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titsgirlbuffy · 1 year

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any thoughts on how spike and angel show their genders when they where human vs vampires

Yes!

So it's really fascinating to me what bits of how they present themselves do or don't change through the centuries. And I can't tell which bits of this is for, like, internal reasons, and what's a response to the changing cultural ideas of what makes a man.

We've talked before about how Spike (as a vampire) seems to see himself as a masculine object - talking about himself as the corpse of a man (like in Once More With Feeling), like he's being animated by his obsession with Buffy as much as he is by the vampirism. And with the whole "I know I'm a monster, but you treat me like a man" thing too, for Spike the vampire there's this recurring thing of A Man being not something he Is so much as something he'd like to be.

I've only seen the one scene of him as a human man so some of this was outsourced to @transangelus who's watched Buffy many times. But the thing about human Spike is he also tied a lot of himself to the women in his life, clinging both to his mother and to the women he tries to seduce with terrible poetry, even (especially?) when that's unsuccessful. Spike as a human man is... not wholly successful just in general, actually.

From an article on Victorian masculinity and how it affects our present understanding, "Victorian public school boys were strong, stoical and athletic – ready to die for their country, but not to talk about their feelings." Now, that sounds like pretty much the opposite of what we've seen of William Pratt, a man who was:

Not a successful poet

Wrote primarily about his emotions

No indication that he was good at sports

Not physically intimidating

Left handed

Bad at seducing women

Bullied by other men

Defined by his relationships (and lack thereof) to women

I don't think I'd say Spike was "womanly" as a human, but he wasn't living up to what it meant to be a "man".

A lot of that is tied to not being physically powerful and not having a girlfriend - the reverse of which is pretty inherent to his vampire self. But somehow, as a vampire, he's Still drawn to nonconformity, wearing his woman's coat (stolen from Nikki Wood's dead body in the 70s), painting his nails black (the most masculine colour he could have chosen but like... this is during the era of "metrosexual", when even the fact that he puts products in his hair could be taken as a non-masculine trait), naming himself after a Thing Of Violence rather than keeping the cool manly William the Bloody, generally doing non-masculine stuff he wouldn't have had a chance to do as a human man. I think the main difference between his modern vampire self and his Victorian human self is that now the non-masculine facets of Spike's presentation are a choice rather than a failure. Every time he insults a man for being effeminate, it feels... well I'm not sure Exactly how self aware Spike is, but it feels like he's trying to get under their skin more than legit pick on them for being girly or gay yk?

Angel's pretty similar in some ways. Seen as a failure by his parental figure - that failure being tied to masculinity (direct quote from Angel's human father: "It’s a son I wished for – a man – instead God gave me you"). But from what we saw of Angel as a human... unless I'm missing some history info about 1700s Ireland, there's nothing non-masculine I can see! Angel as a human:

Used a man's name (Liam - the Irish version of William, interestingly)

Kept his hair long (in fashion at the time)

Regularly had sex with women (from an article about masculinity in this time period - "From around 1720 [...] the dominant, hegemonic man is no longer defined by his house-holding status and his good domestic and Christian order but by the fact that he desires and has sex only with women.")

Angel as a human didn't seem happy, or even content, with his masculinity. He sought for it and, like Spike, was accused of falling short. And I hate to say any bullies were right, but I Do think the "not a man" accusations were speaking to something inherent about Angel rather than any failures to live up to a cultural standard of masculinity.

Vampire Angel is interesting. I mean, taking the name "Angel" (not the most masculine of names) is one thing, but even (especially?) while soulless his masculinity is... not quite right, I'll say.

Angelus kept his look pretty much the same throughout his relationship with Darla - and while that shifted from being classically masculine to being more effeminate as the centuries passed, since he was going around with a 1600s women (who wouldn't care about such things) and acting as the family patriarch, any nonconformity was way less of a big deal. But once he gets a soul? He goes right back to forcing himself into cultural norms.

In the 50s he cut his hair and dressed like a greaser. In the 70s he kept it long but started wearing low cut shirts and leather jackets - possibly his least conformative souled era and it went badly enough to send him back to eating rats in the sewers. In the 90s and early 00s - with a brief break for Angelus to wear some eyeliner (imitating Spike? Imitating what he believes to be corruptive?) - he puts on such a strong facade of masculinity that the man posing as his Swami asks "Why do you hate yourself?", before saying that Angel consists of "The image you work so hard to create and the real you." (personal note - Angel refers to his demonic side as "it" during that conversation). Combined with how many times he's given the opportunity to take on something feminine and either Immediately reacts with fear and anger, or tries it out very happily before someone else sees or questions? Plus the refusal of the titles man, boy, Mr..... I can only see Angel's masculinity as an intentional facade covering something he's terrified of. Two things, actually. The internal calls to the feminine and to the demonic.

So... yeah! TL;DR - Human!Spike = struggling man tied to relationships with women, Vampire!Spike = successfully nonconforming corpse seeking personal masculinity in relationships with women. Human!Angel = successfully masculine in theory but somehow still not allowed into male socialisation, Vampire!Angel = deeply concerned with emulating an ideal of the Normal Man, repressing womanhood and evilness as if they equally reveal him as something other than what he strives for

#so sorry for holding this ask Forever lmao #been having a time #btvs #ats #angel #spike #trans angel posting #that was longer than I intended sorry

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vacantgodling · 1 month

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i should do an ask game for the characters in btaf

#especially azelie and sjaak tbh #they intrigue me #s: btaf #also sorry i haven’t been interaction heavy lately #been having a time #i love and care of of yall tho

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soup-scope · 9 months

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RAY ARE YOU OK??? OMG 😭😭

yeah i’m all good 👍👍

they think it was a stomach virus or smth

i was super dehydrated so it was fuckin with my kidneys but after some iv fluid i feel more like a person lmao. i’m staying overnight but i should be good to go home at 8am tomorrow or so 👍👍

#sorry if i worried y’all 😭😭#been having a time #rayrayasks #rayrayrants

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aldercaps · 1 year

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“this too shall pass” teeth clenched, crying

#been having a TIme #can't do full days at art school without overdoing it and being sore and exhausted for the next two days #cant participate in everything needed done at art school without doing full days #can't walk the whole way without fucking up my feet. can't afford to take the bus everday #can't afford nice things without dipping into savings #can't do too many chores around the house AND get my coursework done #augh augh augh #can't afford a pet. desperately needs animal companion for mental health #anyway. im going to go walk some dogs with my partner and try not to feel awful about skipping class today #maybe watch some vampire diaries with my other partner since apparently there are imminent werewolves #lads im Going Through It #im doing so much better than i was this time last year. as in im not actively suicidal skdjhfs #genuinely. manageable levels of depression now its wild. there are still the agonies #but the joys have returned too #just gotta keep reminding myself #homepost

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malwarechips · 15 days

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yknow i never noticed the sheer rareness of images having ids or alt text on this website until i started adding alt text to my art (and trying to remember to add it to any images i post in general, especially text screenshots) and that makes me kinda sad

#i used to be pretty intimidated by the idea of having to describe my art but. it isnt as hard as it sounds #i just treat it like im describing an image i dont have at the time really #plus ive been told that even a simple id is better than no id #lev.txt

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butchfalin · 5 months

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the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

#yeehaw #1k #5k #10k #posts that got cursed. blasted. im making these tag updates after... 19 hours?#also i have been told it should say speech loss bc nonverbal specifically refers to the permanent state. did not know that!#unfortunately i fear it is so far past containment that even if i edited it now it would do very little. but noted for future reference #edit 2: nvm enough ppl have come to rb it from me directly that i changed the wording a bit. hopefully this makes sense #also. in case anyone is curious. though i doubt anyone who is commenting these things will check the original tags #1) my friend did not do this on purpose in any way. it was not intended to distract me or to hit on me. im a lesbian hes a gay man. cmon now #he felt very bad about it afterwards. i thought it was hilarious but it was very embarrassed and apologetic #2) “why didn't he use 🫵🏼?” didn't exist yet. “why didn't he use 🆗?” dunno! we'd been using a lot of hand emojis. 👌🏼 is an ok sign #like it makes sense. it was just a silly mixup. also No i did not invent 👉🏼👌🏼 as a gesture meaning sex. do you live under a rock #3) nonspeaking episodes are a recurring thing in my life and have been since i was born. this is not a quirky one-time thing #it is a pervasive issue that is very frustrating to both myself and the people i am trying to communicate with. in which trying to speak is #extremely distressing and causes very genuine anguish. this post is not me making light of it it's just a funny thing that happened once #it's no different than if i post about a funny thing that happened in conjunction w a physical disability. it's just me talking abt my life #i don't mind character tags tho. those can be entertaining. i don't know what any of you are talking about #Except the ppl who have said this is pego/ryu or wang/xian. those people i understand and respect #if you use it as a writing prompt that's fine but send it to me. i want to see it #aaaand i think that's it. everyday im tempted to turn off rbs on it. it hasn't even been a week

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sylvies-kablooie · 3 months

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i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

#i often wonder about how many things would be considered classic or high art had they only received the marketing #how many short films that were made for class could have been the most powerful thing you'd ever seen? if you'd seen them?#“you know the greatest films of all time were never made” etc etc #but like. these works of art ARE being made. it's just enjoyed by a smaller audience with equal impact though #i think about this one furry i used to follow on insta who had the coolest worldbuilding ever. it's been years.#thought prompted by that sketch of nimona from ten years ago that was just for a character design #posted to the creator's tumblr and now it's nominated for best animated feature film at the oscars #and by the genuine emotional reaction a fan comic made me feel. how much work had gone into it. how beautiful it was to me.#idk what to tag this but i hope whoever needs to hear it does #writing #writer #fandom #fandom culture #artist

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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 3 days

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Expertise can't help you here.

#dungeon meshi #kabru #laios touden #falin touden #Happy Thistle Thursday once again. Have I been holding on to this comic for several weeks? Sure have!#I forgot how long it takes for Chimera Falin to come into play.#I still really love my 'better drawn' art of her - unfortunately it was several weeks too early for the anime only folks.#Slowly getting the hang of drawing Laios. I don't know why I struggle so much but I am getting...somewhere.#Meta time: God damn I love how the chimera shows off the expertise and gap between Kabru and Laios.#The truth is: they are both *right* and they are both *wrong*.#This creature is a combination of monster and human and they only have the skillset to deal with one of those.#Kabru goes for all the human vitals - but she isn't human.#Laios tries to approach her as a monster and is struck down by the humanity he sees in her.#She is something new that defies what they *both* understand about the world. And that makes her such a perfect antagonist.#The damsel was the dragon all along!#...She is really so cute though. Terrifying! But adorable. I am so excited to see the boom of fanart for her.

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qiinamii · 7 months

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we'll do fine.

#fionna and cake spoilers #what hits me a little is how similar fionna and simon's stories are in the case of finding nuance in their lives #when both have gone through their separate but still valid pain no matter the extent it had been #and its that they met each other they get to see how it compares and they're no less worth of the peace and fun they dreamed of #even in the form of simplicity and just being normal #“i wouldn't have met THE fionna and cake” “we wouldn't have met THE simon petrikov”#it hits me harder that after the dandelion scene would've been their last time seeing each other physically #and how assuring simon sounded when fionna didn't know what to do with the literal world in her hands #tho im sure prismo isnt that much of a rule jerk lol i still drew out the revelation anyway with this tiniest addition #also the fact fionna's world is influenced by simon's thought processes and conditions so now things are a little better for both of them #fionna the human #fionna campbell #simon petrikov #qiiarts #the lil flashback of #betty grof #fionna and cake #adventure time

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supposedlyahuman · 5 months

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tw: Examples of reblog bait/people trying to guilt others into reblogging stuff. I am not actually saying the things below, they're just examples that I have seen.

I fucking hate when people say stuff like this. Especially when it's on a generally good post with valuable information. On the one hand I want to share that information because it could genuinely help someone; on the other, I don't want to spread this type of guilt-tripping and shaming and potentially trigger someone else like me. It's a lose-lose situation. No matter what I do, I am going to feel guilty. No matter what I do, I will feel like a terrible person. It sucks and I just wish people would stop doing this. I know it's shocking, but it is actually possible to make an important and useful post without guilting everyone that sees it into sharing.

#in general i just don't reblog anything that tries to guilt me into reblogging it #there have been so many times where i consider reblogging something and then see people saying the stuff above #and i automatically move along because i can't handle interacting with that sort of thing #moral ocd #serious #my thoughts

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agentromanoffsir · 1 year

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neocities guide - why you should build your own html website

do you miss the charm of the 90s/00s web where sites had actual personality instead of the same minimalistic theme? are you feeling drained by social media and the constant corporate monopoly of your data and time? do you want to be excited about the internet again? try neocities!!

what is neocities?

neocities is a free hosting website that lets you build your own html website from scratch, with total creative control. in their own words: "we are tired of living in an online world where people are isolated from each other on boring, generic social networks that don't let us truly express ourselves. it's time we took back our personalities from these sterilized, lifeless, monetized, data mined, monitored addiction machines and let our creativity flourish again."

why should I make my own website?

web3 has been overtaken by capitalism & conformity. websites that once were meant to be fun online social spaces now exist solely to steal your data and sell you things. it sucks!! building a personal site is a great way to express yourself and take control of your online experience.

what would I even put on a website?

the best part about making your own site is that you can do literally whatever the hell you want! focus on a specific subject or make it a wild collection of all your interests. share your art! make a shrine for one of your interests! post a picture of every bird you see when you step outside! make a collection of your favorite blinkies! the world is your oyster !! here are some cool example sites to inspire you: recently updated neocities sites | it can be fun to just look through these and browse people's content! space bar | local interstellar dive bar creature feature | halloween & monsters big gulp supreme peanutbuttaz | personal site dragodiluna linwood | personal site patho grove | personal site

getting started: neocities/html guide

sound interesting? here are some guides to help you get started, especially if you aren't familiar with html/css sadgrl.online webmastery | a fantastic resource for getting started with html & web revival. also has a layout builder that you can use to start with in case starting from scratch is too intimidating web design in 4 minutes | good for learning coding basics w3schools | html tutorials templaterr | demo & html for basic web elements eggramen test pages | css page templates to get started with sadgrl background tiles | bg tiles rivendell background tiles | more free bg tiles

fun stuff to add to your site

web revival manifestos & communities

also, there's actually a pretty cool community of people out there who want to bring joy back to the web! melonland project | web project/community celebrating individual & joyful online experiences. Also has an online forum melonland intro to web revival | what is web revival? melonking manifesto | status cafe | share your current status nightfall city | online community onio.cafe | leave a message and enjoy the ambiance sadgrl internet manifesto | yesterweb internet manifesto | sadly defunct, still a great resource reclaiming online social spaces | great manifesto on cultivating your online experience

in conclusion

i want everyone to make a neocities site because it's fun af and i love seeing everyone's weird personal sites that they made outside of the control of capitalism :) say hi to me on neocities

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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 5 months

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the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies”#serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited...#i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest.#it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!'#'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members...#..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)'#anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language?#maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value”#and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs)#happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills)#and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on...#...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works?#beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

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o0kawaii0o · 10 days

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ROMANCE DAWN TRIO

#I have been drawing more pre time skip stuff then actual recent stuff of OP #pre time skip really just had this dumb (but fun) energy #ah don't get me wrong tho OP is still very much a joy #in case you were actually wondering - yes sanji gave zoro that keychain as a joke but uwu #working on 1 more silly drawing atm!#one piece #op #roronoa zoro #op nami #luffy #monkey d luffy #o0kawaii0o

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whatawonderart · 8 months

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My Fionna and Cake game theory is that Simon Petrikov becomes Wishmaster so he can be a God of the Cosmos with the love of his life

#adventure time #fionna and cake #simon petrikov #betty grof #golb #prismo #prismo the wishmaster #petrigrof #I have been thinking about these two sorry #just been thinking. what if prismo made a wish for himself #wishmaster simon

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autisticrosewilson · 1 month

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Thinking about the newer bats (Duke, Cass, Steph, Tim) speculating on Jason's age because he looks like a recently divorced 30 y/o but he's younger than Dick, and he acts like a 50 year old man (he still has a Nokia, out of the loop on Internet and pop culture, primarily listens to dad rock), and after they've exhausted all their guesses Dick breezes in, informs them he's like 24, and then leaves.

The bats then have to come to terms with the fact that Jason NINETEEN when he took over the criminal underground.

#literally THE “he should have been at the club”#he should still be at the club actually #technically he is at the club regularly but he owns it so he's in his office the whole time which really defeats the purpose #dc #jason todd

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perfectlyripeclementine · 1 year

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calling my lover "mine" but not in the way that my toothbrush or notebook are mine, mine in the way my neighborhood is mine, and also everybody else's, "mine" like mine to tend to, mine to care for, mine to love. "mine" not like possession but devotion.

#nonbinary love #nblnb yearning #nb4nb #nblnb #wholesomeposting #yearning hours #ive been thinking about how some languages dont have a possessive tense #so you dont say “i have a thing” but rather “a thing is by me”#and like im not usually one for psycho linguistics and like critical thoughts etc etc etc #but i really like the framework of responsibility/commitment rather than ownership #i think about this mostly in terms of ecology #and relation to land #but i also love it as it applies to language shared between lovers #like i LOVE calling them mine or for them to call me theirs #but i'm also nonmonog and that was kinda weird to square for a while #and it clicked one time when i was talking about my neighborhood and i was like well #when i say my neighborhood or my city it's understood i'm not taking it away from anybody else #its understood i just mean the city where i live #so why cant we apply the same to lovers?#mine in the way i want to show up for you again and again #ok #done now

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