#Something something being respectful because he doesn't know what else to do with the culture shock lol

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

How do you think the spider gang would react to Gwen coming out as trans? I think they'd all be supportive, but I'm curious if you have details

I am going to be honest with you anon, I had been looking at this question for weeks, thinking about it, and...I am not coming up with much.

I am trans, I don't have that much experience with people reacting to that- and I am not making any more comments about that.

Going back to the original question- I think all of them would be supportive; regardless of background or history, I feel doing anything else would be a disservice to the characters, and also, a type of story I really don't have interest entertaining, (Would Noir, being from 40s, be reasonable to have his apprehensions and need to overcome it? Yes, I am interested in seeing something like that? Personally, fuck no.)

Now, it doesn't mean there cannot be hiccups- all well intending, of course.

(Specific characters under the cut because, as always with me, it got long.)

Peter B I see going over the top; talking how brave Gwen is, and that he supports her no matter what, he also reads a book on trans people and tell hims about the people in his universe who are trans. Gwen appreciates it, but it can be uncomfortable at times.

Noir, regardless of time period, would be supportive, but mixes up terminology. The poor guy already struggles with the pop culture lingo, so throwing queer lingo into the mix can make things awkward; specially since, as a spider-man, he has defended the marginalized people of his dimension and is aware of the community, but- that community had its own terminology that may not be appreciated to day. Is a growing curve.

In my opinion, Ham is a much of a man as Bugs Bunny, meaning gender isn't as important as commitment to the bit; so I can see him busting a dress all of the sudden and saying "I get you sis." Accordingly, if asked about his own gender, he is pretty much "normally a guy, but in general whatever fits better with the scene."

Peni I headcanon as nonbinary, so I think she would be happy to meet another person who isn't cis. Definitely would have lots of talk about presentation, tricks for clothes a make up, the works.

Margo is cool about it, there isn't much to say there; she just tells Gwen that it doesn't change anything between them, and she is still invited to come for the slumber parties (Margo has thrown a bunch in the Spider-Society, because anything to spend as little time mentally at home as possible.)

Pavitr: "Oh so you are like a hijra? That's so cool!" (This is a term from a place I am not from, so I can't talk in length about it, feel free to look it up because it is indeed, very cool.) While not the same, he ends up telling more about how people in his dimension see transgender people, Gwen finds it overall really interesting.

Hobie is, of course, cool about it. He is a punk, noncomformist, and "hates labels," he could probably tell Gwen a stupid amount of things about queer history, intersectionally, so far and so forth. Despite using he/him pronouns, I believe with all my heart Hobie would not give a shit about gender roles and dress how he likes, and be okay with any pronouns. This has nothing to do with your question, but I headcanon that Hobie has been the queer awakening of many other teens of the Spider-Society as he strolls down in whatever outfit he feels like it.

Now Miles, is obviously supportive. I think he may be oblivious to many things (I headcanon him as bi for a long awhile, but I am not sure if that's something he knows already or has yet to discover,) so he asks questions, but is always respectful and has no trouble answering. Overall, Gwen thinks is cute how much Miles dotes on her, and reminding her that she will always be the prettiest girl alive to him.

Huh, I guess I had more to say that I expected, this was fun! Thanks for the question and sorry for the delay.

[bloodsoakeddoodles]

They pair nicely, considering

[whoresidentevil]

Leon and Your Hair

a/n: I haven't written in years so this is very experimental 💀 I'm open to constructive feedback!

Also, I wrote this with the reader having type 4 hair in mind but I tried to make it as texture-inclusive as possible :)

General: 

Leon himself takes pride in his hair and appearance in general which is one of many ways you guys relate to each other.

 I imagine your shared bathroom would be full of hair products and tools more than anything else, though most of it is yours.

Leon isn't ignorant, he knew how important hair is to your culture way before you got together. Because of this, he respects how much effort your maintenance requires.

RE2:

This man 100% uses all your stuff every time he comes over. You start wondering if these containers have a hole at the bottom of them or something. Eventually, Leon just starts buying the shampoo/conditioner combo you use for himself at home because it's doing wonders for his hair. Plus the scent reminds him of you, it's a win-win.

Leon had nice hair before, but your presence in his life introduces him to products like deep conditioner, hair oils, etc that just elevate it further.

When you get your hair braided or styled Leon always wants to be the first person to see it! He even goes out of his way to pick you up from the salon so he can shower you with compliments right after. 

If he has time I can see Leon sitting in the salon with you for however many hours it takes the stylists to be done. He sits there flipping through the hair magazines he took from the waiting area, turning the pages over to you every couple of minutes. "Babe, you should try this next time." with the most genuine smile on his face. Even if it was some atrocious 90's editorial style, you smile and nod at every single one.

RE4:

Once Leon starts going on long missions he's unable to be your personal chauffeur 24/7, so he'd definitely want you to text him pictures every time you get your hair done. He always sets them as his phone wallpaper to have an updated photo of you everywhere he goes.

During his training I doubt he'd have the luxury of technology though, instead opting to get a Polaroid of you every now and then in the mail. He always makes sure to compliment you on something in the letters he sends back and keeps the latest Polaroid somewhere in his pockets while the older ones are tacked to his wall. (poor guy misses you so much)

When he's home with you he realizes how much he missed your silk pillowcases and bed sheets. He didn't think they were actually helping his hair and skin until he had to sleep in crazy locations during training/missions and noticed the difference. he silently thanks you for that.

RE6/ID/DI:

After so many years of being together, Leon knows about all your hair preferences, favorite styles, and even things he hasn't seen you in yet. (our boy is educated 👏🏾).

Sometimes you ask him to help pick what you'll do with your hair next which either ends with him saying "You look beautiful no matter what" or showing you very specific photos he found on Google.

It's been years since you've paid for your own hair because Leon insists on taking care of that for you. It doesn't matter how much it costs, he has no problem with it as long as you are happy.

He'd go into the beauty supply store with you and know exactly where to go and what to get, even reminding you not to forget some things along the way.

Leon has a huge soft spot for your natural hair, whatever texture it may be he's whipped for it. Loves being able to touch your hair (with permission) and probably asks to help you on wash days so he has an excuse to do so.

speaking of which, I can see wash days becoming an intimate thing for you two as you get older. He'd help you shampoo in the shower as a form of affection, or you're sitting in his lap while he helps you detangle when your arms get tired.

If you have locs I can see Leon looking up a tutorial on how to do retwists to help you out. Even if you tell him time and time again that you'd rather have your loctician do it he insists you give him a chance. Turns out he's not half bad at it and you let him do it a few times a year.

[spicyvampire]

Man, I cannot stop thinking about Chalothorn coming to save Tharn and listening to Tharn when he asked to not kill Montree (and u know it's serious cuz i'm using his actual name)

Like that is when Tharn understood what he had to do to break the curse isn't it? Like this is when he went from grieving having to leave and accepting it because he knew what he was going to do while he was gone and he didn't know if it was going to work but he was going to try like this is a man with determination right there, like he isn't only looking at Montee he also has a goal in mind

and I feel like talking about this process Tharn went through but also just going through the trio's "character descriptions" as in Chalothorn being a fighter (maybe not talk about Chalothorn in this specific post I want to give him a whole post for himself), Wansarut/Tharn being an healer/protector (mediator?) and Sakuna/Phaya being a fighter (somewhat a little bit of a protector Wansarut/Tharn kinda rubbed off of them akasghjsgajhad like literally) and also just talk about power levels and who would match who in a fight and how that affected Tharn's decision or something idk we will see

Disclaimer : pulling all of this completely out of my ass from watching the show but it makes sense to me, might not make sense to anybody else cuz these are just raw out-of-order thoughts

I think I'll put everything under a keep reading cuz I know We about to spend an hour on this cuz this is taking too much space in my brain and I got school assignments to do so we just gonna throw it up right now

WANSARUT

Let's start with the fact that Wansarut is a healer/protector (and a mediator of some sort maybe? idk) like from the get go you got Wansarut saving Sakuna and healing him, simply because Sakuna was still alive (ep 8)

Like they are enemies at that point??? and what if Sakuna decided to kill Wansarut when he got better? And you can see that Sakuna does not understand Wansarut's actions cuz like they are enemies! That is a big risk Wansarut took simply because he was still alive, because it's not in Wansarut's nature to just sit there and watch someone die, whether they are from the enemy side or not, and Wansarut tells Sakuna to leave as soon as he feels better too, because Sakuna is clearly in Naga territory and it's dangerous for him there, and Wansarut didn't ask anything in return until Sakuna proposed it, and what Wansarut asks is just so goddamn UUUGHHHRBSGUYAHFG [tv static noise]

I literally do not know how to describe it but like Wansarut has an entire Garuda that is the literal Garuda king's brother saying he will give Wansarut anything as a favor because Wansarut saved him and Wansarut asks for peace between their people??? That's why I was like Wansarut is kinda a mediator, also later Wansarut says this

Really showing even if Wansarut would be happy with Sakuna, this situationship they got going on, Sakuna's presence in these woods, could make the war both of their people are living worst, and Wansarut do not want to cause harm, it would go against Wansarut's healer/protector nature

Also random sidenote : the way Wansarut talks the human world and about that Naga legend of a Naga turned human that wanted to be a Monk, is such a benevolent and loving god way of talking, also the fact that Wansarut is showing this whole part of Naga culture (Naga offering and breathing fire to pay respect to Buddha, on the 15th nigh of the 11th waxing moon) to Sakuna an outsider??? a literal enemy of Wansarut's people???? mind fucking blowing if you ask me

THARN

Ok enough about boyprincess time to talk about babygirl Tharn and how Wansarut's healer/protector (mediator) nature translated to him

Let me start with the fact that Tharn almost never attacks anyone first, and is always ready to put his gun down, and literally never shoot if he doesn't have to, let's just take a look at how fast he put his gun down in ep 12 and the fact that he didn't just shoot Montee goon in the back which gave him the time to disarm Tharn

Also when he could have literally shoot Narong possessed by Chalothorn back in episode 5, the coast was clear Phaya was out of the way and Narong was attacking Phaya so he had "reasonable" reason to just shoot the guy, like hell they even made eye contact and Narong (Chalothorn) just fully ignored him cuz he knew Tharn was not gonna shoot and Tharn really just didn't shoot

And don't get me started on the fact that Tharn took that stab for Phaya i'll be here till next year like!!! All that was in his mind was protecting Phaya and if he get hurt doing it so be it, which is literally exactly what his past self did, they will protect what they love, whatever the cost

Like it almost doesn't make sense that Tharn is a cop in this lifetime because of his healer/protector nature, if they still were making him a first responder, it would have made more sense if Tharn was a paramedic or something, but because his parents were killed it and he had to get justice for them he was knocked off the typical healer/protector path slightly, but he was still doing his cop job like he was a healer/protector (which is what cops should be tbh. but that's another discussion), like i wouldn't be surprised if Tharn's other reincarnations were in the medical field in some ways (but again how do you tell this story if they aren't in the same field of work? that's another problem innit)

SAKUNA

Unfortunately I gotta stop talking about babygirl Tharn and talk about our resident bird

Sakuna is fighter first and foremost like there is no questioning that, but I think he is a level lower than Chalothorn, like Sakuna is a high ranking soldier, probably his brother's right hand man but both time Sakuna tried to fight Chalothorn he lost, first time he was hurt very badly and Wansarut had to heal him, second time cost him and Wansarut's life and that's how the cycle started

And it honestly doesn't look like he match Chalothorn's powers even in garuda form, I think the garuda that would match Chalothorn would be Sakuna's brother (ep 12), unfortunately Sakuna would never get to a level where he could win since he died, and just keep dying every reincarnation after that, and I assume he just keep dying before he reach his full powers

But anyways by the end of Sakuna's life he wasn't only a fighter, you can see he genuinely was worried and wanted to protect Wansarut and he didn't care for his brother's war all that much, he did fight but that was to prove his love

And that's kinda beautiful isn't it? that's the effect Wansarut has on people Wansarut is close to and that's honestly the most powerful talent, like more powerful than the actual magic Wansarut can do

PHAYA

Phaya bird man extraodinaire is yet again a fighter (soldier) in this life, quite literally in the investigation team, but you can see that he has leadership qualities real early on (ep 2)

He is honestly a natural leader and I'm sure Sakuna was too, but on the powers side, his garuda powers like dormant/just under the surface this whole series, the best we get are little sparkles (ep 5 + ep 12)

His best qualities : his sparkles

Sidenote : let me just mention how protective Phaya is of Tharn, guy put his whole body over Tharn when there is a blast near, he is always in front of Tharn when they are fighting, not just episode 12 but simply all the time, like both time we saw his sparkles were related to protecting Tharn in some ways, like this man has a very fighter way of being a protector

But anyways my little birdy you are doing amazing tweety and I love you, but like how is he supposed to fight this fucking thing with goddamn garuda sparkles????????????

Well the answer can only be that he was never supposed to fight it. Like let's think about this for a sec, every goddamn reincarnation before phayatharn died why do you think? well idk but I can at least say for certain Sakuna and Wansarut died because Sakuna chose to fight. Literally every goddamn time this shit has always gone down south and we can assume it is because they fought Chalothorn. Fighting was literally NEVER the answer, but they kept doing it and honestly isn't insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results???? They've tried Sakuna and Chalothorn's way and the only thing it got them, is them both killed in all their past reincarnations and Chalothorn being honestly one reincarnation kill away from turning into a Naga forever

Also like sidenote : there is no sign of Tharn's Naga form, like what we got from Tharn are some somewhat powerful sparkles but you can't seriously tell me he can fight Chalothorn literal king of Nagas with that, like the sparkles were only there to protect Phaya, Tharn/Wansarut were never meant to be fighters (ep 5), like even with Phaya and Tharn's powers combined it wouldn't work tbh

Problem is, this whole situation with Tharn's parents dying and people Tharn love dying did make Tharn forget who he was, so much suffering and hurt and grief from a young age can change a soul, Tharn was looking for justice for his parents and frankly was kinda impulsive and reckless about it, and thats why the abbott's role in this show was so goddamn important, he was here to remind Tharn of who he is (the lion king simba and mufasa style REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE), and that is a healer, a protector and a mediator first and foremost, he even said this in episode 3 and he is right Kindness is Tharn's biggest weapon (and Phaya's btw because Sakuna's soul has changed a lot over the courses of reincarnations and he is such a sweetie, that is until Chalothorn walks into the room)

FINAL

bro where was I even going with this? Idk but back to Chalothorn listening to Tharn in episode 12, I think that's when Tharn got a declic as to what the abbott meant by all of his mediation and precepts stuff, Tharn understood then that first of all Chalothorn is not only a killer, the person he has known all these years that cares about him and his wellbeing is there, he literally came to Tharn's rescue twice, in ep 11 when Tharn was falling off the cliff and with Montee in episode 12, the problem is you cannot talk calmly to Chalothorn with Phaya in the room, it's just never going to end well, you put those 2 head strong (mostly) fighters in a room and all hell break lose and people literally die

So Tharn knew he had to leave, but this time, in contrary to the end of episode 11, he had a purpose, the purpose was to change Chalothorn's mind from the inside, because Chalothorn's has show signs of caring and kindness (again he probably got that from hanging out with Tharn tbh), but Tharn didn't know if that would work, he didn't know if he was going to be able to come back to Phaya, and that's why he was saying goodbye like that

That's why it felt like, contrary to episode 11, this goodbye from Tharn had an air of acceptance of his fate, because he knew it was his time to go and fight for his and Phaya's love, but this time he was going to do it his way, and that way is with kindness, love and empathy, like the healer/protector that he is

[ingravinoveritas]

So came I came across this repost from Al that a fan posted yesterday to which she reposted and to have her say and ad I much I can see she trying to defend ms with the radio getting his name wrong it a common thing for poor ms and I don't think this personally was the guys fault and I think they was reading from a script which I think most radio presenters have I think.

But the thing I noticed also was yes she was trying to defend her parter but also seems complaining that she and the children have to endure listening to the station in the car all the time and that like a another red flag like they literally have nothing in common and I'm still wondering why they still together. Cos I've noticed since michael been London he seems alot happier and heathly cos he closer to his best friend and beaming also. Can we have him stay permanently in London and not go bk to Wales in May.

What ur thoughts on this repost for Al I would to hear

(Grouping these together for ease of answering.)

I had this sent to me a little while ago and I'm...well, it takes a lot to floor me these days, especially in this fandom, but...I think this did it. Because there is so much going on here, and almost none of it is good.

On the surface, I know this very much looks like AL defending Michael, but I do not think that's what this was about at all. I think she saw BBC Radio 6 tagged in the original tweet and saw an opportunity to gain attention due to the proximity of a high-profile account. The way she did it, however, was by making something related to Michael about her. Again. And again, the wording of this retweet takes it from AL defending him to something else entirely.

Saying that she has to "endure" Michael listening to this radio show in the car is just a terrible look, as if listening to something he enjoys is so unbearably awful, and that she only puts up with because she's stuck in a car with him. It feels like she's literally complaining about Michael under the pretense of defending him, and I don't know how she (or anyone else) thinks this is okay.

The thing is, the whole "Martin Sheen" thing has become a running joke precisely because Michael has been dealing with this not just for his whole career, but his entire life. It's something he has frequently talked about, and I can imagine that it has been challenging on so many levels, but Michael also knows that Martin Sheen has been in the business for 60 years, and more than that, he is also a fan of Martin's. He's even talked about being introduced to him at a party years ago (I can't remember by whom, but Michael described the person as saying "Mr. President, meet Mr. Prime Minister"--referring to Martin and Michael's roles in The West Wing and The Queen, respectively).

So yes, the overarching point is that Michael doesn't blame Martin Sheen for these repeated mix-ups, and actually respects him as an actor and person. And when he has felt annoyed about this happening (as he did in 2020 when an ITV announcer called him the wrong name prior to a new episode of Quiz), Michael has had no problem calling it out himself on his own social media. Which speaks to your point @thetardisisblueandroseistoo about her trying to speak on Michael's behalf, and again doing a miserable job of it.

Also, what Michael hasn't done--and I suspect would be horrified at Anna doing--is go after the hosts of a show that he just appeared on yesterday. Particularly a show with hosts he is a tremendous fan of, as he spent a good portion of his appearance gushing about them and how much he enjoys listening to the show. I think he would more than understand the one host making this mistake--given his age and how much more embedded Martin Sheen is in pop culture--and would certainly exercise a lot more graciousness than to write a nasty tweet like the one AL did above.

That's the best way I can describe it: Shades of what we saw in the Insta story from last week, with that same self-aggrandizing, passive-aggressive (and now also kind of bitter) tone. There are a hundred other ways she could have responded to this, yet what she chose was to get in a dig at Michael, plus QT a fan tweet so that it could be misconstrued as her yelling at the fan. And again, in the cases where Michael has called out announcers or others for getting his name wrong, it's because he felt he deserved to have his name said correctly. In this case, however, it seems that AL wants the presenter to get Michael's name right because not doing so is an inconvenience to her.

Those were my impressions of AL's tweet, at any rate. All I can say is that from my perspective, if this was her attempting to defend Michael, it could not have been more backhanded. Glad to hear from my followers as well about your thoughts on this. Thanks for writing in! x

[a-not-so-clean-blog]

Nu carnival x shy gemless reader from Eidens world

Yakumo

What's better than one pretty shy boy? Two pretty shy boys! He's so comforting and supportive and works hard to get you little gifts to make you feel welcome in this world. He thought it was scary moving from the country to the city so he can only imagine how scary it was moving worlds. He just wants you to feel comfortable around him. Silence with him is comfortable, you never feel forced to talk if you don't want to. He's happy to just vibe with you.

Edmond

It's his “duty” to protect you while you're in Klein continent. Yeah no one else believes it either. He thinks it's impressive how you made it this far with no essence at all. He is awkward and doesn't really know how to approach you without coming off as a scary military captain. He relaxes more around you if you ask him about local food. You can see him open up when talking about local food and that makes you feel better. Sometimes he “accidentally” buys a second portion that he can't eat, you might as well take it so it doesn't go to waste.

Olivine

A little confused but he got the spirit. This applies to both of you by the way. You have no idea how a preacher got so jacked! And he has no idea how you got here without essence. He wants to help in any way he can. It's nice how genuine he is and that makes him easy to open up to. You wind up helping at the temple to thank him for his kindness. Just avoid some of his crazy fans and you'll be fine.

Quincy

Honestly couldn't care less where you come from, what you look like, or if you have essence or not. As long as you respect his forest. He may get a little annoyed if you try following him and can't keep up. He does appreciate it when you cook or do things for him but for the most part he's self sufficient. He won't push for conversation if you don't want to talk which is nice. Honestly it's going to be a little rough until you figure out each other's social cues. Topper is going to be your best friend!

Kuya

He already teases Eiden about not being able to use essence, and you are definitely not an exception. He is relentless in his teasing and sometimes takes it too far, especially in the beginning when he's testing your boundaries. It's not all bad though. He likes making things and clothes and often asks you to try out what he makes. It's his way of trying to be welcoming. He'll also ask about your world, different things about culture or really anything interesting. Maybe tell him something he can use against Eiden, I suggest the first line to a catchy song.

Blade

There is no such thing as being shy around Blade. I'm sorry but if you want no human interaction you are going to have to tell him and explain why. Besides being a little…energetic, he is so sweet. He asks a lot of questions about where you came from, and he'll ask Eiden if he can't find you. He will do his best to make you feel at home and welcomed with him. Absolutely no judgment with him either so you're free to express yourself however you want. He can be a little much but at the same time he's so cute. Like a big puppy curious about what's in your hand!

Garu

He is very good about your boundaries and will not cross them intentionally. He will also get between you and others if you look uncomfortable. It took some time to get used to his appearance but he was kind and patient so you pretty quickly warmed up to him. He doesn't know much about Klein culture because he grew up alone in the dead zone, but he's happy to explore and learn with you!

Karu

Similar to Garu but turn up the intensity. He almost bit someone in the market because they bumped into you and you got spooked. You were shocked when he called you slave #2 but Eiden explained that Karu doesn't really mean it. He got into a fight with Garu about it so now he just calls you human. As long as you put up with some of his weird mannerisms you get a free guard dog though.

Dante

Do not expect a sugar daddy with him. If you want something he is going to make you earn it, he does not believe in handouts. No it doesn't matter where you're from, or how kind, or weak you are without essence. If you want to stay in Solaria and not in Asters mansion than you will need to follow his rules. It's rough for the first week or so, but eventually you notice how you've changed. He'll have you interact with his servants and slowly you will become more social and have less anxiety and have started coming out of your shell. It's hard to see it in the moment but he's tough on you to help. At least help in what he feels is the best way.

Rei

He understands how Eiden got here because of the rainbow gemstone, but has absolutely no clue how you came? Sorry but he will want to study you. It's weird and awkward, especially because he doesn't talk while he does it. If you stay with him you won't have to go out much which is good for your shyness. When he grabs things for research he'll bring back stuff for you, snacks or food. He says it's to see how you react to stuff with different properties, but if you like something you don't even need to say anything and he'll get more.

Eiden

Oh he would be so protective! He remembers how sweet you were in his world, plus he remembers his scared he felt when he came to this world. He will have Aster let you stay in the mansion and you'll get your own room. He will introduce you to all the clan members, and warn you some of them are a little…unique. Big brother mode is in full force. If he can't protect you in this scary world then he will ask one of his clan members to help.

Aster and Morvay

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita/wibta for NOT breaking up with my bf ?

i'm not sure if the title is phrased weirdly, bare with me. my bf and i are both 18, he is cis M & i am FTM (relevant).

My bf and i are both currently in first year uni, both living at home due to high cost of living in our country (also everywhere else lol). We met about halfway through highschool, and were friends for a while before getting together. we are coming up on two years together in a couple months, and have not really had any major bumps in our relationship. we see eachother i would say 1-2x per week, with both of us living at home and being broke it gets a little challenging sometimes but we call most nights and generally we make it work. Also worth noting that I am my bf's first everything, down to his first kiss, while he is not really this for me. this is the longest relationship i have been in (probably because i'm 18 lol), but not at all the first. however, the only "serious" relationship i have had outside of of him, aside from just casual stuff, was very abusive & toxic, so i do sort of see us on equal footing as neither of us has ever been in a normal, functional relationship before.

Now, the issue: while we are both currently living at home, i see this as a very temporary arrangement and something i am counting down the days until i can get out of. while living with my family is not abusive or anything, it is just very straining as i am not very close with them, and also cannot transition while living at home. as previously mentioned i am ftm, and while my mom is tolerant it would just put even more stress on the relationship if i were to start changing physically while living at home or even asking her to use different pronouns for me and is just something i prefer to leave until i'm not 100% reliant on her. that being said my dysphoria causes me very intense depression and without getting too detailed, i don't know how much longer i can take living here and putting off any sort of meaningful transition outside of close/online friends calling me he.

my bf, however, plans to live at home at least until he graduates, which is six years away. i understand that this is a very normal thing, especially culturally (he is middle eastern + muslim, i am white + agnostic), but the issue is that his mother is, among many other things, extremely homophobic. she already hates me for reasons i'm not really sure of (my bf refuses to go into detail, i think to protect me, but i have seen extremely graphic and nasty texts about me by name on his phone and have been told by him that he doesn't even mention me around the house or else she gets extremely upset, though she is always extremely nice to me the few times we have interacted), but anyways, me transitioning while he is still living at home would be essentially putting him in legitimate danger.

my bf does not like to think about this, which i understand. it's hard enough dealing with what i get from my family, and that is absolutely nothing compared to the fact that everyone he knows from his culture/religion beleives he should be dead just because he is gay (i know, as does he, that there are queer muslims. but they do not exist openly in his personal community). but the problem is that anytime i adress to him that the idea of waiting until we are in our mid-twenties for me to even think about transitioning is a really big issue for me he basically refuses to talk about it and just says that "it will work out". on top of the transitioning thing i just generally don't want to be twenty-five (the age he has told me is when he plans to move out) and still having to cancel dates last minute because my boyfriend's mom was in a bad mood and decided he's not allowed to go out tonight. i know this is how life is for many people and they learn to deal with it! and i respect them very much! but it is genuinely my nightmare. i understand why he cannot/does not want to cut himself off from his family, especially since his dad lives overseas and is extremely wealthy so therefore paying his entire tuition out of pocket. i'm just saying it's not a lifestyle that meshes well with my future plans.

this is where the asshole part comes in: my bf genuinely thinks that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together. this started with small comments, things like alluding to the idea of our potential future kids (i love kids and raising my own is genuinely my end goal in life, something he knows just because i am very open about it), or talking about our future apartment/house, but now is basically just a constant conversation in our relationship. i try not to feed into it, but i also feel badly responding to his sweet comment when i point out a house i like on the street about how we'll buy it one day with something about how i don't ever see that happening. i generally just respond neutrally, but i will admit i get caught up in the fantasy sometimes and contribute to it as well.

he is such a lovely guy with a beautiful heart and i do really adore him, and it's not a situation where i don't want to spend the rest of my life with him. to be honest, that's the dream. i love him with everything i have and i would literally do anything for him. the problem is just that when he talks about this future together all i can picture is all the million ways our relationship is doomed to implode.

but we are happy right now, because me moving out of my family home is not something that is going to be possible for another 1-2 years, so none of those issues are something that are going to come up right now. i just forsee them being pretty much impossible obstacles between us and spending the rest of our lives together down the line. but i have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that even though i want more than anything to be with him forever, the fact that i don't remotely beleive it's something that will actually work out still constitutes as leading him on.

so, am i the asshole for staying with him, because we are happy right now and these issues are not going to be relevant for another 1-2 years, and a solution might somehow present itself in that time? or is the right thing to do to just leave now, and rip off the bandaid?

What are these acronyms?

[olderthannetfic]

Something that's always stuck with me is Stitch's followers dogpiling me for writing a Jewish Star Wars AU. Basically it was an AU where Finn was space Moses, the last of a noble Force-sensitive family who made sure he survived the destruction of their planet, and when his Force abilities awakened he went on to fight to free the other Stormtroopers. Stitch didn't like that I went in a Finn/Hux direction wherein Hux was a double agent embedded deep in the First Order, sabotaging it from the inside.

I was called a Nazi. I'm Jewish. I was called anti-black. I'm Beta Israeli, black and Ethiopian-American and proud. I was called a Pick Me POC, I was sent pictures of starving Ethiopian children, I was sent Holocaust pictures, people flooded my comments on AO3 - this was before it had a block feature - and even after I deleted my tumblr the hate bled over onto my other social media accounts. I was called slurs, I was told I should've starved to death, people told me my "Jew money" wouldn't buy off people this time, and I got hit by enough people calling me a monster, a bad person, etc. that I took the story down just to escape them.

Stitch only mentioned me once. Just once.

I think the real issue they have with AO3 is that at any point you can be blocked, comments can be turned off, people can find themselves unable to keep clawing at you again and again. You can make it so they have to be logged in to send their threats and then you can report them. They can dogpile "bad" fans all they want, but there are consequences for their actions. I was 14 then and easily intimidated. Many people on AO3 are not either of those things. You can't harass them off their own platform. And when you try, you end up being booted off of it instead.

The real reason Stitch doesn't like AO3 is that it's designed to protect authors, including "Pick Me POC" and "POC TOO" (get it, it's funny because it's like #MeToo, Stitch is oh so hilarious). It protects those of us who are neither white nor onboard with all of Stitch's opinions and, more broadly, not onboard with purity culture, respectability politics and people's demands that you change your content to match their idea of what a respectable fictional story looks like.

This is not about racism. It's about kicking people who are "wrong" aka write anything they don't like off of AO3 for pure, morally good, self-righteous reasons that they tell themselves make them not the bullies here. It's about control. They want you to do what they want or leave.

I've been rewriting my old fic and I'm planning on putting it back up sometime this year.

No, antis, you don't get to bully black people off of AO3 and call yourselves anti-racist and act like you're moral guardians. To be a moral guardian, you'd need some morals. If you don't like the site's policies, get off of it. I am entitled to my space on AO3 just as much as anyone else. I am not Less Than, and the fact that my own people were the ones telling me I was has permanently made me suspicious of alleged anti-racism campaigns in fandom. I know who these people are when they know there won't be consequences for their actions and they're not people I'd trust to run a bake sale, let alone a fandom archive.

--

Yikes! That's quite an experience for a 14-year-old!

[tfp-is-my-lifeblood-lol]

Tfp Autobots' Reactions to Pokemon Go

Optimus: He'll allow you/the kids to play, but he's concerned. He'll say: "I do not advise traversing unfamiliar locations without looking up from your electronic device...nor do I advise the inhumane capture of helpless living creatures, fictional, or otherwise. But, since this pass-time is a part of human culture, I respect your desire to play."

Optimus wouldn't chose a Pokemon Go team, either. He would say: "As a former inhabitant of Cybertron, I know better than to engage in factions, for they have the capacity to bring once peaceful civilizations into chaos."

Ratchet: He's not amused:

"If I hear ONE more mention of 'catching Pokemon,' by the Allstark, I am going to lose my mind."

However, one day, you decide to give him a plushie of Wigglytuff (The Pokemon that Nurse Joy has), since he's a medic. He rolls his eyes, but secretly appreciates it deeply. He keeps the Wigglytuff on his desk while he works.

If he were to pick a team, he'd be Team Instinct, which Miko would relentlessly mock him for:

Miko: "Team Instinct? Lame alert."

Bumblebee: Regularly plays Pokemon Go with Raf. They've got almost every single Pokemon, and beat every gym (well...there MAY have been hacking involved with the gym thing). Bee would find a Pokemon near where Ratchet is working (a digital one, not the plushie). He'd buzz, run over excitedly, and point it out to Raf. Of course, Ratchet would shout: "I'm TRYING to WORK, over here!"

Bee would probably join Raf on Team Mystic.

Arcee: Relentlessly makes fun of Jack for bumping into trees.

Tries to play herself, out of curiosity, and bumps into a tree.

Jack: "Did you just bump into a tree?"

Arcee: "Let's not talk about it."

Overall, she'd just make snarky comments while watching everyone else play. She's on Team Valor.

Bulkhead: He and Miko are super competitive against Jack and Raf.

They have a blast catching Pokemon, but Bulkhead's still very protective of Miko.

Bulkhead: "Miko, be careful. Stay by me. Some people who play this game accidentally find...dead bodies." *shudder*

Miko: "Dead bodies? Sw-eet!"

Team Valor, of course.

Wheeljack: Totally encourages Miko.

All the Wreckers play together and they're all Team Valor.

Wheeljack doesn't understand why using actual grenades won't help them take over gyms.

He doesn't really like the cute little Pokemon. He'd rather have a real fight. However, he thinks all the exploring is good Wrecker training for Miko.

Smokescreen:

Obsessed with it.

Seriously, who's idea was it to show him this game? Jack, you fool!

Team Prime will be on a sensitive mission, and Smokescreen will be like: "GUYS, LOOK WHAT I FOUND!"

Arcee will rush over, thinking Smokescreen found a Cybertronian relic, or something.

Smokescreen: "A SHINY Charmander! HOW COOL IS THAT?"

And then Arcee would beat the scrap out of him.

He's on Team Valor, because Moltres is cool.

Ultra Magnus:

He's like: "What is a Pok-e-mon?"

Miko helps him catch one.

He's like: "I do not understand."

And Miko's like: "Awwww!"

Soon, the kids notice gym's are being taken by Ultra Magnus (whose username is, rather uncreatively, just "Ultra Magnus"). Apparently he's on Team Mystic, so Miko walks up to Ultra Magnus, like: "Aww, you're picking RAF'S team?"

To which Ultra Magnus says: "...there are Teams?"

At least he's surprisingly good at it, considering he has no clue what he's doing.

[beanghostprincess]

You know, I was thinking a bit about the monster trio and how they all respect food a lot. And it got me thinking about their respective reasons to.

Sanji started resoecting it after being stranded and starving for 6 months, he knew how it felt to be hungry and he doesn't want anyone else to feel like this again. You also got the fact that he is a cook so of course he respects food.

Zoro I am not really sure since I don't remember any specific incident in his life, but its probably due to the strict discipline and culture he was raised in. After all he got raised with Wano costums and Wano is inspired by east asia, mainly Japan. And I might get it wrong but there is some kind of occurence where its rude to not finish your food, and its considered preciois.

Luffy has his whole thing that he just loves to eat and its mostly a gag but I dug in more deeply and...

Did Garp use to fucking starve that child?

I mean, its mostly an assumption, but when Luffy first went to Dadan's place to live she only gave him a bowl of rice and a cup of water and told him he had to work for his food. She excpected him to cry but he just went "Ok. Better than my grandad treats me".

Did Garp just fed Luffy if he completed his trainings (that involved him doing near death experience as a <7 years old CHILD) and/or only made him eat what he hunted? Is that what it is? This whole gag, of Luffy being a glutton, cherishing every piece if food he eats DEFEATING THE WORLD'S STRONGEST CREATURE, FOR A BOWL OF RICE comes from the fact that, as a child, food was quite literally just a rewards, and to him food = freedom, and he loves freedom?

Garp, I swear to Nika-

I've always loved the way OP treats food. Not gonna go full analysis on that because I'm pretty sure one already exists, but Oda keeps wanting to put food/eating in a good light. Food means life and happiness and whenever there's an important scene going on, somebody's eating. It's beautiful. It's surprisingly one of the main traits of Luffy's character. I find it beautiful how the manga keeps showing that food brings happiness and fulfillment. That everybody deserves to eat and that it could never be a bad thing.

We know already why Sanji respects food so much so there's no need to explain it. But you know. Starvation? The way his mom kept hyping up his passion for cooking? His whole character revolves around food and how nobody deserves to starve. Eating shouldn't be a privilege but most of the time it is and people should be thankful they're able to enjoy their delicious meals. So he doesn't waste food because he sees it as a life and happiness source that not most people have access to and it shouldn't be wasted.

Zoro's views are really respectful when it comes to everything. Traditions and rules? Zoro respects that. He's the one who knows the most about pirate language and tradition, so of course he's gonna respect Sanji's views on food. But it isn't just because of that because he already respected food way before joining the crew. It comes from his views on life. Food is necessary for people to live and he respects death a lot (ever since what happened to Kuina) and mortality is something real and present to him constantly. He respects food the way he respects death and life and mortality.

And Luffy... I'd say yes, perhaps it does have something to do with how Garp raised him. It makes sense although I've never actually thought about it that way. But it does look like he has always had to fight for food. But he doesn't only see food as something to fight for because Makino also prepared meals for him. I think the whole point about Luffy and food is freedom (I mean, obviously. God of the Sun and Freedom. We know how it goes). Eating is something necessary to live, but Luffy doesn't see it as a threat. It isn't "Eat or Die" for him. For him, he chooses to eat because food is good for his body and it's delicious, and eating out of pleasure and not just hunger is also part of his character. He's a man who's always starving but for more experiences and tastes and freedom, and he takes food without hesitating once because you shouldn't apologize never, ever for eating.

While Sanji sees food as something he can do for others (he's always starving and making food for everybody else because he's selfless like that and the show wants you to see it), Zoro respects food the same way he respects mortality because it's something necessary to live, and Luffy loves food because it's... Because it's just good, you know? Maybe it isn't that deep. Maybe he eats because he wants to and that's okay. He unapologetically eats and he's selfish about it and that's how it should be.

[deepermadness]

Here's something for you guys to latch onto. It's something I'm quite excited about!

I know a lot of you don't play 40K, but something rather interesting could be happening during summer this year. Back in 2023, Games Workshop released the 10th edition of Warhammer 40K. I know, I know, but don't get switched off just yet. Things are going to get very fun.

You may know through cultural osmosis that there are four Chaos gods. Tzeentch, Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh.

Well for many years they all shared one rulebook, but back in 8th edition, two of them (Nurgle and Tzeentch) spun off into their own armies. This was followed last year by Khorne who got theirs right at the end of 9th edition.

But in addition to new rulebooks, they also got their army leader, known as a Primarch, to take them into battle.

Now what's interesting here is that they all have benefitted from gifts of their respective gods. Magnus has a staff and enhanced psychic powers, Angron has two powerful close combat weapons (to create blood for the blood god), while Mortarion has the enduring strength of rot and decay. In additon, they all underwent changes to reflect their respective gods. All very fluffy and tied heavily to the lore. These are really fun models and their rules are fucking cool!

But we're missing Fulgrim, the Primarch seduced by Slaanesh. And THIS is where it gets interesting. Slaanesh is the god of excess. They revel in striding over boundaries and feel most comfortable being who they are. Followers of Slaanesh often gain powers and benefits tied to their perversions, sexual or otherwise. And it is highly believed that Fulgrim is next in line to get a model.

Looking at GW's roadmap, you can see that there's a spot for a whole new army coming out (listed as [redacted]):

There is HUGE speculation that this is the fourth and final Chaos god codex (the name for the rulebooks). This means that we will get a new Fulgrim model, and we're itching to see what 10,000 years of daemonic servitude has blessed him with.

And I say "new" model, because we have one of him back when he first turned. This is part of their "Horus Heresy" range, and not Warhammer 40K proper. The other three Primarchs also have HH models too, different from the ones above.

Sexy, right?

But here's the thing. One of Slaanesh's defining traits is that they play with and change gender frequently. Actually, it would be just as appropriate to say that gender doesn't really apply to them unless they want it to. For example, here is a huge daemon from the range:

As you can see, there's a lot of androgeny here. That's intentional. Sometimes they appear more traditionally feminine, sometimes more masculine, sometimes both, sometimes neither.

And their forms shift to seduce the prey. It's brilliant!

But this leaves the question - what about Fulgrim?

I suspect that GW could do something incredible. I think they're going to heavily lean into the best parts of Slaanesh. I think that they're going to reveal a female, or genderfluid Fulgrim!

It would make so much sense. It's the best fit for the lore. It would be so weird to just have a random bloke standing there when everybody else is already living it up as their best and most open selves, you know? It would make her distinct from her brothers, we would get a phenomenally cool Daemon Princess model, and it would definitively shut up all of those guys who get funny about the idea of female space marines, because we'd finally have one in canon!

I mean, even the existing model is called Fulgrim "trans"-figured! Could it be any more obvious?

Trans Fulgrim please, GW.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Apparently when Aang was depressed and suggested that maybe they should abandon hope, he was actually ordering/Forcing The pregnant Couple to accept air nomad beliefs.

Also Aang apparently Regularly disrespects and refuses to learn from other cultures and Aang actually isn’t even a good airbender because somehow even though he regularly airbends, we don’t see him practicing at all.

Finally even though Aang allowed Katara to take Appa and acknowledged that she believes that she needs to go on the journey to Yon rha, Aang was forcing Katara to murder Yon Rha.

What show were Aang’s detractors watching?

I love the implication that somethings as simple as "having hope" is considered "Air-nomad exclusive belief", when that's a big theme throught the whole show and we have IROH telling Zuko not to give into despair, and explaining to the crew on "The Storm" that Zuko is so obsessed with capturing the Avatar because that mission allows him to hope he can come home and fix things with his dad.

They REALLY think that "pacifist" (which IS an air-nomad thing) MUST mean "hopeful, optimistic and cheery" like Aang - like we didn't see the air-nomads clearly freaking out so bad that they tell Aang he is the Avatar four years ahead of time, getting pissed whenever he is having any fun, and even want to separate him from his "father" because they knew something bad was gonna happen. Aka, they gave into despair.

As for him "forcing" the couple to give that name to their child

Husband: What should we name her?

Wife: I want our daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something.

Aang:  I've been going through a really hard time lately. But you've made me ... hopeful again.

Wife: I know what I want to name our baby now. Hope.

Husband: That's a perfect name. Hope.

That was a suggestion at most. Not an order, not intimidating them into doing what he wanted them to, and surely not forcing them to accept "air-nomad beliefs."

"The guy who spent the whole series traveling around to learn from different people, and was so understanding he was even sympathetic to the nation that killed everyone he knew and loved, did not respect other cultures" Bruh.

Literally the only two "disrespectful" things I remember Aang doing were:

1 - That bitter comment about "dead animals" towards Bato - which he only made because he was feeling left out of the conversation since his friends were so excited about being with someone from their tribe that they were completely ignoring him. Not cool, but totally understanding considering he's 12.

2 - Snapping at Pakku for not wanting to train Katara/trying to teach her what he was taught behind his back (even though the second one is on shaky ground since, even though that was a bit of a "cheat code" to make Pakku train Katara indirectly, he doesn't have the right to demand Aang never share his knowledge with someone he doesn't approve of)

And both of these, on top of being understandable, also have the disclaimer of "You can disagree with someone's beliefs/cultural habits without looking down on them" - hell, Katara full on says Gran-Gran left because she wouldn't let the Northern Water Tribes stupid customs ruin her life. Not to mention, the Fire Nation's culture for at least 100 years has been "fuck everyone else, only our way of living is the correct one" and the whole point of the show is "This belief is not only wrong and hurting the other nation, it is harming the Fire Nation itself"

"It's my culture" is a neutral statement. It does not shield said culture from criticism, and Aang disagreeing with someone's beliefs - be it that hunting/eating meat is okay, or that women can't be fighters, or that not all life is sacred - is not the same as him being disrespectful. He owes people basic human decency, not blind agreement with anything and everything they believe in.

So yeah, these people need to keep. Aang's. Name. OUT. THEIR. FUCKING. MOUTH.

[thedomesticanthropologist]

Spoilers for Halsin?

Halsin is INTERESTING and I want to talk about this man, but I haven't done a FULL deep dive into his dialogue and romance so I'm gonna need you guys to help me out if I make mistakes here.

So we know he comes on strong pretty much from the get go, and even if you don't flirt he's got some language around admiring you/wanting you/bring with you "and now I have you" etc before the shadow curse is broken

Once it's broken man is like a bear in HEAT coming after Tav, in the most respectful way he can. He is smart, careful with boundaries, if you're romancing someone else he's great with consent but the whole time he makes it clear: he wants you. And he phrases it in a way that any romance novel enthusiast would be melting.

But then there's this neat thing about wood elves someone dug up re: Astarion being OK with you going off with Halsin that I want to make note of. Though not included in BG3 specifically in a book or otherwise for the player to read, there's this:

He says his heart does not stir lightly, he has had many lovers but his heart stirs for you, now. However, if you press him about your relationship he, though not teasing or mocking you AT ALL, does emphasize that the word relationship doesn't match his vibe Essentially, that you are BOTH free to persue others and at this time he says "you are all I want but you should -"

And a lot of players took this as oh, he only wants me and is not interested in pursuing other lovers because his heart does not stir lightly but I get to go bang whoever with his consent

And I'm like.... Kinda? But that really erases everything he says about how HE views relationships. He views them as the wood elves do, something to passionately engage in when you want it, and to freely disengage from when the time feels right, no possession involved, clear communication being important along the way.

And then at the end of the game

He leaves you.

And people flipped out over this, and I agree that the Epiolgues SUCK SO HARD

But I don't feel like this is... Out of character for him, for a wood elf, I just feel like the writers missed an opportunity to actually EXPLAIN HALSIN and Wood Elf views on romantic entanglements? They really slap you hard with his overwhelming attraction and devotion to Tav during their journey and do not prepare (except in bare hints of him tell you YOU are free OF COURSE and not that HE is also free, that part is IMPLIED and even so he never says he intends this to be an interlude, but he also has NO concept of how relationships work outside of the context of his own experience which has been rooted in Wood Elf culture)

And he never talks to you about it before the ending either "hey this was great but I'm gonna dip soon-"

Idk I wanna start a dialogue about it, because I don't have enough information but I'm trying to figure out what the writers wanted from his Character here, and how they wanted us to perceive him and his romance and like... Yeah.

Would love some extra character analysis from Halsin fans who have done a better deep dive than I have so far!!

[sheisadykewomon]

Femininity is a costume. It is "dressing up". Men only have to dress up for special occasions where everyone is dressed up. But women are expected to wear costumes everywhere. We're expected to show up to the office, to dinner, out with friends, going to a bar, going to a party, walking down the street, going to the grocery store, or even in our own homes - dressed up. We have to wear a costume. The exact details of the costume don't matter so much, just that we are wearing one, though there are certain general rules the costumes must follow (from my vantage point):

The clothes must be either much tighter or much looser than what the men are wearing. They must be visually harmonious, wearing colors that match well or provide unexpected contrast. There must be extra decorations, such as shiny gems, lace, fancy fabric, puffy sleeves, bows, studs, leather details, mesh, holes, or anything else that is purely decorative and serves no actual purpose. 

The hair must have a certain "look" that says, "I worried about what shape my hair would be in today, and I did something about it!" It must be "styled".

There must be an attempt to cover up the natural, bare face; whether with a particular kind of haircut, decorative eyeglass frames, face paint, a veil, a combination or these, or something else.

The shape of the body must be emphasized in some way.

The differences from the male body must be exaggerated - larger, perkier breasts; wider hips; small feet; hair must be removed; small waist. If these differences are not present or not markedly different, an illusion of difference must be created. Fixations on particular bodily differences vary from culture to culture.

If everyone wore a costume to the grocery store, it wouldn't be so strange. But there's a reason men don't wear costumes to the grocery store. The grocery store is not a place where any kind of special occasion is happening. You are there to get food, purchase it, and leave. It is not a place or time of celebration. People generally don't dress up for everyday life simply because there is no reason to. Dressing up is no longer a fun thing to do when you are expected to do it every day, even when you don't want to, even when you don't have the time, even when you don't have the money, even when you don't see the point.

Men are never expected to dress up. Even when dressing up would be appropriate and is encouraged - such as at red carpet events. Men often show up wearing jeans and t-shirts to such events and no one cares. Women who show up to a celebratory event Not In Costume or Not-Good-Enough Costume are frequently subjected to public humiliation. She needs her female uniform! Otherwise, how will anyone know that she's performing? It's like a man who is bewildered when the maid he has hired comes to clean his house in her normal street clothes. Where is the respect? It's uncomfortable! Doesn't she know that she must be dressed up in her special costume to reinforce that there's a difference between her and him -- while he stands there in his stained sweatshirt, old jeans, and dirty socks? This is how men generally see un-feminized women; as being "out of costume". They find it disrespectful.

In her maid uniform, her role is to serve the man and clean for him. Her costume makes this difference real. His role is to stand around, do nothing, and pay her - that is, he has no role. He has no special uniform, because he is just "normal" - he's not performing. How will everyone know who to treat like a servant and who to treat like a master if everybody is dressed the same?

Men are allowed to wear costumes, if they so choose, even though men who dress up are sometimes bullied by other men, who feel uncomfortable that another man is performing for them. They see that he is playing a role, in his costume; they wonder what role they are expected to play. It can confuse and enrage them.

But in a context where men have all agreed to show up dressed up in costume, it's a whole lot of fun. Everyone feels on equal footing because everyone is wearing something that's a little bit ridiculous, a little bit impractical. The more impractical, the better! It shows how much money and/or time you have to spend on things that serve only one purpose - decorations, which serve the purpose of being looked at - like gems and lace and tulle and makeup and funny hats. But when celebratory times are over, men put away these silly costumes and get back to serious business.

Yet, women are expected to remain in costume all the time, even and especially when it is most impractical. Even when men do dress up, their standards for what counts as 'dressed up' are far lower than for women. Men's "costumes" are markedly different from their normal everyday clothing, but they still generally remain comfortable enough to move around in. Women's costumes regularly constrict movement, speed, blood flow, and even breathing. Women's costumes itch, pinch, poke, dig in, cause rashes, cause infections, reveal, break, stain, scratch, and hurt. They impact our vision, affect our breathing and speech, and distract us from what is happening around us. Women's costumes reduce our reaction time by impairing our ability to sense our surroundings. Women's costumes further prevent us from responding effectively to situations due to the extra care and effort it takes to navigate in such unwieldy garments. Wearing the "female uniform" day in an day out puts us in danger. We are not as able to care for ourselves when caught in these feminine trappings, and things like wearing high heels and tight clothing can cause us to adopt musculature imbalances that wears away at our joints over time, causing long-term damage to our bodies. Femininity is a silent killer.

And even though women have less free time and less money than men do, our costumes are still expected to appear as if we have more money and time than we really do. Our costumes are supposed to look like we really cared about what others would think of us. If it doesn't look like we "care about our appearance" (by not wearing costumes with superfluous, decorative details), then we are judged as having committed a crime -- we are Disgusting and worthy of great contempt and ridicule from both men and women. We are not being decorative, and that is one of the only things women are any good for. If I'm not nice to look at, am I worth anything at all?

Women who choose to skip the female uniform are often characterized as suffering poor mental health - they are "neglecting themselves". But perhaps wearing a costume every day is itself a form of neglect. It is neglecting your own right to be comfortable - neglecting your need to be able to move around freely and breathe easily. It is neglecting your body's sensations telling you that you are in pain; that you are wasting time that could be better spent on other things; that you are hurting yourself. What could cause more mental health problems than treating yourself like a decorative object? What could be more mentally damaging than cultivating your view of yourself as an object to be consumed for other people's pleasure?

The costume is not necessary. You can take it off. Underneath it, there is no character; a real person exists, and you deserve your own careful, loving attention.

[yuri-is-online]

So. I understand both Malleus and Rollo's perspectives here. To Malleus, he is a King and from a culture where gifts = magic and it's his task as ruler to give out gifts. To Rollo, both as someone who admires the concepts of justice and righteousness (even if his role model is a huge hypocrite), he sees just using magic willy nilly not as a gift but as a display of power. Power that separates Malleus from everyone else, which is pretty much how everyone else ALSO sees Malleus, but while people like Azul and Idia might consider ways to use that to their own advantage or think themselves capable of closing that power gap Rollo thinks there is something fundamentally wrong with that existence.

I am not 100% clear with what he means by "astray" here. I think he's suggesting that hard work, intelligence, and duty are all things mages avoid needing if they have enough magic, as they will be more powerful than a person without magic by default so that's the only thing you have to respect about them. I saw a separate post mentioning Azul, Malleus, and Idia were here because they're based off the most mythical members of the Great 7, but I think it might have to do with them sort of being both good examples of and counter points to Rollo's opinion on magic.

Idia also lost his brother and failed to cope with it, Malleus grew up without his parents and only has one real friend he arguably doesn't fully know how to connect with, and Azul's entire chapter is about effort vs talent. Magic cannot get you everything, and all four of these guys know that better than anyone.

[lets-try-some-writing]

In the grim dark archives what would happen if the kids died? Whether it was by the autobots or some outside threat. I vaguely remember you posting something a little more in depth regarding the kids but heaven forbid I can ever find anything with Tumblr’s horrible searching system. So correct me if I’m wrong

But I remember you said Optimus specifically needed Raf for something. So if he dies we might have an issue

But Jack and Miko are solely there to keep their respective bots occupied. So if those two died would they just replace them with kids who looked similar enough and prayed the bots didnt notice?

The Grim Dark Archives: Transcript #003 Hypothetical

[Transcript taken [Redacted: Sensitive data] from [REDACTED] after concerns regarding the children were raised by personnel and the higher ups. I decided to ask [REDACTED] a few questions about a hypothetical where the children perished.

It was mostly for my own sake, so I decided to keep it all as a transcript. The higher ups don't read transcripts as often since they technically aren't official.

Transcript begins.]

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Agent Witwicky: The children... what would happen if they died? [REDACTED]: Rafael won't die. Prime won't allow it. He's going to join the Archive soon enough. The Archive protects its own. Agent Witwicky: Then the other two. What about them? [REDACTED]: Let's not get it twisted. Miko will die. She's with Bulkhead. He will kill her eventually, probably in a fit of boredom. Jack will likely expire at some point too. Arcee doesn't know how to care for squishies like you lot. Agent Witwicky: Answer the question. [REDACTED]: Dang, harsh crowd here tonight. [REDACTED]: Miko will get replaced. Simple as that. It isn't hard to find a rambunctious kid on this planet of yours, especially since your culture is swimming in media that paints alien lifeforms in a positive happy go lucky light. Agent Witwicky: So Bulkhead doesn't care about her? [REDACTED]: I wouldn't say that. To him, I can only assume he views her like how you humans may see a pet goldfish. He will take care of her, but when she expires, he will get rid of her and move on quickly. Agent Witwicky: How long do you think she has until she... expires? [REDACTED]: Hard to tell. Wreckers take pets a lot. Some care for them properly, others don't. I didn't exactly take the time to get to know the Wrecker units since I valued life. Agent Witwicky: Right... and Jack? [REDACTED]: If he dies and Arcee fails to bond to another human, Arcee will likely be executed shortly after the boy's death. Prime keeps Arcee around simply because she's vicious and because it invokes fear in the enemy. Agent Witwicky: He isn't concerned about eliminating a threat then. [REDACTED]: Exactly. I think there is a core element most miss when it comes to Prime. Everything he does is two sided. Agent Witwicky: That's not surprising. [REDACTED]: No its not. But what I mean by that is, well, he's not the mech I knew. When he joined the Archive, he was still a mech that I could recognize. Now though? It's like someone else is walking in his frame, and that person thinks this whole war is FUN. Agent Witwicky: Can you confirm that? [REDACTED]: No. I have my theories, but they aren't relevant right now. For the time being, just know that when those two kids expire, Prime will find replacements for them or for Arcee.

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[Transcript ends.

The more I hear about the Autobots, the more my childhood dream of being friends with aliens dies. Prime is terrifying and I haven't even met him in person before. I don't think I want to. If he is as [REDACTED] says, then we are better off hoping that this Megatron character kills him soon.

Agent Witwicky signing off.

Recording end.]