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absurdthirst · 6 months

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Kinktober 2023: October 31st

Day 31: Free For All

Mando x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Fight Club style sex, anal sex, mlm, voyeurism, exhibitionism, fucking and fighting, face riding, oral sex (female receiving), helmet riding, vaginal sex, unprotected sex

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Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

The loud squeal brings your eyes back to the center of the floor, stopping the conversation between you and another armored warrior as you watch Paz Vizsla take his prize. The the ruby red back armor of his opponent bows, the body lurching forward while a cock that you swear is as thick as your wrist sinks into the man to the hilt, the blue heavy- armored warrior pawing at the black flightsuit of the man under him so he can wrap his beefy, leather cladded paw around the smaller man’s cock while he fucks into him ruthlessly.

The sight is one that is common now, occurring every week after he challenges Dorin Fatuk and wins.“I don’t know why Vizsla just doesn’t enter into a Riduurok with Fatuk.” Magda grumbles underneath her helmet. Scoffing and turning back towards you while dismissing the very public coupling that is occurring as other Mando’s talk and watch.

You snort indelicately, watching Paz’s frantic thrusts while Dorin moans and writhes under him like he does every week. Giving in and accepting the defeat with a certain frantic relief. You don’t miss the way Dorin starts to rock back against the cock hammering into his ass. It just further proves your theory that maybe the smaller Mandalorian wasn’t fighting as hard as he could when Challenged. “Because then the Armorer wouldn’t let them fight.” You hum knowingly, sending a smirk back to the purple and gold helmet of your friend, watching your reflection in the T of her visor.

Mandalorians love to fight, you think they goad one another on purpose, to have them pull their blades and clash. It was why the Armorer had decreed that all fighting be done here, in the Pit.

The Pit was a portion of the covert that is far from the large passageways that house foundlings and younglings. Wanting to keep the noises away from their tender ears and the sights from their young eyes. The Pit’s rules had evolved along the way until it was known as the Fuck Club.

You had the opportunity to deny a challenge, no one would look down on you if you did. Beyond the usual shit talking that seems to be second nature to Mandalorians when one or more gathers together. You wouldn’t be forced to fight.

If you did fight, there were two outcomes if defeated. You would have your helmet removed, disgracing you and breaking your Creed, or you would be fucked. Anyway that the winner wants, right in front of the entire crowd that had gathered in the Pits that night. It was public, dirty and often violently satisfying. Nothing was better than fighting and fucking to a Mandalorian. You don’t remember the last time someone actually had their helmet removed.

“Vizsla’s always been a showoff.” Magda huffs, making you grin at the annoyance in her tone. “Guess we can add exhibitionist to the list of traits.”

You hum, turning back and watching the scene unfold. Paz pulls Dorin upright, nearly lifting him off his knees as he continues to thrust into him. The other man’s cock dribbling pre-cum and looking like it’s about to explode. You can’t even imagine how it feels to have the fucking hulk of a man batter against a prostate. Although you swear you had seen Paz and Dorin huddled off in a corner of the tunnels before the fights started. Hopefully it was so that Dorin’s poor little hole could be prepped to take that fucking python.

“Are you going to fight?” You roll your eyes at the question, hearing it every time you decide to come down to the Pits to watch.

“I wear no armor.” You remind your friend, motioning to your uncovered face and the noticeable lack of beskar that covers your body. You aren’t a Mandalorian, you have not sworn the Creed, although you are allowed to live among them. Their protection and acceptance among their covert in exchange for going out and securing supplies and bartering for necessities so that they can remain relatively hidden.

“And?” The indelicate snort coming from your friend makes you grin and shake your head. “You could still beat half of them, armor or not.” Just because you did not wear their armor did not mean the Mandalorians had not trained you to fight. You enjoyed the time you spent training. They had wanted you to be able to protect yourself when you went to the surface.

“Still-” You break off when you hear another cry, watching as Dorin’s cock starts spurting ropes of cum and hearing the roar of the heavy armored warrior behind him as he thrusts deep one last time, obviously cumming himself. The cheering among the covert was loud, raucous as they thump their fists on the plates over their breasts, covering the sounds of the two men as they ride out their pleasure.

The noise turns into a mixture of conversation, the attention no longer on the men in the center of the ring but on the figure that has moved away from the wall.

Din Djarin. He rarely comes to the Pit. The shiny, silvery beskar reflects every light in the place. Drawing more than a few visors his way.

He’s a bounty hunter, often away from the covert. Traveling the galaxy and traveling to places that you can only dream of. The most you see is the rough market in Navarro, going above ground for the covert so they don’t draw more attention to themselves than necessary. Often wishing that he would take you with him, but you know that Din Djarin doesn’t even know you exist.

His steps are slow, almost a saunter as he walks into the center of the Pit. The almost lazy perusal over the crowd, as if he is searching for his quarry makes a shiver run down your spine. He looks imposing, even among the Mandalorians here. There’s a moment when his helmet stops on you it seems and your heart skips a beat when he lifts his hand and points at you, loudly announcing your name to the spectators.

You, he challenges you. Your eyes widen and you can feel the hundreds of eyes suddenly on your helmetless face. Making you wish that you had their armor to hide your surprise and embarrassment. To have that shield from the world and make them interpret your silence or the tilt of your head.

Everyone is waiting for your refusal, you can hear the whispers starting to rise through the crowd. Djarin’s visor is still fixed on your face, body completely still as he silently demands an answer to his challenge.

Why you? There are others to challenge. Plenty of available women in the covert who would gladly fight or fuck him. Is it some sort of test?

When you stand, the crowd roars, their leather clad hands pounding together in a muted, yet impressive thunder of applause. Making you a little more sure of yourself as you make your way down to the center.

The rules are simple. No bombs, no blasters, no blood. Anything else is on the table, although you don’t wear hundreds of weapons strapped to your body at all times. Your flight suit is plain. A blaster on your hip, discarded onto a table to be retrieved later, a vibroblade that you have tucked under your sleeve, and a throwing knife in your boot.

Standing in front of him, you weigh your options. Wondering what kind of strategy to take. There are weapons available. Sticks and practice swords. Something that you imagine the younglings using when they are training, but these weapons never leave this room.

He’s quick. Moving before you can even blink and making you feel like you are behind the curve as he jumps towards the table to grab one of the weapons. Knocking into his shoulder harshly and groaning at the solid weight of the man. He’s like trying to move a giant wall of beskar.

The noise of the crows fades as your vision narrows. All you see is Djarin, watching his core, his footwork as you start to pummel each other. You have a longer staff, a spear that you are using to your advantage. Pushing him back and knocking him off balance in a feverish melee attack.

He’s good, you have to give him that. He’s quick thinking and his skills are impressive. Taking hits equally as well as dodging them and your attack is quick if you do say so yourself. Despite not being a Mandalorian, you helped train the younglings at times.

‘Crack!’ The sound of your spear snapping over his chest plate makes you hiss, rolling off to the left when he attacks, bringing the sword down where you had once been standing. Giving you time to leap to your feet and sucker punch him right behind the ribs. A weak spot between his chestplate and backplates. He groans and stumbles forward, clutching his side and you use his bend over frame to climb up his back, wrapping your thighs around his helmet and starting to squeeze.

Din is trying to throw you off, but you hang on. Making sure that his helmet was firmly in place but you apply pressure to the cowl wrapped around his neck, effectively using it against him. Making it where he is struggling to draw breath and you both fall down when he collapses. Tapping your thigh and effectively tapping out of the fight and yielding to you. Making you the winner of the skirmish.

The crowd roars over the victory, and you reach down to grip the edge of his helmet to begin to lift it. He grunts, panting under his helmet and he grabs your hand, squeezing the back of it, although he can’t stop you. If you want to pull his helmet off, it is your right as a victor.

You don’t. You expose just the lower half of his jaw as your other fingers drag the lower zipper of your flight suit down. Exposing your cunt to his mouth.

You’re going to ride his mouth. Using him to get you wet enough and then you are going to fuck him. Once again, the roar of the crowd fades as you hold Din Djarin’s helmet and grind your cunt down onto his mouth.

He licks through your folds, groaning at your taste, or in relief that you did not pull his helmet off. You aren’t quite sure, but all thoughts but pleasure flee your mind when his tongue starts to move. Caressing and flicking over your clit eagerly, and you know that everyone is watching you ride his face, even Magda, from her spot in the stands.

The edge of his helmet grinds against your clit as your rock your cunt over his face, riding his mouth and his helmet at the same time. Smearing your juices over both.

Quickly working you up with the quick, harsh licks, you reach behind you and squeeze his cock through his own flight suit. He doesn’t wear a codpiece, but he’s as hard as steel when you grip him. Obviously turned on.

When you pull away, his lower jaw is covered in your juices, the wetness of your arousal glistening through his stubbled hair. He apparently shaves under his helmet, but not everyday. It is sexy to see, because you’ve never really wondered and now all you will think about will be that patchy brown hair.

The crowd is still cheering, some of them shouting what you should do with Din, others just wanting to see you fuck. Your hands slap his own leather covered ones away to reach down to the zipper yourself. You want to pull his cock out. This is your show, your right as the victor to touch him as you wish. To decide how you are going to fuck him.

Din groans again when you reach inside and wrap your fingers around him. Like most in the Pit, most Mandalorians in general, he’s not wearing underwear. Letting you pull the thick, uncut cock free and moaning yourself over the sight of it.

He might not be as big as Paz, but he’s thick. He’s long enough that you know you will feel him in your guts when you sink down on him. Quickly pumping him a few times as you straddle his waist again.

“I’m going to ride you, Djarin.” You accounce, knowing that the second your mouth opened, every Mando in the place would go dead silent, straining to hear what you are saying. Especially since this is the first time Din’s fought. It’s also the first time you’ve ever accepted.

“Your victory.” He pants back, yielding to you and it’s strange to see his mouth move since his helmet is still halfway off. It also prevents him from seeing clearly, his head tipping down slightly to get a better look.

It stretches you, your walls parting at the intrusion of his thick cock when you start to sink down on him. The slow beating of fists on armor starts to echo around the room as you take him. All visors on you as you start to ride Din.

Your eyes slip closed and you don’t push his hands away when they move up to grip your hips, tossing your head back as you move. Feeling him twitch and pulse inside you. “Mesh’la.” He moans, making you whimper at the term.

You can’t believe you won, that you are riding him in for all to see. Hands slide up to your breasts, squeezing them as you bounce on his cock and then you gasp when he pulls your zipper down, exposing your tits to grope them.

The pace turns frantic, harsh. Galloping on your prizes' hard cock as you chase pleasure. Feeling him completely fill you up and press against that spongy spot deep inside you. Every roll of your hips pushes you closer to cumming.

“Fuck.” You choke out, feeling your pace falter for a moment and you look down at his still exposed lower jaw. Reaching down to stroke a finger down the edge of it. Feeling him pulse and jerk inside you at the contact.

He squeezes your tits, bucking his hips up hard enough to make you squeal. “More!” You cry, knowing that even if he takes over, it’s still your victory.

That order is all it takes, Din holds onto your tits as he starts to drive up into you from underneath. Pistoning his hips up at a nearly unhinged pace. Feeling just as desperate as you are as the crowd continues to thunder around you.

The second you start to cum, your entire world goes white, the wild cries from the crowd nearly unheard as all you can hear is your own blood rushing through your system. Even your own scream sounds muted.

You don’t even realize Din is cumming as well. That he’s still inside you, lifting you both off the ground as he paints your walls with his cum. All you can feel is the pleasure. The tight squeeze of your cunt around him as your entire body shakes in pleasure.

Collapsing down onto the hard armor of his chest plate, you pant, trying to catch your breath. Feeling him relax under you as well as you try to come down from the bliss that had blown you into the atmosphere.

Fuck, you love the Pit.

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prettybrownelf · 1 year

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Hi! Hope you having a great day, do you still taking request? If so can you do a smut Tsu'tey x Male reader (different species or Na'vi)? (if you comfortable with the smut and different species/Na'vi).

Where the male start to ignoring Tsu'tey (they are in relationship) and he find it weird because both of them always stick with one other but today got strange, Tsu'tey think the male reader having a bad day or just want to be alone.

After a few day, Tsu'tey got annoying because the reader keep ignoring him wherever he try to approach the Male but fail and don't even start with the sweet scent when the Male walks past Tsu'tey. The warrior didn't know what was wrong with his lover so he try to approach him but in different ways.

Tsu'tey follow the reader into the forest not letting the other male know. When both of them got far away, Tsu'tey watched M/n sat down the nearest tree and try to calm himself from the heat. Watching it for a while, Tsu'tey know what going on and wanted to help the reader to calming his heat down but he still mad at the M/n for not letting him know and they start "doing" it.

Until someone smell the sweet scent then saw both of them doing it, Tsu'tey isn't happy having someone saw his lover in a situation like this so he glare at them and telling them to go away.

(Having an aftercare would be nice, sorry for kinda cringe plot, there aren't many Tsu'tey x male reader and sorry for the bad grammar, English isn't my first language)

The Warriors Mate

Non MLM/NBLM DNI

Pairings- Tsu'tey x Male! Navi! Reader

Summary- Tsu'tey cant seem to figure out why his mate has been distant lately

Word Count- 779

Content Warnings- Slight A/B/O Dynamics, Praise, Smut, Slight Overstim, Aftercare

Tsu’tey was worried.

He knew he shouldn't be, you were probably just having a bad day, but something inside him was telling him this was something more. This distant, cold, attitude of yours was clawing at his heart. The two of you have been inseparable for years, so this sudden change in your attitude of worrying to say the least. But a bad day is just a bad day right? You'll be back to normal by tomorrow.

Except you aren't. For the next few days, you barely look at him. Always making up an excuse to get away from him, moving away when he tries to touch you. Tsu’tey’s worry turns into annoyance as the days go on. As far as he knows, nothing has happened to change your mood so drastically, so what would your reason be for brushing him off all the time?

Tsu’tey tries everything to get close to you. Although the sickening sweet scent from you tries to distract him, he continues. Taking every chance to sit next to you, trying to play with your hair, all for you to push him away.

After a few weeks, Tsu’tey gets fed up. He's angry, but not at you. He's angry at whatever has made you feel this way. He misses the loud, bubbly mate he's used to having.

The second that night falls, his eyes don't leave you, watching as you sneak your way into the forests surrounding the tribe. Tsu’tey quietly follows you, hoping to be able to finally have a conversation with you.

Instead, he's met with you hunched over in pain. Worry fills his chest as he looks for any sort of wound, only to find nothing. Sweat drips from your brow as you attempt to calm yourself down. The confusion in Tsu'tey’s mind finally leaves as he realizes what's wrong with you.

Your head snaps to him as he makes his way towards you, although you're in too much pain to run away this time.

“My love, are you ok?” Tsu’tey asks, crouching in front of you. All you can do is groan in pain as your mate tucks a piece of hair behind your ear. “My love, why didn't you just tell me you were in heat? I could have helped you sooner.” You lean into his touch the second his hand is on you. “I'm sorry, I just didn't want to bother you.” Tsu’tey can't help but laugh as he helps you lay down, crawling over you. He places a small kiss on your forehead. “Dont worry love, it's my job to take care of you.”

Tsu’tey’s kisses slowly travel down to your neck as you let yourself relax against the grass underneath you. The feeling of Tsu’teys hands on you feels like ice against your burning hot skin as he takes off your clothes. “Just relax, ok? I'll take care of you.” All you can do is nod as he runs his thumb against your cheek. Your body immediately bucks into his as he slowly begins to run his hand up and down your cock. You didn't even realize how hard you already were until he began.

Moans and whines are all you can produce as Tsu’tey stops as fast as he started, positioning himself in line with you. The second he pushes into you, you're gripping onto him. Tsu’tey growls into your ear as he finally bottoms out, slowly beginning his thrusts as he whispers small praises in your ear. Your mind is completely blank as you focus on the overwhelming feeling of pleasure coursing through your body. His name falls off your tongue like a song as you try to keep up with him.

The grin on Tsu’tey’s face sends you over the edge, making you see stars as he continues to get harsher and harsher. Overstimulation fills your body as you hear your mate moan above you. “Just a little while longer love.” A twig breaking in the distance makes Tsu’tey’s head snap up. His thrusts don't stop as he makes eye contact with another Na’vi.

The Na’vi backs away quickly as he sees Tsu’tey’s glaring eyes. Tsu’tey continues his thrusts, listening to your panting moans underneath him as he finally finishes.

He can feel how hard you are breathing under him as he looks down at you. Your fucked out expression makes him smile as he takes you in his arms, letting you curl up to him as he lays his back against a tree. His hand combs through your hair as you catch your breath. The small vibrating coming from your breath makes his heart swell as you slowly fall asleep in his arms.

#avatar x male reader #male reader #x male reader #tsu'tey x male reader #bottom reader #bottom male reader

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lesbianshadowheart · 6 months

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I would truly, truly love to hear your takes on the bg3 relationship quadrant network analysis you have done pls

OKAY so. idk if you'd seen it but this is what i made like a couple weeks into the game

and i STAND BY IT!! although one caveat is that this is an early-game state as for instance Shadowheart's and Lae'zel's relationship gets more complex and mutually appreciative later on. But let's go thru this one by one

so the initial relationship between SH and LZ is a PRIME example of kismesitude. their hate and attraction is almost fateful in nature, considering their narrative opposition and hidden layers of similarity. It even comes to a tipping point and they try to kill each other and the player has to come in and auspistice. I do see the potential for <3/<3< vacillation later on or even either a stable <3 or <3< relationship as they settle their differences

Lae'zel is also in a dire need of a moirail and of course the player can fill that role but just among these characters? It would have to be someone she respects enough and who is willing to curb her aggression. Shadowheart would be the best candidate but they want to fuck each other too much for it to work. Karlach would work BUT K also needs a moirail to cool her down sometimes and Lae'zel simply is not that!! I've had several comments saying it should be Gale but I honestly don't know if she respects him enough. sorry. maybe there is pale beauty there im not seeing feel free to prove me wrong

SH<3Karlach is clear and self-explanatory they would simply be in a passionate, healthy relationship. Karlach's moirallegiance with Wyll could also potentially veer into <3 territory but I honestly see them as BESTIESSSS the most, hey're like, queerplatonic to me. they respect and appreciate each other, neither of them really needs the 'stop murdering people' aspect of moirallegiance but Wyll can cool Karlach down if she gets too emotional and I think Karlach could teach Wyll to love himself. Millions of brave Wyllach warriors out there saying it better I'm sure.

Astarion<3/<3< Wyll is literally just what that post said. They have a poetic, almost fairytale-like quality to the duality that comes from how each of them relates to their identity as a 'monster'. The'd be at odds morally of course, but could fix each other eventually, and of course they would be attracted to each other but I think Wyll would think he SHOULDN'T be into an immoral vampire, and Astarion would be like I don't ACTUALLY like him im just like...objectifying him (not true), contributing to the pitched aspect of their relationship

And Shadowheart <> Astarion is just so close to my heart. They are a set of airpods to me. SH has both a capacity of meanness and manipulation that Astarion can appreciate and the boundless compassion that he needs. they are siblings, they alre mlm/wlw solidarity. They would support each other fully without any judgement on what the other has done and also be such cunts to each other. They are mean to people together. argue with the wall honestly

And Gale is making soup<3

#Gah....you got me monologuing!!!!#now this is just my take of course. just my shipping wall #almost any combination of these characters can be virtually anything bc theyre all so mental #stormfet #thank you molly for letting me do this kjhdfjsk #ask #bg3 #the relationship that i think transcends quadrants the most is shadowzel of course. but they are arguably the main characters of this game #so it makes sense #also feel free to ask followup questions everyone #i am willing to explain homestuck quadrants and details of bg3 lore both 🫡

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monstersandmaw · 2 years

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Pternadon for the dinosaur asks, for a peaceful scene please 🥺

Ok, I really had to scour my WIPs for something peaceful (eep) and this is what I found for you. It's a Lein and Argis snippet. Only the very best will do for you.

It doesn't sound like it's a peaceful one at the start, but trust me, it ends kinda playfully peaceful? It was the best I had, and it's very affectionate and fluffy.

(mlm (human) pairing from Footsteps in the Snow)

Lein woke with a start and rolled over. The sheets were cold. Argis was long gone. He frowned, and then, with a rush of fear, he heard the sound of clashing steel from outside. Flinging the covers back, clad only in his linen undergarments, he raced out of bed and grabbed the daedric bow and arrows from the stand, flying towards the enchanting tower. He scrambled up the ladder and popped the hatch open, sneaking up onto the roof.

He was met with a blast of icy wind which etched colour deep into the apples of his pale cheeks, but he bit it down, creeping along the roof tiles towards the source of the noise. Below, where he expected to see Argis battling bandits, he saw Valdimar swing his sword through the air and tip Argis over onto his back. Winded, Argis let out a laugh and slapped the ground. “That’s the first time all week you’ve managed to hit me!” he roared.

Lein felt his muscles relax and he shivered as the arctic wind lashed over his practically naked body. Valdimar reached his hand down and made to yank Argis upright, but the latter put his foot into Valdimar’s torso and flipped him over his head and sprang to his feet. Lein had to laugh. He was glad they got on so well. He wasn’t jealous. Much.

Slinking back down the hatchway, because he would just die if they found out how he’d panicked, he returned his beloved bow to its rack and slipped into some clothes. The kitchen downstairs was empty, no sign of Iona anywhere, and their clanging fight still resounded from outside, so he set to cooking some breakfast for them, hoping to be done before they finished. A little while later, he emerged with two plates of crispy bacon, two fried eggs, some tomatoes, and some fresh bread also fried in the bacon fat.

The two men looked up as the doors to the hall opened, and Valdimar got in one last blow on Argis’ blind side as he turned his head all the way to look at Lein properly. “Oi!” Lein yelled in mock seriousness. “No taking advantage of him. That’s my job.”

Argis snorted and, without turning to face Valdimar, blocked the next incoming blow and flipped him onto his back. “You heard him. No one takes advantage of me,” he laughed.

Lein set the plates down on the pile of logs at the edge of area of clear ground they used for training.

“What’s this for, thane?” Valdimar asked warily as he picked up his plate and eyed it like it might be poached frostspider eggs.

Lein’s bark of laughter echoed off the trees, and made his horse’s ears prick up in the stable. “I thought you could use a cooked breakfast after training, that’s all. What kind of thane would I be if I didn’t look after those in my employ.”

Argis picked up his own plate and came over to Lein, standing near but not so close as to make Valdimar uncomfortable. “Thank you,” he said softly.

Lein narrowed his mismatched eyes at Argis and said, “You,” and raised his finger. “You have a little more work to do for getting up and leaving without waking me.”

Argis’ eyes softened. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Valdimar took his leave silently, though not without nodding once at them with a grin before retreating into the house to find Iona. When he was gone, Argis opened one arm to Lein and invited him to step closer. Lein leaned his body against Argis’ warmth and reached up to plant a kiss on his jawline. “I missed you.”

“No,” he grinned, “You missed having a human furnace next to you.”

“That too.” Lein smirked and stole a rasher of crispy bacon off Argis’ plate before whirling out of Argis’ grasp.

The huge warrior belted a laugh and said, “I’ll make you pay for that later, Lein.”

Thanks for asking, friend!

#footsteps in the snow #lein and argis #dino asks #fluff

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crimsonxe · 1 year

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Spoilers vaguely and rant below the cut:

Truly takes a pathetic soul to try to raise a shallow low-mid tier show’s checking of a box LGBT+ ship over a well-earned, well-developed, multi-arc one. Even more aggravating is how whether intended or not, its once again mlm being put over wlw. Like fuck off with that bullshit, I’ll easily put BB over that shit any day of the damn week. Its not even a contest (at least ToH, Shera, and Warrior Nun stand a chance). Worse putting that shit in the main tag of the not that show like a total ass.

#rwby #rant #bumbleby

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nonbinarychaoticstupid · 3 years

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FIC STUFF ･˚✧ - a link to my AO3 (x) - no such thing: a wip (x) - zyraverse (part one) (part one - ao3) (part 2) - spop palentine’s day 1 (x) (ao3) - big bang fic (x) - AND IF scene rewrite (x) - fic rec list (x) - writing prompts (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (ao3) (ask game) - ask game version 2 (x) - ask game version 3 (x) - writing tag (x) - fic masterpost (x)

ICONS ･˚✧ - hesbian catra + demigirl lesbian adora (x) (twitter version) - adora icons (x) - pixel icons (1) (2) (3) - hesbian catra icons (x) -> banner (x) - lesbian adora icons (x) - trans + bi bow icons (x) -> combo trans/bi bow icons (x) -> banner (x) - gay flag catra icons (x) - she/they lesbian scorpia icons (x) - nby adora icons (x) - fae/faer perfuma icons (x) - he/they mlm bow icons (x) - demigirl scorpia icons (x) - hesbian and theysbian catra icons with noelle’s art (x) -> transparent versions (x) - trans catra icons with noelle’s art (x)

GENERAL ･˚✧ - lesbian flag i made (x) (twitter version) - the link to all posts on my tag (x) - my spotify (x) - my twitter (x) (intro post) - pan positivity, intersex positivity, polyam positivity posts [rb bait] - sideblogs: -> @sameadoradifferentday - the same pic of adora, inconsitsently -> @cjhyperfixationtime - warrior cats -> @lesbiancatraadora - sideblog for pics of my human form and theories -> @idonoteadayreblogs - i reblog note-a-day posts here [tw:suicide, self-harm] -> @mileswritesawfulfanfiction - please ignore this account it sucks -> @theavant-guards - ta-g sideblog! -> @spopwritingprompts - sideblog for she-ra writing prompts! -> @glitradora-week - exactly what it sounds like! -> @mara-week - also exactly what it sounds like! -> @n0v0kribirsk - grishaverse sideblog! -> @glitraisms - glitra sideblog! - link to a post with all my servers (x) (twitter version) - she ra inheritance cycle au post (x) - glitradora wicked au post (x) - angella and catra’s relationship headcanons (x) - all my asks about neurodivergent adora and/or catra hcs (x) - fankids tag (x)

SERVERS ･˚✧ - she-ra writing server (x) - catradora brainrot server (x) - trans server (x) - sapphic server (x) - neurodivergent server (with @bee-tales) (x)

carrd (ish)

as i make more stuff this post will be added to!

#sep texxt #hi

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rainofaugustsith · 3 years

Text

SWTOR: It's. About. Story.

After weeks of complaints about the new Galactic Seasons program, the devs posted a response today. Unfortunately they managed to neatly sidestep almost all of the complaints players have been making en masse:

1. The PVE objectives funnel a lot of players into areas where the instances are too large for the map to accommodate, such as 30 players on CZ-198. It's thus making those areas miserable to play, and woe to anyone actually trying to complete story (such as Rishi and Yavin 4).

Solutions to this issue would be a) lower the number of players in each instance; b) distribute the objectives more broadly so players don't all converge on a few specific areas. EA/BW said nothing about the former and doubled down on making the objectives narrow for the latter, at least for the first season of GS.

2. The "RNG" for objectives is very heavily skewed toward PVP and GSF, which are activities many players dislike and do not want to do. It's not uncommon to have both GSF and Warzones come up as the day's POs, and there's only one re-roll.

3. Re-rolling any objective often results in GSF or PVP coming up again. There's only one, so that often means a player cannot complete their PO (s) for the day.

As solutions to #2 and #3, players have been asking for a) more re-rolls; b) a way to toggle mission preference between PVE, solo PVE and PVP objectives so they avoid the ones they hate and won't do.

4. There are no solo weekly POs.

It seems as though EA/BW is making a conscious effort to ignore all the feedback on what many players actually want from the game and the issues they've expressed both on the PTS and live, to try to push the play styles they - and a small clique of fans - personally favor. It feels to me that they are trying to force the game and the player base to be something they're not.

SWTOR was marketed as a story based game. Its core demographic comes largely from two single-player, story-based games: KOTOR and KOTOR II. When it was released it was praised for the richness of its storytelling, and the strength of its voiceover artists.

Not PVP.

Not raids.

Not GSF.

Story. Good, substantial story.

The writing on the wall is there with other EA/BW games, too. The next Dragon Age was changed from a MMO to a single-player game. Anthem, a game involving group play, failed. Fallen Order, a single-player story based game, did well.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age are a decade old. KOTOR is an older game, too. People still play them, and want more of them, because of the story.

Of course, EA/BW would love it if the SWTOR playerbase en masse learned to love PVPing and GSF. It's low-cost content for them. They don't have to do much; just provide the maps and let players kill each other. But that isn't why people play this game, overall. There are far better games for PVP, first-person shooters and space battles, if that is what one actually wants. Heck, there's an entire space battle Star Wars game, Battlefront II, if that is what one wants.

In SWTOR, it's about the story. It's about the characters.

Sometimes I feel like there are devs at EA/BW who are trying to do this with the resources they have, and I'm grateful for that effort. The swoop rally had short storylines and characters to talk with. Echoes of Oblivion brought us the best writing since KOTFE. They had a Mandalorian themed flashpoint that brought in a storyline for non-Force users. None of it was IMPS VS PUBS 4EVA!!! which was great. Even the Secrets of the Enclave was pretty good. While I dread what it may be setting up, and it's back to the IMPS VS PUBS 4EVA!!! treadmill which is boring and tedious as fuck, it was designed well and had some really excellent moments.

But...Spirit of Vengeance was designed initially at a level much more tedious, and requiring better gear, than usual story/solo flashpoints. GSF objectives get way more conquest points that anything else. Some mats are only available through ranked PVP or NiM Ops. And now, Galactic Seasons, which could have been brilliant but seems to be garnering more resentment, anger and lost subscriptions than anything else.

When is there engagement and interest in SWTOR? When does one see more people posting on the official forums? When do the planets seem busier? When there's new story or event that can be soloed.

What do people constantly ask for? New stories, new engagement with companions, new strongholds, new world building.

It's interesting that EA/BW never has to beg or bribe people to play the story. Players do it because they want to. Even KOTFE/KOTET, which are not super popular, do not require player bribes. The only story content people seem to avoid or revile en masse are the walker missions; Oricon, which needs two ops to be completed; and Makeb, which tellingly has no characters with which the player can bond and engage long-term.

The class stories? Still being played. I've been through the Sith Warrior story four times, with several clones at various points in the class story working their way through. I've been through the Sith Inquisitor story three times, again, with more clones coming up. Bounty Hunter? Three times, so far.. Smuggler? Twice, so far. Imperial Agent? Twice. I've repeated every class story at least once, and I still keep coming back to do the class stories and planetary stories and side quests, because they are good. Because I like the characters I meet. Because the planets are engaging.

Shadow of Revan? Still being played.

I still see people on Ilum. I see people on Onderon and Ossus. Even Zakuul and Iokath. The story content gets played, and played again. One of the things people have requested again and again, in fact, is a way to repeat the story content.

Voiceover artists are expensive, especially when three languages are being recorded, but players have offered ways to add engagement with companions without speech, such as emails from them. Silent missions. You don't need to have a voiceover artist to animate a short scene of Lana Beniko or Theron Shan dancing on the beach with a PC they've romanced. Even if they cannot keep up every romance, if they just kept up with Lana and Theron it would make players happy. Add in, let's say, four or six selected from the class stories - let's say Scourge, Kira, Quinn, Jorgan, Vette, Risha - and a lot of people would be overjoyed. Four men, four women; equal number from each faction + KOTFE. That does leave an uneven number of mlm/wlw possibilities but there are two of each, as well. And those companions can certainly have platonic friendly conversations with the PC, too. I personally really miss Vette, Talos, Xalek, Blizz, Ashara and Jaesa being in my story. And many others, too.

The things being offered by GS are things that story players enjoy - decos, new strongholds, companions with side story missions - and this makes it even more frustrating that story players are being expected to PVP, GSF and use Group Finder, unless they want to buy their way through, to get them. Don't get me wrong - the fact that it's all optional makes me less angry at EA/BW than Iokath and Oricon did, by a long shot. All the same, it's a shame they're setting it up this way, because if they gave story/solo players objectives that were not PVP and group based, I think they'd be seeing a lot more excitement and engagement right about now.

Right now, it seems EA/BW is far more interested in catering to a smaller player group who enjoys side content that the rest of the player base has to be actively bribed and coerced to play. Should PVP and GSF get development? Sure, if people enjoy it. Should the game try to funnel the rest of us into it? No. The fact that players don't want to be there, and have expressed that sentiment again and again, and constantly need to be bribed and coerced into it, should be a wakeup call. But EA/BW is still sleeping and hitting the snooze button.

SWTOR is a story-based game. Raids, PVP, GSF are all wonderful for those who enjoy them but they are not for everyone. Players in a story based game need story.

#swtor #rain talks swtor #swtor critical #ea/bw critical #galactic seasons critical

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annebaneriddle · 3 years

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About the Anthony Mackie thing:

That was a really valid point. The feitisization of homosexual relationships (both wlw and mlm) is huge and really harmfull. Some people only want to use lgbt relationships for their own personal gains (industries using them to get money and people using them to masturbate or some shit like that), HOWEVER there are some lgbt people who use shipping as a form to get the representation they don't get on canon, specially when it comes to Marvel, that has a really big history of zero representation to lgbt people, queerbaited a lot on ther movies (and even used the theory of Bucky being bi because of the tigger photos he saw on the dating app as an opportunity to use lgbt people to their own profit with the "watch and see" bullshit only to on the very next week after the last episode go and say "Oh, no, it was only Bucky being clueless abiut technology" when the show itself showed he wasn't at all) and had the audacity to announce their "first gay character" only to give us fucking gay Joe Russo. There is no harm on seeking for representation on such a big fanchise as Marvel, on wanting an lgbt superhero, just like there is no harm on women and POC wanting their representation too. The thing is that sometimes they end up having to make that representation themselves, and they use fanfics and fanarts for that. Writing Peter Parker trans, writing Carol a lesbian, writing Steve as bi, writing Bucky as bi. That's totally ok.

The feiticization of lgbt peolple, as I said, is real and harmfull, but that shouldn't mean that lgbt people can't want some representation. Anthony fought to have a black man as Cap, and lgbt people have the right to fight to have one of them being portrayed as a hero too, not only as the queercoded villain.

I undertand why Anthony must be feeling umcomfortable. After all, Sam's relationship with Bucky was portrayed just like his own relationship with Sebastian, so it's undertandable that he might feel like that. HOWEVER, we have to keep in mind that someone assuming you (or the character you play, on this situation), a man, are gay only makes you uncomfortable because society teached people that being gay is shamefull, is a bad thing.

Yes, men who are friends and are caring and are caring and loving with each other are often said to be gay, BUT let's remind that it existed WAY before the shipping culture on internet. The fact that men aren't allowed to be vulnerable, caring and gentle comes from the patriarchy, not from the shipping culture or from lgbt people. It comes from the sexist idea that men have to be tough, that they aren't allowed to show physical affection to other men, that they aren't allowed to cry. THAT is from where the "a man can't show affection to other man or otherwise he is gay" idea comes from. Put the blame where it really belongs.

I saw people saying "We shouldn't be writting straigh characters as gay for representation. We already have our own characters on media" and I was like "Who, honey? The gay (either male or female) side character who is the comic releaf and extremely stereotyped? The trans- oh, yeah, neverming, trans people don't even get representation enough to creat the media stereotype. And the bi- oh, yeah, never saw any either. Oh, ok, maybe the aroaces- nyah, not them either". The only "representation" lgbt people get is 90% of the time blunt stereotyping. It's ok to "steal" some characters from the straights to make headcanons and fanfics to have some representation even if just made up. Don't let anyone shame you for wanting to see a hero like you on-screen. Women have that right, POC have that right, the lgbt community have that right, EVERYONE have that right.

I also want to say that there is NO excuse for the people being racist towards him, the same way that there is no excuse for the people defending him by using homophobic language, using the word queer when they are not lgbt themselves and harassing lgbt people who felt hurt by the way he worded it.

He had a really good point and he was totally right about what he meant to say, he just worded it bad.

And no, keyboard warriors, stop saying that every lgbt person feeling hurt by the way that he worded what he meant is because they're racist. The fact that he is black doesn't make the fact that the way he said that hurt some people (specially because it's pride month) magically go away. And no, I'm not saying that what he said was homophobic, because it wasn't at all. I just wanted to point out that there are some people acting like that and it isn't how things should work. A POC shouldn't get away with being lgbtphobic just because they're POC, the same way a lgbt person shouldn't get away with being racists just because they are lgbt (again, I DO NOT think he is homophobic. Just pointing it out here). As we say in Brazil: let's not use two weights to the same measure (the "measure" here is the prejudice, just so no one will misinterpret me).

Also, I really want to thank him for making the real homophobes and the racists on this app out themselves. It's suddenly so easy to spot them.

#anthony mackie #sebastian stan #mcu #fatws #sambucky #sambucky friendship #lgbt couple #lgbtq+

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warriors-pride · 10 months

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girlfag jacques, sleekwhisker, and russetfur and boydyke susan, needletail, and boulder, w/ the flags by @/transolar? thank you :-)

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akkpipitphattana · 2 years

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With wlw relationships on tv shows it’s either one of them die, the show get cancelled, they’re underdeveloped (not the focus of the show, background characters) or they don’t have a happy ending because *realism*… Would you Tay friends with your ex if your relationship was *toxic* and you never got the chance to talk about it? L O L

Anyway do you have recommendation for good wlw representation? Even though I think I must have seen everything but we never know. It will heal my heart a little after everything. Thank you and I hope you’re having a good week end :)

lolol literally wanna kill the writers they’re horrible <3

as for wlw recommendations, i have a couple shows! i figure if you’ve seen skam france, you also seen skam españa and druck, but in case you haven’t, s2 of skam españa and s6 of druck centers around wlw couples.

there is also the haunting of bly manor and the haunting of hill house. the main couple in bly manor is a lesbian couple, and there’s a lesbian side couple in hill house. bly manor does have a heartbreaking ending tho, so if you’re looking for pure fluff, don’t watch like the last ten minutes of the last episode skdkdkd

bad buddy, while it’s more focused on the mlm couple, does also have a subplot about a wlw couple, and they are equally as adorable and have a sweet story

there’s also atypical, which while i love their wlw couple and think that representation was really well done, their autistic main character has gotten a lot of criticism, especially in the first season, so be mindful of that

euphoria, which has a lesbian main character. they did have some missteps in the writing and i don’t love what they did with jules in s2, but i do really like rue and jules. as of the end of s2, they don’t end up together tho, so be mindful of that

dickinson, which is a fictionalized telling of the life of emily dickinson and therefore highlights her relationship with sue gilbert, her brother’s wife

warrior nun only has one season so far, but it has the ground work for a relationship between two of the main characters, ava and beatrice, and i can’t wait to see where they’re going with it in s2

and then there’s also the bold type. it’s writing kind of went downhill in the last two seasons, and i do have some issues with the way they handled the wlw relationship, but the first three seasons are pretty solid, and the wlw couple does end up together

#hope this helps! if you have any recommendations yourself i’d be happy to hear them 🥰#asks #nonnies

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prettybrownelf · 1 year

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Unholy Blood

Non MLM/NBLM DNI

Prologue

Pairings- Vampire! Eddie Munson x Vampire Hunter! Male! Reader

Summary- Vampire attacks are ripping the kingdom apart, the king has no choice but to meet with his best hunters and devise a plan, but this plan is certainly not what you had in mind

Word Count- 1384

Content Warnings- Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Death

(Chapter 1)

You've never seen the king look so defeated.

His head hangs low as the moonlight outside shines through the open windows. The way he rubs his hands together is a telltale sign of his nerves as he finally allows his eyes to be shown.

“This cannot continue.”

The tension in the room is suffocating you, the heavy armor tied to your body doing nothing to help. “Sixteen attacks. Sixteen attacks in only two weeks!” The rising voice of the king makes you flinch as he stops himself from banging his hand on the table. “We have lost too many warriors, too many civilians, too many children. We cannot allow this to continue.” Robin's voice creaks into the king's silence, rubbing the blood-stained bandage on her neck.

“I was just attacked this week. They're getting crafty like they have a spy on the inside so they know our every move.” Steve shifts in his seat, wiping at his tired eyes.

“No matter what we do, we all know there's going to be a war. These things won't go down without a fight.” You nod lightly to him as your eyes trail back to the king. “What are we going to do sire? Those creatures are going to pick us off one by one till they know we’re too weak to fight them.” He's quiet for a moment, running a pale hand through his dark blonde curls as he looks around at the three of you. “You three are the best soldiers in my army, what ideas do you have?”

Steve smirks in the pale glow of the moon as he leans back in his chair. “Why don't we get a head start? Spark the war before they know it's happening. We’ll have the upper hand in it! We can wean them out and take them while they're distracted.” You smile slightly at his enthusiasm, but bite your tongue despite the thought you have. ‘These things are quicker, rougher, and seemingly smarter than us. We’ll be dead before we reach the forest.” Robin chuckles lightly as she looks over at her enthusiastic best friend. “Always the brute, aren't ya Stevie?” Steve rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, taking the question to her. “And what would you have us do?”

“Why don't we play their game? Start luring a few vampires to the edge of the forest and kill them. At some point, they’ll get the message.” That sounds like a good idea to you, doing the same thing they're doing to your people. ‘But would that be enough to get them to kneel? Probably not.’ Steve scoffs at her as he looks at the king. “Lure them out? They’ll catch on to what we’re doing before we even start.” The king rolls his eyes as the two of them bicker back and forth as his gaze travels to you. “And what do you think we should do (Y/n)?”

Words leave you for a moment before you're able to get your thoughts out. “These things only respond to brute force. As stupid as it is, I think we should go with Steve's idea.” Steve gives a sneaky wink to you as he sticks his tongue out at Robin.

Robin suddenly jumps out of her seat, making the three of you jump. “What if we faked them out? Gave them a fake peace treaty, befriended them, and then hit them when they were not looking!” Steve stands next to her and pats her shoulder. “As great of an idea as that is, they're not going to just casually be friends with us after years of killing us.”

“What if we didn't befriend them?” The king speaks up, making all of you snap your eyes at him. “Instead of befriending them, what if we gave them an offer of peace, and while we fake our way through peace talks, we have someone on the inside getting close to one of the royals?” Robin's eyes go wide as her voice gets low. “You mean, seduction?” The king nods. “It would be the best way to get one of them to trust one of us completely.”

The room is silent as the three of you try to process the information you're being given. ‘Seduction? How the hell is one of us supposed to seduce a fucking vampire?’ The king clears his throat as he speaks up, eyes going directly to you. “(Y/n), I believe you should be the one to do it.”

Your eyes go wide as you jump to your feet. “My Lord! You don't really expect me to seduce one of those creatures!” The king gives a knowing sigh as he raises his hand to you. “I understand how intense this is to hear, but not only are you a strong warrior but you're our go-to for stealth and manipulation. No one could pull this off but you.” Your mind spins in a thousand directions as you feel your heartbeat get faster. “Why would they trust me? I hate vampires just as much, I'm a known hunter!” “You don't have to be nice at first, you must simply lure them in, act as though you began to have feelings, just enough so we can capture them and hold them here as a hostage. The vampire king will listen if we have one of his ‘children’.”

Your heart is racing as you look to Robin and Steve, to no avail. “You would do very well at this.” Robin whispers, giving you a small smile in an attempt to comfort you. “I'm not asking (Y/n).” The king says, the harshness in his voice stopping your pleas.

The king stands, his harsh features captured in the light of the stars. “Go to your homes, relax for the night. I'll have Nancy look up vampire traditions and possibly past peace treaties they've had for the letter.”

You're silent as you leave, desperately trying to get your heart to stop pounding as a hand finds your shoulder.

“Hey,” Steve says, a familiar warmness entering your body. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I'm alright. It's just a big mission.” Steve nods knowingly as he begins walking beside you. “Did you maybe want to have the night together?” A chuckle leaves you as you look at the stone pathway. “You think now is the time for us to have sex?” He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck as he talks. “I mean, you may have to be flirting with a vampire soon so I just thought-.”

The engulfing sound of screams forcefully enters your ears as you see guards scramble ahead of you. You and Steve take off towards the sound before you even know what you're doing. Townspeople run in the opposite direction as you as you finally stop in your tracks at the gates opening to the forest. Two vampires lay dead on the ground, arrows littering their bodies as black blood spilled around them.

“What the hell happened?” Steve yells to one of the guards.

“Fucking vampires, came out of nowhere!”

Annoyed, you shake your head and leave out of the gate. “Where are you going?” Steve yells behind you. “To get drunk and sleep!” You scream back, unsheathing your daggers as you quicken your pace toward your small cottage.

When you offered to live on the outskirts of the kingdom you knew the risks. You'd had vampires attempt to attack you almost all the time when you first moved in, but luckily, they learned you don't die quickly.

The warm air of your house soothes you as you immediately start taking your armor off, leaving it on the ground as you make your way to the kitchen. The pretty bottle of wine sitting on the counter screams your name as you uncork it with your teeth, taking large gulps as you make your way upstairs. Throwing the curtain at the top of the stairs aside you walk into your bedroom, flopping onto your large round bed. The large, circular window behind the bed shines moonlight into your room as you down half the bottle.

Your eyes grow more tired every second as you lay down, deciding against changing your clothes as you simply slide your trousers and socks off, curling up the blankets as you lull yourself to sleep.

#x male reader #male reader #eddie munson x male reader #vampire eddie x reader #vampire eddie munson x male reader #bottom male reader #bottom reader

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rainbuckets8 · 3 years

Text

Why you should watch RWBY

TL;DR:

Summary: RWBY is an epic fantasy with themes like found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths: RWBY has unique and memorable characters. The show is smart. It has excellent cinematography and animation. It has representation. It tackles hard topics. It’s got incredible music and it’s free on RT’s website.

Weaknesses: RWBY has some early growing pains, specifically volume 2’s finale, as well as budget and polish. Later on, volume 4 is weaker than the rest. Volume 8's finale is extremely distressing for a lot of viewers (and we haven't seen the follow up to those events yet). The fandom can be bad at times.

Misinformation: The early volumes being bad, the racism plot line, and the animation (not the same as “budget and polish”) are not as bad as you may have heard from YouTube.

Suggested viewing order

Red Trailer, White Trailer, Black Trailer, Yellow Trailer

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4 Character Short

Volume 4

Volume 5 Weiss Character Short, Volume 5 Blake Character Short, Volume 5 Yang Character Short

Volume 5

Volume 6 Adam Character Short

Volume 6

Volume 7

Volume 8

(I did my best to make this spoiler-free. When there are spoilers, they’re worded ambiguously enough that someone new to the show would never guess what’s going to happen just by reading this.)

What to expect

The world of Remnant is filled with monsters called the creatures of Grimm. Warriors called Huntsmen and Huntresses defend humanity. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang go to school to become the next generation of heroes. Together they make Team RWBY (pronounced, “Ruby”)! Joining them is team JNPR (“Juniper”), made up of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. But evils even more dangerous than the Grimm are ready to make their move, and school quickly becomes an afterthought…

(I mention these next two topics specifically bc they can immediately turn someone away based on bad expectations.) There is a fantasy school setting, but RWBY is not a show about school. School topics are not a dominant idea: it seems to resemble a setting like Harry Potter, but the actual focus of the show rarely touches on things like classes or homework or tests, and we quickly move on. There is romance and it has a role in the plot, but RWBY is not a romance show. On the scale of romance in FMAB to She-Ra, RWBY falls somewhere in the middle.

What is RWBY about, then? RWBY is like an epic fantasy or high fantasy, despite first appearances. Perhaps not every genre convention is followed, but at its core, RWBY is about an epic struggle of good and evil.

RWBY contains themes such as found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths of the show

The characters are unique and memorable. One of the cool things is that they all draw inspiration from a real life fairy tale, myth, or something else. They designs are all top notch. One character who died with extremely little screen time even got so much fandom love, they included the character in a mid-hiatus short later. The characters have unique weapons, too; in the world of Remnant, a weapon is an extension of ones’ soul, and they reflect the variety of their owners. They’re also just plain cool; Monty was famous for following the “Rule of Cool.” And their individual stories are all compelling and interesting.

The show is smart. As a fandom, we generally pick up on the narrative hints the creators are dropping. And our predictions usually come true, but not in a way that makes the show predictable and boring. We very rarely guess exactly what will happen, but we have some similar idea of it. It’s just excellent foreshadowing.

RWBY also likes to play with tropes, as an extension of this. Often it will challenge them, or subvert expectations. In other cases, RWBY uses tropes to avoid showing us what we already know will happen. This occurs in both characters and plot. For example…

SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE FOR THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH: Jaune’s entire character arc is about trying to be the anime protagonist, and learning that he doesn’t have to do things alone, and it’s ok to be a support main. The show sets up the narrative in a way that looks like, oh of course the direction it will go is him becoming the main character, but then it destroys toxic masculinity instead.

Our characters are smart, too. Plot-induced stupidity generally doesn’t happen. (A few big mistakes or errors in this regard aren’t actually the fault of the narrative, either, but animation and miscommunication and failure to execute. And those aren’t common.) It goes beyond just “not being dumb,” however. The villains’ plans are incredibly clever, and our heroes sometimes even guess at the usual “plot twists.”

The cinematography is just incredible. There are numerous freeze frames with extreme attention to detail that reveal character motivations or arcs or foreshadowing, there are many effective cuts and moving parts, there are soooo many parallels and callbacks, and visual cues such as lighting and color all are used appropriately to convey emotion and assist the narrative. It is one of the biggest overlooked strengths of the show, imo, simply because a lot of people in the fandom don’t notice these things as much for whatever reason, or else don’t give as much praise about them.

The animation is extremely good as well. Budget issues and technology issues aside (which means a lack of polish), the actual animation? The fight choreography, and all the other parts of animation that aren’t just “expensive CGI” are all wonderful. You can have very shiny, polished turds after all, and RWBY is like the opposite: not very polished, especially early on, but very well animated. All the trailers, volume 1 episode 8, the volume 1 finale, the volume 2 penultimate episode, and basically everything else hold up extremely well even today. If anything, the worst fight animation was in volumes 4 and 5 because of Maya growing pains, and those are an example of being more polished, but not necessarily better animated. Animation of faces has always been good, animation of characters has always felt lively. Aside from a few small actual hiccups (that one person running across rooftops for instance), it’s well done.

There are LGBTQ+ characters. The treatment of one of the recent trans characters, in volume 8, was nothing short of amazing. They worked with a VA who was trans. The moment of canon confirmation was important to the character for backstory, because of course that affects the character’s life, but not the only important thing about the character. The representation is not in-your-face or pandering. And there is a split of representation among the main cast and the minor characters, with promises of more to come (notably they’ve said they’re working on more mlm for future volumes, too).

RWBY is not afraid to tackle hard topics. It deals with things like mental illness, systematic racism, and cycles of abuse. It’s not because the show is trying to earn “gritty and dark” points, it’s because those are some of the topics that real people have to struggle with as well. And the show handles most or all of them very well, in a way that shows respect and an honest attempt to depict these things as best they can. (NOTE ABOUT VOLUME 8: THERE IS A VERY DIFFUCLT CONVERSATION CURRENTLY HAPPENING. I am on the side of, let’s wait and see what happens next because the story isn’t over, so we haven’t really seen the fall out. But I understand why this paragraph feels really difficult to agree with if you've seen the volume 8 finale. I trust the track record of the rest of the show, personally.)

As an example, the show has a theme that villains are rarely evil just because. A lot of villains choose to do bad things because they were hurt in some way. Some lived in poverty; some were hurt by racism; many of them are victims of abuse. But the show doesn’t make excuses for them. It’s possible to be both sympathetic and still choose evil over and over again (that’s called tragic). The ones who eventually do try to do good again are not always forgiven, either.

The music is amazing. I can probably count on my hands the number of times I’ve heard someone say otherwise, which is astonishing when you consider this fandom.

It’s also free on RT’s website. (A paid, “FIRST” subscription removes ads and lets you see new episodes one week early, but they all eventually release for free.)

Weaknesses of the show

Early volumes’ growing pains exist, much like most or all other shows. (Even some of the greatest were not immune to this, like ATLA.) In this case, however, it’s a little bit rougher. A large reason why is that this was kind of the first big thing from RT to ever come out. If you remember back almost a decade ago, their only other big thing at the time was RvB, which was machinima. They pretty much started from scratch with everything, from assets to VAs to animation to writing. Imagine if a random twitch streamer, like Ninja (idk who’s popular these days) said one day, “OK let me just direct something that’s intended to be the next great movie series of all time, like Star Wars, with a $4 bill and an iPhone camera.” Then went out and actually made something. Of course it would be rough…but then it turns out the movie is actually really good. And then you get to watch over the next several years as everything gets better and better until it’s honest-to-god comparable to the MCU. That’s kind of what happened with RWBY.

One specific growing pain was the volume 2 finale. Pretty much everything else up until that point, I love about the show. But the finale just fails to deliver on the build up of tension from other episodes. Some of it is because of later plot developments that we didn’t know at the time; some of it is because of just not great writing; some of it is because of just not great animation; and yes, some of it is budget. Regardless, it’s a low point for the show.

Speaking of, the budget for the early volumes is super small. The infamous volume one shadow people, the infamous person jumping across the rooftops in volume two, and just production quality isn’t high compared to a major release from some established studio. These are real weaknesses of the show that for some people, make it unwatchable, and if that’s you, that’s ok.

One last weakness of the show, the screen time per episode, especially early on, is NOT a full 20 minutes like you may expect of an anime (or anime-inspired-western-media, for those of you who will die on the “RWBY is not an anime” hill). This is a trend that has stuck with the show, a shorter run time per episode, for generally the entire lifetime. On one hand, it means it’s a little less daunting to catch up or rewatch than the number of episodes might imply. On the other, early on, some episodes have a little weird pacing. It also means the writing had to adjust for this, so while RWBY got really good at telling a story within a shorter amount of time, there’s also challenges with that too. Perhaps one of the notable ones is the pacing, with slower moments sometimes feeling like it takes up too much screen time, or not enough. Volume 4 was a particular struggle for the crew, both because they switched animation engines and also for the story.

Common complaints that I don’t agree with

I don’t agree that the early volumes were actually bad overall. Growing pains, yes, but not bad. I attribute that complaint to overly focusing on one character’s storyline, back when it wasn’t clear there was so much more to come and before people realized the show would challenge the tropes instead of falling into them. It’s pretty much just volume 1 when people say this anyway, most of them I’ve heard admit that volume 2 was a lot better (except the finale) and almost everyone loves volume 3. And looking back on it, I do think volume 1 holds up.

Tying into this, the racism plot line is another common complaint. I don’t think it’s actually executed quite that badly. I think it makes sense for there to be regional differences in the amount of racism we see, it just so happened that we only saw a very small and isolated environment, Beacon, for much of the early volumes. (Incidentally, that’s actually similar the environment I myself grew up in.) It’s not perfect, though. But there’s no doubt that the later volumes do a better job portraying this. Again, I attribute it mostly to people not knowing how long the show would run for at the time, so of course if that’s all we saw, it would’ve been bad. But it’s not. I have a lot of respect for Miles and Kerry for even attempting to handle the racism topic in the first place. And for the faults that DO exist in this plot line, I credit them for learning and growing past that too, and doing better in later volumes.

The animation is not bad. I’ve already touched on that earlier, but people confuse “budget and polish” with “animation.” Give me RWBY any day over Michael Bay’s Transformers: no matter how much polish those robots have, they’re still a confusing mess to try and follow. And the polish isn’t even an issue once we get past the growing pains of Maya and get a bigger budget, because wow does this show look good now.

Between these three complaints I hear about often, I think those are the biggest ones. And they’re all generally done in bad faith, based not on just those but on other more provocative statements people also make with them. That’s part of my issue with the fandom, specifically the vocal but small parts of the fandom, because they’re just repeating these things from early days that aren’t true. But YouTubers gotta get those rage and hate clicks somehow, right? Unfortunately it discredits the show a lot and influences other people’s opinions into not giving it a fair chance, because it’s become a narrative of “RWBY IS BAD” when they all won’t shut up about it. So yeah, fandom can be bad, join at your own discretion. (Of course, all fandoms have annoying parts, and my interactions with the fandom have been good overall, otherwise.)

Onto other complaints, some say the cast is bloated. I don’t agree, but I don’t think this one is in bad faith. I think we get the important characters as much screen time as we can, and the minor characters don’t actually detract from that; one of the differences between good minor characters and bad ones, is that bad ones take up too much time. RWBY has a ton of characters but many of the minor ones don’t actually take up too much time. So it appears bloated, but actually I don’t think it is.

Finally, a small word on the no-no topics. Adam, and Monty. Adam is like the champion of the Monty topic. Which essentially boils down to “Miles and Kerry are ruining Monty’s vision for the show.” Toxic fandom is truly awful and I have no respect for anyone who says anything like that. Shame on all of you. This isn’t really anything negative about the show, but the fandom, and tbf all fandoms have toxic parts. But toxic fandom can be a real and valid reason to not watch a show. Thankfully they seem fewer in number these days, but I think they’ve evolved into hiding behind other characters or topics, so you know. Beware. Again, it's not too hard to avoid them or block them, and my interactions otherwise with most fans have been good.

#rwby

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bronanlynch · 3 years

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thursday again no (?) problem

listening: been in a Rilo Kiley mood recently, the song The Good That Won’t Come Out hits me in a place, love a soft little bop that makes me feel all melancholy

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reading: I’m about two thirds of the way through The Steel Crow Saga by Paul Kreuger, I’m enjoying it, the worldbuilding is cool and I care abt the characters. the quote on the back compares it to Avatar but Imo it’s more like Korra specifically than AtLA (there are cars and trains and guns, and also people trying to rebuild their countries after years of occupation and dealing with the aftermath of colonialism). however it has a significantly more coherent grasp on political themes than Korra does (I love Korra but. hmm. I have some opinions abt some of the writing decisions). also most of the main characters aren’t straight, and there’s a trans man who is, admittedly, kind of an asshole but I like him on principle bc there are so few trans mlm in fantasy, so it’s unfortunate that this one is aggressively a monarchist but he’s also sleeping with the prince which is one of the more valid reasons to be a monarchist so he’s valid I guess

watching: so I finished Gundam Wing, and my review is that it would be a good show if the characters had consistent motivations and coherent emotional arcs. I care enough about some of the character because they have enough potential for me to want more. as far as I can tell there’s not really a thematic message beyond “war is bad but people enjoy fighting,” because most characters fall somewhere on the spectrum between “war is good because people naturally enjoy fighting, therefore fighting is beautiful” “peace is good but only if you get there by destroying all of your enemies first so there’s no one left to fight you” “war is bad which means I need to do war crimes and/or let war crimes happen so that everyone sees how fucked up war is” and “fighting at all ever is bad even if fascists are invading your country, the right thing to do in that situation is surrender and let them turn you into a figurehead”

the politics are wildly inconsistent and also, Imo, not great. don’t understand why the group trying to fight back against the organization who conquered the entire earth by force are somehow the bad guys, except that they inexplicably put some asshole who changed sides like 5 times in charge of their entire operation, and he inexplicably wants to blow up the entire earth in order to show people why war is bad. seriously.

there’s also a weird emphasis on heterosexual love as the most important thing to strive for, despite none of the m/f relationships getting any development whatsoever and the only relationships that seem to actually matter are familial or ~the bond between fellow warriors

and then the ending feels very abrupt and like. suddenly everything is supposed to be fine now because it was all just a misunderstanding and no one actually wanted to fight a war, we were all just doing war crimes to show how bad war is, so never mind all those people who died or the child soldiers who were traumatized along the way. and maybe the way that most of the plot feels like it was meaningless now that everyone has just suddenly realized that they should stop fighting is meant to be a commentary on war meaningless. maybe. or maybe they should have written a more coherent plot and a more convincing ending. because that interpretation doesn’t really track with all the emphasis on how cool and important the Gundam pilots are, so maybe this show is just falling into “fighting is beautiful/wow cool robot” line of thinking that it was trying to critique

HOWEVER, a counterpoint and also subtle plug for my ttrpg/Friends at the Table/mech anime twitter: there sure are lots of dynamics that give me gay vibes

also watching: that Supernatural clip. you know the one. I have an entire essay in me about how straight people fundamentally don’t understand what coming out means or how it works or why we do it, but everything about Cas ““speaking his truth”“ and how that’s the happiest he thinks he can ever be even though both he and the text of the script say that his feelings are unrequited is such out of touch cishet bullshit. coming out, in gay media for/by straight people, is usually framed as like, the end goal and something that we do for its own sake or so that we can be ~authentic or whatever the fuck. which, at least in my experience, is just. not how it works. and maybe I’m missing something here, because I do not feel like I’m being “fake” by not being out to everyone I meet, and also that when I lie about my identity for my own comfort and safety that’s 100% fine and valid, actually. but Imo coming out is just as much, if not more, about gaining access to community support and resources and potential relationships. you don’t come out to your crush so that you can live your truth or whatever the fuck, you come out to your crush because you want to date them. so fuck off with that “true happiness isn’t about having it’s just about saying it” bullshit

playing: I know I talk a lot abt my ongoing Beam Saber campaign but I’m really excited about it, and I spent a lot of time yesterday doing prep for both the current mission and the next few missions, including some broader faction stuff. I’d never run a campaign before this and it’s really fun actually? and I love the downtime & faction stuff that Beam Saber does that you can’t really get when you’re just doing one shots all the time.

making: didn’t take pictures because I was running late to Beam Saber but I made some pretty tasty garlic bread last night. most of the stuff I’ve been making recently has been food tbh, my big cosplay project goes through phases where I work on it a lot and then realize how much work I still have to do and take a break for a few weeks, and right now I have to alter a bunch of pattern pieces so that’s. gonna be fun

#dreaming.txt

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featherzen · 4 years

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oh my god!!! tell us about ur pride calendar!!!

I’d be very thrilled to! So for the lovely month of June, I make a calendar of prompts for each day! This’ll be my second year doing this and I have so much fun with it! Here’s how it goes:

I make two pride icons every weekday! I use weekends to do anything I didn’t complete during the week.

Along with two icons every weekday, there’s little drawing prompts that go on throughout the week as well!

On Mondays, I do a drawing of what I call MLM Monday, basically I draw a MLM (man loving man) warrior cat ship that day!

On Wednesdays, I do a drawing of what I call WLW Wednesday, I draw a WLW (woman loving woman) warrior cat ship that day!

On Fridays, it’s Free Friday! I draw whatever I want that’s LGBTQ+ warrior cats related! It could be another ship, or maybe a cat/group of cats being lovely LGBTQ+ soliditaries!

Another thing you can do for Free Fridays, there’s a list called ‘Extras’! Once the calendar is made, you may want to do some other headcanons or ships you may have forgotten, so you put them in the Extras! Extras aren’t scheduled for any day, you can do them whenever! They’re also nice if you don’t know what to do for Free Friday!

Obviously, it’s hard to keep up with every day’s prompts/icons but that’s okay! This is all in good fun and completely optional! I intend to keep this fun and stress-free, so if you decide to skip a couple of days, that’s okay!!

I absolutely love making the calendar, it’s so fun to think of different headcanons and ships! And now I can get ideas from y’all!!

It’s so fun doing this every year, and I’m very excited to share this with y’all!

I’ll post a calendar sometime around late May, and if any of you want to follow the calendar, go ahead! Or, you can make your own! Whichever you end up doing, let me know! I’d love to like/reblog anything y’all do for this month if y’all do it!

If anyone ends up doing it, I guess credit isn’t needed, but it would be appreciated! Also know that I don’t mind being @/ed at all! I’d love to see what you guys come up with! (@featherzen)!

Thanks for listening! I hope anyone who takes this into consideration has fun doing so!

#save #pride month #calendar #reblogs are alright! i'd love if this was spread around actually #warrior cats #long post

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samwisethewitch · 5 years

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✨🏳️‍🌈 Deities, Saints, Crystals, and Herbs For All Your Gay Magick Needs 🏳️‍🌈✨

Note: This was originally posted on my blog, themysticbitch.wordpress.com.

Happy Pride Month, my loves! June is upon us, which means it’s all gay, all the time for the next few weeks. Being queer is a big part of my life and my identity, so I wanted to do something special for Pride. The end result was my most recent video, which you can watch here.

In that video, I try to get through a ton of information in as little time as possible, so I decided to post a written version here for anyone who wants a more solid starting point for incorporating these deities, saints, herbs, and crystals into their own practice. I’ve tried to be as inclusive as possible here — if I’ve missed something that seems obvious to you, please let me know in a comment so I can update the list!

Spiritual Patrons For LGBTQ+ Folks

Patrons For WLW:

Artemis (Greek goddess): Artemis is considered a “virgin” goddess, but it’s important to note that the word “virgin” had a different meaning in Ancient Greek culture. The one thing we know about Artemis for sure is that she was not romantically interested in men, for whatever reason. Artemis swore never to marry or have sex with a man, and she lead the Hunters of Artemis, a group of all-women warriors who spent their days hunting and roaming the forest. She is associated with the moon, archery, the forest, and the hunt. Some of her common symbols are bows and arrows, stags, hunting dogs, and the moon. She was worshiped by the Romans as Diana.

Freyja (Norse goddess): Freyja is a Scandinavian goddess of sex and sexuality, as well as sorcery, wealth, war, and death. I decided to include Freyja in this list because she is associated with sex and sexuality, especially of women, but is not associated with pregnancy or motherhood like many other sex goddesses are — her children are rarely mentioned in the surviving myths. All we know about her husband is that he was lost, leaving Freyja single for all intents and purposes. She is noted for being bold in her sexual pursuits, sleeping with whoever she pleased. She is a goddess for any woman who wants to get in touch with her femininity and sexual power, regardless of sexuality. Some of Freyja’s common symbols are gold, amber, cats, and falcons.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity (Catholic saints): Perpetua and Felicity were African Christians who were persecuted by the occupying Roman government for their faith. Perpetua was a noblewoman — Felicity was one of her slaves. The two women were arrested together and sentenced to prison — eventually they were publicly executed. Some of Perpetua’s letters to family and friends survived, so we actually have a firsthand account of her imprisonments. From these letters it is clear that Perpetua and Felicity were very close, and historians have long speculated that they may have been romantically involved. Today they are considered unofficial patron saints of same-sex couples, especially women. You can buy medals and prayer cards for both of these saints from online Catholic stores. Like all Catholic saints, they can be honored with a white candle and/or Three Kings incense (this is the incense blend used by churches).

Patrons For MLM:

Apollo (Greek god): Apollo was the twin brother of Artemis, and has a similar history with the LGBTQ+ community. The Ancient Greeks had a very fluid attitude towards sexuality, but today we would probably classify Apollo as either bisexual or pansexual. There are myths that explicitly mention him having male lovers. Apollo was very close with his sister, Artemis — perhaps an early example of MLM/WLW solidarity? Apollo is associated with the sun, prophecy, healing, and the arts, especially music and poetry. Some of his symbols include the lyre, a laurel wreath, a bow and arrow, and a python. He was also worshiped by the Romans.

Freyr (Norse god): Funnily enough, we have another brother/sister pair. Freyr was the brother of Freyja, and he shared her association with sex and abundance. Freyr was a primarily agricultural god, and was believed to bring spring rains to nourish the growing crops. One of his strongest associations was with male sexuality — in fact, he was often depicted in art with a giant, erect penis! Like his sister, Freyr was more associated with the act of sex itself than when what comes after. Freyr is an excellent god for any man looking to get in touch with his own masculine power, regardless of sexuality. Some of his symbols are a boar, a ship, and a phallus.

Saint Sebastian (Catholic saint): Saint Sebastian has long been considered an unofficial patron of gay men, and the story behind this association is a wild ride. Unlike Saints Perpetua and Felicity, there is no historical evidence that Sebastian was queer. He was a martyr, and according to legend he was executed by being bound to a tree and shot with arrows. When the Plague hit Europe, Sebastian was often called upon for protection — this was the beginning of his popularity as a saint. Baroque artists created a lot (like, A LOT) of paintings of Sebastian that depicted him as a beautiful, muscular young man, clad in a loin cloth, gazing passionately up at Heaven as he was pierced with arrows. As you might imagine, he became something of a sex symbol. In fact, Sebastian became so popular with the gay men of Italy that he had his own cult! You can buy medals, prayer cards, and candles dedicated to Saint Sebastian, and again, he can be honored with a white candle and/or Three Kings incense.

Nonbinary and Genderfluid Patrons

Loki (Norse god): Technically, Loki is a jötunn (a frost giant), not a god, although he was formerly allied with the Aesir and lived in Asgard. Loki was a shapeshifter, and was known to take female forms as well as male. In fact, he once took the form of a female horse and gave birth to a foal! Loki is probably one of the most explicit examples of a genderfluid deity in European mythology. However, some pagans choose not to work with Loki. He is sometimes considered a “negative” god because of his association with mischief and chaos, and because he ultimately betrayed the Aesir. It is up to you whether to work with him or not, although I would definitely advise you not to bring Loki into a circle with any of the Aesir.

Odin (Norse god): The common image of Odin in pop culture is of a fierce warrior-king, but this is not historically accurate. Odin was often depicted as an old man in traveler’s clothes, and he was associated with several cultural taboos. Though he is definitely identified as masculine, Odin ruled magick, which was considered feminine in Scandinavian culture — it was dishonorable for a man to practice such “woman’s work.” Odin knew that some things transcend gender, and he is a wonderful patron for anyone looking to break away from traditional gender roles. Besides magick, he rules war, strategy, death, astral travel, and knowledge. Some of Odin’s symbols are ravens, wolves, his spear, and his armband. I personally burn mugwort incense when working with Odin. He was also worshiped by Germanic and Anglo-Saxon peoples as Wodan.

Archangel Gabriel (an angel honored in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam): Gabriel is usually identified with masculine pronouns, and “Gabriel” has became a common man’s name in many countries — but in art, Archangel Gabriel is often depicted with feminine features, and sometimes even with a clearly feminine body. This is because Gabriel is strongly associated with the Divine Feminine and with feminine energy in general. Gabriel rules pregnancy and female reproductive disorders, and is responsible for the care of children. He is also associated with the moon, a common symbol of goddess energy. Angels have no true gender, so they are all androgynous in nature, but Gabriel is especially so. Because of this, he is an excellent patron for nonbinary people. Some of Gabriel’s common symbols are a trumpet, a white lily, the moon, and water. Incenses associated with him are frankincense and camphor.

Honorable Mention: Santa Muerte (Mexican deity/folk saint): Santa Muerte may not be trans, nonbinary, or genderfluid herself, but she’s a fascinating figure and deserves a place on this list. Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (“Our Lady of the Holy Death”) is a personification of death, and is called on for healing and protection by her followers. What is especially interesting is that Santa Muerte is considered a protector of all outcasts from society, including all LGBTQ+ people and especially transgender people. She is even invoked in same-sex marriage ceremonies in some parts of Mexico! Her worship has recently spread to the United States, with churches dedicated to her in California and New Orleans. You can buy statues and altar candles in her image. Common incenses for honoring Santa Muerte include copal, myrrh, and rose.

UPDATE: I’ve been told that worship of Santa Muerte is part of a closed cultural tradition, and is therefore not open to people outside of Mexican and Mexican American culture. I’m leaving her in this post because I still find her story uplifting, but I do ask all of my followers to please be respectful of this beautiful goddess and her cultural roots. I think we can find hope in her role as a pro-LGBTQ+ deity, while respecting that she is not ours to worship or work with.

Correspondences For LGBTQ+ Issues in Meditation and Spellwork

As I mentioned in one of my previous YouTube videos, magick is the act of manipulating the spiritual energy that permeates the universe. Every part of the natural world, including plants and minerals, has a different type of energy associated with it. If you want to connect with a certain energy (like the energy of romance, for example), you can surround yourself with things that correspond to that energy to make the connection easier.

A lot of the love spells that I’ve been able to find online use correspondences that have a strong association with straight romance. Obviously, some symbols are universal, but I wanted to find some correspondences that can specifically be used for manifesting same-sex romantic relationships. Here’s what my research turned up:

Correspondences For Love Between Two Women:

Rose Quartz: Rose quartz is considered the stone of unconditional love, and it can be used universally to attract love of all kinds, not just romantic. I think this crystal could be especially useful for women seeking a feminine partner, because it has a very strong feminine energy. Rose quartz is also strongly associated with self-love, and teaches us the important lesson that the best way to attract love is to start by loving ourselves. You could incorporate it into a love spell, wear it as jewelry, or meditate with it to align yourself with its loving energy.

Moonstone: Sometime’s called “the woman’s stone,” moonstone is very strongly associated with womanhood and with feminine sexuality. It is said to attract love and to increase passion in existing relationships. Unlike many other crystals associated with sex, moonstone has a very peaceful energy and can be used to calm anxiety or to soothe tense situations. Moonstone is a great stone for any woman looking to reconnect with her feminine power, or for increasing passion in an existing relationship between two women.

Violets: Violets have been associated with romantic love between women since the Ancient Greek poet Sappho of Lesbos (from whom we get the words “lesbian” and ‘sapphic”) used them as a symbol in poems dedicated to her female lover. In the Victorian era, queer women would give their lovers bouquets of violets instead of roses. (In the Victorian “language of flowers,” violets represent faithfulness.) In magick, violets are used to attract love and to increase luck in romantic endeavors. They are also edible — why not brew a violet tea and drink it as a love potion?

Correspondences For Love Between Men

Malachite: In many ways, malachite is the masculine counterpart to rose quartz. Despite its strongly masculine energy, malachite is deeply healing and works to open and unblock our heart chakra, as well as to heal any heartbreaks we may not quite have gotten over. Malachite is also considered the “salesman’s stone,” and can be used for situations where you are trying to “sell yourself” to a potential lover by giving a good first impression. Some people are afraid to use malachite because it is “toxic” — although it does contain copper, which can cause health problems if consumed in high amounts, wearing malachite or holding it against the skin is definitely not enough exposure to cause an issue. As long as you don’t eat your malachite or dissolve it in water, you will be fine.

Red Jasper: This is a wonderful stone for men looking to recharge their sexual energy, or to spice up an existing relationship. Jasper in general is associated with courage and charm, and for this reason it is often recommended to people involved in the performing arts, like actors and singers. Red jasper has a strong masculine energy, and is associated with the root chakra and our connection to the earth. Red jasper is an excellent stone to work with if you are dealing with sexual anxiety, or anxiety over being open about your sexuality. Meditate with it to feel more grounded, courageous, and stable.

Green Carnation: Although the connection between green carnation and queer men is not as ancient as the connection between violets and queer women, it is still well established. Oscar Wilde, who was openly gay, is said to have begun the trend of wearing a green carnation as a signal that he was seeking a man as a lover. Other men in Victorian England began to follow the trend, and the association still stands. In magick, carnation is said to enhance creativity and magickal power. Since it acts as an amplifier for other magickal energies, a green carnation can make any love spell more effective, especially for men seeking men.

Crystals and Herbs For Trans and Nonbinary Folks

Note: I said this in my video, but I feel like it bears repeating here — magick is not a replacement for mental healthcare. If you are struggling with gender dysphoria, I strongly encourage you to seek professional counseling if at all possible. None of the herbs, crystals, or spells mentioned below (or anywhere in this post) are intended as a replacement for medical or psychiatric treatment. If you are already taking medication of any kind, be sure to research potential interactions before ingesting any herb for magic or holistic purposes.

Chrysocolla (for trans and nb women): I first learned about chrysocolla from an episode of the Fat Feminist Witch podcast called “Not Every Goddess Has a Sacred Womb.” That episode discussed issues with equating womanhood to motherhood (or even just to having a uterus), and chrysocolla was brought up as a crystal with strong feminine energy that wasn’t tied to uterine health. This is a great stone to meditate with to get in touch with your own goddess energy, without any biological associations. Chrysocolla is also strongly associated with new beginnings, which may make it a useful spiritual tool for anyone who is just coming out of the closet.

Green Tourmaline (for trans and nb men): Much like malachite, green tourmaline is strongly associated both with masculine energy and with the heart chakra. It is a stone of masculine authority, and can be used either to get in touch with your own power or to help in overcoming emotional issues related to a father figure in your past. Tourmaline in general is said to convert negative energy into positive, which makes it ideal for overcoming any difficult situation.

Damiana (for trans and nb men AND women): Known by the scientific name Turnera diffusa, damiana is currently being clinically studied for its ability to balance hormones in all sexes. In holistic healing, damiana is commonly used to treat sexual problems — this is another one that may be useful for increasing sexual confidence. It is also said to help relieve anxiety and to decrease stress. Damiana is available both as herbal supplements and as a tea.

Angelica or Dong Quai (for trans and nb women): These are two different names for Angelica sinensis, which has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years. It is often used to relieve symptoms of menopause because it increases estrogen levels when taken regularly. Angelica is also a powerful magickal herb, and is popular in American folk magick. It is sometimes associated with Archangel Gabriel, who I mentioned earlier, and is used for protection and healing. Angelica is available in teas and supplements, though it is usually marketed as “dong quai” in these forms.

Ginger (for trans and nb men): Lab studies found that ginger significantly increased testosterone levels in male rats. Human studies are still underway, but the research that has been done indicates similar benefits for humans. In magick, ginger is considered a magickal “power up” of sorts, and is often added to spells to add power or to speed up results. You can use ginger to increase your own masculine power, and to infuse yourself with a little bit of its sweet and spicy energy. Ginger is available both as a supplement and in teas, and of course it can be used in cooking.

This ended up being a way bigger project than I originally planned, but my research turned up so much good information that I wanted to share. I hope that some of this is helpful to all of my fellow gay witches out there, and I hope that you all have a magickal and blessed Pride Month.

P.S. I’ve actually written three different love spells based on this research. One is for men seeking men, one is for women seeking women, and one is for people who either don’t associate strongly with any one gender or don’t care about the gender of their partner. I was going to include those spells in this post but after seeing just how much info I had to cram in, I decided to give them their own post. You can find those spells here.

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