#I don't actually like men like that but this was still fun | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sudzymactavish · 3 days

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I don't know if you dislike people ranting to you, so delete if it annoys you. But why are so many straight women writing the most messed up type of fanfics you've ever seen and thinking it's okay😭. Like there's so many women on here who always write x reader fanfics as with female reader described like 90 pounds, 4 feet tall and extremely weak and easily manipulated, who's partnered with a huge muscular male character who is 3x her size. Reader is always extremely small and weak and innocent minded and almost childlike in the way that she's written. And the writers describe the male character as having "one hand big enough to wrap around your whole waist" and stuff like that and then make the male character that throws reader around and beats her and sexually abuses her and stuff like that. It's so gross.

And then there will be like 900 likes on the post and all these straight women saying how much they loved it and it was so sexy when the reader got abused and assaulted and asking the author to make more. Like wtf!! I must have blocked over 200 blogs by now that are all just like this. There's so many women writing incest and pedo stuff too. Yesterday I saw a Leon Kennedy x daughter reader nsfw and I was just thinking how gross it is and how just looking at this stuff kinda ruins my childhood characters because I loved those games and now they're making my favorites do the most messed up shit. I'm not saying that male readers don't do it, but like 95% of the time it's women that are ones glorifying r-pe and abuse like it's something sexy, when it's not. Just nasty. And stop writing y/n to be coded like a child and stop making her a small helpless baby that gets treated violently by the character and letting people read it like it's something sexy. It's not sexy to be r-ped. Just stop. Please.

THIS IS SO REAL.

Everytime I see a feminine reader getting 🍇ed it makes me sick. And the reading being like a skeleton? Ew...

So let's write something about fem!reader being BIGGER than the men. 141 + a few other charaters.

John Price

That man would be begging for you. Pet names like "queen" and "ma'am" are heard around the base and at home referring you you. He's in love with you, as you almost swallow him in each hug and cuddle. He loves it.

John "Soap" Mactavish

Even if you are bigger than him, he still protects you. A glare and an occasional cuss-out in Scottish to anybody who thinks they can steal his bonnie. And if someone dares to make fun of your size...? They'll have a scar to remember.

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

He would make sure you're comfortable. Being a big woman could cause maybe your feet to hurt, or pain in your neck from trying to not bump your head on the ceilings. He'd always have some chocolate and a movie set up, just for the two of you.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

I don't think he'd really mind size. He loves when you pick him up though, even if he can't admit it. The way your hands wrap around him as he's embraced in your figure... oh yea, he's in love with his big girl.

Graves

Oh he'd be a menace. He'd say weird stuff like "she's a tree and I wanna climb her." But once he actually started getting feelings for you, all the weird comments stopped. Opening doors for you, doing paper work for you was suddenly happening all the time.

Makarov

He'll admit, he was a bit threatened. He expected his new secretary (after he killed the other one) to be, well, small. So he could keep his power. He wanted to return you, or maybe just kill you, but when he actually met you? You were in charge after that.

König

He'd be surprised at first. Someone who's finally bigger than him would probably have him shocked. When he got used to you, he totally fell in love. Head over heels. He'd take you out to dinner, buy you jewelry. You loved his presents, but in his eyes you were his precious diamond.

Shoutout to all the big girls, WE LOVE YOU ‼️‼️❤️❤️

Also anon, would you like an emoji?

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drdemonprince · 1 day

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i recently started hooking up with a cis gay man and last night he let slip a gap in his knowledge that makes me think he does not actually know shit or fuck about how vaginas work (gently tried to say that i wasn’t cleaning properly and i had to inform him it’s not healthy to douche vaginas and that pussy is supposed to have a flavor; it’s entirely possible he still thinks pee comes from the vagina). You always have good reading recommendations so do know of any good resources specifically for giving a cis gay man a crash course in boypussy?

There's definitely zines out there about fucking trans men, but tbh I find them super alienating and I don't think they would be helpful in this instance because the dude is lacking vagina 101 knowledge, not really trans guy specific knowledge. You might disagree with me but I think it's kind of on him to take a step back and google shit that basic. I think all you have a responsibility to do is to laugh off the dumbest shit he says and see if he puts the effort in, because it's really as simple as him like asking a cis woman bestie or opening up a cosmopolitan from like 2005.

I was hooking up with this gay couple for several months and the first time we hooked up, the more masc guy of the couple had no fuckin idea how to angle penetration. it's like he thought my vagina was a slot on the front of my body lol. but by the second time we connected a month later, he had it figured out. it helped that his femboy partner had fucked cis girls before.

i kind of liked that the two of them truly saw me as a cis guy who just happened to have this slightly mystifying fun hole to play with; the masc guy asked me at what age i knew i was gay and we traded adolescent coming-out stories and there was never any wrinkle of them thinking of my experience having been different or that i hadn't thought of myself as a gay man even back then. it allowed me to really feel coherent and validated in a way i never had been before. all of which is to say i think it can be nice sometimes when a cis gay comes at you with a """gay""" perspective rather than a """"trans""" one, because that means they get the whole of you socially and relationally even if it means they have to google what squirting is at some point or whatever.

but it's cool if you see it differently. if anybody does have resources theyve found helpful feel free to put them in the notes.

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doctorprofessorsong · 2 days

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Hello! I recently watched The Winchesters and had a question, which I figured you could answer/discuss?

I'm aware that the show takes place in an Alt Universe, and that Spn's John never fell into the hunting life earlier, so he never knew Carlos personally. But still, it's still him — and he is not homophobic towards Carlos who is canonically bi. It can be argued that he just does not know, like he did not know about Carlos serving the Navy, but then what about Anton? We know Lata knows, of course. But has it been explicitly stated that Mary & John know too? And it's not like Carlos hides himself; he's open about his interests and that's amazing, but John is never portrayed as a Hater, no? Not in this sense in the show.

But we, as a fandom, have concluded that John is the reason for Dean's suppression of his own feelings — in general, and about being into men — but then... Carlos.

Did Dean assume his father would never approve? Because he never does of anything that has to do with feelings; it's always hunting and more hunting and revenge, of course. Is that what happened, rather than John actually being homophobic, he was a colossal failure of a parent who "just" pushed away his son(s) emotionally to a level where potential abuse and discouragement were more realistic than anything else? Does this also mean that when Dean does come out to John he would be supportive, at least, of this?

It's just been bugging me, is all.

Hoo boy. Throwing me an easy one before coffee, huh? :)

As a fun aside, there is a scene where a Carlos is mentioned in the mothership. It's not established to be the same Carlos in SPNwin, but the SPN episode was written by Robbie and he has acknowledged they are in his mind.

That doesn't get us to an answer, but it's nice to know that Dean and Sam possibly knew a version of Carlos.

Leading with the short answer to the actual question: what you have described regarding canon is a lot of assumptions and headcanons, which are fine and can absolutely be read as "John was just different in the different universes,' but I personally find that to be the boring answer. I think this fandom tends to write John as the evil bad dad, when a complex gray John is far meatier, so I'm often inclined to go deeper.

The answer I feel works better is the possibly unpopular opinion that we don't actually know John is homophobic at all and it's very possible Dean’s relationship with his father, while fraught with expectations in any number of ways, may not actually be driving his choice to live in the closet and/or his delayed realization of his sexual orientation. It's extremely possible John isn't homophobic at all. Dean may have read him that way or he may have felt pressure from external sources. These days my preferred reading tends to actually be something else entirely: that Dean knows he is queer and simply doesn't reveal it because he is of an era and a world where queerness is often not open and obvious to outsiders.

This is gonna be a long haul so I'm gonna pop in a courtesy cut and jump in. Don't worry. There WILL be headings and bullet points. Regret asking me yet? 😆

Is John homophobic?

Canon support

There isn't a ton of canon support for the homophobic John reading. That's not saying it isn't a valid reading. It's just that it's an interpretation and not fact. Here are the things I have seen or remember:

Martin and Tara - taking these together because they are a similar pattern. Both tell Dean his dad would be disappointed in him for running around with this male shaped monster (boyfriend). The textual reading is that John wouldn't want him running around with monsters. There is a subtexual reading that John wouldn't want him to have a boyfriend which is super valid. It just doesn't tell us much about John because 1. We know he was very black and white on monsters, 2. neither of these characters knows John that well. Tara got ghosted by him. It's possible this is a reflection of the larger hunter community (though possibly not even that). The point is it's canon evidence that can be taken either way.

Lee? A lot of people write that scene as John finding in them in a compromising position and I get it because Christian Kane and Jensen Ackles looked like they were about to sneak off to the bathroom, but the actual story is "You remember that time he caught us wasted on a Hunt? Hm? He was so mad, I-I thought he was gonna have an aneurysm." We know that John is really hard on Dean and Sam specifically because he chooses preparation for monsters over all (including their mental health) so this is absolutely consistent with his character regardless of any romance between them.

The nuns - this is not technically canon, but there is a story about John sending Dean on a solo hunt on his birthday to chase after queer nuns. First and foremost, I am noting this is sketchy from a canon/non-canon evidence perspective. It is something written and endorsed by SPN in the same way as the cartoon and the upcoming graphic novel. It's not fan fiction, but I would say it's not truly canon canon. But taking the evidence for what it is, it's interesting to note that in the journal John doesn't actually say anything homophobic. He describes the hunt as "Simple salt-and-burn mission. Nuns in love with each other, then discovered. Killed themselves." There's no commentary. No slurs. They were "in love." The real meat of the homophobia here is that he sent is queer son alone on his birthday to deal with them and it could be read as a message. That doesn't mean it's intended to be one.

That's all I can think of. It's not a lot and it's not definitive. It's perfectly valid to read it as support for homophobic John AND I think there may be some writer intent in the same way that monsters are often an allegory in the show and in media for queerness.

But it's also not a smoking gun. It's more of a unloaded gun with bullets next to it. So why do people think John is this super homophobic person?

Non-canon support and factors

There's a lot that goes into the interpretation of John that lies outside of the text.

His age and upbringing - He was raised in a time and place where acceptance of queer people wasn't exactly the default and then he went into the military which is also not exactly known for being particularly great for queer acceptance.

Classism - I say this gently to the fandom, but there is this idea that people who aren't in urban areas, and especially in poor rural areas must be homophobic. This comes up a lot in the Sam went to Stanford and is educated and therefore is a better ally headcanon. It's worth considering whether that is a factor here.

He raised his kids with military precision when he was around - there is no doubt that John was a hard man who treated his children like soldiers. A lot of people group gender and sexual orientation, especially when it comes to the gender aspects of masculinity where "be a man" and "be tougher" is frequently aimed at queer men. There's a lot of masculinity reinforcement for sure in the text and subtext of the show.

He's a bad dad and we're a bunch of traumatized queers with daddy issues. I know because I'm not only the owner, I'm a member.

I'm simplifying some of this, but there are a lot of factors that contribute to this reading and they are real and valid reasons. They just aren't textual and in some cases they are absolutely based in stereotypes. That's fine! Stereotypes aren't always incorrect. But they can be and it's worth wondering whether or not they are true.

There are plenty of people like John who are either not homophobic, or of the nature of it's fine if I don't see it variety of homophobia (which would actually be fairly logical to read into given the time and place of Dean's upbringing and the risk being openly queer presented especially for John who's priority is physical safety and preparation).

Personally, I find the lack of text to be fairly compelling, especially when we look at Dean's other behaviors, but that is my interpretation. I personally think John would have a problem with a monster boyfriend because of the monster bit, but doesn't give a fuck about the boyfriend bit except to the extent it may draw danger. I don't actually think John fits the rural strict father homophobic stereotype very well. He's not particularly religious. He doesn't seem to care what his kids do as long as they are safe and in the family business. He doesn't quiz Dean about where he was or who he was with.

I grew up in the South and have known a lot of homophobic parents in my day (including my own! See above). The pattern is often a parent who wants their kid to meet a certain social standard. Don't be gay because it will reflect bad on the family and you will go to hell. John shows negative interest in that arena.

He shows some of the don't be gay because it isn't manly aspects of that type of parent, but I also think a lot of people conflate masculinity with sexual orientation in this analysis. I say this specifically nodding to the Krikpe quote about umbrellas which in no way mentions being gay, but does mention being tough hunters not scared of demons. The text of that tweet and the story the fandom tells are two very distinct things.

It's very possible that those aspects of John's personality are part of why Dean performs tough het male so hard and that would be an aspect of what you are describing. I will also say however that Dean cries a lot. He's very open with his emotions and with caring for people. He's very good with people. Hes always been openly a caretaker. So he isn't performing masculinity so hard that those pieces of him are erased or hidden.

Why is Dean Like That if it isn't the daddy issues?

Let's look at this as if John wasn't openly and particularly notably homophobic. That is to say he had the casual homophobia of the 80s and 90s combined with a friend group of hypermasculine beer and bourbon drinking dudes with guns, but he wasn't, say, abusing Dean if he caught sight of potential gayness. Just to analyze the other question which is Dean's suppression of his feelings or denial of his queerness.

The fandom is not a monolith and I think there are lots of fans with lots of differing analysis in this arena, so I just want to again reiterate, this is all interpretation and headcanon! It's fine to fall anywhere in this spectrum.

Dean is Like That because he assumes he knows how his Dad would react

It's possible John talked about this idea that he has to get to an apple pie life long enough and made assumptions about the gender of his future partner, or that he was so neglectful or abusive, or that he made enough comments about being a "man" because he was worried about Dean being a victim, that Dean assumed his father would not support him. It's possible the canon events above where never intended to send a message to Dean that he still believed and read into them. That's not a criticism. We all interpret the things that happen to us. We are the ones who put meaning to an event, and that meaning may not match with the other person's intent. It doesn't make it invalid.

As you say, it may be a failure of parenting.

Dean is Like That because he grew up in the 80s and 90s

As someone who was born between Dean and Sam, I can say with the authority of experience that the 80s and 90s were a rough time to be queer. Like a really rough time. There were a lot of cultural things happening. Not to mention Dean had a rough upbringing.

HIV/AIDS - There are greater and more knowledgeable sources than me about this topic, but growing up during this time I can say that people were absolutely fucking awful about HIV/AIDS. We had school assemblies full of misinformation. Scores of people were dying and being told they deserved it. A lot of queer kids were internalizing the idea that queerness was a death sentence. I cannot actually come up with a good comparison in modern day. It was absolutely awful for the community, and the messages being delivered to kids was: "if you choose to be gay, you will die."

Casual homophobia - Remember when Misha used the f-word and people lost their fucking minds even though he was talking about lived experiences for most of us of a certain age? Yeah, that outrage was unimaginable to me as a kid. The idea that people would ever get to a point where the use of the word in a non-slur posture would even register. Slurs were thrown around all the time. People and things were "gay" and that was bad. Dean spent time being thrown from school to school and it would have been a massively important for him to come in performing cool masculine untouchable guy who enjoys women.

Dean lives in a transient space - He's constantly alone and in charge in places where someone might take advantage of him or Sammy. Being noticed and assumed weak is dangerous.

Counterpoint: Dean's upbringing may support more comfort rather than less with queerness, but it encouraged secrecy

To fully contradict myself, Dean was in transient spaces. That means he would have been interacting with more queer people than the average suburban or rural teen. He's in truck stops and no-tell motels. That boy met queer people. But he met people who were living in the shadows. This isn't unusual for that era. Queerness to dean was cruising and truck stops and one night stands in seedy motels. Something to be done but not to be seen.

Dean's reaction to queer people in canon supports this reading. He's never disgusted, but he's often surprised specifically about open and public displays of queerness. He tends to react to openly queer people with surprise and longing, but specifically most of his oh right there are queer people faces are reactions to open displays of queerness.

Even HIV/AIDS may have hit different in the hunting community. Dean didn't expect to live to an old age. I say this mainly because the lack of blood squick.

Consider a reading that he knows

We have so many lovely coded moments of queer Dean. The bathroom he disappears into. The way he gets clocked and doesn't deny it at times. Any denials he makes can be read to be situations where he doesn't know what the other person will react like.

I think it's very possible he isn't repressed at all! He just uses the closet as a shield or he doesn't share that information with people unless he wants to/trusts them/feels it's relevant to them.

PS DM me if you want to chat more and also I may have a discord of interest.

#the winchesters #spnwin #supernatural #john winchester #dean winchester #john winchester & dean winchester #daddy issues #cw homophobia #cw mention of HIV/AIDS

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nanaminokanojo · 2 days

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ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE | part 48

-meet cute? a cheesy musical number? forget it! love makes itself known to you through a minor car accident, a broken arm, and a treacherously charming temporary chauffeur

CHARACTERS: sukuna x you/reader | jjk characters

MASTERLIST | CHAPTER INDEX

<<prev part 48 next>>

A/N: Contains prose with panels in between. Mind the order.

"Don't you have anything to review for?" you asked Sukuna who was walking beside you on your way to the library. You were surprised to see him after your class, leaning against the wall and pushing himself off it the moment he saw you. He was sporting that usual smirk as he threw his jacket over his shoulder.

“I do my reading at my own time.” He walked beside you. “Mind if I tag along with you?”

“I’m going to the library. Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll go anywhere with you.”

“Your call.”

Your exams were coming and you had every plan to get in as much studying as you could on your breaks when you weren't hanging out with him and his friends. It was unexpected how your schedules seemed to have shifted from just minding your studies and your engagements with charities to adding socializing and actually investing time to be with them. You didn't regret a single thing about it, thankful that you've met them and they wanted you around just for the very purpose of having fun. It was good to have friends for once.

He glanced at you. "Getting sick of me now?"

"That's not what I meant." Your steps faltered, panicking for a second, but you calmed down when you saw how he was suppressing a snicker. You pouted at him. "I should be asking you that. You're the one being inconvenienced."

"No and no. Not in a million years." He slung an arm over your shoulder. "I wouldn't even be here if I didn't want to be."

Just as quickly as he had put his arm around you, he let go when this crowd of girls suddenly flocked around him like crows to a piece of meat. You immediately stood aside, immediately reading into whom they were after, smirking at his direction when you saw the helpless look on his face.

"Sukuna, you haven't been showing up at parties," one of the girls said, latching onto his arm while the others agreed, asking him one question after the other.

It got you thinking how many of them he had kissed like he kissed you, how many of them received his undivided attention which, although offered at a limited time, still counted in the same manner as yours did in that it was genuine human interaction. You may not be sleeping with him like all those other girls were but you were no different from them where your bond with Sukuna was concerned.

Almost the whole time since you got injured, his attention remained on you. You’d like to think he was paying special attention to you, but then he wasn't yours, and he may leave when you've recovered. So, why were you suddenly feeling strangely upset over the fact that these other females were surrounding him, treating him like they knew him better than you did?

"I'll be at the library," you told him, as you walked ahead. You didn't like what you were seeing, and although you couldn't do anything about how you felt, you had the choice and will not to act on it.

You've already found a seat at the farthest corner of the library you could find, your notes spread on the table in the organized manner you always do when he finally showed up. His arrival wasn't something you expected at all, but he was there anyway, pouting at you as he pulled out the chair beside you, trying hard not to make a noise. But his presence has always been loud, something that made itself known with the least effort, enough to fill your apartment with life whenever he was around.

"Why did you leave me out there, bunny?" he whispered. His lower lip jutted out, his chin on the heel of his palm.

Pretending to be busy with sorting your stuff out, you didn’t even look at him. “Sukuna, you’re whining.” You glanced at him when he didn’t say anything before turning your book to the next page. "You looked busy there. I didn't want to be a party pooper."

"That was hardly a party," he complained.

"It looked like it."

He just looked at you as if he sensed something off, but you pretended not to notice and continued reading. But then he asked, "Do you disapprove of my…uh…habits?"

You shook your head, glad that your opinion mattered enough for him to ask. "I'm not in any position to say anything…”

Your words hung in the air, promoting him to say, “But?”

“I can't say I'm for it either."

Sukun arched a brow at you, fighting a smile yet cautiously asking, "Why not?"

"Well, they're bound to haunt you someday, especially when they get in the way of things you want to achieve in the future."

“How?”

You shrugged, setting you book down. “What if you genuinely like somebody but they don’t agree with what you do? Or it gets in the way of you making connections you need for certain purposes.”

Sukuna grinned cheekily at you. "So, you worry about my future?"

Detecting his teasing tone, you brought your book down, meeting his gaze squarely. "Yes."

It was his turn to be speechless at your honest response, so you felt the need to explain yourself.

"I don't need reason just to wish you well even if you were a stranger. It's the same as not having any reason to wish you ill."

"How are you a real person? The world doesn't deserve you."

You just chuckled at his sentiment. "I'm hardly perfect, Sukuna, but I consider you my friend after all, the first one I made on my own," you lifted your injured arm, "although it needed a little push."

He pulled away slowly, confusion drawing itself across his handsome features. “Just a friend?” he asked, sounding disappointed, but you immediately saw through his ploy to mess with you.

“You’re really good at this,” you told him, shaking your head as you returned your attention to the book.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You didn’t satisfy that with a response, grinning to yourself instead.

TAG LIST: @catobsessedlady @kyo-kyo1 @junehasnotbeenfound @lavender-hvze @guacam011y @eyered @hellomeow12 @its-princessmara @light-yagami-l @domainofmarie @mythoscalliope @noble-17 @pheonix-eclipses @weebbuscuit @sukunasbudussy @lu-c1na @vinnieswife @the-haitani-baton @iaminyourfloors @needtoloveoutloud @r-ryuko09 @somestardeww @swirlingcurses @stayyyyyyyyyyyy21 @bronze-metal @iluv-ace @kidd3ath @multifandomloner @ichorstainedskin @ti-mame @hellyyy06

PHOTOS/IMAGES/GIF/FANART/ANY MEDIA CREDITS GO TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

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kennyomegasweave · 5 months

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10 BL Boys I Want Carnally

I was tagged by @bunnakit! Thank you! I've spent like HOURS thinking of who the 10 should be and then trying to find gifs for this post. Mama is on so many cold meds and put in work for something completely inconsequential. I had so much fun. I didn't know if it was supposed to be actors or characters, so I just did characters? lol Anyway, let's begin!

10. Tang Yi (Chris Wu) - History 3: Trapped

Man can wear a suit really well and I'm here for that. He also just looked expensive and I'm here for that as well. He was softer than he showed and I'm fond of hot people having hard candy shells but gooey centers.

9. Tan (Max Nattapol) - Manner of Death

Man was UNHINGED and HORNY for Bunn at all times. I'm into that shit. He also very much was doing illegal shit and can beat a bitch up. Once again, I'm into that shit.

8. Big (Nodt Nutthasid) - Kinnporsche: The Series

Look at that hair, eyebrow slit, and earrings. I don't believe I need to say anything else.

7. Li Cheng (Charles Tu) - History 4: Close to You

He's super cute, he's goofy, he's perfect.

6. Yi (Max Kornthas) - Naughty Babe & Cutie Pie

He's hot, he wears suits well, he's completely ridiculous, he's a blushing maiden whenever his man wants to have sex, he has beef with a chihuahua he was the one to buy, he's saltmates with his bestie, he proposed to his man like four times before they got married. I love him.

5. Techno (Mild Suttinut) - TharnType

He might actually be my favorite BL supporting character ever. Every single word out of his mouth was gold. He's cute, he's funny, he's dumb, he's a ride or die friend. As I always say, John Waters was so right when he said sometimes stupid and cute is enough!

4. Win (Boun Noppanut) - Between Us & Until We Meet Again

He's hot, he has tattoos, he has piercings, he has a trust fund, he is the most devoted boyfriend known to man, he loves his family. He's perfect.

3. Jim (Earth Pirapat) - Moonlight Chicken

Listen, I'm well into my 30s, so you know I just GOT Uncle Jim. I too have a tragic backstory with a dead ex, I too have a business (it was ROUGH AF during Covid times and still hasn't bounced all the way back), I too felt the "isn't it enough of a struggle that you're poor? you gotta be gay too?' even though that logically makes no sense, I too am closed off cat people, I too have had people be into me that I really tried to pretend I didn't notice cause it was gonna be Awkward. I just love Jim. I may not have loved this show, but I love Jim.

2. Kiyoi (Yusei Yagi) - My Beautiful Man

He's very cute. He's very weird. He's very into his equally weird boyfriend. I love this little weirdo, I don't even know what else to say

1. Michael Kiettisak - cheating and picking him in everything

I love him. I don't care. Gus in Till The World Ends was such a sweetheart that just loved his batshit insane brother and didn't deserve to go out like that. Bas in Call It What You Want didn't deserve ANYTHING he went through and yet he was still a precious bean. North gets 2 seconds of screen time in Pit Babe and I love him too.

Bonus: A boy that I don't want carnally because he is too young for me, but he is, in fact, Stupid Hot:

Pond is stupid hot. Palm is one of my favorite boys.

Tagging @negrowhat, @theflagscene, @rokklagio, @brazilian-whalien52, and anyone else who wants to do it!

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inkskinned · 8 months

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love when men cry about body hair bc "it's hygiene" and yet 15% of cis men leave the bathroom without washing their hands at all and an additional 35% only just wet their hands without using soap. that is nearly half of all men. that means statistically you have probably shaken hands with or been in direct contact with one of these people.

love when men say that women "only want money" when it turns out that even in equal-earning homes, women are actually adding caregiver burdens and housework from previous years, whereas men have been expanding leisure time and hobbies. in equal-earning households, men spend an average of 3.5 hours extra in leisure time per week, which is 182 hours per year - a little over a week of paid vacation time that the other partner does not receive. kinda sounds like he wants her money.

love that men have decided women are frail and weak and annoying when we scream in surprise but it turns out it's actually women who are more reliable in an emergency because men need to be convinced to actually take action and respond to the threat. like, actually, for-real: men experience such a strong sense of pride about their pre-supposed abilities that it gets them and their families killed. they are so used to dismissing women that it literally kills them.

love it. told my father this and he said there's lies, damned lies, and statistics. a year ago i tried to get him to evacuate the house during a flash flood. he ignored me and got injured. he has told me, laughing, that he never washes his hands. he has said in the last week that women are just happier when we're cooking or cleaning.

maybe i'm overly nostalgic. but it didn't used to feel so fucking bleak. it used to feel like at least a little shameful to consider women to be sheep. it just feels like the earth is round and we are still having conversations about it being flat - except these conversations are about the most obvious forms of patriarchy. like, we know about this stuff. we've known since well before the 50's.

recently andrew tate tried to justify cheating on his partner as being the "male prerogative." i don't know what the prerogative for the rest of us would be. just sitting at home, watching the slow erosion of our humanity.

#writeblr #warm up #ps edited so it is more clear where “half” of men is coming from:#15% literally don't even touch water #an ADDITIONAL 35% ''wash'' by just running their hands under water WITHOUT SOAP #15+35 =50%#like that is not washing ur hands. go back and use soap #btw the numbers for women are 4% never washing and 15% ''just water''#which is still gross but like. sooo much better yikes #ps i know we're all gay on this site but watching ppl ''correct'' my math on this has been wild #i have a learning disability im genuinely bad at math so i check EVERY time someone corrects me #but no they're just confidently wrong.....#182 hours is a week babes. 182/24 (number of hours in a day) is ~7.6 #that's where i got that number from. also from rent we know there's 168 hours in a week.#ALSO btw if u read this and ur response is ''men are also struggling rn tho'' like babe you missed the point of it tho #this doesn't even make fun of men it's legit just pointing out that bigotry against women isn't founded #in anything men actually CARE about . like they don't actually CARE about ''being clean'' when they make fun of armpit hair #or they would be WASHING THEIR HANDS.#men pretend to be rollin' in cash and Apex Predators and instead they are trained to be lazy and unwilling to act in emergencies #i have never and will never make fun of men for asking for more support on important topics like DV and mental health.#this is so clearly not about men; it's about how common just being plainly misogynistic has become.#like they don't try to hide it anymore.

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cuddlytogas · 3 months

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So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

#everyone say 'thank you togas' for not including a long tangent about evil rimmer in red dwarf 5x05 #Our Flag Means Death #Togas does meta #and yes these principles DO fall apart slightly in s2 and i DON'T like those costumes as much #don't get me wrong they're fun and gorgeous - but generally a bit less deep and more inaccurate. so. :(#I'm not sure this really says anything new about Our Flag but I just needed to get my thoughts out #i hate hate hate Gritty Period Drama costumes they're so boring and so ugly and so wrong #god bless OFMD for using more than 3 muted colours and actually putting men in heels (and not as a shorthand for rich/foppish villainy) <3 #looking at that Tudors still is insane like they really will go to any lengths to not make men feel like they've got bare legs XD #image descriptions in alt text #and yes i DID just sink about two hours into those so you'd better appreciate them

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mattodore · 11 months

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finally updated my game for growing together and the first thing i did when i opened cas was make this guy... say hi to rajan 👋

#river dipping #my sims #simblr #ts4 #ts4 edit #basically mia for two days bc i was updating my game and cc hunting for infants and fixing mods and i come back w/ this #WHO is he? you ask #...............................idk just some guy kdjfngsjdnkjnsdgk #literally no refs no aesthetic board just made this guy from scratch after i realized i forgot to update stand still in cas #which meant the infants were all glitched and i couldn't do anything with them #like i was annoyed so i just started fucking around in cas instead of fixing the problem jfgkdjhg #i've fixed it now tho (i think) so i'm loading the game back up as we speak!!!!#i actually wanted to check on some sweaters i recolored and then i'm gonna make a baby for the sole purpose of putting them in theo's arms #>:)#also yea i went through the trouble of updating everything knowing that horses drops soon <3 #i'll just wait another four months to update again 😁#...........also seriously this is just some guy i don't really have anything i need him for #i gave him outfits for all the categories too like....... why? idk but he was fun to dress #i'll probably throw him in either attilio's legacy gameplay (...pour one out for our forgotten men) or the new !! casual oc save #ALSOOOO need to edit the sim lush made me so it suits my sim style more and i'll put the sim in my saves too #i'll probably bring her back out whenever i DO update to horses kdjnhkjgnh i think her and attilio could be ranchers together

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corvidcall · 4 months

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sometimes you see a bad tweet and it makes you upset all day but you cant interact with it in any way because then twitter will just be encouraged to show you more bad tweets. but it did ruin my whole fucking day

#anime life #the tweet was something like #'MAYBE when trans women talk about how bad testosterone is its because of their own trauma #and its not about trans men because literally nobody was talking about you guys oh my god'#like... ok...?#but trans men can still HEAR you tho....#i don't think its fair to act like trans men are self obsessed professional victims or whatever just because you said something shitty #like yes it's from your trauma and not about trans men but. yknow.#if i post about how ugly my fat body is #just because its coming from a place of trauma and societal abuse doesnt mean my comments don't hurt the other fat people who hear it #anyway i think part of why it's stuck with me all day is because it made me feel so sad #sometimes it feels like no one cares about me but me yknow?#like no one cares about trans mascs but other trans mascs #and no one cares about fat people but other fat people #and no one cares about disabled people but other disabled people #i KNOW that isn't true!!!#factually that is false #but sometimes it really feels like people only care about me in as much as they care about telling me i better not start thinking i matter #as much as they do (people whose lives and problems and societal marginalizations ACTUALLY matter)#and then if you try to talk about your problems to explain how theyre real you just get made fun of #oh well. time to get under my weighted blanket and get real small #and try not to get entirely black pilled by the world lol

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lightningwaters · 1 year

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#dovewing #the three #thunderclan #the guardian cats #tribe of rushing water #loner #shadowclan #it's she!#the lady #i actually quite like making her alternate between masc and femme presenting #nonbinary dovewing bc i have to project onto her #if you notice the original three are all smiling while the reincarnated three are not #just a fun little thing #one of my favorites #i lovewing dovewing #used to dislike her when i was younger bc i hated her chapters that included tigerheart #but even tho i still don't like those chapters i get why they were necessary for her #at least tigerdove are really good parents almost to a fault with tigerheartstar #she unfortunately had to choose between two garbage men and couldn't be with briarlight 😔😔😔

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dimiclaudeblaigan · 2 months

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"yuri lowell is a manly heterosexual"

yuri lowell:

#DCB Comments #keeping this off my tales blog/out of tags bc i know the heteronormatives will come for me LOL #with their heteronormative v3speria dub (yes the dub actually altered/watered down #his relationship with a man probably bc it was too undertoney for them and western media is allergic to that)#not pictured in this post: the way yuri is used in official artwork with other tales characters #and is often surrounded by men. or the comic of him admitting he's popular with guys #also not pictured: the way yuri's alts for gacha games often feature flynn's color coding #and/or both of their color coding mixed into his outfit or accessories #also not pictured: the way yuri's wedding outfit alt is flynn color coded #also not pictured: the way yuri's bouquet in the other picture of his first outfit on this post #is almost identical to flynn's ''joke weapon'' bouquet of roses in the game #also not pictured: the entire gacha game of rays (that's based off respective game canon). i can't explain that to you in just tags #also yes yuri has a metal corset in that fourth picture. i don't... know many men who wear a corset #and the only other one i know in this franchise is in fact also the other main m/m pairing in the franchise #i also don't know many manly straight men who the character designers dress and style like this #i just want you all to know. if you're looking for a non heteronormative man. yuri has you covered #just maybe not so much in the dub just ignore that LOL. also worth mentioning that #japan gets a L O T of extra yuri material thanks to gachas merch and other official side material #everything in this post is official artwork and the last one is from this year #it's merch up for pre-order for t@lfes so yes they're still playing with his hair LOL #and yes if you ever pick up his game i am here to advertise to you not to play the dub (even tho the text will still sometimes be wrong...)#i am in fact writing giant lengthy posts abt it on my tales blog so i will not explain to you here in these tags #but the dub sapped yuri of so much emotion to make him seem cool and edgy and more of a troll #instead of playful fun and silly and just a dork but who is emotional when it matters #woe is them to let yuri's voice shake with heartbreak when he's worried abt a man!#i bet the localizers didn't even realize the entire opening theme song was abt yuri and another man and their relationship #maybe one day i'll make a fun post with all of flynn's color coding slapped all over yuri #also i BET there's someone out there who will see this and be like ''she's reaching''#yeah i guess the official gacha game is reaching then too with how it treats yuri and flynn the same as the franchise's canon het pairs

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pangolen · 8 months

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space monster isekai rambling in the tags

#reading the comments on space monster isekai #people dropping after the nth chapter complaining it's not explained why mc doesn't feel remorse about killing #when it... IS brought up. actually. a couple chapters later (if not in the very next one)#like sry not to defend the power fantasy isekai #but you can't complain about the author Not Explaining Something when you're not even reading long enough to get the explanation #i'm also. not sure why it needed to be explained. he's a space monster now.#the kind that eats anything that breathes.#(& tbh. part of why im keeping with this story is that he DOESNT feel bad about eating.)#('waaaugh i turned into a man eating monster and now i have to eat people :(((' <- is that what you want?#you want him to spend time being sad about something he can't control?#well i don't. i want him to eat people and go 'yay this is fun and it tastes good :)')#(and that's what i'm getting. so.)#anyway the most valid critiques i've seen are 'there's no women' and 'the villains are cartoonishly evil'#these are both true #though in later webnovel chapters it seems like the author is slowly ? including more women ?#('later chapters' as in... some 20-30 chapters in)#not that it super matters though because everyone gets eaten in the end #and there are still Not Many. however. the women have tended to have bigger roles than the men #it kinda feels like the author got complaints about this and then started adding women in #interestingly nearly every woman introduced has been The Most Powerful in whatever group she's in #i think adding in some normal-ass women would also be good but yknow baby steps #and then for the cartoon villains........ i mean yeah it's pretty goofy #you can kinda handwave it if you pretend it's because theyre technically video game characters #but you Kinda Know. the author is just really young and doesn't have a good grasp on how malintentioned ppl act irl #oh well #like someone else in the comments said: after the author gets some more stories + life experiences under their belt #they'll probably put out some pretty good stuff #and tbh!! i'm still having fun :)#pangorambles

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depresseddepot · 2 years

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the way i try so SO hard to gain even a crumb of body neutrality only to then see some shit on twitter that remind me that oh yeah. a distinct portion of the population genuinely believes they are being discriminated against when they have to look at or be within 50 feet of a fat person

#the amount of times ive heard my skinny friends call themselves fat and disgusting to my face without considering the implications #i saw some tweet that just like. had a fat person in the video and ALL of the responses were men making fun of her #like. yes i realize my life would be so much better if i was born with a faster metabolism. thank you for reminding me #yes i realize i am not treated seriously because i am fat #that sort of incredulous look skinny people give you when you have the audacity to sit near them on the bus or ask for directions #like they're shocked you weren't some round thing that was in their sights for 2 seconds to make fun but disappeared #i am trying very hard not to let it get to me but when so many people seem to think the same thing it feels stupid #likei know i dont see people the way allosexuals do but are fat people really so disgusting that they feel like they can say shit like that #its so so frustrating #if i am going to die alone because of my own failings i can learn to accept that #but if i die alone because i can't find anybody that doesn't think fat people are worthless then what is the fucking point lmao #''people irl dont actually think that'' i cant count on 1 hand the amount of skinny people who have lamented about their weight to my face #someone brings in cookies to work and as im eating one someone skinny says ''well. i really don't need the extra calories so ill pass''#someone skinny checking out diet/exercise books because they ''REALLY have to lose some weight''#no they aren't talking about me/to me but how detached from your surroundings do you have to be to shit on yourself for your weight #like. even if i was skinny they're still talking about how gross and ugly they are around kids #''love your body and your self!!!1!!1'' okay then stop calling yourself disgusting regardless of how much you weigh.#you can think if if you want but god that 12 year old girl in line behind you is going to remember that forever #she is going to internalize ''oh okay. thats what a disgusting body looks like''#andthen she'll grow up and hate herself and continue the fucking cycle #just stop. stop talking about your weight around kids. i dont need 60 yo women telling me they're gross when they weigh maybe 150 lbs #i know this is super unhealthy but i literally cannot wait until i can move out and isolate myself from society #because every second i try to engage with it is literal torture #yall are so mean for no reason #i dont really have much to live for #but it would be helpful if skinny people didn't constantly reiterate that there's no point to living if you aren't skinny #im so tired #vent

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bubonicpain · 9 months

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Bad news lads.... i didn't like the Barbie movie.

I'm gonna rant about my take in the tags please don't send me messages for why I'm wrong this was my personal take away if you don't like it and it makes you mad please just block me.

#my heart is broken #i was so excited so hype i thought i was gonna love it #i thought all the reports being like ''they says they hate men'' were anti feminist reactions #but no this movie is misandrist as fuck #the moral really is ''oh well men rule the real world so women deserve to rule this world and the kens can fuck off and get over it''#when the kens were literally never oppressors #even when they got patriarchy its presented as a disease they caught not as genuinely having power and using it against a vulnerable group #the kens don't get a happy ending the barbies dont have Anything change except one of them is gone now cause she decided she wanted a pussy #barbie spoilers #weird barbie was fun #we didn't get enough of the discontinued barbies #they tried to half ass a conclusion for ken by setting him free of his romantic pining and giving him permission to just be ken but like #he's still homeless #he's still unskilled #he still lives in a world where he isn't accepted anywhere and is hated everywhere just because he's a ken #''actually inequality is good when we do it but we should be kinda nice to them too so they don't try to revolt again i guess''#i really liked the aesthetic i really liked the acting i really really love the inclusion of the real stuff #as in the Barbie things like the outfits by name and the specific barbies from specific lines #this movie was fine if you want to turn your brain off and watch someting pink its great #i did enjoy myself #i will be getting it and watching it again #again please don't send me anything explaining why you disagree #this is only so i could get my thoughts out there so i can hopefully think about them less #but i dont want a discussion people are allowed to disagree

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mishkakagehishka · 10 months

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Me when i dream of lil Mika but it's another nightmare

#and this one was so stressful bc like #i dreamt he was indeed my s/o but he was so controlling #like i was so stressed out felt like a trapped deer trying to gather a support circle so i can get away from him and he just kept ruining it #all for me. fucker learnt my native lang just so he could monitor my conversation with my family🤕#at one point he made me agree to marry him and dream me did just bc she was absolutely terrified of him????#girl just beat his ass ?????????#but like jokes aside i'm still in that ''just woke up from a nightmare'' mood so i still feel the adrenaline so i still get #why he was so scary like. i didn't know he knew my lang until he threatened me and told me i'm not allowed to speak to #my family anymore (bc i tried to get my dad to help me) and he was very. pushy with se.xual stuff #which like here's a fun fact but i'm a hypochondriac and i find it very hard to bond with people so i just kinda #accepted that i'm waiting for marriage (which is easier to explain than ''i need to REALLY trust you'' and agreeing to marriage is on that #level anyway) so when i TRIED to get him to stop by telling him i don't want to before i have a ring it did fuck-all to stop a guy #who was just like ''well we ARE getting married so what's the problem''😔😔😔😔#i woke up before he did anything tho which i'm thankful for bc every time i dream of being sa'd it feels like it reopens old woundd #and it takes me a while to actually calm down from it #i will say tho. it's a vibe to dream of thingd you consider hot in concept but terrifying irl (controlling/abusive men <3)#bc like you know in-dream it FEELS like it's real life i really didn't care that it was Mika and he's not real it was reality for me #and so it was terrifying i was crying every time i'd get a hope of getting away from him he'd ruin it for me very swiftly etc etc #like i'm still stressed out. but. the concept? like now that i know i'm safe and none of that was real? i just think o-kayyyyyyyyy #lmfjsjsnmemdksks i'm hopeless. but not really! confirmation i'm actually normal just like certain things from the safety of fantasy

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colorfuldream · 10 months

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Random Barbie thoughts:

Seeing people say that Ken represented women in Barbie but IMO while the KenS represent how women are treated (explicitly stated, I can't believe how many people somehow miss it), Ken himself represent men. Men who can't really take no for an answer even though you make it clear you won't date them. Men insecure and vulnerable who end up falling into incel/right-wing ideology. Men performing what they think is expected of them and suffering because of it.

And, you know, even though Ken suffers in Barbieland, he's still treated better than Barbie was in the real world. He suffers, he struggles, he's unhappy. And that's shown. That's integral to the story. But guess what? Barbie's own suffering is also shown. Even though it's the focus, it doesn't take away from Ken's. Both men's and women's sufferings are shown at the same time, none of them negate the other. There's not one greater than the other. It's just that the main focus is on Barbie's, and thus women's, suffering. We don't forget about Ken's, about men's, of course but it's not Ken The Movie. He's not the main topic. The movie is about the place of women in society, Barbie discovering herself and her place in it, what being human is.

And that's why people calling him the main character is so deeply gross. Ignoring completely EVERYTHING in the movie to focus on the man and his struggles. Ken was the antagonist. He wasn't the villain, but his actions were antagonistic. (Yes, the overall bad guy is the patriarchy and toxic masculinity but Ken was used to represent them, even though he didn't like it). That's why people like him, we usually gravitate towards the antagonists, especially now that they're more sympathetic and understandable.

We saw him fall into that rabbithole. So we feel attached. But also he didn't have the most development like some people say. Even after losing, he still wanted to be with Barbie and confessed he did all that because of her. He was at the same point as the beginning of the movie, only more open about it. Barbie is the one telling him that he needs to learn to be himself and that he shouldn't live only for her. She's sharing what she learned with him and telling him he needs to be his own person. And THAT is when he will develop as a character. THAT is Barbie's own development shining.

(It's a bit ironic IMO because even his growth is caused by Barbie and not by himself. However they've been established as dolls and have a weird way of thinking. Barbie only deviated because of the person playing with her. Not many people play with Ken dolls so it would be difficult for him to realize he can be his own person too. My own personal interpretation is that because he couldn't achieve this realization on his own, he did everything he did in the movie instead of questioning everything like Barbie did. Anyway!)

Ken was hilarious. He's the comic relief. He was the goofy antagonist. The fact so many people adore him shows that the movie worked at least partly. The jokes landed. But he's not the whole movie. If you stop thinking, if you don't bother seeing beyond the jokes, then you're stupid. I'm sorry but it's true. Critical thinking is a thing. The movie was crystal clear about its themes, its messages, its metaphors. You have to be purposefully obtuse to ignore everything but the funny man on screen in such a movie. I guess some men related to Ken, what he represented, and his struggles more so that's why they ignore everything else?

Anyways, I'm leaving it there because it's messy and ramble-y. Originally, I was only going to talk about what was in the first paragraph. I think it's really fun and incredible what the Barbie team managed to do! They put in so many things in a simple-to-understand movie. One character can represent so many things all at once! Thinking about it scratches an itch in my overthinking brain.

#ondina's text posts!#barbie #barbie movie #ken barbie #fun fact I went to see the movie two weeks or so ago with my two brothers and my older brother (25) is STILL complaining about it and how #men were badly represented and overall misunderstanding the movie... jfc dude. also if you hate it so much stop talking about it??#had to listen to him my dad and uncle (over 50 and over 40) talk about it and feminism... Don't we love hearing men talk about that #I could see he didn't like it in the first place because we usually joke around in the car after and he was super calm #I could have cut the tensio #tension with a knife.#satire and 'girly' aesthetic isn't for everyone yes but the actual message is so clear #how do you misunderstand a kid's movie

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