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shitpostingkats · 9 months

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An Asexual's love letter to Good Omens 2

There's an infamous quote by Neil Gaiman going around, regarding the general vibe of season 2, and many people (I believe humorously) yelling that it could not be further from the truth. Particularly in the last episode, where that happens.

I disagree.

The final episode of season 2 was deeply, deeply comforting to me.

I am asexual. Have been my whole life. Even before I had the words to describe what that was, child-me had this feeling in their gut of being an outlier, that everyone was exaggerating, or in on some joke, that I wasn’t privy to. Because I was bombarded on all sides by shows and movies and books, telling the same story of love, again, and again, and AGAIN. It’s drilled into our brains with the same fervor as the days of the week, or the quadratic formula. Meet-cute -> misunderstanding ->declaration of feelings ->kiss. More or less steps can be added to account for runtime or complexity of narrative, but that’s the basic structure that a relationship follows. It MUST be, because that’s the formula every character who's ever been in a story goes through, often times when it even feels like an add-on, like it’s only there because this is a story, there HAS to be a romance. And it has to follow the steps.

For a long time, I felt love wasn’t for me, because if there’s only one way to be in love, I sure as hell wasn’t feeling it.

Instead, the relationship I ended up in looked a lot like what Beezlebub and Gabriel go through. Meeting someone routinely until it starts to feel comfortable. Getting to know them and slowly growing more attached. Eating chips and listening to music.

We like to joke whenever someone asks us how long we’ve been together, because the answer is we just sort of slowly fell into it, and we honestly don’t know when the line got blurred between ‘friends’ and ‘partners’. And, at least for me, a good deal of that confusion, that hesitancy to label, came from the fact that what I was feeling, what we were, couldn’t be love. It couldn’t be romantic.

We were just quiet and gentle.

And that wasn’t love.

Because it was slow, because it wasn’t physical, because there was no structure aside from consistency and companionship. Because it didn’t follow the Rules.

Then I found myself in stories, and it felt like a revelation.

Beelzebub and Gabriel aren’t the first time I’ve seen a love like I feel represented in a narrative, but it never stops feeling special. And I don’t know if I’ll ever stop celebrating it.

Throughout the sequence in the pub, I kept expecting them to “confirm” Gabriel and Beelzebub. A dramatic line, a kiss, a whatever. That’s what I’ve been taught to expect, after all, that’s the only way a relationship is “real”. Of course, this doesn't mean Crowley and Aziraphale sharing a dramatic kiss is wrong, or that I can’t see why it resonated with so many people, but for me. Those moments in the pub are worth so much more.The last scene might have been literally showstopping, but those handful of moments between the duke of hell and an archangel were the beating heart of the season for me. A simple love story in four scenes. No kisses. No ‘I love you’s. Not even any definition of what. The love Gabriel and Beelzebub have is strong enough for them to both want to shatter their worlds and flee their lives and it's just.

It's just that.

Two people in a pub, playing the other's favorite song, giving a little gift, buying a packet of crisps.

That sequence means far more to me than any kiss ever could.

Love isn’t only real when it's hot and sudden and ephemeral, it can also be

Quiet.

And gentle.

And still romantic.

Still real.

#I sometimes remember this sequence and just feel so light inside #good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens s2 #good omens s2 spoilers #asexual #ace #ace pride #actually asexual #asexual spectrum #essays #ineffable bureaucracy #lord beelzebub #archangel gabriel

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5ummit · 1 year

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So there's this post with a troubling number of notes going around insisting that "dead dove" is not a genre, it doesn't inherently have anything to do with darkfic, and that the tag could be applied to fics that are "100% fluffy where everyone's having a good time" if they happen to contain some abnormal (though entirely non-problematic) content like an unusual kink. The claim is that "dead dove: do not eat" is simply a "courtesy tag" that means "this is a very specific niche, mind the tags." And that's just... wrong.

I wrote up a whole rebuttal to this post since I can't stand misinformation and frankly OP was being kinda rude and judgey on top of their wrongness. But right after I posted my reply, OP turned off reblogs because, and I quote, “some fuckwad added some dumb shit onto this post and it is no longer educational” (the “fuckwad” being me and the “dumb shit” being proof that they were wrong). A couple people have asked me to make a rebloggable version of my response, which I've decided to do because this isn't the first time I've heard similar claims and I want to help set the record straight. However, I'm not linking the original post on the off chance this gains traction because OP did the right thing by turning off reblogs, preventing it from circulating further, and I don't want them to get hate for being unfortunately misinformed.

For those who don't know the history, "dead dove: do not eat" was originally proposed as a catchall "hydra trash party" alternative label for any fandom to warn that the content of a fic may be considered problematic or potentially upsetting and to read the tags carefully so you know what you're getting into and won't complain later. Specifically, DD:DNE was intended to convey that the Bad Things in the fic would likely be reveled in and not explicitly condemned by the narrative, which some people tend to get up in arms about, hence the need for the extra warning in addition to the tags. Don't believe me? Here's the original proposal (note DD:DNE can be found on a handful of fics dated before 2015 but this is when it really took off and became a Thing).

There are currently around 50,000 fics tagged as "dead dove: do not eat" on AO3 and close to 50% of those also include the rape/noncon warning (which of course is not the only type of "dead dove" but is one of the most popular and most consistently tagged). The normal percentage of noncon fics in any given fandom? Around 1-3%. That's a HUGE disparity. So don't tell me that dead dove is just a general "courtesy tag" and doesn't or shouldn't have dark connotations. Even the context of the original joke on Arrested Development has a dark undertone. Micheal Bluth casually finds an animal carcass in a bag in his refrigerator with the label "do not eat", as if eating it would be any sane person's first thought. The whole situation is kinda fucked up. And this fucked up vibe very much carries over into fandom usage too, as was intended.

The claim that dead dove has nothing to do with the content's genre and could just as easily be used to describe a 100% fluffy fic in which everyone's having a good time is straight up Wrong, or at the very least, severely warping the original meaning. Also, when someone these days says that they like/dislike "dead dove" most people in fandom automatically understand what that means because of the consistency of its usage over the years and the way language evolves. Whether you like it or not, "dead dove" IS a genre now and the term does carry a specific connotation. I do agree that DD:DNE should definitely still be used in conjunction with other tags, when applicable, to be explicit about the exact type of fucked up content you may find, but to say that the term is meaningless on its own is patently false and I'm tired of people who don't know what they're talking about pushing this narrative and causing even more confusion.

You want a generic term that also means "mind the tags" and doesn't have any inherently dark connotations? Just use good ol' "what it says on the tin" instead of trying to force dead dove to be something it's not.

#fyi I've tweaked my response slightly to remove specific references to OP and make it read better on its own #I hope I don't regret making this post and inviting The Discourse #but dead dove is a topic that is very near and dear to me #I feel like someone has got to say something and put a stop to all of the misinformation around it these days #fandom #long post #my words #psa #wendy's help desk

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cardentist · 1 month

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Fam how can one be trans in the direction of their assigned sex? I'm not even trying to make the idea sound ridiculous or anything. I'm genuinely curious and want to understand. I thought the whole meaning of trans was that you feel or act in the opposite direction of your assigned sex; if you're transfem but you're afab then to me that's just cisgender??? But like please explain to me how that's not the case if that's what you and others strongly feel so I may grow my compassion

Context: [Link]

well ! while I personally am not intersex, I DO want to highlight intersex people first and foremost.

gender and sex are very Very complex, and I think generally people don't consider the way that being intersex can play a big role in that!

there are intersex people who are afab who are also trans women, there are intersex people who are amab who are trans men, there are intersex people with many Many different relationships with sex and gender and anywhere in between !

an afab person can be born with masculine sex characteristics and transition the way trans women often do. that person May identify as trans, they may not ! that trans person may not even consider themselves a woman depending on who they are and what they want !

I Do think there needs to be an effort to be aware of and make space for intersex people within the trans community, and really the wider queer community as a whole. as it's often something that's given a footnote without deeper thought into the ways that intersex people Actually interact with our communities.

which I don't blame people for not already knowing ! that's the whole point of trying to educate people in the first place ^^

and as for Myself

labels are, ultimately, a form of gender presentation. what you call yourself is an extension of not only how you see yourself, but how Other People perceive you.

I could call myself nonbinary or I could call myself trans masc, and both would be Accurate. but people have certain traits and expectations and associations when they see those labels. there are assumptions made about the kind of life that I live, the things that I want, the things I might experience, that change depending on which labels that I use.

and that's not Inherently a bad thing ! I mean, that's part of why people Like labels. but it Can be a struggle for people whose gender is Funny.

I could Also describe myself as genderqueer or multi-gender or genderfluid or gnc or-. I've tried on lots and lots of labels, and for the most part I haven't thrown any of them out, I just keep them in a box under my bed and take them out when relevant.

I've been wrestling with the feminine aspect of my identity for a very Very long time. I've been aware that I'm some level of trans masc. that part was easy. I want a deeper voice, I want things about my body to change, I don't want people to look at me and see a cis woman.

but I Also like femininity. I've found that after accepting myself as trans masc and slowly growing an environment where I am Perceived as masculine, I've started getting euphoria at presenting femininely in the Same way that I did (and do!) get about presenting masculinely.

but that feeling doesn't carry over when I'm perceived as a cis woman. it's Quite Uncomfortable for obvious gender reasons.

and while I may not know the exact Words that I'd use to describe it (as I've said, I've been chewing on it for Many years now), I've gotten a clearer idea of how I Feel.

I want to be Visibly trans. I want to be perceived masculinely And femininely. I want to transition masculinely to present femininely (and sometimes butch, sometimes like your dad at the ace hardware store, I contain multitudes).

and of course, figuring out what I have going on has involve a lot of exploration ! it's the same way I figured out the whole trans masc thing in the first place. seeking out other trans people and other Things About trans people feeling things out.

I find ! that I have a lot of shared experiences with transfeminine people. both in how I feel about certain things, some of the presentation that I want, and in how people would React To said presentation.

my femininity Is Trans, I don't relate to cis womanhood. but I Do relate to trans femininity. which is really awkward for me, because it's difficult to describe it to other people fjksldljkasfdjklfasd

(I don't personally consider myself a trans woman mind, but I'm certain there Are people who are trans men and trans women at the same time. gender is complicated, sex is complicated. labels are malleable and sometimes situational)

Could I describe myself with a different label? probably ! I've got lots of them. but when I Don't put emphasis on this aspect of myself people assume that it's not there. insist that it Couldn't be there, and I don't know what I'm talking about. and those people who Would act nasty towards me probably aren't gonna change their mind just because I changed my bio. but it feels Nice to assert that aspect of myself when other people are trying to tear it down.

part of me feels like I should post the intersex portion of this by itself, because people tend to engage more with shorter posts and there's nothing Short about my gender situation ljkfdasjkls

but ! I dunno, if this makes even one person understand the gray areas of gender and presentation a little more it'll be worth it.

thank you for taking the time to ask ! and especially for doing so kindly ! I do hope you'll see this

#discourse #long post #intersex #genderqueer #nonbinary #multigender #trans unity #queer unity #moral of the story is that gender is a fuck

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lovings4turn · 2 months

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જ⁀➴ 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋 . . . (𝐆. 𝐑.)

— two things are definite: you like george, and george likes you. unfortunately, you two seem to be the only ones who don't see it.

+ part of my 'be my valentine' mixtape series ! love this song and i was so excited to use it for a george fic, so i hope you enjoy <3

“oh mate, you’re joking.”

“shut up!” george huffed, running the palm of his hand down his face in exasperation. “it was not that bad.”

he could defend himself all he liked, because in spite of that, george knew it really was.

this was possibly the third time this month that george had fumbled his chance to ask you out, and alex was beginning to grow tired of his friend’s constant pining and lingering stares.

“here’s what you’re gonna do,” alex said, his voice growing more serious as he looked george dead in the eyes. “you’re gonna ring y/n, and you’re gonna tell her you forgot something at her place. a shirt, socks, anything.”

"but i haven't?"

"not the point," alex groaned. "you're gonna tell her that, so you have an excuse to turn up there. this is your chance. don't be a stupid. tell her you think she's cool, that you like her, something to charm her."

george still wasn't convinced. his brows were pinched together as he ran over alex's plan in his mind, able to find a thousand different ways it could go wrong for him.

"right. and what happens when she realises that i haven't actually left anything there, and i just look like a massive twat for showing up?"

alex wasn't sure that he could take any more.

"mate, you can't just sit around and wait for some sort of fairy tale ending to come out of nowhere for you. at some point, you're just going to have to confess to her."

though he was being assertive, alex was still trying to be supportive, laying a hand on george's shoulder and delivering a friendly pat of encouragement.

"i can promise you she's probably thinking the exact same thing right now, anyways."

george scoffed, his answer hanging in the air unspoken. as if.

unbeknownst to george, alex was a lot closer to the truth than even he may have realised.

the events of the afternoon were playing on a loop in your mind as you tried to dissect every last piece of your interaction with george, from how he'd greeted you - a brief side hug and a smile - to how he'd said goodbye - a weak effort to get you to stay and a silly, yet endearing, wave.

was this your life now? driving yourself mad over even the smallest little details, all because of some stupid feelings?

when you'd first started developing somewhat of a crush on the mercedes driver, you made a promise to yourself that it would never become a thing. and you had kept that promise for roughly four months, until you made a huge error: revealing your feelings to someone else.

ever since you had let it slip to a friend that you actually quite liked george in ways that far surpassed the platonic label, you'd been - for lack of a better phrase - absolutely fucked.

now you had people to fuel your delusions, try to convince you that george had to feel the same way, and no, of course he wasn't just being polite when he offered you his jacket, you fool. outside interference and reassurance should have made you more confident in your feelings, maybe even push you to confess, but instead they'd had the opposite effect.

the weight of the word 'hopeless' in hopeless romantic had really started to resonate with you. though you weren't allowed to dwell on your misfortunes for too long.

some may have chalked it up to fate, some may have attributed it to a divine power wanting to laugh at a poor mortal, but whatever the reason, your phone rang with an incoming call from george.

the stupid candid photo you’d taken as a contact picture flashed up on your screen, and the automatic smile that painted your lips made you want to yell in frustration.

"y/n, hi!"

pathetic was the perfect word to describe you, thanks to how utterly gone you were for george, as the mere sound of your name leaving his lips was enough to make your heart jump.

"sorry, know i only saw you a few hours ago, but i just remembered that i think i left one of my mercedes shirts at yours when i was there the other day."

you didn't even think twice about it, why would you? george had left countless items at your place in the past, and he would leave more in the future.

"no problem. y'can always come by and get it, i'll try and grab it for you."

george's chest ached at how ready to help you were.

"yeah? you're a lifesaver, y/n, really. i'll set off now, should be there in about fifteen minutes."

brief 'see you later's were exchanged, and the moment you set your phone down onto the coffee table, your hunt began.

you didn't recall seeing one of george's shirts anywhere around, but previous mishaps had enlightened you to the fact that things could turn up anywhere. you'd thought that the shoes buried right underneath your bed were odd, until a sock turned up in your bread bin a few weeks later.

nothing was off limits anymore.

yet, somehow, no matter where you looked, you couldn't find the fucking shirt. frustration slowly nibbled at your mind, the sound of a knock being the only thing to break you from your frantic search.

an annoyingly attractive george russell greeted you when you swung open the front door.

in all of the years he'd known you, george thought this was the most adorable you'd looked.

your hair was in disarray, the strands unkempt as though you'd been running your hands through it over and over again. your face shone a little, and you were clearly a little out of breath, if the small, panting gasps you took were anything to go by.

your apartment was a mess, and george quickly realised that you'd turned your entire place practically upside down to try and find a shirt that wasn't even there in the first place.

guilt began to bubble up in his throat, and george hoped that, after today, it would all be worth it. he only had one chance, and he wasn't going to fuck it up.

before he could allow doubt to creep into his mind and sow seeds of regret, george lifted a hand to cup your jaw. the feeling of your soft skin against his palm elicited a gasp to slip from his mouth. the parting of his lips provided you with the perfect opportunity to meld your lips together in a chaste, sweet kiss.

feelings went unspoken, for now. time would grant you the chance to properly word every last affection you harboured for one another at a later date.

besides, george was a firm believer that actions spoke louder than words, and this kiss was living proof.

george forced himself to pull back, his forehead resting against your own, and he believed that to die like this would be a blessed fate. because you were definitely going to kill him when you found out the truth.

"i lied, by the way. there was no shirt," he mumbled, blue eyes meeting yours with a wince.

"you fucking dick."

#.° ༘🗝️⋆₊ becca’s drabbles #𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 becca's 'be my valentine' special #george russell #george russell x reader #george russell x you #f1 x reader #formula one x reader #f1 x you #formula one x you

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tobi-smp · 1 year

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it’s occurred to me that some things that were relatively common-knowledge in queer spaces have become less well known as the years have gone on (incidentally or otherwise).

there’s quite a few identities/labels that I’d say this has happened to, but tackling all of them in one go would be a very long post I suspect. so! for anyone who is unfamiliar with or doesn’t (in good faith) understand “demisexuality” / ”demiromanticism” here’s a brief but comprehensive rundown!

most people are familiar with asexuality/aromanticism (which is a lack of sexual/romantic attraction) and most of those people are familiar with the concept that asexuality/aromanticism is a spectrum (which is to say that people under the asexual/aromantic labels can experience their attraction differently, the same way that bi/pan/mspec people have varying experiences with their attraction. often shortened to “ace-spec” “aro-spec” individually or “a-spec” to cover both).

but what people Aren’t as familiar with are the specific labels that describe certain experiences within the a-spectrum. one of the more popular of which is demisexuality/demiromanicism.

people who fall under the demi label only feel attraction to people that they feel a deep emotional connection to. if that attraction is sexual then the label is demisexual, if that attraction is romantic then the label is demiromantic, if the attraction is both then someone may choose to use both or simply “demi.”

this is often misunderstood on the surface level because of the conflation of “attraction” with actively pursuing a partner, which is an understandable mistake but shouldn’t be used to kneejerk reject the label or the people who use it.

attraction is any feeling that you get in response to a person, not just the feelings that you act on. feeling attraction to a character in media, to an actor, to a model, to adult media, that’s all filed under sexual and romantic attraction without necessarily needing a deep emotional connection to preempt those feelings.

a demi person may, of course, appreciate a person or character aesthetically (know that they’re pretty or handsome), but they Won’t experience that attraction unless they otherwise have that deep personal connection.

and in the same way, a demi person would have a much more difficult time trying to date through, say, dating apps or hookups. going into a relationship with the idea of attraction first could be unnatural in a way that it may not be for someone who isn’t demi.

and so a demi person will share similar experiences with ace and aro people, not being able to relate to media or school crushes like the people around them are (a fact that those people often pick up on). they do often (though not always) seek out relationships with people that they Do feel that intimate connection with, though often at a slower pace than their peers.

not everyone who shares this experience will use these labels (all labels are a personal choice after all), but for some people it is a significant aspect of their sexuality and one that they want to put a name to. whether someone wants to use this term specifically, a-spec, or both is, again, up to personal preference!

#discourse #demisexual #demiromantic #I may make more of these if anybody's interested

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marzipanandminutiae · 2 years

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a big part of Using Slightly Cagey Language To Describe Historical Sexuality/Gender is, for me, extending the likely ancestors of the queer community the same right of self-determination that I’d want granted to me by future historians

I am gay. a lesbian, if you want to be specific. queer if you’re referring to me as part of an Umbrella Term Group. homosexual if you want to get clinical. in 150 years, there may be some other label for whose adherents my lived experiences resonate, in some way

but I will never be part of that group here and now, in my life and my cultural context. whatever it means to self-identify as [label] in that world is not necessarily how I understand myself

(and re: gender, what it means to be a woman and fully identify with womanhood and use she/her pronouns might change, but that will always be how I understood myself within my own world. the future will not change my life in its past)

would I deny those future People We’d Now Call Queer Women(TM) the resonance they might find in my experiences? of course not. that reaching back to the past for ancestors and community is a beautiful, achingly human thing. I would never want to impede it

but I would want them to allow me my context, complexities, and nuance. I would want them to let me drive the bus, so to speak, in terms of defining my identity. I would want them to come back to my words and my world first and foremost in making a Historical Figure out of a messy once-living person

that is why I introduce queer historical figures with “though they wouldn’t have used this term, we’d probably now call them X” before I go on and just call them X for the rest of the tour. or why I might say something like “some of Louisa May Alcott’s experiences resonate with queer women and transmasc people” rather than “Louisa May Alcott was definitely gay/trans/whatever”

I feel like I owe them the treatment I would want for myself, in their shoes

#history #queer history #yes That Post is still making the rounds #yes the notes continue occasionally clownish #lgbt history

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d-dixonimagines · 11 months

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can u do enemy to lover prompt five

Prompt: "Don't touch me!" "How am I supposed to bandage you up if I can't touch you?"

I don't know what to really label this as. It's mild angst? If you wanna call it that? Reader is more moody than I originally anticipated them to be. Also, I clearly don't know how to clean wounds or how they would do it in the show, so the way it's described here is probably wrong.

Right from the very start of the day you and Daryl had been at each other's throats, bickering and yelling like you'd been married for 50 years. So it was beyond you why Rick thought it was a good idea to make you two go on a run together. Surely he knew there would be a chance that only one of you came back, and not because of any walker. The run wasn't supposed to be that big a deal. A quick day trip scouring for supplies and literally anything that would be of use and that you could carry. Everything had gone surprisingly well until you were making your way back. There was a run-in with a small hoard of walkers that happened to wander through where you were at; too many of them for just two people to deal with. You both made your way towards an abandoned house, killing off as many of the walkers as you could, focusing only on the ones that were a higher risk. If you had tried to pock off every single one, it would become too easy to get overwhelmed and ambushed as they all crowded together. So your only goal was to retreat to safety.

"Over here!" You heard Daryl's voice over the commotion of the moaning walkers. Yanking your knife from one of their skulls, you turned in Daryl's direction and made your way over. You both were almost at the house, eyeing it just beyond the tree line. There were scattered walkers wandering the property, making it difficult to make a direct run for it. "We should just keep moving. See if there's another place further down." You suggested, not seeing any other option. Daryl just shook his head. "Nah... we don't know how far the next place could be. This could be our only option. We jus' need'a plan." "We don't have time for a plan," you rolled your eyes, using every will power you had to not raise your voice and draw more attention. "I can see that, that's why we ain't gonna waste our time lookin' for somethin' else." Daryl growled back. "There's gotta be about seven or eight up there.. if we clear 'em out, go 'round either side of the house, there's bound to be a way inside." Glancing behind you to see the other walkers closing in, you let out a frustrated groan, getting yourself ready to run. "Gah!" If we make it out of this, Dixon, I'm gonna kill you myself!" You yelled, running off towards the house before he had a chance to sass you back. Clearing out your half of the yard, you quickly checked the front door to see if it would open but had no such luck. You continued round to the side of the house, killing off any stragglers. Finding a window above a pile of old wood, you attempted to climb up it to get a better grip of the window. When it didn't budge, you went to smash it but was interrupted when you felt hands grabbing at you, knocking you unstable. You let out a startled yelp as you struggled to keep the walker at bay, fighting to hold it back so you could reach for your weapon. It was just out of your reach, you could feel the tips of your fingers grazing it, scrambling to get some kind of traction to get a better grip. Daryl rounded the corner, stabbing the thing in the head and throwing it off you. "Finally you show up," you snapped at him, standing up quickly and grabbing your gun. "That's a funny way of sayin' thank you fer savin' yer ass." You just scoffed, holding your arm, not having any time to check the damage. "Did you find a way in?" "'Course I did, Princess. This ain't my first rodeo." You ignored his comments and followed him to the back door, barricading yourselves inside. After checking the rest of the house, you allowed yourself to relax just a bit once you knew it was cleared. Daryl set his things down on top of the counter and looked around the kitchen, checking to see if there was anything edible to eat. You wandered off in search of a mirror to tend to your arm. Raiding through the medicine cabinets and drawers, you didn't find much that would help. Just a tolerably clean cloth and some gauze. You started cleaning around it, as best you could, wadding up the cloth, dropping it, getting frustrated with... just... everything.

"Need help?" Daryl's voice brought you out of your head. You only looked at him for a second, getting a glimpse of him leaning against the doorframe before looking at your arm again. "I got it." He scoffed. "An infection is what yer gonna get if ya don't clean it right." "It'll have to do until we get back, won't it? I don't exactly have a lot of options here." "Water might help at least." "You see any water lying around?" "Yup..." Daryl stated simply, holding up a half filled jug. You kept your gaze on him, your eyes narrowing at him in irritation. Snatching the jug from his hand, you set it down harshly on the sink. You struggled with getting the cloth wet, not really able to use your injured arm. "Let me help." He pushed himself from the door frame. "I said I got it." Daryl didn't accept that answer, knowing you were just being stubborn. He reached over and grabbed the cloth from you, getting it damp before raising it as a silent request to keep going. Without saying anything, you contemplated for a long moment before slightly turning your body so he could get at it better. "This'll sting a bit," Daryl spoke gently, taking the water and pouring it over the wound, causing you to let out a hiss and jerk your arm back. "That hurts!" "I told ya! Ya can't get mad at me after I warned ya." You just huffed, turning back so he could continue cleaning the wound. After setting the rag down, he grabbed the gauze and gently gripped your arm, but before he could place it, you jerked out of his hold again. "Don't touch me!" Daryl let out a breathy sigh of frustration. "How am I supposed ta bandage ya up if I can't touch ya?" You stared daggers into him but he just stared back. The longer you stared at him, the more realization set in that being angry wasn't going to help anything. You weren't even really angry, you were just frustrated and overwhelmed. Daryl was only trying to help and you needed to calm down. Going back to where you were, you turned your body so he could fix you up, letting him do what he needed to. He placed the gauze on your arm and wrapped it as neatly as he could, tucking the end piece in to the rest of the material. "There... now ya have a better chance of yer arm not rotting off." There was a faint hint of smirk at the corner of his lips that you would have missed if you weren't looking at them.

You glanced down at your arm as you pushed off the sink. "My hero," you responded sarcastically. There was a beat before you looked up at him again. "Thanks..." There was another pause as you examined his face, that playful smirk vanished. "I mean it. Thank you," Your voice was softer, more relaxed. Daryl gave a soft nod before leaving the bathroom and heading towards the kitchen. "I'm starvin', I think I saw an opossum on the back porch." The moment was gone. You let out a loud groan as you followed behind him, revving up to give him an earful!

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon imagines #daryl dixon x reader #the walking dead imagines

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punkeccentricenigma · 7 months

Note

might I request some headcanons for the rise! boys with an S/O who was born and raised out in the country? I just love the idea of country! reader x city boys (especially since the todd scouts episode)

please, and thank you <3

Rise!Boys with Countryside!Reader

Relationship status: Can be read as romantic or platonic

Reader prounouns: They/Them

TW: Leo being dumb as always, Some aspects described here may be different from the countryside in your countries, Some grammatical errors because english is not my first language.

Author's note: Honestly for the last few days I was just thinking about this idea, because I live in the countryside myself, and now at least I have a better excuse to write about it, lmao. Enjoyyyy!

Leonardo

◇ Leo respects your down-to-earth mentality and your ability to find joy in simple things in life.

◇ However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows right away.

◇ When Leo first met you, he secretly judged you and thought that because you come from the countryside, you seemed boring and uncultured. LOOK AT YOURSELF, LEO.

◇ He tends to subtly highlight your lack of knowledge and city life experience whenever it comes up in conversation.

◇ He secretly compares his urban lifestyle to yours and sometimes feels superior to you.

◇ He might occasionally come across as insensitive and indifferent to certain issues and circumstances you've encountered or witnessed as a person from the countryside.

◇ However, over time, some of these things have lessened or faded away. All thanks to Dr. Feelings

◇ He finds your passion for nature and outdoor activities adorable.

◇ He appreciates how the ethics of hard work and practical skills can balance out his more carefree and humorous nature.

◇ It slightly shocks Splinter, but whatever, lmao.

◇ He admires your sense of adventure and willingness to try new things, even though you come from a rural background.

◇ Leo loves hearing your stories about life in the countryside and thinks they make you even more charming and interesting.

◇ He believes your close connection to nature and respect for animals are endearing.

◇ But if he ever catches you talking to animals or imitating them, you'll get the "weirdo" label.

◇ But he's a bit of an ignoramus himself, bringing up this one scene:

"Wow, [Y.N]! I didn't know you had a swan!"

"...Leo, that's a goose..."

◇ He enjoys hearing about your tight-knit community back home and loves learning about your rural traditions.

◇ Leo appreciates how your ability to adapt quickly and be resourceful in unfamiliar environments can help him broaden his perspective and become more versatile.

◇ You'll have to train him in this at Raphael's request.

◇ Sometimes he'll want to visit the countryside, especially if he's feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being the new leader and after a Kraang invasion. Then, climbing onto the roof and stargazing is a must!

◇ He doesn't quite understand all the talk about plants, but if you have orchards, he'll pick every fruit to try.

◇ Please, give him homemade cherry juice, HE'LL FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.

Raphael

◇ Raph finds you incredibly interesting.

◇ But he's not sure if you're up to date with modern technologies and practices. Despite your exposure to television and the internet, he sometimes doesn't think you have a broad understanding of them.

◇ Besides finding you fascinating, Raph is somewhat surprised by your accent and way of speaking because he's never met anyone quite like you.

◇ Of course, he doesn't make fun of it if you have such an accent.

◇ Raph is genuinely curious about the history of your hometown and the people you know.

◇ He appreciates your rural atmosphere, and the lack of city knowledge doesn't bother him. He actually likes it when he guides you or explain things.

◇ However, he can get irritated sometimes when he asks you a question, and you respond in a way that's clear to you but not to him.

◇ Usually, you use rural slang if you have any.

◇ And sometimes, he can be impatient when trying to explain something to you, and you don't understand. This is where his anger issues come into play, but he's more likely to take it out on himself than on you.

◇ Sometimes, he'd like to go on a trip to your countryside and meet the people who shaped you, but because of the ‘whole situation’, he'll have to settle for the area around your home and fields.

◇ If he manages to find a moment, he'll come. He'll gladly let you guide him and explain everything.

◇ He'll probably start bragging about the skills he's acquired from Todd's training, whether they're useful in your parts or not.

◇ He thinks your conversations with animals are cute and will start talking to them himself.

◇ Except the goose will start chasing him, wanting to nip him.

◇ Plants aren't his strong suit, but like Leo, he'll start picking some fruits from your orchard, asking for permission beforehand.

◇ He loves walking with you in the forest, especially in the approaching evening. That's when he feels the most masculine, protecting you from potential wild creatures.

Donatello

◇ Despite everything, Donnie respects your connection with nature and finds it admirable.

◇ However, despite his ultimately good memories of Todd's teachings, he wasn't that inclined towards topics related to the countryside until he got to know you better.

◇ Donnie might sometimes underestimate you because of your former rural lifestyle and simplicity (using the phrase "common sense tells " literally), considering you now live in the city. However, he realizes that you're equally intelligent in your own way.

◇ He really appreciates that you're willing to listen to his explanations about his new devices. Bonus points if, in subsequent conversations, you remind him of potential solutions based on previous information.

"... And you know, I think when you combine this with that, it could give a good result-- Donnie, what's with your face, are you crying?"

"No, I just looked at Leo's face and felt disgusted!"

◇ He has definitely been moved by the fact that you haven't completely ignored him.

◇ Donnie finds your rural lifestyle and your knowledge of plants and animals intriguing.

◇ You'll probably drag him to the countryside for a few days if he pulls another all-nighter due to his ambitions.

◇ Expect some grumbling of discontent, like that of a five-year-old.

◇ He won't complain about the lack of Wi-Fi; after all, it's the 21st century, and some households have internet. Instead, he'll complain about the weak signal.

*Donatello rocks back and forth, watching a spinning loading wheel on YouTube*

You: *visibly wtf*

◇ If you have animals, you'll likely enlist his help.

◇ He's one of the few who won't think poorly of you when you start talking to the aforementioned animals in his presence. Whether you're having a small talk with a cow or imitating a passing duck, he'll probably do the same.

◇ He'll boast that he can communicate with animals using sign language to impress you.

◇ The Weird Duo.

◇ Ohoho, if you have orchards or gardens, he'll be thrilled!

◇ He loves botany, so ever since he saw the first cherry tree, your conversations always start with botanical topics and curiosities.

◇ In my country, such competitions are rare, but while watching The Incredible Dr. Pol, I noticed that there are frequent contests for the best-grown vegetable/fruit, etc. Expect Donatello to help you with that.

◇ And he might accidentally overdo it with his assistance, hah (those worms from the end of season 2)

◇ Donnie partly considers the peace and quiet of the countryside a welcome change from the city's hustle and bustle and all the stress it puts on him.

◇ But in the long run, it's not for him. He misses the excitement of the city.

◇ And he laments the lack of interesting attractions nearby.

Michelangelo

◇ He appreciates your unique straightforwardness. I don't know how it is in rural areas in other countries, but where I come from, people from the countryside can be incredibly direct and won't hesitate to say anything. This meshes perfectly with his Dr. Delicate Touch persona.

◇ Mikey often teases you about your rural roots, but in a typical friendly manner. You, on the other hand, have permission to tease him back. No mercy.

◇ He really enjoys your accent and dialect if you have one.

◇ Mikey finds your accent adorable and charming.

◇ Michelangelo likes listening to your childhood stories from the countryside.

◇ Michel finds it cute when you use rural sayings and expressions.

◇ Every time you crack a joke or make a wisecrack, Mikey laughs and finds it endearing, even if others don't always get it.

◇ Honestly, he's probably the least judgmental of the four, but he still has his quirks.

◇ Mikey can sometimes find your lack of refinement due to your rural upbringing slightly annoying, especially if you're too slow or don't understand something.

◇ Mikey might find it frustrating when you're afraid or hesitant about new experiences or things you haven't seen before.

◇ BUT, that doesn't mean he won't help you get acquainted with new things; he'll just have to push you as if you were learning to skateboard for the first time.

◇ Oh, and Mikey once taught you how to skateboard.

◇ You fell off the vert ramp.

◇ Anyway, he seems to have some strange attachment to forests and the areas around them, which is why he wanted to go there almost immediately when he heard about your upbringing.

◇ And when he got there, he was thrilled with everything.

◇ Starting from the decoration of the house, through the fauna and flora, to the atmosphere of the place itself.

◇ If he had an art block, this place would definitely unblock it. So, be prepared for frequent visits from the youngest of the turtles.

◇ He thinks it's cute when you talk to animals, but yes, he'll tease you about it a little too.

◇ He'll probably offer to help you with fruit or vegetable picking.

◇ He'll definitely start calling you "pumpkin" or "wild goose," whether you have them with you or not.

◇ He's not a big fan of homemade foods like juices, etc. The kid is used to mechanically processed food.

#Fluff #countryside reader #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt x y/n #rottmnt x you #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise donnie x reader #rise leo x reader #rise mikey x reader #rise raph x reader #rottmnt x reader #Headcanons #x reader #tmnt #countryside

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1863-project · 8 months

Note

For the anon Pokémon asks: which battle subway conductor is the cutest?

Okay, this may get long, so bear with me.

First, a little disclaimer: Ingo and Emmet both make me feel incredibly seen. I was born in 1989 and wasn't diagnosed with autism until 2009, and I never got to see characters like me. I'd see some who were similar to me, or some with things in common with me, but Ingo and Emmet feel like looking in a mirror to me, to the point that I don't go in the Submas tag because I've seen too many people perpetuating the ableism that got me bullied as an undiagnosed autistic kid. Every time an autistic or autistic-coded character is portrayed as "weird" or "off-putting" or "too intense" or "scary," it's repeating things that my bullies used to excuse their behavior towards me and essentially treat me and my autism as entertainment. Most people aren't doing this, of course, but since I'm in the process of working through a lot of that trauma, I choose not to take the chance of exposing myself to it because I'd rather heal instead of open old wounds again and again.

Anyway, with that said, I adore them both, but only one of them makes me act like a giddy teenager.

I have the most ridiculous fictional character crush on Emmet. It's unreal. Part of that is likely the fact that if he was real we'd actually be extremely compatible, but unfortunately for me, he is not, and so I can't take him on locomotive photo charter dates and kiss him on the City Hall looparound on the 6 Train. That aside, here's what I genuinely like about the goober.

He's deeply passionate about what he loves.

It's that passion that often gets people like him and me labeled as "too intense," but when he likes something, he really likes something. Battling is like air to him. When you befriend him in Masters EX, you find he'll actually talk your ear off about battling if you give him the opportunity. He vibrates with excitement when he sees strong trainers.

[Image description: Emmet and Ingo, two adult identical twin men with knife-shaped sideburns wearing exaggerated versions of railroad conductor uniforms, stare off to the left at people who are off-screen. Emmet, in a white uniform, is holding his hands at his sides but his hands are in an excited, almost 'grabby' position; Ingo, in a black uniform, also has his hands at his sides but his hands are balled into fists. Ingo's Excadrill, a Pokemon that looks like a mole combined with a tunneling machine, stands in front of him. End description.]

In this screenshot from Masters EX, Emmet and Ingo have just run into Steven Stone and Roark. Emmet is barely holding back, and you can tell by looking at his hands. He wants to battle now. It's delightful that he's in a franchise of video games where that passion is normalized and encouraged. (As long as he never visits Paldea, anyway. Nemona is proof of how well that would go.)

Battling makes Emmet genuinely so happy and excited and I love when people get that way about their hobbies. It's so nice to see passionate people. Emmet even says he's excited about it when you battle him in Black and White and beat him at the highest level possible:

"I am Emmet. I am a Subway Boss, but I lost against you again. But I feel good. Because it was very fun! You want to win, and I don't want to lose. That's real. When we clash in battles, I feel very excited!"

[Source]

He lives for this, so much that even losing a really intense, serious battle feels good. And it's a delight. But, of course...

[Image description: Emmet, described above, claps his hands together excitedly and says "Winning a serious, hard-fought battle is the best feeling in the world!" with a huge smile on his face. End description.]

...he, in his own words, likes winning "more than anything else."

He's verrrry direct in his communication...but also verrrry supportive.

Autistic folks are often told we're too blunt, and to neurotypicals, who are used to saying things more indirectly, we can come off as a bit...too direct to them, to say the least. Arguably the best example of Emmet doing this is in the PokeSpe manga, where he just says things without a filter.

[Image description: a manga panel in which Emmet bluntly tells trainer White, "Yes, we're studying you as an example of a trainer who gets overwhelmed and loses every single match." The next panel leads off with Ingo saying "That's not nice, Emmet..." End description.]

But that bluntness isn't intended maliciously, he just has no filter and says what's on his mind. In reality, he's delightfully supportive and friendly, and that honesty leads to the most wonderful exchanges with him:

[Image description: two screenshots of Emmet from Pokemon Masters EX, smiling softly. His dialogue reads, "Hi, Steph! Your smile is always the best. Perfect! Whenever I see you, I can't help but smile, too! I'll have to make sure my smile is just as good as yours!" End description.]

As a side note, this dialogue has been destroying me for over two years now, and every time I boot up the game and he says this I feel my face get warm. He's actually helped me stop being self-conscious about my smile.

He has a habit of listening in on things, even if he has no intention of gossiping or anything. He just likes knowing stuff.

It's a habit he seems to share with his brother, but Ingo is significantly less obvious and more apologetic about it. Emmet's just really funny about it.

[Image description: two manga panels and one screenshot from Masters EX. The first manga panel shows Emmet marching over to White and Bianca as they have a discussion, saying, "I'm overhearing an interesting discussion over here. It seems profound, so I'm going to stand nearby and listen in. Oh, don't let me distract you. Go on. Keep talking." The second panel shows Emmet cupping his ear with his hand and still attempting to listen in on the discussion from one subway car away, with Ingo standing behind him. The screenshot from Masters EX shows Ingo hiding his eyes with his hat and saying, "I apologize for eavesdropping, but we happened to overhear your conversation at the Pokemon Center" as Emmet stands beside him, hands on his hips and smiling with no shame. End description.]

He doesn't use the information maliciously, and a lot of the time he doesn't even use it at all. He just enjoys hearing these things and knowing all sorts of weird drama is going on elsewhere. It's like when you find out about drama in a fandom you're not in and you read the posts and eat popcorn. It's great.

He likes his work uniform because it helps his posture.

As a fellow "leans forward too much" autistic, this one really resonates with me and I love it.

[Image description: A screenshot of Emmet in Pokemon Masters EX. He's standing straight up and holding the brim of his hat with his hand. His dialogue reads, "Wearing it gets me motivated, of course! It also helps me stand up straight and tall!" End description.]

He stops scripting when he gets to know people better because he's able to trust them.

Notice how his dialogue in BW and BW2 is on the Battle Subway - "I'm Emmet. This is my job. I like doubles. This is why I like doubles. Here are the safety checks." He's scripting around people he's not familiar with, and it's the sort of thing that gets autistic people labeled as "robotic" by people who don't know it's a way to help us maintain some semblance of control over an unfamiliar situation. The preprepared dialogue is a coping method in an ableist world. But when you get to know him in Masters, the scripted dialogue shows up a lot less. He's able to talk genuinely and excitedly to you, because he knows you're safe to be around and you're not going to judge him for who he is. That hits me hard.

He has the most adorable goddamned laugh in the world and it kills me on the daily.

This is a lot more in line with my personal tastes, as everyone who knows me well knows, but that damn laugh makes me all fluttery inside and weak in the knees. And he does it a LOT.

This update to Masters EX, where the characters laugh if you tap on them on the upgrade screen, destroyed me, and multiple people were apparently waiting for me to find it and die because I'm really predictable. I may or may not regularly pull the screen up just to poke at him and hear this. It's...not fair.

This one is...also unfair. I won't elaborate in public on what I think when I hear it because it's embarrassing.

youtube

So, uh...yeah. I really, really like Emmet a lot. I'm really normal about Emmet. I promise.

#replies #Pokemon #Submas #this man literally makes me so giddy and ridiculous #it's so silly but I'm having a good time and he's helping me work through a lot of stuff on the side #I spent hours on this #I always spend hours on posts where I talk about Emmet

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thetriplets3 · 11 months

Note

hello, my friend. from the prompts list, may i please request "tell me about your day" where the reader asks Matt about his day?

or, maybe Matt makes a gluten-free pizza for the reader 😉 tysm ♡

how about both? this makes my little celiac heart happy. thank you for the request <3

ease my mind

Chaotic. That’s one way to describe the day I’ve had at work. People demanding more that one person can do at a time, getting berated for doing my job, being pulled in every direction I feel myself slowly falling apart. As soon as I shut my car door, my head meets the headrest as I let out a loud groan, before heading home.

I’m used to driving the same route home everyday. It's automatic for me at this point. Tonight however my overwhelmed brain has led me to your house. I stood aimlessly at your front door for a few minutes debating if I should just go, considering it is pretty late and you yourself have been busy lately. Before I can let myself think any longer I press your contact, calling you, not wanting to wake anyone else up.

“Hi honey what’s up?” You pick up at the first ring.

“Hi, could you please unlock the door for me?” I weakly say, not having much energy to talk.

“Of course I’ll be right there” you say. I can hear you rushing off your bed before hanging up.

Opening the door you immediately pull me into your arms, which is exactly what I needed. The smell of freshly baked food fills my nose, comforting me.

“Smells great in here” I compliment.

“I made pizza from scratch, it took a while” you chuckled.

Unconsciously let out a sigh and frown, homemade pizza and I can’t have any. Things got so crazy at work I haven’t had a chance to stop and eat anything since 11am. It’s hitting me now smelling this pizza just how hungry I am.

Since being diagnosed celiac, you’ve been more aware of how difficult it is for me to find food I can eat while we’re out, having to check every label and how much I hate not being able to just eat what everyone else does. You’ve started carrying snacks for me in your bag so I always have something to eat. I love how thoughtful you are. It makes me feel like a burden having to ask places to take extra precautions when preparing my food and limiting the amount of places we can eat.

“I made it just for you, it’s gluten free. It took a while because I wanted to make sure everything was safe and cleaned properly before making it. I double checked everything and even made Nick and Chris check too” you said proudly.

“Matt” my lips form a pout. “You did all that for me? Oh thank you my love, you didn’t have to” I gush, my heart doubling in size.

“Of course I did. I know how much you despise baking so you won’t make any gluten free stuff for yourself so I thought I would try. I tried a piece it’s pretty good. I was gonna bring it to you tomorrow but since you’re here now let’s eat” you say.

Each grabbing a few slices of pizza we made our way to your room getting comfy in bed. “How was work tonight?’ You ask.

“Wasn’t a good night. I’d rather not talk about it” I sigh, not wanting to remember the events. “Tell me about your day” I ask, wanting to be distracted and hearing you talk puts me at ease.

“I’m sorry honey, but hey look on the bright side you have the next 2 days off and you’ll be spending it with me, taking it easy because you deserve it” you softly say. “My day, hmm. I didn’t do much. I went to the store to get all the stuff to make the pizza which took up a good portion of the day because I’m not used to baking. Oh and I got some of your favorite snacks to keep over here so you have food when you stay over. Other than that we spent a few hours at the warehouse planning out some video ideas” You tell me, while your thumb rubs soothingly over the back of my hand.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything you do for me. You know how much I love that you carry snacks around for me but let me pay you back. I feel bad, gluten free food is pricey, I can’t let you spend your money on that for me” I plead.

“Oh zip it I don’t mind buying you things. I don’t want you to have to buy or pack food for when you come to stay over. I should have things you can eat here. I love having you here and being able to take care of you. I love you sweetheart” you say.

“I love you more. You made my day so much better. Can you keep talking, I don’t care what it’s about. I just wanna listen to you talk, you put my mind at ease” I ask, moving my now empty plate to the bedside table and get myself comfy in your arms.

“I’ll do anything for you honey” you promise me.

Taglist:

@d0wnt0wnstu4n1ol0 @im-a-matt-girl @iluvmatt @stxrniqlo @antisocialties

#matt sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #sturniolo triplets #unedited

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letters-to-lgbt-kids · 2 years

Text

My dear lgbt+ kids,

I was quite surprised to look into my notes this morning and see multiple people call me biphobic for saying that you can be a lesbian even if you have had crushes on men before.

I stand with that statement: Labels are descriptors. If you feel like "lesbian" describes you and you feel most comfortable with that word, then it's a great word for you - even if "I have never been attracted to a man in any way ever" doesn't ring true for you. Life and people and feelings are much more complex than those strict textbook definitions!

Of course, I would never wish to push a label on anyone who doesn't want it. "I have had crushes on men before but I am only/mostly attracted to women now and that's why I identify as a lesbian" is valid and beautiful and good - and "I am only/mostly attracted to women now but I have had crushes on men before and that's why I identify as bisexual" is just as valid and beautiful and good! Neither of those would be the right or the wrong answer, a good or a bad way to feel. It's all about what feels right for YOU.

We like to believe that you are always clearly one thing or the other -but the reality is that some people live in the grey zone between "lesbian" and "bi". The goal is not to fit people neatly into one box and to keep each box as "clean" as possible by making sure they live up to a strict definition. The goal is for everyone to have the freedom to use the words they feel comfortable with, and sometimes this means that two people feel the same way and use two different words.

Well, while I was thinking about all this, I noticed that those comments were all by blogs that had names like "rad girl" or "gender critical fairy". Got suspicious, took a closer look - and sure enough, there were plenty of posts like "We need to steal back wlw spaces from the predatory males who tricked their way into them" and "I've never met a trans woman who wasn't a white male" (really wish I was exaggerating for comedic effect here... ) on those blogs. Temporarily lost all of my hope in humanity.

This puts the whole discussion in a completely new light, doesn't it? "Don't push the label lesbian on bisexual women" seems innocent enough on its own and is a good point in some contexts - but the intention matters. Like all extremists, TERFs love to create division. Extremists rely on you thinking in black & white with no grey zone in between. They need an easy, clear-cut picture of the "enemy" vs. "the good ones" to lure people in.

They really love strict textbook definitions and boxes you can't climb out of. The pure existence of grey zones is threatening to their worldview: How could they convince people that hurting "them" is necessary and justifiable as long as it benefits "us" if there is not always a clear divide between "them" and "us"?

Obviously it'd be wrong to say "Anyone who calls you out for biphobia is a TERF" - but I still wanted to share this as a reminder to check the source of call-out posts. Sometimes people have a more sinister agenda than you assume at first glance.

With all my love,

Your Tumblr Dad

#lgbt #lgbt+#Even if we ignore the purposeful misgendering - how do you claim that all trans women are white? That post still boggles my mind

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miyu-hyperfixates · 2 years

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Recently, I've been thinking about how the narrators of MXTX's books become progressively more unreliable with each new work. And how the more reliable they appear to be at first glance, the more unreliable they turned out to be.

1 - Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Let's start with SVSSS.

Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu is your typical unreliable narrator in several ways.

First, regarding what happened in the original. At the beginning the only thing we knew about PIDW came from Shen Yuan's knowledge and own interpretations of the book. So of course we're taking everything at face value and accept all lot of Facts that OG!SQQ was an unredeemable scum villain (lecher, murderer, abuser, low IQ etc) for example. Though it becomes quite apparent half-way through the story (with the introduction of Airplane and when hints of OG!SQQ are shown) that Shen Yuan might not have been informed of the whole picture behind PIDW. There were a lot of background information and character depths that Shen Yuan weren't aware of (and he is discovering them at the same time as us the readers, but even if we're given hints and can infer about some things, the whole picture would only become apparent in the Extras ).

This is of course due to the fact that Shen Yuan used to be a Reader just like us and wasn't privy on the thoughts and disastrous plotting process of the Author.

Secondly, the narration in SVSSS is heavily influenced by SQQ own thoughts, views and interpretations of what he is living through. We know most of if not all his inner thoughts without much filtering. And it is very obvious right from the beginning that SQQ considers himself (due to his status as a transmigrator) an Omniscient Narrator (spoiler he is so not.)

Now the thing is, SQQ is very genre savy, okay? And say what you want, but he's actually quite observant... and it's not even that he can't identify the tropes when they happened to him (the amount of times he complained to the system from being involved in a wife plots) .... it's just that his internalized homophobia and his previous knowledge of PIDW is preventing him from reaching the right conclusions.

We, as readers, don't have this problem though. And this is why, SVSSS is a comedy, it is playing with the fact that we know SQQ is an unreliable narrator and it only works if we manage to notice what SQQ is missing. SVSSS thrives from SQQ being an unreliable narrator and all the misunderstandings that derive from it. I mean the whole Jinlan arc would read very differently if we were taking things at face value.

So yeah, SY | SQQ is an unreliable narrator and we were meant to notice that he is one right away.

2 - Mo Dao Zu Shi

Let's move on to MDZS and its narrator's, Wei Wuxian.

Now, WWX doesn't appear like an obvious unreliable narrator. His thoughts and feelings do, of course, colored the narrative when describing facts and people (and boy, that man has Opinions) but that is to be expected in any narrator.

Like SQQ before him, WWX is very observant but blind to his own impact on other people's lives. And it was implied thoroughly through the novel that he failed to notice the depth of people's feelings for him. And because of that, since you're seeing the world through WWX's eyes you have to try to read between the lines to understand some people actions. A lot of things are left to (more or less) interpretation, which is why some characters characterization wildly differs from one adaption to the other. (Jiang Cheng is probably the one who suffers the most from this problem, *squinting at the donghua adaptation of JC*).

So while WWX seems like a case of typical slightly unreliable narrator due to chronic obliviousness, you might not feel the need to label him as an unreliable narrator.

Until you realize that WWX tended to downplay a lot of things regarding his own sufferings and most importantly that he deliberately left things out of the narrative. Like... you know the whole thing with his golden core.

... Which is worse than SQQ, because at least SQQ didn't try to hide anything from the readers and you know.... conveniently forgetting a lot of things because he's got a bad memory.

3 - Tian Guan Ci Fu

Oh boy.... where to begin?

Xie Lian's narration, contrarily to both SQQ's and WWX's, appears to be sort of dry, a little matter-of-fact even? He is a lot less transparent with his own thoughts, so much that I've even been reluctant at the beginning to qualify TGCF as being from XL's POV. And more importantly he often doesn't bother to tell us things that he already knows (and he knows a lot of things). Which makes him the worst narrator ever.

I mean, you think the guy 's got a case of "a little bit oblivious" what's with him so half-assingly trying to "check San Lang's status/true identity" or him not realizing that the Middle court officers were obviously his former general in disguise.... But then speed forwarding to the next arc (or several next arcs in the case of Mu Qing and Feng Xin) and you realize that he actually knew all along and just didn't bother to tell us...

And it's super funny because he's like, "What? Do you think you guys were being sneaky or something?"

Another thing that makes him so unreliable is that you see him reading aloud the story of the demise of some general and then ten chapters later you realize that the general was him all along and he didn't even twitch while talking about it.

That of course prompted the running gag that if some random characters appears in the background/past of the current arc relevant character, then that random character had a 90% chance of being Xie Lian.

So yeah Xie Lian is most unreliable narrator of all three MC, because you don't have a clue that he's one until it's hitting you in the face.

4 - ??

So, seeing as how things have progressed so far, doesn't it mean that the 4th MC would be even worse than Xie Lian?

At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if we spent two third of the 4th novel bemoaning on how the MC is so oblivious about the ML's (and his wholeass harem of side-characters) affection for him and then we got a scene like:

4th MC, after witnessing ML drinking vinegar, grinning affectionately: Pfft, we've been married for ten years and he's still being like this.

Readers : ....

Readers: !!! WHAT?! You're married?! Since how long?!

4th MC: Oh did you not know? But we've been holding hands the whole time?!

Readers: You didn't mention any of that!

4th MC, blinking: Oh we've been doing it so often that it just didn't register as something needed to mentioned?!

Readers: What about others things though, like kissing or papapa? Didn't you think it would be worth mentioning?

4th MC: Okay first, it's none of your business what me and my husband are doing behind the scene and secondly... bold of you to assume that I would have enough senses left to narrate anything while being intimate with my husband.

#svsss #shen qingqiu #bingqiu #mdzs #wwx #wangxian #tgcf #xie lian #hualian #throwing mxtx thoughts in the void

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alostlittleriverlotus · 2 years

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Also the "quiet BPD" subtype feels so much like some sort of divide between the "angry, mean stereotype" and this "poor quiet internalized victim" really. Like I've seen the other subtypes, but when I first learned about them years ago, it was high functioning/quiet BPD and I genuinely saw things that would heavily imply that they were better because they wouldn't take their anger out on others.

It just feels like another way to divide personality disorders and demonize them. I'm not saying people with BPD that use the term "quiet BPD" are doing this specifically, but it's very reminiscent and feels like how people with BPD separate themselves from the icky narcissists and antisocial people (/sarcastic) in this day and age. Like how people will make BPD into the "victim disorder" while NPD and ASPD are the "abusive disorders" and then cluster a and c and HPD are all just forgotten.

It just very much so reminds me of that. Or just dividing with introvert/extrovert or internlized/externalized. And considering I saw a comment literally describing quiet BPD as not being the angry/violent type- I- that just sounds so so so bad.

This comes from someone with BPD that has been both and experiences all the subtypes.

And then I saw someone say "aside from the fact I experience all four subtypes (not all at once, they fluctuate)" like yeah? That's just how disorders work? You're not going to be constantly angry or having episodes and you're not going to be constantly internalizing everything and blaming yourself. I just cannot fathom how people see this, these boxes and subtypes, and don't see how this is just normal. For like tons of disorders.

Not even just personality disorders. It feels like high/low functioning labels, introvert/extrovert, personality types, all of that stuff that tries to box us all in under one label and ignores the fact that people are different, people change, and people can be more than one thing.

This doesn't feel like bipolar 1/2 disorder or seasonal depression versus normal depression or social anxiety for generalized anxiety. This doesn't feel like an actual separation of diagnoses. It just feels like a disorder existing in multitudes and people have put them into 4 different subtypes.

I even used to say I had quiet BPD. And when my BPD was suddenly externalized again? I felt like a monster and evil and like I did something to make my BPD become external. Quiet BPD comes off as "I am more likely to hurt myself so I'm not that bad, I'm just a victim" rather than any actual type of diagnoses. BPD is BPD. It's gonna exist in multitudes, have contradicting elements, have different experiences, especially since every person is different with different disorders affecting them. What do subtypes do to help? What happens when you think you're just one or two types and then you suddenly act so differently than previously thought? And trust me, when that happened to me, it was terrifying. My whole world view of my BPD was thrown off which only made my rage episodes worse.

I just don't see the point to having subtypes to personality disorders. Personalities are complex as is, personality disorders are just as complex, so of course there's going to seemingly be "different types."

I dunno, man. And again, this isn't saying anyone that DOES use these and has BPD is suddenly bad or wrong or whatever for it. I used em once too and especially when you first learn about having BPD, I can see why it may be useful in ways. But I feel it's ultimately restricting and focuses too much on categorizing a complex disorder.

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taylortruther · 20 days

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Rae I was just having thoughts about You're Losing Me a while ago, and it really is just such an enigmatic song yk. I can never explain the way it made me feel the first time I heard it.

Just sumn about hearing all those wonderful, romantic, idyllic love songs about Joe for five whole albums and then just. YLM hits you like a truck because till then we still hadn't processed it all. Joe had been painted as this perfect, calm supportive partner who can do no wrong and Taylor is happy and it will always stay that way...and then April 9th happened.

Public perception is a crazy thing, and it's even crazier how nobody even DARED to speak the words that thy could've broken up before they did...but the red flags were there all along. It reminds me of the line in sotb "I don't speak, afraid to jinx it" and now that song is in the denial playlist. Truly everyone was in denial for like a month after the news dropped and we weren't even IN the relationship, I can't imagine how bad it was for Taylor herself.

Someone on Twitter quoted the breakup announcement with "Isn't this the guy she wrote Lover for? Yeah, we're all screwed". Amazing how much her own songs made everyone believe everything was okay till the very last moments.

I think especially what YLM strikes me as is a song centered around not wanting to throw away a "good thing" i.e. the Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?

YLM is so horribly bleak imo, because it's not hopeful AT ALL. The last line is very literally her "making the decision" that unless he chooses her, she's done. And to think this was written in 2021?? Had she already accepted the truth back then? Did the denial stage start even BEFORE that? Was she sitting in the dark room for an year and a half?

The thing that hurts the most about a song like this with all the lyric parallels, is watching something you thought was gonna last forever turn out to be so disapointing in the end. Not WANTING to lose something you've built with so much love, even when you realise that the love has disappeared. The shattering of a mirage. All the We survived the great war imagery on Midnights to My heart won't start anymore for you. Her paralleling her own past songs will always break me. The silence that only comes when two people understand each other to You say 'I don't understand' and I say 'I know you don't'.

Of course the fandom believed at a point that they were endgame, but SO DID SHE. That is what makes the song harder to digest because it really feels like a personal letter to her fans, released ONLY for us months before it was made available to the public. I stand behind the theory that Midnights was the Denial album, and YLM (the bridge between Midnights and TTPD) is her waking up.

i know this isn't the point of your ask, but bear with me! i would argue that many fans realized some songs were describing dark or heavy moments - but, call it parasocial if you like, the fandom just wanted to believe they were working through those issues, not that the relationship was unhealthy or bad. (and no one wants to be labeled as a hater, which, maybe we can work on as a fandom now lol.) for example, i thought hoax and renegade were troubling, the line "your integrity makes me seem small" rubbed many of us the wrong way, we all clocked "maybe it was her"... meanwhile, unfortunately there were lots of theories about how it was "all in her head," which fortunately i think we can all put in perspective now. OK BUT MY POINT IS, it also makes it easy to imagine (as you said), that when you're IN the relationship itself, the good parts might overshadow the bad. you could cling to something that is beyond saving because there's still comfort or hope, and denial is extremely strong. denial can feel like hope tbh.

i think ylm really shows that she was trying so so hard, for so so long, that she was running out of steam in late 2021. and he wasn't make it easier for her, because he wasn't making his needs or true desires clear.

ANYWAY good thoughts, i enjoyed this ask!

#ylm

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tolkien-feels · 1 year

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Here is something I've been thinking a lot about lately wrt to Nerdanel, feat a little bit of Feanor. And Gandalf and Saruman.

(More headcanon than meta tbh but I think if I tried I could make A Case for this being a possible, if not conclusive, reading)

Oh fyi this post is a mess but I've been trying to make it more logical for weeks now and my brain isn't cooperating so here it is in all its messy glory

Let me share a famous quote but highlight what I want to talk about

While still in early youth Fëanor wedded Nerdanel, a maiden of the Noldor; at which many wondered, for she was not among the fairest of her people. But she was strong, and free of mind, and filled with the desire of knowledge. In her youth she loved to wander far from the dwellings of the Noldor, either beside the long shores of the Sea or in the hills; and thus she and Fëanor had met and were companions in many journeys. Her father, Mahtan, was a great smith, and among those of the Noldor most dear to the heart of Aulë. Of Mahtan Nerdanel learned much of crafts that women of the Noldor seldom used: the making of things of metal and stone. She made images, some of the Valar in their forms visible, and many others of men and women of the Eldar, and these were so like that their friends, if they knew not her art, would speak to them; but many things she wrought also of her own thought in shapes strong and strange but beautiful.

So much is made of that first sentence, of Nerdanel not being considered beautiful enough for Feanor, but lately I have been Considering headcanoning this being the polite version of what the Noldor truly think about Nerdanel - that she's weird. Not quirky, not creative, just straight up off-puttingly strange.

Nerdanel strikes me in this paragraph as being profoundly restless of mind. She wants to know, she wants to explore, she won't be confined by the physical limits of the territory of the Noldor nor by the societal limits of gender. Insofar as that shows independence and curiosity, I don't think the Noldor would find any of this negative, or at least not extraordinarily so.... but we are shown a glimpse of Nerdanel's restless mind in this paragraph: the (abstract?) sculptures she makes are beautiful but strong and strange.

Even though apparently her ability to make realistic sculptures is outstanding, Nerdanel seems to be drawn towards expressing things that don't exist in the world, and these seem to be implied to be slightly unsettling? I mean, the Noldor are the Noldor. How weird does your artwork need to be for it to be labeled as strange? Especially strange in opposition to beautiful. Not strange as in awkwardly done. Strange as in "You clearly know what you're doing but also wtf is this sculpture?" It feels very... Modern art? It's cool. Not really the point of the post but cool.

Anyway, Nerdanel has chosen a craft unusual for her gender and then proceeded to apparently try to reach for something beyond the grasp of even the Noldor. You know when Yavanna brings up the ents and Manwe is like "Okay... That's. Weird. In the Song, but weird." and has to take a moment to understand the creation she's being called to do? That's the vibe I get from Nerdanel's sculptures

And then it's like... Of course she and Feanor are a match. Who else could be more restless? I bet Feanor looked at her strange sculptures and was immediately interested. They are both reaching towards some unknown thing they can't find in Valinor, and Nerdanel may or may not be attempting to describe this longing in physical form with her sculptures

I think in a way, Feanor and Nerdanel sharing a love of crafts and exploration is almost... set dressing for their romance. The thing actually pulling them together is that they are looking at the world around them and saying "Okay, but what else is there? This is not enough for me, I want more than this, I need to know more than this, I need to experience more than this, I need to create more than this"

The question is, of course, where that leads. Unstoppable quest for knowledge and "what else is out there?" - especially when coupled with a subcrearive drive and EXTRA especially when coupled with separating oneself from society - has always been a red flag in Tolkien, starting from Melkor. Hell, even Gollum fits this pattern. I'm not saying that's a worldview I personally subscribe to (I. Don't.) but it seems to be a clear fact of Arda metaphysics. Curiosity + creativity + self-isolation tends to = corruption.

So - is this what makes Nerdanel "the Wise"? Is she a woman who was tempted in every way every villain has ever been tempted, but she resisted and never fell?

Because I can only think of one other hero character who has all of the following: hunger for knowledge, a marked desire for solitude, a strong tendency to be considered Off-puttingly Weird by their peers, a penchant for loving subcreation, possibly immunity from temptation via wanting to understand rather than master the world:

Gandalf.

Nerdanel Istarnie has parallels to Istar extraordinaire Gandalf

Hell, Gandalf is even a fan of Feanor!

And like, that completely changes my read on Nerdanel's character. Because then, narratively speaking, she's the Gandalf to Feanor's Saruman. She is Feanor as Feanor should have been.

Which is like. Ten thousand levels of juicy. Like, you could conceivably structure an entire storyline around Nerdanel staying true to her mission as a Noldorin subcreator while Feanor goes astray. (What is that mission? Debatable. Suit yourself.)

And then, more than just an emotional scene, Nerdanel pleading with Feanor to not take away all her sons from her becomes the ultimate test of her commitment - can she stick to what she thinks is the right thing even if it costs her the loss of her beloved children, possibly the dearest of all her creations, so to speak?

Like, I could go on, but I just. Nerdanel as Feanor who never fell. Nerdanel as mentor and cheerleader, with varying levels of success. Nerdanel as Gandalf!!!!!!! I just love it so much, and I predict I'll be thinking about this for many years going forward

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