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onesidedradiostatic · 4 months

Note

aromantic alastor headcanons for aro-week (with some ace in there as well, because I think for alastor those things are so entwined, it's hard to separate them):

tried going out with girls a couple of times when he was alive, to make his mother happy, but always found a way to extricate himself from the attachment. this ties into his learning how to have complete control over any situation he's in

I wonder as well about whether or not he "passed" as white, or whether his community knew that he was creole, and how that affected his dating opportunities, and his paranoia, his need to be in control, basically his constant hyper-vigilance

got a lot of fanmail for his radio host work, women (and men, but more furtively) loooved his voice. this was acceptable, because (apart from some of the weirder ones) he could use this as a metric for how accepted he was in society, as well as how well he was passing -- both in terms of race and orientation, but also youknow, as someone who is definitely not clockable as a serial killer

although of course we know he also enjoyed company. he'd go out drinking and dancing a lot. was mimzy a bit in love with him? I just like the idea that people kept being incredibly taken with his charm and his politeness and his poise, because he does have all those traits. whether he notices...? (no). I mention this point not so much as headcanon, I just like that alastor as aroace and repulsed on both of those points, was never a shut-in about it. he's always been very lively (ha) and outgoing, and clearly likes being in the company of others... but maybe that last point has gotten to be a little difficult during his time in hell, due to having to be so careful about showing any kind of emotional "weakness." speaking of...

post-death became a more extreme version of himself -- that is, a man on a mission to be in control and create emotional distance between himself and others through the power of voice, rather than having to faff about pretending emotional connections where there were none. very suited for hell because of his precarious political lived reality whilst alive, and because hell is built on who has power and who doesn't. these are rituals he understands better than the strange romantic ones during life

the smile as mask and unhealthy coping mechanism -- wonder if when he was alive people swooned over his having a lovely smile (as well as its being useful to placate and to disorient people who had more violent intentions, and in both cases potentially to lure in victims). so the smile likewise became the most extreme version of itself. the smile in essence as the signifier of someone who doesn't fit into any boxes and needs to hide that fact, both by being mixed race and aroace, but then the smile itself becomes something that effectively owns him, because he literally cannot let it drop, ever (honestly if alastor ever stops smiling, it'll be the biggest gasp moment on this show)

all that being said, surprising connections do occur: rosie, I think, sees through him from the beginning, and she's so disarming (ha, disarming... cannibal joke) that she never feels like a threat + they're both cannibals, so there's a relaxed kinship there and maybe she reminds him of the parts of home he (secretly) misses a bit

I wonder how rosie figured out that alastor wasn't into dating. I think at first she might have thought he was gay, but then quite quickly seen that that's not it, he doesn't even like men much, and she feels like she's been around the block enough to piece together peoples' natures from one of a million other people she's known, so way before she knows the terminology, she knows, and crucially, she never judges or tries to force the point

I wonder how vox and alastor met -- whether vox was able to gain power on his own and this attracted alastor's attention, or if alastor saw something of himself (that turned out to be surface level) in vox, that is, they both wear smiles as masks, they're both presenters, their mediums may be different, but their aims feel similar. perhaps alastor was comfortable enough in hell at this point -- probably in a way he never was whilst alive -- that he was feeling magnanimous towards what must have felt a bit like an upstart. and most importantly, the constraints of alloromantic ideas are a comfortable 20 years in the past by now, alastor can barely remember that this was ever anything that was expected of him, or that others' could possibly feel about him

cue vox falling head over heels, the way people so often did while he was alive, and he... does not notice at all (barely a headcanon). I kind of feel like I don't have much to say on these two, because this blog is already a treasure trove of vox and alastor hcs!

I think rosie is the only one who knows alastor is aroace, although... maybe husk? not in so many words, but he knows alastor isn't interested in those things. nifty Does Not Notice Nor Care (in a good way). charlie i will forever think will at some point do a deep-dive on modern queer lingo and get everyone flags (this is practically word of god canon considering that older piece of art you shared). vox definitely doesn't know. val....... sort of kinda knows but in an evil way. vaggie does not care, but she'd be chill about it. mimzy... I don't think knows, mainly because she never cared to think about his behaviours, as someone who's quite self-centered on what alastor is to her. jeez, who am i missing... angel, does not know, head empty

speaking of angel, I think if he ever found out, especially with where he's at in his journey rn, would be very unhappy in some way about having stepped over his boundaries so often so casually at the beginning. dunno how he'd act about it, but i like the idea of vigilantly (and crudely, and bluntly) supportive angel if they ever manage to get alastor out on the town. more on the ace side of things but i can see him going: "do not try to fuck this guy! this guy is unfuckable!"

(i like hypersexual and deeply romantic angel + sex and romance repulsed alastor as unlikely friendship in my head. opposites finding common ground type stuff is always good)

at the end of the day, alastor living and dying in an amatonormative world and having to orient himself within that by building walls that persist/worsen after his death because of the culture of hell being predicated on who controls whom, veeeeery slowly discovering that he can be vulnerable on his own terms without people demanding things from him that he cannot give (smthinsmthin the hotel gang as the opposite of vox in that sense -- not only that sense, but also that)

also something about imagining his mother hoping he'd find a nice girl and settle down (in the way parents often do, because that's the metric of happiness right.....) and how he never could give her what she wanted, and maybe feels some very locked away guilt about that, which he thinks he'll never be able to deal with because his mother is in heaven, but perhaps in this story she'll get to see what he's built with the people at the hotel and that's really all she wanted for him in the end

OH MY GOD ANON THIS IS ALL SO GOOD?? THANK YOU SO MUCH HAHAHA. happy aro week everyone!! (x2)

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oraclekleo · 4 months

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First of all Lemme mention it real quick I've already participated in the game, so I'd not be disappointed at all of you choose to not answer the question and prioritise others before me. This question is literally kind of making me feel dumb and excited too lol idk suddenly I'm being drawn to ask this question and dk why even tho my focus rn isn't even my love life, and i think ik enough about what I need to know but still this question is not leaving my mind. Okay sorry for my rant but still.

My big 3-Capricorn (sun), Virgo (moon), and Taurus (rising)

My question-"is there any message/advice my fs want to tell me right now!?"

My nickname-Jasmine :))

cards i choose-The Slavic Legends Tarot, The witch Oracle.

My mood board-

also a slight note; take care>33 sending in lots of love and good energy. I'm extremely greatful to have this opportunity and if you choose to answer any one of my asks I'm definitely really greatful for it too. As I've mentioned pls prioritise yourself first and rest well. Your readings are amazing tho and the cards don't even get me started on that they are just so pretty...😭

*feeling really selfish and annoying* I'll try not to participate in more games, as i think I've already had enough. 🧍🏻‍♀️

Thankyou so much!!!!! 🧿✨

Hello Jasmine!

I’m always happy to do a reading for you and it doesn’t really matter how many times you participate in the game. You can do so every other week, if that’s what you feel drawn to. 😀

Trust me! If I wanted to limit the participation, I would do it. I’m not really the type who wouldn’t be sure how to apply rules. 😂

I usually don’t really do Future Spouse readings because I don’t like the whole concept of fixing on some unknown person which you will meet in the future and who will miraculously sort your life out. I firmly believe we should enjoy the time we have here and now and that our happiness should be in our own hands and the power over it shouldn’t be just given to someone who can then withdraw it from us on a whim. But let’s try this because you said you are not fixing on the love life so I guess it can’t really throw you into a spiral of waiting for the Mr. or Mrs. Right. 😀

As usual with me, I attach the pics of the cards I pulled, in case they hold any special meaning for you.

Let’s have a look at your cards!

Cards: IX The Hermit, 2 of Cups, 5 of Coins, 6 of Cups (The Slavic Legends Tarot), 43. Tranquillity - Violet, 2. Communication - Pea (Green Witch Oracle)

Not gonna lie to you - It’s not exactly ace to get the Hermit card for any love related question. 😂 But then you also have the 2 of Cups… So let’s dive deeper into this!

Both the Oracle cards are connected with Venus and the sign of Pisces. And they both speak of deeper understanding and love. You might experience a gentle shift towards topics regarding love and relationships. They might not have been your priority in the past, maybe you simply didn’t feel ready for such pressure to be part of your life because relationships, especially the romantic ones can be very complex and difficult to navigate through. Recently, you might feel like your life has reached the kind of phase where you can start exploring this aspect as well. You might want to start on a more theoretical ground as the Hermit suggests. You might get interested in romantic literature, poetry, in romance focused tarot readings even. At this point you might really appreciate the purer and more vanilla type of love more, reading about mutual understanding and spiritual connection, rather than lust and desire. You might want to resist this wind of change for a little bit but it’s really not necessary. While you don’t need to solely focus on the topic, there’s really no harm in getting interested, in feeling more attuned with the romantic part of your soul. You can feel free to just browse and observe all the various kinds of romance that can become a part of your life. You might want to romanticise your everyday life, too. It can be anything from more romantic vibe decorations like champagne glass you can use for soda or water, to actually including date nights into your schedule. Those can be with your friends, family, or even with just yourself where you simply set the nice atmosphere with dinner and candles and then read a good book or watch a favourite movie. Or you might actually start dating a person. 😀 I sometimes tend to skip this option but it is perfectly normal and alright to actually date other people. 😂 Only make sure you are both communicating honestly and openly with each other. Don’t try to make them guess your thoughts. It always only leads to confusion and going back to the Hermit’s cave. 😜

Thank you so much for requesting the reading!

I'm always grateful for any feedback.

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m39 · 4 months

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Doom WADs’ Roulette (2008): Community is Falling 3

If you are a casual Doom WAD enjoyer, you have probably heard of Samuel Villarreal AKA Kaiser; a man who (with the help of others) created an unofficial PC port of Doom 64 that had additional content known as Doom 64: Absolution. Later in 2008, he did it again, but more streamlined, without the additional stuff the Absolution had.

But we won’t be talking about that port. Today, I have something else to offer.

Br2: Community is Falling 3

Main author(s): Samuel Villarreal (Kaiser)

Release date: March 10th, 2008

Version(s) played: ???

Required port compatibility: ZDoom

Levels: 36

In yet another case of a sequel that I played before the original WAD, we have Community is Falling 3; (probably) another case where you will laugh only if you were an avid user of Doomworld when the events that were used as a foundation of this WAD’s plot happened.

Being complete in over 2.5 years, this WAD made Kaiser never touch ZDoom again. This bad boy squeezes a shit ton of features from the source port it relies on, but, and I’m going to say it now, compared to filth like 007 WAD, it feels rather quaint; less obnoxious if you could say.

Its plot was based on events from 2006, when an unfinished version of Knee-Deep in ZDoom was leaked to the Internet; now dramatized and made more ridiculous than ever.

But... do I consider this MegaWAD funny? Well... why won’t we jump ahead, and surf on some Doom forums.

Quick announcement before that: This will be another unorthodox review from what I usually cook; it is based only on my unfinished, blind playthrough because there are still 12 other 2008 WADs to try (and AC: Valhalla in between these) and I don’t want to waste that much time on such a complicated beast of this WAD. So apologies if I forget about something related to the WAD and for the lack of screenshots.

For a shitpost WAD, CiF 3 looks rather good. Despite being almost nothing but techbases from what I’ve seen, they felt rather distinguishable. The biggest examples are usually the maps that take place in Newdoom and ZDoom forums respectively, with the former ones looking more simple while the latter being overloaded with details.

The music was fine but annoying. Many tracks are the rock ones that sound obnoxious to me; not to mention how LOUD they are. They might fit into the jokey nature of this WAD, but they tend to overestimate their welcome.

Would I call this WAD complicated? Not really. You basically go to one place to talk to someone, then to another place to talk to someone else when you are not fighting.

Sometimes you are in some hub-looking map, where you can buy weapons, inventory items (yes there is an inventory mechanics created by Kaiser before it was properly implemented to ZDoom), ammo, health, and armor.

The items you can use vary from typical armor/health stuff and grenades to the beacon that will allow you to summon friendly marines to help you.

Unfortunately, the farther I went to this WAD, the more obnoxious it has become. Even naming our protagonist at the very beginning was annoying due to the mechanics related to it. Dialogues were sometimes too long without any way to skip all of them at once, there was a time-based mission (oh, my favorite -_-), some of the other missions were annoying as well.

But nothing compares to the mission where you are defending some core and you have to destroy 9 beacons to stop the enemies from constantly summoning. They kept coming no matter how many marines I deployed and some of the beacons were in such obscure places that I had to cheat to actually find them (hey, it was either that, or using the jetpack); and I can’t do both of these things at the same time.

And speaking of jetpack, this is some next-level jank people. Despite knowing how to operate this junk, it feels sluggish and is hard to control.

And yet, despite all of the bullshit, and the boss that disappeared to the ground (probably), I was stubborn enough to get past this mission... and right in the next one the lemming I was supposed to escort ended up stuck in the rock after teleporting and couldn’t get out of it. That was the moment where I said Fuck it, and just stopped. Because it was either this or knowing that it might happen again.

And now... for the moment you all have been waiting for... How funny is this WAD?

the sound of blowing wind

Fuck if I know; I didn’t laugh even once while playing it. The most amusing part of the plot was when the ZDoom forums’ users were portrayed as a bunch of fart-sniffers who were addicted to their godly source port’s features and linedefs. There was also a marine playing Picard YTPMV, and the pink marine (I don’t remember his name anymore) complaining about the ZDoom addicts.

But aside from these, it’s just random nonsense sprayed with F-slurs. This feels childish even by 2008 standards. But still, it was a better effort at trying to make me laugh than the previous Mockaward winners (aside from How Not to be Seen).

The feelings I have towards the difficulty of this WAD are the same as its gameplay – it gets more and more annoying as I play. Props to Kaiser for giving the enemies an intelligence bump when they actually start dodging my attacks but it crosses the line with some of these (like hitscanners for instance).

Not to mention many types of new enemies, including humans drawn in Paint (both melee and projectile ones), bipedal assholes (hurr durr), tiny, annoying drones, and super-fast carts. There are even bosses.

Of course, you get new weapons as well, like a meat cleaver that you can throw at enemies and a machine gun that looks like a party tube.

Aside from at least one bug that I mentioned earlier, I don’t think I encountered more of these. Maybe the glitched-out suits of some marines if that wasn’t intentional.

Community is Falling 3 feels like a WAD of its time; the plot being related to stuff that won’t really be enjoyed by someone who wasn’t a part of it, mostly juvenile humor, mostly annoying music, ridiculous gimmicks and missions, and so on. It might be a technical marvel by 2008 standards, and I played worse, but still, I wouldn’t recommend this WAD.

Since all the WADs from the Bronze League are now reviewed, there is nothing else to do but promote them to the Revenant Awards, with this one going to the Off the Wall category and Diaz going to the completely new category (that I still don’t have a name for) dedicated to the gameplay mods.

Tune in next time, people, as we will be checking out the first of the Eternal’s WADs from the 2008 roster.

Bye!

#doom #doom wad #review #doom mod #doom 2 #doom 2008 #2008 #community is falling 3 #doom community is falling 3 #doom wads’ roulette #cacowards #mockaward

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releasing-my-insanity · 1 year

Text

Purimgifts Letter 2023

Hi everyone, I’m doing Purimgifts again and here’s my letter. Apologies to my assigned author for being late. Under the cut for length.

Hello content creator. I’m glad you’ve joined this exchange. I’m sure I’ll love anything you make. Obviously nothing in here is required except for DNWs. (If you’re here for Austins/Murray-O’Keefe please also read the note under that fandom.) I just like to provide information and suggestions in case they’re helpful. Largely copied from other exchange letters.

General fic likes:

Fluff.

Humor.

Kindness and helping others.

Cuddles and snuggles.

Cozy scenes.

Bedsharing.

Casual touching.

Little soft and/or quiet moments between friends or significant others.

Characters sharing a love of music or movies or books or hobbies.

Pet owners.

Cute kids when those kids are canon children of requested characters.

Living together, either platonically or romantically.

People being really good at what they do and their friends/partners being impressed.

Characters who speak languages other than English slipping into those languages occasionally.

Teaching each other.

Communities supporting each other.

Everyone being accepting of the characters and their differences and/or relationships.

Women who get stuff done.

Bi and Ace-spectrum Headcanons.

Shippy stuff:

Soulmates (both common and creative varieties),

The Soulmate Goose of Enforcement,

Polyamory.

Friends to lovers.

Rivals to lovers.

Annoying each other constantly to lovers.

Established relationships.

Couples knowing each other really well and doing things the other one likes just because.

“Man I really love my wife” guys.

Asking before kissing someone.

Stopping a kiss or a touch immediately when asked.

Surprise kisses in an established relationship.

True Love’s Kiss when fairy tale elements are present.

Only One Bed snuggles.

Marriage Proposals (doesn’t have to be the man proposing to the woman in het ships, the woman can propose to the man too.)

Weddings.

Platonic/familial stuff:

Becoming friends.

Insta-friends,

Female Friendship

Friends who stay friends (they don’t become romantic and they don’t stop enjoying each other’s company).

Found families.

True companions.

Healthy families of origin.

DNWs:

Any sort of death

Abuse of any sort.

Anything that AO3 has under major warnings.

Unhealthy relationships.

Cheating, especially cheating being presented as a *good* thing.

Character bashing.

Explicit sex (implied or referenced sex between consenting adults is fine).

Illness beyond the common cold.

Mpreg.

Non-canonical pregnancy.

Discrimination or bigotry unless in the context of characters working to end it.

Unhappy ending.

Fandom Specific:

Austin & Murray-O’Keefe Series:

Note: The canonical fandom on AO3 is annoyingly broad, I really only wanted to request the Austin family rather than the Murray-O’Keefes. Also, I hate to be hyper-specific, but I’m only interested in the first book, Meet The Austins. That’s the only one I’ve read because I really prefer to keep them as they are in that book.

Fandom content notes: Meet the Austins deals with the aftermath of the death in a plane crash of a family friend and his co-pilot. The co-pilot left a young daughter (Maggy) whom the family is caring for. Maggy is an orphan who was fairly neglected by her own family. There’s also a part where Vicky has a bike accident and spends some time in the hospital. Most of the book is pretty happy though.

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: N/A

Characters of Particular Interest: Vicky Austin. I love Vicky and would really love fics from her perspective. Alternately Aunt Elena or Victoria Sr. would be amazing POV characters.

Ships involving eligible characters: Aunt Elena/Uncle Doug. Victoria Sr./Wallace (The parents).

Fandom specific likes: Despite the sad elements, I see this as a very happy book and would like fics that are reasonably happy as well.

Fandom specific DNW: Going too deeply into the sad elements, a little bit is okay but I’d rather not have any fics that are focused on them.

Optional Prompts: I’d be happy with anything sweet about the Austin family, including Maggy. But fics about how Aunt Elena and Uncle Doug get married and adopt Maggy are my absolute ideal.

I picked up the second book at the library hoping to see the Aunt Elena/Uncle Doug wedding, but it basically just said “after the wedding was over we went home.” I badly wanted to read about that wedding and I was very disappointed that I didn’t get it.

A Countess Below Stairs:

Fandom content notes: The book is set shortly after WWI and the Russian Republic so the characters are all coping with the aftermath. A main character is combat wounded and has nightmares about his experiences. A lot of death happened pre-book and is discussed a little bit. The book’s villains support eugenics, to the horror of the rest of the characters. The villains also express antisemitic and ableist views. A couple of disabled characters are mistreated by the main villain. A minor character dies in a hospital off screen. A character who gets a bit grabby with the maids is treated as quirky but harmless by everyone including the maids.

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: N/A

Characters of Particular Interest: Anna is pretty much a given. I absolutely love Susie and her uncomplicated-ness. Ollie is such a fascinating character and I love how much joy she has. Minna might be my favorite character, I want to be just like her. Mrs. Park is so loving and kind and I love her relationship with Win. I love basically all of the women characters really. Except for Miss Hardwick.

Ships involving eligible characters: Anna/Rupert, Susie/Tom

Fandom specific likes: Anna still being friends (as much as she can) with everyone below stairs even after she marries Rupert and becomes the lady of the house.

Fandom specific DNW: I’d really rather not get any fics about Miss Hardwick or Dr. Lightbody. Mentions of the harm they caused are okay, but I’d rather receive happy stories set before they arrive or after they’re gone. Or stories set during the book where they just aren’t mentioned at all. I’d prefer not to get stories focused on the Nettlefords or on Cynthia either.

Optional Prompts:

Something about how Susie IS complicated in regards to Tom, how she loves him and wants to marry him, but is afraid that if she accepts his proposal he might wake up one morning and decide that she isn’t what he wants after all. And how worried she is that he doesn’t see her for who she truly is. We’re told all throughout the book that Susie is uncomplicated, but in this particular aspect, she’s quite complex indeed.

Why did Minna choose to marry a man she hardly knew who was looking for someone to help take care of his children and his home? We’re told that they became a love match, but when they married it was out of convenience for Lord Bryne. What did Minna get out of the arrangement at first?

I’d love to see Minna quietly becoming exactly what Heslop and the Brynes need.

Something about how there are several marriages (The Brynes, the Rabinovitchs, hinted at with the Herrings) that start out as arranged or convenience marriages but become love marriages later on.

I like to think that Sergei’s marriage to Larissa isn’t as convenience as Anna believes when he tells her. That Sergei realized that Larissa actually was who he wanted to spend his life with and that they’re happy together. It makes me happy to think that’s why he chooses to propose even after he doesn’t need her money. Something about that would be sweet.

I’d love to see something where Doreen Lightbody doesn’t die but instead leaves her husband to live a better life somewhere else.

Everyone always asks for it, but I’d enjoy getting to read about some of the other 15 or 16 proposals between Susie and Tom.

I know these are all rather involved, so I’d also be happy with nothing but fluff.

Enchanted Forest Chronicles:

Fandom content notes: Cimorene runs away to avoid an arranged marriage. A few bad guys are mentioned as being eaten by dragons. Mendanbar is imprisoned for 17 years between books 3 and 4. Two characters in the 3rd book are transformed into something else. One by accident, the other as a punishment.

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Characters of Particular Interest: Cimorene, Morwen, Shiara, Alianora

Ships involving eligible characters: Cimorene/Mendanbar, Daystar/Shiara, Morwen/Telemain, Alianora/The Stone Prince

Fandom specific likes: Mentions/Appearances of Alianora even if she’s not the focus. Morwen’s cats being snarky.

Fandom specific DNW: A story where the focus is on the time between Calling On Dragons and Talking To Dragons.

Optional Prompts:

I would love anything about the women being friends, (I didn’t specifically list Kazul but I’d love to see stories featuring her as well.) Or Alianora confronting her aunt finally. Or even something about an OC coming to canon characters for help with a problem.

A few shippy prompts taken from another exchange letter:

- Cimorene/Mendanbar: We don’t get to see very much of their married life so I would love to see some fluff taking place after their wedding but before Book 3.

- Daystar/Shiara: In an AU where they found some way to rescue Mendanbar sooner and Daystar grew up as the prince knowing both of his parents, how does this effect his and Shiara’s first meeting? Do they get along better or worse? Why is Daystar out in the forest at the right time to find her?

- Morewen/Telemain: I am down for basically anything with these two as long as it’s fun. Growing up together. Being classmates in magic school. Quests/adventures. Spending time together between adventures. Married life. Anything that appeals to you.

How exactly did they manage to get engaged? I would love to get the story of what conversations happened that we aren’t shown.

- Alianora/The Stone Prince: I just want to see anything about their relationship. We don’t get to see a lot of it in the book but I find it fascinating. I like how by the rules of this world, their one-day courtship and falling in love incredibly fast is normal and would enjoy seeing more about it.

Magic School Bus:

Fandom content notes: There are multiple episodes where the characters turn into different animals. There are also many episodes going inside the human body.

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Magic School Bus

Characters of Particular Interest: Do I even have to say anything? Ms. Frizzle, Wanda, Phoebe, Keesha, Dorothy Ann. Arnold is Jewish so he also counts for this exchange, but there’s a lot of Arnold focus as it is and I would probably prefer one of the female characters as a POV character.

Ships involving eligible characters: Ms. Frizzle/Mr. Seedplot

Fandom specific likes: The kids all being close friends and no matter how many arguments they have they always make up quickly. Appearances by Mikey.

Fandom specific DNW: Romances between the kids. I don’t mind occasional references to crushes, but I don’t want shipping with them.

Optional Prompts:

Honestly, just anything about the characters doing science or working on their various projects. I love the friendships between the kids so much and would adore reading about that.

What do the kids like to do for fun when they’re not in school or doing science?

A favorite headcanon of mine is that after college, the eight of them chip in and buy a house to use as home base. And they all travel around researching in their respective fields, but sometimes they just stay right there and do science. I would love any sort of story set in that world.

Sesame Street:

Fandom content notes: One episode deals with the aftermath of the death of a main character.

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Sesame Street

Characters of Particular Interest: Maria, Linda, Olivia, Susan, Gina. Mr. Hooper is Jewish.

Ships involving eligible characters: Linda/Bob, Maria/Linda, Maria/Luis, Maria/David, Susan/Gordon, Maria/Luis/David, Susan/Gordon/Bob, Bob/David/Linda/Luis/Maria/Olivia, Harriet/Mr. Hooper

Fandom specific likes: Mr. Hooper lives. The characters making sure to sign for Linda so that she knows what’s going on. Miles and Gabi being best friends. Bob and Maria being metamours and having a very sibling-like relationship. Mr. Hooper refusing to tell anyone what his orientation is. Big Bird basically being everyone’s child. Bob being in both of the above polyamorous relationships at the same time.

Fandom specific DNW: Anything involving the death of Mr. Hooper. Making Linda hearing instead of Deaf.

Optional Prompts:

I can’t really think of anything specific for this one. My Tumblr tag and AO3 tag probably cover a lot of what I like. I just like happy fluffy things in this fandom. The street as a giant happy family is my favorite thing and I love all of the friendships so much.

According to The Muppet Wiki, Gina’s actress Alison Bartlett once met Will Lee as Mr. Hooper at a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade when she was a little girl. Since Gina and Mr. Hooper never got to meet in canon, I would love to see a story where they got to meet. Perhaps even at the Macy’s parade.

I didn’t want to put all of my shippy prompts into a letter for an exchange that isn’t ship themed, so here’s a link to an old Chocolate Box letter if any pairings listed above are what you’re interested in writing. https://releasing-my-insanity.tumblr.com/post/639541205404975104/dear-chocolatier-letter

#Dear Creator Letters #Purimgifts

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greengargouille · 6 years

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I spent a good hour of the night thinking about the ace disc//ourse, and I feel my thoughts are still clustered.

The thing, is, I don’t feel like my opinion matter much on the subject, which is why I prefer to reblog informative posts. I identify as an ace lesbian, so technically I belong in both communities concerned, but... I’m a lurker that would rather stay at the limits of those, looking from afar rather than participate. I understand the importance of a community, both for individuals and for protests, but I personally don’t feel the need to be part of it.

This is because I’m in a really privileged position. I know my family and close friends would accept and support me if they learn I like women (with the exception of my father, maybe. He certainly won’t mind if it’s a child of another family, but his own daughter, I wonder). In fact, I did casually came out to my mom and a good friend of mine, and their reaction was nothing but positive. Inversely, I was more wary back when I told everyone I was asexual, because I was worried they would dismiss this or blame it on depression or something like that. This is incredibly lucky, compared to all the LGBT people who put their life in danger for coming out. And I feel my asexuality had played a much bigger role in my life. I’ve only figured out I’m lesbian since... well it will be a year around the middle of this month. I’m not even sure I was one before, or if it’s a case of fluidity. Probably the latter, though.

But. Cases of, as a young child, thinking that since this or that boy did something nice and I admired them then surely I was in love - and that said ‘crushes’ didn’t last long, without me really feeling bad about them ending. Cases of not feeling too bothered about not having ever dated, and being baffled by what was considered attractive in most popular guys. Cases of endless frustration at all those forced het romances shoved in so many stories, or of all those “it will change when you will have a boyfriend :)”. All of those experiences -Compulsive heterosexuality? heteronormativity?- could exist whether or not I had romantic affections to girls I was unaware of.

I think this might be a point of the whole discourse. Whether the goal of the LGBT community is defined as “wanting heteronormativity to end” or “to end oppression” ; those things have a lot of common grounds, but also a lot of difference. And in a case, it makes sense to unit the two community, while not so much in the other.

‘Oh, but heteroromantic aces or heterosexual aros don’t suffer from heteronormativity’, say a tiny gremlin in my head, but don’t they? The expectation of romancing someone of a different sex would hurt all aro anyways, no? And, vice versa, expectation one must be attracted to someone of a different sex will hurt aces, whether they can form a romantic bond or not.

Then, there’s the issue of oppression. I think this is a strong word, and might not be suited for the struggles of the ace community. Prejudice, discrimination, yes. Cases of corrective rape (and the community that coined the term said it was fine to use, so can people stop misinformation on that), increased abuse in relationships, doctors restricting medicine because not feeling attraction must be a side-effect (and more important than overall health), that or therapists sincerely considering a person ‘broken’ for not feeling those and that it have to be corrected. Those are all serious issues, but this is not “your existence is considered illegal in many countries”, this is not “you have a high chance in some places of being kicked out of the house/killed specifically because of your orientation” (rather than because someone assumed the person was gay) [and the point here is ‘high chance’, I’m not saying such a case never happened or will never happen, but proportionally, to the point of it being a concern for the community? I don’t think so].

And a lot of posts I saw (which is to say not that many, tbh, I tried not to get too involved) seemed to be on a binary of “yes ace are oppressed” vs “no ace aren’t oppressed and don’t have any problems”. The conflict would be much clearer if that was the case, but it’s because it falls outside of those two extremes that it’s quite hard to determinate whether or not the ace&aro communities belong. Plus, the ace community does seems to have a bad reputation (dunno about aros, though). I mean, it’s only normal when there is a minority of it (serious or trolling) declaring that acephobia is worse than homophobia or stupid things like that (I do think some of those are just trolls, that might not even be ace), and on the opposite there seems to be some that declare aces to be pedophiles preying on the young questioning people of the community (dang, I still feel uncomfortable remembering that post I once saw at the top of the search on tumblr app). Both sides probably both are a case of ‘they’re a small part of their communities but they’re quite loud so noticeable’? I don’t know, it’s hard to tell from my dash alone.

Added to that is, I think, that there are some misunderstanding that make it hard to take the aces and aros seriously. Words like... queerplatonic, which is different from a strong friendship, at least in the way a lot of aros define it, from what I’ve seen (wanting to marry/live your whole life with/raise children with someone, but still not having romantic feelings for them, is a stade above ‘strong friendship’ for a lot of people). Or demisexual. Actually, I’m still not sure what my stand is on that? Like, some people says ‘demisexual don’t exist it’s just how it works for everyone’, but there are also plenty of people that talk about ‘love at first sight’, which isn’t love so much as infatuation but still romantic/sexual attraction that happens just like that. And, well, if the number of people you’ve been attracted to in your whole life can be counted on the fingers of one hand, then to me your experiences align way more with aces than allo. Ah, another term allo people seems to hate, that. ‘Allo’. The same people that will talk about ‘cishet’, mind you, like, how can one understand that ‘cis’ just mean ‘not trans’ and isn’t an insult, but refuse to wrap their head around ‘allo’ merely meaning ‘not-ace’ or ‘not-aro’ and isn’t some big rude word? Anyways, sorry for this post getting so long. I have a lot of different thoughts that I can’t organise in my head alone, and for all my opinion is worth I still felt like sharing it with my friends?

#personal #long post #in some case I speak of the ace community rather than both the ace and aros but that's because I don't know as much on the subject #I don't know much how they differs and I don't think my opinion matter on that

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kingofthewilderwest · 3 years

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Gosh, I’m not expecting this post to go down well, but I’ve been thinking about it a while, so I’ll make a stab. Wish me luck.

It’s been over a decade since I realized I was queer. It was a terrifying time and I was afraid to talk to many people about it. Some of the best, most comforting support I had, able to answer my questions, give me good factual and scientific information on why being queer was okay, and assuage my fears and religious concerns, came from online communities.

Specifically, queer Christian communities.

Fuck, man, I was on everything down to queer Christian deviantArt groups. Haha, deviantArt, yeah. But it allowed me to talk to people about multiple factors simultaneously that were relevant to me: both my religion, which was very important to me, and my queerness, and be able to sort it out and come to peace with all of it.

Christians in the United States have loads of privilege and we’re not society’s victims. The opposite. It makes sense places like tumblr have become a safe space for victims of homophobic religion to escape, de-convert, and vent with other traumatized people over it. It’s good to see people calling out the hypocrisy, shit, abuse, and bad uses of power that appear within the church. I’m really glad spaces like this exist so that y’all can find better, healthier, happier lives apart from the religion that did you wrong, and to embrace who you truly are. You need that. Many times, I know I have no good religious speaking room here, and I intentionally stay as out of the way as I possibly can so that this safe space can continue to exist.

But I admit I’m also worried about young folks who were like me, looking for answers, and felt like there was no one to come to who’d be safe.

The way tumblr is right now, I would be afraid that queer Christians wouldn’t feel safe approaching the LGBTQ dialogue here. If one group says “FUCK YOU!” to every Christian out there (and I understand! you were harmed!!), and the other group says, “ew, homosexuality” to every questioning queer out there (which many church spaces still do), then you might feel like you can’t talk to anybody. There were so many online queer Christian communities when I was an older teen that bridged the gap and allowed us to be proud and gay, proud and ace, proud and trans, while also making our own personal choice if we were to remain in the faith, because it was still important and helpful to us. In my case, yes, I’ve retained my Christianity, with greater textual understanding to the passages that worried me. I couldn’t have had that without other LGBTQ people embracing me, respecting my religion, and letting me process through ALL that.

When I went on tumblr, I got hate messages fast for my religion without anyone knowing anything about what I believed in, or caring I was queer and talking about that queerness openly on tumblr. I’ve run into posters who explicitly declared they didn’t care they were generalizing over 2 billion people in the world, they were going to generalize and hate on them all. I’ve seen pro-LGBTQ pastors on tumblr get chased out by bombarding threatening messages. I’ve seen tons of posts say things like, “I love X, Y, Z religions on tumblr for how they say [deity] loves [LGBTQ identity here], but Christians are horrible, they would never do that!”

Heck, man, plenty of Christians I know would post messages like that if they thought there was the space for it. I’d love to see “Jesus loves you, lesbians!!!” But I’d never feel bold enough to post that here! I feel like the second I did, I’d be waiting to be screamed at for being a hypocrite and part of the problem, or ‘supporting’ homophobia, or being mocked for a god that doesn’t exist. So... I know a ton of tumblr queer Christians who just...... stay silent instead, fearing retaliation and aggressive responses. I’ve talked to different people from different countries confirming the tumblr presentation of Christians is very USA-centric and forgets about their culturally-embedded saints or all the POC people who rely on it and stuff like that. I’ve had multiple friends nervously ask me, “I saw X viral post being reblogged and it says a ton of really bad things about Christianity but it’s really inaccurate to my denominations/country/the-religion-in-general, but I feel like I can’t say anything because I’ll just get yelled at if I try to respond.” And on and on and on.

There needs to be spaces for folks to speak angrily about things they hate. If you have major criticisms about organized religion, by all means, fucking use the spaces to get it out. I get it.

But what I’m saying is... if you really think that these 2 billion diverse humans from around the globe all think the same thing and are all out to abuse you in the way your specific brand of local Evangelical Protestants are doing things, maybe rethink that assumption as you’re processing your trauma. Theology’s diverse, yo, and there’s gonna be so many Christians who are LGBTQ, want to support LGBTQ, get their questions answered about LGBTQ, etc.

I just wish there’s a communication space without intimidation for the questioning folks like I was, who want answers from a queer community that won’t burn them out for their faith, to feel like they’re not going to be rained down by both the religious and the queer. Both needs to be met in their questions, the religious and the queer. This type of world on tumblr, it’s going to feel hostile to those baby queer Christians, who are afraid the second their religion leaks out, they’re not going to be able to belong in the LGBTQ community anymore, rather than find love, answers, support, science, and good reasoning for why they can accept being LGBTQ.

Maybe I’m wrong and there’s lots of spaces and it’s just my personal experience. All I can speak to, right now, is what I’ve anecdotally seen from my angle. I hope this doesn’t come off as exaggeration; I’m speaking the negatives because those are the relevant observations right now, but I won’t deny I’ve had good faith experiences on this site, too. Just... I want to discuss the bad because the bad exists.

If anything I said in here accidentally came off poorly, please let me know, and I’ll endeavor to learn and reword it to be better. Please understand that frustratedly criticizing X Christian issue in response to this post might be a bit of a strawman when I’m talking about folks who aren’t going to automatically have X Christian issue. I love to listen to you and I respect your pain, but if I might ask, please don’t make this the place for that comment. I don’t want this to turn into a discussion, so I hope you can let me say my mind once and then be the end of it. This has been on my mind, I doubt many people are going to like what I said, but I hope that, maybe even for just one person, these were the right words to read. Take care y’all, and keep rocking it.

#long post #religion #Christianity #non-dragons #fandom #fandom culture #wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee this is a bad idea to post isn't it #welp #anyway #<3 #love you guys #LGBTQ

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rjalker · 2 years

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Here’s a list of privileges binary people have over nonbinary people, as written out by a trans woman

I never have to explain my gender — everyone knows, broadly, what a woman is.

Though it can be difficult, I can get my gender markers changed to one that matches my actual gender. Only 15 states (and D.C.) currently have an “X” gender marker as an option on their official identification documents, and the U.S. Federal government doesn’t recognize them at all.

I have the ability to signal my gender identity through the use of standard “feminine” modes of presentation. It is much more difficult to signal nonbinary presentation, especially for people who do not physically present as androgynous.

I never have to explain the proper use of my pronouns. Though they/them may have gained the widest recognition, there isn’t a true consensus in the nonbinary community as to what the nonbinary pronoun is, forcing nonbinary folx to explain their pronouns to those around them.

My pronouns are a traditional part of the English language and have never had their validity argued. Nonbinary folx often have to deal with confusion, ignorance, and even hostility regarding their pronouns. Though it is currently the most widely accepted, singular they/them has faced grammatical criticism for years, and pronouns such as ze/zim and ae/aer are often dismissed as “made up.”

I was able to change my name to a feminine name to denote my gender — though some names are unisex, there are no names which are inherently perceived as nonbinary the same way names can be perceived as inherently male or female.

My appearance is such that people will most often gender me correctly and use the proper pronouns for me, whereas many people do not use they/them as a default pronoun. (This advantage also stems from my white and thin privilege, both of which help me to “pass” in day-to-day life.)

People tend to at least understand what being transgender is, even if they have issues with trans folx. Many don’t even consider the idea of being nonbinary.

There are no widely accepted gender-neutral honorifics — I am comfortable being called “Ma’am” or “Ms.”, but there is no gender-neutral equivalents. Though such honorifics as “Mx.” or “M.” technically exist, they are not widely used or recognized — and even in spaces where they might be recognized, they aren’t pronounceable, making their everyday use nearly impossible. Furthermore, there simply isn’t a gender-neutral “sir/ma’am.”

When I have a child, I will have no qualms calling myself a “mother”, but there is no equivalent gender-neutral parental word — except, perhaps, “guardian”, though that often refers to a child’s caretaker rather than their biological/adoptive parents.

I can, generally speaking, see people that I connect with in media. Though trans women are rare, binary women are extremely common, whereas nonbinary and genderqueer characters are rare, and nonbinary genders are often used to denote a “lack of humanity” in an other-worldy being — because what could be more incomprehensible than someone that doesn’t fit into the gender binary?

I never have my gender identity equated with any sort of apathy or emotionlessness — many binary people seem only able to conceptualize gender-neutral folx as robotic or alien.

I am not often lumped into LGBTQIA+ categories that I do not identify with on the sole basis of my gender identity — many people assume that a genderqueer or nonbinary individual is also trans, but this isn’t always the case.

I have never seen my gender equated with asexuality — some binary people are only able to conceptualize attraction inside the binary, and so assume that a nonbinary person cannot experience sexual attraction at all. Though some nonbinary people are ace, not all are.

I am not often made uncomfortable by the rhetoric of trans-friendly activism, except in relation to how they speak about the binary nature of genders. Many LGBTQIA+ and other activism networks persist in using binary, gendered language, especially in relation to gay/lesbian rights or the politics around transition.

I mostly fit into what people “expect” of a trans person, in that I chose to medically transition. Many nonbinary people are not trans or otherwise do not have a desire to medically transition, but they are often still expected to do so by their contemporaries.

I’ve never had to endure someone making a joke of my pronouns — whereas nonbinary folx are often mocked for the “nonexistence” of neopronouns, the supposed plurality of they/them, and even sometimes dehumanized by being told that if they don’t have a gender they should just go by “it”.

Because my pronouns are inherently singular, there is never any confusion as to whether “she” refers to an individual or a group in written scenes. Because they/them is the most widely accepted gender-neutral pronoun but can also be used as a plural pronoun, the antecedent of the pronoun can be difficult to parse in prose writing.

I can find spaces where I can be surrounded by other binary women, both cis and trans. Spaces where nonbinary folx might be able to congregate are exceedingly rare, and are often also occupied by binary trans folx.

I could choose to not pay attention to the activism for and developments of the rights of folx who identify outside of the gender binary, and that is unlikely to negatively affect me.

I can be relatively certain that, when attending events in trangender-friendly spaces, the validity of my experience of my gender will not be questioned. Many nonbinary folx in these spaces will be faced with questions about when they will “figure out” that they’re trans, or will be derogatorily referred to as a “transtrender” or similar because of their identities.

I can be confident that people in LGBT+ spaces will be understanding toward my gender identity and my process for discovering it — even among other queer folx, nonbinary people often have to justify their own existence or fight for validation.

If I am not out to people, they generally assume the correct gender for me. As nonbinary genders do not occur to most people, there is less of a chance that a person will assume that somebody identifies with a nonbinary gender.

I do not have to come out to people for them to gender me correctly (I can be “stealth”), whereas a nonbinary person must come out for someone to even consider gendering them correctly.

#binary privilege #trans #nonbinary #no I still cannot believe people #long post

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puppyluver256 · 2 years

Photo

[Image Description: Three fan-made Pokemon based around the five-lined skink with more draconic features.

The first Pokemon is a tan lizard with a long tail and blue lines along its back, small beige nub-horns, a turquoise belly, and light orange eyes. Dark blue text outlined in blue to the right of the image reads "Dranada".

The second Pokemon is a bronze lizard with a long dark turquoise tail and blue lines along its back, beige horns, a turquoise belly, and orange eyes. Dark blue text outlined in blue to the right of the image reads "Redrake".

The third Pokemon is a bronze lizard with a long dark turquoise tail and blue lines along its back, long beige horns, a turquoise belly, blue claws on its front legs, and red eyes. Dark blue text outlined in blue to the right of the image reads "Dragorge".

End ID.]

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Dranada - Tiny Dragon Pokemon - water/dragon Despite their small size, Dranada can be quite feisty when forced into a confrontation from which they cannot flee. The lines along their bodies provide both camouflage and a method of communication. / It lives in the tributaries of Cantessy’s big rivers until it is large enough to start migrating closer to the main river. It tends to be quite skittish and will avoid human interaction whenever possible, made easier by the lines on its body blending in with water flow.

Redrake - River Dragon Pokemon - water/dragon It is said that seeing one the day before an important event is a sign of good luck, so it is not uncommon for people to visit rivers in the days leading up to such occasions. There’s no guarantee the river in question even houses Redrake, however, as they are quite particular about their living area. / Redrake inhabit Cantessy’s rivers, though the average person actually getting a chance to see them is quite the rare occurrence. This is partly due to how elusive they are, and partly due to humans often incorrectly identifying where they would settle unless they study these Pokemon.

Dragorge - River Dragon Pokemon - water/dragon It lives in and around deep rivers at the bottom of vast gorges. It lays its eggs in personally carved tunnels that eventually become tributaries to the rivers they branch off from. / Legend says that a gigantic Dragorge carved out the entire Ruby River millions of years ago. While this can’t be proven conclusively, Dragorge are known to create offshoots to said river via tunnelling during mating season.

More Cantessy Fakemon, and finally we're showing off the pseudo-legendary! These guys are based around the five-lined skink, a little lizard that lives around here, with some more draconic traits like horns and fangs and such hehe. They've got some themes from the Red River Gorge and surrounding areas, such as the Nada Tunnel (pronounced "nay-duh" rather than "nah-dah", I know, I didn't expect that either when naming Dranada). Also! These guys say trans rights! ...Let me explain my meaning with that. Dranada's gender ratio is 75% male and 25% female, whereas Redrake's is 50/50 and Dragorge's is 25% male and 75% female. Now given that they "fixed" the similar thing with Azurill where there would be a chance a female Azurill would turn male upon evolution up until gen...6, I believe, I don't think a Dranada that you catch would change gender when evolving in your party. Lore-wise, though? They ab-so-LUTELY do change gender as they mature! In fact, Cantessy's dragon specialist has one that did so! Dragorge has definitely become an important symbol for trans women in Cantessy. Especially in the case of that dragon specialist. (and if anyone's got some nasty things to say about trans people in the Pokemon universe, Beauty Nova from Kalos says hi)

These guys are unfortunately exclusive to Plow Version, and their "equivalent" in Circuit Version is a non-variant official Pokemon (the Goomy line). Kind of ironic that the eighth Gym Leader in Circuit uses one as her ace, right? Speaking of which...guess who's getting shown off next :3c

Reminder that if anyone wants to suggest moves for any Cantessy Fakemon to learn and some physical stats where I haven’t yet figured them out, feel free to throw ‘em at me :3 Links to their info pages will be provided in the replies!

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Pokemon and related concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Dranada, Redrake, Dragorge, the Cantessy region, and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

#pokemon #fakemon #cantessy region #dranada #redrake #dragorge #jess drew the thing #sfw #image description

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faunusrights · 3 years

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what is going on with all the bias on robyn hill’s wiki page, anyway? - an aside

As someone who uses the RWBY wiki with some degree of frequency - often because I’m looking for art references, or Semblance and weapon names - I’m used to... some amount of bias in the articles for different characters? Like, let’s be real, it’s not a perfect wiki! Community-maintained stuff isn’t easy to all keep on the same track! But, generally, it gives the facts well enough and doesn’t do too bad a job keeping all the balls in the air when it comes to new information from all four corners of this franchise.

Well, until you open the article for Robyn Hill, and realise it’s an absolute disaster. Like, really; the impartial voice just plain doesn’t exist for her, and almost all of her wiki is written in such a way that she reads as being an absolutely insufferable, hostile, hard-to-like character. Even if you aren’t a fan of Robyn personally, you have to admit that if you hadn’t seen the show yourself, you might very well come away from her article presuming she’s a major antagonist of Volumes 7 and 8.

Like, for instance, let’s take a look at the first paragraph of her Personality section:

Robyn has a direct and confident personality, having no trouble being confrontational with Atlas personnel, including the Ace Operatives. Robyn also seems to suffer from overconfidence and arrogance, shown in her encounters with Ruby and celebrating her election victory before it was verified. She is aggressive and hostile in nature, quickly jumping to conflict without thinking through consequences. However, she is also shown to be reasonable when the situation calls for it.

And, for good measure, here’s another paragraph from the same section:

In "With Friends Like These" Robyn displayed a rather impulsive side of her personality, when upon hearing that James Ironwood's plan to abandon Mantle and arrest those against him, she started a fight between herself, Clover Ebi, and Qrow Branwen onboard a Manta with Tyrian Callows in custody. Despite the fact, there was no order or her arrest. Her brashness led to Tyrian breaking free and crashing the Manta as well as her becoming unconscious.

(Taken from Robyn’s RWBY Wiki page. Bolding is mine.)

In every instance here, all of the “negative” aspects of her personality take centre stage; she’s confrontational. She suffers from arrogance. She is aggressive and hostile. She started the fight. Her brashness led to the crash. All of this is only compounded when her positive traits trail behind as an afterthought; she’s direct and confrontational, overconfident and arrogant, aggressive and hostile, impulsive and jumps to conclusions... but hey! As least she’s reasonable when the situation calls for it.

The way that this information is presented to the reader is quite literally on par with how the wiki presents the personalities of the actual literal villains who appear throughout the show. Let’s take, for instance, the Personality section of Cinder Fall:

Cinder is ruthless and sadistic, as demonstrated when she delivers a killing blow to a clearly defeated Pyrrha Nikos in "End of the Beginning" and when she throws a spear at a defenseless Weiss Schnee in "The More the Merrier." She is relentlessly driven to gain power and determined to cross any line to obtain it. Cinder demonstrates a cunning that shows in her successful manipulation of events and people throughout the first three volumes. Cinder is also arrogant and egomaniacal, and as such, relishes in dominance and gloating, displaying shameless pleasure in the misery she has caused others.

Or, the Personality section of Raven Branwen:

Raven is cynical, patronizing, selfish and stubborn. She believed her act of "kindness" of saving Yang's life from Neopolitan was sufficient despite having left Yang at a very young age and refused to protect her daughter when in need after that.

Raven is also very prideful and hypocritical, refusing to acknowledge her faults and always trying to justify her actions both to others and to herself, often putting the blame on others for them even if she feels real guilt about them.

It makes sense that for an antagonist, the primary faults and flaws of their personalities will come first, as to better represent them as the villains to clarify to the reader who they are and why they act as they do in their storylines. However, the fact that Robyn arguably has an even more caustic write-up then Raven, despite not being an antagonist, goes to show the lengths this writer has gone to present her in a significantly more negative light than she ever appears in the show.

If this doesn’t seem convincing, let’s look at a more direct comparison; what does the wiki say about Ironwood? He’s present in the same seasons, and has now become more of an antagonist in the latter episodes; is the wiki quite as blunt about his flaws?

Ironwood is courteous to his allies, as shown by his first onscreen interaction with Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch. He is also far-thinking and tactical, wondering about the future, as seen when he speaks to Ozpin about Qrow Branwen's message. He also has a jovial, friendly, humorous and proud public persona, which he uses as a spokesman for the weapon manufacturers of Atlas.

However, as courteous Ironwood may appear, he can also be incredibly blunt, often preferring the direct approach. When he feels necessary, Ironwood is not afraid to bring the full might of his military command to bear, which sparked disagreements with both Glynda and Ozpin. Nevertheless, Ironwood is extremely loyal to his comrades, and however questionable his methods may be, he seems to have genuinely good intentions behind them.

Uh, no.

Instead, when his flaws are mentioned (for example, being blunt), it’s written in a significantly less... abrasive manner. It’s referred to as the direct approach, versus Robyn who is described as confrontational. Even then, his flaws are folded in to his (alleged) positive traits; he is not afraid, extremely loyal, and has genuinely good intentions, despite the fact that the show has now proven that Ironwood’s flaws greatly outweigh these. It reveals how thoroughly all of Robyn’s actions are presented as the work of an arrogant troublemaker, whilst Ironwood’s actions are presented as the efforts of a man working towards some greater good.

Also, I’ll add that in both examples, I used the first two paragraphs of their Personality sections. These are both the first two things you read about these characters, yet look at how differently they’re summarised.

What is interesting, however, is that despite this bias being extremely self-evident, the comments on her page generally chime agreement, referring to her as “overconfident, arrogant, impulsive and hotheaded to the point of being unlikable”, and claiming that she’s “literally the worse character in the show next to cinder, blake and yang”[1]. Someone mentions that Robyn has earned quite the hatedom... but why?

Broadly, my experiences of Robyn Hill’s writing in the fandom has been through a queer lens, and the vast majority of writers who’ve covered her and the Happy Huntresses have been women, or queer, or trans, or all the above... basically, the people who are usually responsible for a vast majority of fanfiction, let’s be real. These writers love Robyn, and have explored and extrapolated on her character to marvellous degree. Yet, at no singular point have any of these flaws ever been written quite as strongly as the wiki implies they are, nor have I seen much evidence of them myself in the show. For instance, let’s take one of the more serious points in her Personality section; she started a fight between herself, Clover Ebi, and Qrow Branwen [...] her brashness led to Tyrian breaking free and crashing the Manta as well as her becoming unconscious.

When we watch this scene again, Robyn did initiate the fight... because she was rightfully aware that Clover would obey his orders, even if they were wrong. Despite everything that happened prior in the entirety of Volume 7, when given orders to bring Qrow in alongside RWBY, it was clear that Clover fully intended to follow it through, which Robyn knows from prior experience with the AceOps:

[image ID: two images of Clover, Robyn and Qrow in the dark-grey interior of the Manta ship. Robyn has her weapon aimed at Clover as he stands in front of Qrow. Clover is saying “Only Qrow is under arrest [...] please don’t make me arrest you too.”]

Her knowledge of the AceOps means that she reacted accordingly; trying to stop him from taking Qrow in and obeying Ironwood’s plan the only way she knows the AceOps respond to. Her reaction isn’t unwarranted. However, my point isn’t to argue that Robyn was right or wrong, but rather that regardless of who started the fight, the way the wiki explains this specific incident is that it’s solely Robyn’s fault that Tyrian escaped and crashed the Manta, but we know this isn’t the case. Robyn and Qrow both fought Clover, and it was Clover’s good luck (or Qrow’s bad luck, depending on how you view it) that allowed for Kingfisher to break Tyrian’s bonds. Her brashness is blamed for the outcome, but in reality, this outcome could have been avoided together if Clover had not chosen to follow his orders and bring in an innocent man. Also, she didn’t crash the Manta! That was all Tyrian! The intentional tying together of these two events as her fault, however, are a neat package of blame.

In these instances on the wiki, Robyn’s personality appears amplified, focusing specifically on her flaws and exaggerating them to the extremes that, as noted earlier, matches the language used to define the very villains of the series. Yet, the people who enjoy her and the Happy Huntresses often perceive those same flaws to a significantly lesser extent, or even see those flaws as actually being boons of her character; for instance, reading her alleged arrogance as passion. So, why such division?

Before, I mentioned her “negative” traits, and I put this into quote marks because traits don’t always align nicely into good and bad. All aspects of a person can vary on how positive they are based on context - even the show proves this, with protectiveness becoming paranoia (Ironwood) or loyalty becoming subservience (Winter). Even a character that is broadly composed of more unfavourable traits can have this contextual shift; Cinder’s stubbornness to her goals makes her a fast learner and a tenacious opponent.

Yet, why did the writer (or writers) choose to highlight almost every aspect of Robyn’s character as a bad thing? Why did they frame her decisions as such? I have a suspicion it’s to do with her character at large; she’s a bold socialist politician who believes in equality and fairness for all, who refuses to stand for incompetence and obedience towards evil causes. She’s outspoken in her views, and reacts strongly to those who threaten to overturn her work. Also, she’s a woman, in charge of a group of other women, at least one of whom is canonically trans. To those who agree with her in real life, Robyn appears as a great character! We admire her work ethic and we support her ends. To those who may not... well, it’s not hard to see how they might perceive her as more of a cocky, authority-defying upstart. Of course, the core text of RWBY doesn’t quite believe the latter; RWBY has always placed Robyn as the direct counter to authoritarianism, whether it be Jacques, Clover, or Ironwood, and even the article admits that she is a potent voice for the people of Mantle. Still, it’s clear that there’s plenty of people in a vocal minority who are deeply dissatisfied by Robyn, and aren’t afraid to make their stance on the matter exceedingly clear.

So, what does this all mean? Well, here’s what we can say for sure; Robyn’s article is, and has always been, stringently biased against her character, and often misconstrues her motives and decisions. This is maybe the more obvious part, but how should her article be worded to make this less so? Likely, I’d rephrase a lot of it to be less damaging to her character; she isn’t hostile, she holds people accountable. She isn’t quick to jump to conflict, she is familiar with how Atlas responds to anti-authority with violence. She isn’t arrogant, she believes in the power of the people as being the right thing to fight for. Even this makes it clearer that her character is about resisting the oppression inherent in Atlas, and is a much clearer outline of her personality as a whole. People may disagree with this phrasing and summary also, but given her character is based on Robin Hood, it’s also not far from the mark in terms of what she should represent.

TL;DR: Robyn’s wiki page is written with a deep bias against her character and what she represents, acts upon, and chooses to do in the show; I have no doubt that in canon, this sort of language would probably be used by Jacques himself as a smear campaign, haha. Whilst I can’t speak for the author and their motives, I have a distinct feeling that this article was written, or edited, by someone who is either:

not a fan of Robyn

not a fan of a new female character

not a fan of a new female character in a position of power

not a fan of a character with socialist/communist/antifa ideals

all of the above and then some???

Even though I’m not going to edit her wiki page (I’m very shy and I’ve never done it before), I think it’s worth analysing this if only as a reminder of the inherent biases of an author even when people are trying to present a character’s information impartially. This isn’t the first wiki I’ve seen misconstrue - or even make incorrect assumptions on - facts about a character, and it won’t be the last. In the meantime, though, I leave you with this fact:

Robyn Hill slaps huge nuts and I love her.

[1] I’m not naming the users who posted these things here, because it’s unnecessary. You can find them for yourself at the bottom of Robyn’s wiki, but there’s no need to respond; some people just don’t like Robyn, and that’s fine - I’m just explaining how bias leaks into wikis like water into a sponge. It happens!

#rwby #rwde #robyn hill #murphy's thoughts and vibes on this shit (again)#is this a new tag #i haven't really written this well and it was sort of off the cuff so sorry if there's mistake #*mistakes #LMAO #i just wanted to lay my Thoughts out #i swear if even one person msgs me like 'but robyn DOES suck' im banishing you to the Spray Cheese Hell Dimension #also im tagging as rwde but its not rwde against the show (FOR ONCE??) so

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asktheheirofslytherin · 2 years

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Hello Sir, terribly sorry to bother you but I feel like I'm developing romantic attractions to a classmate, despite identifying as both asexual and aromantic.

Frankly, it's a bit scary to me, because I'm not supposed to be able to feel this way, and in addition to this I have a partner who I am as close to loving as I can, but it feels like they're losing interest in me due to my inability to love as strongly as them.

I don't wish to break up with them, but I constantly feel like I'm not enough for them (despite them never doing anything to make it seem like that's their opinion) and so I overcompensate by focusing only on any and all attractions to other individuals.

Please help I am very confused

I would say you have two areas of concern, the first being that your committed partner is not meeting your needs, and the second being that your loyalties may be trying to wander - and in a direction you did not even know they could go.

Let us address the situation with your partner first. You feel that you are not meeting their needs, that you are not enough for them - so I assume either they are giving you signals of this, in which case you may be genuinely incompatible, or they are simply are not giving you the reassurance that you are. This makes you insecure in their loyalties to you.

Have you brought up these concerns? Have you expressed your desire for affirmation? You are ace and aro, yes, but you are not a potted plant. You have complex emotions and thoughts and desires just as anyone else, and you wish for your close companions to be mindful of your needs. Bella has stayed my partner all this time because she refuses to see me as merely a piece of authoritative wall decor and understands that whether I like it or not, whether I want it or not, I need some human connection some of the time. As I admit to being a rather extreme case, I can only imagine you have a greater need for companionship than I.

Speak with them about your concerns. I hate doing this type of thing, but in this case, it is the only thing that can help. You two need to be on the same page.

Second, this new individual you claim to have...feelings for. Why is this? Do they flirt with you? Spend time with you? Provide that validation your partner has not been giving you (and l mean here when i say this not that your partner is purposefully depriving you, but there has likely been a mismatch of communication and an understanding of each others needs - this can be fixed by having an uncomfortable conversation that I certainly do not envy)?

What you do next with this person is up to your own desires and the relationship you have with your partner. Do you have a commitment to monogamy? Would the other person even be interested in you as a companion, or is this a fantasy?

Note here I did not say anything about how you are "supposed" to feel. From what I understand from inhabiting this platform, sexual and romantic identity can be fluid. Some people may tap into different parts of ourselves, or specific circumstances make one more amenable to change. There were decades of my life in which I did not want to touch another human being. I now have a stable companion and a child. My past self would be appalled. Perhaps, in another fifty years, I will retreat to the dense forests once more and spend a decade alone with my thoughts. Perhaps not. I have learned not to worry myself over such things. And nor should you.

Ask yourself: what do you want right now? And why? Access your options. Go from there.

Best of Luck,

Lord Voldemort.

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homoerotic-ads · 4 years

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asexuality is not an ‘internet identity’, a fad, or fake.

as an asexual person myself, it’s difficult to deal with feeling both under-represented and excluded, both in cishet society AND lgbtq+ circles. the general conception regarding asexuality, in my experience, is that it’s a new identity, specifically a ‘tumblr snowflake’ identity, it’s not real, it’s a medical condition, etc etc. not only is this perspective genuinely hurtful and damaging, it’s just plain wrong.

asexuality’s history can be hard to pin down, exactly, outside of writings specifically about it because it’s difficult to write about an absence of something (in this case sexual encounters/attraction) rather than the presence of it. however, the concept has existed longer than our modern terms for it, as is the case with all other lgbtq+ identities.

unfortunately, I’m going to be speaking from an especially western standpoint, because I myself was born and raised in the western hemisphere and the sources I’m currently privy to are western.

before any terminology was coined, 17th century author and poet Catherine Bernard wrote various works that have since been read as relating to asexuality. her views of love, sex, marriage, and personal affairs (or lack thereof) speak to the asexual experience. here’s an article about her and her works for more information.

‘monosexual’ was a term coined in 1869 by Karl-Maria Kertbeny, the same man who coined the terms ‘homosexual’ and ‘heterosexual’ (all 3 in the same pamphlet, actually!). ‘monosexual’ refers to people who only masturbate, rather than have sexual encounters, the implication there being that monosexuals have no interest in sex/feel no need for it. (it’s a myth that asexual people don’t masturbate--some do, some don’t. asexual people have fully functioning equipment, and are perfectly capable of having and even enjoying orgasms. remember that stimulation of sexual organs is not the same thing as feeling attraction).

Kertbeny was a pretty cool dude, actually, or at least he was very progressive for his time regarding sexuality. he wrote that gay men were not inherently effeminate, that homosexuality was inborn and unchangeable, and that homosexuality had a long, long history, and many people they (and we) consider historical heroes were gay. Kertbeny was inspired to advocate for lgbtq+ people by a friend of his who had committed suicide after being blackmailed by an extortionist for his homosexuality.

in 1896 german sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld wrote the pamphlet Sappho und Sokrates, which discussed homosexual love and attraction, and referenced those who don’t feel sexual attraction. it is worth mentioning that he unfortunately connected asexuality with sexual anesthesia, which is the usually psychogenic condition that causes an absence of normal or expected sensations during sexual activity, as in, you have intercourse but can’t physically feel the stimulation. that is not what asexuality is.

In 1907, Carl Schlegel, a german immigrant to the US and Presbyterian minister wrote a speech advocating for lgbtq+ equality, and mentions asexuality by name: “Let the same laws for all the intermediate stages of sexual life: the homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals, asexuals, be legal as they are now in existence for the heterosexuals[...]” Schlegel is considered one of the first modern gay activists in the US.

coming back to Magnus Hirschfeld, he adopted the term asexual in his 1920 work, The Role of Homosexual Men and Women in Society, writing: “we must (if this were possible) describe” philosophers like Immanuel Kant “as being asexual.”

since its development in 1948, the Kinsey Scale has an X category for those who don’t experience sexual attraction.

in the 1960s, the magazine Transvestia (founded by transwoman Virginia Prince in 1960, and ran from 1960-1980) published an article that claimed that, while most trans people “are entirely heterosexual,” “some are also asexual.” in 1965 the same magazine published the “A-Sexual Range”--sort of an early prototype for the modern asexual spectrum--which stated “There are persons who simply have a very low libido—no sex drive to speak of.”

in 1969 Anton Szandor LeVey, founder of the Church of Satan, wrote in his book The Satanic Bible that “Satanism condones any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires – be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual.”

in 1970 the Philadelphia, PA newspaper, Gay Dealer, published an article on trans liberation, saying that it “includes transvestites, transsexuals, and hermaphrodites of any sexual manifestation and of all sexes—heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and asexual.”

in 1972, The Asexual Manifesto was published by the New York Radical Feminists. although the term asexual is used, it is a radfem publication so bear that in mind and be cautious in reading it.

at a feminist conference in 1973, female and nonbinary attendees were asked to wear a label identifying themselves as one of the following: “Straight, Lesbian, Gay, Butch, Femm, Asexual, Anti-sexual, ?, other, etc.”

in the same year, activists at a conference at Barnard college provided labels for lgbtq+ identities.

in 1974, David Bowie discussed asexuality in Rolling Stones magazine.

in 1977, Myra Johnson wrote one of the first academic papers about asexuality for the book The Sexually Oppressed. she described asexuality as a complete lack of sexual attraction, which is the definition we generally use today!

if you’ve read all the way down here, and needed some convincing, I hope you’re getting the picture. asexuality is a long standing, clearly defined community, with its first term (monosexual) coined alongside homosexual and heterosexual. we have been recognized, by name, for nearly 200 years, and the concept/feeling has existed long before that. asexuality is not a disease, a medical condition, an internet fad, or a joke. asexuals experience discrimination, lack of representation, and a the general misunderstanding that other sexual minorities experience. asexuality has not been institutionally discriminated against because, as previously said, you can’t really prove or prosecute an absence in the same way one can a presence. however, in 2015, Russia banned people with “disorders of sexual preference” from obtaining drivers’ licenses, and the list included asexuals.

this post is not nearly an exhaustive list of asexual history. if you want/need more information on asexuality, I’d recommend @historicallyace, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, the Asexual Census, and this great article on cracked.com about general ace experiences.

if anyone reading this post has more info and sources, please add them!

happy reading!

#lmk if i fucked something up in here....it looks fine but i dont trust my eyes #asexual #asexuality #aven #lgbt history #lgbtq history #queer history #my post #please feel free to add on sources n such or further commentary #but not exclusionists. is2g if you clown on this post #like at least read it man

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watatsumi-island · 3 years

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Hey so idk too much about the aro and ace spectrum. So can you educate me some more about aro/aceflux? I think it'd be cool to learn about it, especially bc media doesn't teach us shit and there's so many identities under Ace/Aro 💖

Oh, sure! I'd be happy to :)

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So first I'm going to start with Ace, since I am Asexual.

Some people just simply say that Asexuality/Being Asexual means that you you lack complete sexual attraction. Because of that definition, some people get confused when they hear about demisexuality, gray-asexuality and such, which is where we start talking about the Asexual spectrum.

For example, I'm Aceflux. Which means that sometimes my attraction fluctuates, but how I feel never leaves the spectrum. My sexuality doesn't change per say, it's just fluid.

So. Flat out Asexuality is never feeling sexual attraction towards anyone of any gender identity. Demisexuality is when you have to form a bond/friendship with someone before you begin to feel sexual attraction.

Lithosexuality is feeling sexual attraction, but not wanting it to be reciprocated. Placiosexuality is similar. But it's wanting to do sexual things with someone, and being okay if it's not reciprocated. (Tldr it's more about the action than a feeling) Aegosexuality is feeling a disconnect towards yourself and your sexual attraction, along with it's target. Etc, etc.

Those are many identities (and there are many more) and even among those, there are sex positive Aces (people who will have sex and are happy to and/or like to read about it), sex neutral Aces (does what it says on the can), and Sex repulsed Aces (They don't want sex at all/probably don't like reading about it either) Keep in mind that these are basic definitions, and different identities can mean different things for everyone. An Ace person might not want to ever have sex, but they like reading about it for whatever reason they have, etc.

Asexuality is again, a spectrum. But many people don't care. You'd think that "Hey I don't want to have sex with anyone" would make you the least controversial sexuality in the room, right? But no. There really are some people out there that would rather accept p*doph*les into the community than even one Asexual or any sort of A-spec. (true story, it happened to me) All the problems we face are ignored and treated lesser-than, heteromantic Asexuals are treated as if they're not even there, and popular media repeatedly bash us. Calling us "sick" and "attention whores" when we're just trying to live our lives peacefully and it hurts, tbh :/

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Aromanticism by definition is the lack of romantic attraction. And just like Asexuality, there are a lot of identities under it. Asexual and Aromantic are...you could say umbrella terms, and then you have everyone under it. Something like that. Recently I've been questioning as to whether or not I'm on the Aro spectrum or not, and I'm leaning more towards that I might be. So I may be able to give you some perspective? But if you're not satisifed you can always ask someone who's completely sure that they are Arospec.

Demiromantism is when you need to have a bond with someone to feel romantic attraction. Gray-Aromanticism is when you feel it sometimes (but it tends to be rare), it sort of follows the same pattern as Asexuality in terms of the names of the identities, just replace the sexual with romantic and then you have your definition. (Though that's not always the case)

A lot of people think that Asexual and Aromantic are synonyms for each other, when in a way, they're the complete opposite. You can be Asexual and not Aromantic, you can be Aromantic and not Asexual, and you can also be both!

As an Asexual, I can sadly, but confidently say that Aromantics are potrayed even worse because. Well. They're not even there. Genuinely- I've never heard of an Aro character in a tv show, movie or book. At least one that I can think of now. At least, when Asexuals get represented, even when it's bad, at least people will know that we're there and might do research on it for themselves. But Aromantics? It's like they don't exist. I'm definetly not going to start a dumb oppression olympics with this, since both have it very bad. But in terms of rep, Aros tend to have it a bit worse.

When Aros are discussed, people protray them as these heartless monsters. Especially when a person is Aromantic and not Asexual, people might say that they "Just want sex and don't care about the feelings of others" which is not true at all. All the aromantic people I know are some of the most considerate people I've met, far from heartless monsters. And though I can't speak on behalf of every Ace or Aro person, I can say that we are all humans. And our sexuality has not and will not change that.

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The over all point is that Asexuality and Aromanticism, and just- sexuality in general is complicated. And if more people were like you and cared enough to learn more, then Asexuality wouldn't be so terribly represented. So, thanks for asking. And if there was something that I missed, you can always ask again. My askbox is always opened. <33

Also, side note. You can always follow @aro-culture-is and @ace-culture-is if you want to see some of the experiences of A-spec people, and you're welcome to do your own research if there's something I can't/haven't answered. 💖

#asexual #asexuality #aromantic #aromanticism #lgbtq+#asks #answered ask #answered asks #thanks for the ask!#long post #lauren moments 😛

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daisyachain · 3 years

Text

There’s a nuanced discussion to be had about the way asexual/aromantic behaviour is read as a combination of ‘queer,’ ‘deviant,’ and ‘acceptable’ by the cisheteronormative paradigm without calling aspecs straight lite or denying that it exists in a dimension separate from the gay-straight spectrum. ‘Same-sex’ and ‘opposite-sex’ will be used in some cases because the cisheteronormative paradigm we’re talking about (We Live In A Society) by definition doesn’t include trans people because it’s bad.

Descriptor 1 ‘queer’: people without known opposite-sex love interests are read as specifically gay in both history and fiction. Characters in fiction are queer-coded by showing a disinterest in the opposite sex as much as by showing interest in the same sex, especially in contexts where queerness is so marginalized as to be unspeakable in the mainstream (e.g. USA 1930-1990). Men without known female liaisons were usually suspected to be gay in 19th-20thC Anglo-American cultures (probably all Euro-related ones but I can’t speak to that literature and history). Women weren’t considered to be lesbian as much, but only because that cultural milieu couldn’t compute wlw until the 20th century. As soon as it could, the lesbian stereotype becomes ‘man-hater’ more than ‘woman-lover.’

Part of this is just sexism, but the parallels with the Confirmed Bachelor of earlier decades indicate that queerness manifests in two ways: failing to follow the cisheterosexual norm (birth -> childhood -> single youth -> heterosexual relationship) and following a path that diverges from it. Asexuality/aromanticism exists in a grey area here, it presses a ‘pause’ before the heterosexual evolution is complete. It can be interpreted within the heterosexual paradigm as heterosexual…BUT too immature/too busy/too distracted to think about/get involved in/want heterosexual relationships. However, the assumption is always that asexuality/aromanticism is failed or stunted heterosexuality, not a complete form of being. The workaholic, the trauma victim, the weirdo, the individual who is so ugly or undesirable that they can’t be viewed as human, and so they can’t be viewed as heterosexual. Asexuality/aromanticism neither confirms nor denies heterosexuality, and it also neither confirms nor denies being bi/gay. It’s unknown, unclassifiable, suspicious, odd, in a word, queer.

Descriptor 2 ‘deviant’: I don’t mean this in the ‘things a christian call you’ way but in the strict sense of ‘something that deviates from the norm.’ Parts of 21st century queer activism have focused on the similarity between heterosexual experiences and bi/gay experiences to build bridges. Attraction, romance, romantic sexual life partnership, the whole thing is the same except for the gender (relationships are no longer strictly opposite-gender). This is a way to build understanding, it got a bunch of cisgendered straights on side, etc. What it also does is obscure the ways queerness is different from cisheterosexuality. Where partnerships aren’t guaranteed to be reproductively viable, it’s difficult to build families solely based on biological descent. And in a community born outside of societal norms, then other societal norms are all up in the air. One thing that this rhetoric also excludes is asexuality/aromanticism. When gay/bi-straight alliance is based off of the common experience of monogamous romantic/sexual attraction and partnership (‘love’), then the leftovers outside of that common experience have negotiable humanity. Queerness of all sorts is marginalized/punished/reviled ofc, but as has been noted before, the most mainstream support of queerness is based off of ‘universal’ experiences that are decidedly not universal. In the old paradigm of heterosexuality and the small-but-mainstream paradigm of love-is-love, asexuality/aromanticism is a deviation from the acceptable narrative.

Descriptor 3 ‘acceptable’: in the same way that asexuality/aromanticism doesn’t fit into any of the mainstream conceptions of human life priorities, a lot of people don’t understand it. 19th century bourgeois accepted Boston Marriages because they didn’t understand how women could possibly desire lives that weren’t with men, they read the relationships as asexual/aromantic (not unacceptable) and also as subordinate to heterosexual marriage (not approved). Asexuality/aromanticism is seen as acceptable ONLY if the alternative is being gay/bi. Look on any dudebro discussion of gay-coded male characters, and they’ll immediately jump to describe them as asexual. If the character/ has any relationship with women, though, and the argument will be that they like tits, they can’t possibly be gay/bi. If you look at discussions of characters/people who could possibly be asexual/aromantic, they fall all over themselves to either insist they’re banging hot chicks (bc female characters aren’t allowed to even get as far as ace-coding, they must constantly be available) or to insult them (sometimes as a way to relate, projecting their own incelness on to some innocent cardboard cutout). Another place where you see mentions of asexuality (not aromanticism) in the mainstream is discussion of sterile/genetically abnormal people/characters. Clones, artificial humans, robots, aliens are fair game because sexuality is inherently tied to humanity. This, anything inhuman must be asexual. Rather than being good (heterosexual) or bad (gay/bi), asexuality/aromanticism is alien. Real people can’t possibly understand asexuality/aromanticism, which means it a) can’t be judged, b) must be a failure to achieve humanity, c) must be native to inhumans.

#kelsey rambles #inspired by asexuality/aromanticism being used by dudebros on mgs forums to explain why snake and otacon can’t possibly be gay #but also being used through literary history to say a person can’t possibly be straight #the sidelining of canonical asexuality in favour of canonical alloromanticism in fiction #and the constant treatment of asexuality/aromanticism as suspicious by both the gay/bi and straight communities #just leaf me olone

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phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 3 years

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What is your opinion on straight passing privilege? I (bi) don’t think it exists, but a close (lesbian) friend of mine insists that it does bc “You can hold hands with your SO (nb cis passing man) in public without risking being the victim of a hate crime.” I have been researching but keep seeing this same argument coming up, and I’m unsure and don’t want to be making anyone upset if I’m being ignorant here.

I think that there's a lot of fucked up internet politics around who is and isn't allowed in the community. Which is ridiculous.

Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Pan, Poly, Ace, Aro, Trans, Intersex, etc.

The only people who shouldn't be in the community are cishets, and pedos, none of that 'it's a sexuality' nonsense, it's predation.

The concept of straight-passing is ridiculous, primarily because it's all based on assumptions. If you're in an m/f relationship, and you are both cis and heterosexual, it's straight.

But here's the catch, if you identify as any LGBPT+ then it's not straight.

Two trans people in an m/f relationship is not straight passing.

Two bi people in an m/f is not straight passing, it's queer babes, it's in the name. If you're bi and your partner is like, straight, it's still queer from your side of the fence.

It's the 'pick a side' argument from another direction, this straight passing nonsense. Where you are villified by the straights if you have a same-sex relationship (or fetishised, let's be real, every part of the acronymn has it's own p*rn category aimed at straight people with a kink), and if you have a relationship with the opposite gendered person, the queer community gets cranky.

Two things:

1) Is this friend between 13 and 25? Bc they could still be working this out or being mentored by t*rfs, or had some bad info. IT could be jealousy or fear of being open where you live. Perhaps you could question what makes her say that; has she had a bad experience, or did someone say this to her. where are you Are you in america? are there snake wielding jesus warriors near you? Blink SOS if you need an escape route, child

2) Who wins when everyone in the queer community is divided and policing one another? Telling everyone off for dating this person or that person or not at all

I didn't get an invite to the big queer conference to make these decisions, so like, they're not valid. It's some pocket of internet active idiots who think they can speak for everyone.

What we need to do is stop pulling this bullshit on one another and get back to asking just why the fuck it's not okay for people who are perceived as not-straight or cis etc to hold hands in public.

There's a problem for every facet of the acronym, babes and dudes and theys. Lesbians are heavily sexualised by straight cis dudes. Gays are heavly fetisihed by straight cis women. to the point where even saying 'I'm gay' is considered to be an obscene, sexual act that you should not let children be exposed to.

And there's always someone from the opposite gender who thinks they 'are confused' or 'haven't met the right (gender) person yet', or 'they could fix them with their magic genitals' or mumbled religious nonsense. There's such intense stereotypes that people can't stand women who look butch, but also you can't 'really' be a lesbian unless you are' or gay men can't just be, like, a normal dude, instead of some flamboyant in-your-face charicature.

Of course people who match the stereotype exist, too. And they get no respect for fitting into the stereptypes either, it's just another reason for disrespect. There's no winning.

Bi's can't talk to anyone without hearing a question of a threesome come up or being attacked from either side for coice of partner.

Pans, same, but also kitchenware jokes. Both Bi and Pan are considered sluts and whores and can't decide or are going to cheat, etc. Or the 'you're being special snowflakes', 'choose a side', 'you're secretly gay and won't admit / you're secretly straight and want attention' etc.

Ace/Aro - everyone under this banner gets the whole 'you just haen't found the right person' or 'when you're older/you're a late bloomer' or 'how do you know?' or 'maybe you're straight/gay and haven't worked it out yet?' invalidating them completely and trying to push sex onto them. The queer community has always let Ace and Aro in under the Bi banner, and they are welcome. But the internet community, usually young people, are tearing each other to shreds over it lmao.

Chill.

Non-binary, trans, intersex. They have been here for ages, but people from one community try to destroy their credibility, despite them existing since humanity has. It's big on p*rn and fetish sites too, lot of straight dudes think these things are hot and sexy, but would spit on trans people in the street. Hypocrites (I mean, every second low-brow comedy movie out there makes a thai-l*dyb*y joke, and how it 'doesn't count' like yikes).

Nb has only just been recognised, which is funny bc society literally made up gender and the rules and pretended that was how its encoded in DNA lmao.

Transpeople have it bad though. Between the cis straights, the cis queer community (primarily t*rfs and those who fall for misinformation) and the fetishists, and the medical community who treats them like an illness rather than people. Like, they are afforded respect if they 'pass', but even then it's still an EW factor.

Transwomen are seen as 'men in dresses who want to break into women's spaces' and treated horrifically; assaults are very high. Transmen are seen as butch women, and 'gender tr*itors' by the Crazy Motherfuckers we mentioned before; their assaults are high. They're not considered Real People unless they meet the ridiculously high standards for each gender; unless they perform Right.

I remember, but did not understand at the time bc I recall i was little, that there was a gameshpw bachelorette style and there was a big twist. You know what the twist was? That the bachelorette they'd been dating and trying to win over... was trans. I don't think that she knew it would be the big twist, either; of the two men remaining, bother were angry and one might have been sick. Might be on youtube.

But like, that's funny to the non-queer community. They put a huge fucking target on this woman's back, put her in danger of being hurt, abused, killed, by anyone who watched it. By the men who she had 'lied to' as they chose to frame it, of their weird white american families who could have sought revenge. Like yikes.

And intersex people (called h*rmaphrodites for a long time even by medical personnel) were also a p*rn category and/or medical curiosity for centuries. Not to mention all the cases of parents who just went with 'make them a (specific gender)' if there was mixed presentation, at birth, and got mad at the kids for being like "Hey so, you flipped the coin wrong and I'm ___" even thought the potential for this was always on the cards.

And the parents often make a big messa bout how their baby ___ is dead and gone, even if they DO accept the person/child as who they really are. It's like, I get it they have changed but you didn't mourn their first haircut or lost baby tooth like this and that was change too, chill.

Straight-passing is a projection and a weapon. Like, is it the people in the relationship's fault that society looks at the pair and decides they are m/f, straight and cis? Nah, it's what people are conditioned assume and that's on them.

We can't bring it into the queer spaces and keep perpetuating that shit, because it's nonsense. Queer people are dying in other countries and your friend wants to being smart-assed about the fact you hold hands with your nb datemate in public?

Nonsense. That's right up there with t*rfs and the gold-star bullshit that was going on for a few years there. Probs still is among the younger people lmaoooo.

'Passing priviledge' is a myth, and it is used to hurt people. Vulnerable people and those who need support / guidance and assistance from their queer communities more than ever. So try to talk to your friend or try The Whole Friend disposal services, either way, chill.

The real issue here is that any of us are at risk of a hate crime for daring to even show affection in public. That even in safe spaces, 'allies' and those wise enough not to be openly homo/trans/bi/pan/ace/aro/other phobic are still side-eyeing you and wanting to talk 'for you' without listening to the community itself.

We have bigger issues than this, and your friend (and some others on the internet) need to get a grip and prioritise.

[Insert strained analogy about being pro-child but childfree in a suburb where everyone got married out of high school and anticipates you and your partner will too, no matter how often you remind them No Thanks. But you babysat the other day and people thought you and your partner looked like 'naturals' when you took child to the park and played with them. And you remind them, hey, chill, we like kids too but it's not for us. And they get pissy and pushy.]

---------

I can only point it out from my perspective, I'm certain there other queer people from the above acronymn community who can present their thoughts on the matter to and what it means to them.

Thanks for the question, good-bi.

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sidgenoabofest · 4 years

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Remember, you can write for as many or as few prompts as you’d like! And check out the updated FAQ and Timeline pages or send us an Ask if your have any questions. Happy writing!

1. Mpreg

2. Courting

3. Omega/Omega

4. Jealous mate

5. Lactation kink

6. Mermaid a/b/o au

7. Mail order bride!!!

8. Subversion/Inversion

9. Non-traditional dynamics

10. Very elaborative courting

11. oral knotting + cock warming

12. Geno’s first heat in America.

13. Little Drummer Girl au but a/b/o

14. alpha/alpha first time taking a knot

15. a xeno take on heat and abo dynamics

16. Geno falling for Ace!Sid in an a/b/o au

17. Mutual pining where they’re both Alpha’s

18. Hockey player Alpha Geno, non hockey Sid

19. Alpha!Geno’s dick is too big when he knots

20. Geno and Anna (alphas) try to woo Sid (omega)

21. Regency AU arranged marriage with shy omega Sid

22. Rival teammates and one goes into heat mid game

23. a/b/o dynamics based on lions, rather than wolves

24. beta/omega; first time going through heat together

25. Alpha-Alpha dynamic going into rut on the team plane

26. cockwarming as self-care and/or somebody's love language

27. Sometimes Sid will let Geno fuck his thighs and let him knot.

28. Alien Alpha Sid captures Earthling Omega Geno in his tractor beam

29. Snowed in and/or cabin fic where one of them goes into heat or rut

30. Mafia boss Geno, with husband omega Sid, who is still a boss in his own right

31. Sid's knot takes forever to go down. They work around it with cosy movie nights.

32. Alpha Sid being all worked up over pregnant geno.... and perhaps overly protective…

33. Sid being scent blind and falling in love with Geno the long way, while Geno pines and pines

34. Sid goes into a full on mating heat at the West Point hill climb, Geno fights off all comers.

35. Geno is intersex, with physical characteristics of both alpha and omega. Sid's into all of him.

36. Evgeni always goes to Sidney post heat (or rut). It’s one of many things they don’t talk about.

37. During a goal celebration, Sid and Geno experience a spontaneous bond. It freaks all involved out.

38. Alpha/Alpha rival knight au or Alpha knight and Omega squire? Just something with romance and armour.

39. Tired of being teased and the punchlines of locker room jokes, Sid asked Geno to take his virginity/knot him.

40. Geno and Sid as two alphas who pine for each other and try to pretend they don’t want each other, but they do.

41. sid has a kink for fucking new brides, so omega geno dresses up in bridal lingerie and begs sid to knock him up

42. Alphas and omegas will fuck betas, but they don’t end up staying with them. This is what Sidney knows from experience.

43. Medieval abo au, Sid's castle is small and he and Geno have to consummate their marriage in front of all of Sid's patrons

44. omega/omega pregnancy kink, no getting pregnant angst, just skip right to the good stuff: already pregnant and horny about it.

45. rookie sid and geno are still a bit too young for a real heat, so they put in some practice together and things get out of hand

46. “i’m rich and i’m not supposed to talk to servants but the person that scrubs my floor is really cute” (/smells fucking amazing)

47. New relationship during the holidays and somebody forgot to take their suppressant and goes into rut in between dinner and dessert

48. Omega Sid and alpha Geno hook up, it's a one night stand. Sid notices he's pregnant a couple weeks after and goes to hunt down Geno

49. Baby NHL omegas come to Sid for advice on omegas working with alphas, dating etiquette with alphas and what its like to get knotted by an alpha.

50. Alpha Geno courting Omega Sid to be allowed to mate him, over expensive gifts to dinner invitations to being possessive and protective on the ice

51. Sid can’t stand being touched or scent marked by strangers, but Geno’s never been that to him. (Authors choice re: what designations they each have)

52. Regency AU: Mr Sidney Crosby is as well know for his big estate and he wealth as he is for being an omega who tops all the alpha gentlemen he take to his bed

53. Sid is always yapping on the bench, but in relationships his communication skills go right down the drain when he has a cold and can't rely on scent cues for help.

54. you rescued me from the creepy person that was hitting on me in the bar and i’m glad you did because MMHMMM you are hot and smell like nothing i’ve ever smelled before

55. Sid is a beta who Geno always calls on when he goes into heat/rut. It’s fun and no strings attached and they’re friends. Only Geno slowly realises he wants more than that

56. one is an omega and the other is a beta (the inherent convenience of a self-slicking butthole; the beta figuring out how to satisfy their partner in heat, who can go for HOURS)

57. Only werewolves are a/b/o’s, humans are just humans. As a general rule human!Sid stays out of wolf business but Evgeni keeps making it his business by acting like Sidney’s *his.*

58. sid being teased relentlessly for his big alpha dick in the locker room, and loving it, kinda strutting around naked but also going all pink, and geno really LOOKING for the first time

59. Sid has been on high level suppressants since juniors and nobody knows if he's hiding being an alpha or an omega. Geno has been curious for YEARS but never asked, till something happens.

60. One of their alpha/omega statuses doesn't kick in until after retirement-- they spent a good portion of life thinking they were a beta but now that shit is going BANANAS. Puberty at age 40

61. Sid/Geno/Anna where Sid + Geno are both Omegas and have banded together like "we don't need any alpha nonsense" but then Geno meets Alpha Anna at the Olympics and shit gets real, real fast.

62. Tradition has it, your mate is supposed to smell best to you. But Sid usually smells like old milk. How the fuck is Geno supposed to work around that? Because Sid is definitely the one he wants.

63. Alpha Sid's enthralled with Geno's omega trills. Geno's kind of a picky eater (like he's picky about everything) Sid revels in the challenge of finding snacks and gifts that will make Geno trill

64. geno's heats come on fast and with no warning, sometimes in the middle of a game, so once in a while sid can help a buddy out and slip geno some fingers to just get him through to the intermission

65. Established Sid and Geno who have not bonded for some reason (is one beta? are they waiting for something?), with a side of whoops, accidentally bonded to someone else in a heat-related medical emergency.

66. You’re an actor/other famous person that I really admire and I just saw you in the street and as I was debating whether or not to say hi you came up to me and started flirting what do I do?? (but make it hockey abo)

67. Sexual dysfunction: Maybe an alpha who's having trouble knotting, or a bata having a hard time staying hard his fist time dating an omega, or an omaga who's having issues self lubricating. Emotional comfort through sex!

68. Camboy or porn AU where the one who does sex work specializes in alpha/alpha or omega/omega porn. Ideally the one watching is still an NHL player and has some complicated feelings around their own same-gender preferences.

69. one is an alpha and the other is a beta (first time getting knotted and being overwhelmed by it plus like LOTS of lube; or the alpha likes getting fucked but doesn't like to be knotted so a beta partner is the perfect option)

70. omega/omega sid figuring out how to top geno's giant peach ass when omegas aren't particularly well-endowed (dick-extending knotting dildo? practicing flexibility? finger-shaped bruises trying to keep those cheeks pried open?)

71. Green card heat bond au! The KHL don’t want to release Geno from his contract to let him play in the NHL. It’s becoming messy and it looks like the Penguins may lose their legal case when someone suggests a heat bond green card.

72. Trophy wife Geno: He likes to be pampered, he like his valour track suits, he likes lounging around in fur coats, and he likes getting knotted when Sid comes back from a win...and maybe even more when he comes back from a loss…

73. Heatfic PWP set during Geno’s rookie year when he barely speaks any English. Up to you which one is in heat—I just like the idea of Sid and Geno trying awkwardly to communicate & then not really needing to once instinct takes over.

74. Beauty and the beats/ or some kind of monster au. Geno is saved by Beast!Sid and nursed back to health in his castle. By the end Geno is as in love with the monster as he is with Sid's other self. This could be any dynamic combination.

75. Sid’s concussion messing up his alpha or omega cycle, or maybe delaying him from differentiating. Everyone calls him a late bloomer, which Sid doesn’t care about except when he sometimes sees Geno post heat/rut and feels confusing stuff

76. ABO specific sex toys: training knots for omega's, dilators for alphas and betas who want to sleep with other alphas, knotting flashlights, double headed dildos for omega/omega pairs? The list goes on! The only limit is your imagination.

77. Geno - omega who's never gone into heat. Maybe he never will. Despite the pessimism of his younger years, this has turned out to fine, because he and Sid have an excellent and well-established sex life regardless, and SID's heats are pretty great for both of them.

78. Nontraditional abo dynamic frat au: Either with alphas, betas, and omegas all in the same house or maybe separate different fraternities? It could be two competing alpha's from different frat houses? or maybe a beta at an omega house party feeling *very overwhelmed*

79. Geno breaks up after bonding with someone. It’s sudden and it happens mid-season and he can’t go home to lick his wounds so instead his bond-withdrawal becomes a team issue. The trainers and medics all have opinions and advice, but it’s Sid who gets him through the worst of it.

80. Omega Sid is wedded to foreign Prince Alpha Geno because male Omegas are rare and a 'sign to God'. The marriage is a sign of goodwill from the people of Sid's kingdom, he's a low noble but his Omega status makes him more worthy. They meet for the first time in front of the altar

81. Omega Sid is ‘President’ of the NHL omega groupchat/association, Sid and Seguin have a friendship forged through both declaring they “dont need no Alpha!” But cant stop having ‘issues’ with their closest Alpha on their teams. Sid-Seguin gossipy omega friendship as they explore life getting closer to alphas (Geno, Benn)

82. Beta Sid's the king of locker room talk and all the rowdy shenanigans that go on there. He flirts with everyone shamelessly and Geno has no idea how he's supposed to tell if Sid's being serious or not when he tells Geno to "take a picture, it will last longer" or something to that degree. (He really wants Sid to be serious).

83. Age difference Coach Sid/ Rookie Geno au. Geno needs to get bonded to be allowed to travel overseas and play for the Penguins. Sid agrees to be his alpha without really thinking about it until Geno shows up wide-eyed and perky at his front door and things just derail from there. (and by derail I mean office sex at the arena.)

84. Sid is an Omega but pretends to be a suppressed alpha as omegas are considered special and rare, almost local celebrities unto themselves, plus most wouldnt want to see an Omega risking injury playing professional sport. The presence of an ideal Alpha in Geno is making it harder and harder to hide his omega side and instincts.

85. After the NHL All Star Game, alpha Sid ends up with omega Geno’s gear bag. Sid doesn’t realize the mix-up until he gets home. When he opens the bag, he instantly recognizes the smell of omega arousal, and a couple of things become clear: Geno was getting hot while playing in the ASG, and Sid has unfettered, private access to Geno’s scent.

86. Pirates of the Caribbean/Black Sails au—Zhenya is a wealthy young omega hostage on pirate Sid's ship. In the end Sid can’t follow through and hand Zhenya over to the people who want him in exchange for gold. (or maybe Zhenya offers knowledge of something better for them to steal in order to save himself and they fall in love during the adventure)

87. Someone tried to take advantage of Sid while in heat/rut; it’s something that Geno hears whispers of when he is a rookie, but no one talks about it and Geno doesn’t have a nearly good enough grasp on English to try. He just stays later to practice with Sid and sits next to him at clubs and uses his body to block people when they try to touch Sid.

88. After years of dancing around their feelings, AlphaGeno and OmegaSid start ‘hooking up’ and then accidentally bond in The Playoffs bubble. This is a problem because newly bonded omegas tend to become bratty and act out in many ways and try to test their alpha, sometimes taunting other alphas to see if their own alpha will come defend them. Chaos on and off the ice ensues.

89. Werewolf/abo au: an unsuspecting Geno (omega or beta) comes across Alpha Sid's pack (maybe on a full moon run or Sid helps him with car troubles in a snow storm or maybe Geno visits Sid's pack after moving to the area as a gesture of good will.) Either way, Sid knows as soon as he sees Geno that he wants him for his bond mate, and will do whatever it takes to get him to agree.

90. Geno scent marking Sid; maybe they’re not bonded or in a relationship but Sid is *his*; his captain, his friend, the person who laughs at Geno’s jokes and exchanges knowing looks with Geno whenever one of their teammates does something dumb. It’s possessive and technically rude, but whatever. Sid likes it, Geno argues when someone (Flower, probably) tries to call him out for it.

91. Rookie Geno is ultra-competitive about everything from who goes last out of the locker room to how many eggs he can eat in a minute. Everyone sees it as Geno locking horns with Sid, competing as young alphas do. Only, Sid doesn’t seem offended or annoyed. If anything, he seems delighted and more than a little turned on. (Bonus points if everybody is wrong about one of them being an alpha).

92. Alpha sid being possessive and jealous over oblivious omega geno and maybe getting into a fight (throw in some alpha ovi shipping these idiots but also teasing sid about his and geno’s past hookups because he might be onboard the Sid geno train but he’s also a sassy bitch about it) bonus if it also has backy/ovi (if we squint not here to take the spotlight away from the two headed monster)

93. Mail Order Alpha AU: To Play in the KHL Omega Geno needs to be bonded. Metallurge team management offers him many options for Russian suitors, but Geno being Geno doesn’t like being told what to do. Instead of accepting any of those, he finds himself a nice Canadian alpha on "mail order bride" message boards. Bonus points for slightly awkward but also hot “bonding night scene” and Sid charming Geno's family with his broken Russian.

94. Sid never joins in with any of the rowdy locker room talk about hook ups/sex/knots/heats/ruts. Some of the guys joke it’s because Sid’s a virgin or frigid. Geno knows that isn’t true, because they hooked up one time when they were rookies. In retrospect he thinks it was probably Sid’s first time, and he knows he messed it up because instead of talking to Sid and seeing if they had anything real, Geno got back together with Oksana. It’s been years since then, and he and Sid are friends, but sometimes Geno wonder’s ‘what if...’

95. Geno broke an Alpha/Omega bond when he escaped from Russia to come to the NHL. He promised himself he’d never bond with anyone else ever again. He’d just have fun. And he is having fun fucking around. He was never allowed to do that at home. He probably shouldn’t be doing it in the west because he’s getting a reputation but he doesn’t care. He’s free and no one can tell him what to do. It’s his life and his choices and he’s never going to bond with anyone ever again. Only without noticing he finds himself falling for his best friend, Sidney.

96. nesting!! it can be because one of them is pregnant, or something bond/hormone related, or just a pre-heat behavior, but i love fics where the omega partner is secretly stealing the other one's clothes and small personal belongings to make a nice safe nest/den in a closet or spare room or even a trainer's room at the rink. i especially love this trope if the nesting partner is a little embarrassed or evasive about it, lol. my heart says it's sid who's building a nest out of geno's things (and being a little squirrely about it trying to keep it secret) but i think an omega!geno version would also be delightful.

97. Demisexual!Sid in an a/b/o world where designation/romance/sex has never been a big deal to him. He’s never understood his teammates stories of losing their minds with heat lust, or falling in love at first scent or losing days in bed with someone riding out their heat/rut or anything like that. Most people tell him, he’ll understand one day when the right alpha/omega/beta comes along or question if something is wrong with his designation/him. Geno never does. For the longest time Geno is one of the few friends who doesn’t think anything is wrong with him. But the problem with friends is sometimes Sid falls for them.

98. I'd love to read an a/b/o fic involving an unplanned pregnancy. Maybe they're in some kind of casual fwb arrangement off and on for years, or maybe they just hooked up the one time and had tacitly agreed to never speak of it again. I'd read pretty much any take on this prompt -- an Obvious Child-esque version where they decide to have an abortion but also realize they have feelings for each other; a version where they decide to have a baby but both think the other just wants to be friends and co-parents (not romantically involved); a version where the pregnancy forces them to reckon with their true feelings for each other... really, anything goes!

99. Loser's sacrifice / victor's prize fic, version 1: Geno wasn't drafted by the Pens, and he and Sid have spent their whole careers as rival captains (you can decide if it's a no-love-lost rivalry or just mutual respect for each other or a hatesex chemistry type dynamic). The Pens lose to Sid's team, and Sid offers himself to Geno as the victor's prize. (I'd read any version of this, but I'd especially love an alpha!Geno / omega!Sid fic where Sid's the only omega captain in a predominantly alpha league -- and this creates some weird tensions, because the sacrifice is supposed to be about the humiliation of an alpha having to submit to another alpha. Maybe Sid doesn't usually accept or offer sacrifice (someone else on the team does it for him).

100. Loser's sacrifice / victor's prize fic, version 2: Sid and Geno are together (you can decide how serious it is). After a bad loss one night, Sid offers himself as the sacrifice to the opposing team (or maybe just to their captain). Geno is insanely jealous and territorial about it and pretends to be sulky/angry, but in the days after he can't stop furtively jacking off thinking about it. Sid figures it out eventually, and somehow it becomes a thing for them. Sid starts regularly offering himself as sacrifice but always comes to Geno immediately afterwards, smelling of the opposing captain/team, so Geno can fuck someone else's come out of him while Sid tells him everything the team did to him.

101. I've been thinking about an a/o universe where non-alpha/omega pairings are still socially stigmatized, but there's an active scent-masking party/club scene, where people take blockers and go to hook up with other people without knowing what their dynamic is. Maybe the clubs themselves are a little taboo -- sort of like gay bathhouses in the '70s or private BDSM clubs -- so it's mostly people who are in the know, and there's a general understanding that you don't acknowledge people you meet there if you encounter them out in the world. I'd love an alpha/alpha fic set in this verse - could be a non-hockey AU where Sid and Geno meet at one of these clubs, or a canon fic where they don't realize the other is into alphas until they're out of town on a road trip and they run into each other at one of these clubs.

102. There are no omegas in the NHL—at least as far as anyone knows. Sid’s been taking illegal scent-blockers/suppressants and passing as a beta since he presented as an omega as a teen. The only people who know the truth are his parents, his agent, and Jack Johnson (who helped make excuses for Sid at SSM during his first heat). Sid doesn’t intend to reveal his secondary gender until his retirement—once he’s won a Cup or three and gold for Canada and proven decisively that omegas can play at the highest levels. Except something happens (his supply of blockers is interrupted, or he has a breakthrough heat, or something) and Geno finds out. I’d especially love it if this was early in their NHL careers, before they knew/trusted each other and were able to communicate well, but I’d definitely also read a fic where Geno finds out many years into their friendship, and has to grapple with how much Sid’s hidden from him.

103. old timey pirate AU! sid’s a naval officer who’s clawed his way up the ranks despite significant prejudice against omegas. he’s achieved his dream of captaining a ship, but his life is a lonely one, in part because he can’t let himself be vulnerable with anyone (in case they use it against him to challenge his leadership). the only bright spot in his life is the years-long cat-and-mouse game he’s been playing with evgeni malkin, a notorious russian pirate captain who‘s managed to evade arrest for years, often by tricking the navy or managing to cleverly conceal his crew’s stolen loot when their ship is boarded by the Navy. Geno’s an alpha, but unlike Sid’s fellow officers, he’s always treated Sid with the utmost respect—even if he also gleefully delights in tricking Sid’s men and repeatedly evading capture. in fact, after years of meeting in various port towns and at sea, Geno seems to consider Sid a friend. (Sid knows Geno finds him attractive, too, and has made it clear—always teasingly, never in a pushy or aggressive way—that he’s available, should Sid ever want to go to bed with an alpha.) up to you what the plot is, but I’d love something where Geno’s luck finally runs out, and Sid’s the one who‘s tasked with bringing him back to shore to be tried (and most likely hanged) for piracy. make Sid choose between his honor + love of rules and his unacknowledged feelings for geno!!

#sidgeno #sidgenoabofest

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quietnqueer · 3 years

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Does one HAVE to be born asexual or can one BECOME asexual? Some thoughts on the ‘attraction not action’ and related discourse.

There’s no proof that asexuality arises from biology. However, that doesn’t stop many ace-spec folk (including myself) from talking about our asexuality as something inborn, innate, immutable. We are adamant that we can no more change our ace-ness than we can the colour of our skin.

When we speak about our asexuality in these terms, we’re trying to get across how real our orientation feels to us. Asexuality isn’t something we chose, it isn’t something we made up. And it doesn’t matter that there’s no ‘asexual gene’. We just know we’re ace.

Claiming our asexuality to be something innate to us, is our strongest weapon in a world which assumes that everyone wants sex and everyone experiences sexual attraction. When we say we were ‘born’ asexual, not only are we popping a pin in that ‘sex is essential to the human condition’ balloon, we are also demanding that asexual people be recognised, accepted, and protected, for we cannot ‘help’ what we are.

The most widely-accepted definition of an asexual person today - someone who experiences little to no sexual attraction - encourages this ‘essentialist’ discourse. Asexuality 101 likes to make it very clear that being asexual has nothing to do with whether you actually have sex or not. Asexual is an orientation, something you just are.

I want to talk about some of the problems and limitations of this.

Firstly, it doesn’t allow for the fact that some people’s sexual orientation is fluid / can change over time. The idea that one is born asexual is so dominant in the ace community, that the voices of those who feel they ‘became’ asexual, or move in and out of asexuality, could get drowned out, or worse still, dismissed entirely. Do we accept that people can identify as asexual even if they’ve experienced strong sexual attraction before? Can people claim to be asexual if their lack of sexual attraction is something contingent, influenced by their external environment, rather than as something innate and immutable?

For this is another issue with the ‘born asexual’ rhetoric. It prohibits an exploration of how social and cultural forces also influence / intersect with our asexual identities and experiences.

Before I discovered I was asexual, I didn’t identify as anything - not straight not gay not bi. I was just nothing, a blank. However, the reason I didn’t identify as straight wasn’t because I knew I lacked sexual attraction towards men; it was because I was a radical feminist and rejecting heterosexuality went with the territory.

Yet even now, having realised I’m asexual, my feminist politics still ‘inform’ my (a)sexual identity. My feminism reinforces my asexuality, it allows me to revel in it that little bit more. It’s not just that I don’t experience sexual (or romantic) attraction towards men. I’m glad I don’t because it means I don’t have to try and reconcile my ‘grrr patriarchy!’ worldview with any squishy-squashy feelings I may have towards individual men - because I don’t experience those feelings.

[...]

I’m a feminist who has never been sexually attracted to men or been interested in forming a relationship with a man. However, what if a woman was attracted to men, but decided to stop pursuing sexual relationships with them because she believed to do so would compromise her feminist politics? Could she claim to be ace? Well, in the seventies, during the days of second-wave feminism, some women did identify as asexual on this basis.

The authors of ‘The Asexual Manifesto’, a feminist pamphlet published in 1972, wrote: “we reject any possibility of sex… [to] prevent ourselves from being sexually exploited and oppressed… For us, asexuality is a commitment to defy and ultimately destroy the baseless concepts, surrounding both sex and relationships, which support and perpetuate the patriarchy.” [You can read the full manifesto here.]

In stark contrast to today, the manifesto does not define asexuality as an innate orientation, but as a political identity, as an “efficient ‘alternative lifestyle’ for revolutionary women”. It argues a case for women to choose asexuality.

To choose to lead a life without sex is still a radical act, especially when that choice is informed by a feminist / queer politics, and regardless of whether you’re sexually attracted to others or not. Given that so much of what The Asexual Manifesto had to say about the sexual exploitation of women still applies today, I think there’s grounds for incorporating this definition / experience of asexuality within current ace discourse and to create space for people to claim asexuality as a purely political identity.

[...]

What difference does it make, what harm do we think it would do, if someone wants to identify as asexual because they - quite willingly and quite happily - lead a life devoid of sex/sexual relationships, even if they (whisper it) still find themselves sexually attracted to other people from time to time?

I think ace discourse today is a little too insistent on making a lack of sexual attraction the arbiter of asexual identity. Asexuality 101 likes to point out that being ace comes down to ‘attraction not action’ i.e. you can be asexual and still have sex, you can be asexual and even enjoy having sex. What makes one truly ace is that you don’t fancy the person you’re fucking.

Now, I’m not arguing here for celibacy to be used interchangeably with asexuality. However, I think the emphasis on ‘attraction’ over ‘action’ does exclude some people from potentially identifying/allying with the ace community. There are people who experience sexual attraction, but who don’t have sex, who are sex-repulsed / indifferent, and/or prioritise / prefer non-sexual relationships. These non-normative experiences / feelings around sex are bound to affect their everyday lives, in ways which asexual people may understand and be familiar with.

I potentially have more in common with a single woman who experiences sexual attraction but who lives a sex-free life, than I do with an asexual woman who doesn’t experience sexual attraction, but who’s married and has sex with her partner. Those who live a ‘single at heart’ / queer spinster life can still experience a lot of stigma, and this is the case regardless of whether they are sexually attracted to others or not. The lack of ‘action’ can give rise to just as much discrimination / judgement / weird looks as the lack of ‘attraction’. But this is what gets lost I think when so much ace discourse, indeed the very definition of asexuality itself, is so firmly rooted in asexuality being an innate, inborn orientation.

Can we allow for people to become asexual as well as to have been born asexual?

Must we insist that asexuality is something that resides in your head with nothing much to do with what goes on in your bed?

I want to give a massive hat-tip to Rotten Zucchinis’ blog series: ‘Notes on Neoliberalism, Homonormativy, and Ace Discourse’ which got me thinking along these lines and inspired this post. You should definitely check out the series here.

#asexual #asexuality #ace #ace-spec #ace discourse #born asexual #action not attraction #asexual feminism #the asexual manifesto #queer #complicating asexuality

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