#Now all my major characters are bi basically and all is well

[kodasea]

AMA FILES #1 (2021)

[lemotmo]

This ask is all of us 😫 but also when you do put it in real job terms it's so embarrassing for him. Yikes.

Q. How did we get here? Seriously how did it get to this point? What the hell happened? I genuinely don't understand how he managed to start all of this. 🤣😭

A. I'm tired of talking about the cameo videos so I'm going to talk about them without talking about them, lol. I can't really figure out a good way to break it down so I'm going to use myself (as Lou in this scenario), my job (obviously 911 in this scenario), and my coworkers (the 911 cast) to try and break it down in a real world sense. I will use the character name that correlates instead of my actual coworkers names. So bear with me.

Let's say the firm I work for has a client and that client has a product (911) that they have made some modifications too (newly bi character). As a result my company needs to figure out a way to sell those modifications to the public. My company has a senior staff team (Bobby, Chimney, Hen, Buck and Eddie). My company also has a junior staff team (Ravi, Karen and Albert), I (Lou) am part of the junior staff team. Once in a while our boss (Tim) will assign a junior staff member to collaborate with, or help a member of the senior staff with working up a product launch or rebrand. In this case my boss has assigned me to work with Buck on this rebranding. Now normally Buck works with Eddie on his campaigns so Eddie is still a part of the team, I'm just basically Buck's assistant on this particular campaign. The pitch we come up with works pretty well and the client is happy with the overall result. I had nothing special to do with the success of the rebrand but I was a part of it. But a few of my coworkers liked the work I did and told me they would like to see more of my stuff. I'm not used to that particular kind of attention so I enjoy it for a bit. It's fun. No harm no foul. But at some point I decide that those coworkers are correct and I deserve a bigger role within my company. The problem is there are no openings on the senior staff. So I need my boss to believe that he should just create a position for me. So I get those coworkers to tell my boss that they want to see more of my work and he needs to give me a promotion that doesn't exist. My boss (again,Tim) tells them that there aren't any open positions that need to be filled, but thanks them for their enthusiasm for my work. But now I want that job that isn't really available so I tell those same coworkers to go above my boss's head and demand his boss create a position for me. His boss says the same thing, she did a great job but we don't need anyone. So that group of coworkers decide that they need to get Eddie moved to a different department so I can have his job. The problem with that is Eddie is very well liked by the staff as a whole. Our clients (the audience) like Eddie. They especially like his work with Buck. Buck is also not interested in working with anyone other than Eddie. So the idea doesn't go over well with most people. Besides the fact they all like Eddie there are other members of the junior staff (Karen and Ravi) who have been with the company longer and would be more deserving of a promotion, if one became available, than I am. But my friends and I disagree so my friends set out to try and turn the office against Eddie. They start bad mouthing him to our other clients. They spread rumors about him through the office. Some of them even start suggesting that maybe he and Buck are sleeping together and that's why Buck refuses to accept the idea of working with someone else. Things get so bad that the office splinters into two camps. The much larger pro Eddie camp, which includes Buck and the majority of our clients, and the much smaller pro me, (Lou) camp that is just louder and nastier. Forcing our boss to step in and condemn the smaller pro me camps behavior. Which now puts my boss, and his boss, in the position of deciding whether or not to keep me until my contract is up, so we can complete the original product plan, or go ahead and dismiss me from the company all together before completing the task, and just altering the original plan.

This is where we are.

This got insanely long, and maybe really confusing, I'm so sorry, but this is a real world version of what Lou basically did. And when you apply this tactic to a real life job scenario the level of absurdity is mind blowing. But, anon, this is how we got here. Essentially he started believing his own hype and opened a Pandora box he now cannot control and cannot close. So now we wait.

Thank you Nonny for dropping this in my inbox!

Now this was a great idea. If you put this in terms of jobs most people in fandom can understand and relate to, this kind of behaviour becomes even more unhinged.

Thank you for the time and effort to type this out Ali.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

So I don’t know if you know of Doug Walker, but recently released his Disneycember review of The Owl House.

While he praised a majority of the show, he criticized the main villain, Belos, of how he was written.

Many of the comments tried to defend the writing of the villain.

Doug Walker..

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Yes, I am very familiar with Doug Walker; I loved his stuff along with Channel Awesome years ago and then the allegations came out and fortunately, the other contributors on that channel moved onto bigger and better things. Meanwhile, Doug just stayed the same, so I don't watch his stuff anymore.

Any way, I think it's funny people are scrambling to defend Belos' writing because, despite my own personal opinions on Doug as a critic, I actually agree with him.

For a show that is ostensibly about subverting tropes and not judging a book by its cover, by showing how people can choose to change or not, etc. Belos is a throwback to an earlier era where the Big Bad had basic motivations and characterizations. And for a show like toh, that actually ends up hurting the narrative.

I have categorized the comments I found defending the writing and here are my responses to them:

Belos does have a deeper layer, you just have to look for it.

While a show can certainly foreshadow and provide little hints about a major character, eventually all of that setup will have to pay off somehow. There has to be a reveal both to reward the viewers that have been paying attention and to inform more casual viewers who may not have. Fans analyzing every little frame to extrapolate a major character's backstory only for that backstory to really not matter in the end despite it being set up for a season is just bad writing. full stop. [A viewer should also not have to look on social media for crucial information on a major character.]

It's also not clever that the show left so much room for interpretation on Belos; it just means that they didn't make a commitment to what was being set up and reduced his character to glib one-liners whenever we learn something interesting about him (Masha's "little bro was jealous of big bro" line and Papa Titan's whole spiel).

2. Belos would have been written better if the show had more time.

The Toh crew knew about the cancellation during production of Eda's Requiem and wrote all of 2B with it in mind. So they knew they were working on a time crunch but still introduced elements like the Collector when they should have spent the time wrapping up their story. The cancellation is not an excuse for sloppy writing.

3. Belos as a villain works more on a meta level.

So the argument here is that Belos is the antithesis to the BI; it's accepting and diverse while he is hateful and only accepts things that conform to his worldview. The characters in the story change and grow, while Belos does not. The problem here is that a villain can't only work on a meta level, it has to work on a narrative one as well.

If the BI is place that accepts weirdos then how did someone like Belos come to power? Oh, he lied his way to the top and created problems that never existed? That just makes your populace look dumb and easily manipulated. The BI being so accepting also undermines the threat credibility of the Emperor's Coven because why should we worry about them if they have no real influence over how the BI residents think or behave aside from when the plot needs them to?

Also, I strongly disagree with anyone who says that toh has a "people are complicated and choose to do good and bad" theme when all of the good characters can blame their bad actions on being manipulated or on circumstances outside of their control OR the narrative ignores/downplays anything bad they did (cough cough Amity and Lilith). Meanwhile, the villains are just shallow with basic motives and this is supposed to be a deep message about how Some People Are Just Bad.

If you're going to contrast why your good characters are capable of growth then you need to show why your villain does not. What is stopping them? How do they react if given a legitimate reason to change (that isn't a cheap jab at Steven Universe)? What is their justification for their actions?

Whatever the answer is, the narrative has to support it and not undermine it with a stupid joke.

4. Belos is so refreshing when every villain character is redeemed.

Watch more shows. If you think that every cartoon villain post-Steven Universe is being redeemed then you're incorrect. Redemption of a show or movie's Big Bad is still in the minority while the redemption of the main villain's lackey is a dime-a-dozen.

Ultimately, I think the problem with toh is that so many of its fans take its thematic statements at face value without ever really stopping to think about the execution of those themes and if they really work or not.

Belos just happens to embody this little trick that toh does: it claims to have bold and timely statements and important themes, but the structure and execution of the plot, character development, and world-building undermines any attempt at a consistent or coherent message.

[littledesertfox]

intro, I guess?

hii! I figured I should make a post like this even though I have a feeling it will be like super messy xD

I've had an interest in history, specifically World War II basically since I was a kid. It was only recently though that I found out that there's a community for it! I've always had a thing with expressing my interests in ways that may seem slightly odd to other people, so it feels nice to see that there are others who seem to experience this in similar ways :3

I want to make it very clear that I am NOT a nazi or rightwing in any way, and I don't want actual (neo-)nazis to interact with my blog, get the fuck out! Similarly, I don't want racists, lgbtq-phobes, ableists, religious extremists, pedos & zoos or people of similarly disgusting kind to interact! I'm literally queer and neurodivergent (undiagnosed/suspected bc getting a therapy place is hard :/), this is not a place for you!

+++

I've been a fan of the Downfall parodies on youtube when I was younger and recently relapsed into this fixation😭 I don't know if this fandom even really exists at this point since it seems that many creators have left in the meantime, but I'd love to talk about it, maybe I'll even get to write fanfics at some point. Also a short disclaimer that when I talk about historical figures that play a major role in the Downfall parody universe (such as Fegelein, Krebs, Burgdorf etc), it will usually be about their parody selves, not the real people! I'll try to clarify that individually if needed though.

I've also started lurking a little in the reichblr tag with a feeling that I'd describe as "indimidated fascination". Currently I'm mostly interested in some members of the Wehrmacht, but other historical figures that I had or have an interest in might come up as well. Overall any stuff that I post will probably go more into the lighthearted and humorous direction, but I'd love to bring in some more educational stuff as well.

My inbox is always open if you want to gush or ramble about your favourite historical figures or Downfall characters (both from the parodies and the movie itself) and such! Please talk to me about our shared faves😭🫶

+++

I get crushes on fictional characters and sometimes historical figures too, but that doesn't mean I support, condone or defend their worldviews or actions in any way (this applies especially to real people of course)! These "crushes" usually stem from a place of fascination with who they were behind their public appearance, I want to know more about them as a private person, like their hobbies, favourite food and other mundane things like that. Often it's also simply that I feel physically attracted to their appearance because I think they're handsome, either that or they give me massive gender envy (or both lmao). I don't really control on who I fixate like that, it just happens, but I hope that this will be a place for me to express those feelings in some way and find like-minded people. Though I also want to point out that not all my fixations are automatically also crushes! Usually I will mention whether they are or not, or you'll probably notice based on what kind of posts I make about them lol.

Current main historical fixations:

Erwin Rommel (I can't help it I just think he's cute ._.)

Fritz Bayerlein (he's the dude in my pfp lol, there's barely info about him but idk I just think he's kinda interesting😭 also yes he was actually bi)

Current main Downfall fixations:

Hans Krebs & Wilhelm Burgdorf (the otp ever)

Wilhelm Mohnke (ngl Downfall!Mohnke is kinda fine❤️‍🔥 ... idk maybe I'm just finding the actor hot though😭)

+++

If I encounter things that make me uncomfortable I follow common fandom courtesy and block tags or blogs accordingly. This is nothing personal, I'm just curating my own online space. I don't want to see any harassment here, neither towards myself nor to others!

Anyway I guess that's it for now? Idk if this is any good as an intro post but for now it'll have to do I guess😂 I'm generally not really sure yet in which direction to go with this blog (should it be more Downfall or reichblr focused? is there a lot of overlap between the fandoms? do they even get along? help😭). I also don't know how active I'll be in general, I'm also constantly jumping between thoughts like "yee this is gonna be fun" and "dafuq am I doing here I should feel ashamed about myself" but I hope to meet people who share my interests :3

[steamberrystudio]

05/11/2023

Hey everyone! Time for the bi-weekly tumblr update for Steamberry stuffs!

I feel like I have missed a few tumblr updates. I went back and the last one I can find is *dated* August 24 - but was actually posted on September 24th. LoL

I had one dated from October but it looks like I may have never actually posted it. That seems about right for how things have been going for me.

It's been rough. Like...really rough. I'm going to assume that the September 24th post was my last tumblr update. I have been updating on Patreon and even updated on Itchio, so there have been updates. Just apparently not here.

(below, you'll mostly find information on WSC but there is a quick update on GS remnants as well!)

Summary

Have written all but Yren's route *through* chapter 9

Numerous new BGs

Ramble

So the last time I posted it looks like I was just starting Chapter 8 in When Stars Collide. I am currently wrapping up the final scenes of chapter 9.

My word count in the September update was 373,000 and it is currently 413,000. I am just shy of 90% of the way towards my final word count goal.

I am about halfway through writing Yren's chapter 9 content (about 8000 words of content total and I've got nearly 4000 of that written). Once I have that bit written, I will be done with Chapter 9 for all characters.

I've gotten new art since my last post but honestly I'm not sure at this point how many. Looking back at my emails, it looks like I've probably gotten 3 new complete BGs + 1 BG sketch since my last update here on Tumblr.

I have updated all the CGs with the new background art as well - the introductory CGs in the current snapshot, of course, use the old backgrounds and the new conference room looks completely different and has different chairs. So I had to go back to those CGs and re-do the chairs. That is done but I haven't actually coded the new BGs yet. I have, however, updated the artwork.

That's basically the major stuff for now with WSC.

Gilded Shadows

Working on the lore book. The art book is complete but I decided to hold off releasing it until the lore book is done so I can release them together. Lore book is taking a while as there is a lot of content to format and I'm adding to it as I go.

It is nearing 100 pages already and...yeah. There's a fair bit more. So it's gonna be big.

Screenshots:

None this time....I don't think.

Upcoming Weeks:

Basically the same old stuff. I will be writing for WSC. I am currently trying to hit a goal of at least 6500 words a week so I can complete the draft by the end of December.

So far I have been able to do that although some weeks I barely managed. It's, as I said, been rough.

I'm continuing to work on the GS lore book. Most of the stuff is at least collected in one place right now, so I just have to format, organise, and add any commentary.

But I've changed computers at least twice since starting this game and some things I remember writing and am now struggling to find. So...that's fun.

Anyway I will try to make sure I post here every two weeks going forward instead of writing up a draft of the post and apparently never showing anyone. 💪

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

It’s definitely a majority of newer fans who both don’t get the history between Buck and Eddie, but also who don’t care. They came into the series because Buck kissed a man, as well as already knowing the rep that a lot of Buddie shippers tend to hate all the women love interests. So their entire experience watching the first six seasons is clouded by wanting be contrarian.

Which is not a terrible thing since the women didn’t deserve the hate as they got, but rooting for bi!Buck while actively ignoring the relationship built between him and Eddie just so you can not be called a Buddie shipper and champion for Tommy once you get to that season, is weird.

That said, my post was mainly because I was trying to scroll the tag and was only seeing post after post after post about Tommy being the greatest friend and love interest Buck has had, so I was being mildly petty. Because Buck has great relationships with the people in his life, and Eddie is extremely important to him regardless of if they become a couple. There is no need to punch down on him because folks want to uplift Tommy, but they don’t seem to get that.

And I know there are Buddie shippers who punch down on Tommy, but I’ve said before, they’re the same people who dragged the women. So at least they’re consistent. This new wave of drama is purely because Buck is bi now, and a lot of the shippers who defended the women no longer care about them and are actively dismissing Buck’s past relationships to praise Tommy. Which is hypocritical and very common in fandom, but goodness is it annoying sometimes. Especially when it’s as unnecessary as it is in this context.

Heya! There's a lot of magical overthinking in fandoms because it comprises a very large group of different people from different places writing essays about a text (like the nerds we all are). Fandoms are kinda big tutorials and when things become toxic it's a little like when academia becomes toxic. Do you know how many articles I've read that were basically hating on the previous article? I was an English Lit Major— there are entire novels that are aggressive refutations of the arguments made in other novels (so much effort).

Toxic divisions in fandom aren't so much about people trying to be contrary or consciously hateful. It's fear of in-group rejection and trying to say something bigger about themselves, their experiences, and their beliefs and using a text to do so. Cycles of creating in-groups and out-groups within fandoms (which is what ship wars do) is more about what state the individuals are in, and what they're trying to communicate and signal about themselves then it is about the characters or relationship. Protecting a fictional relationship becomes about protecting the ego, the pride, a world view, a sense of self, of self worth, of decorum... Etc. Therefore, a position is chosen and ground cannot be ceded because doing so is an ego death and others doing so feels like a betrayal.

It's why I hate ship wars so much. It's not about the bigger picture or the queer narratives or about championing anything. If it were then conceding would be easier. I could say something like, "I think the writing for Karen, and Buck and Eddie's love interests is misogynistic but indicative of network television" and it wouldn't feel like an attack. Instead they'd want to expand and evolve my points on misogynistic storytelling. I could talk about how the choices they made with Buck and Eddie were homoerotic, how denying it is unhelpful, without triggering a flurry of passive aggressive refutations. Instead they'd want to engage in why television storytelling is full of socialist brotherhoods (thank you Chinese danmei fans for that term). I could talk about how honestly amazing it is that Buck can explore an attraction to men at all, no matter who he's with, without it feeling like I'm hurting people. Because it is a big deal. I'd argue Stiles and Dean were more bi-coded and they absolutely weren't coming out of that celluloid closet.

Speaking of Dean. Another thing that ship wars do is choose an enemy. This can looks like one side making an enemy out of the institution of television itself and that being the justification for harassment (it's not). When that happens the other side can overcorrect by being the institutions greatest protectors and that becomes the justification for harassing fans in the out-group (it's not). However, unlike people in television who have systems in place to deal with harassment, disenfranchised queer fans do not. And, honestly, the thing that made me hate Supernatural was not Destiel. It was watching a young woman tell Jensen Ackles that Dean meant so much to her as a bisexual woman and the room turning on her immediately. An overcorrection. The rage I felt as I watched her tremble as they boo'd her... I can't watch Supernatural without feeling some echo of it.

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

for when u get back:

I'd make Jaiden t4t. bc that would be pretty rad and also it would be nice to have a canon trans character that isn't the skinny white twink named Aiden

like don't get me wrong, I know tguys like Aiden, I know tguys called Aiden, but like. the very stereotypical trans guy being the Only trans character period is. weird. i don't like it.

also while I'm here... let's see... Gabby, Alec, Rosa, Lake, Grett and Kai. All trans. Also also we should have a canon nonbinary and/or genderfluid or bigender character. gimme enbies who use multiple sets of pronouns pretty please!

like if ONC are going to claim that like half the characters were super intended to be LGBTQ and have pride posts filled with a bunch of characters they 100% just. decided were queer for brownie points so the posts would have more than 4 characters... then we might as well go all the way!

- 👽

YES TO ALL OF THIS!!!

jaiden being t4t would solve every issue in the world ever i think . make this canon ONC pls.. actually dont bc you’ll fuck it up horribly. keep your hands off trans james.

i’m glad you think, just like me, that they announced some of the cast as queer just for people to call them progressive and praise them. i’m fine with having a few characters not mention their queer identity and still be queer - i’m basically doing this with my own original story - because it can sometimes get exhausting to hear everyone outright stating their identity. it’s not in-character for everyone.

but when you have over half the cast never mention or show queerness then they just appear in the pride posts... red flag. trevek is a MAJOR example of fan service and stuff like this: they had zero chemistry, derek was always a dick to trevor, and now, somehow, for some reason, trevor is in love with derek AND we have a SECOND LOVE TRIANGLE. another few examples: huntessally never got together and never once mentioned queerness despite being set up to do both, and guess what? they’re portrayed in official art always together, with bi and pan flags respectively, despite never ever mentioning anything. karol was there for 0.2 seconds, but ONC realized they don’t have enough lesbians and forgot about trans and aspec people and decided to make her a lesbian. dan was probably made asexual just because his color scheme is purple, and emily is “part of the LGBT community” because the majority of fans hc-ed her that way so god forbid they are let down. they didn’t even tell us if she had a specific label, was unlabelled, or simply labelled herself as queer. what a slap in the face.

if you want to represent queer people, do it well. do your research. don’t make your characters gasp at the mention of a trans person (seriously what the FUCK). don’t include a kissing challenge because romance-repulsed/touch-repulsed people and/or aspec people simply could not do it. if you want to have a stereotypical queer character, that’s fine as long they have a personality outside of it and there is at least another character with the same label who does not adhere to the norm.

[galaxywrites]

Personally I love my chaotic found family troupe. Can you describe each of them?

Hopefully I do this right and understood the ask anon 👍 My little ramble thoughts have also been put here for the kast.

Liu Kang ❪ 🔥 ❫ the new emperor of the dead. It was Liu Kang's idea for them to stay, and be the kind of people that the citizens of the Netherrealm would aspire to follow. He is still bitter over Raiden and the mistakes that led to all of them being killed, but it is more simmering now that Quan Chi's magic isn't amplifying it.

Kitana ❪ 💙 ❫ the empress of the dead and one of two new rulers of the Netherrealm. She spent a lot of time considering what kind of leader she wanted to be, and heavily relies on counsel to make any major decisions. However, she is protective of each and every person that is among her subjects. She's gotten into so many fights over defending her friends' honor, it's not even funny.

Jade ❪ 💚 ❫ Kitana’s right hand in decision making. She can usually be found sparring with Tomàš, though those two are usually found together. She and Tomàš have formed a bond almost akin to siblings, with her acting as an older sister to him most days. ... She makes a lot of staff/bo puns.

Nightwolf ❪ 🐺 ❫ the peace keeper of the group. The unofficial dad of this group of trauma bonded adults, some with more trauma then they have time to unpack. He has personally gotten them all a therapist because, dear god, do all of them need one. Some more than others. Wise advice is common to hear from him, and he's probably the third oldest of the group, other than Kitana and Jade, I imagine he would have been in his early to mid forties by the time he died.

Kabal ❪ 🪽 ❫ think of him as like, the news person in the Netherrealm. Kabal goes from city to city, town to town in the Netherrealm to spread the latest news due to his super speed. Due to the revenants still being technically dead, I don't think he needs his mask, but more so he wears it so he doesn't scare anyone.

Stryker ❪ 👮 ❫ Kurt usually goes to the nearest village and helps out the Netherrealmer children. He also helps out with farmers, and has taken an interest in how plant life grows in the Netherrealm. He always has something to talk Kabal's ear off when the man returns to the castle. [He's enjoying the domestic life.]

Tomàš ❪ 🩶 ❫ while he doesn't have an official role in terms of he isn't either of the rulers right hands, Tomàš can usually be found around Jade, Nightwolf, or Kitana, or on very rare occasions, making neck jokes with Kung Lao. But occasionally, he'll disappear into the depths of the Netherrealm to find and speak to the old members of the Lin Kuei. (He has even roped/bribed Bi-Han into doing odd jobs for the castle.) In the early days of the group trying to help the Netherrealm, Tomàš is very reserved as he actually doesn't know any of them that well, and the first person he opened up to was Jade. Also I just feel like he's a bit feral, so there's also that... ++ He has caught the attention of many Netherrealm inhabitants who recognize that he is an enenra. He's basically been dubbed as everyone's little brother at this point.

++ Enenra is also present here. But they are more so a background force apart of Tomàš' character. But I've written them as more of a protective force that only kicks in when Tomàš' life is in danger. Given the fact that Enenra was born/created from when Tomàš died as a child, I feel that they really only want what is best for Tomàš, and only takes over his body when they feel Tomàš needs their protection. If killing is necessary to protect the boy (he isn't a boy anymore), then so be it.

Kung Lao ❪ 👒 ❫ Liu Kang's right hand. Very rarely does he leave Liu Kang's side, but when he does, you can usually find him around the castle. Honestly? The only person that has since made it to Earthrealm to troll Raiden, and reassure Kung Jin that he and everyone else is doing fine. (He went back and ripped his family a new one for kicking Jin out, though.) Kung Lao.. has a terrible habit of making neck jokes and causing Smoke to laugh his ass off at them, because they were both killed in the same manner. It's funny for them, but Nightwolf is concerned.

There is also a little shipping in this au 🤏 but not much.

[sp00kymulderr]

Pedro boy sexuality & gender headcanons

A couple weeks ago @perotovar shared their headcanons around Pedro characters and their sexualities and gender identities, here. It was such an interesting read as someone who has had many of my own thoughts around these things, it was really cool to see how someone else sees these characters through a queer lens and the little things in their characterisations that make us connect these thoughts to them, and that makes us connect to them in the way we do.

I mentioned that I would share my own thoughts and so, here we are! We actually have basically the same hcs. Just for a few of the boys for me though as I tend to stay in my Ezra & Dieter corner for the most part. I don’t know some of the other characters well enough to have any major thoughts about them.

I would love love to hear from other queer members of the fandom here, if you have any thoughts to share!

Also obviously these are just my silly little ideas and just for fun, I read all flavour of fanfic and whilst I would love to see more work from an lgbtq+ perpective I will happily consume all the (perceived) straight fic out there.

(I will also just ask that if you feel I have used any outdated/incorrect language here please let me know, I’m always learning, and I’d like to be corrected if there’s anything in here that could be considered harmful).

Ezra – I’ve mentioned it before and maybe it’s just because Ezra is my favourite character of all time but I very much see him as non-binary, genderfluid, using primarily he/they pronouns but doesn't mind any pronouns, and who really doesn’t care about or consider gender much at all. Honestly, this is a sci-fi character and I’d like to think that when we get to the point of living in space gender won’t even be a damn thing anymore lol. In the same vein, Ezra is pansexual.

Dieter – Bisexual king, of course. That’s literally canon. He would most likely label himself as queer and leave it at that though, rather than specifically defining himself as bi. I love to think about Dieter as somewhere under the non-binary umbrella but I’m not entirely sure where yet; gnc although again there is some fluidity there. Also, Dieter’s ideal way to love is in poly relationships, for sure.

Marcus P – Marcus is bi. He is a beautiful bi boyfriend, just look at him. He took a long time to come to terms with his sexuality, but now he is much more comfortable with it and allows himself to have the experiences he missed out on when he was less accepting of himself, and now he can be proud of who he is.

Joel – I actually hadn’t really considered Joel much in this way until Erin’s hcs but now...oh man…Joel is aromantic (and graysexual maybe). I feel it in my gut, like especially thinking a lot about the stuff with Tess. I don’t necessarily think it’s something he fully understands about himself, even in his later years, but it’s there.

Javi P – Hetero. Loves women. We know that. But, I can also see him questioning. I think when Murphy shows up, there’s something there. Something in his mind. He’s the least likely to ever act on it, given the external factors, but he’s certainly had moments of thinking about it which unfortunately probably cause him a lot of anguish.

Din – Aroace. I don’t even know what to say, this just feels very real to me.

Marcus M – Demi oh my god very much demisexual and demiromantic. He needs the connection first, and the rest will follow. He loves hard, and he loves forever when he gets there, much like Erin said he only ever really loved his wife.

[spacerangersam]

Could you tell me more about some of your ocs???? (Only if you’re up for it tho)

I’m always down to gush about my ocs! But I do have a lot of them, especially with the story I'm currently working on, and I don’t always know what to say, so sorry if this is a bit all over the place. This isn’t even everyone, I left out a few like the main antagonist, Irene and a few other side characters for the sake of this not being essay length but yeah. Here are some of the main guys:

(also, unless otherwise specified, they're all welsh)

Simon Huw Taylor, 32, tenant of flat no. 6, he/they, bi and ace (maybe on the aro spectrum, but idk. It’s none of my business).

He’s the main character of my story, Where the Lost Souls Meet. He’s a pretty quiet guy who likes to keep to himself, much to his own detriment. He’s been travelling around all his life, never really interacting with people his own age, leaving him with mediocre socialising skills. He can see ghosts, has been able to since childhood, and is a mortician while doing psychic ghost stuff on the side. His mum could also see ghosts and she also did the ghost business, which is why he and his parents were moving around all the time, basically living in their van/hotels). To honour her, Simon uses her maiden name for ghost work (meaning his name is then Simon Huw Hughes, which I just thought was cute). She died a few years back, his father even earlier, leaving Simon the last of his family line and all alone in the world.

His whole life revolves around death, which isn’t healthy but Simon would rather die than go to therapy and actually address his problems, so it stays that way for a while. He does try to quit smoking though, so that’s something. He is also a liar. Dear god does he love to lie about everything and anything, to everyone. Well, I say loves to lie, he doesn’t really love it. He does it both to keep himself safe and to keep others from worrying about him. Honestly, he’s fine, he’s functional, and he definitely has family who loves him. Just don’t ask to meet his ‘sister’. He also tries to protect people by keeping a certain distance from them, not wanting to hurt them like he’s been hurt because of [REDACTED], which is why he kept moving around even after his mother died. But he desperately wanted top surgery and so stopped in this town with a well-known trans-safe doctor to get it done, and unfortunately for him landed in a manor turned flat filled with people who very much would like to be his friends, please.

He has no hope for the future, no plans, having a fairly pessimistic look on life because of [REDACTED], and is basically just waiting for the day he finally dies. Again, will he do anything about this? Maybe, eventually, at some point.

He doesn’t like / struggles to watch TV and movies, his ideal night involves doing puzzles and maybe a spot of reading, he loves puns and he’s a vegetarian. I love him and his terrible coping mechanism. Go king, communicate absolutely nothing and never let people share your burdens. 

Also, his neighbour dies in front of him during an argument one day, which isn't great, going on to haunt Simon in a distinctly violent fashion, which is the thing he's desperately trying to deal with in the story.

more losers under the cut

Charlie Tops, 35, tenant no. 5, he/him, trans bi+ace. He’s a very sweet guy, very open, with major himbo energy, just without the muscles. He makes the best tea and the worst coffee. He writes kid's books in the vein of Winnie the Pooh / Peter Rabbit, taking over the job after his grandfather passed, now writing them for his own daughter, Lottie. But Lottie’s getting older and losing interest in those types of books, and so he’s losing interest in writing them and having a mild panic over what he’ll do next. He’s kinda obsessed with taxidermies. His flat is quite literally filled with them and no one likes it, nobody wants to be in there, and the vibes are way off (except Will for, who thinks it’s very interesting, actually).

He’s deeply in love with Simon and they have a thing. An unexplained, deeply intimate thing that neither talk about, mostly because Simon can’t communicate for shit (which he feels deeply guilty about, and he keeps telling himself that he’ll break it off but can never quite work up to it), and Charlie’s worried if he asks, Simon will end it. He really struggles with Simon’s whole silent martyr ordeal even outside their thing because even if he doesn’t know the extent to which Simon is trying to hide his problems, he knows there is something being hidden, but again, is worried about pushing too hard and losing him completely. It’s messy, but they’ll work through it. 

He can’t see ghosts but does know about them, unlike the other Woodward tenants, and feels a bit left out /awkward about the whole thing. He had an amicable divorce from his wife Irene after he realised he was ace, she realised she was aro, and that they were both trans, the two staying friends and her staying on as the illustrator for his books. And as I mentioned earlier, he does have a daughter, Lottie.

William Isaiah Beaton, 30, tenant no. 7, he/him, gay, English. An archivist for the local museum who moves into the manor in chapter one, and comes off as a tough, rude ex-vet.  And that is true, to a certain extent. He is rude, and an ex-vet. But he wasn’t in the army for long, he got mowed down by a car on base like, two weeks after arriving, leaving him with a permanent injury to his leg. He feels he failed to live up to his father’s expectations, and in shame, never told the truth to his father about having to leave the forces. Will has… a lot of complicated feelings about that, and his relationship with his father, and his relationship with his religion. He works some of that last one out with help from Penny.

It’s a bit of a spoiler, but whatever- he can see ghosts. He doesn’t realise that’s what’s happening though and instead is fully convinced he’s just losing his mind, and that crash did irreparable damage to his head. Nah though, just ghosts. Has a guilty love of werewolf media and cake, and cares a lot about bugs and plants (he even ends up taking Simon’s plants off him, because Simon kills every plant he owns, without question). He has limited zero social skills and finds big groups overwhelming, but nevertheless, he will be dragged into this friendship group (if Penny has any say in it, at least). He came to Hangar for a reason, though he doesn’t say why.

He also definitely fancies Simon and has no idea how to handle that. It’s the first time he’s fancied a man (or at least, a man-adjecent person) who isn’t straight, and that coupled with the fatc Simon actually seems to like him is just a lot for him to process. The two of them bond over their shared loved of history / interest in the history of the manor.

I should make it clear: this isn’t a love triangle, this is poly thing.

The ghouls:

Florence Blossom (left), 40, and Gwenllian Baker (right), 42. Both were performers in a small acting trope who died in 1941 (though not at the same time or in the same way, funnily enough) in the manor Simon lives in. They love each other very much.

Florence is a bit judgy, loves a good moan, and is very anxious about everything and everyone, always. Her anxiety tends to make her come off as a bit snappy. She can control the lights.

Gwen is a bit vacant, with her head absolutely in the clouds at all times. She struggles a bit with empathy and reading the room, leading her to be mindlessly cruel sometimes. She never means it though and genuinely cares about Simon and Florence, and will look after them both in her own weird ways. she can lock, unlock, close and open doors

Now back to the living:

Agatha Jeorme, 55, tenant  no. 1. She’s kinda like if an angsty teen was stuck in the body of a middle-aged woman, and we love her for that. She’s the daughter of the landlord and hates it. If she had any other skills / if her father had helped her get a better opportunity elsewhere like he did with her brothers, she would have jumped on it. But instead, he gave her the job of looking after Woodward. She hates him, deeply. She often shovels off small jobs onto Simon because she knows he won’t say no, and is having an affair with the next-door neighbour’s wife. I kind of made her sound like a bastard, and she is kinda, but a fun one I hope, and she does learn to be less of a bastard as the story goes on. 

Gwynfor Geraint Jones, 34, tenant no. 2, he/she, bigender, aroace. Just a chill guy who loves rock music and slasher movies. She’s in a QPR with Adam, them being the first two to move into Woodward. this isn't entirely related to his character, but he's called gwynfor geraint after two twins i went to primary school with. their names always stuck in my head, in so i thought i'd put them to good use.

Adam Diana Keats, 36 tenant tenant, no.3, she/her, aroace trans woman, Scottish. She’s a librarian with a love of reading, especially poetry, and a bit pushy, a bit bossy, but ultimately well-meaning. She’ll drag Simon out of his room but with the intent to encourage him to mingle and hang out with the Woodward crew, you know. She hates Will on sight. There’s more I could say, but that would be spoilers. also, despite her dark academic vibes, she does love a good animal print

Penny Sion Seagrove, 29, no.4, she/her, lesbian. A tired, friendly gardener who would love it if everyone would get along and be friendly. She sometimes sticks her nose in places she shouldn’t to figure out people’s beef with each other (cough, Adam and Will, cough) to see if she can find a way to squash it for them, which doesn’t usually work. She tries anyway. She’s Catholic, shares Simon’s love of puns, and is dating Alice.

Alice Rhodri Blackwood, 30, she/her, trans lesbian. She lives in town with her best mate Mickey. She’s a loud, cheery, extroverted goth with an interest in witchcraft who can also see ghosts. She has slightly different opinions about ghosts and how they work from Simon, but she’s still his go-to when he’s having ghost issues. 

Mickey Dolores Palmer, 29, she/her, English (Yorkshire). Idk what her deal is, and she just is, you know. A very nervous, clumsy, mousy person who works at the local museum. She tends to jump to conclusions and is not a fan of ghosts. Unfortunately, she can also see ghosts, so that’s not great for her. She's doing her best.

god i wrote way too much for this, sorry asdfghj. but uh, also, i did a voice claim video for some of these losers, if you're interested. also,t hank you so much for asking. i do love talking about these idiots

[lambert-simnel]

just showed the first three episodes of Torchwood to my best mate while he recovers from top surgery because now I have a captive audience for my insanity

long fucking post of my opinions under the cut

First of all the audio stings and sound track and burned into my fucking frontal cortex I watched it for the first time 3 years ago and the moment i heard it again I was like yeah this is all i’m gonna hear for months now

I honestly remembered it as worse than it is, first ep is not super batshit, the dialogue is insane but well written, my friend was like “why did you think i wouldn’t like this??”

also to add to my Owen bullshit i had completely forgotten his fucking gay kiss moment in episode 1?? like why do they never revisit this like I know we joke about how every character is bi but he is the first character confirmed as bi and then he just never gets to make out with dudes again?? (also yeah that scene completely unethical like massive date rape vibes I am aware) my friend really liked Susie which was a shame lol seeing as she doesn’t stick around but anyway

He actually really enjoyed the sex gas ep like all the stuff with the girl purposefully using the alien sex murder to kill her shitty ex boyfriend my friend was like “jennifer’s body could never” like we do joke about this ep a lot but it is interesting. my friend also didn’t think the complete hornyness was bad like he said that it’s about being in your 20’s so it works. I honestly remembered it being a lot more immature around sex and now i’m actually in my 20’s i’m like no i know people like this, it’s like being a horny teenager but with a lot less angst around sex this kinda makes sense.

What I will say is I had forgotten how many unsolicited sexual comments people make especially Jack and Owen it’s definitely a product of it’s time in that regard especially as Owen is treated as a fuck boy but Jack is “charming”. Obviously episode 3 is kinda Owen realising he’s part of the problem so like early character development yay but yh I did get worried showing it to my friend while i’m soft launching him as my new blorbo of the week lol.

anyway, i was pleasantly surprised that i remembered it as worse than it is and that my friend is now hopefully going to be as insane as I am about this and it’s fuelling my anger about what happened to Tosh and Owen.

they are so prevalent in the early episodes, Owens gets basically his own episode in episode 3!! Ianto barely shows up until obviously ep 4 is cyberwoman and it was probably intentional to have him fade into the background early on so he’s more secretive but still??

like I remember so clearly being confused about how little screen time he got and how much Tosh and Owen got when I knew he was in the doctor who crossover so I knew he was a big deal, it just fucking sucks that Tosh and Owen were clearly major characters from day one and they just get dropped for Gwen and Ianto later on !!

[ninja-muse]

October was a month of tense, dark, violent books and I'm hoping to get some palate cleansers into my November reading before I completely OD on rebellions, murder, battles, and oppression. Not that I expect this to happen because I took home a true crime ARC last week and I know what's likely coming for me at the library, but hey. We can hope!

My reading count is once again lower than I'd like it to be, mostly because I refused to cart all 752 pages of Menewood back and forth on my commute and so it took me three weeks to finish in the bites of time I have at home for reading. (Also because I spent a week writing up a storm.) And my other stats are kind of equally disappointing as a result. Oh well, I guess. It is what it is.

I did get my hands on three anticipated library books though! That was good (and I hope the library keeps up the pace), but it's a shame that two of the three weren't as good as I was hoping they'd be. And equally a shame that I wound up DNFing the new Patricia C. Wrede… I was really hoping that might cut through all the doom and gloom, mid-month.

I need a good November, basically. I'm feeling a bit slumpy.

October was also a month of awesome 2024 release announcements and discoveries. There are so many books coming out I want to read, and a couple I didn't know where coming that showed up in my ARC haul. There's a genderbent fantasy retelling of Zorro, folks! Freya Marske, Micaiah Johnson, and Seanan McGuire are releasing exciting things! We're getting a sequel to one of my favourite SF books of last year! Someone is using American folktales to comment on race relations!

I'm sure my 2024 TBR will be an utterly normal and achievable number of books. And I'm sure all this excitement has had nothing to do with my slump.

I've still got a fair ways to go to hit my 2023 reading goals too. It's possible I might reach them. It's equally possible I might not. Wish me luck, I guess? And if you have any fast, light reads with which I can continue to not read the dark, heavy books in my goals, please pass them on!

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

Menewood - Nicola Griffith

War is coming to Deira and Hild has vowed to protect her lands and people.

9.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (bi), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic, mlm), mute secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author, #ownvoices for queerness

warning: pregnancy, death, war, death of a child, animal death, grief, sexual assault, mentions of rape

Like Every Form of Love - Padma Viswanathan

A writer digs into the strange, complicated life story of a man she befriended in a marina.

8/10

major 🏳️‍🌈 character (gay), Indo-Canadian author, 🇨🇦

warning: child abuse, domestic abuse, pedophilia, molestation, misogynistic character

After the Forest - Kell Wood

Greta wants to get on with her quiet life but her wayward brother Hans, suspicious villagers, and her memories of a certain witch’s cottage won’t let her.

7.5/10

warning: cruelty to animals, misogyny

Into the Windwracked Wilds - A. Deborah Baker

Avery, Zib, and their companions find themselves in the Land of Air—where the queen likes making monsters

7.5/10

Saga, Volume 9 - Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (illustrator)

Bad people are catching up to Alana and Marko’s family.

7.5/10

main characters of colour, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay, trans woman)

warning: major character death, blood, violence, sex

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obulafon - Wole Talabi

Shigidi has incurred a debt to an old Nigerian orisha, who’ll erase it if he and his partner pull off a nearly impossible heist.

6.5/10

major and secondary Nigerian characters, major 🏳️‍🌈 character (pansexual), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (bisexual), Nigerian author, #ownvoices for race and culture

By Any Other Name - Erin Cotter

Will Hughes, unemployed actor, finds himself thrust into danger when his mentor Christopher Marlowe dies.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (bi, lesbian)

warning: murder, fire

My Roommate is a Vampire - Jenna Levine

There’s a room-to-rent in Cassie’s low, low budget. The (hot) guy renting it acts like he’s from the 1800s but surely he’s just quirky.

6.5/10

Jewish protagonist, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (m/m)

The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher - E.M. Anderson

Edna has been Chosen to stop a dragon menace. Highly untraditional but hey, it gets her out of the nursing home.

6/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (ace-spectrum), Black secondary characters, Latine secondary characters, secondary character with anxiety disorder, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay, sapphic/asexual), 🏳️‍🌈 author

DNF

The Dark Lord’s Daughter - Patricia Wrede

Kayla and her family are kidnapped to a fantasy world. Apparently she has magic and they think she’s the next Dark Lady?

Black secondary characters

Currently reading:

The Water Outlaws - S.L. Huang When Lin Chong is convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, she finds herself allied with infamous outlaws.

Chinese cast, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, genderfluid), mute secondary character, Chinese-American author, 🏳️‍🌈 author, #ownvoices for race, culture, queerness

warning: death, violence, torture

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

Stats

Monthly total: 9 Yearly total: 109/140 Queer books: 3 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 7 Authors outside the binary: 1 Canadian authors: 1 Off the TBR shelves: 3 Books hauled: 0 ARCs acquired: 5 ARCs unhauled: 4 DNFs: 1

January February March April May June July August September

[dragonmarquise]

Everyone keeps talking Abt all the crews and stuff, but like, I never see any content for futurism! Sure there wasn't a lot of stuff for them since they were like, a really small part of the plot, but it would still be awesome to see content for them!!!! So I come bearing a question, do you have hcs for futurism?

Ooo, I have a few for FUTURISM! Not as extensive as my stuff for Devil Theory and DOT EXE, but still. :>

(I know some people kinda debate writing it as FUTURISM vs. Futurism, I'm gonna personally keep all caps but I also understand most people probably don't care either way lol)

Also feel free to send in asks about the other crews/characters too! I might not have a lot for each character though. I also have a general list of LGBT+ headcanons for all the BRC characters, if that interests you! Granted, it's probably not as extensive as some other people's lists.

Anyways, gonna put this under a Read More, it won't get nearly as long as the other two headcanon sets, but it'll be long enough that I'll feel bad about posting this without one. ^^;

I like giving all the crew members themed names, and for FUTURISM I went with computer-related terms! Some of them more obscure than others. So for the members (besides DJ Cyber of course):

Jazz (Related to the Chorus/Jazz version of JavaOS)

Quantum (i.e. quantum computing)

Veronica (an old search engine)

Nyx (The name of a prototype Amiga chipset, though also Greek personification of the night!)

I have a personal idea that after the events of the game, one member from each of the major crews end up joining BRC, basically representing the unlockable characters in the post game. In this case, Nyx is the one who joins BRC (and in my mind she's the default Spring palette in the game), so let's start with her!

Bi, currently dating one of the Eclipse ladies (inspired by this very good fan art btw :D )

All of the FUTURISM gals have amazing skills both with computers and as writers. Nyx ends up being one of two Designated IT Person for BRC, the other being Cueball.

Her and Cueball get into little prank wars, mostly instigated by Cueball for the hell of it. Her opinion of him ranges from genuine respect for his own computer skills to Chump Lord Supreme. Depends on her mood (and how much Cueball has recently pissed her off before asking her about it, lol)

As for the rest of BRC: "Well, they're still kinda chumps, but I guess they're my chumps now, y'know?"

Not afraid to be snarky, even to authority figures (DJ Cyber included)

Now for Jazz (Summer palette):

Is actually a guy who crossdresses! Does drag shows on the weekends too. :D

She is personally not very picky about pronouns, but most people default to referring to Jazz with she/her while in her writer outfit or as her drag persona (she goes by Jazz for both anyways), and he/him when he's not dressed up. But again, not very picky either way.

"I'm just saying, when the cops try to chase me down, they're gonna be looking for a blonde woman, not a guy with dark hair and stubble. Literally, one time I ran around a corner and managed to take off my wig and mask, then just covered up my top with a hoodie I had. Same pants and shoes, but they didn't even notice!"

Truthfully the crossdressing thing was genuinely just for fun, not to mention pretty comfortable while going around doing writer stuff. It wasn't until a while later that she realized it would make for a great disguise as a writer. :P

Nyx and Jazz are basically Besties and will be more than happy to smacktalk about their respective crews behind everyone's backs, lol

Now Quantum (Winter palette):

Runs an underground (kinda literally) server farm for local web hosting, chat sites, and forums. Anyone remember forums? Man, the good ol' days...

Has a hand in a lot of open source freeware projects. Hates companies like Adobe, Apple, Google, and Microsoft with a passion. Big Linux nerd btw, she will talk you ear off about the pros and cons of different distros if you let her.

Actually on that note, if you're not talking to her while she's out and about as a writer, or otherwise talking to her about computer stuff, she's fairly introverted! Especially if you try to talk to her in person instead of via text/chat/email/etc, she's basically more talkative online.

Also very good at sneaking around. Though not really as like spying or anything like that, she just prefers to not get in people's way or annoy them. Unfortunately she has scared DJ Cyber more than once by sneaking up on him by accident, lol

Wears contacts as a writer, but otherwise wears glasses normally. Has been considering getting prescription heavy-duty goggles for her writer activities, so that she doesn't have to bother with the contacts anymore.

And finally Veronica (Autumn palette):

She is genuinely a jerk. Nyx can be snarky sometimes, but not in an overly mean way. Veronica will be more than happy to be nasty to someone if she thinks they deserve it, even if they really don't.

Always looks down on pretty much any other writer outside of FUTURISM. She's still convinced Felix cheated to get his reputation, especially the whole "did it with no boostpack" thing.

Most people would probably consider her a stereotypical Karen ngl :u

So yeah, she's basically That One Teammate Nobody Likes. Veronica is only still in the crew because her skills are second only to DJ Cyber himself. Hell, he really doesn't like her attitude, but can't find a replacement for her in terms of skills. (He's begged Vinyl to formally join FUTURISM in the past, but she always declined, preferring to keep being a freelance writer. And now that she's part of BRC, she's definitely not an option for replacing Veronica, lmao)

She had a crush on Faux, but these days refuses to admit it was ever a thing.

That's about all I got I think! Hope you enjoy these. :>

Small bonus, specific track from the game that I associate with FUTURISM the most: Funk Express!

[thecoffeelorian]

[And now, for Tech Tuesday...here's something that's been sitting in my drafts since April, made for a rather old series on AO3. It's mostly about Tech's observations about my original autistic Twi'lek character, especially after just meeting her five minutes ago *wink wink*.

Maybe I'll update that one again, maybe not, but in the meantime...here ya go!]

A Brief History Of The Ignoble House Of Innsur

Or

I Was Curious About You, So I Put Your Name Into The Holosearch, And…

…No, please wait. I can explain.

For one thing, I am well studied on the subjects of stalking as well as consent, for no legitimate soldier of the Republic is permitted onto the battlefield until he—or, in only one currently documented instance, she—agrees to a series of special training modules pertaining to the treatment of the female ratio of most Galactic societies. All subtopics from basic anatomy to zoological companions are covered in these modules, and through them, the vast majority of Clone Troopers, be they considered enhanced or not, are made to understand that they are to be given the same courtesies and protections as the average male civilian.

That rule has not, to my knowledge, been violated in any way from the beginning of the War to the conclusion.

At this same time, however, I cannot ignore the amount of exposure my squad could potentially incur from association with individuals with malicious intent—in other words, “the bad guys”.

As we have not visited every single planet in the galaxy, but rather made as many notes as possible for the worlds that we were dispatched to, it is therefore plausible that we could encounter Imperial sympathizers in the near future.

And, perhaps because this Twi’lek woman has chosen to live on a planet such as Argann rather than with countless others of her people upon Ryloth…could it not then be theorized that she could be so much more than one refugee among thousands previously displaced by the Clone Wars? What if losing her home caused her to lose other things as well, such as the basic practice of restraint in times of possible conflict?

Respect for the rule of law?

Not taking matters into her own hands, or worst of all, seeking revenge against any and all individuals she might blame for her displacement…?

It is possible that the wrath of such a person, if indeed such wrath exists, could then be directed solely at us if we are not too cautious.

This is why I begin a basic anonymous Holonet search with just two blinks of my eyes, then flick my focus to a certain combination of letters upon the digital keypad that appears within the next five seconds.

L Y N I N N S U R

[My old series is at the link below: ]

] tagging test for: [

@swarovski-yoda @megmca @talesfrommedinastation @giganonyx @12sddddd @tink1221 @omglisalithium @advisorsnips @yardikins @wastingstarsss @paperback-rascal @xylionet @themightychipmunk42 @groguandthebadbatch @riversings42 @sailorsenshisweetheart @lightwise @spinelrose @ovaa-bi-bia @600yearoldlovecraftianhorrorshow

[indigo-flightly-falls]

My friend wanted a list of middle school era books I've read that either have explicit queer characters or characters that could be read as queer if you try so I'm making this

Ok getting a couple of obvious ones out of the way:

Wings of Fire by Tui T Sutherland It's a middle grade series focused around dragons. You can't skip any books but the second and third arcs have so many queer characters. We've got a nb human, an on page lesbian relationship including a major protagonist, a trio that most like to headcanon as poly with one of the characters being hinted at being bi, a background lesbian relationship as two characters being the moms of a protagonist, and other assorted characters! It's also a rather fun read that dives into some deeper topics then you might expect. Heavy trigger warning for the following topics: Arc 1: war, death, genocide, starvation, rather unsanitary eating habits, mild child abuse, using a child as a weapon, rather graphic deaths/wounds, a pov character being blinded at the end of a book, and probably a few things I missed. OH YEAH WAIT sorry the murder of unborn babies by smashing their eggs specifically for the second book Arc 2: referenced gore (specifically making someone gut themselves, it's all in the past), mentions of a massacre, unhealthy relationships, child abuse, child neglect, again using a child as a weapon but this time it's the aftermath, really bad trust issues, manipulation, war again, illnesses, improper use of magic that kills lots of dragons, graphic deaths/wounds, genocide, and probably a few other things Arc 3: war, war and more war, child abuse, attempted genocide of an entire species, a rather dystopian world, mass murder, execution, what could be called slavery, kidnapping, possession via a plant, abandoning those in need to die, uh there's some spooky cult stuff going on as well. Honestly this arc is pretty dark

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Rodian While I know mythology isn't for everybody, this aint the worse series. It's based on the norse gods, and it basically a comedy! It's a trilogy told by a sixteen year old ghost who's the son of a norse god. It's very chaotic but has it's serious moments as well. The protag is implied to be pan, there's a very prominent genderfluid character (although she's not the best representation, it's still representation and I mean, that's pretty good). Also the single most queer coded characters I have ever seen (Blitz and Hearth, you meet them early) Trigger warning for the following topics: Death, the afterlife and conflicting beliefs, homelessness, mentioned transphobia, severe child abuse, ableism towards a deaf character, mentions of intestines being used as ropes, murder, as well as general norse mythology things

Now some less obvious ones!

The Magisterium Series (I can never spell it so I call it the Iron Trial series) While not having any queer main characters, there are at least two canon gay relationships between background characters. At the very least it's an interesting look at a world of magic and how it interacts with humans Trigger warning for the following topics: Death, murder, mass murder, attempted murder of a baby, child endangerment, honestly I don't even know how to warn for this. It's dark, be warned. There are very few punches pulled.

The Skyborn Series by Jessica Houry Sadly no canon characters, but like. There are two that give off such strong qpr vibes in the 3rd book. It's a good series to read anyways, does a good job at subverting some expectations on how things will end! (also, I like to headcanon the characters are queer. Gussie gives off aro lesbian vibes) Trigger warning for the following topics: Corrupt king who screws over people, a rather corrupt system in general, slight gore, death of a pov character, mild world is ending talk, the hunting down of a child (several times), kinda implied child abuse? at least neglect, death of a parental figure, kinda implied genocide? basically the king wants to kill every last phoenix and it is stated that another villain wants to kill everyone so-

Warrior Cats Alright this may shock you, but while we don't have canon queer characters, there are two very popular gay couples and a very common headcanon of a trans character. I do not recommend reading the whole series! The first four arcs are all you need if you're really interested, but if you just want the queer characters here you go: Tallstar's Revenge: one of the almost canon gay couples is shown. It's never called that but it's easy to see Tallstar and Jake's relationship through those lens Ravenpaw's Path/Ravenpaw's Farewell: a manga and a novella respectively that showcases Ravenpaw and Barley's relationship! They're both decent reads if you want something quick! There's nothing specific for the trans character, uh Rowanfur I believe. He's not even close to a main character sadly. That being said, there are a lot of people (myself included) who have headcanons for other characters or ocs who are queer! I am not listing all the trigger warnings for Warrior Cats. but for the few books I suggested: Child abuse, child neglect, death, near death, really bad injuries, lasting effects of childhood trauma, unhealthy coping meconizums, not great parent/child relationships, and some other related things

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I'm so tired I'm posting this and calling it a night. I'm so tired I'll rb and add more if I think of them

@10piecechickenmcnugget here ya go sage :D

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i've had back for more on repeat for several days so uhhhh here is my official plotting call for all my txt fcs! under the cut is basic info for all of them, as well as a few plot/ship ideas. i’m open to other plots too; please just have someone or something in mind!

benny (they/them, gay, beomgyu fc): sweet shy autistic ooak doll maker, i mostly use their witch verse but they have a non-magic verse i don’t mind using! they’re very soft and don’t go out much but they have a lot of online friends and when they do get close to someone, they’re so adoring. i would love more supernatural/magical connections, friends to lovers, and/or someone who’ll flirt with them a ton to make them super flustered.

seunhwa (he/they, bi, soobin fc, tw for death and abuse): indie foley artist preparing to take over the family bookstore because none of their siblings want to. he’s very colorful and outgoing but has a lot of trauma he hides. very flirtatious and very self sacrificial. i would love something messy and unhealthy, since he’s so much of a people pleaser he can get mixed up in toxic dynamics if it makes the other person happy, but i’d love to see him happy just as much ajshsjsh.

porter (he/him, gay, taehyun fc): surfer boy and environmental science major who recently got out of a very toxic relationship and is trying very hard to recover from the trauma and be a good person again. looks like a fuckboy jock until he's citing academic sources during an argument. i would love to see him try to reconnect to a friend he pushed away during his relationship, or anyone who’s patient and kind enough to work with him through all his trauma and fear of being in a relationship again.

yiseok (they/he, queer, yeonjun fc, tw for general gross zombie stuff): died and uhhhhhh came back very wrong. they’re basically a zombie, trying very hard to pretend everything’s normal. even more shy now than he was when he was alive, hungry all the time. i would love any supernatural/magical connections for them, especially because they don’t understand what happened to them; something soft and tender where they can realize that they’re still worthy of love and affection; or something unhinged and dangerous where they don’t have to hide what they are from their partner.

max (he/him/any pronouns, pan, yeonjun fc): bookworm who got in a surprising amount of fights as a kid. very scrappy and hardworking, and is helping jinsun open their salon. flirts by shamelessly reading smut in front of his crush. i would love a childhood friends to lovers dynamic; or some kind of rivals/nuisances to lovers; or a casual fwb thing that gets messy and needy but both of them deny there’s anything real.

lincoln (he/him, bi, heuning kai fc, tw for homophobia): the extremely spoiled baby of his disgustingly rich family, experiencing consequences for his actions for the first time. is an animation major specializing in video game character design. i would love to see him with someone who does not take his bullshit and argues with him at every opportunity; or the boy who his parents have forbidden him from seeing at the threat of losing all their financial support (bonus points for this one if they were pretty casual so they have to hunt him down to get an explanation for why he ghosted them); or the shy person tutoring him in a subject he failed because we love cliches in this house.