I've got the weirdest and worst headcanons for ryoji and minato and I cannot for the life of me share them unless you restrain me or smth.

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

Jewish Genders + Jewish Labor Bund combo flags. Made for my fellow intersex anti-Zionist Bundist Jews.

Original Androgynos, Tumtum, Saris, and Ay'lonit flags can be found here.

Curious about Jewish Bundism? This post breaks it down pretty well here. TL;DR Bundism is an old Jewish labor/socialist movement seeing a resurgence in recent years among anti-Zionist, pro-Palestine, leftwing Jews.

Fuck Zionists and Free Palestine. If you clown on this post you will be blocked.

hi!! i know u talk a lot about aromanticism a lot on here, but i don’t think i’ve ever seen u talk about aromantic anthy. would u mind discussing/elaborating on it or linking to a post where u do because i’m very curious!!

i got a similar ask half a year ago or something ridiculous like that on my main blog, but i’d like to really do justice to my url right now and explain it in more concrete terms.

i will say, it’s important to bear in mind that this reading of anthy’s character is very much informed by my own experiences, and a lot of those experiences are ones im not keen to talk in depth about. but you know. let’s make some nebulous gestures towards ideas of being traumatised, being autistic, struggling to meaningfully connect with others and honestly not really wanting to do such because of how they treat you.

like ive previously said, an aromantic perspective on the world would, i think, really benefit anthy. when youve lived your whole life experiencing violence at the hands of these patriarchal structures, of which romance is absolutely one, it’s kinda like. damn. im uncomfortable buying into those ideas.

anthy also has this lovely line in ep 19 where she says to utena ‘romance either happens or it doesn’t’ and it’s just sooooooo. so very interesting to me, actually, that anthy would say something so black and white about ‘romance’, a topic that anthy knows better than a lot of rgu characters is hopelessly confused and arbitrary and often enabling violence. and utena (fellow aromantic gaybo) says 'yeah, i know, but...'. these simplifications, these elisions. what is and isn't articulated. but what? maybe things are much more complicated than we'd like to think.

anyway enough of that tangent. one thing i as a trans and aromantic person always return to when discussing trans and aromantic readings of characters/texts more broadly is that there's no singular piece of evidence that can really cement these readings as Undeniable. it's like. okay. there's a critique of romance as a patriarchal structure in revolutionary girl utena. there's an ambiguity about anthy's feelings towards characters like utena, where there is clearly a queer connection but it takes shape in unconventional and complex ways. me, i'm aromantic, i see all of these pieces and i go oh well that's because she's an aromantic lesbian. you know, there's plenty of little moments i can evidence but those moments can be used to argue for an alloromantic lesbian anthy too. romance is a very arbitrary thing and i think everyone should take their own approach to it unapologetically. of course, mine is that it's hellish and i want nothing to do with it, but im just one guy. and im okay with that. i feel strongly about this reading and it is personal, and id be dishonest to say otherwise, but i do also find that it's well-evidenced in the text. as one of my lecturers once said, don't worry about authorial intent, it isn't real <3

Hey, I have a question. How do you feel about Ziva being an Israeli military officer now in the year 2023, when a storyline like that would be looked at poorly today? Do you think the show would ever address the Israel/Palestine conflict with regards to Ziva if she ever came back? Me personally, I hate when people refer to Ziva as a zionist because she was an Israeli military officer but I think people forget that a) she was groomed by her father to become that and b) she shows remorse of living that lifestyle in episodes like Berlin and past present and future and c) she cuts ties with Mossad in s7 and is an American agent the rest of the show. It just makes me curious how other people feel about Ziva now compared to in like the early 2000s when this was accepted.

Hi! I appreciate your ask. Looking further into NCIS storylines is always interesting.

I'm the wrong person to answer this question, though. The last time I've remotely debated about politics/history was before the pandemic but I'll say my take on this.

NCIS is/was written/produced by American men afraid of strong topics (such as this) who treated female characters very poorly with storylines they would never follow if they weren't abiding by USA propaganda and let's refer to it as 'trending topics'. I don't think they would address it because the main audience today consists of conflicting targets a) elders who believe in the core of cop shows like these and who would not approve of today's take on world peace/feminism/gay marriage and so on (and unfortunately they are the biggest portion of both the creation team and audience members) and b) younger people who control the trending opinion of 'this is the right thing to do/say because otherwise you'll get canceled'.

I won't label what I approve or disapprove but if Ziva returned today I need to say this would be a very interesting storyline IF they were smart enough to handle it. (They wouldn't. This would never happen). Ziva is centered in peace because she's a good person. I strongly believe she would fight for it, whether returning to Israel, or saying what she thinks, or creating an organization... I think nowadays Ziva wouldn't let a war that's happening in her country just pass on without her doing something. I'm very neutral about this whole she's a zionist x she's military because she's a good person who made mistakes, making her a brilliant character (storytelling-wise). She was a young adult who spent years fighting the battle of 'I must impress my father because it was he who raised me' x 'I need to fight for what is right not what they want to use me for'.

That said, I don't think they would address it. I personally think they won't ever return and if they do talk about Tony & Ziva they would do it very superficially. Accept my take on this with a grain of salt (I'm simply a Brazilian forever angered they didn't treat them right).

Anyway, cheers!

I love that my Apayauq posts are getting traction again! It's always great to see so many of you appreciating transgender people being unapologetically trans in sports.

That being said: Apayauq is on a break from competitive mushing due to the expenses of the sport. I've said this many times, mushing even recreationally is very expensive. You don't make money doing this sport (Apayauq credits her family's polar bear tour business for helping with costs for 2022).

Aside from the average musher's financial struggles, indigenous arctic mushers face inequalities in the very sport that they originated. Lots of this has to do with income and opportunity inequalities that make financing a dog team even more difficult than average. A true shame considering that mushing is a cultural activity. While there are many Alaskan Native organizations fighting for other aspects of equality for their populace, not many focus specifically on dogsledding. Consider supporting the Frank Attla Youth Dog Sled Program (teaching dog care to native children) or if you choose to take a tour in an area where dog sledding is relevant please consider booking that tour with an indigenous musher.

Additionally due to inequalities in medical care it is often more difficult for indigenous transgender people to get the gender affirming care that they need AND transgender Alaskan Natives have been shown to have a startling level of discrimination against them. Consider supporting LGBTQ+ organizations in Alaska such as Choosing our Roots (helps families host LGBTQ+ youth in need), Identity Alaska (youth programs but also has programs about coming out as an elder), and Alaskans Together.

In the meantime I highly suggest supporting Apayauq's other hobbies such as her photography, and polar bear tour business. You can also keep an eye out for her upcoming documentary about Iditarod 2022 in partnership with Zeppelin Zeerip.

while only a minority share this view, i do find it somewhat tone deaf when people claim jay's ending is the best outcome for an abuse survivor -- either directly or indirectly implying everyone in the holt house was an abuser that jay, their sole little victim, had to get away from. for starters, none of his endings are happy ones. not even the fugitive path where he's holed up amongst nature, has a dog, and is bathed in solitude. maybe if you close your ears to what jay's saying during that scene you could see this as good for him, but his dialogue is stifled with an achingly loneliness, a sadness. this idea that he craved being alone in the wilderness is not one jay paints himself, it's only something that's said by tyler ; someone who clearly doesn't understand the younger on any level, much less grasps his desires. yes, jay wanted out, he likes nature, though no human can stew in their own space for years without this affecting them mentally. and that's not even taking into account that his entire life is over! he can't travel, he can't visit other countries or get lost in other areas of wood lands or plains, jay is infinitely stuck where he is. it's not a prison cell but it's a cage nonetheless, as the old saying goes : a golden cage is still a cage, after all. he tells zoe these beautiful sights have grown dull on him, laments about missing his family, vanessa, and is so chained by his want for connection he reaches out to a desert dream victim of all people. like, what about this muted cynicism, this barren home, seems happy? maybe he wanted this, some whimsical dream of this, before. now though? it's not what jay thought it'd be, and he lacks any power to change it. this is not some amazing ending for abuse survivors, it's still sad in a melancholy way, simply because jay is visibly unhappy with said circumstances.

but moving on to this, ah, ‘poor little victim in a lion's den’ narrative ... what? i think a lot of people fail to grasp how complex the holt household is in terms of toxicity and abuse. something that's very common nowadays due to how much people project rather than see what's in front of them. and don't get me wrong! projection is fine, you do you, we all consume and parse through media differently -- but this narrative is, by canon evidence, rather fictional. to be completely blunt, jay is not the only victim stuck in the holt house ?? the abusers have always been bear ( physical abuse, verbal degradation ) and sharon ( passive in the face of her kids' abuse, emotional manipulation ) ... and we are literally told point blank by the story itself and another character that these two favored jay immensely compared to their other children. now i'm obviously not saying that he has not faced trauma, he has! favoritism in a house like this does not shield you from the toxicity, sometimes that favor makes things worse, but he was protected to an extent, in ways tyler and dale were not. those two very clearly faced the brunt of bear's physical abuse ; for each other, for jay, and just overall caught their dad's ire more because they stood up to him. tyler takes a beating, a sight that's not at all new by his grim acceptance of this and the fact he states he's been doing this since young :

so, this is normal for tyler. getting beaten by his dad ( which isn't even mentioning the horror story bear can tell to ash, about how he literally threatened to cut tyler's ear or finger off ) and having his mom overall turn a blind eye to it, even going as far as to dismiss this fighting as childish behavior rather than what it is. and dale? we don't see much of him and bear in general, yet the second he steps up to defend tyler, with something as measly as a shove back, bear wastes zero time in hitting him so hard he's practically out of commission for the rest of the fight. he didn't even think about it, merely swung at dale as hard as possible on instinct alone before tyler hastily stepped up to defend him. what happens when jay tries stopping the fight, though?

both parties grab for him so they can toss him out of the way so he doesn't possibly get hurt. you can speculate bear was only doing this in order to finish his punishment on tyler, he'd deal with jay later whatever, although why not punch him like dale? why, out of all the moves on his belt, does he do the more merciful option? bear, who is nothing if not made of violence and has been molded to respect it? his fist that's raised in the air isn't for jay, since the next frame is jay shoved out of the way and him hitting tyler again ... hell, in dialogue where bear and jay are sitting on their porch, the youngest can even say bear beats on tyler and dale specifically. why not say “you beat on us”? like, the game is heavily implying that while jay is traumatized, there are some methods of abuse he simply did not face. one of them being the physical abuse prominent at home. and no, i'm not counting whatever pranks dale's pulled on jay ( like shooting him six times with a bb gun lmao ) because honestly? that's just older brother behavior, and we know that despite the morbid pranks, he still looked out for jay in the ways that counted. like protecting him from pa and to an extent tyler, something which, again, jay says himself!

back on topic a bit, the notion people seem to have of jay and his family seems overly simplified to me. people just looked at dale being his usual asshole self and went ‘abuser’, people looked at tyler's rather drastic and not usually like himself reactions to a high stress situation and went ‘abuser’, and that's a bit ridiculous to me. can't say i'm shocked! since so many people nowadays just see someone mean to their favorite character and decide woobifying said fave while demonizing their opposing force is exactly what canon intended. as dusk falls couldn't be a game more clear about it's main theme of family and the fact there's no purely good or bad people in this world, two statements that correspond directly to the holt family. are they bad for each other? probably! but that's a different discussion compared to, say, every single soul in that house violently abused poor jay and they should reap the consequences of that. dale and tyler, like their beloved younger brother, are also victims of abusive parents and a toxic home life. in turn, they both show signs of this abuse in ways that aren't entirely sympathetic or easy to swallow, especially when they've been dealing with it longer than jay and have never had their parents' favor the way he did. i see people get angry at tyler for the famous cabin scene, but nobody turns a critical eye to sharon ; who for all intents and purposes is watching this unfold without a care. she never physically stops tyler and her attempts to kill the fight are weak compared to her previously steely commands. and, honestly, the fact that tyler was that stressed about sharon getting on that bike so she can be protected, when she's the most capable out of the three of them, is way more strange than tyler's outburst -- when he's in a high stress situation, his baby brother's dead, and his life as he knows it is over. a life he didn't even have to begin with, since it was stolen due to his abusive upbringing.

whether this excuses what he did or not is entirely up to the player! i personally don't think it does, though i also understand where this is coming from and the game makes it clear this is not usual tyler behavior. throughout other people's views it's hammered into us that tyler has a cool head relatively, is the most sensible and smart out of his brothers. so, no, i do not think he was choking jay out all the time for his misplaced resentment -- i think his obvious disliking came from his stilted interactions with jay, and his lack of bond with him at all. we see in book one two times he reaches out to jay, demanding that he eats ( a minor, small thing to fret and worry about ) as well as panicking when he sees jay away from the rest of them during a shoot out. dale constantly looks out for jay as well, going as far as to take the heat from romero if they get caught and something as small as taking blame for jay's mistake in the barn scene. are his brothers more prone to violence and apathy? sure! yet they clearly love jay regardless. abusive households are not easy and see through. in fact in many cases the different levels of abuse the kids suffer does breed life altering resentment later on, envy that can damage these bonds permanently. honestly the holt family intrigues me deeply because of how well written they were as a unit, the effects of abuse and toxicity subtle and not overt in a ‘psa message’ kinda way. and these horrible relationships and ideals shared do not negate from the even more horrible fact that there is love in this messed up family, even bear clearly loves his sons, but that doesn't make it better. it almost makes it worse, seeing all the good intentions and care. knowing it doesn't excuse what they've done to each other nor does it make them better. they're a picture perfect family of an ugly wound! which is fascinating! i only wish more people saw that wonderfully shown depth rather than this bland and lukewarm take on the holts overall.

jay is a victim, he is traumatized, he deserved to one day spread his wings and put some distance between himself and his family ... but he was not the only one who deserved that ending, and he was not the only victim there. he was merely the only one with easy to parse trauma responses.

Are we not going to talk about how the Pikens need to go through torture in order to become mean? That they are conditioned to become the monsters that the Loric see them as? That their anger may not come from them, but from their captors and years of fear?

Even more important, that they can be reasoned with? And understand which side they want to fight for? Are we not going to talk about how they can (probably) be rehabilitated???

Here's an ask! You're a very entertaining person actually and I'd love to know your thoughts on Life. 🎤

call me a nihilist but I do genuinely think that there is no greater meaning to life and we all just kind of exist. there is no point to anything, not in a Greater Cosmic Sense sort of way, so we can pick and choose what matters and what we put emphasis on. it is so much nicer to say that seeing a cat early in the morning chasing flies in the grass is more important than a failed exam, because in 10 years both of them will matter about the same (so not at all, most likely) and one of them brought joy

I think it was in the Nicomachean Ethics, where Aristotle talked about how "true good" in the world is to find out what you love and to do it with your whole heart, and to learn to do it well, and that will bring you fulfillment and then contribute to a greater whole (which, while pointless in a divine and cosmic sense, is a wonderful thing because people deserve to be happy without a greater reason behind it than happiness itself)

and I think that's what life should be about

so we’re talking adhd!james, eh?

- taking his glasses off when it gets Too Much. it’s the most direct way he can control the amount of input he receives and he makes liberal use of it. doesn’t matter that he’s blind as a bat w/o them; it’s worth the momentary peace and quiet.

- absolutely a chatterbox who jumps around topics frequently. keeping up with him is a Whole Task and u need to train urself before u can become adept at it. also!! james’ mind runs faster than his mouth, sometimes, so he eats syllables in his haste to say everything before the thought leaves his mind. stumbling over words, zoning out midway, flipping letters is super common.

- also! james grew up super pampered and protected, right? his parents always accommodated his quirks and behaviours. never made him feel he should be guilty or ashamed of himself. he’s never faced any criticism/judgement but then he comes to hogwarts. where kids are mean little shits and have no concept of sensitivity or empathy and they make fun of his occasional stutter and his messy clothes/hair and the ink stains on his hands and the peeling skin around his nails and lips and he’s just like,,,,’how do i deal with this what did i do’. his instinct is to internalise this judgement, think it’s him who did something wrong. sometimes he shuts down bc it’s better than trying to understand why he’s being laughed at or made fun of.

- of course, there’s sirius who knows, understands, and loves these parts of him!!! both a j/s universe and not—he’s james’ biggest cheerleader and while there probably aren’t any adhd diagnoses being thrown around the WW, james realised there’s some things about him that are different & can become conscious of those. so, protective sirius. (but like also. i’ve talked ab this multiple times so i’ll stop lol)

- james loves playing with sirius’ hair bc it’s so silky and receptive to experimentation. it also acts as a destressor for him bc the rhythmic, routine movements of parting and combing and braiding give him the time + space to focus on something other than the overstimulation around him. plus, physical contact with sirius in itself is a Thing for him. he knows sirius’ body better than his own at this point. can recognise the curved and muscles by touch alone. it’s enough to slow him down.

- james with a terrible working memory. he basically invented the wizarding version of sticky notes so he’d stop writing all over his assignments and tables and hands (both his and everyone around him). whenever he needs to remember something important, he keeps repeating it to himself under his breath so he doesn’t forget. it’s not uncommon to see a distracted james potter walking from point a to point b, head down, eyes halfway closed, mumbling something like a mantra.

- constantly fidgeting with his wand. twirling it around his fingers; sticking it behind his ear, taking it out, putting it back there. cycle repeats multiple times; bouncing legs and fingers. the whole deal. absolutely cannot stay still. it’s why chaser is so good for him. it requires the most amount of effort and activity. (but at the same time, having a snitch is basically like a wixen fidget toy)

- same with quills, tbh. it’s why ink stains are his dearest friend. he’ll have them over his fingers, clothes, mouth (from chewing on it), ears (bc he keeps tucking them there) and nose (as he keeps rubbing the feathery part over his face)

for the love of god as someone who has studied international humanitarian law for the last 5 years. I BEG of you, naruto fandom, to stop throwing around words like war crimes and genocide like it means nothing. and PLEASE stop directly applying real world standards onto the systems created in the Naruto universe. I'm not saying don't compare them at all, but please recognise that the Naruto universe very much have their own established systems with their own laws and standards that are not a perfect parallel to our world. and it's for this reason that you cannot hold the Naruto universe to the same standards you hold in the real world.

criticism and comparisons are good, absolutely, but recognise that there are different standards, particularly when it comes to morality, that are established in-universe. and finally, PLEASE understand that some of the things you argue in absolutes are things that continue to be debated even in the real world in the first place! some of the standards and morals that you hold the Naruto universe to aren't even fully agreed on in real life. please just recognise all these nuances and differences when you want to make a meta about the Shinobi system by applying real world standards.

keep writing up metas about the Shinobi world and keep comparing it to the real world and critiquing and analysing and dismantling what it is. but please just be a bit more careful and nuanced when you directly critique and interpret naruto using real world standards and logic. it is important to acknowledge that there are different lenses you can view media through, and that our morals and standards just happen to be one lens. it is far more interesting anyway to critique and find fault with the shinobi system through its own logic and by following its own universe's rule.

I’m not usually a fan of mundane modern aus but honestly I think a modern au of tgcf as like idols or streamers or similar kinds of public figures has a lot of potential

So much room to explore parasocial relationships and cancel culture

The strangest thing I see ppl not mention around the argument that the devs would be "hurt" by a boycott of the HP wizard game is the fact that this is a insanely well known IP and there are plenty of ppl out there not online enough to know/care who are going to be buying this game regardless?? There is a zero chance in my eyes this won't make money, it's just too big. The devs are gonna be perfectly fine, ppl are fully within their rights to not buy a game and discuss their reasons why bc the IP creator is garbage 🙄

🔥

I think letting your dog go off-leash in public green spaces and beaches is the moral equivalent of pouring bleaching into a lake full of endangered fish