u/TheSparkSpectre

22F, not a student but a recent alumnus still in the city. i was wondering if anyone knows of book clubs i could join? i would love to meet new people and read more books. i like fantasy especially. tia!

at this point i have a voice that usually passes in person. BUT,,, i want to learn to sing with it, which is a lot harder than just normal speaking. i sing normally at a tenor but would love to be able to sing decent alto that doesn’t sound like super airy and falsetto (even though it would technically be falsetto).

i would love to pursue singing lessons with a professional in my city, rather than just a trans voice coach (i have a music degree to the extent that it matters so i would not be coming from literally nothing and i do believe lessons would serve me well) but i’m not really sure how to approach that. my city is very progressive, so i’m not worried about blatant transphobia, buttttt i am hesitant that most voice teachers would be willing to take my case on.

does anyone have experience in a similar situation and can share how they went about finding help / lessons?

also iirc there was someone on r / trans who claimed to have achieved a wagnerian soprano status according to their voice teacher despite going through testosterone puberty. if this somehow reaches her, pls pls pls DM i would love to hear more about how you got to that point!

happy to announce that i am done my pokémon black run, making it my first ever completed hardcore nuzlocke (and nuzlocke in general!)

my Ghetsis fight was unfortunately pretty anticlimactic. i led with Avlora the Haxorus, who use substitute to nullify Cofagrigus’ toxic, which it did go for. success! now i get one free DD as it breaks my substitute, so i can go forward into the rest of the fight with +1 attack and speed.

except… Ghetsis’ Cofagrigus kept using toxic? on my substitute??? and it kept doing nothing? so i DD’d all the way to +6 attack and speed and OHKO’d all 6 of Ghetsis’ pokémon. for a fight that caused me so much trouble as a kid, that was kind of anti-climactic.

oh well, a win’s a win! N was a little more interesting so i still felt satisfied enough. i even used Feyre the Serperior, my starter, to finish him off, which was so poetic!

almost finished a run of pokémon black. was hoping to bring a haxorus to the battle with Ghetsis and N… but my haxorus has rivalry. it’s female, and i imagine most of N and Ghetsis’ pokémon will be male, so i’ll be dealing with the 25% damage cut the whole time. even still, its attack stat is beastly and it can set up with DD. is it still worth bringing?

does anyone know of any successful wish spells? would like one granted. nothing super selfish, but it is important to me.

does anyone know of any successful wish spells? would like one granted. nothing super selfish, but it is important to me.

please say no i really need to receive Him

title. both songs are very good and cool and it would be cool to know what they’re saying.

I’m coming up to the end of a Black nuzlocke (for those who saw my post in February, I did decide to reset, and have been all the better for it). I was wondering if people usually decide to use the Reshiram / Zekrom you catch for the N and Ghettos fights? Normally I don’t use legendaries, but it feels so wrong NOT to use it for the dragon mirror match. At the same time, if it makes the fight too easy, I don’t want to use it then.

This is in response to u/Mr_Wholesome13 ‘s recent and controversial repost of MAD-project’s Skylanders art, but also some larger issues I’ve been witnessing in Skylanders fandom spaces (and particularly, this subreddit).

As many have pointed out, the issue is not necessarily that MAD-project’s art depicting female skylanders with absurdly sexualized proportions and overly skimpy clothing exists at all. There exists and has existed Rule34 art of most of the skylanders cast, especially but not exclusively women, and especially but not exclusively humanoid characters, since the series’ inception, as is the case with any series with a notable cast of characters and notable online following. The majority of people upset with MAD-project’s art are not being prudes, this is not an issue with people wanting to restrict what others should and should not be drawing (u/Darkwoodgnome : “man… just let people draw whatever they want. Admire it or move on.”), and most people do not want to harass you for enjoying NSFW art (u/Various_Tea6709 : “let me goon to my comfort characters lol”) — because that the sexualized art exists is not the issue.

The issue is the explicit juxtaposition of SFW and highly stylized art of the male characters to the absurdly sexualized art of the female characters. I’m unsure if this is as much of an issue with MAD-project’s original work, but as reposted by u/Mr_Wholesome13 here, both kinds of art are presented as part of the same set, intermingled in the ordering of the 20 art pieces in each post, implicitly suggesting that there is no difference in the meaning of the two art styles. It’s not a SFW vs NSFW set, all are presented as one in a supposedly SFW (or at least not pornographic) space. If the depiction of the male skylanders in this art set is considered normal, then, it stands to reason that how MAD-project is drawing the female characters should be equally considered normal.

And so the blatant objectification of the female characters really stands out. A great example is the first two slides of part 3 of the repost. The first is a highly stylized depiction of Wash Buckler, leaning heavily into his Kraken origins with detailed and monstrous tentacles and a wonderful stormy sea background. How cool! *Immediately* following this is a Stealth Elf drawing. Unlike Wash Buckler, whose outfit is unchanged, Stealth Elf’s skirt and opaque tights have been replaced with *a thong.* Unlike the preceding Wash Buckler, who is wholly unsexualized, Stealth Elf’s pose has her leg bending at an unnatural angle such as to centre her groin and her butt (that has been increased in size to the point of absurdity, spilling out of her thong), and her breasts, which have also been absurdly up-sized, are flung upwards to cover her neckline, emphasizing themselves. The immediate juxtaposition of these two images — Wash Buckler and Stealth Elf — in the repost make these differences extremely apparent. These two images are not presented any differently from one another, and are thus treated as equally normal. It is as if MAD-project is saying “This is how Wash Buckler is. Now this is how Stealth Elf is,” or more specifically, “This is what a standard depiction of Wash Buckler should be like. Now this is what a standard depiction of Stealth Elf should be like.”

This pattern is present nigh consistently in MAD-project’s art. The overwhelming majority of female characters have their outfits and proportions changed to serve a sexual gaze (not all of them, mind you. The Stealth Elf art on slide 9 of u/Mr_Wholesome13’s part 3 is quite lovely, as is Roller Brawl in slide 18 of part 3, and the non-humanoids are generally presented in a manner similar to the male characters). Essentially all of the Male characters have attention drawn towards their character designs and personalities instead of their sexualized bodies. Some defenders have tried to highlight instances of male sexualization in these art sets, but these arguments seem flimsy. Slam Bam in slide 17 of part 3 is definitely hyper-muscularized, but his outfit is unchanged (save for a belt, which if anything, covers *more*), his pose emphasizes his punch attack rather than his torso, and the muscles are drawn in a way that resembles the rough edges of a rock more than a muscular person — an interesting, evocative, and characterful choice for a yeti. See how, in this instance, Slam Bam’s character is preserved, when the female skylanders don’t receive such grace. Lightning Rod is given similar treatment also (part 2, slide 1). Undeniably muscular, but in the manner of his original figure, and largely cloaked in shadows, emphasizing his godliness more than his body. The closest MAD-project gets to sexualizing a male skylander is Flameslinger in slide 7 of part 2, who, like his female companions, receives an outfit change that emphasizes his body (he is made topless). Notably, his proportions are not changed and his pose still emphasizes his abilities more than his sexuality.

I highlight especially the outfit changes for nearly every humanoid female character in MAD-project’s art. At its most tame, the skylander’s top is made to be low cut, exposing her newly oversized breasts (Ninjini in slide 5 of part 1 is a great example). I’ve already highlighted the absurdity of Stealth Elf wearing a thong in most of her pieces. Consider Sprocket in slide 11 of part 1, whose thick worker’s jacket is replaced with a skintight suit that *completely exposes* her chest and navel area save for a thin, translucent cropped top with exposed underboob. Is this normal and in character? Chill’s ornamented armour is replaced by *lingere* (part 2, slides 17 and 20) that would leave her exposed to the cold and to enemy attacks. Is this normal and in character? Starstrike’s thick hooded robes open to unveil a tight corset (part 1, slide 6 — truthfully this one is not something I’d clock immediately if not for the pattern present elsewhere), and Hex’s thick hooded robes are reduced significantly to expose her, again, absurdly enlarged breasts, and her shoulders complete with fishnets on her arms (part 3, slide 12). Look at her outfit, look at her pose, look at her face — is *this* in character for Hex? When the character traits of the male characters are consistently preserved, why are those of the female characters diminished?

The audience is never given a reason to view these as distinct sets of normal VS sexual artwork. These kinds of art pieces were uploaded here together, with sexualized female skylanders being intermingled without care among non-sexualized male characters. In these sets of art, that’s just how male skylanders are (cool, unique outfits and styles, their character and powers at the forefront of their art) and that’s just how female skylanders are (highly sexualized, skimpy outfits, posing so as to be objectified).

Treating the objectification of women in art like this as a normal thing to do in normal (i.e. not pornographic) online spaces allows misogyny and misogynistic ideals to embody themselves in the community and community discussion. This isn’t an issue of not letting people draw what they want or enjoy what they want. It is that uncritical consumption of art (and of any media) allows ideas that could be harmful to fester in a community.

It is disheartening, as a woman in the Skylanders community, to see female objectification like this portrayed as normal and so thoroughly defended by my peers. Already, women in this community struggle to feel heard as it is so male dominated, both with the demographics of the participants in the community and cast of the source material. Through the normalization of art like this, I am made to feel that my body and those like it are in service of and at the mercy of those I engage in discussions with on this subreddit and beyond. The female skylanders that I adore and grew up seeing as role models are having their entire personalities reduced in favour of their bodies, where my male peers face no such treatment.

The consequences of the festering misogyny in this community, of making it clear that the objectification of female characters (and so, by extension, implicitly, women in general) is normal and okay, extends beyond fanart. I recall a series of posts by u/RottytopsZombieWaifu last summer that sought to find the hottest woman in each element, and so even without the need for sexualized depiction, female characters were reduced to their appearances and bodies. The poster claimed that after the series concluded, a series on the hottest Male skylanders would be made, but as far as I’m aware, this never happened (save for a single post for the magic element by u/Remarkable-Gap9881 in explicit response to Rottytops). How could it be made when the male-dominated fandom has clearly expressed that it is much more interested in aiming its sexuality towards the female characters? This type of post would be typical for most fandom spaces, but in consideration with the misogyny outlined above and below, it cannot be ignored here. That u/RottytopsZombieWaifu is herself a woman does not change the factors that allowed this post series to exist in this community nor the consequences it and those like it have on how the community views women.

At other times, real women in the fandom are objectified, rather than just the characters. About a week ago, u/JPSmemer felt comfortable posting a screenshot of a woman’s dating profile to this Reddit, including a portion of her body in the photo (though, fortunately, not her face). Surely, one does not expect their dating profile photos to be posted publicly on Reddit. The comments seem superficially positive — u/MuztangZack67 : “Holy- Skylanders AND she’s a blonde. You pulled the super rare!!” (63 upvotes!); u/royalejappie : “I see a slam bam, I hope you slam bam her” — but have negative impacts. Treating a woman who plays skylanders as a special treat and rare treasure a) denormalizes women participating in the skylanders community and b) places women who play skylanders on a special pedestal, which is a form of objectification that then works in tandem with the aforementioned objectification of our bodies to deplatform women. The comments also obsess over specific rare figures in the woman’s collection, confirming her legitimacy — u/Araiken : “She has Wallop, she knows what’s up” — as though her legitimacy as a skylanders fan should be questioned and must be proved. This is an issue women face in many fandom spaces, including Skylanders, whereas Men are assumed to be legitimate from the start.

I myself have experienced feelings of danger with relation to my gender in the Skylanders community. There have been instances where I have been buying or selling figures and then been flirted with very inappropriately. When I’m arranging in-person meetups to get these figures, which necessitate a level of vulnerability, that can be pretty scary! I doubt that I am the only woman facing these troubles as well. It is not that these moments are directly linked to the sexualization of female skylanders in art, but both contribute to and take part in the misogynistic atmosphere of the Skylanders community. Men feel more comfortable asserting themselves over women in fandom spaces where the objectification of women has been deemed, explicitly or implicitly, okay. Women in this community are thus being made to feel unsafe because of the misogynistic atmosphere we continue to cultivate.

If we want to create a welcoming and safe Skylanders community, it is essential that we address the misogyny issue this community has. This means not disregarding the complaints of marginalized groups such as women with uncritical comments such as “man… just let people draw whatever they want,” but instead engaging with media, including fan media, critically. No art is without meaning or consequence, intentional or not. As demonstrated, uncritical consumption of art like this can be really damaging to women in the community. We can do better. We must do better.

22 mtf, 10 months HRT, 8mg estradiol + 200mg spironolactone + 200mg progesterone daily, all orally

hrt has otherwise been very kind to me thus far, but i still get erections when i’m aroused (never spontaneously anymore, at least) and i, like, hate that! it’s super dysphoric!!! this is especially a problem bc a) i have an intimate partner now and he’s great and totally accepting but it is really dysphoric for me when i get an erection while we have sex, and b) they hurt! which i know is common for trans women bc it’s shrinking but i’d soooo rather just not get erect at all. sex isn’t supposed to hurt!

i see so many women on here get erectile dysfunction like immediately and with smaller doses than i have. what am i doing wrong? or more specifically, what else can i do to get erectile dysfunction asap?

tia!