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merakime · 1 year

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I heard your requests are open. If you're gonna bully me I'm gonna throttle you.

Catering to you, indulging yourself, perhaps some general dating headcanons on Tighnari and/or Cyno?

Have fun writing, my fellow gay

-🌧️

＃LOVE ABLOOM ! — ft. tighnari, cyno

───── a / n: YOU. YOU LITTLE. i’m going to bite you and shake you aroudn like a squeaky toy fo you understnad me. GRRGRRHRRR ( congrats on being my first request here as well, rainini…. albeit with different motives.. i do not regret what i did. if yk, yk! )

no cw — word count: 875 — fluff !!

‘is this what it feels like, bewitchment?’, tighnari muses to himself. his fingers skim through pages of old fables, of smitten lovers long gone. out of all the books he collected over the time, the ones buried deep in the past were the only ones close to describing the feeling—and even then, it wasn’t quite enough. it was late into the night that he let the fairytale drop on his chest—for there is no words that can encompass the feeling.

utterly enamored by you, he can’t help but be a little more cautious when it comes to you. it may come across as harsh, but truly, when he scolds you so, he does it out of adoration. by the end, his hands begin to feel shaky—sometimes you worry him so much, you know? if something ever happened to you while he could’ve done something, that’d be the end of him. “so don’t you stop being reckless?”, he’ll say with a flick to your forehead.

while tighnari isn’t particularly touchy, when it’s you, he supposes he can excuse it. as long as you don’t interfere with any work, he has no reason to turn you away, now does he? not that he minds, absolutely not. you find yourself enjoying this privilege rather quickly, with how fluffy his tail is and how adorably his ears flick when you touch the special spot. when up close, you can feel a strange hum from him—apparently fennec foxes can purr. that discovery opens many doors, doesn’t it? when you coo, all light fades from his eyes, his dignity forever scarred.

it’s only natural with his job that your home is decked in the prettiest flowers across the sumeru rainforest. the proudest kalpalata flowers drape over the windowsill, a vibrant padisarah blooming next to your bed. watching him care for the plants makes you fall in love anew. one day, he comes to you with a tree the size of a palm—an inazuman art, a “bonsai”, according to the vendor. he was particularly excited to tell you all about it—you’re amazed at how many discoveries he’s made in such a short time about the miniature tree.

it’s the kind of love that you can never get tired of—he makes your mundane day into a little fable, one that you can fall in love with over and over. everytime you cross paths it feels like the beginning of a new story—sometimes it’s a silly one, sometimes a sad one. but you find yourself okay with having a couple sad stories every now and then—if tighnari is there, the end will surely be happy.

what have you done to cyno? a strange feeling coils around his chest, a cage to the butterflies within. many a day, many more at night, he finds his thoughts trailing back to you. his heart begins to stammer just slightly—loud thumps against the palm on his chest. sometimes he wonders, do you feel it too, can you hear the sound when you’re close? does your heart beat so fast too, when you’re thinking of him?

absence makes the heart grow fonder, doesn’t it? his occupation tends to keep him busy a good portion of the day, if not longer than that. he can’t help but miss you when you’re apart for so long. yet, that there is someone waiting for him, anticipating his return, makes his chest puff with ambition. cyno’s efficiency seems to have shot up significantly—if it means he gets to see your yearning eyes soon again, wide with adoration, he’ll even hunt down the moon.

his moral of justice is very prominent, and as it turns out, even during the mundane. if you’re a little tease, of course, the same treatment awaits you. you would’ve never thought him to be so shrewd—but he’s quick to jab back powerfully, and leave you speechless. it’s like he’s turning your own weapons against you—and then he looks at you so blankly, as if he’s innocent. and if you’re touchy, he’ll be touchy back—you find yourselves slotting together so perfectly, he hardly ever wants to leave.

while he is, again, normally very expressionless, his eyes begin to sparkle visibly when you catch news of genius invokation tcg—and he’s quick to pull you aside. there’s a certain, subtle jump to his voice as he teaches you the rules to it—and he’s really good at teaching, you found out. and also incredibly good at the game—the round barely began and he had you in a pinch. when you won, he always denied letting you have it, even though he was painfully obvious.

cyno loves intensely, like he’s never loved before. it may just be his nature, you figure. there’s a strange charm about him—you can’t place your finger on it, but the way he lays his heart out to you makes you never want to let him out of your embrace; his face remains stoic, unfazed, yet the glint in his eyes tells you more than enough. he loves you so strongly, there’s no need for ‘i love you’s.

─────ending note: this was certainly something. i haven't written anything lengthy in a while so it's a bit crustyy.. but i hope this is ok. ♡ i got very excited about getting a req finally even if it's my sillygoose rain and she did it jusy to bully me.

#genshin impact x reader #genshin imagines #tighnari x reader #cyno x reader #genshin impact tighnari #genshin impact cyno #yeah we going ✈️✈️✈️#✦ mari writes !!

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9thgateofgay · 9 months

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Gravitational Pull

Short and sweet little kakagai blurb I wrote a couple months ago, back when I was first getting into the ship and wasn't feeling confident enough to contribute to the tag yet, lol. It's a bit unpolished and probably borders on purple-prose but HEY I had fun and that's what matters

Gai's the mighty waves of the ocean, churning with passion. Kakashi is the moon, and Kakashi recognizes this.

Writing under the cut!

Gai’s the mighty waves of the ocean.

Powerful and intense, churning with passion like a raging tsunami; calm and serene when he needs to be, like a relaxing, warm afternoon on the beach; can mould and shape rock into capable shinobi, like tides carving boulders over centuries.

And yet, it’s not done alone– the mighty ocean can’t ebb and flow without aid. Can’t rise and fall on the shores without the moon. Pushed and pulled by the moon’s gravitational pull, fully motivated by the moon’s movements around the earth and its intense draw.

Kakashi is the moon, and Kakashi recognizes this; he understands he has a certain allure to him, like a full moon does on a starry, cloudless, cool night. He understands he’s mysterious and attracts many towards him– friend and enemy alike. He has his secrets, and he has his scars, like the moon has its craters.

And like the moon, far, far away in isolated, quiet, vast space, Kakashi thought he was enough on his own. He thought he was all he needed. He thought being alone was for the better. Untouchable. Unreachable, because if he distanced himself, anybody who tried would freeze and perish in the cold abyss of space in their desperate attempts. Surely, surely being out of reach will deter anyone from getting too close. Surely he’d thrive in isolation.

But in reality, he learns, the moon doesn’t stay stagnant in space, nor does it travel in a linear path– the Earth pulls it in. Keeps it in orbit, in a path, in a routine, keeps it from straying too far away.

Full moons are brilliant; new moons try to escape the naked eye, try to disappear; they try to run from their burdens, their pasts.

And yet, the Earth loves the moon’s many phases anyway, yearns to study its beauty, has a special appreciation for and understanding of each of its phases, from full to waning, to new, then back to waxing, then full again.

Gai is Kakashi's Earth.

Gai is there every step of the way. On the good days, on the mediocre days, on the horrid days where everything becomes too much.

Gai keeps Kakashi on his path– keeps him balanced and in orbit, like the Earth to the moon. Pulls him in tight when Kakashi feels like straying and hiding away.

Kakashi reveals this to Gai one day.

Gai, of course, ever competitive against his rival, insists that if he himself is the Earth, then surely Kakashi must be the sun, rather than the moon– surely Kakashi’s the sun, the sole object providing the Earth its warmth and life!

(This, of course, is insisted upon by Gai through fountains of joyous tears.)

Not the angst I teased earlier, but that's just because I'm too tired and my brain is too fried to come up with anything new LOL so have this cheesy, dramatic nonsense instead <3

#god itd be so embarrassing if i got my elementary-level space science wrong in this #if i did dont tell me LOL let me keep a little bit of pride #kakagai #kakashi hatake #maito gai #hatake kakashi #might guy #naruto #naruto fanfiction #mine #my writing

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bthump · 5 months

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Apologies if you've gotten this ask before, but have you read the Captive Prince trilogy by C.S Pacat? On top of one of the characters being inspired by Griffith, the entire trilogy just feels like an extended Golden Age, something that I know that many Guts x Griffith shippers like myself have yearned for.

Also, how do you feel about characters and relationships inspired by Griffith and Griffith x Guts? And do you have any favorites?

Yes I have lol, I mainly read it because a friend was into it but I'd also heard that it had griffguts vibes so that was a motivating factor as well. It was fun, and though I didn't think the ship was that similar to griffguts, it definitely had Griffith in a Golden Age AU vibes and I enjoyed that.

Honestly I don't know of any other ships/characters inspired by griffguts though. I know some that are similar, or that helped inspire griffguts like Ryokira from Devilman, but if you have recs for other stories with griffguts vibes where someone who created it mentioned being inspired by Berserk, I'd be all ears.

If you're just looking for stuff with more similarities without necessarily being inspired by Berserk though, I did really like As Meat Loves Salt, which is dark gay (bi) historical fiction and a pretty good read if you don't have any triggers.

And this tag collects a lot of things people have recced to me on the basis of griffguts similarities.

Thanks for the ask!

#ask #anonymous #b #not berserk

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intogenshin · 7 months

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The dream-tree and the role of allogenes

The dream is a tree and the stars are its fruits. And some fruits can produce a seed. And that seed can be used to perpetuate the dream.

Reading the analysis in the reblog, got me thinking about the analogy of the tree presented in it, but with something else it can be applied to.

I’ve written before about Makoto’s philosophy of eternity and what role visions might play into it, and I think the analogy of the tree can also give more insight into the Sacred Sakura tree.

Makoto thought dreams are what motivate humanity forward and, as long as these dreams are carried collectively by transient beings, they can become “eternity”. Think for example of how culture and customs are preserved by a community by teaching it to each other and passing it down generations.

Dreams constantly generate wishes (mistranslated in english version as “ambition”) and sometimes one of these wishes is “recognized by the gods” and granted a vision.

From ei’s second story quest:

Makoto saw a bigger picture than I did. In her view, a “dream” is more imaginary, more abstract than a [wish].

A [wish] is a yearning for something material, or a concrete outcome. It is finite in nature, and will be replaced by a new [wish] in due course.

Makoto was more concerned with the force that drives humans to constantly generate new [wishes] in the first place. It is something innate, rooted in instinct — in other words… it is something eternal. To put it simply, Makoto wasn’t concerned about outcomes.

I didn’t understand at the time. How can we say that we are maintaining eternity when things are constantly moving forward and evolving?

I suppose what it comes down to is the definition of “eternity” she set out with.

Yoimiya’s story quests go deeper into this concept: people use fireworks to commemorate or remember something that motivates them: an old couple remembered their marriage, a group remembered their childhood friendship, two gay lovers remembered their commitment to their goals and each other (not really but yes really).

Naganohara fireworks gives their customers a special recipe written in code that only the family can decipher, so no matter how much time has passed, they can recreate people’s fireworks and reignite that memory.

So a motivation (memory) can be carried by something transient (fireworks) as long as it’s shared (with the recipe).

Another example is Kazuha, who carried his friend’s wish to face the Musou no Hitotachi beyond his death, even reactivating his vision in the process. For more about what this shared wish is, here’s this analysis.

So dreams are what motivates humanity forward, these dreams generate wishes and wishes can be granted a vision.

A vision is then a physical manifestation of a wish, and a wish symbolizes a major dream.

In the analogy of the tree, the dream is the tree, wishes are the tree’s fruits, and a vision is a seed within one of these fruits.

We’d have to wonder then, what does it really mean to be “recognized by the gods” - for one of these fruits to produce a seed?

Ei might have the answer.

The planting of the Sakura tree in her second story quest is pretty much Makoto’s philosophy of eternity in motion:

A dream is a tree that produces fruits and these fruits produce seeds. Makoto gave Ei her seed, the ability to carry her dream forward. But Ei didn’t just plant someone else’s dream, that was her own dream too that she hadn’t fully realized - hence why it’s planted in the past and why it’s Ei who has to plant it, it was always meant to be like this.

The Sakura tree is Ei and Makoto’s shared dream that was able to become an eternal existence in Inazuma thanks to the planting of the seed.

So, if visions are the seed in the analogy, then the ability to produce these seeds might have to do with being able to plant a tree with it - to carry a dream.

I first thought of equating the dream-tree concept to the irminsul - it accumulates memories after all. In this sense, allogenes are the fruit of the tree who can produce a seed with a vision.

In the analogy, the fruit is a wish generated by the dream-tree. We’re told by Yoimiya in her second story quest that wishes are stars - meteor showers.

Allogenes are represented by constellations - so, they’re stars.

Summary:

Tree: a “dream”

Fruit: a wish-star representing an allogene

Seed: a vision that can perpetuate the ”dream”

But what allogenes share is not the irminsul tree, it’s the ability to control an element.

Therefore, I wonder if elements are the dream that is shared.

I wrote long ago about Carl Jung’s collective unconscious theory in the context of genshin and I’m being pushed into looking into that again haha.

If the concept of dream in genshin motivates humanity forward, it’s like shared knowledge innate to every being - a memory hidden deep beneath the conscious mind that people only access when they dream. That is more or less what Jung called the “collective unconscious”.

The women who were desintegrated in Fontaine all became a single being in the form of a oceanid - oceanids are concentrations of pure hydro. So the primordial waters took the victims’ consciousness into a stream of collective unconscious.

I proposed before that elements are the shared dream-tree, that allogens (represented by a star) are the wish-fruit, and that visions are the seed that can perpetuate the dream-tree.

Primordial waters - hydro is like.. the collective unconscious of humanity (the dream-tree) claiming back its fruits, bringing each individual’s conscious back to this hidden sea of wild unconscious. I love that it’s represented by a wild ocean tide, pushing to come out with force.

Humans have forgotten something very important perhaps, buried deep in the unconscious, that now threatens to come out and consume Fontaine people’s individual consciousness. Like repressing a memory that then influences your behavior even though you’re not aware of it, except the repressed memory is now desintegrating the French for some reason.

Sort of, like, “if you won’t acknowledge me, then I’ll eat you up”. Like if they can’t become one in the conscious mind because people can’t remember this repressed memory, then the repressed memory decided they’d become one in the unconscious instead.

The original Chinese word for “allogene” (“genshin”) does mean something like “raw god” or “primordial god”, and Nabu Malikata implied that humans were the true rulers of teyvat.

So I wonder if that’s the hidden memory being repressed, the dream-tree that generates wish-fruits (humans represented by a star) who might have access to this memory by producing a seed (vision): that humans are meant to be gods.

I think the meteorites in an event were also called fruits? That is also in line with the analogy that stars are the wish-fruits of the dream-tree.

Also, Carl Jung thought a conscious individual could access the collective unconscious by drawing a mandala - the sky in most places in teyvat looks indeed like a mandala and we’re told humans are represented by constellations in it. If the primordial sea is the collective unconscious, then the sky mandala with the constellations representing people is the representation of that collective unconscious.

The sky mandala is a reflection of the primordial sea haha.

There’s also a collective conscious - that is, knowledge shared by a society. Maybe the irminsul is the collective conscious (it stores memories and can be manipulated) and the real dream-tree of collective unconscious is hidden somewhere beneath. Maybe khaenri’ah or the abyss.

Maybe the aranara know.. I first looked into Jung’s collective unconscious theory because of them.

They are collective knowledge (that can even turn themselves into trees that give seeds!) created by Rukkhadevata, who is connected to the irminsul tree (humanity’s collective consciousness), but humans forget them when they grow up and their home was destroyed, so they’ve moved into a “dream”.

These are creatures that basically exist in the collective unconscious of humanity, that people knew once but forgot, and can only be interacted with in a dream - just like Jung’s collective unconscious theory.

The collective unconscious is a kind of knowledge humans share by instinct almost, regardless of culture or time. For example, Jung wanted to understand why different myths used a tree to symbolize life, or the sun to symbolize power/authority. Different cultures around the world share the same symbols for their myths and beliefs, and this is what he identified as a form of knowledge rooted deep in the psyche of humanity.

Also uhhh I have not played any side quests, so all I know about Fontaine’s institute lore is what I’ve read other fans say. I know they found some kind of “will” in something that has abyss origins. Throwing a shot in the dark, I’m gonna say that’s the seed produced by a fruit from a dream-tree in the abyss. Perhaps that’s what the whale and other abyss creatures are - wish-fruits that are stars from that hypothetical tree. But I’m bullshitting though, I don’t know that lore.

Anyway. Yeah. The dream is a tree and the stars are its fruits. And some fruits can produce a seed. And that seed can be used to perpetuate the dream.

#Genshin lore #ramblings

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princesssmars · 2 years

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something new pt.II

a monet de haan x reader

the royals of constance billiard have invited you into their ranks, and the princess seems to have a motive.

contains: slighttt angst for kinda shitty parents in the start/middle. mostly fluff and me loving monet. maybe some ooc moments. the writing style changing every section. not really proof read we die like men.

a/n: writing this i realized that the group in ggrb does. not have a name. so corny ass "the royals" it is ! <3 this took me forever but im inspired by gg spotify playlists and pure gay yearning. also what the hell do you call someone with black hair.

if there's one thing you should have expected from becoming friends with the royals of constance billard, it was how quickly they got stuff done.

on your way home from the charity benefit hall, you opened your phone to see that the six enigmas you had met at the party had all followed you and already added you to a group chat. as soon as you open it you already see audrey tagging you and telling you how you're all meeting up tomorrow to go shopping, apparently. lucky you.

once you arrived at your parents townhouse, maybe one of the only things you found bearble at this point was your new home, for its gorgeous interior and exterior and your spacious room, you rushed inside and up to your room so as to avoid whatever bullshit about your behavior they're going to chastise. after cleaning yourself up and getting ready for bed, you laid down and typed ‘sounds like a plan. see u tmmrw.’

putting your phone on your nighstand to charge, you were left to stare at your ceiling and ponder over what happened tonight and asking why. why did these people gravitate to you so quickly? did they just want another rich kid to add to their posse? you knew people just used each other often in your world of the rich and powerful, but god did it seem unappealing.

as much as you hated to admit it, you wanted real friends. hell, maybe even a girlfriend.

as the thought crossed your mind, a certain brown skinned girl with ombre twists crossed your mind, making you jolt up in bed.

“no…no no no dont do that.” you whisper and smack your cheeks, trying to convince yourself that no, you didnt have a crush on probably the most beautiful girl you've ever seen. that was crazy. pure insanity.

it made no sense. you could tell the kind of person she was, the queen bee, (technically the queen bee's second hand, intriguing), the girl everyone wanted or wanted to be and she knew it.

she also seemed a bit mean, which you were normally into.

but you didnt want to get yourself hurt.

not after what happened last time.

and so you fall asleep, thinking of pretty clothes and fake smiles.

youre rudely awakened by your alarm at around eight am, set the night before so you could get ready for the day ahead. you get up from bed, struggling to not check your notifications and messages on your phone before making your way to your on suite bathroom. in there you do your usual morning routine, rinsing off your body in the shower and doing your facial routine at the sink.

once youre finished, you head over to your closet to pick out an outfit when youre phone starts ringing. you see the caller id is max, and you swipe on the green to answer. "hello? you get up ths early too?"

"nah, but i had a feeling you would be. seem like the early bird type." max's voice drawls through the phone, still deep with the effects of sleep. "are you up at the asscrack of dawn because youre excited or because youre used to it?"

you laugh slightly, flipping through your pants and your skirts. "a bit of both, actually. my parents always made me get up really early so i know i have time to do everything. but the sunrise is also pretty."

max's voice laughs through the phone. "thats a good reason, ill admit. personally i like the sunset better."

"then i guess we've come to an empasse..." your voice trails off, finally finding a suitable outfit for looking nice but also being comfy while you walk around. "im about to get dressed, should i call you back?"

"nope put me on speaker, we've got things to talk about before we go shopping today." he states. youre confused, but put the speaker on anyway, giving him the go ahead to start talking.

"alright, youve probably already guessed this because you seem smart, but we all kinddd of want something from you." his bluntness makes you giggle.

"want something? from me? i sure hope its not my money." you joke, smiling as you hear his playful scoff from the phone.

"trust me, we're covered on that front. it was really julien and monets idea to bring you into the group, which congrats for getting in at the speed of light, by the way. i wasnt expecting any new additions considering weve all been mostly best friends for years."

this was monets idea?, you think to yourself as you finally wiggle into your clothing. there was a bit of a connection last night, but you didnt think it was strong enough for someone as seemingly impassive as her to start indoctrinating you into her friend group.

"what do you mean by mostly? you all seemed close from what i saw." you question.

max sighs through the phone, telling you that you might have guessed wrong. "its...a bit complicated. ill explain more of it later. my dads are calling me for breakfast. by the way, do you want me to pick you up later? i dont mind."

"sure, i want to hear all of the group secrets on the way there, though." you joke, laughing harder when he gives a fake laugh through the phone before saying your goodbyes.

after youve gotten dressed and made sure you had everything, you head downstairs to get a quick morning snack before the drive.

after grabbing your quick bite, youre stopped in your tracks by the sight of your mother in the doorway. she's wearing sportswear and her skin is slightly sweaty, meaning she just came back from her morning run. she eyes the food in your hand and you scoff, brushing past her to the front door.

for the next few minutes you stand in front of your home, scrolling through your socials and lightly listening to music until a honk makes you jerk your head up. in front of the sidewalk sits a very nice white car, with a smiling brunette boy looking straight at you.

"hurry up! i dont wanna hear audrey badger me for being late." he yells, making you match his bright smile. you get comfortable in the front seat, already vibing with the song he has playing from his spotify and the sweet smell of his car.

"do you really use a jelly bean air freshener?"

"i needed one that fit my personality."

"ah, i was wondering why i liked you so much."

throughout the drive to the mall, you get closer and laugh more with max, showing each other your favorite songs and laughing at each others lip syncing. after a few minutes, you finally ask him the question thats been on your mind.

"what did you mean earlier when you said you all...mostly got along?"

he stares straight at the road for a few seconds, the corner of his lips quirking up. "do you still talk to the people youve known since you were little? and i mean really little-preschool age."

you think about it beofre shaking you head. because of your parents frequent moving, you didnt make any solid connections. hopefully that would change soon.

"well youre kinda lucky. it sounds great when youre young to be best friends forever but in high school people...change. it starts slowly at first but it gets more noticable. i mean, when we were kids aki was like the mediator of the group, but now hes more impassive. audrey was the mother hen but now shes more overbearing, the list goes on." he rants, his voice sounding more melancholic as he goes on. "dont get me wrong, i love my friends but...everythings changing."

you nod along as he talks about his worries, giving him someone to vent to and taking in all of the information hes telling you.

max parks and you both make your way to the entrance, and he laughs at the look on your face when he says next time you should use the subway.

once inside, the rest of your new group of "friends" come up to you both.

"yn! i hope you made it here alright, hopefully max didnt talk your ear off on the way here." aki says, standing in front of you hand in hand with audrey, who smiles at you.

"youre just soo funny, menzies. you really should pursue a career in comedy." max jokes dryly, punching his friend in the arm playfully. as they start a playful arument, audrey takes your hand and pulls you over to where her and julien were standing.

"its so nice to see you again, yn," julien greets you and takes your arm in hers, audrey taking the one on your other side, "todays gonna be so fun, i promise. monet and luna are over in gucci, but i was thinking of heading over to saks..."

"why dont we meet them in gucci? then we can all shop together..." you suggest, your voice trailing off when you catch the look max is giving you in the corner of your eye.

julien smiles, tugging you along.

you get to the store, eyeing the collection of clothing, purses, and shoes. after a few seconds of looking around, your eyes connect with monets from across the store.

luna is next to her, the noirette talking lowly while shes observing a heel in her hand. but monets eyes stay on you, humming along to whatever shes saying-

"i think this would look pretty on you, yn," audreys soft voice yanks you out of your trance, holding up a cropped coat up to your chest, observing it from all angles.

"yeah, you're right. but its still august, isnt it a little too soon for a coat?"

"it'll get cold quick." monets voice pops up from the other side of audrey, startling you a bit. "didnt you live in maine previously? i wouldve thought all they had was lobsters and snow."

"i traveled with my parents in the winter months often, so i didnt feel the cold. but there were some perks of living there. a lot less...trash."

monets eyes widen and audrey barely stifles a laugh at your comment, the former slightly glaring at the two of you. audrey composes herself quickly.

"monet is right, once it hits late september the temperature starts dropping quick. youre buying it." audrey thrusts the piece of clothing in your hand, starting to look for more in the expensive collection.

monet still stands in front of you, smiling at you with an emotion in her eyes you cant quite place. but if you had to guess, it was nothing good for you.

"what do you want from me?" your bluntness shocks her out of her stupor, the girl crossing her hands on her chest.

"why do you think i want something from you?"

"lets not act coy. i just got here and your merry little band is trying to make me feel as if ive been here for years, and i know you have something to do with it."

she continues to smile at you, tapping her manicured finger on her arm. "and just why would i do something like that? i dont even know you."

alright, this was just pissing you off. "look, im not gonna turn into one of your little pawns. so whatever dumb ass game you're playing, leave me out of it."

"oh, yn," she sighs, bringing her hand up smooth her soft hand down your face, "you're already on the board. and trust me, when the time comes for choosing, youll wanna be on our side. now, lets go shopping, hm?"

you open your mouth to rebuttal but she shuts you up with a wave of her hand, moving directly to your left to loop your arms together and continue walking through the store.

despite some hesitance brought on by your inherent suspicion and monets ominous words, you will admit you had some fun with the group at the mall and going around to see the sights of new york.

but maxs comment from the car rung in your head often, and you noticed how they all had little groups within them. monet and luna mostly stayed to themselves if they weren't getting julien picture perfect for a picture. said julien really only seemed to connect with audrey, talking to obie but his face looked...conflicted?

during your observation your eyes yet again catch on monets, who just gives you a little smile and a wave.

you had a feeling this wouldnt end well for you.

eventually the sun starts to set and conversations start to dull, with julien suggesting you all come to her place and chill and to record some stuff for her instagram. julien calls her drivers to pick you up, but because of the uneven number, someone is going to have to sit by themselv-

"join me in the second car. i wanna talk." monet whispers from behind you, causing a shiver to go down your spine at the sudden nature of it and her closeness. intrigued you oblige, crawling into the back of the suv behind her and settling in.

its quiet for a handful of seconds, only the faint noise of the city and the moving car surrounding you.

"what do your parents do?"

the question throws you off. you would have thought she had done extensive digging on your history.

"theyre in the investing business. they just look to colleges with the most promising alumni and fund their programs. guess they also invest in start up businesses. but frankly i dont care and want nothing to do with it, and im confused at why you're asking me this."

she sighs, as if debating if she wants to speak - or really if she doesnt. she closes her eyes and rubs one of her temples with her fingers before pushing what she wants to say out.

"im asking because i want you on my side. everyone treats me like im just one of juliens dumb followers and that what i do is a joke but its not. i want to actually do something and make a business for myself, thats why i push her so hard. i dont want to join my familys company and i can tell you dont either."

you nod along to her words, not going to ignore her opening up to you. "buttt what do you need me on your side for? are you going to start some kind of war or..."

"i love julien, i really do. we've known each other since before we started teething. but shes changing and becoming this...sentimental wannabe good girl and i know eventually shes gonna leave me and my management in the dust. when it happens i need something to fall back on."

"so what, you do all of this shit for me just to be your back up plan?"

"i did it because i need to trust you. and i need you to trust me." she states, looking you dead in the eyes. you can see the sincerity in her eyes, and you hope its real because if not she was a really good liar. "besides, i know alll about what happened at your last school. you may try to act like some impassive above it, all cool girl attitude, but i know we're a lot more alike than you think."

your heart stops the same time the car does. the sincerity is still there, but nows its sinister. manipulative. and if you were being honest, kinda hot.

"think about what i said. and dont mention this to the others, ok?" monet composes herself, getting out from over you when the door is opened and youre still frozen in place.

you're snapped back into reality when she grabs your hand and helps you out, pressing her shoulder to yours as you walk into the lobby of juliens building. you dont know whether to be scared or excited when she whispers in your ear again.

"it can be our first little secret."

this. took me forever. and kicked my ass. but season two is here so i rushed. id appreciate any feedback bc ik the plot right now feels messy but hope yall enjoyed anyway <333

#gossip girl reboot x reader #gossip girl x reader #gossip girl #gossip girl reboot #gossip girl revival #monet de haan x reader #monet de haan #luna la #max wolfe #audrey hope #julien calloway #obie bergmann #aki menzies #zoya lott

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darkryt · 7 months

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Hopes and Fears for Arcane Season 2

So we're getting teasers for the best show adapted from a MOBA that you can watch on Netflix getting its second season and a release date of November 24. Just today we got a little teaser clip so here's my hopes and dreams and fears for Arcane Season 2.

HOPES

Vander being Warwick. Caitlyn and Vi relationship A logical progression for how Vi turns from where she was at the start of Arcane into how she is in League in a way that's missing from her compared to most of the other characters. You can watch Arcane and imagine how Jinx in Arcane changes into Jinx in League of Legends, or how Caitlyn does or Viktor does - you might have to make some inference and assumptions, but the arc is trackable in way that is just … not with Vi. How does someone hurt by Piltover's systems so much became a person who works for those systems? Someone who fights because she has to into someone who revels in violence and power? From a loving sister whose every motivation is reuniting with her sister to an Enforcer who just beats people up? The flashback they've mentioned in interviews of Ekko trying to rescue Powder from Silco because that seems like a formative experience for how their relationship is in the modern day. My girls Renata Glasc and Seraphine, even if it justs cameos. OPTIONAL: Vi and Jinx teaming up to fight or subdue Warwick and this allowing them to heal their trauma by proxy (but propbably too optimistic for this series). Exploration of Vi and Caitlyn's relationship. Ideally with kissing and or even sex. Just something that makes it unambigously clear they are gay in a way that bigots can't point to and say "It's ambigious!!!!" More story with Sevika. I saw a theory floated online that Sevika was concieved of as way to give Vi a big fight at the end without her fighting Jinx because the writers decided their relationship wasn't quite at the point where she and Jinx would have this all-out, dragout, knock-down brawl, and I'd be really sad if they spent as much time allowing Sevika to exist and to serve as a rival to Vi only for them to dump her in a closet or kill her off cheaply as the story zeros in on how Vi and Jinx become mortal enemies. Jinx hallucinating Silco the way she does Mylo and Claggor.

FEARS

Timebomb or Ekko becoming Jinx's boyfriend, and espcially not any sort of arc where Ekko's love redeems or reforms Jinx in any way Orianna being Singed's daughter. At first I liked this idea by after a blog-post by Orianna super-fan (here) I'm off it. Jinx getting a boyfriend at all, really. Her story has enough drama without a shoe-horned romance plot! Caitlyn and Vi being queer-baited and doing lots of yearning looks that look good in an AMV but not actually progressing their relationship in any meaningful way. Vi getting amnesia. In at least some versions of League story (and League of Legends has a … let's say loose relationship with things like canon and continuity), Vi's League story involves her losing her memories before mysteriously re-appearing as a Piltover Enforcer. This is an example of a broader trend of League of Legends' approach to storytelling that makes a lot of things ambigious or mysterious (cough, so they can make it up later or change their minds). But Vi losing her memories in Arcane would be such a lazy cheap way to effectively give her an identity death in order to force her to fit into the contour of League Vi without doing any of the character building or dramatic work to explore or explain how someone goes from poor orphan to collared criminal to an Enforcer and I just really hope they don't do it! Skye taunting Viktor in the form of hallucinations that egg him on towards his eventually fall and turn to robotic villainy. Not that it wouldn't be in-keeping with the series as it stands (both Vi and Jinx see people who aren't there), but Skye being oblierated was such an obvious fridging-manpain moment that I don't want to be reminded about it, and I've never really watched the reboot of Battlestar Galactica until it was doing re-runs on streaming but there's a character in there whose whole thing is being a hot sexy succubus projected into someone's mind (and remember that's a sci-fi story) and it was so stupid and tropey that I just don't want to see anything similiar. This may not be Arcane's fault but man. I don't want them to go there! Likewise on the note of Sevika, I don't want to see her just unceremoniously killed off in the first three episodes just to make room for the Jinx/Vi rivalry. Some sort of redemption for Jinx that involves her dying or sacrificing herself. It's 2023! 2024 when this comes out! Support women's wrongs! If you ARE going to let her have a redemption, don't take the coward's way out!

AMBIVALENT Viktor completing his transformation from sickly man seeking cure for his ilnness to a robotic terrorist who thinks everybody should become a robot. Shimmer being linked to the Void. This is a theory I've see floated around due to some visuals in the scene where Viktor introduces Shimmer to the Hexcore. I don't really care if this pans out or not. Some people might want to Whether Cassandra dies. It'd be strange for her to die but Jayce and Viktor to survive (and you know those two will because they are Named Characters) but for Cassandra to die in the same room. It'd provive angst and tension between Caitlyn, Jinx and Vi, sure, but Caitlyn already has reason enough to want to arrest Jinx even if her own mother doesn't die directly from the missile. Whether Camille shows up. Given the focus on conflict between Piltover and Zaun, it's a logical step to have the walking embodiment of Piltover's oppression show up, but I don't feel like she needs to be present.

#arcane fandom #arcane #vi league of legends #league of legends #speculation

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jimtitkirk · 10 months

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Hullo! Trying to revive the tried and true tradition of asks!! Do you have a favorite episode or favorite few? (Bonus: please elaborate as much or as little about why you like it depending on your energy levels of course❤️)

Hope you’re having a lovely day!

hihihiii!!!! thank you so much for sending this, and i hope ur ALSO having a fantastic day <333 ohhhh my god it's been a while and im way overdue for a rewatch, but here's what i remember:

for plot reasons, "space seed" is definitely a favorite and my most rewatched!! i'm a sucker for analysis, and ricardo montalban, mexican king, and not only is it an INCREDIBLE setup for TWOK, but i could probably write an essay post on how good of a villain khan is as a foil to kirk. to summarize, it's fascinating seeing two characters (protag-antag) that are genuinely well-matched in terms of wit and motive.

for gay (spirk) reasons, "the city on the edge of forever" always makes me go insane. the aesthetic, the LINES that are dropped ("[as if you have been and always will be by his side]" or however it goes), and... just... the angsty and melancholic YEARNING that radiates from spock, watching him try to support kirk as a friend, but internally being torn apart because he'd rather martyr himself for kirk's happiness and good the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one than consider his own needs...

i also just wanna put out there that "for the world is hollow and i have touched the sky" as a title, poetically, has made me go apeshit bonkers even before i watched it. like. what the fuck.

#i know there are other eps i love for other reasons. like the empath. or there's another one i think that i love for spock's #characterization/growth. but tbh i just need to do a rewatch soon so i can Properly align them in my head #i think another part of it is bc i'm someone who fixates so much on soundtrack and plot etc. i Tend to rewatch the movies as opposed to eps #i guess amok time is up there too LMAO. that one's like. a given tho #i SO very much appreciate you doing your part in reviving traditional ask culture #i've just been absolutely bowled over by work ive been coming home and basically passing out lol #ask #opinionatedoctopus

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dionysiandevotee · 4 months

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QUEERS READ THIS

A leaflet distributed at pride march in NY Published anonymously by Queers

June, 1990

How can I tell you. How can I convince you, brother, sister that your life is in danger: That everyday you wake up alive, relatively happy, and a functioning human being, you are committing a rebellious act. You as an alive and functioning queer are a revolutionary. There is nothing on this planet that validates, protects or encourages your existence. It is a miracle you are standing here reading these words. You should by all rights be dead. Don't be fooled, straight people own the world and the only reason you have been spared is you're smart, lucky or a fighter. Straight people have a privilege that allows them to do whatever they please and fuck without fear. But not only do they live a life free of fear; they flaunt their freedom in my face. Their images are on my TV, in the magazine I bought, in the restaurant I want to eat in, and on the street where I live. I want there to be a moratorium on straight marriage, on babies, on public displays of affection among the opposite sex and media images that promote heterosexuality. Until I can enjoy the same freedom of movement and sexuality, as straights, their privilege must stop and it must be given over to me and my queer sisters and brothers. Straight people will not do this voluntarily and so they must be forced into it. Straights must be frightened into it. Terrorized into it. Fear is the most powerful motivation. No one will give us what we deserve. Rights are not given they are taken, by force if necessary. It is easier to fight when you know who your enemy is. Straight people are your enemy. They are your enemy when they don't acknowledge your invisibility and continue to live in and contribute to a culture that kills you. Every day one of us is taken by the enemy. Whether it's an AIDS death due to homophobic government inaction or a lesbian bashing in an all-night diner (in a supposedly lesbian neighborhood).

AN ARMY OF LOVERS CANNOT LOSE

Being queer is not about a right to privacy; it is about the freedom to be public, to just be who we are. It means everyday fighting oppression; homophobia, racism, misogyny, the bigotry of religious hypocrites and our own self-hatred. (We have been carefully taught to hate ourselves.) And now of course it means fighting a virus as well, and all those homo-haters who are using AIDS to wipe us off the face of the earth. Being queer means leading a different sort of 2 life. It's not about the mainstream, profit-margins, patriotism, patriarchy or being assimilated. It's not about executive directors, privilege and elitism. It's about being on the margins, defining ourselves; it's about gender- fuck and secrets, what's beneath the belt and deep inside the heart; it's about the night. Being queer is "grass roots" because we know that everyone of us, every body, every cunt, every heart and ass and dick is a world of pleasure waiting to be explored. Everyone of us is a world of infinite possibility. We are an army because we have to be. We are an army because we are so powerful. (We have so much to fight for; we are the most precious of endangered species.) And we are an army of lovers because it is we who know what love is. Desire and lust, too. We invented them. We come out of the closet, face the rejection of society, face firing squads, just to love each other! Every time we fuck, we win. We must fight for ourselves (no one else is going to do it) and if in that process we bring greater freedom to the world at large then great. (We've given so much to that world: democracy, all the arts, the concepts of love, philosophy and the soul, to name just a few gifts from our ancient Greek Dykes, Fags.) Let's make every space a Lesbian and Gay space. Every street a part of our sexual geography. A city of yearning and then total satisfaction. A city and a country where we can be safe and free and more. We must look at our lives and see what's best in them, see what is queer and what is straight and let that straight chaff fall away! Remember there is so, so little time. And I want to be a lover of each and every one of you. Next year, we march naked.

ANGER

"The strong sisters told the brothers that there were two important things to remember about the coming revolutions, the first is that we will get our asses kicked. The second, is that we will win." I'm angry. I'm angry for being condemned to death by strangers saying, "You deserve to die" and "AIDS is the cure." Fury erupts when a Republican woman wearing thousands of dollars of garments and jewelry minces by the police lines shaking her head, chuckling and wagging her finger at us like we are recalcitrant children making absurd demands and throwing temper tantrum when they aren't met. Angry while Joseph agonizes over $8,000 a over for AZT which might keep him alive a little longer and which makes him sicker than the disease he is diagnosed with. Angry as I listen to a man tell me that after changing his will five times he's running out of people to leave things to. All of his best friends are dead. Angry when stand in a sea of quilt panels, or go to a candlelight march or attend yet another memorial service. I will not march silently with a fucking candle and I want to take that goddamned quilt and wrap myself in it and furiously rend it and my hair and curse every god 3 religion ever created. I refuse to accept a creation that cuts people down in the third decade of their life. It is cruel and vile and meaningless and everything I have in me rails against the absurdity and I raise my face to the clouds and a ragged laugh that sounds more demonic than joyous erupts from my throat and tears stream down my face and if this disease doesn't kill me, I may just die of frustration. My feet pound the streets and Peter's hands are chained to a pharmaceutical company's reception desk while the receptionist looks on in horror and Eric's body lies rotting in a Brooklyn cemetery and I'll never hear his flute resounding off the walls of the meeting house again. And I see the old people in Tompkins Square Park huddled in their long wool coats in June to keep out the cold they perceive is there and to cling to whatever little life has left to offer them. I'm reminded of the people who strip and stand before a mirror each night before they go to bed and search their bodies for any mark that might not have been there yesterday. A mark that this scourge has visited them. And I'm angry when the newspapers call us "victims" and sound alarms that "it" might soon spread to the "general population." And I want to scream "Who the fuck am I?" And I want to scream at New York Hospital with its yellow plastic bags marked "isolation linen", "ropa infecciosa" and its orderlies in latex gloves and surgical masks skirting the bed as if its occupant will suddenly leap out and douse them with blood and semen giving them too the plague. And I'm angry at straight people who sit smugly wrapped in their self-protective coat of monogamy and heterosexuality confident that this disease has nothing to do with them because "it" only happens to "them." And the teenage boys who upon spotting my Silence=Death button begin chanting "Faggot's gonna die" and I wonder, who taught them this? Enveloped in fury and fear, I remain silent while my button mocks me every step of the way. And the anger I fell when a television program on the quilt gives profiles of the dead and the list begins with a baby, a teenage girl who got a blood transfusion, an elderly baptist minister and his wife and when they finally show a gay man, he's described as someone who knowingly infected teenage male prostitutes with the virus. What else can you expect from a faggot? I'm angry.

QUEER ARTISTS

Since time began, the world has been inspired by the work of queer artists. In exchange, there has been suffering, there has been pain, there has been violence. Throughout history, society has struck a bargain with its queer citizens: they may pursue creative careers, if they do it discreetly. Through the arts queers are productive, lucrative, entertaining and even uplifting. These are the clear-cut and useful by-products of what is otherwise considered antisocial behavior. In cultured circles, queers 4 may quietly coexist with an otherwise disapproving power elite. At the forefront of the most recent campaign to bash queer artists is Jesse Helms, arbiter of all that is decent, moral, christian and amerikan. For Helms, queer art is quite simply a threat to the world. In his imaginings, heterosexual culture is too fragile to bear up to the admission of human or sexual diversity. Quite simply, the structure of power in the Judeo-Christian world has made procreation its cornerstone. Families having children assures consumers for the nation's products and a work force to produce them, as well as a built-in family system to care for its ill, reducing the expense of public healthcare systems. ALL NON-PROCREATIVE BEHAVIOR IS CONSIDERED A THREAT, from homosexuality to birth control to abortion as an option. It is not enough, according to the religious right, to consistently advertise procreation and heterosexuality ... it is also necessary to destroy any alternatives. It is not art Helms is after .... IT IS OUR LIVES! Art is the last safe place for lesbians and gay men to thrive. Helms knows this, and has developed a program to purge queers from the one arena they have been permitted to contribute to our shared culture. Helms is advocating a world free from diversity or dissent. It is easy to imagine why that might feel more comfortable to those in charge of such a world. It is also easy to envision an amerikan landscape flattened by such power. Helms should just ask for what he is hinting at: State sponsored art, art of totalitarianism, art that speaks only in christian terms, art which supports the goals of those in power, art that matches the sofas in the Oval Office. Ask for what you want, Jesse, so that men and women of conscience can mobilize against it, as we do against the human rights violations of other countries, and fight to free our own country's dissidents.

IF YOU'RE QUEER,

Queers are under siege. Queers are being attacked on all fronts and I'm afraid it's ok with us. In 1969, there were 50 "Queer Bashings" in the month of May alone. Violent attacks, 3,720 men, women and children died of AIDS in the same month, caused by a more violent attack --- government inaction, rooted in society's growing homophobia. This is institutionalized violence, perhaps more dangerous to the existence of queers because the attackers are faceless. We allow these attacks by our own continued lack of action against them. AIDS has affected the straight world and now they're blaming us for AIDS and using it as a way to justify their violence against us. They don't want us anymore. They will beat us, rape us and kill us before they will continue to live with us. What 5 will it take for this not to be ok? Feel some rage. If rage doesn't empower you, try fear. If that doesn't work, try panic.

SHOUT IT!

Be proud. Do whatever you need to do to tear yourself away from your customary state of acceptance. Be free. Shout. In 1969, Queers fought back. In 1990, Queers say ok. Next year, will we be here?

I HATE ...

I hate Jesse Helms. I hate Jesse Helms so much I'd rejoice if he dropped down dead. If someone killed him I'd consider it his own fault. I hate Ronald Reagan, too, because he mass-murdered my people for eight years. But to be honest, I hate him even more for eulogizing Ryan White without first admitting his guilt, without begging forgiveness for Ryan's death and for the deaths of tens of thousands of other PWA's --- most of them queer. I hate him for making a mockery of our grief. I hate the fucking Pope, and I hate John fucking Cardinal fucking O'Connor, and I hate the whole fucking Catholic Church. The same goes for the Military, and especially for Amerika's Law Enforcement Officials --- the cops --- state sanctioned sadists who brutalize street transvestites, prostitutes and queer prisoners. I also hate the medical and mental health establishments, particularly the psychiatrist who conviced me not to have sex with men for three years until we (meaning he) could make me bisexual rather than queer. I also hate the education profession, for its share in driving thousands of queer teens to suicide every year. I hate the "respectable" art world; and the entertainment industry, and the mainstream media, especially The New York Times. In fact, I hate every sector of the straight establishment in this country --- the worst of whom actively want all queers dead, the best of whom never stick their necks out to keep us alive. I hate straight people who think they have anything intelligent to say about "outing." I hate straight people who think stories about themselves are "universal" but stories about us are only about homosexuality. I hate straight recording artists who make their careers off of queer people, then attack us, then act hurt when we get angry and then deny having wronged us rather than apologize for it. I hate straight people who say, "I don't see why you feel the need to wear those buttons and t-shirts. I don't go around telling the whole world I'm straight." I hate that in twelve years of public education I was never taught about queer people. I hate that I grew up thinking I was the only queer in the world, and I hate even more that most queer kids still grow up the same way. I 6 hate that I was tormented by other kids for being a faggot, but more that I was taught to feel ashamed for being the object of their cruelty, taught to feel it was my fault. I hate that the Supreme Court of this country says it's okay to criminalize me because of how I make love. I hate that so many straight people are so concerned about my goddamned sex life. I hate that so many twisted straight people become parents, while I have to fight like hell to be allowed to be a father. I hate straights.

WHERE ARE YOU SISTERS?

I wear my pink triangle everywhere. I do not lower my voice in public when talking about lesbian love or sex. I always tell people I'm a lesbian. I don't wait to be asked about my "boyfriend." I don't say it's "no one's business." I don't do this for straight people. Most of them don't know what the pink triangle even means. Most of them couldn't care less that my girlfriend and I are totally in love or having a fight on the street. Most of them don't notice us no matter what we do. I do what I do to reach other lesbians. I do what I do because I don't want lesbians to assume I'm a straight girl. I am out all the time, everywhere, because I WANT TO REACH YOU. Maybe you'll notice me, maybe we'll start talking, maybe we'll exchange numbers, maybe we'll become friends. Maybe we won't say a word but our eyes will meet and I will imagine you naked, sweating, openmouthed, your back arched as I am fucking you. And we'll be happy to know we aren't the only ones in the world. We'll be happy because we found each other, without saying a word, maybe just for a moment. But no. You won't wear a pink triangle on that linen lapel. You won't meet my eyes if I flirt with you on the street. You avoid me on the job because I'm "too" out. You chastise me in bars because I'm "too political." You ignore me in public because I bring "too much" attention to "my" lesbianism. But then you want me to be your lover, you want me to be your friend, you want me to love you, support, you, fight for "OUR" right to exist.

WHERE ARE YOU?

You talk, talk, talk about invisibility and then retreat to your homes to nest with your lovers or carouse in a bar with pals and stumble home in a cab or sit silently and politely by while your family, your boss, your neighbors, your public servants distort and disfigure us, deride us and punish us. Then home again and you feel like screaming. Then you pad your anger with a relationship or a career or a party with other dykes like you and still you wonder why we can't find each other, why you feel lonely, angry, alienated.

GET UP, WAKE UP SISTERS!!

7 Your life is in your hands. When I risk it all to be out, I risk it for both of us. When I risk it all and it works (which it often does if you would try it), I benefit and so do you. When it doesn't work, I suffer and you do not. But girl you can't wait for other dykes to make the world safe for you. STOP waiting for a better more lesbian future! The revolution could be here if we started it. Where are you sisters? I'm trying to find you, I'm trying to find you. How come I only see you on Gay Pride Day? We're OUT, Where the fuck are YOU? 8

WHEN ANYONE ASSAULTS YOU FOR BEING QUEER, IT IS QUEER BASHING. RIGHT?

A crowd of 50 people exit a gay bar as it closes. Across the street, some straight boys are shouting "Faggots" and throwing beer bottles at the gathering, which outnumbers them by 10 to 1. Three queers make a move to respond, getting no support from the group. Why did a group this size allow themselves to be sitting ducks? Tompkins Square Park, Labor Day. At an annual outdoor concert/drag show, a group of gay men were harassed by teens carrying sticks. In the midst of thousands of gay men and lesbians, these straight boys beat two gay men to the ground, then stood around triumphantly laughing amongst themselves. The emcee was alerted and warned the crowd from the stage, "You girls be careful. When you dress up it drives the boys crazy," as if it were a practical joke inspired by what the victims were wearing rather than a pointed attack on anyone and everyone at that event. What would it have taken for that crowd to stand up to its attackers? After James Zappalorti, an openly gay man, was murdered in cold blood on Staten Island this winter, a single demonstration was held in protest. Only one hundred people came. When Yuseuf Hawkins, a black youth, was shot to death for being on "white turf" in Bensonhurst, African Americans marched through that neighborhood in large numbers again and again. A black person was killed BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK, and people of color throughout the city recognized it and acted on it. The bullet that hit Hawkins was meant for a black man, ANY black man. Do most gays and lesbians think that the knife that punctured Zappalorti's heart was meant only for him? The straight world has us so convinced that we are helpless and deserving victims of the violence against us, that queers are immobilized when faced with a threat. BE OUTRAGED! These attacks must not be tolerated. DO SOMETHING. Recognize that any act of aggression against any member of our community is an attack on every member of the community. The more we allow homophobes to inflict violence, terror and fear on our lives, the more frequently and ferociously we will be the object of their hatred. Your immeasurably valuable, because unless you start believing that, it can easily be taken from you. If you know how to gently and efficiently immobilize your attacker, then by all means, do it. If you lack those skills, then think about gouging out his fucking eyes, slamming his nose back into his brain, slashing his throat with a broken bottle --- do whatever you can, whatever you have to, to save your life! 9

reeuQ yhW

Queer!

Ah, do we really have to use that word? It's trouble. Every gay person has his or her own take on it. For some it means strange and eccentric and kind of mysterious. That's okay, we like that. But some gay girls and boys don't. They think they're more normal than strange. And for others "queer" conjures up those awful memories of adolescent suffering. Queer. It's forcibly bittersweet and quaint at best --- weakening and painful at worst. Couldn't we just use "gay" instead? It's a much brighter word and isn't it synonymous with "happy?" When will you militants grow up and get over the novelty of being different?

WHY QUEER

Well, yes, "gay " is great. It has its place. But when a lot of lesbians and gay men wake up in the morning we feel angry and disgusted, not gay. So we've chosen to call ourselves queer. Using "queer" is a way of reminding us how we are perceived by the rest of the world. It's a way of telling ourselves we don't have to be witty and charming people who keep our lives discreet and marginalized in the straight world. We use queer as gay men loving lesbians and lesbians loving being queer. Queer, unlike GAY, doesn't mean MALE. And when spoken to other gays and lesbians it's a way of suggesting we close ranks, and forget (temporarily) our individual differences because we face a more insidious common enemy. Yeah, QUEER can be a rough word but it is also a sly and ironic weapon we can steal from the homophobe's hands and use against him.

NO SEX POLICE

For anyone to say that coming out is not part of the revolution is missing the point. Positive sexual images and what they manifest saves lives because they affirm those lives and make it possible for people to attempt to live as self-loving instead of self-loathing. As the famous "Black is beautiful" slogan changed many lives, so does "Read my lips" affirm queerness in the face of hatred and invisibility as displayed in a recent governmental study of suicides that states at least one third of all teen suicides are Queer kids. This is further exemplified by the rise in HIV transmission among those under 21. We are most hated as queers for our sexualness, that is, our physical contact with the same sex. Our sexuality and sexual expression are what makes us most susceptible to physical violence. Our difference, our otherness, our uniqueness can either paralyze us or politicize us. Hopefully, the majority of us will not let it kill us. 10

QUEER SPACE

Why in the world do we let heteros into queer clubs? Who gives a fuck if they like us because we "really know how to party?" WE HAVE TO IN ORDER TO BLOW OFF THE STEAM THEY MAKE US FEEL ALL THE TIME! They make out wherever they please, and take up too much room on the dance floor doing ostentatious couples dances. They wear their heterosexuality like a "Keep Out" sign, or like a deed of ownership. Why the fuck do we tolerate them when they invade our space like it's their right? Why do we let them shove heterosexuality --- a weapon their world wields against us - -- right in our faces in the few public spots where we can be sexy with each other and not fear attack? It's time to stop letting the straight people make all the rules. Let's start by posting this sign outside every queer club and bar:

RULES OF CONDUCT FOR STRAIGHT PEOPLE

1. Keep your display of affection (kissing, handholding, embracing) to a minimum. Your sexuality is unwanted and offensive to many here. 2. If you must slow dance, be as inconspicuous as possible. 3. Do not gawk or stare at lesbians or gay men, especially bull dykes or drag queens. We are not your entertainment. 4. If you cannot comfortably deal with someone of the same sex making a pass at you, get out. 5. Do not flaunt your heterosexuality. Be Discreet. Risk being mistaken for a lezzie or a homo. 6. If you feel these rules are unfair, go fight homophobia in straight clubs, or: 7. Go Fuck Yourself.

I HATE STRAIGHTS

I have friends. Some of them are straight. Year after year, I see my straight friends. I want to see them, to see how they are doing, to add newness to our long and complicated histories, to experience some continuity. Year after year I continue to realize that the facts of my life are irrelevant to them and that I am only half listened to, that I am an appendage to the doings of a greater world, a world of power and privilege, of the laws of installation, a world of exclusion. "That's not true," argue my straight friends. There is the one certainty in the politics of power: those left out of it beg for inclusion, while the insiders claim that they already are. Men do it to women, whites do it to blacks, and everyone does it to queers. The main dividing line, both conscious and unconscious, is procreation ... and that magic word --- Family. Frequently, the ones we are born into disown us when they find out who we really are, and to make matters worse, we are prevented from having our own. We are punished, insulted, cut off, and treated like seditionaries 11 in terms of child rearing, both damned if we try and damned if we abstain. It's as if the propagation of the species is such a fragile directive that without enforcing it as if it were an agenda, humankind would melt back into the primeval ooze. I hate having to convice straight people that lesbians and gays live in a war zone, that we're surrounded by bomb blasts only we seem to hear, that our bodies and souls are heaped high, dead from fright or bashed or raped, dying of grief or disease, stripped of our personhood. I hate straight people who can't listen to queer anger without saying "hey, all straight people aren't like that. I'm straight too, you know," as if their egos don't get enough stroking or protection in this arrogant, heterosexist world. Why must we take care of them, in the midst of our just anger brought on by their fucked up society?! Why add the reassurance of "Of course, I don't mean you. You don't act that way." Let them figure out for themselves whether they deserve to be included in our anger. But of course that would mean listening to our anger, which they almost never do. They deflect it, by saying "I'm not like that" or "Now look who's generalizing" or "You'll catch more flies with honey ... " or "If you focus on the negative you just give out more power" or "you're not the only one in the world who's suffering." They say "Don't yell at me, I'm on your side" or "I think you're overreacting" or "BOY, YOU'RE BITTER." They've taught us that good queers don't get mad. They've taught us so well that we not only hide our anger from them, we hide it from each other.

WE EVEN HIDE IT FROM OURSELVES.

We hide it with substance abuse and suicide and overarhcieving in the hope of proving our worth. They bash us and stab us and shoot us and bomb us in ever increasing numbers and still we freak out when angry queers carry banners or signs that say BASH BACK. For the last decade they let us die in droves and still we thank President Bush for planting a fucking tree, applaud him for likening PWAs to car accident victims who refuse to wear seatbelts. LET YOURSELF BE ANGRY. Let yourself be angry that the price of our visibility is the constant threat of violence, anti- queer violence to which practically every segment of this society contributes. Let yourself feel angry that THERE IS NO PLACE IN THIS COUNTRY WHERE WE ARE SAFE, no place where we are not targeted for hatred and attack, the self-hatred, the suicide --- of the closet. The next time some straight person comes down on you for being angry, tell them that until things change, you don't need any more evidence that the world turns at your expense. You don't need to see only hetero couple grocery shopping on your TV ... You don't want any more baby pictures shoved in your face until you can have or keep your own. No more weddings, showers, anniversaries, please, unless they are our own brothers and sisters celebrating. And tell them not to dismiss you by saying "You have rights," "You have privileges," "You're 12 overreacting," or "You have a victim's mentality." Tell them "GO AWAY FROM ME, until YOU can change." Go away and try on a world without the brave, strong queers that are its backbone, that are its guts and brains and souls. Go tell them go away until they have spent a month walking hand in hand in public with someone of the same sex. After they survive that, then you'll hear what they have to say about queer anger. Otherwise, tell them to shut up and listen.

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jazzypizzaz · 10 months

Text

Red White and Royal Blue

*deep sigh* read the book twice in a row, watched the movie twice, want to complain about them but also can't stop reading the fanfic even though only I've only read a couple that capture what I want but anyway might as well lean in so... fine. here's some rambling thoughts under the cut

what I liked better about the movie:

tighter narrative (book went on way longer than it needed to)

smoothed over or cut out all the parts I found most cringey/over-indulgent... especially pop culture & real life political references

the public image/role of Alex made way more sense - like yes he's worried his relationship "scandal" (& that word wasn't used in the movie! thank you!) impacts his mom's campaign/image, but it's not built up as a huge deal that he's bisexual. yes the media still gets carried away with the dumbest shit, but the First Son isn't treated on the same level of importance as like actual political figures

cutting Rafael Luna. ok I love the character!!! & his relationship with Alex but c'mon the idea he'd infiltrate Richard's office was so so dumb. no serious, intelligent politician would think that would be effective let alone go through with it

Alex & the Texas strategy was a more direct way to show his ambition and passion, it felt like a more authentic expression than his role in the book

the shifts in their relationship felt more organic. I didn't buy Alex still felt they were rivals in the book as long as he did, or that he ever thought they were keeping it casual. I liked the shift from physical to romantic in the movie, as fast as it was in the book it sometimes felt jarring to me

tbh the way identity was treated in general - always impacting the characters & their motivations, but not expressed in hamfisted statements or OTT angst or *as* tokenistic as the book could be. I feel like this especially with Alex as biracial but admittedly not my place

kept a fantasy romantic tone throughout without the jarring relationship to real world politics

the way the turkey scene didn't 100% crib from the West Wing episode lmao

Zahara and Amy and Ellen were incredible side characters. absolutely perfect, no notes.

what I liked better about the book

Alex was a lot rougher around the edges - overworking & pushing to prove himself, being "too much" with talkativeness and messy big emotions, bright as a fire burning too hot too hard too fast... he's able to be fully himself with Henry in a way that he holds back or scares off other people!! it's important for their relationship dynamic!

in the movie he was kind of a lovable friendly jock type with some insecurity, but not the same level of unbridled need to prove he's good enough (he's a Blaine archetype in some key ways imo ok, that's dear to me)

in part because he had a more complicated relationship with his parents in the book, being a child of divorce, living with his mom who is understandably more career focused as Pres than paying attention to her (adult) children, and his dad living across the country also busy with his own political stuff...

I can only picture Oscar as Jimmy Smits which is entirely because of West Wing. movie Oscar was fine this is purely a personal problem

no loose ends with the emails leak??? felt like there could have been more resolution/explanation of that in the movie!!

THE LETTERS!!! THE INTENSITY THE ROMANCE THE YEARNING when they are separated... I don't think there was a good way to better incorporate this in a movie but it's the Entire reason I fell in love with the book despite its many shortcomings

THE REFERENCES TO GAY HISTORY, the weight of there have always been queer people, that Henry/Alex's love is specific & individual & special but also nothing new, it's rooted in deep human tradition just as much as quote unquote family values, but what IS revolutionary is the role they can play in this history for the next generations of queer people... ("history huh" was fantastic in the movie but I missed the quotations in the letters)

Pez, Bea, Nora... completely made into devices solely to support Alex & Henry in the movie without any effort to make them seem like their own people with their own shit going on... I mean the book wasn't super effective at this but at least it tried to make them characters if somewhat cardboard. like Pez was in the movie solely to not make Nora a third wheel. ok. nora & bea were conventional women more or less. (June was barely a character in the book, although I liked her existence in general) & I missed Nora and Alex's bisexual friendship. felt true to my own experience

what I liked about both

History, huh?

text convos

Alex's bisexuality. they have different flavors of discovery between book and movie, but the journey is still there in both. He connects the dots of past experiences that he's been ignoring, he puts a name to this part of himself for the first time, his feelings for Henry help him confront it but aren't the sole evidence by far... it's more show less tell in the movie, but fits that narrative

everything Henry <3 darling

the playfulness and flirting between them

#rwrb

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npdclaraoswald · 4 months

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Hawkeye/Trapper, and/or Crowley/Aziraphale for the ship ask meme?

Hawkeye/Trapper

Ship it

1. What made you ship it?

I don't remember anything in particular, but they just so clearly love spending time together and work well together as a pair. And the numerous jokes that position them as a couple certainly help

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

They're just comfortable together. They're some of the few people in the show who I think would still choose to spend time with each other if they weren't forced to

3. Is there an unpopular opinion that you have on your ship?

I think they're a better fit for each other than beejhawk. I don't think Trapper is repressed or has lots of internalized homophobia; I don't understand why that's such a popular headcanon

Crowley/Aziraphale

Ship it

1. What made you ship it?

I definitely went in with shipper goggles; I knew the book as the gay angel/demon book when I started it. And again, the many jokes about them being together also puts the thought in your mind. And then with the radio and show versions, I already shipped the book version, so I of course went into those with goggles as well.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

They're such great mirrors of each other, especially in the book where they have more of their own motivations outside of each other, they still end up feeling tied together because of how they parallel each other. Meanwhile the show really plays up just how long they've been together which really amps up that aching yearning that just hits. And the radio versions are absolutely the bitchiest which makes them an incredibly fun to listen to hater x hater couple

3. Is there an unpopular opinion that you have on your ship?

It's not too terribly popular, but I do disagree with the blushing virgin!Aziraphale I've seen in a fair number of fics. One of his core character traits is that he's a hedonist; even if he decided it wasn't for him, I don't believe he hasn't at least tried sex. Not to say I have anything against ace!Aziraphale, I love ace!Aziraphale, I just can't imagine him having not tried it at least once in 6,000 years.

I also disagree with suave, charming Crowley. He's a loser ❤️

#mash #good omens

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passanima · 1 year

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tag from foot2rue is gay, here’s the receipt, season 3

1/ gabriel spend time with his girlfriend and guess who’s mad about it? the whole team is upset because he has less time to train now; but the first to react and who feel the strongest about it is still tag

2/ BEN IS BACK (dude tag had a visible crush on in s1) and he’s the only one that looks happy about it and they break away from the rest of the group to talk one on one, ben listening to tag’s problems and offering advices. bonus points because tag doesn’t ask any of his teammates for advices (not his bestie or his girlfriend)

3/ they bond over them both being the captain of their teams, the difficulties in the responsability... and tag reacts a bit too strongly when ben says he has to go home now, asking (sounding way too desperate, boy, come on) him to stay a bit longer. the WHOLE vibe when they were talking alone felt incredibly soft from tag’s side and you could explain it as just nostalgia and being happy to see a friend after a long time... expect they weren’t friends but rivals! and ben clearly doesn’t feel the same way i’m so embarrassed for tag

4/ his BEST FRIEND notice how sullen he’s been in the 2 hours since ben left... this boy is yearning for real

5/ ben replace one of their players in a match but because the rest of the team hates him it goes poorly (hmmm sounds familiar) then they hear a rumor that he’s the one behind tag’s accident and they all get mad at him, not giving him time to explain... expect tag. who refuse to believe it and puts his faith in ben. he was, of course, right about that, but in this situation he had no reason to believe ben (the guy has a really bad reputation) yet didn’t hesitate A SECOND wow... that sure is something

6/ the trutst at least is reciprocal because when tag, in the middle of the match, orders ben to do something, he just nods and do so without the need for an explanation or getting annoyed (like some of the other players) and i didn’t expect it as they’re both captains and so could butthead about who’s in charge and ben having a strong personality... it was nice. THEN ben gives advice on how to play and this time it’s tag who decide to put his pride aside as captain and follow him. you see slight hesitation on his face but he does it anyway. IT’S HUGE idk what to tell you, tag can be really stubborn in his bad decisions and gets mad really fast when things don’t go his way so wow again!

7/ listen... i can’t even explain this one cause you need the visuals but. tag trust ben with an insane move, where ben could easily let go at the worst time and hurt him. and he does so while SMILING. not a once of doubt for this boy in his mind. HIS EX-NEMESIS. there would be no story without weirdly earnest 13 y/o gay boys, i’m emotional over this (and laughing cause it was an incredible visual; it’s at the end of ep 4 ig you’re curious about it)

8/ someone is rude to tag’s gf and he doesn’t react to it, even when she’s visibly upset and leave the room because of this, he just ignores her

9/ gabriel gets an opportunity, education wise, that means he will leave the team at the start of next year. and tag is not doing well. the rest of the team is cheering on gab, while tag exit the scene looking all sad... and emotional music starts playing while he looks on the horizon... next a flashback of their moments together the two of them... and tag cries all alone

it makes sense because they’ve known each other their whole life(?)(or most) and are very close but damn. in comparizon gabriel isn’t at all bothered, due to being more rational (this does not mean they won’t see each other again) and riding the high of such big news. really makes you feel for tag

anyway, back on gay reading; it gives tag another reason to be more heartborken over this compared to gab

10/ HE FEELS SO BAD that he has no motivation to play the tournament and even SAYS SO openly to his teammates, i quote “without gabriel there’s no point”. there have been times when other players were at ricks of leaving the team and while annoyed, tag never reacted this badly to it before

holy shit he’s crying in front of everyone this time... they were trying to comfort him with “people leave sometimes, then they come back” and “you should be happy for him as his bestie” but it had the opposite effect on making tag feel like he’s being a shitty friend and he cannot hold back his tears... everyone is shocked of seeing him like this

11/ wasn’t gonna note this one cause it’s not that serious but then shit kept happening. this ep has tag being sick and he elects jeremy as his replacement (as team captain) which makes everyone go “uuuh” cause jeremy is so not made for the post. he fucks it up, of course, and ends up all alone until tag gets better. the team complains about him and tag is the only one who stays behind him the whole time (a bit like with ben... hmm)(tag sure easily relate to the type of guys who are in constant danger of being rejected). the “not serious” part is that at some point jeremy come to tag about the whole situation and they stare at each other smiling while using language that, in french, sounds very romantic (even if the context isn’t)(jeremy “t’es pas mal” tag “t’es pas mal non plus”)(literal “you’re not bad” context being the sport + social thing BUT the very common use of this phrase means finding someone attractive, and i laughed because... a second later tag is on his knees in front of jeremy, his hands on the boy legs. the body language and double meaning is really intense for a scene that should be just “i got your back” like what am i supposed to do with this?)

12/ jeremy complains about his relationship with samira for 2 seconds and tag first reaction is to shut him up with “that’s none of my buisness” which is weird for him as he’s usually there for his friends and chill about romance talk... well, when he’s not interested in the dude talking about it, that is

#foot 2 rue #I rant about stuff

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