#researching answers from the internet?

[auadhdwildcards]

If we can't do the things we ask of the AI's then we are but a species that's unaware of our demise.

“i asked chatgpt-” ohhh ok so nothing you are about to say matters at all

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

This might be a bit random but would you say you have any thoughts on Neurodivergent readings of Zhongli (more specifically autistic)? I was thinking about it in the latest chapter of JG amd even before then too. as an autistic person myself i feel he reads very heavily as such, especially when talking about his human mask and feeling like he doesn't need to force it as much with childe, and his issues with human expression in smiling etc. but I think it's then an interesting debate between that and the fact that, well, he's just not human. that all comes from a place of being an entirely different species, unevolved and unrelated to human brains and how they think and read social patterns, and I feel we don't really have any way of telling if ZL has any divergent tendencies among dragons right? and even then he's half, too, so that affects things.

anyway sorry for the ramble I was mainly wondering if you had any opinions on the matter, or if you intended the parallels I definitely see while reading your Zhongli! love your work as always <3333

i think i might've commented on this at some point but never directly, so here – i do have thoughts on the matter!

as you mentioned, it's difficult to tell with characters that aren't human, because you can't call something 'neurodivergent' if the bases for their neurotypical-ity are not the ones by which we measure this stuff. so, to me, ALL non-human characters are neurodivergent-coded. they may not be neurodivergent, technically speaking (like how you mentioned, maybe all dragons are just like zl), but to us, they read as such. so, coded. ultimately i do think there is merit in labeling them as neurodivergent because, even if they, again, technically aren't; we are going to run into problems if we attempt to treat them as neurotypical, so we might as well say yeah, neurodivergent. it is also kinda correct anyway – they do diverge from us. that's a fact. it's like saying dogs are colorblind. if all dogs see in the same range, then you can't say your dog in specific is colorblind (unless it actually is but that's beside the point); but compared to us, from our perspective, for what it matters to us and how that will translate into how we treat them then yes! dogs are colorblind! i think i mentioned it once in conjunction with characters like alhaitham. to me, zhongli is neurodivergent-coded, while alhaitham is neurodivergent straight-up. because (as far as we know) he's human, so his brain should, in theory, be like ours.

as for which flavor of neurodivergency zl is coded to have in specific i would agree with you on autism! but then again, i'm not an expert on these things, i don't know the exact ins and outs and the specific characteristics that constitute an autistic character – i just write them the way i perceive them, with the quirks i perceive them to have. not to get preachy but i think that's the better way to write characters in general, since that's how real people work, after all. people with autism aren't born fitting some parameters that will make them autistic – they're born with specific quirks that we then interpret as autism, and even then you don't necessarily get two people having the exact same experience with this. most of these terms are umbrella terms regardless as to how well-defined or how big or small the umbrella is.

so yeah!

[needysweetheartoverdose]

AIMING FOR A SPECIFIC F/O THIS TIME. give me more 4 Xiao chi. 🍄‍🟫🌸💌 (<- I'll have to check the other recent ask game to see what to send)

YIPPEE!!!! ME WHEN TALL DOCTOR

🍄‍🟫 Does your f/o have any little quirks or habits that you find endearing? Do you have any quirks or habits your f/o finds endearing?

Chi thinks out loud a LOT. He's constantly quietly mumbling to himself as he tries to logic out whatever he's working on which is just so cute to me,,,, He has a tendency to rub his thumb against the side of his fingers when his hands are unoccupied which?? Aww!!!!

I have this weird way of laughing I got from my mom where if something is funny but won't make me laugh out loud, I just kinda. Hiss? I guess?? I do that "tssss" thing where your tongue is against your teeth and you just let out air. I think he enjoys that :)

🌸 If your f/o was a flower, what would they be? If you don't think a flower fits them, feel free to expand to plants or trees!

My first thought was rice lily:

(I might be biased cause we have them in Oregon hehehe) but the symbolism they have, both "love" and "curse", is specifically Japanese, coming from hanakotoba. And Chi is. Chinese. So it feels maybe a little weird to pick that. So I will instead go with blooddrops!

There's no real reason, the symbolism (painful recollection and sorrowful remembrances) doesn't really fit him, I just think it looks nice and it'd be cute in his hair :) plus like. Blooddrop is an objectively banger name for a flower. It has several others which are also super cool

💌 If your f/o wrote you a letter, what would their writing style be like? What is their handwriting like? Would they use fancy stationary? Maybe normal notebook paper? What about a wax seal? (If your f/o has already written you a letter (or letters!), describe what the letter was like!)

OH BOY DO I HAVE AN ANSWER! May I present to you...

CURSIVE MANDARIN!

Or more specifically, cursive Mandarin written by a doctor. From what I've read, even native speakers have difficulty parsing this. But several have confirmed that this is accurate, both those who have seen their prescriptions and those who have doctors in their family. Chi was a doctor up until being diagnosed with DID and institutionalized, there's no way his writing WOULDN'T look like this

As for personality/style, I think he'd be fine at switching off the medical speak and going casual, despite the usual stereotype of cold clinical writing from all doctors all the time. He's chill! He can vibe!!

The question is just. Can I read his messages. 😬

[durgeapologist]

Hey! Sorry if this is weird. I'm not sure who else to ask. I read somewhere on twitter that Fang killed themself??? Is this true??? I've messaged them on here and on discord but it doesn't seem like they've been online at all and I'm worried 😶

hey! what the fuck 😀

no??? it's not even close to being true???? fang is very much so alive and well. exhibit a:

i fear this once again proves the unreliability of twt as a source of information

[lafiametta]

I was re reading that headcanon about Igor having to go back to Russia for a bit (and Ani thinking it's for real) I can totally picture her going to meet him at the airport when he returns. She tries to be nonchalant (with a sign that says hunchback weirdo) but the second she sees him she drops it, barrelling through the crowd to get to him, knocking him over. Wanna paint the pictures for us? 🥰

Seriously, this fits in so perfectly with the whole scenario, because of course she’s so excited that he’s coming back but she wants to play it off like it’s some big joke. After some small roundabout questions she figures out which flight he’s going to be on, and then she goes to the store and buys some poster board and writes out HUNCHBACK WEIRDO in all caps. She’s got a black blazer in the back of her closet and with that and some dark sunglasses and her hair up in a ponytail she’ll look just like a driver sent to meet him—and it will be hilarious because everyone’s going to watch as he has to walk up to her while she’s holding the sign.

She gets to JFK fifteen minutes before his flight is scheduled to land and waits outside security and every time a big group of people come out she gets ready and makes her face totally serious and stands up straight, the sign held right in front of her. Only he doesn’t come out. She waits and waits and checks the arrival board again—his flight has landed, so where the hell is he? For a minute she gets panicked that maybe he never got on the flight at all, that somehow he got detained and he’s not going to be able to get back. Letting the sign hang at her side, she stops an airline employee with an official-looking badge to see if he knows what where the passengers from the Istanbul flight are. The guy tells her that everyone’s still clearing customs and asks if the person she’s waiting for is a US citizen or not. When she says no, he makes it clear that in that case, the wait at customs and immigration is going to take even longer.

So it’s another hour and still no sight of him and now she’s even more worried. She’s about to go find someone else—or maybe try to page him on those white courtesy phones or whatever the fuck they are—when she sees the top of a very familiar shaved head emerging from the security doors. The sign is totally forgotten—who fucking cares about the stupid joke anymore?—and she just starts running, almost colliding with a couple of people on the way, until she finally reaches him.

Igor’s smiling because he sees her too, and he’s got the presence of mind to drop his big duffel on the ground before she jumps into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist. Her hair’s escaping the ponytail and he’s staggering a little at the force with which she ran at him, but none of that matters as they kiss, both of them grinning like idiots, the weeks they’ve been apart melting away like it was nothing at all.

[triptychofvoids]

kinda love that people genuinely come to you for health advice and you earnestly answer them, thank you for your work

aheh gern gesehen, its what im here for!

[dollelujah]

my favorite feature of the "boomerfication of gen z" is how they use the tiktok comments section as a search bar the way their grandparents use the facebook or twitter status

You could make a whole video about the 1960s space race and the comments will be full of "who is buzz aldrin" and "what's sputnik"

Like I know google ain't what she used to be but these are questions that could very much be answered by switching apps for 30 seconds

[pandorias-box]

🔎: last 5 search queries

pokemon training advice

alolan myths

sligoogle maps

why does my head hurt

useful alolan phrases

[lakemichigans]

you can't research shit anymore without google plastering the suicide hotline above every article and only showing you web pages from rehab facilities that never go into detail about anything because you have to pay for that shit 🙄

[beannary]

Uhm hi, I just would like to give a quick bit VERY important PSA, /lotsssuhtummedyumms, from what I've read up on is dangerous to minors and an art thief, I've already blocked them but I just really need to tell other artists about it, I've pinned a post explaining more, but you can search the account aswell. I've been sending asks to multiple other artists, but could others also help. I just want to make sure everyone knows, do report if they interact, then block aswell

Hi there! thank you so much for letting me know!

Just to be completely transparent, I've only done the briefest of research into this guy, so I am certainly not an expert into everything that he's done and all of the accusations that have been made against him, but from what I have seen he is not a guy that I would like to be associating with so I will be blocking him.

[lil-melody-moon]

*types two questions in google, like your typical writer*

1: Is it easy to break someone's nose?

2: How the fuck do you name a chapter?

[azeroishere]

At this point, I'm just too tired to educate people who say "slightly" transphobic/homophobic/misogynistic stuff and ask questions.

There are so many sources to educate yourself and you just choose random people on the internet to answer your questions?

I do appreciate people questioning, but literally the sources are right there, you should just try to find a reliable source.

[astralsys]

hi again been a bit... uhhh why'd I wanna make this again? oh right talking about random shit. I do wanna get back into some things I left off with some friends of mine, but due to being me and it being a very hard existence things didnt go as planned and I kinda dropped it and lost interest.... which really sucks cause I have so many ideas for where I wanted to take my story ( working on a kirby au of sorts havent sorted out through the entire thing cause my brain doesnt wanna work with me :/ ) that I wanted to actually bring into existence instead of it all just being in my head or a rough draft. maybe I can push myself into gaining interest again by actually working on it again. what I had orginally thought up is no longer what I wanna go with so new things are hard to come up with. off topic from that I have so many fucking games I need to get back to and the game list keeps getting bigger and bigger its gonna drown me at some point :( whyyyyy do I keep doing this to myself.... doom I'm dooming myself this is what I'm doing. and cause I'm me I'm def gonna be forgetting that I made this post in the first place! dont you love being this mess of a person? isnt this FUN?!

[greensaplinggrace]

do people not read the notes of a post anymore before they comment? what happened to thinking before you speak

[croquettish]

Sexuality, Acceptability, Risk, and Medieval Bohemia

Someone commented on my Hansry fic recently about how a good number of fics in this fandom apparently feature the sort of modern protestant homophobia emblematic of the United States. This was baffling to me.

More recently I've seen a bit of backlash against this rather normative, America-centric approach to the historical homophobia (deeply entrenched in Catholicism, mind you) that they would have been subject to back then. And, as is quite normal with the internet, naturally the pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction. Jokes were made and then taken seriously by others. I've now seen sentiments floating around like "oh they wouldn't have cared at all," (not on tumblr) which is wild to me.

My doctoral studies have to do with queerness in the High Middle Ages, so seeing as I've spent the last several years of my life living on archive.org, knee-deep in this research, I feel like it's my academic responsibility to correct the record some. As usual, the answer lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.

All my sources are listed in the text (in the case of art) or at the very end of the post. For those of you just interested in what all of this means for Hansry, feel free to jump down to the purple heading.

I will start by saying that the "queer medieval utopia" you're looking for didn't exist. The closest you're going to get to that is the late 11th century / early 12th century, and even then there were limits to this general social acceptability. Paris and Florence were commonly considered to be gay dens of iniquity by people outside of those places, but even that was a bit of an exaggeration.

So where does this misconception come from?

Within the Catholic landscape, the body was considered separate from the spirit. Only one's "mystic sensorium" was supposed to be involved in spiritual intercourse with Christ and each other, and the overlap of the real and the ideal was… problematic at times, a genuine threat to chastity. Physical affection was meant to not broach certain limits. Kissing was acceptable. Metaphors were acceptable. In ancient Christianity, it was normal for women to kiss other women and for men to kiss other men as part of mass in the name of exchanging the kiss of peace, the pax. The idea here was to meet with the Spirit of Christ. Ambrose likened it to "lovers who, unsatisfied with the mere enjoyment of the lips, kiss so deeply as to interchange their spirits with one another." Which is all well and good, but this leaves a lot of leeway. How much physical affection was considered acceptable?

Anselm, the closest thing we have to a gay man of this time, would write things like this, in this case a letter addressed to two biological brothers that he hoped to join him in the monastic life:

"My eyes long to see your faces most beloved; my arms stretch out to your embraces; my lips long for your kisses; whatever remains to me of life desires your company . . . . Oh, how my love burns in my marrow . . . . [In coming to Bec] you have fused my soul with yours. If you now leave me, our joint soul will be torn apart, it can never again become two."

He had never met them before, nor should this suggest that they were about to enter a sexual relationship. In fact, around this time we see quite a few such expressions of affection coming out of the monastic space. Alcuin, writing to Arno of Salzburg, felt entirely comfortable writing that his love could not be prevented, even in the face of death, from licking Arno's innermost parts, a reference here (most likely) to Christ's side wound. In another letter, Alcuin is even more overt:

"It is exquisitely sweet to remember your love and intimacy, holy father; I wish the dear moment would come when I might embrace the shoulders of your love with the arms of my longing for you. . . . with what speedy hands I would rush into your fatherly embrace, with what pressing lips I would kiss not only your eyes and ears and mouth, but each knuckle of each finger, of each toe, not once, but many, many times!"

It would be extremely easy to assume that these letters suggested more than meets the eye, but historically speaking, as far as we know, this was not the case. Because this level of affection was considered to be in line with the "Christian" thing to do between brothers (no, I'm not joking). And there were harsh punishments if you breached these limits. Bear in mind, these letters could easily be seen by others!

Moreover, it should be noted that we don't see this level of affection outside of the monastic space (though it does still come up, albeit to a much lesser extent). You can think of it as code switching, essentially. Verbiage that would be considered insanely sexual in one space would not be considered as such within a monastic context prior to the shift in the 12th century.

Some scholars suggested that the use of such language implies ignorance or naivety about how this physical affection could look to the outside world, but we do know that Anselm at one point became worried enough that he might be misunderstood that he censored himself after leaving Bec for Canterbury. Even if his inclinations were chaste, he knew they could be viewed through the lens of homosexuality.

The ideal sexual state for a person to be in at this time was rooted in asceticism: chastity in the face of desire. You'd think asexuality would be a quick workaround for that, but unfortunately the lack of desire would just mean a lack of necessary effort on that person's part. Bear in mind, suffering is what's rewarded here. A gay man plagued with homosexual desires is just being tested by God. By denying himself those desires, he's rising in the ranks of holiness. A great example of this is Brother Lucas from KCD1:

According to the Rule of Pachomius, kissing boys on the lips was forbidden and punished by whipping, imprisonment, fasting, shaving, and six months of humiliation. In Fructuosus of Braga's Rule, a monk kissing or even being "too attentive to young men or boys would result in a very similar six month sentence as well as six additional months of manual labor, separated from his brethren, always under watch of at least two spiritual brothers. Never again was he allowed to enjoy private conversation or companionship with those younger than him.

"But Tam!" you might say. "This is just about monks! What about real people?"

I'm so glad you asked! Because we know that as well!

Penitentials, which were quite in vogue until around the 11th century and then again after the passing of Lateran IV in the early 13th century, were very punishing of all manner of sexuality, but especially homosexual acts, and, among them, especially oral sex. (The mouth is considered, to a certain extent, sacred. Don't ask me why, that alone is like twenty pages in my dissertation, though I could be lowballing tbh.) The Penitential of Theodore punishes it with 7 years of harsh penance and 15 years if the practice is habitual. Sometimes, however, it was "until the end of life" and considered to be the "worst evil," worse than fornication with one's mother. Harsh!

Ye olde penitentials were used as guidelines for later confession as well as those from before the 12th century. Conveniently for us, the late, great James A. Brundage came up with a fantastic chart/guide on when and how it was acceptable to have sex at all:

Did people follow this? My god, absolutely not. We wouldn't have the confessional records if this wasn't a problem in the realm of ~sin. But the guidelines were there and expected to be adhered to.

Don't get me wrong, the late 11th / early 12th century was a watershed moment in history in terms of overall acceptability of queerness, a time when Ovid and other Ovidian literature flourished. Punishments were rarely enforced. But the come-down from that era led us to a very rough landing. Lateran III kicked off the official canon ratification of outlawing homosexuality explicitly, and this, together with the outlawing of clerical marriage and the sudden flourishing of courtly love as a genre, led to a very dramatic shift in society from homosocial to heterosexual (which is, incidentally, what my dissertation is about).

The long 12th century was a red letter event in terms of history, not least because some of history's most notorious homophobes spread their ideas like wildfire. I am, of course, talking about Alain de Lille, renowned author of De planctu Naturae ("The Complaint of Nature"), which reminded everyone that homosexuality was against nature, and Peter Damian, who doesn't even deserve being commented on. The idea of homosexuality being "against nature" was far from new. The early church fathers like Augustine and Jerome condemned it pretty outrightly, and in the 13th century St. Thomas Aquinas was more than happy to further entrench the idea. Here, sodomy disrupts nature so much as to dissolve the soul.

We saw this in literature as well. Dante's Divine Comedy (early 14th c) slapped sodomites into the 7th layer of hell, but a real standout here is the Debate Between Ganymede and Helen, where the two have a very lengthy argument wherein she convinces Ganymede (often associated with homosexuality) that heterosexuality is infinitely superior to the alternative. She throws in such lovely arguments as insisting that he at least respect Nature, that he's been deceived by well-disguised filth, that he's been squandering his love between the thighs of men, and that he's been treating himself like human garbage as a result. In the end, he suddenly sees his crime for what it is, and the gods agree with him, stating that they've now also come to their senses. Sodomy is thus left behind by the gods and the choir swells in cheer at this tremendous success.

Canon law more or less exclusively had its grubby little fingers in the pies of what was and wasn't deemed acceptable in terms of sex until about the early-14th c, while afterward the government was delighted to also get involved in your bedroom activities. Particularly in the late 14th century homosexuality was increasingly legislated against, and in increasingly brutal ways at that. This wonderful and not at all problematic marriage of church and state is how we ended up with the Trials of the Knights Templar.

Let's say you're King Philip IV. The people have been revolting, you're running low on funds, you owe the Templars as it is, and you have a penchant for pogroms. You want money and land. What do you do? Well, naturally you write a letter to the pope about how you have all these horrible suspicions about these people you employ and who have come to your aid quite often!

Boy, oh boy! Wasn't that a fun time for them. Before, they'd been well-respected and well-off, supported by the king, with zero doubt in their respectability. Naturally, it all came tumbling down with that letter. Because the investigation was ready to find them at fault for something no matter what, under pain of torture of course. There's a particularly striking letter from a father to his daughter, written during the Bamberg witch trials (much later), wherein he explained that, after a particularly rough torture session, the executioner pulled him aside and told him this: "Sir, I beg you, for God's sake confess something, whether it be true or not. Invent something, for you cannot endure the torture which you will be put to; and, even if you bear it all, yet you will not escape, not even if you were an earl, but one torture will follow after another until you say you are a witch. Not before that will they let you go, as you may see by all their trials, for one is just like another."

Were the Templars recreationally homosexual? Maybe. For their sake, I sure hope so, because then they might have at least had some fun before going out. But either way, they were arrested, their territory, funds, and belongings seized, were convicted of heresy, sodomy, and black magic, and eventually burned at the stake. Two men were later burned at the stake as relapsed heretics after saying that they'd only confessed under duress and were actually innocent.

It even led to fun art like this one in 1350:

De Longuyon, Jacques. Voeux du Paon Manuscript. 1350. Morgan Library and Museum, New York. G.24 fol. 70r.

It was also around this time also that homosexuality was increasingly associated not only with heresy, but also with bestiality, suggesting that this crime against nature was effectively also a crossing of special boundaries (species-based, not extraordinary). In line with this, while homage to one's liege used to be sworn with a kiss on the lips (!!), over the course of the 14th century that was summarily done away with as well in a change that quite frankly swept across Europe (and we all wept).

In 1327, Edward II, who had a few boyfriends, was supposedly murdered by having a red hot poker shoved up his rectum. Even if this didn't happen, the chroniclers wanted us to believe it, and knowing what we do about Edward's sexual proclivities, it seems like this was a Statement if nothing else.

Where Bologna used to punish homosexuality with a fine, after the late 13th century the punishment was death by burning. The Portuguese, meanwhile, castrated convicted homosexuals and then, three days later, had them hanged by the feet until dead. In Siena, death by hanging was also the answer, but in this case, it was hanging by the dick until dead (not kidding). A particularly horrifying case was this one, happening just six years after when KCD canon takes place:

Which reminds us that this was most likely an issue that very much associated the clergy (known to be corrupt, especially around this time!). You'll recall the little comments made about this in the game, like Godwin casually committing heresy in front of the whole crew. "Do you think you need a priest for God to hear you?" Well geez, Godwin, according to the Catholic Church, you sure as shit fucking do! What a fantastic and not at all risky thing to say!

(Sidenote, this one is particularly upsetting to me personally in a fandom context because, not only is Augsburg not far from Bohemia, it really reminds me of the many associations between Hans and a caged bird.)

All of which isn't to say that sodomy didn't take place. Boy did it fucking ever. A great example of this comes from out of Switzerland, where, in 1475, a priest reportedly told his lover that "if everybody who committed [the act of sodomy] was burnt at the stake, not even fifty men would survive in Basel." ("Vnd solt man alle die so das tuend verbrennen, es bliben nit funffzig mannen jn Basel.") So, 1% of Basel. This is almost certainly a massive fucking exaggeration that this man pulled out of his ass in order to convince his partner that sodomy is fine, actually, but it does tell us something about the perception, if not the actual prevalence of sodomy in urban centers. (So, you know, if anyone needs to justify that Jadder have fucked at least once, if not more… when in Kuttenberg...)

It should be noted that Basel was very lax in terms of punishing homosexuality, but that was by and large not the most common outcome, as homosexuality was generally associated with divine punishment (I'm sure you've heard that drivel yourself before even in the modern day). Hilariously, it was the generally held belief that if someone learned of "the vice against nature" they'd naturally want to do it, and so priests were advised never to talk about it, even to preach.

So then, what does this mean for Hansry and co?

It means that this was at worst very much a fucking crime that you could very much be convicted for, in brutal fucking fashion at times, and at best the quiet part that you don't say out loud. But even then, it was fucking risky. Riskier if you're a member of the clergy (do recall how worried Brother Lucas was about his secret getting out, despite having never committed the sin himself), but risky even if you're not. All you have to do to see this reflected in canon is to look at Barnaby, the herbalist/hermit. As he explained it, he turned down a girl, she complained to her brother, and "he put two and two together":

Remember how I said that homosexuality was increasingly associated with bestiality? I find Barnaby's word choice fascinating here. Animals like him.

Of course, he beat them up and thus... uh, was able to survive:

Not that it didn't massively affect his quality of life. There's a reason he's a hermit! After all, he was unwelcome no matter where he went, no doubt because the brother and his friends ensured that this knowledge spread:

You might say, oh, it's different among the nobility! And to a certain extent, you're correct. Talking to the scribe in Troskowitz, he at one point gets to a part in the story about George the Lion of Wartenberg where he says this:

And then later, at the banquet where Hans loses his mind from jealousy, it comes up quite a lot in the conversation with Black Bartosch. First, he brings up Florian of Lomnitz:

And then, of course, we get the legendary conversation that follows, where the comment about Florian's sexuality makes Henry question Bartosch about his own:

It's soooo subtle. So, so easy to turn to plausible deniability. If anyone questions it, you can easily argue that your intentions were entirely chaste. And Henry can ignore it or even outright respond with a claim of heterosexuality:

But he can't question it like he can with the scribe:

Where the scribe then brushes it off as nothing and refuses to elaborate:

Even here this is a case of IYKTYK, like homosexuality is a club and in order to enter you have to know what's up. Because if you don't know and have to be informed, that presents a risk, namely that of suspicion being cast on you. Why do you know this information? What were you doing at this sodomitical devil's sacrament?

Honestly, at least among the nobility I'd liken it a bit to prohibition, but on a much less... widespread level. Oh, and literally everyone and anyone could be a cop. You could get away with it until you were caught. The risk was just a lot more pronounced. Even with Edward II the consequence of the very accurate rumors surrounding his sex life was public denunciation and possibly a poker up his ass. And if you're a noble involved with a commoner, multiply the risk exponentially, which is unfortunately relevant for both Hansry and Jamuel. If it really was as casually acceptable as some people claim it to have been (again, not on tumblr, I'm not here to stir up drama), I think Henry wouldn't have necessarily pushed Hans away, nor do I think they would have been as careful in their end-game conversation about what they do and don't say.

If anyone has any questions on this, tangentially-related topics, my sources, or literally anything else, by all means feel free to ask. I have the resources at my fingertips and the research very much at the forefront of my mind and will for the foreseeable future. On request, I've also added a list of further reading after my list of sources if anyone is curious to learn more of this for themselves.

Sources used:

Abraham, Erin V. Anticipating Sin in Medieval Society: Childhood, Sexuality, and Violence in the Early Penitentials, Amsterdam University Press, 2021

Anselm. The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury. Translated by Walter Fröhlich, Cistercian Publications, 1990.

Brundage, James A. Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe. University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Dronke, Peter. Medieval Latin and the Rise of the European Love-Lyric, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 1965.

Major, J. Russell. “‘Bastard Feudalism’ and the Kiss: Changing Social Mores in Late Medieval and Early Modern France.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 17, no. 3, 1987, pp. 509–35. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/204609. 

Mills, Robert. Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages. University of Chicago Press, 2015

Moore, R. I. The War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe. Profile Books, 2014.

Murray, Jacqueline, and Konrad Eisenbichler, editors. Desire and Discipline: Sex and Sexuality in the Premodern West. University of Toronto Press, 1996.

Perella, Nicolas J. The Kiss Sacred and Profane: An Interpretative History of Kiss Symbolism and Related Religio-Erotic Themes. University of California Press, 1969.

Puff, Helmut. “Localizing Sodomy: The ‘Priest and Sodomite’ in Pre-Reformation Germany and Switzerland.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 8, no. 2, 1997, pp. 165–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3704215.

Puff, Helmut. Lust, Angst Und Provokation: Homosexualität in Der Gesellschaft. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1993.

Southern, R.W., Saint Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Stehling, Thomas. Medieval Latin Poems of Male Love and Friendship. Garland Pub, 1984.

Recommended further reading:

Bailey, Derrick Sherwin. Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition. Archon Books, 1975. Originally published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1955.

Barbezat, Michael D. “Bodies of Spirit and Bodies of Flesh: The Significance of the Sexual Practices Attributed to Heretics from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 25, no. 3, 2016, pp. 387–419. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44862359. 

Brundage, James A. "Playing by the Rules: Sexual Behaviour and Legal Norms in Medieval Europe". Desire and Discipline: Sex and Sexuality in the Premodern West, edited by Konrad Eisenbichler and Jacqueline Murray, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442673854-004

Bullough, Vern L. “Heresy, Witchcraft, and Sexuality.” Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 1, no. 2, 3 Mar. 1976, pp. 183–199, https://doi.org/10.1300/j082v01n02_03.

---. “The Sin against Nature and Homosexuality.” Sexual Practices & the Medieval Church, edited by Vern L. Bullough and James A. Brundage, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1994, pp. 55–71.

Bullough, Vern L., and James A. Brundage, editors. Handbook of Medieval Sexuality. Garland Publishing, 1996.

---, editors. Sexual Practices & the Medieval Church. Prometheus Books, 1994.

Burger, Glenn, and Steven F. Kruger, editors. Queering the Middle Ages. NED-New edition, vol. 27, University of Minnesota Press, 2001. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctttszw5.

Clark, David. Between Medieval Men: Male Friendship and Desire in Early Medieval English Literature . Oxford University Press, 2009.

Dinshaw, Carolyn. Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern. Duke University Press, 1999.

Fradenburg Louise, et al., editors. Premodern Sexualities. Routledge, 1995.

Frassetto, Michael. Heresy and the Persecuting Society in the Middle Ages: Essays on the Work of R.I. Moore. Brill, 2006.

Gilbert, Arthur N. “Conceptions of Homosexuality and Sodomy in Western History.” The Gay Past: A Collection of Historical Essays, edited by Salvatore J. Licata and Robert P. Petersen, Harrington Press, New York, NY, 1985, pp. 57–68.

Goodich, Michael. “Sodomy in Ecclesiastical Law and Theory.” Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 1, no. 4, 20 June 1976, pp. 427–434, https://doi.org/10.1300/j082v01n04_06.

---. “Sodomy in Medieval Secular Law.” Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 1, no. 3, 20 June 1976, pp. 295–302, https://doi.org/10.1300/j082v01n03_04.

---. The Unmentionable Vice Homosexuality in the Later Medieval Period. Ross-Erikson, 1979.

Jordan, Mark D. The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology. University of Chicago Press, 1997.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. “Attitudes to Same-Sex Sexual Relations in the Latin World.” A Companion to Crime and Deviance in the Middle Ages, edited by Hannah Skoda, Arc Humanities Press, 2023, pp. 84–101. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.3716022.9. 

---. From Boys to Men: Formations of Masculinity in Late Medieval Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.

---. “The Regulation of ‘Sodomy’ in the Latin East and West.” Speculum, vol. 95, no. 4, 1 Oct. 2020, pp. 969–986, https://doi.org/10.1086/710639.

---. Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing unto Others. Routledge, 2012.

Kruger, Steven F. “Queer Middle Ages.” The Ashgate Research Companion to Queer Theory, 1st ed., Routledge, New York, NY, 2009, pp. 413–434.

Kuefler, Mathew, editor. The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Lees, Clare A., et al. Medieval Masculinities: Regarding Men in the Middle Ages. University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

Pierce, Rosamond. “The ‘Frankish’ Penitentials.” Studies in Church History, vol. 11, 1975, pp. 31–39, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0424208400006276. 

***Please note: my omission of Boswell's CSTH here is entirely intentional. I know that if people here got a hold of him he'd be considered a tumblr darling, easy. If I could, I would wear merch with his name on it. And normally I would list him loudly and proudly. But I'm not, because the man loved reading into things that at times aren't there, and there are countless critiques that have been leveled against CSTH, many of which Boswell himself agreed with. So. If the general tumblr population wasn't constantly pissing on the poor I might trust it in their hands, but as it is, I know that nuance is lost on people!

(would you believe me if I said I tried to restrain myself in curating this list? no?? well I DID)

[uhuhmaries]

Just One More Question, Mr. Stan | S.S.

Warnings...... another smut, of course. Let me COOK! Romanian Accent kink... 🙂‍↕️ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹

The lights are blinding, but you've done this before. Professional, composed, mic'd up. You smooth your notes out of habit, crossing your legs as the floor manager counts you in.

"Interview with Sebastian Stan. Thunderbolts press tour. Keep it sharp, playful, not too thirsty."

Too late for that last one. He’s already sitting across from you — blue eyes watching, hands folded, that damn smirk tucked just at the corner of his mouth like he knows something you don’t.

“And we’re rolling in three… two…”

The red light goes on.

“Today, we’re joined by none other than Sebastian Stan— star of Marvel’s upcoming Thunderbolts,” you say, all smiles and charisma. “Welcome back.”

He leans forward slightly. “Thanks for having me. I feel like I’m always here when something explodes.”

You chuckle. “Well, with this cast, I’d say you’re the least dangerous one.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” he murmurs.

There’s a flicker in his gaze, just for a second. You move on quickly, asking about stunts, returning cast-mates, his workout routine— all the pre-approved, polished questions. He answers like a pro, charming and funny, but not too much. That balance only seasoned actors pull off.

Until you go off-script.

“Okay, so— Mr. Stan…” You glance up, lips quirking. “You know I have to ask. The fans love it when you do the Romanian accent.”

He gives a small laugh, head tilting. “Oh, do they?”

“Apparently it breaks the internet every time. So—” you lean in slightly, tone teasing, “for research purposes… could you say something? Anything.”

He watches you. Like really watches you.

Your breath tightens when his voice drops, smooth and deliberate: “Îți place cum sună, nu?” (You like how it sounds, don’t you?)

Your body betrays you—you absolutely cannot hold up a conversation in Romanian but you do know a few words and sentences, picking up from movies, shows, music, etc.

You slightly twitch— the way your knees shift, spine tenses, lips part. It lasts no longer than a heartbeat. But it’s enough.

He doesn’t miss it. You see it in the way his lips twitch, the way his eyes narrow with sudden, dangerous amusement. You’re sure your face is still composed, but something inside you is not.

Sebastian chuckles softly, leaning back, voice still velvet.

“You alright over there?” “Oh, I’m great,” you lie.

The rest of the interview is a blur. You do your job— ask questions, smile, wrap it up. But your skin feels too warm. Your thoughts, disjointed. He thanks you like a gentleman, and the crew claps. You unclip your mic, standing to stretch.

The floor clears quickly. You’re packing your notes, distracted, when a low voice behind you says:

“You didn’t answer my question.”

You spin.

Sebastian stands at the edge of the set, hands in his pockets, just watching. The studio’s mostly empty now. His team? Gone. Apparently, he told them he’d stay back for business.

Your pulse jumps. “What question?”

“That one in Romanian.” He takes a slow step toward you. “Îți place cum sună?” (Do you like how it sounds?)

You try to laugh it off. “You’re really going to interrogate me after I just grilled you for twenty minutes?”

He doesn’t smile. Instead, he closes the distance until he’s inches away.

“You tensed up when I said it,” he murmurs. “Thought I didn’t notice?”

“I—” you start, but he cuts you off, voice low:

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

There’s a pause. He breathes in through his nose, gaze darkening.

“Jesus.” You can’t tell if it’s frustration or temptation.

“You?” you ask, even though you know.

“Forty-two.” A beat. “This isn’t smart.”

“Probably not.”

His smile sharpens. “You into older men, then?”

You nod before you can stop yourself. It’s the truth. “I am.”

He exhales like he’s just made a decision. The next moment, his hand is on your jaw, thumb brushing your lip. “That why you got all squirmy when I talked like that? You want the older guy with the sharp suit and the accent to bend you over the desk?”

You gasp, breath caught in your throat. “I didn’t say—”

“You didn’t have to.”

And then he kisses you.

It’s not sweet. It’s rough, hungry, like he’s been waiting all interview to do it. His mouth claims yours, warm and commanding, tongue sliding against yours as his hand fists in your hair.

You grip his jacket for balance, moaning into him when he presses you back against the wall behind the interview set.

“You should stop me,” he breathes against your lips.

“I don’t want to.”

That’s all he needs.

Sebastian lifts you effortlessly, hands strong under your thighs, and you wrap around him instinctively. He drops you onto the interview couch like you weigh nothing. His jacket comes off, followed by yours. His hands roam over your body, precise and possessive.

“You’re trembling,” he says, almost pleased.

“You’re—fucking intense.” You whimper.

His laugh is dark. “Wait until I’m inside you.”

You gasp as he kisses your neck, hot and biting. He murmurs something in Romanian against your skin.

“Te voi strica pentru toți ceilalți.” (I’m going to ruin you for everyone else.)

You shiver violently.

“Fuck,” you whisper. “Say that again.”

He does — slower, darker. And then he's between your thighs, pulling your clothes down, leaving a trail of kisses along your inner thigh.

“You’re soaked,” he murmurs, fingers sliding through your folds. “Is that for me?”

“Yes—fuck—Sebastian—”

“You’re not gonna forget this.” He slides two fingers in, curling perfectly. “I’m gonna make sure of it.”

His mouth replaces his fingers a moment later, tongue flattening against your clit, working you with precision. You moan — loud, raw, no longer caring who might be nearby.

“You taste so fucking sweet,” he growls, voice vibrating against you. “Keep moaning. Let them hear how good I make you come.”

Your orgasm hits fast, sharp, wracking through you as he sucks you through it.

But he’s not done.

He undoes his belt with a dark look and pulls his cock free— thick, hard, flushed at the tip.

Your eyes widen. “Holy fuck.”

“You can still take it, right?” he teases, lining up. “You’re a big girl.”

You nod, breathless.

“Good.”

And then he thrusts in.

The stretch burns in the best way, and he gives you no time to adjust, setting a punishing rhythm that has your hands clawing at his back.

“Fuck, you feel like heaven,” he growls. “Ruining you already.”

Every thrust drives his point home— this is not some lazy hookup. He’s wrecking you on purpose, fucking you so thoroughly that no one will compare.

You cry out when he hits that spot again and again, hands gripping your thighs wide open.

“Come for me again,” he orders, voice hoarse. “Let me feel it. I need to feel you fall apart.”

You do—shaking, crying his name, scratching down his arms. He groans, hips stuttering.

“Gonna fill you up,” he rasps. “Gonna fuck my cum into you so deep you dream about it.”

And he does—thick, hot, hips buried deep as he groans your name into your shoulder. You feel every pulse of it inside you, raw and real.

After, there’s only silence and heavy breathing.

He stays inside you for a moment, forehead against yours.

“You okay?” he asks, softer now. You nod, dazed. “I’ve never—no one’s ever—”

“I know.”

He pulls out slowly, careful, and helps clean you with a laugh when you nearly collapse trying to stand.

“Ruined?” he asks with a smirk.

“Destroyed,” you whisper. “Absolutely fucked.”

He kisses your cheek, then your mouth. Tender, this time.

“Good. Now maybe next time…” he murmurs by your ear, “you’ll ask me to speak Romanian sooner.”

⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹ ࣪ ˖₊˚⊹⋆ ⊹

I LOVE SEB!!!!!!! AAAARGHHHHHHHHH