, but as i'm not comfortable consuming thorki content, i don't have enough context to speak on the stereotypes used outside of the art pieces i've seen while searching for jötun loki fanart.

i am, however, confident in saying that orientalism often serves as a device for fan creators to show a contrast between Asgard's white-viking-british-accent-magic-science-elegance. jötunheim, in the comics, is often portrayed as a less intelligent, cutthroat, barbaric, and bloodthirsty culture.

"There was always something unknown and uniquely different about Orients which reinforced the distinction between the European 'us' and Asian 'them.'" [²]

the green link in particular comes with a helpful tool for anyone who might be inexperienced in spotting racist themes in media. if you have trouble being confident that the media in question is orientalism, this link comes with a checklist scale to score how likely it is to be an offensive depiction.

an example that most of you will be familiar with is Disney's Aladdin (1992). the green link goes much more in-depth about the intricacies of Aladdin's orientalism, and i heavily HEAVILY encourage you to read it, as it will help fully grasp the way fetishization and demonization go hand in hand in orientalism.

here, i'd also like to use it as a comparison to show why this loki stuff is honestly... egregious.

by now, even the visuals here should seem very familiar.

the source goes on to use arranged marriage as an example of a common "trope" in orientalist fiction. as previously stated, i don't consume thorki fiction. however, i am EXTREMELY confident in making the guess that it tends to be a common theme when jötun loki is paired with an aesir thor.

i'd also heavily recommended this article and this wikipedia page, both on the negative and stereotypical portrayals of romani people; loki is a magic user, and i suspect that one of the reasons there is such heavy use of these appropriated, exaggerated, and fetishized themes and visuals is because of the demonization of romani people as tricksters, thieves, and witches.

#orientalism #racism #fandom culture #jotun loki #jötun loki #marvel #jötun loki contest #jotun design party

[wejustvibing]

have this unfiltered verbal diarrhea 🤗

after a night of careful reflection i still believe lewis was not a 100% at fault irrespective of whether he has taken the responsibility for it followed by apology world tour or not. but there are clearly bigger issues here that this social media facade is just not able to hide and that worries me.

the treatment they're giving lewis is just shocking and unacceptable given what he brings to the table. even if i put aside the megastar status (which i'm not sure i should, considering they never shy away from using it for securing the bag and engagement), he is still their leading driver in the championship. he has scored 60% of the team's points and the only pole so far, in an effort for P2 in wcc. he is closing in on 2nd in the wdc despite being in the 3rd or 4th fastest car. by that logic alone he should never be subjected to all these shenanigans.

no matter which way you slice it, lewis is always the one with the short end of the stick. he is always the scapegoat. he is always the one taken for granted. he is the one covering up the clear mismanagement. instead of getting full support from the team he is the one out there assuring team harmony to the media, apologizing for a racing incident which it shouldn't have been considering he was the one who trusted the team and his teammate with whatever the fuck that tire strategy was and was the one who got dnf'd.

i know he will be the bigger person just to protect his peace and with constant target on his back no matter what he does, because god forbid a black man expresses himself the way his white counterparts do. i'm not asking for the sassy LH back either. all i want them to do is be fair. it's this glaring disparity they need to be ashamed of and sort out as soon as possible. well they've stolen his words "we win and we lose together" they might as well act like it. we've seen clear examples of the tone they're setting for this, especially after the two dnfs.

and lewis said that's my role. i just want to know what he meant by that? role in what capacity? is he the team principal now and taking the fall for everything? or has he signed on to be the team's punching bag with the new contract? i'm not being dramatic when i say this. his teammate dnf'd through his own fault & lewis got the podium and got silent treatment in return instead of celebration but when he dnf'd after the teammate disregarded previously agreed upon strategy, he's again the one getting gaslit into apologizing in front of the world instead? there has to be a way to explain this.

and i'm ride or die for him. i believe he can and should and will do whatever necessary to protect his sanity. maybe he's in too deep with that kumbaya shit and damn, good for him. full support to that. the question remains — why must he? i refuse to move on from every little thing by saying oh he is a better person than me. oh the sport doesn't deserve him. oh he has matured. oh it's not that deep. and by the way, his teammate can own up to his mistakes and see clearly in mirrors when it's any of the other 18 drivers so those excuses don't work for me. and no, replacing the teammate or bringing back valtteri will not sort this out. it's for mercedes and toto to decide and prove to lewis if his faith in them is justified? they have created this and they must sort it out.

this is about basic respect as a human being that this sport and fans have NEVER granted him. it's sad to see his team do it too. this is about reciprocity. has the team or teammate apologized to him for the recent fuck ups? no! but he does something slightly wrong and they're parading him on social media, making him apologize on camera, weaponizing his magnanimity against him to act like they forgive all his fucks ups?? and i'm supposed to sit in silence about this?

#anons are open if anybody wants to vent or put me in my place with a reasonable argument

[sinfulequity]

Swing and...A miss!

Mikoto’s door is finally here!

Along with the announcement of his cover song and his voice drama name; how fun~

Now onto actually analyzing this thing lmao (Gunsli/Archivalofsins and I both worked really hard on structuring and formatting this thing)

TL;DR- Neoplasm is a fitting evolution from John Doe for both personalities within Mikoto. It is fitting for the one we’re familiar with due to the abrupt change in perception and the one we found out about afterwards because they are becoming more active/growing more defined as Milgram progresses. There are a lot of horror elements involved in Mikoto’s song and previous mv that both of us are excited to see elaborated on in Double. The door is likely based on some sort of operating room and the lettering of the song title in English is probably referring to division.

I.            The Title

Firstly, I want to go over how the title is formatted in English! Initially I was thinking of it in writing terms (i.e. how parentheses are used to add clarifying information to a sentence).

A parenthesis is a word, phrase, or clause inserted into a sentence as an explanation or afterthought. When a parenthesis is removed, the surrounding text is still grammatically sound. A parenthesis is usually offset with parentheses (i.e., round brackets), commas, or dashes. These are called parenthetical punctuation marks. A parenthesis is sometimes called an "interrupter" as it interrupts the flow of text.

Examples of them are:

·         Andrew Jacklin (last year's losing finalist) is expected to win this heat.

·         The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. (Journalist HL Mencken)

When parentheses (round brackets) are used to offset a parenthesis, the parenthesis is easily seen. However, some writers feel that parentheses can make formal texts look unorganized.

There are more links above, outside of the meaning, usage and formatting of parenthesis. If you’re interested, you can go through it all to see the way that grammar and formatting can help explain/emphasize a point! Being informed on this, at the very least, will be helpful for those that wish to more critically engage with and analyze written media.

Applying this logic to the English title of Mikoto’s second trial song, further emphasizes Mikoto being MeMe. As it can literally be read as Double I’m MeMe. Due to the lack of punctuation, this can be interpreted as both a statement and a question.

Something alluded to by Mikoto’s expression. However, this isn’t the only way it can be read!

We’ve had addition,

“Clothes Food Shelter + Love and Miss.”

We’ve had subtraction,

“Loving Affection (minus) Love, it’s tacky, this two-way deceit.” (Also, another effective use of parentheses.)

Now get ready for-

Division

Yep, the way I’m (MeMe) is written should be familiar to anyone who knows basic Algebra. Because this is exactly how basic division problems are shortened within that form of math and others.

Some examples,

This serves to follow up on what we were told within MeMe,

“Split in half, make that heart beat.”

Since that’s exactly what division is all about

“Division is a mathematical operation which involves the separating of an amount into equal-sized groups.”

Regardless of the outcome it will always be balanced and through recombining those groups will equal the whole. This is why any single number divided by itself equals one because it is equally distributed down. This is why uneven numbers when divided usually have solutions that are not integers as well. The exception being when they’re divided by themselves or by 1.

The point of division is breaking something down into equal parts that can be put back together to get the number you divided by.

For example,

7/2=3.5

89/2=44.5

In either scenario if one were to add this number to itself (essentially combining the two halves) it would make the number that was divided. Add forty-four point five to forty-four point five, to get eighty-nine and three point five to three point five to get seven.

Division is all about figuring out what number added to itself as many times as the number it is being divided by will equal out to the number that is being divided. So, in the case of our first two examples where we are dividing by two doubling the number we get will equal out to what we divided.

A more on topic example would be dividing Mikoto’s prisoner number by two.

9/2= 4.5

Ultimately, this would just be another way of stating something we know about Mikoto already. That he is the ninth prisoner within Milgram.

Let’s use Mikoto’s prisoner number in another division example,

9/3= 3

In multiplication three multiplied by itself equals nine, as many know. However, that doesn’t equate to three overall but three groups of three. Basically being,

3+3+3= 9

Only serving to further reiterate to us that Mikoto is the ninth prisoner overall. That’s just how math works. Now that we’ve gone over some rather basic math; what does the way they chose to organize the lettering on Mikoto’s second trial cd tell us?

Under this framing it could be read as Double I’m/(MeMe) or Double I’m divided by MeMe.

This could reflect that Mikoto’s current state of being is separated into these parts. Stating that these are the parts that make up I’m. Or to put it in math terms again I’m/(MeMe)= Y(X).

Get it because his first trial song quote is,

“Why?”

Also, because the solution, just like punctuation, isn’t here within the title. Something that further emphasizes this lyric in MeMe,

“Why, hey why, I’m nowhere to be found.”

In this case, the two me’s would be making up the I’m while being a source of division for it.

This way of reading it may allude to a disagreement between these two parts or just imply that both these parts are getting in the way of discovering “I’m” in some way breaking their overall sense of self down.

This is something, that has also been illustrated in Yamanaka’s tweet regarding the voice drama,

Which roughly translates to,

“I (ore) did it. I (boku) didn’t do it! You saw it through Milgram! What do you think?”

All this implies that we will more than likely be seeing Mikoto/and the other face this aspect of themselves along with the concept of identity in some way.

II.            The Door & Speculations on the Voice Drama Snippet

When it comes to Mikoto’s door, Gunsli and I couldn’t really agree on what it was. At first glance I thought it was an elevator door and she thought it was a train door. However, the door opens outwards while noticeably not being broken in any way that would force it to do so, illustrating that this door has hinges.

Meaning that both beliefs are incorrect.

Train doors also don’t have this on top,

This digital prompter is why I initially believed it was an elevator before taking into consideration how it opens. These words have been put on all the prisoner’s doors. However, they have always been in some way apart of them. This implies that this digital prompter is a part of the door, proper.

Making it more unlikely that these are the doors to a train. I’ve also seen speculation of it being a swing door (opening both outwards and inwards, which would be cool), but… given how fortified the frame is and how thick the doors themselves are… I find that highly unlikely.

The closest thing that we’ve come to a consensus on is actually…

Operating room doors (Operation Theatre Doors). Possibly, emergency operation ones? If this is it, I’m curious to what Mikoto’s MV is visually gonna be like. I think it would be hilarious if we didn’t get visceral imagery, but I don’t think that’s likely after taking into consideration the horror inspirations that can be noted within his previous trial (something we’ll go into later).

Those give his door a few more fun implications. Especially, if these are in fact operating room doors. This is because a lot of zombie/infection type horror movies take place in hospitals. If one were to look at his door through that sort of lens, wouldn’t it appear quite reminiscent to the doors seen at ground zero infection sites in virus or zombie genre horror flicks- The blood smeared on the door as people try to make their way in the glass smashed in hopes of reaching in and unlocking it or breaking a barricade. That airtight thick frame around the door. The likes of movies such as Contagion, 28 Days Later, or The Sadness. Warning for flashing lights on all these trailers by the way.

Outside of continuing these horror inspirations, operation room doors would be a good fit considering his voice dramas name as well. This time, the voice drama is called “Neoplasm”, which is not technically a word that exists, but does follow the format of a bunch of medical terms.

Now, I’m gonna rewind a little, because I haven’t given my opinion on the first trial voice drama name, “John Doe”, either (I promise this connects lol). John Doe applies to both personalities in Mikoto in different ways.

The Mikoto taken into Milgram (referred to within this section from now as Miko), is initially described as “mass goods”. In other words, an “everyman” or to quote Gunsli, “a dime a dozen”. Miko is an office worker, one of the most mundane jobs out there.

This touches on the fact that, like Gunsli has said previously, he could be replaced at any point without much trouble. As we know, John Doe is widely known to be used as a generic name/placeholder in order to withhold details from the larger public.

Either that, or the details don’t exist.

The Mikoto we find out about after Milgram has started, proper, (referred to in this section as Koto), is someone we don’t have an identifying “tag” for. The only (overt) way we know that Koto is out is that he has different behavioural mannerisms and vocabulary.

Even then, his use of personal pronouns seemed to be the same as Miko’s in MeMe, given the line:

“I” will save “me”.

This line uses boku in both instances of a personal pronoun.

In this way, John Doe could be meant in its more formal way; where a body is called this when the identity hasn’t been verified yet.

Incidentally, did you know that John Doe used to be a court term?

Specifically, to hide the identity of a plaintiff in an ongoing court case. There’s also a counterpart called Richard Roe, that hides the identity of the defendant.

There is a mild but real possibility that Miko could be trying to implicate Koto as the perpetrator within his second voice drama to skirt taking responsibility for his actions. It has been brought to the audience’s attention that the prisoners can hear what the audience has been saying about them since the beginning of trial two.

Though Yuno is the most candid about it,

Absolute Zero Yuno Trial 2 Interrogation

“It’s fucking bothersome- I told you this from the start; didn’t I. There’s no end to how much people will punish each other outside of the law. Due to that I really had no interest in Milgram.”

Yes, I remember that. You told me that you wouldn’t pay my judgements any mind and just continue as you have been.

“Oh, that’s right; I’m happy you remembered! Yet, at that time, I didn’t exactly hate it…Milgram. Sure, this place is full of nothing but weirdos but it was much warmer than my day-to-day life at least.”

It did appear like you were having fun the last time we spoke.

“Yes, it was fun! Sure, they’re all murderers but they’re interesting people. They put me at ease a bit, there was just something nice about being around others who also seemed to have something missing in one way or another.”

You’re saying that changed because of me?

“Yep! The situation has become more bothersome than fun. Now all the novelty of it that I found fun at first has been overshadowed- So, I’ve chilled out now that’s all.”

…

“And…Are you satisfied with this situation?”

Everyone within Milgram is a murderer, to the extent of clarifying the information I’ve been handed, to understand your sins… This job, my role, is necessary. Milgram will pull to the forefront not just your essences but the truths that lie within.

“Who are you trying to convince with that? Do those feelings and observations of yours not hold up unless you repeat them over and over again to yourself?”

…!

“You want to find the truth…huh? Pf…Haha!”

Yes, of course, as the guard of Milgram finding the truth of the matter is integral to correctly judging your sins-

“It’s the result of A LOOOOT OF sugar-babying: abortion.”

…!

“That’s probably my murder. Well have it, go and partake of the truth you were seeking so badly.”

…

“How is it, as good as you thought? Are you satisfied? If so, can we be done already?”

Yuno…you…

“You don’t surprise easily, do you? As I thought, you knew it from the song extraction.”

Well, yes, I considered it as one of many possibilities. However, that is the one I believed was most likely. Taking into account Milgram’s lack of specifications concerning the terms murderer and murder alongside it acting outside of common law I could not overlook the possibility it could interpret such a thing as murder.

“Yes, I’m sure. Well, more to say, I had this inkling that was your way of thinking. I could feel it.”

You could feel it…you say?

“Feel it, hear it, all throughout Milgram it’s probably the same with the others as well. Voices talking, observing, poking their noses into things that they ought not to and then discussing my sins.”

Something like that…

“Were those not the sort of thoughts you were having or something? It’s not as if I can really know for sure after all.”

…I don’t know. I wasn’t informed that Milgram could have that sort of impact. It is true I decided to forgive you with that thought in mind. However, that decision is only provisional.

“Haaa….”

…

“Well, then now I’ll tell you the second reason I’m so chilled out! Yaaay!!”

…

“You’re bad at going with the mood, huh.”

I’m starting to lose what little grasp I had on the type of person you are.

“You know it’s dull if you get too serious all the time.”

Noted. Continue.

“My second chillout reason simply put is the fact I was forgiven.”

What?

“Well, to get specific, it isn’t the fact I was forgiven itself but…”

I don’t understand. Just state it plainly.

“Hm…well then, should I just tell you what I heard in my head, what those incessant voices were saying. “Because she’s pitiful.”, “There’s no doubt, she definitely had some sort of reason for doing it.”, “She’s probably this way because there were problems in her home life.”, “She just doesn’t know love yet!” Ah…! “Because of that… I’ll forgive her!”.”

It's true that my decision was impacted by that sort of analogical reasoning and those are all things I considered.

“Ah, yes, yes… Well, and I have to stress this is going to purely and fully my own personal opinion but- I find making those sorts of assumptions preachy and unpleasant!”

…

“It’s all worthless. Deciding that I’m pitiful, making up a backstory for me, creating this personal idealized version of me- This acceptable version of me that you can feel good looking at. Aa..h- They exist you know the sort of people who do that. Those sorts of people have never will never do anything for me.”

Yuno..

“I’m not pitiful, my family gets along great, and I’m not particularly struggling financially. I decided to do what I did of my own free will because I felt it was necessary for me.”

-End of Transcript-

Tear Drop

“Just shut it, will you? You know it all.”

During her voice drama, Yuno explains and calls to attention this new phenomenon within Milgram. Both before and after her the other prisoners conveniently omit the specifics of the information they have heard. Kazui being the most egregious display of this, as he does not bring up hearing the voices at all and only responds to questions after gaining more clarity on the situation. His entire voice drama really comes off as though he’s just leading Es by the nose.

Taking into consideration what was established through her interrogation (the implication that all the prisoners have heard the prevailing theories about their cases) who’s to say Miko has not weaponized the information he’s heard? Omitting he heard it like the others and using it to push the blame more onto the other personality. Whom if we’re being frank would more than likely be willing to take the fall for him anyway.

However, the fact that this is said,

“I (ore) did it. I (boku) didn’t do it! You saw it through Milgram! What do you think?”

Very quickly showcases to me that the one speaking is Miko here not Koto. Koto in the snippet of Double we’ve been shown is questioning what’s wrong,

“Why are you crying?”

If Koto is not aware of what is negatively impacting Miko in the song proper, why would they know what Milgram saw or how Milgram reacted to it? A thing stated to be specific to prisoners beneath Milgram’s control.

This is something alluded to during the second trial commencement notice. At that time Jackalope tells us Koto has been free and unchained this entire time.

Exempt from the rules of Milgram and unable to have punishment administered to them. This means the voices all the prisoners have been hearing as part of their punishments or rewards would not impact him.

So, once again, I ask- How the fuck would he know that anyone saw anything through Milgram? Especially the specific implication and pervasive theory that it was them (Koto) who committed the murders.

Something that gives more credence to this idea is how Koto has even interpreted the song,

“I should have saved you but why are you crying? Rely on me, praise me with your song, I am your saviour.”

As a form of praise and a way in which Miko is relying on him. Simply as if Koto doesn’t see a thing wrong with what was displayed on top of not knowing what is upsetting Miko.

How much Koto knows about the song and Milgram’s response to it is rather questionable as we’ve been expressly told he is not a prisoner proper yet.

This possible way of handling the situation on Miko’s part is oddly reminiscent to how the Devil within Not A Devil attempts to convince the viewers they’re good through lines like,

“Another clandestine rendezvous with myself. Drained, oh so drained, introspection and in prayer.”

MeMe

“Snuggle together and say, “Good night” switch, shake up that brain.”

“The minus energy that I swallowed hugged me.”

Double (though official translation liable to change)

“I should have saved you but why are you crying? Rely on me, praise me with your song, I am your saviour.”

“No worries, no worries everything’s fine. This is just a silly joke.”

Trial 1 Voice Drama

“Of course, I want to think of all this as a joke…Wouldn’t anyone?”

“Calm down, that’s just a rumor.”

MeMe

“I won’t forgive you if this is happening to me even though I’m right.”

“All those ridiculous accusations.”

“Now shut up and give me your signature. Not a devil, I’m not a devil. So, sayeth the devil.”

MeMe

“I’m probably not to blame, it’s probably nothing.” – “Why am I here?  It must be a mistake, right?”

Taking the court terminology, Miko implicating Koto as the culprit with his denial firmly puts him in the role of John Doe (plaintiff) and Koto in the position of Richard Roe (defendant). Beginning a back and forth of finger pointing where Miko implicates the other and Koto can either deny the accusation or accept it.

This makes his second voice dramas title “Neoplasm” very apt naming. Because over the course of Milgram, the mold (interpretation) Mikoto was put under as this every man, silly little office worker caricature has been reshaped into to something new and abnormal.

Miko’s possible response to this new perception of his character being pretending to be Koto to fit this new shape he’s been given within the voice drama while attempting to save face isn’t surprising coming from him. He would know that Koto uses ore as well. Since, the audience has repeated it consistently over the course of the intermission. If Miko has been hearing the audience, as has been implied, it’d be very difficult for him to not be made aware of how Koto behaves.

Taking into consideration how much the other has been discussed, drawn, and written about. It has been more than shown that the prisoners know our speculations, in regard to their cases, and they’ve all been shown making attempts to confirm the validity of the statements they’ve heard over the course of their voice dramas. As such, there is a real possibility that Miko has heard the argument that the other committed the murders and he is in fact an innocent harmless individual.

Information that he’d rightfully take advantage of in this situation. Because it’d be a bit more difficult for people to condemn an innocent and harmless individual. Even if the other one did it and the only way to punish Koto was through punishing Miko a few people would be hesitant about doing such a thing. Simply put it would feel wrong to do as it’s dragging down a blameless individual just to get to someone who for all we know may not be at fault either.

We now find ourselves in a very classic dilemma-

MeMe

“The truth will come to reveal itself. I won’t forgive you if this is happening to me even though I’m right.”

“The truth will come to reveal itself. I will NEVER forgive you if this is happening to me even though I’m right.”

“So, I will NEVER forgive you if this is happening to me even though I’m right.”

At this point, or maybe even from the beginning, they’ve just been in a finger pointing competition. And things are only about to get messier.

III.            Voice Drama Title

Now back to the title of the voice drama “Neoplasm” (orz). Remember how I said Neoplasm isn’t technically a word? Well, it’s technically not and is.

As many were quick to point out, Neoplasm refers to a new and abnormal growth of tissue within the human body that could either be benign or malignant. It’s a term to describe the discovery of new tissue growth such as a tumour that was not previously present. However, when this occurrence is discussed, the individual neoplasm is rarely referred to by name instead the phenomenon is usually referred to and discussed as “Neoplasia”.

As you can see in these lists of Human Anatomy & Physiology: Latin and Greek Word-Parts plasm is not included as a suffix.  

Now this may seem like semantics. However, it’s incredibly important to differentiate between these two terms. Neoplasms are the result of Neoplasia. Neoplasia is when neoplasms are formed. Through naming the voice drama Neoplasm Yamanaka plainly stated that a Neoplasm has formed but Neoplasia, the act of it forming, has not been observed.

Through using this term instead of the one usually used in cases of observing (discovering) this new tissue and the process of its formation this comes off as saying though an abnormality has been observed it was present when the patient arrived. Again, unlike in the case of observing Neoplasia when doctors usually go okay this was not here several months ago but it’s here now.

Meaning, the Neoplasm is more than likely not entirely new but it shouldn’t be there, and it wouldn’t normally be there.

Let’s move onto word roots and meanings.

Now we know that Neo has an etymology from Greek

"New, Young, Recent," from Greek neos and "new, young, youthful; fresh, strange; lately, just now," from PIE root *newo-. In the physical sciences, caeno-, ceno- is used in the same sense. Paleo- is an antonym of these terms.

However, modern day definitions of the word (Yes, I said definitions!) are a bit different,

As it can mean “something new” or “new or recent, or in a modern form”.

For example, within Ace Attorney there’s a show called the “The Steel Samurai” the location of this show is stated to be Neo Olde-Tokyo. A new/revived version of old Tokyo. In this case the use of Neo and Olde together better highlight the intricacies of this word.

A more recent example of this would be NEOTWEWY. The title of the revival/follow-up game telling us out the gate this is something new built on the foundation of The World Ends With You (TWEWY). It is also, canonically, a remade form of Shibuya that Joshua made at the end of the original base game. Albeit, one made to be pretty much the same as the original.

So, while the immediate thought would be that it’s something new, it could also mean that it’s something that’s been reformed and shown as “new” that way. Something I’m sure that Miko is fully aware of. In fact, I’d say anything in reference to him would be more likely to use a pop culture meaning! Especially when you take into account his active attempts to keep up with the times and be seen as popular.

Plasm, however, has two roots in terms of etymology: Latin and Greek. In Latin, its root means “mold”. In Greek, it means “something formed”/“formation” or “to shape”.

The term also has modern-day definitions!

The first one is,

“formative or formed material (as of a cell or tissue)”

But there’s also

“Any of the components of protoplasm”

Protoplasm being the building blocks for all life on a cellular level.

In medical science it can also be used as a prefix and a suffix, but let’s focus on the suffix here.

Suffix meaning living substance, tissue.

These definitions of plasm may seem similar, but there is a difference in nuance. The first definition listed here refers to it as the material itself, specifying that it’s used in cells/tissues. The second one refers to the fact that they act as smaller parts to a whole (the whole in this case being the -cellular- foundation of life).

And the third one focuses on what the material makes as a whole. In other words, living substances and/or tissues.

Let’s move back to Koto. Well, we don’t know that much about him, right? Except, since the last trial ended, it’s been stated that he’s shown up more often. This includes in the trial two website voice lines, somewhere we’ve never seen him before! This, in addition to the usage of ore in the Double preview, seem to indicate that he’s solidifying more of an identity for himself.

Going back to the topic of the lettering choices on the CD cover real quick; specifically the division idea brought up earlier. Considering I’m as the whole and Miko and Koto as (MeMe) in this framework once again reiterates that Koto may possibly be growing a sense of identity outside of Miko and vice versa. Since Miko may be growing a more solid sense of identity as well after becoming aware of the other. You know, something you could also put as separating/dividing from Miko?

Neoplasms themselves aren’t really a big deal unless it turns out they are cancerous. In fact, benign ones are extremely common.

This is something that is once again rather fitting for Mikoto’s character and the implementation of it within Milgram. Allow me to elaborate, Mikoto as a character has subverted expectations from his first trial. There is a clear pattern with him of taking things that are usually considered normal and distorting them into something easily perceived as extreme, odd, or out of the norm.

Turning the mundane into the terrifying, a very common thing done within the horror genre.

This is one of the reasons Gunsli finds it very exciting that his second trial will be releasing in October. As it’s not just the month of his birthday but Halloween. So, she’s really hoping for some more horror inspired imagery with all those very common horror lighting tropes.

IV.            Horror Influences

From static effects,

To flat lighting from a television,

Those fisheye lens sort of shot at the beginning,

Then there’s this shot,

and the usage of both anamorphic lenses and vignetting.

(Side note; if you want to look more into how lighting utilized in horror, check out this video- x)

The atmospheric lens allows the lighting to look more ethereal. This, on top of the colouring used for the lights, makes the overall shot feel cold and liminal. The usage of a wide shot also emphasises this feeling of isolation.

In addition, the pillar at the foreground on his right makes him look crowded in while the emptiness to his left highlights how alone he is. This is also where the victim comes in from. The framing and direction here make it look as though the victim is cornering Mikoto.

That combined with the vignetting, makes the shot the visual equivalent of being “between a rock and a hard place”. This is likely a representation of how Miko was feeling at the time of the crime; trapped and as if he had to do this to survive.

Leading into another point, the way that all of the shots in MeMe are set up. Is something I find interesting, because a lot of them are ones usually used for victims/horror protagonists. Something that contrasts wildly with both his crime and how callously it’s shown. This puts Mikoto in the interesting position of both predator and prey.

For Gunsli this is all the stuff that just makes a horror fan go, “Yeah, this guy... This guy fucking watches horror movies for fun doesn’t he.” while everyone else who’s normal and hasn’t watched almost every horror movie they had access to goes how do you know this- Just for her to respond with, “I’m not the one on trial here he’s the fucking murderer; this ain’t about me!”.

All while managing to draw attention to and show off Mikoto’s genuine love and eye for photography. Possibly even nodding towards a bit of an interest in cinematography.

Q.07 What are your hobbies?

Mikoto: shopping / darts / photography / cycling

Every shot in MeMe meticulously planned out and executed in a way startlingly similar to how his murders are alluded to have gone down.

All this makes it difficult for them to say the team doesn’t know what they’re doing when it comes to him. Mikoto’s character in general turns the benign into something cancerous or the mundane into something controversial. A skill that has made him the topic of many divisive conversations and instances in Milgram’s history.

The usage of neoplasm could also touch on how Koto was immediately stigmatized by most of the fandom. Just as everyone assumes the worst-case scenario from tumours showing up, they assumed the worst of Koto’s entire existence. From statements such as,

“Having a person with D.I.D being a murderer is bad rep” to “I can’t believe they gave someone with D.I.D a murderous personality again”.

All this, despite the fact we don’t know who committed the actual crime. Though we’re pretty sure it was Miko for multiple reasons Gunsli has covered elsewhere.

Closing remarks from Gunsli- It’s always fun to write with other people but it’s always the best when I get to write with Star. I initially came to her for help with this one because I was just in the worst of moods due to multiple circumstances. However, this wound up taking so long mostly because there was just so much to cover and talk about. Plus, we haven’t even went into his cover yet. I was rather excited about guessing Mikoto’s second trial cover song correctly~ However, in the excitement of that I made some rather hasty observations myself like guessing that the door was train doors. Luckily, I took a step back to observe it more and talked over a lot of things with Star. Hope people enjoy all of this and sorry for leaving the TL;DR to you Star.

Here’s my (Star’s) parting words. Or rather, image-

-We try and have fun here

#milgram #Mikoto Kayano #Kayano Mikoto #thoughts #this is like 20 pages long so heads up there

[juana-the-iguana]

Navigating media during war

Here are some tips to navigate the conflict without a paid subscription. Disclaimer, I am based in the United States and this advice is for people in the US. These tips may apply for all wars, but I wrote this with the Israel-Hamas conflict in mind.

My qualifications: I am a reporter who has worked on both local, state, national and international stories. I have covered breaking news, and have done enterprising news and investigative journalism. I will graduate with a MA in Journalism in a month. 

Reasons to question my authority: I have less than five year of professional experience. I have never reported on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or anywhere else in the Middle East. I speak neither modern Hebrew nor Arabic. 

Moving on:

The best tip I can give you is pick a few good news sources and wait two days after any given event or incident before claiming to understand what happened.

In the United States, our news industry is incentivized toward breaking news, which means that organizations sometimes air information without having time to thoroughly fact check it. This becomes especially evident in times of war, when it is hard to obtain information and even on-the-ground reporters don't have the full picture of what's happening.

You are not going to find a perfect news organization. They're all going to fuck up in some capacity. If you have a strong stance on this issue, you're going to be more sensitive to those mistakes and real or perceived biases. (And, for the record, it is possible for one organization to hold multiple biases depending on the time of day, presenter and facet of the war being discussed.) That's why it is genuinely important to consume multiple news sources.

So if you're wondering why I chose these sources it's because a) they're free, b) they issue corrections when they're wrong and c) they do not engage in disinformation.

In no particular order: BBC, Reuters, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, AP. You should not rely on only one of these. You should fact-check these against bias sources that don't outright lie. 

Now onto the sources you should avoid. Let's get into disinformation: What is it? 

Disinformation is the intentional spreading of false information. It's lying. Misinformation is inaccurate information that is spread around, but not done with malice.

All news organizations have misinformation at some point. You should NEVER trust a news organization that engages in disinformation, about anything, unless several years have passed, the people responsible for the disinformation have been thoroughly purged from the group and they cite every goddamn thing they said.

The two big organizations I recommend avoiding because they engage in disinformation are Fox News and Al Jazeera.

Fox News lied about the 2020 election in the United States and actively contributed to an attempted insurrection. Al Jazeera is an arm of the Qatari state and has lied repeatedly about, well, just about everything of interest to the Qatari government, but especially Israel. They have made several highly consequential lies in this ongoing conflict that have had tangible, catastrophic consequences on the entire globe. 

Advocacy groups are not news outlets.

Also, don't trust terrorist organizations. Yes, the UN, WHO, Amnesty International and pretty much every NGO under the sun and the vast majority of news organizations cite them, but that's not because they're reliable, it's because they're the only group releasing information from Gaza.

You shouldn't take the IDF at face value either, but if what the IDF is saying is verified by the US, EU and/or other reliable, third parties, then that information is probably true. 

No news source is perfect. That's just a fact. I cannot stress the importance of looking at multiple sources.

Here are some things to look out for when watching/reading the news.

- If a news source is attributing facts to two different sources, ask yourself, "why?" Information is hard to come by. Sometimes one source doesn't report everything you want to know. But sometimes you know your source is unreliable, you don't have any alternatives, so you want to distance yourself from that. What does this look like? 

You might see people cite two sources to report death counts in Gaza: the Palestinian Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, and Save the Children which analyzes information about the number of children killed. Save the Children gets the estimated number of deaths from Hamas. 

- Does it make sense to have this information at this time? If there was an explosion and a government states that 500 people died in it, well, how much time did it take them to count those bodies? Does that sound feasible?

- When you're listening to eye-witness interviews, do their perspectives or narratives match up with the physical scenes you are seeing? They might not be lying, it could be a miscommunication, but for the context it is presented in, it might not be accurate.

Language to look out for:

Occupation, blockade, siege, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, ethnic cleansing, legitimate military targets and apartheid are all distinct things. All of them, with the exception of apartheid, have specific legal definitions. If people are using these things interchangeably, maybe they're sharing opinions. That doesn't mean that what they're saying isn't valuable, but it does mean that you probably shouldn't cite them when debating international law.

Now let's elaborate on "occupation" for a second. Egypt occupied Gaza from 1949 to 1967. Then Israel occupied Gaza until 2005. In 2007 Israel started the blockade on Gaza and last month, after the 10/7 massacre, they started a siege. As noted above, these are distinct things.

If people are talking about occupation or settlements in the context of this conflict it means either one of four things:

- They are talking about the West Bank, which is under occupation and where settlements do exist

- They are talking about the history of Gaza pre 2005

- They do not know that Gaza isn't under occupation and that there are no longer settlements there (which means that they are not an informed source)

- Or they assume the entire Israeli state is occupying Palestine which, whether you like it or not, is not factually or correct

Just because something feels wrong doesn't mean it is illegal. Occupations, blockades, sieges, the use of white phosphorous and bombing areas where you know there are civilians are all legal in certain contexts. 

Legality might not matter to you personally, but when you're watching the news and trying to assess who is sharing facts and who is sharing opinions, you should keep this in mind.

Other notes:

- Rockets need fuel. Ventilation systems in tunnels need fuel. 

- Movies and tv shows are filmed in Gaza and the West Bank. If you see a photo of someone in a body bag texting or women laughing while painting a baby doll red, it might be a behind-the-scenes video from one of those things.

- There are a lot of AI generated pictures being used, especially in propaganda. Count fingers, arms, legs and look at backgrounds to see if what you are seeing makes sense. But for the love of god, if you don't like something, that doesn't mean it's AI.

- There are a lot of photos circulating from past wars. Be careful before you reblog. Reverse Google image search is your friend. 

- If you are not sure if something is real or not, wait a week. If the US, EU and dozens of journalists say it is true, believe it.

Finally, social media. When is it appropriate to use social media for news?

News aggregates are usually okay. I'm talking places like r/worldnews. They are pulling from other news organizations, so they can repeat those flaws, but they give you a mix of headlines from multiple sources. And they'll very often post large parts, if not the entirety, of articles from sources from the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal that have paywalls in the comments. But also beware the comments because they can be disgusting.

Social media is also very good for sharing the individual human experience. The issue with that is that you can't always vet the person on camera or being spoken about, so they could be lying, spreading misinformation and it isn't the whole picture. 

This needs to be said again and again: social media dehumanizes people. You know this, but you will fall victim to it anyway. Your algorithm will do its best to show you the best versions of the people and groups you like, and the worst versions of the people and groups you don't like to make you feel justified in adopting dehumanizing beliefs. 

For anyone interested, I'm going to update the list of news sources I think are trustworthy in the next few days. I've found a few small, independent and/or foreign outlets that use open source intelligence (OSINT) in their reporting and they seem pretty reliable to me, but I want to vet them a bit further.

EDITED: Removed the name of a news organization that I previously said I thought was reliable. They did not issue a correction after uncritically repeating Hamas's lie that the al-Ahli hospital parking lot bombing was an Israeli airstrike that killed 500 people, and spent days repeating these false claims as if they were fact.

#israel #palestine #i/p #hamas #media literacy #journalism

[thegreatobsesso]

Hello my love! :D I keep seeing your spicy gay crime story on my dash and while taglists give me anxiety I am LIVING for it, so I thought I'd send you a random ask so you can gush about it some if you want. ^_^ Any fun facts? Was there a specific inspiration? Why script style? And anything else you'd like to share! 💕

AHHHHH!!!! Thank you for this, @pertinax--loculos!!! And let me begin by saying that I love your honesty. Everybody should engage with social media (and, situations permitting) life in general with the ways that give them the least amount of anxiety possible. I have my own particular tumblr-related anxieties as well as generalized social anxiety in just about every possible manifestation, so just to let you know, I feel you. 💙

That being said, THANK YOU FOR ASKING QUESTIONS! I logically know I can share this kind of thing without being asked, but without being asked, I pretty much won't. That's just how I'm built. 😊

--

Fun facts: Octavius was - originally - a drag persona of mine. As a cis woman who's always thought she looked incredible with facial hair, I invented a drag persona awhile back named Octavius Debonnaire. I fancied him a well-dressed British supervillain with a penchant for poisons and fancy suits. This was all well and good until one not-so-special day where he pole-vaulted into the realm of distinctly his own character that I could NEVER embody and had no choice but to write about instead. Things kinda spiraled from there, as they are wont to do. And now his last name became Sinclair, because Octavius Debonnaire is like.......... so exclusively a drag name it just doesn't translate outside that framework, lol.

Inspiration: The Insuppressible Callie Ray satisfied like, 90% of the narrative tropes that get me off. This WIP encompasses the remainder untouched upon. And, to be honest, I had to write a story without smut to convince myself I was ready to write a good story that comes with smut.

Why script? There's a couple reasons. Chief amongst them is that I knew I had two main characters (Milo and Octavius) and only one of them I was remotely interested from writing in the POV of (Milo).

To clarify, I love Octavius with my whole being. But there's something about writing from his POV that feels... uncomfortable? Counterproductive? It's hard to explain, but something very primal tells me that writing from inside his mind is the wrong way to go. And once I accepted that feeling, it was immediately clear to me that many, many things crucial to the plot of this WIP happen when Milo is not present.

I think at this point, I reached a critical crossroads where I realized I would either need to completely reimagine this WIP, or write it differently. And I thought of my bestie @i-think-im-so-so-but-cosplay, who is currently writing a WIP in script format, and the way forward was extremely simple.

[[ A clarification: I'm not saying scriptwriting is in any way "easier" than prose; it's a totally different animal for a totally different purpose. It turns out, this story is best represented as TV show, and maybe, just maybe, Callie might've been too, if I'd have been capable of conceiving such a notion at the time. The world will never know.]]

If I had any doubts in the beginning, they rapidly dissolved when I realized how ***freeing*** script format is. There's totally a trade-off - I think it's a lot harder to capture a character's deep internality or set a strong mood - but it lets me say, quite easily and simply, what happens. Not worrying about head-hopping is allowing me to actually tell this story the way it wants to be told.

One more consideration worth noting - my absolute favorite thing to write, and the thing that comes the easiest to me, is dialogue. Scripts are huuuuuuuuuge made of dialogue, so. Once I decided to try, it felt extremely organic, considering my writing strengths and preferences.

anything else I'd like to share: Aster Craine. My antagonist, to the degree to which she serves that role, although she might be more accurately called my foil. When I first started writing her lines she was totally one-dimensional and I had an idea of what role she would serve in the narrative and wrote lines that worked technically well enough, but my god. I've really been getting a grip on what she's about over the past few days and this is it:

What if the leader of an organized crime ring ran their business like a cult? What if, inspiring loyalty through fear, they used love? Or, a perversion of love - artificially produced positive feelings. What if people were loyal to her because they felt understood by her, seen, appreciated, taken care of?

It makes her a perfect foil for Octavius, who is a narcissist, unable to imagine what it would be like to be in someone else's shoes. Aster is an actual empath who can understand other people's emotions - she just uses that understanding to manipulate them into loving her and, in turn, doing absolutely anything she says.

This spark turned her into a character I rapidly became obsessed with developing, instead of just a cardboard cutout for my mains to bash up against, and that's a very, very happy feeling. :) :) :)

--

Thank you again for this ask, dear friend @pertinax--loculos! It provided me a way to put into words a lot of things that have rattling about in the old noggin 🥰

Ahh hell, I'll add my tag list... hopefully y'all aren't tired of me yet!

tag list: @winterandwords // @revenantlore // @space-writes // @indecentpause // comment to be added or removed!

#new WIP #WIP: spicy gay crime story #oc: octavius #oc: milo #asks #writeblr

[essence-inked]

Should I put the thing in my story?

AKA why "it’s just fiction, it doesn’t matter what you write,” and “if your protagonist isn’t an absolute paragon of virtue, you are a terrible person” are both wildly missing the point in my personal opinion.

You are putting words out into the world. Those words will make people feel things. The way you structure your story and the way you frame your character’s actions will impact that. Your story doesn’t need to carry a message, you don’t need to write protagonists who are always right and who you always agree with (and that’d be painfully dull to boot), and ultimately, your words are your own to choose.

If you want to decide if something should go in your story, then really, the question you should be asking is “how will this make my audience feel?” because your readers aren’t some theoretical council of judgment; they are very real people being impacted by the media they consume. Do you want your audience to feel hopeful? Horrified? Betrayed? Excited? Sad? To say you write for yourself is all well and good, but if you give your words to other people, just like any time when you put words into the world, they will make people feel things. You can’t always choose or predict what those feelings are, and not everybody needs to like your story; neither of these things are personal failings. But at the same time, you are still responsible for your words themselves - it’s on you to understand that your words are not meaningless things, and to take accountability for that.

Quick addition just to clarify: this post is not saying you should or shouldn't put dark elements in a story. This post is saying that when you approach the question of whether a thing should go in your writing with either "my writing doesn't matter because it's fiction," or "if I just tick off all the items on this list of Dos and Don'ts, then my writing will be Good and Acceptable," you stop engaging in critical thinking. Instead, the question should be about what sort of feelings you want to invoke in your readers (and yes, that absolutely includes "I want my readers to feel bad").

#ink posts #writing inked #writing #writeblr #creative writing #storytelling #writing advice #writing tips #character writing

[hellfiremunsonn]

Make Me Eddie Munson x Reader

Make Me

I do not allow my writing to be republished anywhere other than my own blog without my consent

Summary: After having the worst attitude all day, and taking it out on Eddie by bratting- half intentionally half not, he literally sends you too bed without him and you wake up from having a nightmare, back to when you were in the upside down and you weren’t sure if Eddie was going to make it out alive.

18 + IF YOU ARE NOT 18 OR OLDER DO NOT READ OR INTERACT WITH MY WRITING. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR MINORS. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MEDIA YOU CONSUME.

Warnings: Technically this should be okay for younger audience, but because it’s a sub/dom relationship dynamic I don’t encourage any minors to engage with this. Swearing, mentions of Eddie in the upside down, no spoilers, fem! reader, Dom!Eddie, Sub!reader, Brat!reader, mentions of punishment. (if I forgot anything else don’t hesitate to let me know)

Word count: 2667

(NOT PROOF READ)

I had been in a mood all day. Nothing in particular had happen to cause me to have such an attitude, but every little thing today just seemed to rub me the wrong way. We were staying at Steves for the weekend, a little party without the 'kids'. Thankful to not have to worry about them trying to steal drinks without us noticing.

I was sat outside in Steves backyard on one of the lounge chairs, tucked up with a towel draped over my knees in the shade with my notebook and pen, scribbling down any words that came to mind. Headphones over my ears, my music blasting, probably a little too loudly for my own good but I needed it. The rest of the gang sat by the pool, Robin and vickie sat on the pool steps in the shallow end. Eddie glanced over at me often, and I could see him in the corner of my eye, but purposefully ignored him. He noticed my foul mood the second I woke up, and was not impressed with my attitude, so he left me alone for most of the time we had been here, telling everyone else I didn't feel well so they wouldn't ask questions. I knew he didn't deserve my attitude, but when you spend everyday with your person they kind of get the brunt of it just from proximity. What was worse was that, all I wanted to do was be in eddies arms, and have him comfort me, but the minute he's close enough to touch me, something about him today keeps making me want to scream.

As if he knew my thoughts were about him, he sauntered his way over to me, black swim shorts hung low on his hips, happy trail slightly unruly from a few days of no upkeep. His hair was in a bun at the back of his head. He stood before me, blocking any light I had been getting from the sun, his sunglasses covering his eyes as he looked down at me. I looked back up at him for a moment, and then returned my gaze to my notebook. Reaching forward he pulled my headphones off my head, pushing them so they hung around my neck.

"What?" I snapped.

"I was coming to check on you, you should drink some more water, it's hot and I don't want you getting dehydrated" His arms crossed over his chest, biceps bulging in the process.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks but I'm not thirsty"

"I didn't ask" He said sternly. "Now you can go inside and get yourself a bottle of water, or I can do it for you, but either way, you're drinking water" His voice was low, domineering me with its familiar octave, but still the pissy mood only increased. With a huff I threw my notebook down onto the end of the lounge chair and got up, pulling my headphones off of my neck and chucking it down also. Eddie followed, quick on my heels as I walked into Steves house, and towards the kitchen. Swinging the fridge door open I grabbed a water bottle cracked it open took one sip and placed it onto the counter.

"That's not enough" Eddie warned.

"You didn't specify, I did what you asked, now I'm going back outside" I said attempting to brush past him, but his hand wrapped around my bicep, pulling me back to him.

"I don't know what your problem is today, but I suggest you stop acting like this in front of our friends before I make you regret it" His eyes were serious as they searched mine, wondering if all of this was just for attention, to get a simple punishment with a good fuck, or if it was because I actually was in a terrible mood. I ripped my arm away from him, stalking back outside and repositioning myself on the lounge chair again, headphones over my ears, just a little bit louder knowing Eddie would scold me for it later.

It wasn't until later when all of us were sat around the coffee table in Steves living room that Eddie finally had enough of me. I was leaned back against the couch, arms crossed loosely over my chest. Maybe it was beer number three but when Eddie leaned back next to me my body grew hot with annoyance. He tipped his head so it was leaning on my shoulder, turning slightly to give it a small kiss. I softened a little, but not enough.

"Can you eat something please? You haven't eaten enough to be chugging back beers like that" he said quietly, just enough for me to hear.

I shifted away from his touch, my brows coming together as I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Make me" I muttered. I felt Eddie go stiff beside me and I immediately knew I fucked up. He stood up, reaching his hand out towards me, not as an offering, but as a warning. A silent instruction while he said. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Tight lipped and stern.

I nodded, rising to my feet, a little wobbly from nerves and the alcohol. Slipping my hand into his I followed him up the stairs and into one of the spare rooms he and I would sleep in later tonight.

Letting go of my hand to shut the door behind him embarrassment and shame flooded me, and I immediately tired to spew out apologies. "Ed's I'm sorry I-"

"Sit" He ordered, interrupting me and pointing to the bed. Lowering my head I listened, taking a seat at the end of the bed waiting. Eddie came to stand in front of me, hands on his knees so he was hunched over, his face level with mine. "I've had it with your attitude today, I've tried to be nice" he ran a hand over his face. "It's been so hard to read you today, and you won't fucking talk to me, so-" he said standing back up straight. "It's bed time for you"

Shocked I snapped my head up to look at him, and then to the clock on the wall behind him. "But it's only nine! I'm not tired" I argued.

"I don't care, maybe going to bed early will fix that bratty little mouth of yours that you've been running all day" Arms crossed over his chest, he looked a lot like Steve when he was scolding the kids and it made me feel somehow even smaller.

"B-but I-"

"I don't care, lets go" He said gesturing to the small on-suite bathroom. "Get ready for bed"

I huffed, my steps a little heavy as I opened my bag to get out my clothes to sleep in, and my toothbrush.

Eddie watched me through the mirror, from the doorway of the bathroom, making sure I brushed for two minutes, tutting when I stopped too early, making me start again. After a hopeful final spit I looked up at him through the mirror, mouth still foamy around the edges. "Can I be done now?"

"Yeah you're good" He said with a nod.

I graciously rinsed my mouth and my toothbrush, setting it on the side of the sink and walking back into the bedroom, walking past Eddie just closely enough to bump into him slightly before making my way to the bed. I mumbled quiet complaints to myself as I pulled back the covers and a few of the too many decorative pillows, climbing in and pulling the blanket back over me with another exaggerated huff. Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at him. "You're treating me like a child"

"S'cause you're acting like one" he said without a beat, heading for the door.

"W-wait" I stuttered. He turned and raised an eyebrow at me. "I don't get a kiss?" My horrid mood, already softening at the thought of going to sleep without a kiss, sure Eddie was hard on me sometimes, but I always instigated it by being bratty, more than usual, doing it on purpose. Today was different, and I knew that; I didn't know what I wanted out of being so miserable today, and Eddie knew that as well, not giving me a usual and typical punishment.

"I might come give you one later before I get my stuff to go to bed" He said softly.

My brows furrowed in confusion. "You're not sleeping with me?" I could feel myself on the brink of tears.

"Not tonight princess" He sighed. "I love you you know? Have a good sleep and stay in here" he said with a pointed finger.

Nodding I said quietly "I l-love you to" The door clicking softly behind him.

Tears rushed down my cheeks, and I clutched a pillow to my chest to muffle the few sobs that croaked out. The tears didn't last long, I wasn't upset at Eddie all that much, I was more upset with myself. After a few deep breaths, I laid down into the pillows, curling up onto my side, hoping that sleep would come quick so I wouldn't have to think about how horrible I was today for much longer.

Eddie was right. Like a sleep deprived toddler, almost immediately after relaxing into the pillows I felt myself drift off into sleep, but of course not peacefully. It was the same nightmare I had for months after vecna, hearing eddies scream over and over again, echoing louder in my head than they did that day. His cries, and the way blood bubbled out of his mouth with his attempted last words, as if I was going to let him die down there. Except with this dream I never made it to him, I kept running, and no matter how hard I pushed myself to run faster I could never get to him in time, constantly just a touch out of reach.

Springing forward in bed, and out of the dream, my breathing quick and my vision blurry, tears rolling down my cheeks and neck, dripping onto my t-shirt leaving tiny darkened dots. Looking around the room, attempting to take in my surroundings I remembered I was at Steves, and that Eddie wasn't with me. I checking the time, it was around 3:30 am so I knew no one else would be awake as I reluctantly made my way down the stairs to find Eddie. Stifling hiccups and sniffles as I walked over to him, peacefully asleep on the couch, one hand behind his head, the TV lighting up his pale skin. I watched him sleep for a moment, his chest rising and falling slowly, completely unaware of my presence, once again breaking rules.

Taking a few extra steps towards him, I smoothed my hand down his arm, not wanting to startle him. He hummed and shifted a little but didn't wake.

"Eds" I sniffled. A new round of tears falling. "Eddie" I said again, poking him lightly on the chest. He groaned, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes fluttered open, taking a second to recognize who was in front of him.

"Baby what's wrong?" He said sitting up quickly. "Hey, woah, what's going on?" Reaching for my hands he pulled me towards him until I was straddling him, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. My body shook lightly with each sob and Eddies hand rubbed soothing lines up and down my back. "You're okay baby" He said softly. "What was it? Bad dream?"

"Yeah" I whispered into his skin. "I couldn't-" I sobbed. "I couldn't get to you fast enough" He pulled me away from him gently, his hands coming up to cup my face, pushing my hair back behind my ears, moving strands that stuck to my damp cheeks. "I can still hear your screams baby" My bottom lip wobbled and he pulled me back to his chest, one hand coming up to cradle the back of my head.

"S'okay baby, I'm here, I'm safe, we're safe" He sighed. "I'm sorry for making you sleep alone, it was a weird day, I couldn't figure out what you wanted" he said honestly

I pulled back, still a blubbering mess. "No, don't be sorry" I said sternly as best as I could. "I'm so s-sorry for being so bratty t-today" I choked.

"Hey, hey, hey- take a deep breath for me yeah?" his hands resting on my shoulders. "Just relax, it's okay, I'm not mad at you" He said reassuringly.

I took a shaky breath, his hands rising with my shoulders as I inhaled, and lowering as I exhaled.

"Okay, good job baby, give me one more" he encouraged. Giving him another deep breath I let my eyes close for a second, allowing myself to have a moment to calm down more before speaking again.

"I don't know why I was so mean today, everything was just annoying me" I wiped my hands on my face, trying to rid my cheeks of anymore tears. "I should have just told you I was in a bad mood, I'm sorry for being so terrible, you don't deserve that, not as Eddie, or as Daddy, or whatever name you see fit in those moments" I said with a soft giggle.

"There's my happy girl" He said smiling, his thumb brushing against my cheek. "I'm sorry you were having a bad day, and I'm sorry if making you sleep alone made it worse, but you gotta let me know what's going on in that head of yours okay?" He poked me on the forehead. "So I know what you need when you need it, especially if it's a punishment you're after"

I nodded, taking another deep breath, finally able to look him in the eyes. "I'll do better next time, I promise"

"Thank you baby, all I ask is that you try 'kay? I'll try to be better about it also, maybe a calmer approach next time" he leaned forward, giving me a soft kiss.

"Can you come up to bed with me?" I asked tentatively.

"Course baby" he said lowering his hands to tap his fingers again my butt.

Shifting back until my feet touched the floor I held my hand out for him until he took it, bringing him with me back up the stairs and into our room for the night. I hopped up onto the bed, a little giddy from the adrenaline of the nightmare, and excitement from being back with my safe space in the form of a human.

I wiggled in my seat, watching as Eddie shifted around the room, changing out of his shirt and jeans and into some sweat pants.

Holding both hands out towards him I opened and closed them quickly in a 'grabby hands' motion until he crawled under the blankets and pulled me against him until my head rested on his chest. My thigh coming up over his middle, calf situated in-between his legs. I sighed happily.

"Better sweet pea?" he mumbled into my hair.

I hummed in response, rubbing my cheek a little, nuzzling myself further into his skin. "S'much better Eds, thank you"

"No thanks needed, I hated sleeping without you"

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't have my mini professional wrestler sleeping next to me, kicking me in the thigh every 10 minutes"

I smacked him lightly on the chest. "I do not move that much!"

"You're asleep when you do it! How would you know hmm?"

"Because I just know" I said teasingly

"Yeah, yeah I bet you do. Get some rest will you? I don't want you to be a cranky baby again tomorrow"

"G'night Eds" I said sleepily, the calm sense of security washing over me as I felt my lids get heavy.

"Sweet dreams baby girl"

#Eddie Munson #Stranger Things #Eddie Munson x reader #Eddie Munson x you #Eddie Munson x (y/n) #Eddie Munson x Fem!reader #Eddie Munson x reader fluff #Eddie Munson fluff #Eddie Munson stranger things #Eddie Munson imagine #Stranger Things imagine #Eddie Munson fic #Stranger Things fic #Eddie Munson fanfic #stranger things fanfic #Eddie Munson smut #Stranger Things smut #hellfiremunsonn

[ship-discourse-confessions]

Hey!! Are you a proshipper? Are you an anti? Please read this post, I want engagement from as many people of as many different opinions as possible!

I have a question that I made a temporary sideblog for because I’ve gotten completely different answers depending on who I ask this question (pro vs anti ship)

I fundamentally disagree with a lot of the “talking points” on either side, so I’m not really sure which camp I fit into (and the one I’m assigned usually changes to the opposite of whoever I’m talking to). So I thought it’d be really interesting to see what people have to say about this. I dunno, I like talking, and discussing media. Talk to me about media.

I’ve sorted these into two sections: opinions usually grouped with “proshippers” and opinions usually grouped with “antis.”

Proship Opinions:

Censorship is bad.

We should not censor the internet and banning legal content here is fruitless. It just doesn’t work, and it takes away efforts from restricting actually harmful content.

Harassment is also bad.

Even when the person being harassed is objectively disgusting and vile.

There is never any excuse to tell someone to kill themself. This feels so obvious, why are we even arguing this.

Restricting the content allowed on some sites (AO3) is kinda stupid.

FF.net and Wattpad are living examples of what happens when you restrict written content: it still gets in, but this time completely untagged and with no warning.

I hate AO3’s current policy and I don’t use the site because of that, but the alternative is so much worse, especially considering they can’t afford the extensive mod team that would require.

Just use the block button.

Getting all bent out of shape in someone’s askbox because of their content is completely pointless. You just exhaust yourself and waste your own energy thinking about this person when they definitely don’t give a fuck what you, some bitch on the internet, think of their content.

The easiest solution for your own wellbeing is just to block them and move on. Then you can never think about them again.

Fictional content is never the same as the real thing, and it’s insulting to survivors to insinuate it is.

No children are harmed by the creation of fictional content. Comparing it to real CP is a slap in the face to real survivors.

The concept of “problematic content” being bad by design is kinda dumb.

There are ways to handle anything in fiction tastefully. Your story can cover topics of sexual abuse, murder, exploitation, etc. without being “problematic.”

The reason for the content’s creation and posting greatly changes how it should be viewed and how the creator should be treated.

I’m reminded of Alfred’s Playhouse. It’s so obviously a cry for help, but everyone ignored it because of the gross and shocking subject matter shown. The creator is a disgusting person, but that is unrelated to her creation of Alfred’s Playhouse, a representation of her own real experiences.

It’s… So obvious to me when someone is suffering and using art to vent or call for help. These people aren’t the people we should be talking about when we discuss the handling of sensitive topics in fiction.

Anti Opinions:

The things you create/enjoy completely change the way I view you as a person, fundamentally.

I don’t think you can be a good person and enjoy thinking about fictional children being molested.

I cut people off if I find out they secretly enjoy this content.

Including ex-friends. It hurts and I feel betrayed, but I was not friends with, nor will I ever be friends with, someone who enjoys (whatever).

I think people deserve to know if one of their favorite artists is secretly into something reprehensible.

If a big artist I like had a secret twitter where they posted incest porn, I would be pissed if someone who knew didn’t tell me.

AO3 sucks.

Specifically because of their policy on RPF in reference to (underage) streamers. If someone requests that the NSFW content featuring them be deleted, AO3 should delete it. If someone goes to AO3 and requests they take down a specific fic about them, AO3 should delete it. But they didn’t, and they don’t. So I don’t use AO3.

“Problematic content” should be criticized when it is handled in offensive ways.

There are ways to handle topics such as child abuse, sexual exploitation, etc. tastefully and respectfully to victims, but when creators fail to do this, they deserve to have their treatment of the subject pointed out.

SEE MY ABOVE POINT ABOUT CREATORS WHO ARE SUFFERING, vent art does not fucking count and pointing out the way someone handles their own real experiences in their vent art makes you an asshole.

Proshipping as I’ve seen it looks like such an unhealthy coping mechanism.

To my knowledge, “shipping” means that you enjoy the dynamic between two (or more) characters, typically in a romantic or sexual way. Enjoying the romantic or sexual dynamic between a minor and an adult you headcanon to be grooming them is… So beyond fucked.

This is 100% not my business and I’m never gonna tell someone this, but it’s an opinion I personally hold that I’ve seen attached to antis before.

#proship #proshipper #profic #anti #antiship #antishipper #<= tagged both for reach #someone talk to me about this stuff i find it so interesting and weird