#cw: misogyny | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

asha-mage · 3 months

Note

Lesbian Rand AU?

[Send me a potential AU and I'll answer with five things from that story!]

Oh boy, here we go-

A lot depends on the setup. A big part of Rand's character is reckoning with the failures of his past life and the foundation of a lot the interesting ways Jordan interrogates the gender binary is built on the idea that those mistakes are a remix of Paradise Lost/The Fall. LTT is at both at once Eve and Lucifer. Eve in that he acts without the consent or permission of his other half (Latra Posae Decume- the Adam of this version) and runs of on his own in defiance of her will. Lucifier in that in his pride, he believes he can match or surpass the Creator, by attempting to Seal the Bore with only saidin. As a result, paradise is lost- the AoL is destroyed in the breaking by LTT's sin, an entire Age results where all men take the blame to a greater or lesser extent, for the original sin of one man. Of course, Jordan isn't just running with this premise as simple fact- he's interrogating the idea of original sin, salvation, and redemption and raising inherent and complicating questions. Does it make a difference that LTT's intentions where pure and genuine? That he didn't know and couldn't have predicted the consequences of his actions? How does Rand suffering for LTT's do any justice to those who suffered and died in the Breaking? Is chasing the splendor of an Age that could shatter so even a worthwhile endeavor, or should the focus be on building letting go of the past and building something new? Does that mean forgetting and forgiving and is that fair?

All this to say is that, I think for a Lesbian Rand AU to work the story would probably need a reversed gender dynamic to the one that is present in the books- which I don't know that I could ever write both because it would veer very uncomfortably close to the most misogynistic elements of our own historical societies, and probably have to exceed them in brutality to work (something I'm not very good at, since a lot of my world building energy is usually directed at reshaping and re interpenetrating those historical societies through more queer and equitable lenses), and because a lot of what I connect to in Rand's story has a lot to do with the specifically queer male reading of it. That said if I could or would do that, I think it could also work very effectively as a queer female reading in the same thematic ways.

Rand and male channelers in general in the WoT verse already full fill a lot of the tropes commonly associated with medieval witches- individuals tainted by otherworldly power that is poorly understood and inherently transgressive to the gender roles of their society, as well as threat to the established social order (to put it mildly). It's not hard to translate that to a theoretically tainted saidar and the feelings of a resulting broken world onto a theoretical female Dragon. Rand in this context fulfills a pretty familiar role- Joan of Arc, Himiko of Yamatai, Elizabeth Woodvile, etc- savior and hero to some, witch and monster to others.

My brain of course goes to female Mat to be Rand's love interest in this AU- trickster and guile heroine. Mat's specific brand is easy to imagine transcending into a female character in a strict patriarchy, both because Mat's role in the series is already pretty gender transgressive (as befits a trickster shapeshifting archetype), and because it's easy to imagine again that simmering homoerotic temptation Mat and Rand's relationship inherently invokes, but gender flipped: Mat representing a liberation a refusal of the traditional gender roles that Rand can't quite decide if she truly wants or only wants because she was raised to want them. Rand specifically being homosexual rather then my bisexual head canon means that, I would probably air on the side of it being compulsory heterosexuality/heteronormativity- and genuinely wanting the life of adventure and liberty offered by Mat's promises of running away together.

I could also see Min (again as her Gender Weird makes her surprisingly easy to translate into a traditional patriarchy without loosing core elements of her character) as Rand's love interest- again in largely the same role as the series. Someone who Rand could just be....herself around, who couldn't overawed or terrified or brow beaten into seeing a monster, but rather just a person- a woman sacred and overwhelmed and being crushed by the expectations of a savior, and all the fears of being a monster. Conversely I don't know that either Avihenda or Elayne's relationships would still function the same- not without flipping their genders as well which defeats the idea of the premise. A few extra thoughts (since 1 and 2 are basically just big disclaimers)-

While I find the idea of Lesbian Rand having to learn from Short Gay Ball of Anger Uncle Moiraine very funny conceptually (Moiraine is already a pretty strong riff of mentor characters like Obi Wan and Gandfalf, but genderflipped, and I find the idea flipping that back but keeping the more unique aspects of Moiraine's character to be interesting), I also can't help but find the idea of Moiraine as an older, slightly rattled/mad, female wilder Moiraine with the same motivation as in the series just as intriguing as a mentor figure to Lesbian Rand. It would give the entire series a very different vibe, but that's just a natural outcome of the premise as well. I once said Moiraine is a woman who, if she had be born into a patriarchy would have easily been burned as a witch- but the truth is, the idea of Moiraine as a witch to clever to burn, a witch who is surviving the curse of her power, and struggling to see the savior who may yet be able to reverse that curse and save their world...their is an Appeal There.

It's scary conversely, how easy it is to fit the Aes Sedai in general into a gender flipped Randland, and I think speaks to how effectively Jordan wrote them and their institutionally flaws. Mired in traditions, secure in their power, comfortable in ordering the world to their will- a mix between the Catholic Church and an order of magi, angry and resistant to reform and change that alters the base of their power, presided over by ancient and yet ageless cabals of entrenched elders. The scene, easily one of my favorites, in the series, in Fal Dara, is almost sickeningly easy to imagine with the genders flipped- a young woman still bright eye and scarred of what she is and what she is capable of, with three thousand years of tales of women going mad from power, declaring themselves the Dragon falsely in greed and lust for power and leaving the world to suffer for it, walking into a a room with three ancient wizards who tell her that this is her fate, to be this messiah and destroyer both, it hits sharply and exactly the right way.

Again, I don't know that I would do it, and I find what Jordan is doing with gender and sexuality already int he Wot Books inherently more interesting and....less....I don't know sticky? But it's a fun thought exercise.

#WoT #Wheel of time #WoT fanfic #AU Ask Game #WoT Book Spoilers #AMOL Spoilers #Rand al'thor #min farshaw #mat cauthon #cauthor #randmin #moiraine damodred #cw: sexism #cw: misogyny #discussed anyways #I'm a littttttle hesitant to post this one #As I am very much Not A Woman so it's hard for me to speak to this idea/experience #But it was a exercise that got me thinking pretty heavily and helped me articulate some of my complex thoughts #about the way Jordan writes gender #again I don't know that I could ever write as violently a patriarchal world as this au would necessitate #I struggle just to write in the HoTD world sometimes #but again I think it shows the strength of the world Jordan created that a lot of the core store would survive if you flipped the genders #and in some ways it would be...a lot more familiar to us and our sensibilities #which of course is why is why I think it shines the way it's written #anyways enough rambling

16 notes · View notes

sealz888 · 3 months

Note

Fallout headcanons for Vulpes 🥺

I'm trash I know

Thank you for your ask! I didn't realised I had this many thoughts on him compiled. I hope you enjoy these.

Heads up! Content warnings for Domestic Abuse, Domestic Violence, Misogyny, Slavery and general legion stuff. Triggering content is below the cut.

He has Oculotaneous Albinism, specifically Type 1b, explaining his white hair and light eyes, but his tan face. For the unaware and if I may cringe for a few moments, there are multiple types of Albinism, each with different effects and caused by different genes.

Doesn't actually know what a fox is, only donned the moniker after an older soldier nicknamed him. It's actually a coyote head.

He has to dye his hair often and use contacts as his OCA made him stick out like a sore thumb, especially in the Mojave, making it hard for him to infiltrate and spy. Keeps it short for the same reason.

His father actually joined the legion out of his own volition. His father grew up in a misogynistic society and resented his wife and Vulpes' Mother. However, for reasons below the cut, they were actually booted.

His mother gave birth to 3 girls after him.

Due to his abusive family life, he became extremely sneaky, carrying on his legion life. They noticed this and instead of punishing him, they doubled down, training him into a frumentarii.

When he was 7 his family assimilated into the legion, and his mother was pregnant with his third sister. After her birth she ""disappeared under mysterious circumstances"" and Vulpes' never saw her again. (see below cut)

Told his sisters stories to '''help''' them sleep, these stories were actually just him describing what monsters would brutally kill and eat them if they didn't sleep.

A year or two later, his father died in battle. Vulpes' never really cared for his family or bonded with his sister, considering he was dragged out of their lives for training. He was ecstatic when his father carked it, hated the fucker.

Actually managed to get his sisters to be given as wives, not really slaves somehow. I guess because he was related to him by blood and they were slaves, I guess, he was a slave too by proxy.

Had to keep it under wraps, however, considering his cold-hearted rep.

TRIGGERING CONTENT BELOW THE CUT! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

He would often beat her and abuse her in displays of power in front of a young Vulpes' whose name at the time was Michael. Much of his mother's horror and father's admiration, he also began abusing his mother.

He would somewhat tolerate her before she gave birth to Vulpes, appalled that she birthed a '''""ghoul with skin""" and that she couldn't give birth to a normal child. It only got worse and worse as his sisters were born. Vulpes' was also abused for this, but stood proud of his appearance.

His father actually drowned his mother after she gave birth, he had a sneaking suspicion he killed her based on how much disdain he had for her, but doesn't know if it's confirmed.

11 notes · View notes

midnightshade · 1 year

Text

Exploring the Darker Themes in Jujutsu Kaisen and Their Narrative Importance

CW: Incest and Misogyny

Jujutsu Kaisen is a series coated in horror imagery and it has never shied away from exploring dark and taboo subject matter. Two recurring themes in this series are incest and the treatment of women

Incest is prevalent in Jujutsu Society, particularly for the Nobles, where it seems to be more or less normalized. Naoya openly talks about viewing both Maki and Mai as "attractive and buxom," and we even have an interview from Gege, where he expressed that Mai's first crush was either Megumi or Maki.

It isn't uncommon amongst nobility to prioritize "blood purity" by marrying within the family, but it makes sense for this idea to be so prevalent amongst Jujutsu Sorcerers who are obsessed with passing on inherited Techniques.

Outside of nobility, we see this same scenario play out with Mei Mei and Ui Ui. Their relationship is never commented on by outsiders, suggesting it's viewed at least partly as normal in that society

But Gege doesn't just put these scenes in for shock value, they serve a purpose. Jujutsu Kaisen, despite being a Shounen, is a mature story. Dark material is often used to inform the reader about the deeper meaning behind the characters and the world. It's meant to make you think.

Jujutsu Society is corrupt and decadent, controlled by out-of-touch and regressive elders who care more about power and status than anything else. The structure is flawed, as we see addressed through characters like Gojo, Nanami, and Geto respectively.

We see this even further in how Jujutsu Society treats women.

Momo summed it up perfectly in her speech to Nobara. Women are not allotted the same luxuries as men. In order to be taken seriously as a Sorcerer, they have to be perfect. They need to be both beautiful and powerful.

This trend is only further explored through the lens of the Noble Houses. The Zen'in actively look down on women and see them as lesser to men, a belief Naoya often espouses. Meanwhile, the Kamo had no issue with using Noritoshi's mom as a concubine, using her solely for her womb to birth an heir before kicking her out.

Women are seen as exploitable commodities and have to work twice as hard in Jujutsu Society to earn respect. Kenjaku, as Noritoshi Kamo, exploited a scared young woman for her Technique, using her to satisfy his own curiosity so he could make the Death Wombs. Even when he was found out, the concern was placed more on the scandal of the Cursed Items that were made rather than the treatment of the mother.

He later went on to violate the body of Kaori Itadori, using her womb as his own for the sole purpose of birthing a perfect vessel for Sukuna.

Uro Takoko, a Heian Era Shaman who managed to earn the esteemed title of the Head of the Sun, Moon, and Stars unit of assassins for the Toh, a Noble Clan who essentially controlled all of Japan back in the day, took the fall for a crime she didn't commit and was tossed aside.

Tengen, despite being a woman herself, has young women sacrifice themselves in order to merge with her and reverse her evolution, essentially disregarding their autonomy and using them as a tool. Riko herself was treated as less than human for her title as a Star Plasma Vessel, her death being treated as more of an inconvenience than a tragedy.

Both of these aspects tell the reader about the true state of Jujutsu Society and just how rotten to the core it truly is. It's uncomfortable, but it's meant to be. Corruption that runs this deep is meant to unsettle and disturb.

However, as dark as this series can be, there is always hope. Part of the beauty and maturity of Gege's writing is how he acknowledges both sides of humanity, the good and the bad.

Yūji and Sukuna's struggle in the most recent chapters illustrate that despite the pain of living, humans still fight for happiness in a world that's often set on taking it away.

Toji, despite being an assassin who murdered a teenage girl in cold blood, also gave up his son to a family he personally hated in hopes that he would have a better chance at life there than with him.

Geto was driven mad by the very same system that exploited people like him. For all the pain he caused, he wished for a world where Shaman wouldn't have to fight and die for an oppressive majority. He wished for freedom and safety for his people.

Even villains like Sukuna and Kenjaku have their moments of humanity. Where Gojo chided Jogo for being weak, Sukuna earnestly praised his strength in battle.

Kenjaku praises both Mai and Miwa for their skills, two women who were seen as lesser by the community they live in. He also praises Yuki's talent and genuinely thanks Sasaki for being nice to his son

Elements of darkness can bring depth to stories, and shying away from it is to ignore a core part of humanity as a whole. You can't fully appreciate the light without first accepting the dark.

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #forbidden writings #jjk meta #cw: misogyny

48 notes · View notes

t0rschlusspan1k · 17 days

Text

I'm currently watching this series of lectures Prof. Mary Beard gave at the University of Edinburgh four years ago about Roman Society (the title is The Ancient World and Us: from fear and loathing to enlightenment and ethics). I was very absorbed by it until I got to the episode called Lucretia and the Politics of S*xual Violence. It's extremely painful watch as a woman but it's a very interesting video, absolutely necessary - dare I say - to understand our history (I'm finding out so many things I had no idea of, even if I had already heard about certain events or celebrated historical figures), as much, if not a bit more than the previous ones...

But I couldn't help but notice how this particular episode has only half the likes compared to the ones I saw before it, even the one about whiteness, white etho-centrism and racism in classical history and settings, which is always such a controversial, inflammatory topic.

Here is the link anyway, for those who are interested. And here is the playlist for the entire series of lectures (believe me, it's totally worth your time!).

#text #history #Prof. Dame Mary Beard #Mary Beard #women's history #women in history #cw: suicide #cw: r*pe #Roman history #cw: misogyny #University of Edinburgh #The Ancient World and Us #cw: victim blaming #cw: forced consent

4 notes · View notes

plexflexico · 5 months

Text

youtube

Yes, it's almost 4 hours long. You should still probably watch this.

#hbomberguy #plagarism #cw: misogyny #cw: misgendering #cw: identity erasure #cw: a massive asshole who steals people's work and really really really hates women so much he makes up women to hate #cw: a blitheringly stupid fucking twit #(not harris. harris is great. the above cw's are about the back half of the video.)#Youtube

6 notes · View notes

blorbocedes · 2 years

Note

my cant ever say on main yukierre headcanon is pierre will hook up with yuki but its only gay if you bottom so he's very much stick it in, get off and no kissing

for my girlies who can't say it on main 🥰

cw: internalized homophobia, bad sex, dirtbag Pierre, healthy dose of misogyny, heed tags ye who enter

Yuki always hangs around Pierre when he takes him to clubs in Rouen. Obviously it makes hooking up with girls difficult when Yuki's sticking to him like they're a two for one deal — and they're not.

It's fucking annoying -- especially cause there's girls who'll go for Yuki, obviously, language barrier isn't a thing when it comes to starfucking; Pierre doesn't get why Yuki doesn't just go for it, Pierre's more than happy to translate the basics -- 'do you know who I am?' 'I'm kind of a big deal.' 'Your place or mine?' He still drags Yuki along though, he wants to be the one giving him these experiences. They're racing drivers, he needs to learn to act like one.

It always ends like this, they're back at Pierre's apartment -- no girls in tow because of Yuki's clinginess. And well, when Yuki's giggly drunk like this he's kind of like a girl — except not at all, cause he's sturdy and muscled in al the wrong places and distinctly masculine even when his voice is high pitched and moaning 'Pierre' when he has him shoved into the bed. But for this to work, Pierre flips him around, focuses on how tiny Yuki is; like a girl, when he's on his stomach like this, ass up, he could be any of the girls in Pierre's Instagram vying for a piece of him. A hole's a hole, and it doesn't matter as long as Pierre is the one inside -- as long as Yuki's moans are muffled into the pillow and Pierre doesn't need to think -- just skin on skin, chasing the pleasure building at the pit of his stomach, ignoring no girl ever feels this tight when they take it up the ass. At least with Yuki it's far easier to get some. He owes it to him, after cockblocking him the whole night.

"Tu es une pute, une salope, et tellement ingrate!" Pierre grunted into him, watching his hole clench around his cock, take him in like he can't get enough. It's fucking pathetic, Pierre would never let a teammate humiliate like him this — taking cock like he was born to. Pierre leans over to pull his hair as he thrusted inside him, the arch of his back along with the dimpled hips was gorgeous, like Pierre's 19 year old Instagram models. Alpha Tauri was a fashion brand, maybe that made Yuki an Instagram model too. He certainly got fucked like one.

When Pierre finishes, he pulls out -- leaving Yuki breathless, sweating, reddened and untouched throbbing cock. Pierre doesn't offer, it's kind of fucking gay to jerk another guy off -- even if he and Esteban did it as horny teens, but they'd been watching porn; with tits and pussy so that cancelled it out. Yuki knows what he signed up for and it's not fucking romance. One of these nights, he's gonna go for one of the girls and Pierre will finally be free of the dead weight and pity fucking. He's really doing him a favour by making sure they both got some.

Until then, Yuki can take care of himself to get off. Pierre checks his Instagram dms.

#my fics #f1 rpf #cw: internalized homophobia #cw: misogyny #dirtbag yukierre #blorbocedes ask #what if I took the happy go lucky sweet happy and made it not that?#give me praise or give me death

60 notes · View notes

aseriesofunfortunatejan · 2 months

Text

Viewing women's bodies as inherently sexual is 100% a learned behaviour. We're out there literally telling little boys that "girls need to cover up their bodies, because their bodies are inherently sexy", that "girls who don't cover up are asking to be sexualised". Of course they'll associate a girl's body to sexualisation when they have no other reference for what is sexual. Tell a little boy "girls' bare shoulders are inappropriate" and he'll go "oh okay" because you're his only source for that information. Even the boys who will pick up on it being unfair that boys' shoulders are considered fine will internalise that they can just do whatever they want while girls can't. And obviously they don't have the tools to actively deconstruct that while they're children.

There's a long road ahead of us if we're hoping for a world where the majority of men don't have these internalised biases. But the path starts with actively letting little girls be equal to little boys. No, your little offspring isn't automatically distracted by his classmate's short dress. He's only distracted because you told him it meant something and he believed you - be it directly, or when you told that little girl to cover up.

And if I'm focusing on what is being taught to boys in this post, it fills me with rage how willing we are to traumatise little girls from a young age. How much we look at little girls as "future women", as "future objects of desire", and nothing else. This is why I'll walk down a street, and no matter what I'm wearing, be viewed as nothing but meat. This is why when I was the first girl in my class to have breasts at 10 years old, the assumption was suddenly made that I had sex with adult men. We are continuing to teach the men of tomorrow that women's bodies are inherently sexual objects.

#cw: misogyny

3 notes · View notes

writernopal · 8 months

Note

Nopal! Please, please tell me more about lizardfolk women - I don't recall seeing them on page that much?

What's the current fashion? What's their typical role in the society? Anything else about them you want to share?

Sam! Thank you for the ask!!

Oh my Lizardfolk ladies! This is going to be SUPER LONG because this topic is so loaded and you are getting me so STARTED on it lol so I'll put most of it under a cut because I have A LOT to say! i think you may have just unlocked the longest info-dump/unprompted close reading of my own work so congrats lol Before we get into the meaty lore, I'll address this point!

I don't recall seeing them on page that much?

This is both intentional and something that happened as a by-product of who the main characters are in AASOAF. Let me explain.

CW: misogyny, aggressive patriarchy, mentions of enslavement

AASOAF is primarily told through the lens of Mariel and Axtapor, joined later by the POV's of Fay and Wilkes in AASOAF 2 and 3, but of that cast, Axtapor is the closest to typical Lizardfolk society and experience. But here's the thing: he's a male and because he was brought up in the highly patriarchal system of Lizardfolk, he (and we as readers) start the series from that perspective. That is, mostly blind or flat out ignoring the experience and role of women in Lizardfolk society aside from reciting the surface effects that directly impact him and his experience as a man.

To quote him from AASOAF 1:

[My grandmother] had always resented my grandfather for turning her children into cruel, unfeeling people. Her daughters were not that way, but she never saw them again after they were wed. That was customary since a wife should live with her husband to raise his children and support his clan. As a result, she was left surrounded by her sons, and sons were rarely influenced by their mothers in The Empire. Most men saw them as a bother more than anything. I know I certainly did. My own mother was a stifled, sad creature who had to simper and bow just right lest she offend my father. It was exhausting to bear witness to. And grandmothers were, more or less, nonexistent to their grandsons, making the relationship that my grandmother and I had a strange one. They didn’t form connections with them, let alone write and visit with one another as we did. I was well past marrying age too. If there should be anyone I should be spending time with of the opposite sex, it should be my wife.

There are a few other instances where in AASOAF 1 when he speaks about women in a pretty derogatory/selfish and frankly, misogynistic way that reflects his upbringing:

In the past, I’d never imagined a woman doing anything for me beyond being intimate. And it had never mattered to me if a woman enjoyed being in my company or if she wanted to spend time doing simple things with me. Their opinions of me also didn’t matter too much so long as I was satisfied...

I narrowed my eyes in her direction. She wasn’t even in half-mourning. Husbands had the option to be in half-mourning after the passing of their wives, but wives weren’t given such a choice.

This, along with the intentional omission of their mention is not only meant to construct Axtapor's character, especially because these criticisms are largely omitted when he speaks about his grandmother, but the Empire as a whole since we don't physically visit that location in any significant way until AASOAF 2.

So the absence/narrow representation of Lizardfolk women is there precisely to make you ask the question that you posed and to make you uncomfortable. You are forcefully put in the shoes of someone who has benefited from that position in the overall hierarchy and presented with his view which is taken and supported as fact in the context of the story. His grandmother, Lady Fisla, tries to knock some sense into him but he mostly brushes her off and decides shutting up is easier than having it out with her. This contributes to the overall narrative of the female experience and unseen struggle that is both a prominent theme and undercurrent throughout the work.

Snippet of that here:

“And your luck is much better than that of your sisters’, who, despite being born into the same family as you, have no choice but to live under [your father's] thumb until they are married. At which point, they are to be crushed by their husbands instead. You, Axtapor, have the world laid at your feet because you are male and because you are nobility. You have the great fortune that your legs can simply walk you to freedom. Those around you are not the same. They are not your equals. Never forget that and do not use it as a weapon or measure for which you pass judgment upon others.” I didn’t know how to respond, so I just nodded instead. She so rarely lectured me and was usually rather calm, even unbothered, but for those few moments, she changed completely. I wondered how such a transformation might be possible given her usual demeanor, but I supposed I had stricken a nerve.

This starts to change in AASOAF 2 and definitely in AASOAF 3, with the introduction of Lizardfolk women to the cast and the perspective of an eye-opened Axtapor who has become more aware of their struggles and circumstances due to the events of AASOAF 1. In AASOAF 2 especially, we start to examine how the nature of his upbringing is also harmful to him via his internal monologue and interactions with Mariel and in AASOAF 3 things come to a head and a lot of his core values are challenged along with that of other Lizardfolk men around him. But I won't get into that here!

DEEP BREATH NOW

What's the current fashion?

So I talked a bit about fashion here but I'll pull the more relevant bits out of that!

Each house has a style they prefer. House of War prefers styles similar to traditional Thai dress, the House of Law prefers styles similar to 17th-century Japanese garments, and the House of Dreams prefers styles similar to Mughal period Indian fashion. Their winter wear, when they have need of it, is heavily inspired by Mongolian fashion. Additionally, corsets are favored by women of the Holtep Empire. These are not the undergarments you might imagine for human people, nor are they worn all the time, usually only for special occasions and usually only by the nobility. They are worn with special robes that expose the midriff and are made of steel. They are more like armor than anything else, and unlike human corsets are meant solely for aesthetic purposes; they don't support breasts (bc they don't have any) and are intended to emphasize how small a woman's waist is. It is the most desired of traits in the Empire.

Those of nobility would of course wear finer, more elaborate garments than those of the lower and working classes.

What's their typical role in the society?

Their role is seen exclusively as a method to continue lineages, to form clan alliances via marriage, to raise her husband's children (no, they are not considered hers), and support his clan. They have little to no agency over their own affairs or lives unless they are widowed or otherwise "socially encumbered" (I'll come back to that in a second).

To quote Axtapor from AASOAF 2:

Daughters did as they were commanded in The Empire. They married the man her father selected for her and popped out as many clutches as her husband demanded of her. The practice didn’t bother me for a long time; it just seemed like a fact of life, but that was no longer the case. It wasn’t right; how could it be?! But unbelievably, to every man here, and quite possibly every man in The Empire, it was. It was as right as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. These women were not living beings with feelings; they were playthings, pawns in their game to move upwards, being crushed over and over and expected to smile like they were grateful for it!

So despite being awarded, lands, titles, and wealth upon completing their ikismals, they are mostly named as custodians of those things to hold them as a kind of dowry to be absorbed completely by her husband when she marries. I should note, even the ikismal ceremonies for women are unbalanced against those for men.

Men are instructed to survive in the wilds for five days with nothing but a knife and bring back a kill by the end of it. Women are symbolically thrown out into the desert to survive, by way of being placed in a hut where she must meditate for the whole of the five days. By the end, she is expected to have shaken off her girlhood mentality via this meditation and is deemed patient and rational enough to enter society properly. They are left without food or water though, just like the men, so it is possible that they can perish during this time as the men do. Once they enter society the expectation is that they fully support their husband's endeavors and largely remain silent about it.

NOW

This is not the case if a woman is widowed or "socially encumbered." If she is widowed, Oepus law states (yes this is for all women on Oepus, not just the Empire) that she observes mourning practices (clothing, rituals, etc) according to her country of residence and that she cannot take another partner for two years. This is the doing of The Pale Kings and their relationship with Priestesses of Shanta which is a separate thing that I won't get into here.

However, in the Empire, a woman is not forced to remarry once she is widowed. The idea behind this is that she has served her "purpose" and as long as she's had children with her late husband, then she is no longer of use. She is typically bequeathed with some amount of wealth and a private estate or residence according to her husband's station and a portion of his slaves. She has no rank and is not recognized as a matriarch of her family, despite bearing the clan name and still being associated with her late husband's station. She may come and go as she pleases and is at the top of the "woman pecking order" because she has done her duty. Lady Fisla falls into this category, and is cited as a great lady by Axtapor and female peers in her circle, but the men of Clan Oxlo still don't treat her with much respect.

Now for the "socially encumbered." These are women that for one reason or another, are deemed not fit for marriage. Either because they don't have a large enough dowry, they come from a clan of low repute, have committed a social taboo, etc, etc. Basically if they have any "undesirable" trait they can fall into this category. This is highly subjective but can be enough to punt someone down several social ranks. Other women in this category are those who are considered caretakers to other members of their family, be that children, the disabled, or injured. This means that professions like nursing, teaching, and childcare provided to those outside the home, including extended family, are frowned upon and not considered feminine or proper for a lady to engage in. Axtapor's cousin, Lady Idhi, falls into this category.

She, however, is not afforded any wealth or other luxuries as her grandmother is due to her widowed status. Instead, she thrives off her own dowry, another thing which is seen as taboo because it's considered theft. As a result, she is largely excommunicated from Clan Oxlo goings on and does not have the 'rights' to enter the marriage market. This status essentially means you're invisible which can be a good and a bad thing because you're pretty much isolated from any help if you ever need it.

Anything else about them you want to share?

They are incredibly shrewd and bold, something that you can see in almost all of the Lizardfolk women mentioned in the series including, Lady Fisla, Lady Idhi, Lady Phreldra (Axtapor's mother) and historical figures like the woman behind Solas Week, Mother Mazvah, and Lady Maliah, First Empress of The Holtep Empire, more on her here. As experienced members of society, they understand that to get ahead in their world they must operate underhandedly and silently, gaming the system in their favor where they can. This is pretty apparent in the beginning of AASOAF 2 and will play a pretty big role in AASOAF 3. As a side note, this shrewdness is also demonstrated by Fay due to her closeness with her adoptive Lizardfolk family.

Axtapor's sisters, Lady Ulsei and Lady Egra, don't fall into this category and are portrayed as quite transparent and lacking substance but this is because the two of them are used to explore the effects of their upbringing in the wider world of Oepus similar to the way Axtapor is used throughout the series. What I will say is that these two are key players in the latter half of AASOAF 3.

And finally, we have Alma, Fay and Wilkes' adoptive mother, who is more representative of the lower/working class experience of Lizardfolk women that I didn't even touch on in this post. I might make a separate one about her with that context in mind since there is a lot to her story that deserves to have it's own place.

10 notes · View notes

grollow · 1 year

Text

Here's some Ashe deep lore. CW sexism, misogyny, some trauma, depression and over-all a stressful time. Read at your own convenience.

I used to work in the gaming industry for an indie company. Watching some of you react to no Silksong news brings back some horrors.

To preface: The company that I worked for was a very small independent gaming company based out of the Netherlands -- so it was a remote position. We made a few different titles, none of which were wildly successful, in large because of major design flaws (examples include: story not mattering, too much emphasis on PVP in poorly balanced titles [and making the game COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on pvp in some cases] and most egregiously, no real direction beyond 'it should be fun.')

I was hired as a Community Manager initially. My responsibilities for this job largely involved managing the forums, doing news updates, sending out (Not writing) press releases, hanging out in the chats of our games / playing the games sometimes with players, and coming up with fun events. My colleague/boss was senior community manager, and she ran a very successful gaming blog (more successful than most of our games initially -- until she closed it). Both of us were/are heavily involved in games. I am more of an RPG and horror title enthusiast and she was a big fan of RPGs as well as FPS games. We both have a pretty wide repertoire of experience combined. She was a world's top 50 raider in World of Warcraft at the time of this all going down.

I should preface: I am AFAB. I, unfortunately for me, have a very feminine voice. At the time of this all happening, I was also still using she/her pronouns. So was my colleague.

During our experience as Community Managers, we were forced to do marketing despite neither of us knowing how to do that (examples include understanding metrics, learning how Google algorithms worked, composing and distributing Press Releases as well as finding the sites to send those TO).

Here's some examples of the awful things that she and I endured under this company:

80+ hour work weeks, where we were required to detail out with time sheets daily everything we did and what the reasons were. I think I clocked in 16 hour days most days and I was required to work weekends.

On Christmas, our boss called and screamed at my colleague because she and I dared to want the day off to spend with our families (we were not allowed any holidays).

My colleague was forced to work -from the hospital- while her mom underwent life-saving surgery, under threat of being fired.

"You look like a crayon eating [r slur]" is an actual phrase that was used to describe her because of a picture she was using of herself.

We both got told, numerous times, that "girls can't make strategy games."

We were blamed for them releasing an RTS/Tower Defense title the same day as Left4Dead despite my colleague telling them numerous times that that was a mistake.

I later got promoted to Project Manager, but I was still making over $1000 a month less than my male colleague who I hired. In order to get me a raise, he had to take a pay cut. I put in more hours than he did, by his own admission, and worked twice as hard. He was questioned far less on whether or not his work was "efficient."

There are more stories but in truth, I have blocked a lot of it out of my mind. She and I both ran screaming from the gaming industry and have nothing to do with it now in our professions for a reason.

The worst part of all of this is that this is not at all uncommon. This is unfortunately very typical of the industry -- there are good companies, but you hear about these horrors lot less often than they actually occur.

Why do I share this? Because when I see you all screaming about wanting Silksong news, I want you to remember what indie developers go through. And maybe have a little empathy. Good things take time.

(No, I am not saying this is happening at a little 3man studio. I am just telling you, as someone who has worked in the gaming industry, that you should try to be a little more understanding of how hard it can be for some of us.)

#cw: trauma #cw: misogyny #cw: sexism #cw: ? workplace abuse?#ashe rambles #don't read this if you're sensitive this is probably one of my biggest horror stories #im really only sharing it because some of the posts ive seen today have made me really displeased #im fine btw this was several years ago i have healed #but i want to share a firsthand account for people who dont know what goes on during the 'game dev crunch' sometimes #fun fact my steam account still has developer tools attached to it #despite the games i worked on being dead #so i get the steam sale emails long before you all do #probably the only cool thing left over from this

21 notes · View notes

venusandsaturnsrings · 2 years

Note

sorry for the break but im back ueueue

got me thinking,,, do u ever think that incel diluc has some sort of savior complex rooted from the whole dark knight hero thing from canon? like i imagine that when he was running that bar, he'd have cases of people getting roofied and nearly taken advantage of and saves them, not mentioning that more than 3/4s of those cases were paid staff he hired personally,,,,

then when u came along strutting in with ur colorful attire and cheeky grin, dilucs mouth nearly waters and he has since decided to plan the most elaborate rescue to have u in his palms. he doesn't immediately save u when u were dragged out and stuffed into the van, he tracks u down (more like just drives through the abandoned warehouse he obviously rented for this masterpiece) and times his entrance just right so that he can stop it just as u were about to be disrobed. he knows he's won this when he sees ur thankful eyes, mascara running down ur tear streaked cheeks and pupils heart shaped at ur gallant savior.

honestly i see him justifying this with no one being really hurt in the end, and sometimes treat it as some sort of extreme sport.

idk sorry im really bad with other charas that aren't childe aaa

OOOOOOOOOH my love... you always feed me so so yummy... i'm never opposed to childe content EVER since he's almost all i talk about but diluc is so yum too... emotionally constipated red-head man <3 responding to this with @teyvatmoon in mind...

PLEASE READ THE TAGS ON THIS, IT'S A WEE BIT DARK

Diluc could justify anything and its somewhat of a talent. it's gotten him out of plenty sticky situations and is partially what has kept his reputation so very shiny. what kind of respected figure can't smooth talk and pull excuses from their ass? none of them. Diluc can do whatever 'horrible' things he wants as long as he can paint them as 'honorable' instead. who would go against the twenty-three year old student and business owner? no one with a brain, that's for sure.

since owning a café on campus was wildly successful in the day time, it was only the natural progression of things for Diluc to obtain a liquor license to host events in the evening. such after-hours happenings weren't frequent since it always took a lot of work and a lot of staff but he was happy to provide a space on campus for people to drink since, for everyone but you, it was safer. prior to starting these monthly events it took a lot of work with both the university, himself, and city representatives but Diluc is beyond charming when he sees fit. sorting out rules and standards was like nothing to the young man and so, every last Friday of the month, he'd host drinking at was usually a calm café.

you and your friends had frequented there during the day for quite sometime now so it was no surprise when you all began showing up to these monthly binge drinking sessions. it was nice to attend such an event somewhere you were already so familiar with in the day time. it didn't take long for you and the rest of your group to warm up to the place. perhaps for you, it was too fast.

the buildings front was a large glass garage door that would be rolled up in the hot months to create better airflow since there was no air conditioning and it also allowed for more people to hand about the area with extended seating. being September it wasn't quite cold enough for it to be necessary for the door to close and thus it was still left open. students milled about the whole area drinking and laughing. you had decided to wear something a bit more revealing and daring this evening just for fun, well, what was supposed to be fun.

the skimpy and fully pink outfit had definitely garnered stares; hungry ones. such a head-turning outfit surely had more than just Diluc staring desperately. this... choice... of yours simply furthered the righteous feelings brewing in his heart. he was excited and many surly mistook the slight upturn of his lips as love for his work when really it was love for you. it was hard for even such a self controlled man as him not to stare at your tits, ass, thighs, stomach, or any other expanse of skin his eyes could find. your plump flesh was everything to him and he was certainly going to savour this first night of many in which he'd indulge in such a beautiful body. Diluc had almost entirely zoned out on you up until you had finally come to him grinning and asking for a drink. whatever he recommended, you said. his dick jumped at the words. well, he certainly did have something extra special to make for you. the drink was a deep purple colour, bordering on black, and glittering. it smelled of alcohol as well as a cacophony of berries. it tasted almost better than it looked. the only thing that would've made it better was a less salty and bitter taste but Diluc had given it to you on the house so no real complaints could be made. the drink as well as the evening was gone in what felt like seconds.

you had stumbled around back near the parking lot for some air and to text your friends only to remember you had handed off your phone and wallet to one of your friends with pockets in their outfit as you had none. it only took that one moment of disorientation for you to feel as though your body was being twisted and wrung out in every direction. in a way, you were. the hard landing on metal barely covered in cheap blankets did nothing to soothe the growing panic and nausea filling your body. you squirmed in every direction and cried as loud as you could but the hands trying and holding you down never ceased. the latex gloved hands all smelled of rubbing alcohol and all the voices sounded like venom. you were wholly convinced this was where you'd die. the roughhousing that ensued upon the van stopping was almost worse. being thrown on the ground and dragged over sharp gravel and nails would've made you worried about tetanus if there wasn't a knife right against the back of your throat. you heard doors slam and felt your body slam. this was the final time you were to be thrown but also the first time it had caused you to throw up.

the bile rose up your throat quickly. the salty and acidic liquid that rose up ended up covering part of your front and all of the floor in front of you. the group of men merely laughed at you. mocking how you're so weak and useless. can't even hold it together enough to not make yourself sick, they crooned. their hands, however, never let up on their assault of roaming your body. you thought perhaps they expected this and the gloves were a preemptive measure. with your head still spinning and stomach churning you almost felt upset about the masks you could now see obscuring their faces. 'cowards,' you thought. they paused. did you say that aloud? ah. you're really fucked now.

the chunk of wood that flew across the room and hit one of them hard in the nose startled you. with a heavy head, you turned to see him. Diluc. so he had piped up to insult them and he had come to save you; if the gun in his hand was pointed at them the way you thought it was. it didn't take long for the under-armed group to flee and Diluc to land by your side. concern was etched all over his features as he gently untied and helped you up. he didn't seem to mind the vomit getting on him at all. it was sweet in a gross way.

he took you back to his very nice home, after a brief trip to urgent care for aforementioned needed tetanus shot, to have you properly cleaned up and given a mix of medicines that should alleviate the drugs running through you rather quickly. his hands were soft and human. not a touch of latex or a whiff of rubbing alcohol. his arms felt safe. Diluc held you until you slept that night, more than pleased with how things turned out. you'd be his now and the extra jack-off material he got from recording the whole ordeal could stay a secret. that was his guilty pleasure. <3

#cw: vomit #cw: noncon #cw: kidnapping #cw: incel #cw: misogyny #cw: stalker #cw: manipulation #cw: abuse #incel diluc #diluc x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin smut #chit chats

153 notes · View notes