#there are interesting points to be made but can these women have their own identities and motivations outside of him sometimes?
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Spn fandom Bechdel test challenge, talk about an spn woman without mentioning Dean
#supernatural#spn#spn fandom#spn women#women of spn#spn ladies#I love the guy but come on#it's bad enough that they're doomed by the narrative and fridged but they can hardly exist in fandom spaces without#being compared and contrasted to Dean in some way#there are interesting points to be made but can these women have their own identities and motivations outside of him sometimes?#the show treated some of them as accessories to Dean's story and that's all they are in fandom sometimes#they're just used to teach you something about Dean to reflect Dean to want to be Dean#and once the point is made they're not talked about again at least not individually
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Reclaiming "Female" Through Therianthropy
This is my submission for the "My Gender is Not Human" zine. Here, I discuss how I realized I was not transgender because of my therianthropy and I hope that maybe someone else may relate and understand themselves in a new way. ♡
If you want to wait to read this until the Zine is released, then do not continue past the "keep reading" portion. Otherwise, enjoy!
PS: If this interests you, I'd strongly advise playing Shelter 2 (where I got the photo below from) as it relates a lot to my own experience.
CW: Body issues, misogyny
Can you imagine the scent of the velvet fuzz of a newborn animal? The experience of a dark den now filled with new life, life that hasn't even opened its eyes yet to the winter world just outside? Can you imagine the tiredness yet sheer love and comfort of having your children welcomed into the world, witnessed only by you and the Earth’s soil?
It's something I often dream of, and it's that very experience that made me realize that I am not transgender. It's funny because in this community, it feels as though the majority of individuals here are transgender and that experience ties closely into their nonhumanity. For me, the opposite occurred. I had a top surgery letter in my hand after years of feeling “not quite right” in my body or in how people perceived me. I had every reason to feel this way and to want this, even if it felt imperfect. Looking back, I remember how I got to this point.
“Be skinnier any way you can, it’ll make you prettier” they’d say as they, themselves, were ironically obese and I loved them no less for it.
“Grow your hair long and change your clothes, you’ll look more like a lady.” A projection rooted in the ideals of someone who reads far too much Jane Austen.
“Women should be subservient and provide endlessly, or they’re selfish.”
Dread set in every time I filled someone’s coffee or plate of food due to expectation or demand and not out of love and kindness. Everytime the topic of how I looked in a dress or how my hair wasn’t as long as someone else wanted. The disappointment of my family when they learned I had dated other women in the past and their relief when I dated one man. The eyerolls and my teacher’s discouragement when I expressed an interest in physics or chemistry. Even my finance degree was achieved through apparent luck despite graduating top of my class. Every “right” I accomplished was met with a “wrong” in some new category. The very things that made men impressive made me disobedient. I starved myself to look a little nicer to strangers, cried in bed after being talked down to at work, slept away all of my sorrows in a curled up ball. Humanity didn’t take kindly to me.
It frustrated me, and combined with my general lack of identity at the time along with diagnosed CPTSD, it was easy to relate to the plight that transgender individuals experienced. Surely that had to be me, but the label and being perceived as something besides female never clicked entirely. I figured that I may just have mild gender dysphoria instead, but for the first time, I really deep dived into what it meant to identify as a gender as everyone was needing urgent, permanent decisions to be made on my end. Around this time, I took on my first mammal label which was a feline. Ironically, cats are often the first animals to be associated with femininity and to be mistreated because of it.
I wanted motherhood, but I wanted my own kittens to rear more than I felt like I wanted to raise a human infant after spending time in a daycare and at a cat shelter. I didn’t want my breasts, but not because I wasn’t a girl, that’s just how other animals are. Perfume was a method to mark the rooms I had been in, not for elegance. I still felt so female, yet I didn’t see another way out besides transitioning until it occurred to me: what if I didn’t have to be a “woman”, and instead, I could simply be female the way animals are female?
There were so many women like me such as in Brave, Princess Mononoke, Poor Things, or Wolf Children. The women who strayed from polite society to walk their own paths and stuck to their own desires. Even my own cat was female and yet held her chin so high and demanded when she would or would not be held. This realization was the first time I found myself feeling feral freedom and uninhibited beauty in the way I was. I was going to be the woman that rolls in the dirt, who is unapologetically beautiful in her own way, who chases after whatever her wild heart desires. I am not transgender, but I am not entirely a woman. I am an animal, and I am female in all of its unbridled ways.
Shedding my domestic cat label, I have taken up the title of bobcat. With it, I swear on my name that I will bite the hand of any who wish to tame or domesticate me ever again. I have been released out of the crate and back into the wilderness where I belong, and I shall never look back down the mountain. I feel the moss beneath my paws, the cold breeze kissing my nose, the smell of rain soaked woods and wildflowers. Ravens cry as I run on four legs towards the peak, released at last from the grips of mankind. I feel the warmth of a life suddenly worth living, growing along with the hair I now reclaim as my own fur without shame or expectation. I am home at the summit of my own world.
My spirit runs wild, and she is female.
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why is headless women art bad? i can see why it's seen as objectifying but why is it such a big deal to make art out of the female form? (sorry if i sound agressive this is a genuine question)
Hi anon! You certainly don’t sound aggressive - I’m actually very grateful for the opportunity to collate my current thoughts in one place, so thank you for the prompt. I’m going to try my hardest to keep this short.
For any women who haven’t seen posts on this topic previously, some examples of the ‘headless women art’ trend I’ve been talking about for a while now are below. They’re often missing their limbs, at various points of amputation, as well as all or part of their heads (if she has her eyes, I generally don’t count it). Sometimes their heads have been ‘replaced’ with other objects, typically plants or mushrooms, though I wouldn’t count a woman with an animal or bird’s head. They’re often naked.
So, per Anon’s question, why is it a ‘big deal’?
I mean, really, it’s not. It’s an absolutely minuscule deal - it’s as dwarfed by the issues of the sex industry, femicide, and systemic sex inequality, as we are by the Sun. And yet, much as our bodies are made of particles formed in dying stars, I see elements of the large within the small… ok, I’m not getting poetic.
It’s not a big deal, and I don’t necessarily think it’s wholly terrible either, which is why in my analysis posts on the topic I try to ask questions more than criticise, and criticise gently when I do so. What it comes down to is that I spotted a pattern, and wanted to acknowledge that pattern, think about it, and ask other women for their thoughts on it.
With that said, there are certain things that I question particularly, and have seen other women question, which I’ll list:
Remove her legs and she can’t run, remove her arms and she can’t fight, remove her mouth and she can’t shout, and remove her eyes and she can’t look back at you. You totally disempower her when you remove almost every body part capable of action.
By removing her head you also remove her brain (her personality and internal identity), and her face (her visible external identity). By anonymising her you strip her of her individuality, and depict all female people as a result - so what message are you sending about all female people with your depiction of us, naked and dismembered?
A (living) woman’s neutral existence requires her to have her head. By removing it, you are making an active choice to step away from the neutral (and it’s on you to defend that choice), and you are also by necessity depicting a dead woman. You ask about ‘art out of the female form’ - the living female form has a head. Why remove it?
The simplest test of whether something might be sexist, is to see whether it applies to men and women equally. Are (straight) men decorating their homes with ‘bits’ of male bodies? Do men in general feel conscious enough of, yet alienated enough from, the appearance of their bodies that they seek out their representation, sans heads, to reflect back at them? Why not, if women are? Would it be strange if they did?
As a follow up, since many of these pieces are made by women (often straight women), are (straight) men often focusing their artistic output on depicting ‘bits’ of male bodies? Do men regularly choose to create art intended to depict the ‘beauty’ of the male form? If not, why not?
You mention objectification - what links are there between objectification and violence? Could self-objectification be used to normalise violence against the self, or even excuse it? What about violence against others who are like the self (ie violence against other women)?
As I say, I’m not necessarily saying this artistic trend is exclusively a bad one, or that people/women in particular shouldn’t be decorating their homes however they please. It’s just something I’ve noted and found interesting, and like many apparently free choices, I think feminist women have a responsibility to interrogate their own and others’ motivations.
This is a hasty overview, and I’ve probably missed things - I’ll reblog with additions if I think of any, but you can also see my previous posts on this topic, and other women’s contributions, under my “Headless Women Art” tag. Thanks again for the question!
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How a Modern Perspective Skews Historical Characters: A Mini Rant on the Hatred of Female Characters in RDR2
This isn't that organized cuz it's more a rant than a retrospective but fuck it it's my blog, I do what I want-
There are so many people who have actual hatred, not criticisms, for Abigail, Molly, Grimshaw, Mary, and other female characters in the Red Dead universe.
And honestly? I find it very interesting. Sure, men will probably always find a reason to hate a female character, but what I find interesting is how many women also hate these wonderfully crafted characters.
It could be so many reasons as to why this may be the case but honestly? I think it's because people forget that they CANNOT analyze this game authentically through the modern lens of morals and behaviors. This game takes place in 1899 America. Let me say it again. This game takes place in 1899 America.
One more time, just for good measure- this game takes place in FUCKING 1899 America. Women had to be dependent on men because otherwise? They'll either be in poverty, exploited, killed, or all three. There was also the honor system. When had to be the moral high ground for their family so them messing up has consequences on their fathers, mothers, siblings, cousins, and anyone connected to their family name.
Abigail getting pissy at John for getting in trouble all the time? If course it'd feel annoying if you're looking at it through the modern perspective but when you don't, it's a woman telling her man to act like a man and be careful because if he doesn't, she and her son will be destitute and destroyed.
Mary not getting with Arthur but using him? What's the likely hood that the law would bother to help Mary when the two people she needs help with are her father and brother- two grown men who can make their own choices that she literally can do nothing about because as a woman, it wasn't her place to dictate what they do. Arthur was her only option. "Girl, what her family thinks doesn't matter, she still should've gotten with him" girl no, because it's much harder and difficult than that- it's like tearing away an entire identity that you depend on to fucking survive.
"but what about Sadie? She was also living during this time period and she isn't drowned by societal expectations-"
Seriously. Do some research, read a book, expand your knowledge of gender roles and what that entails for people because it explains so many things about these characters in such a human way. They aren't "bitches", they are women of their time and people have to understand that.
No. Sadie isn't a part of this discussion because though she is a fun character and an amazing character, she is a mishmash of historical women who did masculine things to survive at one point but then went back to traditional roles, even if they did occasionally go back to to those old activities for sport sometimes, like Anne Oakley or Calamity Jane. Sadie's entire character is basically "but what if they didn't and committed to the nontraditional lifestyle". There are many inconsistencies that Rockstar did regarding the time period that they established earlier to accommodate Sadie's character better. Sadie is a great character but she doesn't belong in this discussion.
Edit: Ok, since this was a rant, as mentioned previously, I was a bit too rushed with the Sadie aspect of this post and ignored some crucial details. I'm not gonna change the post besides just this though. @hillbillyhipster84 made some great points that Sadie was a reference to Appalachian women and real outlaw women who did run and were accomplices in men's crimes, that I was too ignorant to mention prior beforehand because I didn't do much research. I still don't believe that People should use Sadie to bash the other women though, because those women mentioned above were not the status quo and thus were more trivialized because of it.
So many cultures still operate like this too so if anything, you're just learning something new about another culture.
But I swear, anytime someone talks shit about these characters, y'all got me looking like this-
#rdr2#red dead redemption 2#abigail marston#mary linton#susan grimshaw#molly o'shea#arthur morgan#rant post#historical#guys should i do a full post analyzing all the girlies from a historical period to better understand their character?
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Historically Accurate Polyamory and ATLA?
One thing that's inexplicably on my mind right now is that East Asian royal families were generally historically polygamous, so if you wanted to have Azula or Zuko or King Kuei or some other Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom royal or noble take multiple partners, that would actually be reasonably historically accurate. It seems like the Fire Nation royalty has avoided polygamy in recent decades (or you would expect the royal family to be much, much bigger), but isn't the point at the end of the series that they are supposed to return to old ways?
Interestingly, some of this applies to the Water Tribes as well. Although I don't know nearly as much about this subject as I know about East Asian royalty and I don't want to say anything too confidentially, I know some Inuit groups sometimes practiced polygamy. I also know that some groups sometimes practiced "spouse exchanges" where two couples would temporarily exchange spouses in order to create fictive kinship between them. Although the SWT is not identical to historical Inuit groups and the NWT in particular seems very, very different with it's city and state, I think you could definitely justify polyamory being in the tradition of both Water Tribes.
While the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Water Tribes might have traditions of polygyny (where one man marries multiple women), the Air Nomads might have a very different traditions. They are inspired at least in part by Tibetan Buddhism, and Tibet has it's own traditions of plural marriage. Historically, the most common type was fraternal polyandry, in which two or more brothers would take the same wife. However, apparently polygyny, conjoint marriages, and of course monogamous marriages were also historically acceptable in Tibetan society. Of course, there were specific economic reasons why fraternal polyandry made sense in Tibet, which might not apply to the Air Nomads and we really don't get a sense of how their marriages and family life might look like, but it's another reminder not to force their culture into "Western marriage norms, circa 2007."
With all the various forms of plural marriage that would theoretically be culturally appropriate, I think you can culturally justify just about any form of polyamory you are interested in writing.
#ATLA#avatar the last airbender#polyamory#ATLA meta#Fire Nation#Earth Kingdom#Air Nomads#Southern Water Tribe#Northern Water Tribe#chinese culture#polygamy#polygyny#polyandry#Zuko#Azula#Mai#Ty Lee#Katara#Sokka#Hakoda#Kya#Bato#Yue#Princess Yue#King Kuei#Toph#maybe?#Aang#air nomad
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I got a bunch of questions concerning this AU Sukuna of mine. They inspired a lot of thoughts.
Please remember that my view is just my own subjective opinion. It is clouded by my unhealthy affection towards him, and it is developed based on my own bias and unprofessional analysis of him.
Let me go one by one.
1) Occupation
He is either a mafia boss or just a good old CEO. In my opinion, one does not need to be in the underworld to be the devil he is. (I actually find it attractive if somebody "makes it" in legal ways. Seems much harder.)
On the other hand, I see parallels between yakuza and the historical/mythical figure of Ryomen Sukuna (being a folk hero and anti-government), so I think being an oyabun kinda suits him (or maybe someone lower-ranked, he seems a bit young, but who knows when it comes to him...)
Note: yes I'm aware that Gege specified that he is not identical to the mythical figure, but those stories line up with the background I imagine for him, the background that contributed to him turning out like this. That is an entirely different analysis though...
2) His thoughts? Hobbies?
He probably suffers/suffered from every drawback of a dysfunctional family or growing up in an orphanage, including but not exclusive to trust issues, attachment issues and self-control issues (alcohol, drug, women), etc. However, he got these setbacks under his control. He had nothing so he wants and gets everything, he had no one so now he wants and gets everyone but never keeps anyone close by for too long (unless they are useful in a professional environment).
He is a very active and competitive person. He is a workaholic, he made it to the top at a relatively young age. He ruthlessly used everything and everyone at his disposal and reached all of his goals. He ended up lonely at the top, which, on one hand, is the essence of his nature and source of his ego and pride, and it is also how he feels comfortable, utterly detached from the good will of anyone. On the other hand, it's probably very lonely. Of course he also rationalised this and swept it under the rug. It turned him bitter, quite a nihilist and even more selfish. He very likely prioritises low-effort relationships in his personal life, unwilling to create attachment to anything other than himself.
His hobbies may include
culinary pleasures (as canon)
mastering new skills, such as languages, shooting, cooking, etc
he enjoys pushing his own boundaries in gym/sport (probably everything else too)
he also enjoys fine and expensive things in life, like cigars, wine, etc
He needs constant mental stimulation to stay content.
3) Deformities
Option A:
He is just a human. He has only 4 limbs. He lost his right eye (and his right cheek?) in a fight or accident.
Option B:
Reincarnated demon lord fitting into society. I think he can morph his own body at will. He is hiding his deformed face that is also a source of some secret abilities.
4) His type?
If the question concerns his type in partners...
Option 1: Toys.
Anything goes. I think he likes people he can get rid of without much problem. Probably someone who doesn't need too much mental investment. Just make them have an interesting quirk that piques his curiosity, and easy to deal with. One thing though: I believe he is always 100% honest about his intentions. He never needs to lie and manipulate someone into any kind of relationship with him.
Option 2: Partner.
He probably doesn't believe this person exists, as he is used to being alone and never experienced devotion and care. He automatically treats everyone as a toy, that's all he knows how to do, that is what is comfortable for him.
The problems start when he discovers emotional attachment to somebody. It probably stresses him out greatly, he doesn't know how to deal with it. It infuriates him and it takes a toll on his confidence and usually calm demeanor. Probably to a point till he behaves aggressive even towards the subject of his affection, unintentionally hurting her. It probably takes a lot of patience on both sides to get through this. It's possible he would try to treat her even more harshly than everyone else, to punish her for causing him such misery, hoping that she would abandon him - because he cannot abandon her.
This person is someone who can challenge him mentally. Somebody who is not identical to him, but he sees her as his equal, somebody who shares similar views and values but can broaden his horizons. She is intelligent, a free spirit willing to obey only him, mysterious but also honest, reserved and opens up only to him to reveal an endless treasury of new experiences. She is somebody who can challenge his authority and forces him to step up his game, but is also able to admit defeat and happy to submit. Power play is fine, but at the end of the day, it's him on top, always. Most importantly though, she is loyal and naturally reciprocates his efforts (if they ever reach that stage).
As far as physical traits go... (...was this what you really wanted to know and I was babbling about her character?)
I think he likes it when a woman takes care of herself, but doesn't like them "fake". I also think he likes long hair and feminine characteristics (typical beauty standards of the Heian period). I think he admires natural beauty and can be fascinated by many different features though.
5) Colors
complexion: slightly darker (not super fair like Gojo's skintone) Google says it's "medium beige" but it sounds weird, haha
eyes: red
hair: I use a darker shade than the official true form art, resulting in a pale mahogany color
Here you go, @rosemaydone321 ! Sorry, it got long.... Hope this is what you meant with the questions. Thank you!
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historical revisionism of second-wave feminism
I'm wondering where this idea that "second-wave feminism" didn't bring up race came from. It seems to be conflating liberal feminism, starting with Betty Friedan's "The Feminist Mystique", for the entire movement. But "second-wave feminism" refers to an entire era of feminist organizing, including lesbian feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminist, and numerous Black feminist works with multiple intersections. Why should Friedan and NOW's 'liberal feminism' be the representative of an entire era of feminist writing? What do we have to gain from pretending that there were no Black feminist writers during the second wave?
The US women's movement has always had ties to anti-racist movements like abolitionism and the civil rights movement, as well as the New Left and socialist/anti-war movements. White feminists tried to include racial analysis in their books - to mixed effect, e.g. Susan Brownmiller's book "Against Our Will" proved to be contentious for its treatment of interracial rape of Black men against white women (example).
It feels like there's been a wave of historical revisionism to make the second-wave seem more limited and single-issue focused than it really was, in order to make "third-wave" feminism seem novel, exciting, and necessary. It's resulted in a whole generation of feminist writers and cultural critics who don't read or quote or engage with the feminist works of the second wave. They are dismissed out of hand as irrelevant or limited. It feels like another way to say "stop paying attention to women's history, just believe me when I say the first and second waves were irrevocably damaged and that the third wave is the only way to go."
I think this article does a good job of capturing one of the reasons why an interracial feminism failed to form, which is that white women assumed Black women also wanted an interracial feminism, when many Black women, especially at the start of the movement, were not interested in solidarity with white women. The fantasy of a racially integrated society was often much more important to white organizers than to Black organizers, who may have instead wanted Black self-determination. I disagree with some of the points of the article (can elaborate if anyone is interested) but I recommend reading it anyway for a retrospective on why white attempts to reach out to Black women failed - white feminists did attempt to reach out, but failed to focus on issues that were relevant to Black women, failed or were offensive in their racial analysis, and failed to understand the importance of racial solidarity for Black women.
Correcting the record on the racism and failures of white feminists in the second-wave is necessary work to building a strong movement. But there's a difference between correcting the record and pretending that white feminists didn't try to talk about race at all. They did! They were participants of anti-racist movements! But they failed to understand their own racism. They failed to understand the complex dynamics between white men, white women, Black men, and Black women. They failed to focus on issues that resonated with Black women. They were failures of bad attempts, not that no attempt was ever made... and that's the part I find weird.
The idea that there was no racial analysis made during the second wave, by white women or Black women, flattens a complex history. Like fun fact - the Combahee River Collective Statement which is the foundation of intersectional feminism and third wave identity politics? Is a second wave text! It was published in 1977, in the late era of second wave activism in the US!
I have more to say later, but for the moment, I'd like to present you with some examples of second-wave feminist texts written by Black women. Read them, and avail yourself of another myth - that there is One Black Feminism. Black Feminists have always had internal disagreements, which frightens white feminists, because white feminists want to know The Correct Answer On Race. I highly recommend reading these (and modern Black feminist texts too!) to understand the situation Black feminists faced in the 60s and 70s. All of these texts were published between 1960 and 1980. They are all essays or excerpts - links provided where possible.
Black Women’s Liberation group of Mt. Vernon, New York - Statement on Birth Control
Mary Ann Weathers - An argument for Black Women’s Liberation as Revolutionary Force (https://caringlabor.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/mary-ann-weathers-an-argument-for-black-womens-liberation-as-a-revolutionary-force/)
Frances M. Beal - Double Jeopardy: to be Black and Female
Doris Wright - Angry Notes from a Black Feminist (https://yu.instructure.com/courses/49421/files/1918241/download?wrap=1)
Margaret Sloan: Black and Blacklesbian
Alice Walker - In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
Angela Davis: Joan Little: The Dialectics of Rape (https://overthrowpalacehome.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/ms.-magazine-from-the-archives.pdf)
Michele Wallace: A Black Feminist’s Search for Sisterhood (https://www.amistadresource.org/documents/document_09_03_010_wallace.pdf)
The Combahee River Collective (https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/combahee-river-collective-statement-1977/)
Barbara Smith - Racism and Women’s Studies (https://hamtramckfreeschool.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/smith-barbara-racism-and-womens-studies.pdf)
#feminism#second wave feminism#feminist history#women's history#mypost#radical feminism#feedback welcome
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Coptic Women's Headpieces: padded headbands and Palmyran strips
Neither of these have much (...in the first case, any) information out there to make their own post about, but they're both interesting.
The first are these padded headpieces. In the past I'd only seen the one made of leather with flowers on it in the V&A, which notes its possible usage. However it was only until recently when I began poking around on the French internet when I found more, and better yet, an undeniable depiction of a woman wearing the headpiece. Before this I'd seen some depictions that may be the headpiece being worn, but usually seem much flatter than these were made to be or like they're a more standard gold diadem.
In addition to this, there are a few depictions of Coptic figures wearing these flower bud/petal crowns (more popular in the earlier part of Roman Egyptian art history), which makes me wonder if these were ever used as a base for those.
It's also possible this was out under the turbans worn by women in Coptic art. An example of a bust from Byzantine exists of a woman wearing a turban from Constantinople, and when viewed from the side it can be seen that the volume at the front of her headdress terminates in points near the nape of her neck/her ears. However, this bust also lacks the volume one would expect from the examples if a roll like the extant examples was used.
The other piece is one I noticed before, and isn't specific to Egypt, or originated from there. It seems to have come from Palmyra, and is fairly common in the funeral busts we have from there.
These are small plaques of metal and gems, typically with a few small beads dangling over the forehead. Currently it's supposed that they were attached to a woman's bun in some way.
Here's a Roman-era Greek bust and a Roman- era Tunisian example.
Heres some Roman-Egyptian portraits with similar head jewelry. So far, I haven't found a definitive later Coptic depiction of one being worn, but I don't think that means they stopped being worn before Christianization. It's possibly just a matter of what art has survived and what I've personally seen. Generally, Coptic jewelry is similar to the jewelry from earlier Roman-Egyptian examples, with some more unique examples and examples that were inspired by later trends in the Byzantine Empire.
One of the possible Coptic examples is from the tomb of Theodosea (full disclosure: Theodosea herself was Greek Christian living Egypt, not a Copt in the sense we mean it now, but she's dressed in a way generally common in Egypt at the time. I use "possible Coptic example" here to indicate the contemporary cultural majority of Egypt, which is distinct from the pre-Christian cultural identity of native Egyptians). Theodosea here is identified by Engy Hanna as wearing some type of golden hairnet, with a green pendant with 3 hanging pearls and two strings of hanging beads attached. Because of her palla, it's impossible to tell if she has only one medallion attached to her hairnet or if this is a strip. The overall composition of elements (a cover over the hair, the two strands, center ornament, and a shawl over top the head) are very similar to Palmyran headdresses, though she doesn't wear a turban or the patterned fillet they do.
Recently, I found a bust on an auction site labeled "Roman, probably made in Egypt" from the 1st century, with this ornament but made of a more pliable material- probably fabric. And another on the same site, maybe Egyptian (the information mentions both the terms Gandhara and Greco-Egyptian), with the more typical jeweled look, 2nd-3rd century (which is more into the swing of Christianization in Egypt).
The last aside is another jewelry piece resembling that of Palmyra, though less so: a kind of circlet that appears to be made of chain with a center pendant. The star pendant worn by the second woman also notably resembles the pin holding the strip to the Greek girl's updo. The hanging strands of Theodosea are more blatant, but it's possible these were elaboration on the fashion. This style of jeweled forehead circlet, unlike the headband and strip (I have seen art of Syrian and Egyptian women with a strip, as well as Nubian art of women with a fillet/circlet and a center strip. The latter seems to be a more widely used item than the former two, which I have only seen one depiction each of so far), has remained consistently popular in West Asia and North Africa. Additionally the padded band worn by one of the Palmyran women featured here could be a related item to the padded headband; to know one would have to see the back of her head or find an artifact connecting the two. Even if a relationship can be proven between the Byzantine, Palmyran, and Coptic padded fillets, there is no clear indication of where it originated.
*I am a Copt, and if you are not, do not tag this post talking about "recreations". I find that offensive given the actions taken by Albert Gayet in regard to the clothes he took from graves. It is a simple boundary and you will not "enlighten" me to see how it's fine.*
Sources/Further reading:
https://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/femme-assise_terre-cuite_polychromie-technique
https://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/bourrelet-de-coiffure-postiches_laine-textile
https://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/bourrelet-de-manteau_laine-textile
https://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/bourrelet-de-mantelet_laine-textile_textile-matiere_lin-fibre | sources for 3 of the padded fillets and the figurine
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O353014/pair-of-fillets-unknown/
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468716 | the marble bust
https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1969_num_93_2_4903 | in German, has photos of carvings with the hair ornament
https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/ancient-marbles-classical-sculpture-art-l16260/lot.59.html | carving of the short haired child
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/ancient-sculpture-and-works-of-art/a-roman-marble-portrait-head-of-a-girl-circa-2nd | carving of a girl with a jeweled strip, may be Egypt as the notes say an image of it was published in a work on Greco-Egyptian art and the girl has an "Isis lock" hairstyle
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4241695 | overview of Palmyran jewelry
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1903-0717-3 | Tunisian example of strip
https://www.livius.org/pictures/greece/thessaloniki/thessaloniki-museum-pieces/thessaloniki-portrait-of-a-girl/
https://womenofegyptmag.com/2020/02/11/what-coptic-artefacts-tell-us-about-women-in-ancient-egypt-part-one/
#Coptic art#Coptic culture#Late Antiquity#Late Antique Egypt#Masr#Copt#Actually Egyptian tag#Cipher talk
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someone on twitter made a succession incest supercut and i was wondering if you had any thoughts on how articulations of incest shape the roys esp wrt roman. the op of that also remarked on how succession plays into the incestuous dimensions of aristocratic nobility which i thought was interesting.
yeah i wrote a bit about roman and incest specifically here. tl;dr: he has a negative oedipus complex, ie subconscious desire for the father, which is part of the show's overall suggestion that the structure of the family (because it is embedded within the structure of capitalism) inherently creates this type of desire and therefore also enables certain forms of abuse and violence. ie, roman's attraction to father figures, resulting from his unconscious desire for his own father, is not an aberration from the 'typical' functioning of the family, but a heightened expression of the parent-child relationship as it normatively exists. logan's possessiveness over roman's sexual desires and disgust at his body and effeminacy; roman's attraction to women his father finds attractive; the way logan tacitly relies on roman's flirtatiousness when sending him as an emissary to various powerful businessmen; roman's desire for gerri to repeat the sorts of insults his father uses against him in their sexual encounters, and roman eventually firing her when she can't look him in the eye and tell him he's as good as logan was: in all of these we can see how the patriarchal father is a role inherently defined by possession of the wife and children, stymieing the child's sense of identity and ability to differentiate himself from the parent.
in the case of logan and roman, of course, these dynamics are elevated, because this is tv and the writers are using their relationship to draw out the elements of violence and coercion that the father role inherently rests on; also, because logan uses his outrageous wealth and social power as tools against his children, as the other half of the critique here is in pointing out that the capitalist family is an economic arrangement first. logan's children have always existed to be employees, and on a broader level, reproduction is what capitalism uses the family for: it's the site at which a supply of new and able workers is to be ensured. so, the incestuous desires roman has for logan, and the way logan controls him and treats him as a combination of son-daughter-wife, is meant to tease out the way in which these elements are inherently always present in the family. there's no break here between the roys and 'normal' families; there's only a difference of intensity and degree of overtness.
similar analyses can and should be made for the other roy children. shiv and kendall have a patricidal drive that roman does not, and they both desire affection from caroline; roman, on the other hand, identifies with the wife role more, and thus has a degree of conviviality with caroline that shiv and kendall have never had access to. but there are incestuous elements to their relationships with logan as well, partly because in the show's discursive field, killing is always equivalent to fucking is always equivalent to succeeding, and partly through the degree of control and coercion that logan also uses with them. parental possessiveness (eg, the control logan exerts over kendall in s2, or his demands for shiv to perform affection for him publicly) frequently appears continuous with, or as a parallel to, abusive treatment of a spouse; think also of kendall taking on the role of managing logan's pills, or saying he doesn't know what he would be [good] for if not for logan. connor has been discarded much like his mother (presumably for sharing her non-noble bloodline and potentially, in logan's mind, her psychiatric diagnoses).
thus, in all of the relationships between logan and his children, we see how 1) parent-child is inherently a violent and coercive dynamic, and 2) specifically, the nature of the family as a contained sphere of capitalist production means that the child's psychosexual development occurs through the relationships to the parents, which inherently invites some degree of incestuous desire and abuse, and, given certain circumstances, can result in adult children who never move past these stages of development and retain their juvenile incestuous desires and fixations.
the way that the roys talk to one another frequently involves incestuous sub/text and sexually violent threats or metaphors. this accomplishes a few things. first, because their family is part of waystar, the violence that waystar perpetrates (the cruises scandal, the wolf pack, capitalism's broader ab/use of labourers' bodies) trickles down into the family's mode of communication as well. second, although they're not speaking literally when they talk like this, often they are expressing something emotionally true (ie, roman seeing 'getting fucked by dad' as a good thing tells us that roman sees himself as the bottom of the sexual and social hierarchy, that this position makes him vulnerable, and that he does still desire it, which again is because of his attraction to dominant father figures and hypermasculinity). third, again, it's part of how they convey that 'normal' capitalism is violent, 'normal' families are part of capitalist production and therefore also violent, and 'normal' family dynamics are pseudoincestuous (which, obviously, can and does elevate into literal physical incest).
and yes, there is also the incestuous dimension of aristocratic 'breeding' practices, which comes to the fore when matsson jokes that the roys are like the habsburgs, but also like "one of those incestuous family cookouts". in that line, he's playing off the fact that although the roys resemble a medieval or early modern royal dynasty in some ways, they're very much new money, and are insecure about this fact; he's suggesting that they're more like a 'backwater' rural incestuous family than the habsburgs, and that the habsburgs themselves were a bit gross and pathetic for their incestuous bloodline. this fits in with matsson's fixation on biological strength and fitness (his team is specifically young, stacked with olympic hopefuls and fulbright scholars; he flashes his abs to demonstrate his normatively 'correct' body in a business deal; even sending his blood and hair to ebba is specifically an intimidation tactic that doubles as a demonstration of his own strength and uses his body to subordinate his ex-girlfriend; he later calls greg "backwash in the shallow end of the gene pool"; all of this eugenic discourse is of course also contextualised by his racism / white nationalism, as shown in the line about "arabs in france").
but, outside of the context of matsson, i think the critique of the family is a more interesting use of incestuous subtext on succession, honestly. this is where the show actually does have something interesting to say in its typically snarky and satirical way. the family is not just continuous with capitalist production, but is a microcosm of it and a site on which capitalism articulates, and the inherently incestuous elements of the family are thus metonymic of larger structures of violence in capitalism. there is nothing perverse or abnormal about the roys; their abuse of one another, and their incestuous internal dynamics, are the expected outcome of normal capitalist functioning, specifically through the family unit.
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Day 35: Angry Man Pounded By The Fear Of His Latent Gayness Over A Dinosaur Transitioning Into A Unicorn
I love how much contempt for its characters this tingler starts off with. We have the iconic man/woman couple who are always the subject of conservative boomer humor about relationships, the emotionally unavailable man and his overbearing shrill wife, who don't even like each other, let alone love or show any attraction to each other. It feels like a caricature but it actually makes more sense when the man turns out to not actually be attracted to women, honestly.
This tingler aged... interestingly. The protagonist's crisis of sexuality is brought on by his attraction to Bort Jenkins, a unicorn athlete and reality TV star who was born as a dinosaur and recently transitioned to a unicorn. Clearly a stand-in for Caitlyn Jenner. (If my rudimentary research is correct, Bort's resemblance to her deadname is because this was written in that specific time period where she had come out as trans, but not publicly revealed her name yet.) She's a controversial figure for many reasons that I'm not going to get into now, but this comes from a time when people were pretty much just laser-focused on the trans thing. Bort isn't really a character who does anything in this story anyway, more of a news item for characters to discuss.
Another present day context that really changes how I read this story is the conservative furry panic of the past few years. Yes, the "if people can identify as other genders, what if they start identifying as ANIMALS?" dumbfuck made-up problem is much older, but it's really having a moment now. This story was an absurd concept when it was written but now we have real elected officials in the USA freaking out over the idea of people "identifying as" different species, bringing this story a whole lot closer to realism than anyone would've expected in 2015. To me, the message of this one feels closer to the conservative furry strawman than it does to real trans issues, especially with the whole "you're gay regardless of whether you're into human, unicorn or dinosaur men" thing; we're dealing with an issue of species transition where gender is static. (Truth be told, I don't think it was the best move to make a comparison to a real-life trans woman and make this point in association because I've seen how people misinterpret such things... but I'm sure Tingler readers in particular understand the abstraction and that this isn't applicable directly to the real person) I feel like a version of this story could be written today with the message of "what if the conservative strawman version of the furry fandom was real and not just a way of targeting queer people without saying you're targeting queer people? Would it really be that bad or even different of a world to live in?"
I'm interested to see how Dr. Tingle tackles trans issues in the future. Despite a couple things that read as dated to me I see a good foundation here from someone who is still working through his own feelings about gender identity. I know that future tinglers will have explicitly trans characters and the perspective of a trans author who has explored and introspected on his own gender identity more thoroughly.
(Also there's a tingleverse connection in this one: mention of the "first human player in the UFL" refers to the events of "Pounded By The Gay Unicorn Football Squad")
#chuck tingle#2024 tingles my butt#Every time I bring up Dr. Tingle's trans identity I have a little ??? moment on the pronouns I'm using#If I understood his post on preferred pronouns correctly then he/him is what he prefers still#It just. Feels like I'm doing something wrong when I'm explicitly referring to someone's transfem identity#But that's a me problem.
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To the anon who is struggling with their faith and identity, hi. I get you. I’m in the same boat in a lot of ways. (Discussion of anti-science rhetoric, lgbt-phobia, and conservative Christian stuff for anyone who doesn’t wanna read that)
I was raised Christian, and taught that evolution and the Big Bang were false. I was taught that dinosaurs were real and the earth was billions of years old, but we were still creationists.
I was also taught that being gay or trans was sinful and that gay marriage shouldn’t be legalized. My family was never outright hostile (my uncle is gay and we always loved him, even though “we just don’t agree with his decision” ugh), but clearly bigoted.
I was also raised in baptist churches, who absolutely love to quote the same three verses over and over in order to tell women (like myself) that our whole purpose is to shut up and bear children and take care of the house, that we are to obey our fathers and husbands in everything and cannot teach men at all. Fortunately my parents at least hated that BS, and after every sermon regarding that point my mom would lecture us that that was the only thing she disagreed with with our church, and that me and my sisters could be whatever we wanted to be. She continually pointed out the instances that contradicted what our churches had said about women’s roles.
When I went to college, I made friends, met people with wildly different backgrounds, and began to form my own opinions. I am a supporter of lgbt rights (I believe that there is strong evidence that wording was changed to condemn homosexuality, and that even if it’s a sin, we are called to love each other first and foremost, and that we cannot force our religious beliefs upon anyone else, and that respecting someone’s sexuality and pronouns is just basic fucking courtesy. I’ve even convinced my trump-supporting grandparents to use peoples preferred pronouns and respect gay marriages, with the logic that “you believe it’s sinful, but they don’t, and you can’t force your religious perspective on them. There is nothing loving about making them uncomfortable just because you disagree.”
I also strongly believe in scientific theories like evolution and the Big Bang. There’s plenty of evidence, and if you read genesis with fresh eyes it’s pretty clear to me it’s highly symbolic, not literal. I can believe God created the universe and that he did so through the Big Bang. I can believe God created humans in his image through the process of evolution.
As I was expanding and changing my worldview, I also realized that I was aroace. I’ve never been interested in dating, I don’t find men good looking at all, and my appreciation for women’s beauty is more similar to how someone would appreciate a painting, not someone they want to date or marry or have sex with.
And I don’t believe it’s a problem for me to stay single either. When I told my mom she immediately told me that the Bible says that singleness is, for many, a gift, and only a different path, not a wrong one.
I often don’t know what God’s intention is, but I do know that Christians are called to be the light of the world. So I will always be kind and loving, because that is how you be a light. I always pray for better understanding of how I should do things, but in the end the most important thing is to be kind.
Sorry if that was rambly, I just wanted to let you know that you aren’t alone in these struggles, and that you can believe different things without being a bad person. Personally, my family doesn’t know that I’m now fairly liberal and that I believe in evolution and the Big Bang and such, but I’m okay with that. If they find out, I’ll tell them more or less what I just said here. Best of luck to you and to anyone else in a similar situation 💛
Thanks for sharing, I’m sure this will be helpful for a lot of people.
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Step By Step Through the Closet Door
First of all, I want to apologize for not breaking this with images and gifs. There's no excuse 🫣
Now, I've read all the excellent commentary coming out of ep 11. I believe it's all valid and there are points to be made all around. I don't have the knowledge or experience to comment on pacing, editing, and certain directorial choices. But I do want to say something in favor of the story the show is telling.
This is a different story than we're used to, and it's told in a different way. It takes some getting used to, but where I'm from this type of storytelling is used a lot. This is showing things the way they are to the point of annoyance. I think that what causes all the confusion and frustration is the fact that the show lets each character exist separately from one another. There is no cohesiveness because life has no cohesiveness. The characters act and react according to their own separate sets of rules as opposed to each other. I know that some will see it as bad storytelling, and it's no excuse, but imo it has its benefits when trying to tell a story about people.
MY CASE FOR JENG and Pat
Jeng has been consistent throughout. Everything he does is because his entire being is linked to the company. He never makes mistakes. He always puts the business first. His entire philosophy of "life and work should be combined" is his reality. He has no freedom. He's had to hide who he is as a person, not only his sexuality because he always needs to represent.
As for the money, it's not the first time he did it. We're told in the beginning that he's been keeping the department alive with his own money. The only thing in his dad's company that is actually his is that department, and fighting to keep it is fighting to keep his sense of self. That department became his identity, so he will do anything to keep it alive. This is about Jeng v. his father. This is about Jeng becoming his own person.
So how does Pat fit into all of this? Well, Jeng being 100% business 100% of the time, he sees Pat's talent and he finds it super attractive. Sure, he finds Pat cute and attractive when they first meet, but his interest in him grows when he sees his talent and potential.
In his mind, Pat is a driving force through this. He finds Pat and he feels that he finally has an ally. However, this has nothing to do with who Pat is. This is the idea of Pat, not Pat himself. He does with Pat what he does with work - he makes him part of his identity and links him to the department. So Pat is no longer a separate human being, but another aspect of Jeng. Pat becomes the part of Jeng's personality that fights to keep the department alive. Which makes him the logical choice to be his successor as the head of department. Losing one of them (department or Pat) means losing his identity as a man separate from his father and the company.
As for Pat, he has his own shit to deal with. He needs to work in a toxic work environment and face gossip that is typically reserved for women, who are usually the target of this kind of gossip precisely because of their sexuality. Pat needs to end things with Jeng because he can't deal with it. Love is not magic. Love can't fix society. Outside pressure can and does break relationships when the people in that relationship are unable to stand together.
Pat and Jeng cannot stand together at this point in their story because they exist in two separate worlds. Their realities and the way they experience life are so different and separate from what the other is experience, to say the least.
THE QUEER REALITY OF IT ALL
That intervention/interrogation scene was way too personal. Even if you've never been interrogated about your sexuality, or had to defend it, just sitting in a room where people talk about your sexuality as if you're not there is not a fun experience, to say the least.
Having to justify yourself all the time to everyone because of who you like. Having to sit in a room where YOU are being scrutinized for your entire being just because of your sexuality is something that queer people experience all the time. Straight people will have lengthy discussions about others' sexuality in a way that I haven’t experienced in queer spaces. They will expect us to live up to tropes and stereotypes, and if we don't, they will be disappointed because it's not what they were promised (I'm sorry, but this is hitting very close to home). This is the reality of being different in a way that most society can't understand. If there is something to say in favor of this show is that these moments are represented so accurately that it's sometimes painful to watch.
STEPPING OUT OF THE CLOSET
This is a story about closets more than anything. Not only in the queer sense, but anyone who needs to hide who they are for "the greater good" knows what it's like. When you need to hide parts of yourself, for any reason, it's easy to lose touch with who you really are.
Being outed for the benefit of others OR How straight people talk about other sexualities.
We can all agree that Pat is not in the closet. But throughout the show, he goes through the experience of being outed three times - first when he has no choice but to out himself because of toxic male co-worker. The second time, his relationship with Jeng is outed for political gain. Then, a much more public outing of his relationship with Put. So, we're starting with a one-on-one outing, through people in the more extended environment, and finally nationwide exposure. By the end of ep 11, he has no control over who is allowed into his private affairs, and none of these outings were even about him. These were all cases of him being outed for the benefit of others. (re: straights discussing queer sexuality as though there are no queer people in the room).
Your closet is serving life
Jeng lives in the closet. Not only his sexuality is closeted, but his entire personality. He's had to maintain this public persona for so long that he has no idea who he is. His every move is dictated by his need to maintain his image for the sake of the company. He can't afford to protect Pat because he is on the job 24/7. Having Pat in his life forces him to deal with new situations. It's the first time he finds himself in a dilemma where he has to choose between the company and the person he loves, and he chooses the company because the closet is locked from the outside. The only thing that's truly his is the digital marketing department. Saving the department is saving himself. For him, it means protecting himself as well as protecting Pat. So, this is life and death for him. Even when he's called for the "intervention" with management, then with his father, and questioned about his sexuality, the only thing he can do is protect the department. Pat and the department are one because they are both his identity.
To each their own closet
Chot must keep his relationship in the closet and is at the mercy of his partner. He has no choice but to hope that one day he will be allowed to be out in his relationship. Which we were all happy to see happen!
Jaab and Jen had to hide their feelings and flirt in secret because of Jen's relationship. After that ended and they had the chance to be out, Jaab chose to run because he can't deal with actually getting what he wants (I have things to say about that as well, but it will have to be a separate post).
Beam has closeted his feelings for Ae. He chose to hide and had to watch from inside the closet, how someone else is living the life he wants for himself.
And finally Ying, who had to hide her fujoshi side.
These stories can't come together and form a complete story, because they exist separately from one another. Even Jeng and Pat exist separately from one another, each in his own story without the ability to connect, because they exist in separate worlds.
If you got this far, I seriously thank you for sticking this out. I hope this makes sense, and again this is only how I read what this show is giving us...
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When having discussions about MY OWN Asexuality these are some graphics and anectdotes that have made it easier for me to explain it to them.
Since I have had so many curious people on my Ace poll, I'm gonna give it a shot and complie it together in a post.
Firstly, the basic deffinition of Asexuality:
As stated in the graphic, libido, or a hormonal urge for sex is not the same thing as an attraction to another person. In basic terms being horny does not equal having a want to have sex with another person.
I'd like to acknowledge that there is more to the Ace spectrum than just flat ace before I make my next point, so here's my favorite graphic.
These are just three of the many sub-identities on the ace spectrum with some basic definitions but they get the point across about differing levels of the lack of sexual attraction.
Because sex can look different to a lot of asexuals. There are plenty of asexuals that despite missing the initial spark of attraction that mighty motivates an allosexual person, don't mind or even enjoy having sex, for the romantic intimacy with a partner or even just for the endorphin release.
But there are many more asexuals that have a more complicated relationship with sex that can intersect with other aspects of their life like their personal relationships (see demi), their past traumas, their romantic orientation, or their sexual kinks.
One of the basic struggles of Asexuality is determining what qualifies as "sexual attraction"
When you rarely or never experience sexual attraction it may be hard to distinguish between different attractions.
Anecdotally, I base my concept of someone being sexually attractive on my Aesthetic and Sensual attraction. I do this for a shorthand to relate to other people in my life who experience sexual attraction. Partly because I find the concept of sex fascinating to discuss and partially because I love collecting my little group of fictional characters that I project my sexuality onto. I choose them based on whether I enjoy looking at them (which trust me, does not adhere to societal beauty standards) and whether I think being physically close to them (sensually) might be pleasant.
I say this because I think it is a common experience for Asexual people. I am honestly astonished that my poll had such an even distribution of answers. It was really just for fun and not a well-thought-out series of answers. Most people noted that multiple of the answers suited them. But the most common comments I got on that poll were that interms of fiction or media of some kind, they were sex positive. But when it came to any reality where they themselves would engage in sex, that was an entirely different answer.
Well, here's my personal reflections on that same concept within myself that others may or may not relate to.
When I was still in the process of figuring out my own Asexuality, I was confused by the concept of having an extremely high libido and a collection of fictional crushes, but no irl attraction.
At the time I was also heavily into dissecting other social tangles such as the way that men view women through their own societal lens of sexuality. And the biggest argument at the time was "If you only find big boob, flawless skin, totally obedient hentai women sexually attractive, then you're probably not actually into women. Because none of the real ones look like that." Which is true.
This made me think about why I found specifically onky fictional people attractive. Which boiled down to a set of ideals that I could never expect a real person to live up to. If the only way I can even consider being sexually attracted to a person is with them following a humanly impossible set of ideals, then I'm probably just not actually attracted to anyone.
And that's fine. It sounded scary at first. But I grew used to it.
When you take the attraction factor out of sex many people will lose interest entirely. Sex can be a really complicated and messy buissness. There's so many factors you have to consider like, location, time, partner, physical discomfort, physical and emotional vulnerability, body fluids, contraception, std testing, and a plethora of other things that can be really overwhealming even if you are really motivated to have sex. If you arent? Many people don't see a point in it.
But some do and having sexual experiences and even enjoying them doesn't make you any less asexual. There are whole kink groups that are ran and populated by asexual people because kinks gives a structure to the otherwise chaotic buisness of sex and makes it more appealing to them. On top of that kinks can be arousing reguardless of your sexual orrientation and may make it easier to engage in sex.
I'd like to add, for my own peace of mind, that asexuality can feel very isolating. Many people want a partner that finds them sexualy appealing. And that's understandable. But try not to think of your sexuality as limiting. Because asexuality can open so many doors in the queer community that you may not have considered yet.
Being Asexual means you don't have attraction to any gender, meaning that you may be open to dating or having a QPR with others regardless of their gender.
Sex repulsed? You certainly may be able to meet the needs of another asexual person especially if they are sex repulsed too. Having the pressure of sex removed from a relationship can be so relieving.
Asexual people also occupy a space outside of the societal norms of what is considered sexually appealing. And may often completely disagree with general society about what they find attractive. There's a lot of ace people I know personally that are with their partners purely for domestic compatibility and not for appearances at all. This may actually lead to stronger relationships. Even though the process of vetting others looks a bit sterile or like a buisness deal, it's more effective in finding somone you genuinly like and agree with. Someone you can spend forever with.
It also opens doors to people of all types of physicalities.
These are really just anecdotes, but I feel there's so much us ace get put down for. I'd like to lift the community up for once.
Final thoughts on the matter (unless I am asked to elaborate) are that Asexuality is a hugely varied expirience. It affects people in many different ways. And it can be really confusing to figure out. But the point of the poll I made was to point out how many ace people there are just in my orbit on Tumblr. We are not alone. There are so many more of us than you might think. Thousands. And I for one am so excited about that.
(I didn't credit the graphics bc i've had them saved for years and honestly fon't remember where they came from.)
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I believe Cheating Men must die is a great story
It adds wonderful twists in existing tropes and genres. The protag isn't perfect but she's great, she likes eliminating assholes, which is valid
It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job
For everyone who hasn't read Cheating Men Must Die (comic "Wan Zha Chao Huang" (万渣朝凰) by Shi Dai Man Wang (时代漫王)), this is an open invitation for y'all to read it. Genre: quick transmigration, revenge story. Basically your ex-cannon fodder MC, Su Luxia, is a System agent who transmigrates (isekais/ world hops) into the bodies of women of each world who are wronged by the Male Lead, Female Lead, another canon fodder, author, etc and changes their fate. I forgot how many chapters of the manhua there are presently but I believe the freshest ones that are still being updated in Mandarin Chinese are over 700+ chapters of art. (The MTL offers English translation, but y'all can also peep at other sites for ENG fantranslations.)
There are a couple of different summaries but I love this summary the best:
Don't you think that all cheating sc*m need to die? Su Luxia, an intern pro working in a transmigration agency, doesn't believe in that. For her, all cheating bastards need to rot in hell before they die. Or else they won't suffer the taste of their own medicine! Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and b*tches.
Su Luxia sneers... "People take everything they get for granted. The more they get, the more they don't strive for it. An unrequited love is an example. There is always a sc*m who takes advantage. Since they brought this upon themselves..." She studies her face in the mirror and smirks, "... let them have a taste of their own medicine."
System: "You're making that scary face again!"
Follow our female main lead, Su Lüxia, who is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds beating up countless sc*m.
Art bait for y'all who are still hesitating (and some of my favorite arcs, and those that'd surprised me like the arc where she transmigrated into the Second Male Lead):
RE: I have to agree! Ty for the Ask, @bernkastel11! I had a response ready for ya the day I saw this in my inbox and literally typed a long essay with links, but lo and behold tumblr ate it. 😭 But finally I have the motivation for a take 2. Honestly the manhua is a guilty pleasure of mine. The art's great (we definitely see the artist improve over time with each arc...even with the obviously borrowed assets and sometimes janky perspective, hahaha) and I love how Su Luxia is a badass femme fatale (white lotus & green tea b*tch), as well as her friendship with her cute talking hamster System. I also love how the artist is giving variety; it's not all just kicking butt, chewing bubble gum, finding romance. She's become an empress, made a friendship with the exorcist Female Lead, become a mother, led revolutions, survived a death game, became a guy, made a Male Lead yandere and obsess over her to the point of trying to hunt her down in whichever world it is, has some...questionable sapphic overtones, transmigrated into a BL novel, revisited some worlds with reoccurring characters, etc. They satirize a lot of preexisting tropes, and I love it when artists and writers have fun with the meta. I also like how they're slowly expanding on the lore of her interest with previous System agent Zero (the whole reason why Su Luxia became a System agent).
"It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job"
The thing about QTs in general is the artist or author usually don't put much emphasis on the consequences of transmigrating so many times into other people's bodies. It's just a staple of the genre (because they're usually portrayed as badass, cunning, and OP, what have you with a strong willpower to assume all these identities, overcome challenges, and not experience dysphoria). So far I think the only writer I can think of off the top of my head that addresses it is: The Exhausting Reality of Novel Transmigration (novel / manhwa). I highly rec it. So far it is one of the few works where they explore that concept of how mentally exhausting it is adopting another person's identity as well as the consequences of "the characters" finding out (it's not your usual "oh, you hopped into my dead daughter's body and assumed her identity? Well la de dah, guess you're my daughter now." No, we're talking about the mother suspecting, finding out, being horrified, and having a mental breakdown trying to exorcise "the evil spirit" who's taken possession of her daughter's body). It also touches on the danger of an ordinary woman transmigrating into the body of a Female Lead in an R18+ novel where the Male Lead is a yandere.
Since you'd mentioned CMMD, I can give you several other links:
Cheating Men Must Die animated audio version of the first few arcs (King of the Phoenix), comes with ENG subs
Mission in Parallel 2022 Chinese short drama (it's the late 1910s socialite arc where she transmigrates as the overweight nightclub owner & wife of the abusive husband who gets seduced by a singer who's also a transmigrator), comes with ENG subs
Cheating Men Must Die (2022)(it's the arc where she transmigrates into the world where she's the villainess and the CEO Male Lead is self-aware, and the author has signed with the evil System trying to kill off Su Luxia so that she herself can transmigrate into the body of her own FL), comes with ENG subs
#cheating men must die#manga rec#The Exhausting Reality of Novel Transmigration#reading recommendations#ask#ty for the ask <3#bernkastel1#it's so nice to find another CMMD enthusiast; usually I'm the one reccing CMMD to everyone else hahahaha#phoenix talks
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I've finally gathered the words to talk about my personal experience being a trans guy. I want to find other trans guys who can relate and have someone that will help them understand things better. I value sharing and relating experiences. Understanding others' experiences has helped me as a trans guy to put my experience and feelings into these words.
For starters, I've experienced gender dysphoria since I was 5-6. But due to my lack of thought regarding gender and my own identity, I didn't have any understanding on my gender dysphoria. There was a growing off feeling throughout my life that pushed me to realization at 12. Cisnormativie society made it easy to suppress who I am and make me partially go with what they want me to be.
Due to being in a cisnormative and suppressive society, it made it difficult for me to think for myself. So I just went by what people saw me as- a weird cishet girl with an obsession with cis men. The fat manly-looking bum. I was a target of mocking, and people would insult me for not being feminine and thin. People would call me a man- I only found this offensive because it was a jab at my lack of femininity. It was ill-intented to shame me, for people to express their disgust with me. I was only thankful for being ugly because that meant men wouldn't like me, and I wouldn't be expressing the femininity and showing off the very womanly features that make me so uncomfortable and out of place.
I didn't know who or what I wanted to be in life. Androgyny was my best bet and safe haven, since my maleness was suppressed but I didn't enjoy being a girl. Throughout my life I'd try expressing femininity and feeling good about it but it always turned bad for me- it made me so dysphoric, I felt like a clown expressing femininity. It got far more off-putting as I went on with life, yet I tried to suppress the feeling despite how embarrassed and uncomfortable I was.
I never wanted to be a mother, but I wanted to be a parent. Cisnormativity suppressed part of my gender dysphoria, but not all of it since I ended up using androgyny to escape some of this gender dysphoria. I was far too suppressed to identify my maleness yet. To the point of feeling like I was chained to the role of a girl, and I couldn't see a clear and passionate future for myself.
I didn't see girls as competition for me. I couldn't link well with their girlhood and competition, so I didn't value it. I didn't feel pressured too hard by societal expectations of women, and I always brushed it off. And so boys were my competition.
I felt uncomfortable doing certain things that were perceived as feminine/girly, but my excuse for it at the time was that people see me as a girl anyway, so I can let it slide, even though it makes me feel so weird.
I viewed feminine beauty and womanhood as something unlinked to me, it's something I admire from afar. My admiration for women isn't one of influence and idolism, but one of appreciation for their unique ways of expressing themselves as women. In ways I never could, because I could never find my place within femininity or womanhood.
I always hated being seen as attractive by boys. It always felt so repulsive and off-putting to me. I desired to be attractive, but not in a feminine or womanly way. I didn't want to appeal to men. That is where my envy for cis men comes in. Ever since I was 5, I've had this fascination with cis men. Their manhood and manliness, their ways of expressing androgyny, and them attracting women. It stirred up my dysphoria, which got me hooked to them.
Growing up with female puberty, I couldn't connect with it. I found periods and hair-growing interesting, but I couldn't connect with the femininity and womanhood involved in female puberty. It was just there. I never had appreciation for my growing chest, so there were only three options to pick from:
sexualize it
ignore it
hate it
Ignoring my chest is something I did well at- usually. It helped with somewhat alleviating my dysphoria, since I was distracted by other things. They never felt like another part of me, just something to either objectify or be repulsed by.
I didn't understand why girls enjoyed comparing chest size and having bigger boobs than each other. I could never truly enjoy it, and I always looked at flat-chested girls with secret envy.
I started puberty at 8. I started learning about periods at 9 since I knew I'd get mine at 10. I was never excited to get my period, I was only curious- my body was always just an experiment to experience for knowledge, it isn't a connection to who I am and appreciate being. And therefore, my period never made me feel happy and prideful, and it didn't make me feel like I was becoming a woman. That felt like such an off term to use for how I felt and still feel.
When I was in 5th grade, females and males in my class were put in separate rooms to learn about puberty. The whole time during a video of female puberty, I felt my dysphoria stirring with bonding about female puberty and the differences and similarities me and other classmates had. I suppressed my hate for it. I wanted so badly to see what was going on in the other room, to see boys bonding and relating over puberty, to see their reactions and all. The male body fascinated me anyway, and I always enjoyed it. I couldn't bring myself to be really sexually attracted to male bodies as I was fascinated by them and curious. Even if it seemed like it was a sexual attraction to others, it wasn't.
And added onto this, my attraction towards cis men is usually envy towards them and their unique expressions of manhood and masculinity that I couldn't get to express. But my true self was suppressed so it was passed off as me having feelings for them.
I at some point had started to wonder if I was a lesbian but I realized how wrong the label felt for me, so I didn't go with it.
As I'm nearing 16, it's been 3-4 years since I've realized, so it's still somewhat unfamiliar to me to now know why I feel the way I do. I've been dysphoric for 10 years and I've only known of terms to use to understand my feelings for 3/4 of those years- my life is still the same in this regard but the difference is that I have terms to use to describe my feelings and experiences, and others who can relate.
I worry about my past, present, and future. I have somewhat of envy for people that knew their gender since 3-5, so it's no news for them. I spent most of my childhood feeling like I was destined to be a girl and suppress that off feeling growing inside of me.
I'm glad to have been given a second chance to think and feel for myself and finally understand myself and my experiences.
My past self is withered next to a blooming new me. The boy in him didn't get to grow and reveal itself, so he was deprived of life, and died for it. But I was given the chance to find him and finally be him. My younger self would've drowned searching for him, he was too young to dive deep.
And I'm thankful to finally understand myself.
#queer#lgbt#lgbtq#lgbtq+#lgbtqia#aroace#aromantic#asexual#aspec#acespec#trans#transgender#transsexual#ftm#trans ftm#trans boy#trans man#black trans man#trans manhood#trans childhood#trans experience#trans trauma#gender dysphoria#gender envy#cisnormativity#heteronormativity#amatonormativity#vent post#ftm vent#ftm dysphoria
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The Mothers. Part 2
On the next episode of "Who are the barely mentioned women that raised our love interests?" We have-
Dracae
The Queen of Mystery
Everything about Dracae is shrouded in rumors, from her legitimacy to her draconic origins. Anyone who knew how to answer even half of the questions about her were killed a long time ago. When she appeared in public, her face was covered with a hat, a veil or a mask. Her identity being a secret was the most important thing to her. What people did know about her was her military prowess was unmatched. Her guards and soldiers were some of the most powerful men and women in the Abyssal Plains.
Such power and rumors of her draconic blood gained the attention of the Demon Lord but, unlike the other wives, Dracae was prepared. She struck first and managed to nearly back the Demon Lord into a corner. However, she made the critical flaw of being deathly loyal to her soldiers, she never expected a traitor to be among her own. With critical soldiers wounded or killed from the inside and the overwhelming numbers against her, Dracae was forced to surrender. However, she was the closest to preventing her capture. From then on, she became the quietest of the queens. Her presence only known from her bigger stature and the faint, burnt, flowery scent she left behind.
When Aomaris was born, all the wives had been obtained. The kingdom was almost at its peak strength with the addition of Dracae’s army. This would be the era of short peace as everyone was far too afraid of the Demon Lord to fight him. All the while, Dracae maintained her air of mystery. At this point, the only two people left alive that had even seen her face were the Demon Lord and Aomaris. The former would call her “The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen” possibly to anger his other wives and fan the flames of jealousy; the latter was too young to remember his mother’s face.
Dracae and Aomaris’s relationship was the first to actually have motherly love. Unlike Istorae and Kalipo, who saw their sons more as heirs and investments than children, Dracae focused her energy on making Aomaris feel loved and cared for. This came as a shock to the other wives. This military woman was a softie deep down. The one issue was that her unwillingness to being hard on her son would lead to Aomaris not taking her seriously. He loved his mother, but her words just didn’t make sense to him. She spoke of pacifism and kindness, despite her military history, but Aomaris was raised on violence. How can you be pacifistic in this world? One thing he did get from her teachings was the concept of equality and respect. The role “royal” was just that, a role. A role any person could do if they were trained well and raised right. Succubi got that role by default, but Dracae truly believed that was just a societal expectation, not an inherent trait. To her, your race should only decide your appearance and magic, not your role in society.
The consequence of that was Aomaris gaining a bit of a complex. He wanted to be a good person, like his mother, but he just didn’t understand how much of her teachings were possible. Dracae was –by far- the best mother of the bunch, raising a generous man who believed in fighting for equality. Her teachings of equality and family also led to Aomaris’s unwavering loyalty to all his brothers and his respect and solidarity for Izroul. His violent streak was the work of his father, not his mother.
When Aomaris left, it was the first time the public would truly see emotion from the dragon queen. Grief. She wasn’t loud about it but the quiet sobs that echoed through the halls could break the heart of even the most hardened of soldiers. She understood why Aomaris left; the royals’ lives weren’t optimal if they weren’t first in line. They would be married off or turned into soldiers. But even with her understanding, she missed her son. He was her favorite person.
In Sam’s Demon War Route, Dracae is another case of being uninvolved. But, unlike Kalipo, she did stick around the castle. Deep in the dungeons, she would pray to her dragon ancestors for the power to defeat the Demon Lord. That power would come to Sam during his route. And if you decided to go down the King Sam Route (The only good King route, might I add) she might just appear again with someone new one day.
As for the people Dracae liked and disliked.
She obviously loved her son.... but did you know that (in this version) she had a daughter? Yes, she had twins. That’s the “someone new”. What happened to her? Well, Dracae isn’t dumb. The Succubi world is a matriarchal society, so the rules of the heir are backwards. Dracae’s daughter would be first in line, even outshining Raestrao. And no one would be happy about that. Especially not Istorae. So, to protect her child, the daughter was sent away before the Demon Lord would even know he had a daughter. When I said Dracae was the queen of mystery, I truly meant it.
Dracae has... mixed feelings about the Demon Lord. At least pre death of Izroul’s mom. She, of course, didn’t respect his methods of getting new kingdoms or wives but, at least before he went totally apeshit, she wanted to believe that there was some kindness in him. But after seeing just how horrible he treated his harem girl and son, any hope for him died.
Surprisingly, Dracae doesn’t hate any of the wives or the harem girl. She sees them all as victims of circumstances just like her. While none of the wives truly liked each other, Dracae and Istorae were the most respected of the wives. Istorae for being the OG wife and Dracae for her genuinely kind behavior.
The only person Dracae despises is the “pig faun”. She doesn’t really know why. He just makes her mad.
Oh boy! The last wife-
Aezera The bitch
The Pure-Blooded Succubus
As a young woman, Aezera was better than who she would become but she wasn’t perfect. She was a noble to one of the last two pure blooded succubi bloodlines, making her an extremely powerful woman and she knew it.
She had a younger sister that she didn’t treat the best. She would attempt to outshine her younger sister at every point and was heavily jealous at her parents’ favoritism of the younger sibling. But her sister showed her nothing but kindness. Back when Aezera had sanity, she would feel bad for the way she treated her younger sister, but it wouldn’t matter in the end. Her sister got injured and was dying. And why? Because of an attack.
Surprisingly, it was not from the Demon Lord, but rather a tertiary kingdom sent to kill off the heiresses. The younger sister died protecting a teenaged Aezera. This would make Aezera’s guilt over how she treated her sister skyrocket. If only she could have been a little nicer. This shifted Aezera’s thinking to a far more family-oriented way of seeing life. It didn’t make her any less spoiled or insecure, but the idea of what family meant was drilled into her head from then on.
Eventually, the Demon Lord did attack, but his war efforts would be for naught as Aezera surrendered immediately. In her eyes, with his massive army, joining his forces would be a net positive. Aezera was not happy being the fourth wife, but she would accept her role and hopefully rise through the ranks once she produced him an heir.
When Zecaeru was born, the name she chose for him wasn’t picked randomly. Her younger sister’s name was very similar. Maybe this was Aezera’s way of honoring her sister via her son. It also explained why she was the most doting of the mothers.
Aezera and Zecaeru’s relationship was one of codependence. What started as Aezera being kind to her son to make up for how cruel she was to her sister became a dependency on her son for happiness. Zecaeru distracted her from how guilty she always felt and how miserable she truly was being in this kingdom with these women she didn’t like. Especially after Izroul’s birth and her losing her body.
She needed her son and thus made it so he would always need her. She would slowly become more and more controlling and particular about every aspect of her life and the people around her. Everyone that served her or belonged to her had to wear and say certain things to avoid her wrath, including Zecaeru. Zecaeru would attempt to calm her down with toys and animals, which worked for a time, but she would go back to her irate self in about a week. It was clear to anyone paying attention that Aezera was going mad. Zecaeru was in denial about it but deep down... he knew.
The consequence of that was Zecaeru feeling a need to prove how "adult" he is. He was treated like a child needing guidance and control well into his adult years and he hated it. He didn't want to prove it by giving up his fun loving ways so, instead, he proved it by being reliable. Starting from even when he was a child, Zecaeru went out of his way to help people, including and especially Izroul. He felt the need to grow up but wasn't completely sure how. By the time he gets to Mika though, he's figured it out more. On the good end however, Zecaeru is the most emotionally mature and stable of all his siblings. He got to feel the full range of emotions without judgement from his mother or interference from his father.
When Zecaeru left, Aezera broke. She just couldn’t understand why he would leave. She was the kindest she could ever be. He was her everything. She gave him everything, prepared him to impress the Demon Lord and was even ready to risk possible banishment or execution if it meant that she could get rid of all Zecaeru’s competition. So why did he go? Why would he leave her here to rot? She justified it to herself as Zecaeru having a plan, needing to prepare to become the next Demon Lord. She didn’t truly believe her own words, but it was better than believing that her own son, that she loved more than life itself, would abandon her.
In Matthew’s Demon War Route, Aezera was heavily involved. She was the only wife to stick around. She respected her marriage even if the Demon Lord did not. She didn’t fully understand what her husband was trying to prove by mind controlling their son, but her strong sense of familial bond and her need to get her son back overrode her suspicion and anger at her husband. She would lend him her power for her physical form back.
In the bad end, she never intended for the Demon Lord to remain alive. Once all the heirs were dead, the Lord would fall too, making way for a new king. However, her plans would go awry when the human her son was supposed to slay escaped. But that’s a long story. I’ll save that for a “King End” deep dive.
In the true end, when it was revealed that ...this human, was to be her son’s bride, the madness in her truly shone. There was something about the way she stood, the power and confidence radiating off this human as if she was royalty and not lower than slaves. It was just like that bastard child that ruined their family. It pissed Aezera off. The human was not family; she wasn’t to be respected as an equal. She was to be killed off or to be used for energy like a good harem girl. Oh, how madness made Aezera so hypocritical.
The human dared to reach out, to extend a hand of “mercy”, she even talked so sweetly about the wedding they were planning. Aezera was convinced that this bitch was mocking her, she had to be! She even dared to reach out the hand that held the ring that Aezera gave to her son long ago. For her to stand so confidently and mock a queen as powerful as Aezera, this human had to have extraordinary power. Now she understood why Zecaeru left. He was bewitched! Tricked for his power! It was the only thing that made sense.
Or at least, it made sense to Aezera. To anyone else in the room, Aezera was spiraling. Matthew tried to reach out, to save her mother, but she wasn’t listening. Mika tried to calm her down and explain, but she wasn’t having it. Diana was the only one to accept that Aezera was a lost cause. So, she fought. Aezera was a hard person to beat and even with Saero’s summoning, this would have ended in a stalemate if nothing was done.
In the end, Matthew had to kill his own mother. Even if it shattered his heart to do so. Aezera truly didn’t understand. She drained his energy; she took control of him. From her perspective, any spells the human cast should have been null and void. It was null and void. So why? Why would her son attack her and so fatally? Did he not love her anymore...?
She would get her answer when she would hear footsteps approaching her, she looked up, not to see her son but the human he chose over her. And in a moment of clarity, she finally saw the human in earnest. She wasn’t mocking, bragging, there was no hint of happiness on her face. She just looked sad, like she failed. She was being genuine this whole time. Is... that the reason why Zecaeru chose her? Aezera would have no time to ponder as she died.
For the extra people that she liked or hated.
Aezera generally hated everyone in her new life. She was envious of Istorae’s role, she didn’t care about the middle two wives, the sons were all competition for her son’s crown, she despised the harem girl for sleeping with her husband and giving him a fifth child, she hated said fifth child and believed that he was what’s wrong with their family, even blaming him for why she lost her physical form, she hated Mika for trying to marry her son. She hated a lot of people. She’s very spiteful.
The only three people she held any affection for were her sister (after she died), her son and her husband. And even with that last one, she intended to kill him.
TL:DR
Dracae is best mom and actually tried to raise her son like a son. Also there might be a new face I am drawing that relates to Dracae and Sam.
Aezera is deathly loyal to family but being around the Demon Lord too long drove her mad. She died realizing that she was kinda being a crazy boy mom. But hey! At least she treated Matthew like a son.
#seduce me the otome#seduce me demon war#seduce me the complete story#seduce me mika#seduce me sam#seduce me matthew#seduce me aezera#rewrite#backstory change
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