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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 1 year

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Chapter 105.5 Thoughts: Control, Manipulation and Partnership

Or, how Chuuya is actually the most qualified character to land a victory over Dostoevsky.

I just want to preface this with: I think Chuuya has woken from the brainwashing. We can't see his eyes, he's holding his hat again, and look at the progression of his face and expression from the last few chapters with him (these are in order btw from left to right).

I'm not completely sure how he did this, but I chalk a lot of it up to sheer stubborn determination on Chuuya's part, mostly because it's funny and he was clearly fighting back before Dazai's speech. However, I find it likely the speech did contain some kind of code - others have pointed out how "Goodbye!" might be a reference to the original author's last unfinished book and we know skk's codenames for things generally are based off their real counterparts' works so, maybe he'd already broken out of it, maybe there was something in there that gave him the final push - who knows at this point honestly? Either way, it means Chuuya had the capacity to break out of the vampire curse on his own and that's incredibly funny to me for many reasons but mostly:

Fyodor: "Bold of you to assume Chuuya's ability can't overcome flooding."

Dazai: "Bold of you to assume Chuuya's personality can't overcome brainwashing."

But really, this highlights something interesting here, both in what Chuuya's role is ultimately intended to be in this arc, and in the way Fyodor and Dazai manipulate and value others in very different ways.

I've said it before but it bears repeating: we already know that Fyodor is an excellent long-term planner, while Dazai is effectively able to counter him because Dazai shifts into thinking like his opponent. They're foil characters for a reason; they're both highly intelligent, manipulative, and willing to play the long game for the sake of winning against their opponent.

Thing is, I also stand by the idea that personality-wise, they're not similar at all - and that has serious implications for the people they are connected with. The build-up to the prison escape arc really highlights this. Some examples:

Chapter 46: Fyodor believes that all people are sinful and foolish and that his goal is to remove sin. Dazai believes that all people are sinful and foolish but asks what's so wrong with that.

Chapter 64: They decide to have a "super-happy chit-chat" about their problems. Dazai's solution to Fyodor's issue with his lazy subordinates is to get them to think lazing around is a bad thing so they will put in effort of their own. Fyodor's solution to Dazai being unable to woo the waitress is to isolate her from her job, house and family so that she can only rely on Dazai.

Chapter 77: Fyodor believes god is perfection and harmony, and thus that the people capable of change are the superior ones with most control. Dazai believes god is the accidental and illogical and believes it is the ordinary people who fight and live in that uncertainty who create the greatest change.

So, what's happening here? Fyodor's manipulation is shown to be very exacting and direct. He leaves no room for error and regards people on a hierarchy - God above all, himself as a servant of God's will, and the sinful and foolish humans he has little regard for. Dazai's manipulation involves manipulation of the situation, and is often indirect. It involves people coming to the conclusion he intends for them to on their own. And from his later dialogue with Sigma, we see he doesn't regard the world in that same kind of hierarchy.

Now, look at the way Fyodor picks an item and Dazai picks a person when starting the game. Look at the way Fyodor refers to Chuuya respectfully but brainwashes him entirely and mocks Dazai for not being worthy of "using" his ability. Look at the way Dazai is a complete ass to Chuuya but ultimately lets him make his own choices (begging people to take note of that moment in Stormbringer where Dazai cuts himself off to correct his referring to Corruption as Arahabaki's true power to Chuuya's true power).

So, the actual strength Dazai has over Dostoevsky then, is not really his strength at all, it's the strength of others and their choice and willpower to act in the way they believe is best. It's the only means of getting a leg up on Dostoevsky, otherwise they will continue to go around and around in circles forever.

And Chuuya is the best candidate for finally throwing Fyodor off his game.

Firstly, let's just establish something: no matter how mad he is at Dazai, he's not going to side with Fyodor, not willingly. Fyodor threatened the Mafia in the Cannibalism arc by attacking Mori, first of all. I doubt he's forgiven him for that. Secondly, Fyodor embodies everything Chuuya can't stand about Dazai, at the very least, younger Dazai - the manipulation, the lack of consideration and connection with others, the callousness and lack of regard for life.

Well, perhaps he's not quite as irritating. +1 point for Dostoevsky I guess?

But lastly, it is more advantageous for Chuuya at this point to help fight against Fyodor, especially since most of the Mafia has been vampirized by his organization. Helping the Agency stop the terrorist plot will help the Mafia by extension by undoing that. And we know from Stormbringer that no matter how much Chuuya is personally hurt, he considers taking out the threat to his people a higher priority. Always.

(You could make the argument that he was told whatever Teruko told Atsushi and decided to join, but not only do I find this wildly out of character, but if that was the case then there would've been no reason to brainwash him.)

That said, I don't think this was preemptive "Dazai's master plan #3057", and in fact, I stand by the idea that Dazai had no idea Chuuya was going to be in the prison. It is very, very important to me that for the rest of this arc, no matter what Chuuya does, that his actions are his own. Not Fyodor's, not Dazai's, but his. And not just because I hate that he's being controlled right now and that freedom of choice has always been important for Chuuya.

But because it makes narrative sense.

The vampires are a bit silly, yes, but they represent the way Fyodor and Fukuchi think - humanity will commit atrocities. They cannot be trusted to make their own decisions. They want to make a world that is free by... mind-controlling people so their plans work without a hitch. In short, they choose, on behalf of others, to sacrifice human autonomy for peace. So, if we are going to turn this arc around, we need to have characters breaking out of that control and thinking for themselves, in spite of the uncertainty of the outcome.

We already see this with Atsushi in the last chapter! He finally takes initiative and makes that choice to leave the room when he doesn't exactly know what the right thing to do is. And this is also why I don't think Teruko is wholly convinced by the DoA either - she lets him go. She gives him the freedom to choose what he does with that information.

Another one of the focus characters here is Sigma. Sigma is a guy who has no past, whose humanity is questioned, who keeps being used by organizations for his valuable ability, who has no home but desperately wants one... oh wait. Remind you of anyone's younger self? This could go one of two ways: Chuuya fails to assert his autonomy, leaving Sigma to learn from that failure, or, Chuuya succeeds in asserting his autonomy, leaving Sigma to learn from his success.

I think it, by necessity, has to be the latter. Sigma's at a tipping point right now, and I think seeing someone try to assert their freedom only to fail would damage him greatly. And I think it's a waste of Chuuya's character honestly.

Chuuya needs to assert his autonomy in this arc. Not just for thematic reasons but because I can think of no one else who can effectively break the "super-genius stalemate".

I keep hearing "Dazai knows Chuuya" in response to Fyodor calling their bond shallow, and that is absolutely true! But Chuuya also knows Dazai. Incredibly well. Odasaku knew Dazai's soul, but Chuuya knows Dazai's mind, knows his strategies and ways of thinking without even needing words. What's more, Chuuya has thrown off Dazai before and done what he didn't expect him to.

Which is nifty, because Dazai and Fyodor think a lot alike. Chuuya is in a unique position to thwart Dostoevsky because he may actually be able to predict him to a degree. Chuuya can absolutely land a victory against him, and it's excellent because it would be completely unexpected to Fyodor, who apparently thinks Chuuya's strength lies only in what his ability has to offer and not much else.

But listen. This also can't be skk's plan. I need Chuuya to sideline both of them. Both for the sweet, sweet catharsis of putting those two idiot geniuses in their places and also because I need Dazai to have screwed up. He wasn't wrong about people making their own choices in uncertainty. People need to assert their autonomy to create change. Dazai can't be wrong in this regard.

But with going ahead with the trap to drown Fyodor despite also having to drown Chuuya when he promised not to let him get killed... this needs to have been a mistake, otherwise the value of Dazai's emotional speech to him is diminished.

I want Dazai to try to laugh it off. I want him to say he always knew Chuuya would escape and then for Chuuya to deck him because "no, the fuck you didn't".

I really think Dazai hoped Chuuya would make it. Do remember that Chuuya was one of the first reasons young Dazai decided to try giving life a chance. The fact that he flashbacked to all his key memories with Chuuya says a lot. But his survival was no guarantee and it seemed very unlikely.

So, Chuuya is faced with the fact that Dazai nearly sacrificed him to kill Dostoevsky and save his new Agency friends.

And I hope he finally gets mad. I hope he finally expresses hurt on his own behalf for once. I hope they are forced to break their status quo that they have carefully maintained by not talking about anything ever. I hope they are pushed to uncomfortable places and that it is Chuuya who finally spurs this development.

Let Chuuya break the stalemate between Dazai and Dostoevsky. Let him shatter the status quo that him and Dazai have kept going for year after year.

Autonomous action in the face of uncertainty is necessary for change.

#am i assigning too much narrative importance in the main manga to chuuya? perhaps #will i stop? no #unfortunately this meta doesn't include gogol which is an oversight because he absolutely has to play a role as well #i'm just not quite sure what yet. same as chuuya i suppose #either gogol asserts his autonomy or he... fails. yeah. either he gets dostoevsky killed or... he fails.#i just don't know where he fits in with everyone else is the thing #listen though. it is significant that gogol decided not to play his dying role in the doa's plan though.#gogol is the free spirit of the doa and yet he's closer to sigma and bram in terms of how he is more controlled than controller #anyways sorry this is so long. just my two cents on the matter #bsd #bsd spoilers #bsd chapter 105.5 #bsd chuuya #bsd fyodor #bsd dazai #bsd sigma #bsd meta #i don't even know if this makes sense anymore. here.#storyrambles

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significant-ace-nnoyance · 3 months

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annabeth "my grand plan is that i will be remembered/and someday soon someone will notice me" chase

percy "i swear i swear that im a good kid. all i need is one last chance to prove im good enough for someone" jackson

#the way both songs are about their overall issues and their fatal flaws and their traumas on TOP of also paralleling each other im-#percy only seeing himself as worthy and valuable if hes useful to someone else #annabeth only seeing herself as worthy and valuable if she leaves a legacy to be remembered above all others #but also both of them just wanting to be seen #percy genuinely is a good kid who tries so hard but bc of fundamental institutional issues (neurodivergence / son of poseidon /etc.)#no one besides sally really sees him #and annabeth has been invisible and forgettable to so many people in her life (her mom / dad / stepmom+siblings / athena / thalia / luke)#she has no friends and family who really understand all of her and appreciate ALL of her #enough to stay #enough to not leave her behind once she doesn't serve them anymore #once she doesn't fit into their narrative #EXCEPT FOR PERCY MOTHERFUCKING JACKSON #THEY BOTH WANT TO BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOMEONE TO NOTICE THEM AND TO STICK WITH THEM EVEN WHEN IT GETS HARD #AND THEIR IDEAS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES 'GOOD ENOUGH' RESULT FROM THEIR FATAL FLAWS AND THEIR WORLDVIEWS AND UPBRINGINGS #AND NOW THEYVE FOUND EACH OTHER AND THEY HAVE A SOULMATE WHO WILL LITERALLY NEVER GIVE UP ON THEM #im losing my mind #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy jackon and the olympians #percabeth #pjo #percy series #pjo <3 #pjo musical #the lightning thief #the lightning theif musical

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dodorimo · 4 months

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You know what I'm just going to say it, don’t follow my blog if you’ve dogshit gatekeeping opinions like this lol

#I’m not going to address the blatant biphobia bc there other people better equipped to talk about it #but is it too much to expect people not to take things TOO literally?#I know it’s a meme and all but if you’re going to talk shit at least acknowledge that the word the game uses is beneath not bottom #also are we just going to conveniently ignore everything regarding Hope just because it doesn't fit your narrative...?#I'm having a good experience with the Raphael fandom so I don’t have much to complain on that front #but I want to make my stance crystal clear #dodo speaks

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across-stars · 1 month

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''this is about power, and who is allowed to use it.''

please don't portray the Jedi as oppressive, please don't potray the Jedi as oppressive, please don't...

#not to say I am not excited I really like the aethetic so colourful!#the acolyte #star wars #pro jedi #but then also ''this isn't about good or bad''#that may be fitting in any other universe but the entire point of the dark side/sith is that it corrupts life itself #that doesn't mean it wouldn't be interesting and cool to further explore but the narrative should still firmly portray the Jedi as good imo #maybe I should hold me horses but considering previous interviews...#across-stars.post #not me retruning to tumblr to be salty #i have been in a funk lately anyway so yeah

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gayofthefae · 1 year

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Jopper: You can find love again after being divorced.

Duzie: Love isn’t about social status and the validation of having a partner but rather things like common interests and love of each other’s company.

Stobin: Your “true love” doesn’t have to be a romantic one and you can be entirely fulfilled by a best friend.

Jancy: Love and family does not need to be the focus of your life. You can have those things while still being career driven and oriented.

ElMike: Romantic and platonic love are not hierarchal. Sometimes one relationship is closer and better as friends than as lovers. (similar to Stobin but rather than exchanging a friend for a romantic partner, shifting the nature of one relationship)

Lumax: A loving and supporting relationship is more important than the social disapproval that may come with it. (similar to Duzie but with higher stakes of racist consequences rather than just a lack of societal approval, an active disapproval)

Byler: Queer people are just as deserving of love and romance and do not need to settle for platonic relationships if they want more.

#ship analysis #stranger things #themes #narrative arcs #sorry but 'even bullied kids can eventually find the societally accepted picket fence life' just doesn't fit #there is nothing wrong with that irl but as far as narrative themes go it doesn't fit into this show #the one that does a nature of their relationship shift #which also inherently means stop being toxic antis and saying they shouldn't have any relationship at all #byler #jopper #platonic stobin #platonic elmike #lumax #duzie #dustin x suzie #jancy #character arcs

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fromtheseventhhell · 9 months

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It's a fact that Dany's story is riddled with violence against women of color and that she's the perpetrator in several cases, so mentioning her race is actually necessary (Sansa being white has no bearing on her story because again, she never hurt or killed any woc). Besides burning Mirri, r*ping Irri and torturing the wineseller's daughter, she also slaps Eroeh in the face. She looted one city, destroyed another to gain an army of slaves, took over another one for a trial run at ruling and plans to abandon it to invade and destroy a continent that she (and the thousands of warlords she's bringing with her) has never been to to demand fealty from people who don't want her as their queen. Why don't you at least acknowledge that Dany is written as a villain and that your hatred of Sansa is, by comparison, irrational?

It's ironic that the biggest criticism of how George writes characters of color is that he uses them in service of white characters' arcs and that's exactly what you've decided to do in my inbox. Nothing about liking these characters, wanting to see more of their stories, or wanting better for them. Nothing about wanting to start a conversation about the racism in George's writing. Nope. Just you using these characters of color and their suffering, which you supposedly care about, as props because you feel a "pure", white character is being unfairly hated. I have to laugh. The only "hate" I've given to Sansa is disliking her annoying stans and pointing out how she's written in the books but apparently, that's enough to have you clutching your pearls.

And the thing about racism is that, for Dany to be capable of being racist, it would mean that race HAS to be a factor in their society. That would mean that Sansa, as a white woman, would subsequently benefit from her white identity. Which is why I found that so funny from the first ask you sent. You can't just decide that race is only a factor in a single character's story. I get it though, you haven't actually thought any of this through because your only motivation is to put down Dany and prop up Sansa. This is how I know you don't care at all about racism and you're just copying talking points you've heard instead of thinking for yourself.

#ask #anon #anti sansa stans #/Sansa's race doesn't matter/ but you're claiming that Dany benefits from being white...so which is it?#I just have to laugh cause I know you couldn't care less about Mirri Eroeh or Irri you just want to hate Dany #any and all nuance removed from what actually happened to justify it #but then the fact that Mirri forced an abortion on a 14-year-old bridal slave doesn't exactly fit the narrative huh? :/#or the fact that Irri began touching Dany without her asking or her permission #or that fact that you know Dany herself was sold as payment and a slave up until the end of AGOT #talk about George's writing being racist all you want but if you're only trying to frame it as /Dany bad/ then you just look stupid

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ttpdjo · 1 month

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i mean sure, steve's character growth started with nancy, but that doesn't mean nancy is the only reason. she gave him a reason to take a step back and reflect, but the rest is all him. i think it's necessary to point that out.

#haters be like nancy doesn't love him and fans be like steve is steve bc of nancy.#i mean come on #lets not undermine major character traits to fit it on our narrative #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #stancy

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yeommijeong · 1 year

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I want only this, I want to live a simple life

Mr. Gu & Yeom Mi Jeong My Liberation Notes (2022)

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mechieonu · 5 months

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y'all i mean this w love but mha from the start has been a story examining how villains are also victims of the circumstances their world has imposed on them. why would afo be any different

#bnha spoilers #407 is from AFO'S POV #“he must intrinsically be evil” isn't something the narrative is saying but something THAT HE DEEPLY BELIEVES #his birth killed his mother and weakened his brother and there are people who are hunting them down #his method of empathizing w the world is through the lens of fiction #all these things that are happening to him are bad; therefore he MUST be the villain #if there are roles for him to play then that must be where he fits #this was done for dabi and shiggy and toga #& i love that thematically he is no different from them #i also love the unreliable narrator and the fucked up relationship between him and yoichi #yes yoichi is taken cared of. yes afo abuses him and is possessive of him #idk its just that afo dehumanizes everyone INCLUDING HIMSELF #407 spoilers #bnha 407 #and NO this doesn't excuse what he's done! no villain backstory justifies what they do!#it just EXPLAINS them from their POV

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seaweedstarshine · 1 month

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Thinking about River affectionately calling the Doctor her “madman in a box” only after he's called her his “bespoke psychopath,” and vice versa. They each were called these words by the other before ever using them to describe the other.

Thinking about the way they defy reality for each other. How modern psychiatry elevates objective reality to gatekeep full participation in society, yet they shatter objective reality with love — “I can’t let you die without knowing that you are loved.” and “You are always here to me and I always listen and I can always see you.”

Thinking about “What's the mad fool talking about now?” and how Gallifrey ostracizes those labelled mad, going so far as to see it as failure in children. Thinking about “A child is not a weapon!” “Give us time.” and how Kovarian equates psychopath with weapon as a tool of dehumanization and control.

Thinking about the way the psychiatric-industrial complex inflicts violence upon those who deviate from psychosocial norms. How their relationship was born in violence, but of madness — not madness in a post-Enlightenment framework of opposition to Reason, but madness as radical compassion that doesn’t demand so-called rationality — “Every time you've asked, I have been there.”

Thinking about how neither of them chose “psychopath” or “madman,” but they both own those words as instruments in their own agency.

#words by seaweed #(eleventh) doctor is neurodivergent tag #river song #eleventh doctor #twelfth doctor #antipsychiatry #madpunk #yowzah #doctor who #bc I've seen the discourse on whether river is ‘actually’ a psychopath heres your regular reminder that psychopath is NOT a medical term #it's madman but with a lack-of-empathy slant.#saneism #ableism #reclaimed language #mental health #neuropunk #mad liberation #disclaimer: not a philsopher. can u tell I was a graphic design major w an incidental personal investment in psychotic ppl rights #anyway when I say ‘madness as radical compassion’ I don’t mean that madness creates compassion; but that this position #where participation in modern personhood is violently denied+ autonomy stripped due to weaponizing mental health interests (my river song)#elicits a different framework of compassion— one doesn't have to make sense or ‘fit’ into a convenient Narrative for compassion #the fact that they passing laws to make conservatorships easier to acquire in several states makes me shriek when I think sometimes #so uh tune in next time for me drowning my sorrows in my canon psychotic eleventh doctor evidence posts

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elvhendis · 8 months

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Thinking about how romancing Astarion as a druid is interesting because for one, it has the potential to be the most long lasting relationship Astarion could ever have with anyone due to a druid's long lifespan (and I need him to be happy for as long as possible ok 🥺🥺), but also in terms of roleplaying, since druids love all that is natural and are against all that is unnatural, which, as an undead, is technically what Astarion is; so there's potential for angst and conflict, where Tav may have to change their beliefs about the undead, and slowly learn that they can work together and ultimately even end up sleeping with him lol

#plus I roleplay my Tav as a bit more of a 'rogue' druid anyways so #and Halsin doesn't seem opposed to Astarion so I guess that's not something BG3 took into consideration anyways #I'm also a huge fan of rejecting canon whereever it doesn't fit my own narrative #BUT if you do want to play into those dynamics then I think the potential for interesting conflict is there #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #bg3

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heretherebedork · 2 years

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I am still thinking about Old Fashion Cupcake.

Such an important part of this is that the typical coming-of-age narrative is about being young and free and discovering yourself and in those stories everyone knows who they are by the time they're graduating university. Everyone knows their own shape by the time they head into the working wold, obviously. They have partners, they know their own heart and soul, they know who and what they are and what they want and what life has for store in them and that's when life start, life starts after you discover yourself.

But not in Old Fashon Cupcake.

Instead we're being given the narrative of two adult man, one nearing 40, and the discovery of what it means to be queer and what it means to be different and what it means when the box you've always shaped yourself to fit is the wrong one. The idea that life can happen and you can live and you can still discover yourself.

Nozue has spent a lifetime fitting himself into the box he thinks he should be in, trying to fit into every nook and cranny of 'normal' without any consideration for himself. He has filled out the box and hollowed himself out in the process.

And now he's hitting a time in his life when he's expected to have figured everything out, to be living the life he knows he wants, to be an Adult and a Man and to know what the future holds... but all he sees is swathes and swathes of the same hollow life, the same false box, the same lies he's been trying to make the truth.

Togawa is younger than him but he's accepted that he doesn't fit the box everyone expects him to, he's accepted that he has to make his own shape, find his own place. That he can live life and be himself. And in finding himself, he's learned to see people who don't. And he sees Nozue.

This narrative is so deeply, inherently queer that it is beautiful because it is about the kind of self-discovery journey that comes from a world telling you one thing only to realize that what you want, what you need, who you are, doesn't fit that path. And when you're never offered an alternative that fits you... you take that path and you make the path work.

But when you finally have a chance to see the path that wasn't? To see the path you wanted and needed but were never given... you grab it with both and you run and then you panic because this in unfamiliar and new and that's terrifying.

Nozue is peeking down a path that is everything he's ever dreamt of, freedom and friendship and desserts and a partnership and a chance at more and he is both reveling and he is panicking because he's never felt this before. He's never felt this nameless hope and joy that bubbles up and fills up the hollow parts of himself that he shaped for society.

Being yourself, even in little moments, even in the tiniest things, when you haven't been for so, so long? It's exhilarating. And it's terrifying. The box is comforting when you've contorted yourself so long... stretching is painful and scary even as it relieves and reveals pain you have forgotten about.

#old fashion cupcake #togawa x nozue #bl series #bl drama #jdrama #j-bl #japanese drama #japanese bl #lgbtq narrative #queer narrative #i just love it so much #as someone who basically didn't look my queerness in my eye until after i was thirty #and have spent the past six years slowly figuring things out and realizing what fits and doesn't #it's so important to see older characters explore this #old fashioned cupcake #オールドファッションカップケーキ

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macaiv · 1 month

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Esteban on what it means on being a teammate.

#Esteban does the type of driving/racing people say they want but from a driver they don't want it from #I remember seeing this comment in reddit before and it actually makes a lot of sense #this speaks volumes on how hypocritical the f1 fanbase is in their treatment and opinions on Esteban #He races hard but clean and precise but people are so wrapped up in their bias and made up narratives that they are no longer objective #when they watch him race. It doesn't help also that the f1 media just loves repeating his clashes with his teammates #but without giving proper context on who was actually at fault.#as for the “bad teammate” nonsense...my pinned post says it all #Esteban ain't no pushover and definitely isn't anyones doormat #Esteban essentially debunked the narrative that he doesn't get along with his teammates.#But now watch people spin what he said to fit their narrative.#esteban ocon #eo31

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redysetdare · 22 days

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I always find it interesting that homosexual coded main characters don't really get shipped with every single side character of the opposite gender. And people get told off for shipping lesbian coded characters with men or gay coded characters with women by the rest of the fandom. But it's always aroace coded main characters getting shipped with every single side character that exists. And aroace fans getting told to "not generalise the entire aspec community" and "let people ship whomever they want!! It's just fiction!!!" as if we don't deserve to see characters living happy lives not being in relationships. And my biggest pet peeve is the trope of an aroace coded character "growing up and maturing" by... getting in a romantic/sexual relationship. Really shows what these people think about non-partnering aspec people irl. It's not just about fictional characters but they'll never admit it 🤷

I will say that there are some idiots out there who do ship gay characters with the opposite sex because they believe in people being able to ship whatever they want (which can lead to some disturbing places but I digress) But those kinds of ships do get a lot more push back and the same people who get after people for changing characters from gay to straight do not have the same energy when it happens to aro /aroace characters.

These same people are the ones calling for representation and how we treat characters identities in fiction does reflect how we view those identities in the real world EXCEPT when it comes to aspec characters. Suddenly then it's "fiction doesn't effect reality!!!" there's some double standards happening and it's beyond frustrating that no one seems to even notice and get mad at us for pointing it out.

Not to mention it's incredibly funny to hear them cry "Don't generalize the community" while they generalize the community by acting like every aro/ace/aroace person can date and have sex - which like you said ignored the existence of non-partnering identities and I'd like to add it also erases repulsed identities.

None of these people actually care about the aspecs who date or have sex. they don't actually care how those identities work or those experiences at all. they're using them as a get out of jail free card. a loop hole. a "I can't be homophobic because I have a gay best friend" card. They don't care about QPRs and how those relationships can be experience in wildly different ways. All they care about is if they get to have two characters kiss without having to genuinely look at themselves and their biases and possibly have the revelation that they might hold bigoted beliefs about aspec people.

And at this point I'd rather them admit that they don't actually care about aspec identities or experiences instead of tying themselves into knots to try and prove "I'm not aphobic!!!!" because they actively tried to find a loop hole to make it so that they could feel superior and in the right for being able to erase an entire identity of people.

#asks #aro #ace #aromantic #asexual #aroace #like it becomes incredibly obvious when the same people who claim not liking female characters #can reflect real like misogynistic views on women are the same people #who are saying that “it's just fiction it doesn't hurt anyone” when it comes to shipping aroace/aro characters #like okay so do how people treat fictional characters reflective of beliefs they have in the real world or not #What makes the treatment of one identity in fiction reflective of reality and the treatment of another identity 'just fiction'. quickly.#at what point is it 'just fiction that doesn't hurt anyone' and at what point is it 'fiction hurts real people'. quickly #and I've already made a post about how people can only interact with media through shipping and how that's caused a decrease #in media literacy and critical thinking in general because people are viewing media through an incredibly narrow view #and warping or ignoring the main message of the media in favor of a romantic narrative that doesn't exist #and i could say more about how that makes people ignore aspec coding and subtext of characters and stories #but these tags are long as is and so is this post #in the end it's all just amatonormative allonormative aphobic bullshittery #and i'm incredibly tired of it #long post #long post with equally long tags #i have a lot of subthoughts that i dont wanna try and fit in the main post #might make more posts about these thoughts. probably will. no one can shut me up.

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