#a good majority are nb or queer

[knownsome]

I'm sooooo over people in live-play fandoms being 'annoyed' at players making non-optimal decisions like. Jesus Christ.

It's literally a game and no one REAL PERSON is at their best 100% of the time and YOU DON'T KNOW THEIR CHARACTER BETTER THAN THEY DO, YOU ENTITLED PARASOCIAL WEIRDO. Maybe they had a good reason!! Who fucking cares it's adult pretend!!!!

If you were invited to a real tabletop session to watch and you critiqued the players at the table even half as scathingly as these folks online seem to think they're entitled to, the GM (and the players) would not invite you back and you would be lucky if you weren't ejected immediately.

Let's also not forget the vast majority of online critique of live-play tabletop players seems to be directed at people traditionally gatekept from ttrpg spaces IE poc/women/trans&nb folk/openly queer players. I fucking see you, gatekeeping assholes.

Celebrate and uplift people kind enough to share their live-play experiences.

[utilitycaster]

Whenever people are like "well LIAM'S characters never faced any backlash when HE played characters in the spotlight" and "no one will let WOMEN have negative qualities" when Caleb and Vax and Orym have received pretty constant hate for main character/sadboy/scene stealing and when meta writers outright stopped talking about Imogen because a particularly mindless set of hit dogs are still hollering about how she is so good and kind and how dare you call her selfish, it's really like...in the service of trying to make your failure of a point you've just said something that literally anyone with a memory lasting longer than the apocryphal goldfish length can immediately debunk, which in turn absolutely shreds your credibility going forward, if you had it.

More generally there's something very vile here, because on the surface this statement does look like an attempt, if one ignorant of pretty much any fandom conversation, to defend women. The thing is it's come from a place of defending Dorian and Ashton's plan - a man, and a nb person who would not identify as a woman - that requires a particularly great deal of sacrifice from the women of the party. So of course they just switch tactics. Instead of "how dare the fandom not think women are always best" it's "how dare the fandom disrespect a disabled nb person and a person played by an indigenous actor." And I'm sure they'll switch again. Because pretty much every character in this campaign is on some axis of oppression, and there's a few people in this fandom who, instead of considering these things as important details that inform these characters, seem to largely treat their minority statuses as ammunition. Feminism and antiracism and queer advocacy are all just part of a shell game to them - accuse everyone who disagrees with them of being a bigot, say that their opinions are inviolate because they match that of literally any character who isn't a cis het white man, of which Bells Hells has none. Unsurprisingly, it's that social media purity culture that's just the evangelical church with a gay hat: they are always the victim, and everyone who disagrees is the devil, and being a good person always happens to line up with what you already wanted.

There are several posts from the past day or so accusing people of liking Campaign 3 less than the two previous ones which refused to accept that this might be due to the hurry-up-and-receive-an-infodump pacing, the singular focus without much time spent on backstory, the gaps in party composition, and the fact that the plot manages to combine the weakest elements of each campaign - the fetch quest/NPC guidance heavy nature of C1, and the meandering/slow start of C2. No, it must be the awful, sinful fandom unable to handle the lack of a major M/M ship (false; Dorian and Orym aren't canon, but neither were Vax and Gilmore, and the latter was sunk far sooner) and the fact that a female character is at the center of the story (see above re: how hostile the same people making these accusations have been to anyone who actually wants to discuss Imogen in a way that doesn't fit their specifications). Just to repeat this: many fans have outlined a number of purely narrative and structural reasons why C3 isn't working for them. These people have assumed this is all a lie, because assuming otherwise that would require either addressing these critiques, which in turn would require admitting other people can have valid opinions that oppose their own without being horrible bigots - in favor of throwing out whatever random accusations they think might stick. It doesn't matter what's actually being said; they're not actually listening, and for all they might talk about fans of color they sure all seem to be white; for all they talk about misogyny and queerphobia they sure won't hesitate to immediately assume the worst of queer people and women who say things they don't like. And rarely do they address any of the actual ongoing bigotry that does exist in the fandom; it's all random accusations because you agreed with the white woman instead of the brown man or vice versa; or it's the constant dredging of years past discourse that, as the first paragraph indicates, they will then ignore whenever convenient.

These are all pretty transparent signs of a bad faith actor spreading misinformation. To be clear I don't think this is any kind of conspiracy or has any organization to it. I think it's a just handful of deeply self-absorbed people who either refuse or literally cannot comprehend that someone could disagree with them without being a bad person and who will gleefully cry wolf with these accusations of bigotry. But it's been going on for quite some time and it's been a problem this campaign in a way I at least do not recall it in past ones, and it's had an absolutely devastating effect on the fandom conversation. Ironically, by trying to boost Imogen and Campaign 3 by shutting down any criticism of them, they've shut down far more of the conversation, hopefully not irreversibly, and I think it's time to point that out.

[mollyringle]

I am perhaps extreme on this, but I don’t think there’s a good excuse to stay in HP fandom, unless one does agree with Rowling's infamous tweets of recent years. Separating art from artist is debatably all right when the artist is dead and no longer collecting royalties, but when the artist is still on Twitter bragging about her royalties, and there’s so much queer-friendly fantasy that could be talked up instead…yep, nope, trans/genderqueer/NB allies should jump ship.

I admit I look askance now at HP cosplayers and anyone still putting their Hogwarts house in their social media bio. I know, I know, a fandom that meant so much to a person for a phase of their life is going to claim a special place in their memories. But you wouldn’t (I hope) continue celebrating the birthday of a toxic ex-friend because you liked them two decades ago, so why stay with the fandom, when by so doing you’re keeping Rowling culturally relevant? We can support the innocent actors from the HP movies by supporting the work they’ve done since the series—I’m sure they’d rather have more focus on those newer projects anyway.

I practice what I preach: I could be continuing to lure in potential readers with my HP parodies, but instead I have taken them all down, all the places I can still reach, because I don’t want to give her any airtime, even obliquely like that.

I think if y'all knew how very, very little the vast majority of us writers make, and how hard we try to reach readers, and how much we'd appreciate a smidgen of success, and how hard some of us are trying to help and protect our fellow queer folks...you would better understand why this is a big deal, to someone who is also a writer of urban fantasy. I’ll stop there. Apparently I could go on and on about this.

[prettyb0ycvnt]

hi freaks of tumblr . here's my introduction post teeheehee <3

my name is aiden ! i am an eighteen year old gay trans man - pre-op and pre-t unfortunately ... but whatever im still hot. giggles and twirls hair.

more about me :3

☆ freakiest virgin you've ever met. i'd like that to CHANGE but uhhghhh the most i can get is freaks on tumblr (hit me up lalalala)

☆ real life prince charming pupboy :3 !!!

☆ literally not an ounce of dominance inside me at ALL i'm very submissive!!!! to an insane extent!!!

☆ bottom.

☆ perpetually in heat actually. need that to be rectified

☆ bst timezone. british twink moving like Oh Good Heavens... Oh My... Good Grief...

☆ my asks are open all the time to anyone! dms are open for mutuals only. i prefer getting asks; i'm bad with managing messages. please do not message me with sexual intention if you are a woman (im a faggot) (please do message me if you're an older man!!!! i love older men!!! i love all men!! please message me if you're a man!!!! or nb!!! please!!) also feel free to dm or ask me stuff if you just wanna be friends!!! blank blogs do not message me it weirds me out x

☆ i'm a writer! my posts may tend to get real descriptive if i'm not hornied-out beyond all comprehensive thought!!

☆ i am transgender and a lot of the stuff i post will focus on this :3 !!! my posts will reference fem biology but i'm not a girl don't call me one or i'll rip my hair out and die.

☆ im a GAY MAN!!! please don't repost my stuff if you're a cishet blogger or a 'men dni' blog im literally a. man and i love men and i talk about loving men and im the antithesis of everything u stand for . all queer freaks (including. wlw!!!) can do whatever they want with my posts :3

☆ some of my non-freakish interests include acting, literature, writing, baking, reading and certain fandoms that i don't want to explicitly reference in case this post appears to them uhm feel free to ask me about them!!!

claimed anons: 😵💫 ; 👾 ; 🪰

dni: minors, MAPs, bigots of any kind, trans fetishisers, ed & sh blogs, ageless blogs, weirdo freaks of the bad kind!!

interactions disclaimer: i don't accept nudes, nor will i send any. buuut i'm totally open to any sort of conversation you wanna have with me :3 !! please keep my limits in mind they're down below...!

tags

#☆ aiden's corner -> silly thoughts of mine!! sometimes they r Slightly lesser hornyposting... sometimes they're just funny things ithink of. welcum to aiden's corner !!

#☆ aiden's freakish thoughts -> hornyposting to the maxxxx.... under this tag im a FREAAKKK

☆ reblogs -> stuff i find relatable or stuff i find super duper hot . perhaps both at the same time!!

#☆ anon -> answering anonymous asks!

#☆ asks -> when used alone, answering non-anon asks! also used in conjunction with #☆ anon :3

me if u even care

okay thats all i can think of rn ummm anyway. stuff i'm into & limits under the cut :3

i looove >_< !!!

praise, degradation, breeding, petplay, major voice kink!, exhibitionism, voyeurism, humiliation, objectification, free-use, cockwarming, royalty, dumbification, somnophilia, forcemasc and ummm probably more you should totes talk to me so we can find out!

limits >:[ !!!

detrans/misgendering, forced feminisation, scat, bestiality, watersports, blood, basically any bodily fluids that aren't cum or spit, anything to do with feet, feederism, weight gain/weight loss, incest/fauxcest, ageplay, extreme cnc, rape, daddy/mommy, pregnancy, basically everything else that's super fucking weird and unethical. -> if you're into these things that's totally fine!! i'd just prefer they're not brought up in regards to myself ^_^

bodily terms for myself :3

not on t nor have i had surgery so i still very much have female parts and im fine with them being referred to as such!!! acceptable terms include cunt, pussy/boypussy, slit, hole, clit, chest, tits, (t-)cock& (t-)dick !! all i ask is that the term vagina is not used.

things i like being called >_<

please refer to me with masculine or neutral terms, nothing feminine. degrading terms like whore, bitch, slut and any other varieties (cumslut, etc.) are 100% okay! in fact please call me them!! praising terms like good boy are wooonderful. call me puppy/pup and ill explode and die (in a good way!!!) tbh literally call me anything as long as its not feminine and i'll love it. lalalalaa

[thecsquirrel]

Absolutely happy that Warrior Nun rose from the dead. Great effort all around. (Really hope they bring back Shotgun Mary because I miss her energy.)

As this development bolsters my hope for Willow, there's work to be done. There's no secret that the Warrior Nun campaign got crazy attention and buy-in, and not just from queer folks - who led the charge.

Willow has the base to grow from the og fans who loved that campy ass film and love this show (it me!) and the young folks who fell in love with the whole Willow gang. That's a great loud and lovely base and it needs to be bigger and louder.

But how does one do that without the damn show! Warrior Nun grew because we had a whole season to rewatch, and then folks picked it up. And petty-ass Disney has taken the show off the platform. (Like f*ck them forever for that. Seriously.)

As always the fanfic and the art and the edits keep this whole thing going. Social media fans those flames. Keep up the word of mouth. Sign petitions and harass your friends. Also, harass Disney. Let's get Kasdan and the crew back on board.

Finally, to the youth, piracy is your friend! 🏴‍☠️ I still have all my burned dvds and cds from college. Yes, there are sites (with spamware, blerg), but torrenting is a good way to go. There are good torrent sites and programs like Utorrent.

Download the whole season. Put it on your drive. Share that drive. Burn it to a dvd. Maybe make copies and just hand them out. Whatever it takes. This show needs eyeballs! I truly believe that Disney et al are choosing to deplatform shows because of the WGA strike and residuals, however, the fact that the majority of the canceled/deplatformed shows are Queer-led, Black/POC led, and often have female leads or focused on women is no coincidence. (Male-centered queer shows are not only being renewed, but if they are canceled, they are easily finding new homes. NPH's show is a prime example.) So, yes, the data suggests that there is a bias against shows about queer/lesbian women and nb folks.

Anywho, mount up Team One Braincell aka Questies, and let's do the thing. Maybe Kasdan can stop his placating approach and get pissed off. It worked for Simon Barry, so who knows.

Let's go storm a castle and whatnot!

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I thought you might find the "watching" count as funnybas I do

Oh! Also, how well does Wales care for its lgbtq+ community, and how's the public healthcare? The USA is getting kinda iffy and I don't know if a boarder will protect us from those extremists. Always good to have a back up plan

HAHAHAHAHA fucking hell. The Daily Mail!!! Only 200 people!!! I saw the results of one poll said only a third of the country reported that they gave a shit about the coronation.

Regarding the rest:

Well, public healthcare is possibly fantastic compared with what you're used to (I know it is compared with the USA; not so sure about Canada, which I'm guessing is where you are? Judging by your mention of the border?), but the NHS has of course been increasingly hamstrung by the Tories for a decade. Better here than England, though, because it's partially devolved. So we don't pay for prescriptions, for example, which they do. My sister lives in England these days and has to buy her inhalers, whereas mine are free. (That said, she pays about £16-£17 per inhaler. No idea what that would be where you are)

LGBTQ shit - well, mixed bag. For the most part, it's great; plenty of homophobia about, of course, but only really in small and more insular communities. For the most part, especially in the big cities ("big" cities, lol) queer folks are pretty normalised. Last weekend was Swansea Pride, and the city is still drenched in rainbows like a unicorn threw up everywhere. On my way to the parade, my NB friend and I went into one of the Middle Eastern shops on High Street to buy water, and the lovely man behind the counter looked us up and down and said "Is it your day? Yes?"

"Yes!" I said. "That's right."

"Happy your day!" he said delightedly, and gave us a free cheap lollipop each.

And, like the rest of Britain, surveys show that most people on the streets are actually pretty accepting of GNC/trans folks. At worst, they just don't care. BUT, like the rest of Britain, there's an extremely vocal extreme minority who say otherwise.

But, none of my trans or NB friends have really had a problem, tbh. Standard micro-aggressions, like people not understanding pronouns, but very little of those are out of malice. The overwhelming majority are confused but well-meaning farmers. If you spend a lot of your time online, you could get the impression the place is riddled with transphobes, but in practice, that's not the case.

But, you know. Learn Welsh and the transphobes will come around anyway, lol.

Hope that helps!

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/730572795212398592/what-is-up-with-all-the-trans-men-on-this-hellsite?source=share

As a trans man, I might have some insight into this one. I'm a lot older than the standard uwu sparkle anti, but I was in my mid twenties for the first wave of weirdness about trans boys on Tumblr about a decade ago, so I was just too old for it then, and I saw a lot of guys my age and a little younger get swept up in it.

OTNF rightly points out that young trans men are a particularily vulnerable demographic. This is part of it, but we're also a demographic that doesn't sit comfortably with our identites (gender identities or otherwise) and are told by everyone (on every side) that we are Doing It Wrong, that our existence harms others, and that we must be this specific way to be good people.

I'm sure you've seen the "trans men are better than real cis men" rhetoric. It's meant to be inclusive and to reassure us that we're not bad people just because of our gender, but it also denies us our entire gender identity.

So basically, you've got a bunch of young guys, most of whom were socialised like girls and learned to never be too assertive, many of whom are straight up suffering from dysphoria and stress, being told by people both within and outside of their communities that the are Wrong and Bad and Harmful just for existing. It makes sense that a lot of them would would find a movement based on moral posturing that will accept them if they perform correctly and will use their real name and pronouns. That's what Antis are; they say "use this vocabulary, send hate mail to that person, put these terms in your DNI, don't be caught reading that story", and, unlike other groups that police people's tastes and performance that hard, they're not overtly hostile to trans identities. So you can spout the right rhetoric, use the right tumblr icon, and they will actually accept you (on the surface, for a time, but we're talking about young and desperate people who aren't looking at the long game).

Helping them harass those badwrong horrible NOTP shippers or aces or middle aged women or some random artist who got caught drawing the wrong age gap or whoever is the fashionable target will prove that you aren't a horrible monster for being a man, you're moral and upright and correct.

And yes a lot of it is internalised misandry (that word has a lot of dumb baggage, but how else can I describe a boy who hates himself for being a boy?), or self-loathing born of dysphoria and just plain having to live in a world that's hostile to trans people.

Being an anti is a way out. It's a way to manufacture acceptence. And they're too young and too hurt to realise that that acceptance is as temporary and hostile as the people who accept them only if they pretend to be girls; the antis will turn on them the moment they start acting a little too manly or if they're caught liking the wrong ship.

(I've seen something similar happen to young cis queer guys and trans girls, too, but it isn't as pronounced since being raised as a boy means you probably already learned that standing up for yourself is ok sometimes)

--

I'm sure it also doesn't help that tumblr is absolutely full of BL/slash fandom. There's certainly plenty of gender diversity in these spaces, but it's inescapable that the majority of participants are women. So for a young, insecure guy trying to assert that he is a guy, it's easy to fall prey to "Waaaah, I need to reclaim my hobby for me!" gatekeepy nonsense.

Sure, it's going to be turned on nbs even harder than on cis women and will be used to misgender other trans men in the end and misogyny isn't cool anyway, but that's not what your average traumatized young fool is thinking when they first join up. They're thinking "I hurt."

TBH, though, probably the largest component is that all of us—all of us—have a mental image of a default human for a given context. It's rarely a trans man. And so anything a trans man does stands out and is A Thing Trans Men Do.

This is true even if you are trans. It is true even if you are not a transphobic dickhead. Unlearning the 'why girls are bad at math' xkcd strip is extraordinarily hard because recognizing patterns and having mental defaults is just how human brains work.

There are shittons of cis women who become antis, but they're just not notable in the same way.

Are trans men more vulnerable to becoming antis? It's possible, and the reasons you outlined above are likely why. I think it's an interesting question to discuss if we are specifically discussing why the trans men who do become antis do so.

But we don't actually have any hard facts to support that they are more prone to it than anybody else. My guess would be that vulnerable people are more likely to become antis, so any cis woman with a strong source of vulnerability like a shittastic home life is similarly vulnerable to a young trans man with no support network, but who knows.

Maybe only 5% of trans men on tumblr are antis and 50% of cis women. Maybe it's 90% of trans men and 20% of cis women. Maybe it's 1% and 1% and they're just all very loud.

We have no data. We just don't know.

And we will never be able to trust our own brains on this until trans vs. cis is such a nonissue that we don't even notice it.

[hacash]

Here’s why the ‘Ted Lasso needs a confirmed queer/gay character’ posts really piss me off:

If Colin or Trent or whoever makes one throwaway line of having sexual fantasies about a man and nothing else, that would be it. That would be seen as confirmation of being gay, and fandom would run with it. No ‘oh, but that’s just a hint’ or ‘that could be taken as a joke so it doesn’t count’ or ‘we need to see at least six onscreen exes before it’s real’. No-one would need anything more. But when Keeley’s dialogue confirms that she’s attracted to both men and women, that’s not apparently enough. As in real life, so in fandom: saying you’re attracted to multiple genders just ain’t enough to ‘prove’ you’re bi/pan, apparently.

I also hate the suspicion that if Trent or Colin dropped such aforementioned dialogue - or if they came right out with ‘I’m attracted to guys’ - the vast majority of responses are going to be ‘they’re absolutely gay’, and not ‘they could be gay or pan or bi, interesting!’. And if anyone even suggests that the character could be bi or pan instead they’ll be accused of watering down that character’s sexuality. Which is enough to give you all sorts of ick: the idea that monosexuality has to be the default until you have inescapable evidence to the contrary. Because attraction to multiple genders is such an uncomfortable notion that you need inescapable, notarised proof before reluctantly accepting that it could apply to your fav character, apparently?

And finally? I’m so uncomfortable knowing that hate that 99% of those posts say ‘we need a gay character’, not ‘lgbtq+/queer’. Because we already have that. Keeley is attracted to women and men. Ergo Keeley is bi or pan. We have lgbtq+ representation on this show, but that’s not good enough. 

And it’s a reminder that for some people, being bi/pan/ace/whatever is a lesser flavour of queer when only exclusively-same-sex-attraction ‘really counts’. And that sucks.

(nb: this doesn’t include people saying ‘I don’t want just references to a character’s sexuality, I want the show to explore more of their life as a queer person’, because that’s a totally different thing that I’d be 100% in favour of.)

[ace-and-ink]

i’m fine with gore but that poem made me want to puke. it might’ve been the body or it might’ve been the boy. how he touched her insides on the outside and never asked. and sure, she let him, but surely he could see that she trusted him and he still made her the villain for hiding the best parts of herself and the way she kept them from his hands. every day i thank something up there that i never let them touch me like that. the way they brag about being touched. and it’s a cool, cool party, i hope i don’t come back again. and i wanna use a big word and make you think i’m a good writer. i wanna paint an image that’s as visceral as a car wreck and make you squirm like it’s your organs being fondled. yet still she doesn’t turn the speaker off. we’re not just sharing our voices anymore. she’s sitting on the corner of her bed and i’m howling. the lyrics are pouring from my throat like the bile they fed to me without feeding me. the wall is a hypothetical that may not have touched me yet but i can see that it might’ve. maybe she doesn’t turn the speaker down and hears my raw chords to hear my bleeding and coughing chest. maybe she turns the speaker up and keeps me from tainting the song any further. all the women in my class cross their legs. all the dudes slouch in their chair and spread their legs. i can look the part, but i can’t hide the queer. call me L. call me A. call me NB. call me Q for short. she nodded along when the sexualization of bisexuals was brought up. i want to sit down in front of her and ask “What are you? What are you? What are you? Is it my place to know? Would i understand if you told me? Do i have a chance with you?” is what i really want to ask. if i could say what i meant would they get it. would it be worth the isolation. drunk boys in ice cream shops. i wrote about them as a warm-up. i’m tired of them. it’s not their job to know right away but that doesn’t mean i can’t be annoyed. i haven’t gone out to get it in a while. she promised she was sober as she pulled a bottle of wine from her purse. tired. that’s what i always am. of having too much time. of not having enough. of certain people. of coughing so close to me. of not having certain people. of the thought of certain people. of never having the balls to man up and ask. just literally tired. no sleep is enough. i wish i knew how to end this poem. poems don’t have neat endings. that was lesson one. it ends when it needs to end. but art’s never really finished. the majority of playwriting is rewriting. so i guess i’ll keep talking. i said three sentences. six words. my heart was beating out of my chest. i’m not allowed to use abstractions, so i hope this is literal enough: i realized my dad was right when he said i needed to be on his anxiety meds “just to take the edge off.” i want to be able to write about someone the way Lucy Dacus does in Home Video. Hang Me Like Jesus still fucks me up. i don’t cry to Damocles anymore but i wrote about it the other day. i like rocks and rock. and rats. and women. i’m half on youtube half in my notes and now my phone is burning up. i tried typing “phone is” and my phone number came up in auto suggestions. how did this poem start again. how did we get here. do we like it here. do we want to stay here. i think i like it here. i’m never sure of anything.

— a practice in line breaks and not making sense

[hoziernaturalevents]

Hoziernatural Recs: Rare Pairs

Sign-ups for the 2024 round of the Hoziernatural Multi-Ship Bang are open, and people will soon be working to create a whole new batch of Hoziernatural content! However, for those of you who would like something to read between now and posting, we have some recs to fill that need 💜

Everything listed below is a rare pair, but if you're a person of varied taste, then check out our Wincest, Destiel, and Gen/Character Study rec lists!

Honey, There Is No "Right" Way by @rauko-creates

Beta: @petrichoravellichor

Hozier Song: Someone New

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 10,181

Pairing/s: Balthazar/Castiel, Past Castiel/Dean Winchester, Past Balthazar/Hannah

Warnings: Internalized Acephobia, Internalized Arophobia

Additional Tags: Ace!Castiel, Aro!Balthazar, Demiromantic!Cas, Demisexual!Balthazar, Queer Themes, Fluff and Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Roommates AU, Domestic Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character

Summary:

“That’s not how you feel about her.”

“Castiel, that’s not how I’ve ever felt about anyone. This whole…” He waved a hand in the air and propped up against the arm of the couch, “in love business...it’s complete bollocks. If you ask me, people’ve just seen too many blasted movies, got so hopped up on the rush of getting to know someone that they think that's it, that’s love, but it isn’t. Love is…” He glanced down at Castiel. “Love is choosing the person you get on with best, someone you’re able to be mates with and that you find attractive. All this ‘romance’ rubbish is just propaganda.”

Castiel looked at his friend. He thought about the warm feeling that grew inside him when they were together, the way his heart beat just a little faster every time Balthazar was close. “Yes...perhaps you’re right.”

i prayed my mind be good to me by @withthekeyisking-writer

Hozier Song: In the Woods Somewhere

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 4,789

Pairing/s: Lucifer/Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Emotional Manipulation, Coercion, Conditioning, Stockholm Syndrome, Disordered Eating, Suicidal Thoughts, Victim Blaming

Additional Tags: Hallucination Lucifer, Post-Episode 7x15 Repo Man, Episode 7x17 The Born-Again Identity, Lucifer's Cage, Horsemen's Rings, Hurt Sam Winchester, Sam's Cage Trauma, Sleep Deprivation, Groping, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex

Summary:

"You know you want to, Sammy. You know you miss me. You know you should come get me out."

"No. No, that will never happen."

His hallucination hums, looking at him with dark eyes and something almost resembling pity. "Oh, Sam," he says. "Yes, it will."

Mid-Youth Crisis by @sunshine-zenith with art by @rauko-creates

Beta: @rauko-creates

Hozier Song: Jackie and Wilson

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 9,162

Pairing/s: Rowena MacLeod/Mary Winchester, Dean Winchester & Mary Winchester, Castiel & Mary Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Lily Sunder & Kelly Kline

Warnings: Minor Blood/Injury, References to Past Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Additional Tags: Oblivious Mary Winchester, Humor and Fluff, Finding New Love

Summary: Resurrected and thrust into a strange modern world, Mary finds herself frustratingly connecting with a certain red-haired witch. After watching Cas decide to fall to be with her son Dean, Mary starts to wonder: is she happy? WAS she ever happy? Does her chance at happiness happen to lie in an unexpected place?

Someone New by @nickelkeep with art by @deancodedcastielenby

Beta: @iambiowaresbitch

Hozier Song: Someone New

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 11,647

Pairing/s: Cain/Castiel/Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester

Warnings:No Major Content Warnings

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Polyamory, Foursome (M/M/M/NB), Non-Binary Character, 5 Times, Explicit Sexual Content, Light BDSM

Summary: Cain has been mourning his wife Colette for two years. Despite the promise he made her, he hasn't attempted to date again. Enter his best friend Crowley with a devious plan to help him find Someone New.

[antiterf]

Going through studies I have saved I opened up the one that found that about 86% of people would not want to date a trans person. Overall the study is good, but I have one critique:

"However, even among those willing to date trans persons, a pattern of masculine privileging and transfeminine exclusion appeared, such that participants were disproportionately willing to date trans men, but not trans women, even if doing so was counter to their self-identified sexual and gender identity"

When we look at the general data, the privileging of masculinity does look like a reasonable statement:

Trans men got more than double the amount of the sample than expected while trans women got about a third. There is a major discrepancy there.

But then we look at sexuality ("Bi/queer/nb means fuck all because they do not mean the same thing in the slightest, so another issue.)

The percentages regarding congruent sexuality (as in, attracted to women only=attracted to trans women, and vice versa) is about the same for trans men and women. Incongruence is not. It seems that a lot of the difference would be with trans men specifically being misgendered. Making this not a privileging of masculinity at all, because trans men are not even seen as masc enough to have our gender identities respected.

This figure helps a lot more, as we can see that in the category that means fuck all because they put a bunch of groups together that vary significantly, there is a clear preference for trans men compared to trans women. The thing is, we don't know for sure what the sexuality is here. Non-binary is not a sexuality, bi is sexual attraction to multiple genders and can exclude men or women, and queer is queer. Yet the authors claim that the whole group they put together should show attraction to both trans men and trans women but not either exclusively... yeah, apparently non-binary means that you cannot be monosexual to the authors.

The authors do discuss transphobia in conclusion, specifically being seen with trans men more regarding incongruent attraction. They did not say it in the abstract, which is what almost everyone will read.

And I think it's an example of what I see as describing trans experiences in a cisgender framework when it comes to gendered oppression. Specifically seeing our masculinity and femininity, or gender identity as a whole, as unquestioned when it is on a daily basis. It is assumed that trans men are seen as men all the time, and trans women as women. This is the ideal, but not reality. So what could be a nuanced discussion about how both of us can be treated in oddly gendered ways (trans women fetishized more than trans men are, like cis women compared to cis men, but seen as more violent than trans men, for instance) is pushed into categories that were not made with trans people in mind. It's ultimately a failed attempt at intersectionality that's often done while trying to be intersectional.

[zeydaan-isabella]

Fang's Requiem - Zeydaan

Recently, my friends El_Mariachi249 and Fiona-sapphire got me into the game Goodbye Volcano High, a very sweet game with some lovely music and an excellent NB character Fang. Despite being a recent release, noticed there wasn't any TF related things for the game at all. Thought I'd rectify that. Song being sung is "Good Riddance" by Green Day Story below done by HudsonSpacecraft

“Okay, okay, good job, everyone! Now let’s take five,” Zeydaan directed their fellow employees. It was a busy day at the local Maiden Menagerie in the bustling city of Mailor. Granted, that could be said about every day (to say that running a business period was mentally taxing was to make a rather obvious joke), but there was reason to feel particularly stressed out at the moment, for it was today that the humble establishment hosted its first major event in quite some time: a Pride Memorial Concert. This had been something that Zeydaan had been pushing for a good while, since their non-binary upbringing and empathy for their kin in the queer community made them quite vocal about advocating for civil rights on their world of Schism Earth. In the current state of their state’s politics that actively marginalized “nonhumans” and currently had no plans to change that, the fae-witch had taken great pride in establishing events like this to make the minorities of their world more heard. As a being of adept magical power, they additionally  And to that end, what better place to promote solidarity than at their current place of work?  Zeydaan had proudly worked at the Menagerie for years. It wasn’t the most high-paying job in the world, but it certainly kept the lights on for them (their career as a “superhero” in the Hawkmoths often dealt with more ‘fate of the world’ than starting political conversations), and they had a certain amount of rapport with their coworkers as well as their superiors. Upper management was thankfully all for their concert idea, though in their initial pitch to the other staff, it was brought up that the musical talent that their budget could allow was on the smaller side. In lieu of established musical talent in town, however, Zeydaan graciously volunteered to be the one performing a concert’s headlining song. There was one snag, though: they didn’t exactly have the qualifications to do so. They were far from musically illiterate or unskilled with instruments, but they had only picked up the guitar a couple weeks ago and had only learned a couple of elementary chords by now. Their singing voice was slightly above average, but to pretend it was anything more than that would be to embarrass themself. However, they would not have signed up if they didn’t already have a plan in place, and all they needed to do was see if the decorations would suffice before they went back home. “Hmm…does this look good?” Their fellow dragon employee Blue asked as they took a step back and admired the job they did. It’d taken all morning and even a bit of the afternoon to set all this up, but their work definitely paid off. From the hanging lanterns providing just the right amount of mood lighting to the assorted collages of photos from all of Zeydaan’s work with their team, the Hawkmoths, in their rallies for nonhuman and queer rights, to the pride flags on the wall with complimentary miniature flags for every denomination they could think of. At this point, the staff (which barely was more than half a dozen people) felt like calling it a day  “Alright, I think we’ve done a good job so far…how are we doing for time?” Zeydaan asked, getting a bit antsy about if they could work out their plan in time. “Concert starts at eight, so…like seven hours?” Another employee enlightened them. “Oh, thank goodness…” Zeydaan sighed as they rushed out the door. “Take your time, give me about an hour and I’ll be back!” Quickly, they raced to the other side of town to their humble cottage, where their instruments and the next step of their plan awaited them. Once to their chair and with their guitar in hand, though…hmm, they couldn’t quite do it just yet. Was it anxiety? Maybe. Either way, Zeydaan couldn’t help but have their mind drift back to the not so distant past. “Hm…are you sure you’re going to go through with this?” Zeydaan’s fellow teammate Alvis warned them as they were about to conjure up a portal to a different dimension. “I just want you to know full well that you’re entering ‘incoming apocalypse’ territory. Many people are as good as dead already.” “Yes, I know, I won’t try to tear myself up that much about it,” Zeydaan nodded. Earlier, when they had spotted this dimension through their scanners, an unstoppable fleet of asteroids were headed for collision with the planet they were now traveling toward.  “Plus, if on this trip, you somehow die—” “Don’t worry, I won’t. It’s just when I saw the scan of this dimension…I couldn’t help but feel like it’d be a waste to have it all disappear without a trace. All the people with no one to tell their stories. I’d like to at least document some things before it all goes down.” “Alright then, just be back at the earliest opportunity. You wouldn’t want to worry us.” “Got it,” Zeydaan said as they ventured into their portal. At the other end lay a seemingly normal town, the name of which they gleaned as Caldera Bay. Not wanting to attract more attention than they already would have (being someone who made their entrance through a swirling dimensional portal), they used their shapeshifting abilities to blend in with the prehistoric-looking population. Walking around the city was a healthy population of dinosaur people, and this opportunity granted Zeydaan the privilege of seeing a multitude of people go throughout their final days. Granted, there were a fair share of people who wanted a way out (to which Zeydaan gladly allowed them a ferry through one of their signature portals), but they were certainly taken aback by the number of people gladly coming to terms with their own mortality.  During their travels, though, they had found themself in a celebration called Calderafest, among a sizable crowd. Truthfully, they’d been just going wherever the wind took them for the afternoon, but the clamoring of the people around them made them think they were about to see something good.  “Hellooo, Caldera Bay! How are we feeling tonight?” The announcer walked up on stage to say as hype slowly started to build around them. “Welcome to the last concert you’ll ever see! I know you’re all dying to see Worm Drama right now, am I right?” Crickets.  “That got dark,” the announcer replied. Failed attempts at an introduction aside, Zeydaan stood patiently as the three-piece band got up on stage and started to play, with the crowd noticeably quiet and letting the music speak for itself. And what music it was, Zeydaan thought, allowing the tones to wash over them like the tide. We won't sit around and let the world go by We're gonna fly around the big, black sky tonight And when the fire falls from on high, We can be the pretty heroes if we try, tonight As the song continued on, Zeydaan’s appreciation for it only grew, with the fae-witch appreciating the lush instrumental, powerful lyrics, and especially the soulful vocals by the lead guitarist. They’d certainly have to meet with them after the show, they thought as they continued with another song.  Back seat baby with the wind whipped high When we said goodbye Got my eyes up baby with the pulling tide I did not know why I had my eyes up looking for a flag or a sign Just a sunset sigh With the concert coming to a close, Zeydaan was one among dozens of people clamoring and applauding at their marvelous performance. After Worm Drama had gone backstage, they couldn’t help but flag the band down to engage in a bit of casual conversation.  “Hello, don’t mean to intrude, but I just wanted to say I was a huge fan of your performance back there,” Zeydaan greeted them. “Who are you, anyway?” “Oh, thanks!” The guitarist of the trio was taken aback slightly by their praise. “Well, I’m Fang. Those are Trish and Reed back there. I like the outfit, by the way.” “Thanks,” the fae-witch replied as they looked down at their distinctly goth getup this run around. “My name’s Zeydaan, and I did actually want to ask you something.” “Shoot.” “If you were given the choice to start anew somewhere else with all of your friends, would you do it?” “Nah. I mean, I wouldn’t wanna take the easy way out, honestly. I did all I could in this life…it’s not worth thinking about all these ‘what ifs.’ We just had the best performance of our lives just now, and I wouldn’t have any other way to go out.” Zeydaan admittedly kind of knew that Fang would respond that way (that was kind of what they were singing about in the first place), but their response touched their heart all the same. The two proceeded to talk it up further about the life they had lived up until that point, and how they harbored little regret as they were about to witness their incoming demise. Out of everyone they had asked that day, even among those who had similarly reconciled everything in their lives before their demise. Perhaps the fact they’d just listened to their wonderful song was at play, perhaps it was their chill tone of voice, perhaps it was the comfort in talking with a fellow enby (their “they/them” pin on their bag said it all), but that talk with Fang and their fellow bandmates was probably the best they had in quite some time. As Zeydaan departed on their portal back home on Schism Earth, they waved Fang goodbye. They’d made a new friend that day, even if they only knew them for a couple of minutes. Their memory came to a close as Zeydaan looked at all the photos that they had taken that day once more. There had to be at least a hundred different photos of locales and people of this dimension, yet it didn’t feel like enough to Zeydaan. At the end of the lengthy list, however, were the couple of photos they had taken with Fang.  Even though they were…well, dead, Zeydaan didn’t exactly feel the most comfortable appropriating their lyrics like this, so they decided to start playing another song they thought would fit the concert well. Pulling up a bit of sheet music, helping themself to a couple of meat-fruit, and having a quick change of clothes, they started to practice their song.  “So take the photographs and still frames of your mind…” Zeydaan sang, getting through the first part of the song as the first inklings of transformation were about to unfold within their body. It began to take form within their hair. Their shoulder-length haircut cascaded down to their waist, with them having to flick their head back to get it out of their eyes as to not take their hands off their guitar. In addition, it lightened itself to a luminous silver color, as did their eyebrows. From the back of their scalp sprouted a good-sized white horn with triangular gray stripes lining its top, giving their profile a distinct silhouette, especially as a thick, spiked bracelet materialized right on top of their hair. Zeydaan blinked their eyes as their irises became striking amber and their pupils gained a reptilian, almond shape. Subtle bits of makeup appeared at their top, their red and blue color sticking out next to the rather plain gray and white. Zeydaan could hear the quality of their vocals improve in real time as the changes descended down their mouth and throat, the distinct voice of Fang beginning to come through. Along the way, their snout was about to transform as well, becoming much more angular, with their nostrils migrating to the base of said snout. Within their mouth, their rather unassuming teeth at least doubled in their number as they shrank down to compensate, creating a new set of pointy little things as Zeydaan’s mind momentarily drifted to how Fang’s dental appointments must have been. They digressed, however, as the changes departed from affecting their head. “Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time…” Zeydaan continued to sing as the transformation soon moved on to their torso, leaving a new set of off-white down in lieu of their coat of fur they had before as well as a prominent choker on their neck. Zeydaan continued to go off on their guitar as well, their timing and execution getting better by the second as they could feel Fang’s skill build in their mind. As they did, they felt their jacket they’d loosely worn on their person begin to fade away, as well as the yellow shirt they’d worn underneath shading itself to be jet black. The sleeves soon deprecated themselves, along with its lower half to become a crop top, complete with a couple of tears at the bottom. A small skull necklace also appeared on their chest and wrapped its string around Zeydaan’s neck. From this part of their body, they could also feel themselves getting quite a bit thinner. Granted, Zeydaan wasn’t very heavy, usually, but they couldn’t help but notice the rather thin physique their body now possessed as it became that of Fang’s.  “Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial…” Zeydaan felt their arms beginning to change, with them similarly replacing the pelage they had before with the white down that the pterosaur possessed. Their muscle and bone structure altered themselves as well, several prototypical avian elements inserting themselves into the anatomy of their appendages as the down feathers grew particularly thick near their elbows. Reaching their wrists as a thin Calderafest bracelet popped up on one of them, the transforming fae-witch momentarily felt themselves get off-groove as their hands were becoming more petite and delicate-looking, coinciding with long, black claws sprouting at their fingertips. Thankfully, they were able to get back into the swing of their song as soon as they could. In fact, they were starting to really get a kick out of it, so much so that they could feel their fae wings appearing, though this could’ve also been because they were about to undergo a transformation themselves. Their butterfly-like shape was soon disappearing as a wide array of feathers was coating itself around their paper-thin surfaces. While the sections close to their body was covered in a relatively thin down, on the lower edges of their wings grew several long feathers, which along with them generally expanding outward, allowed a wingspan that was easily double what they had before. For a brief moment, they actually wondered if they could fly with these things…another time, perhaps. “And for what it’s worth, it was worth all the while…” The changes reached Zeydaan’s legs, with them similarly thinning out as the fashion there refined itself to match the rest of the clothes on their body. The comfortable pants Zeydaan usually wore grew a leathery texture as several holes were torn around the pair, not out of the transformation pushing the limits of their resilience but simply to match the style carried by the rest of their garments. The magenta-and-pink sneakers they had on became a uniform black as they became similarly leathery, along with their length extending way past their ankles and their laces extending and criss-crossing along the way. As their tail shifted to become a relatively short appendage that matched the shape and colors of their horn, Zeydaan could feel the magical energy that accompanied all of their shapeshifting subside. As their transformation came to a close, Zeydaan was in the groove, entering an utter flow state of music where they felt invincible on the guitar. Pretty much any riff they could think of, they could do without as much as a thought. A chord progression appeared in their mind, and boom! with sheer muscle memory, it was good as shredded. In fact, they had a certain amount of fun improvising new things right off the cuff. Yet, they managed to curb their enthusiasm after a while, managing to have a look at themselves in their mirror. Hey, looking great, they thought. They recalled Fang complimenting their goth-inspired outfit back at Calderafest, but Fang certainly had an impressive look themself.  Their vision drifted to their wall-clock soon enough, however. 4:07? They’d been at this for a couple hours longer than they thought! The other menagerie employees must’ve been worried sick at this point. Noting the half a dozen missed calls on their phone at this point, they hastily rushed out their door, guitar in hand.  Back at the Maiden Menagerie, the other workers were quite impressed at their form, yet not so impressed at their relative tardiness. Yet, the preparations for the concert continued without a hitch, with them even setting up signs advertising “Zeydaan/Isabella as FANG from Worm Drama” around where they would perform. As the time of their performance came, they couldn’t help but appreciate the number of people, regardless of gender or species, that showed up. “People of Mailor, queer folk and allies alike! Are you ready for a night of fantastic performances?” The concert’s announcer hyped the crowd that had formed around the stage, with their attempts at hype thankfully landing much better than the emcee at Caldera. “We wouldn’t want to keep you waiting, so we’ll start off with a bang. Let’s give a hand for our very own Zeydaan as Fang from Worm Drama!” Zeydaan confidently strutted on stage as they didn’t give one moment of hesitation before starting. After all, they had the skill on the guitar of someone who’d been practicing it all their life! They felt they could do song after song, yet they put the most effort into their final one of the night. As the crowd reactions reached an all time high, they could only smile as they sang their last few lyrics. “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right…I hope you had the time of your life…”

[ancientgreecehistorynerd]

hi moottt how was ur day?

i have some bookish questions for u bc why not

-what is ur favourite genre of literature?

-what are your top 5 favourite books?

-what are your top 3 favourite authors?

-do you have a favourite book character? if so, who are they? (feel free to list more than one)

-what is your favourite romance trope?

-what do you like to see in a main character?

-what are your thoughts on queer literature?

-what is a bookish pet peeve you have?

-do you like to purchase books, borrow them, or read them online?

-do you often read books translated from other countries?

thats all for now :) have a nice day

hello! i’m doing okay in the middle of moving tho so stressful haha

help did i never answer this? i’m sorry i’m actually tumblr illiterate like crazy

My fav genre is probably hm… def fiction haha young adult and contemporary…? it said those were genres i’m so sorry i don’t know the names of them and i’m an anxious mess! but if it’s got gay people and mental illness i’ll take it. i like dystopian as well!

top five NOT IN ORDER LOL

-girl in pieces by kathleen glasgow

-solitaire by alice oseman

-radio silence by alice oseman

-the perks of being a wallflower by soeben chbosky

-blood of olympus by rick riordan

(they change all the time haha)

-for authors i would def say

-rick riordan

-alice oseman (obv)

-and hm i haven’t read more than one of glasgows books so possibly suzzanne collins maybe? AUGHH IM SO INDECISIVE! (i do have fav fanfic authors tho haha)

NICO DI ANGELO THE SON OF HADES AND WILL SOLACE THE SON OF APOLLO THEYRE FROM RICK RIORDANS GREEK DEMIGODS SERIES(S) AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEYRE MY SPECIAL INTETEST THEIR COOL AS FUCK AND HE IS SO ME I AM SO THEM THEYRE MY EVERYTHING AND I LOVE THEM MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF (wait that’s not a good comparison uhh) I LOVE THEM MORE THEN FOOD ITSELF 🗣️

as someone who is demiromantic i’ve got to say friends to lovers since nothing else makes sense in my mind haha other then that hurt/comfort and just being domestic are UGH love it! SUNSHINE X GRUMPY as well. I eat it up everytime.

i love when main characters are similar to me so mentally ill gay very sad etc etc lol but besides that i would say complex? i hate it when authors make “i’m so happy all the time” characters the main character like i need DEPTH where’s the FLAVOR. so i suppose just not being perfect?

there needs to be more of it lol. i’m loving how much of it is being made to day but tbh in my opinion some authors do it wrong… i love when being queer is a major part of a characters personality because well they’re proud! but it’s when an author makes the entire character based off of that with no other personality traits. sexualizing queer relationships too like…. yikes! would love to see some more aroace and genderqueer rep that isn’t just boy/nb/girl tho!

when endings are rushed! it’s terrible i remember i loved this one book when i was younger that had the og “i’m nothing like y’all” as the cover haha. i forget what it was called sorry! but there was a great story and then it ended with her friends saying “sorry for excluding you and they went on to win the state math fair!” what. YOU JUST HAD A FULLY FLESHED OUT STORY AND YOU DID THAT??? i’m sure nobody likes them but they especially piss me off. skipping over important scenes as well and just showing the aftermath! non floppy books. FIX ITTTTT. also tbh smut? i mean i don’t mind it but that’s what ao3 is for i’m fine with the smut where they don’t show it like in charlie and nicks first time in heartstopper where it’s just kinda vague but as soon as i see a dick beint described im OUT. and books that just are smut like dude there’s so many better things you could be writing about!

ngl i am a massive book purchaser. i used to get them all from the library but thennn i got a bookshelf and discovered what annotating is… i just love being able to go back on what i’ve read whenever i want! and the covers are pretty :)

no actually! i don’t think i ever have tbh? i think the only time that happened was when i translated an official nico di angelo short story from italian haha

thank you if you listened to my yap! also i’m so sorry i didn’t see this :( also if i already responded to this and i forgot you can just kill me please and thank you. also have a good day too so sorry i didn’t see this! :(

[thedgrnlover]

MY MHA AU!!! This is only some and not set in stone, probably will be changed and edited and added to.

1: Aizawa either adopted or is bio related to Sero and Hitoshi bc they were both born in June and r both canonically the same height.

2: The Aizawa-Yamadas and Iidas are family friends and Sero has know Iida basically his whole life.

3: Sero and Iida are lovers.

4: Before and after they got together, Iida would have orange juice ready on the dorms counter for Sero bc bros down bad.

5: Sero has a mini fridge in his dorm room and it is against dorm rules. He actively defies this and A) Aizawa is his dad and don’t give a shit, and B) Iida knows about it but is too down bad to try and rat him out.

6: Sero is NB and uses He/They.

7: Sero and Shinsou were both AFAB (assigned female at birth) and very much bond over this fact.

8: Iida had an extreme amount of internalized homophobia. He would never condemn his classmates for being and form of queer ever because he loves them, but doesn’t feel like he is allowed to be any flavor of queer

9: Sero has Hispanic roots. I like to think he had a Hispanic mother who raised him for a couple years before dumping him on Aizawa and Yamada.

10: Sero’s quirk gives him a slight resistance to venoms and poisons because of its resemblance to spiders.

11: Sero is a very sad person and they hide a FUCK TON of self deprecating feelings behind their ever present smile.

12: Shinsou is a major Seroiida cock block for shits and giggles but also wants them to shut the fuck up and kiss already.

13: Shinsou and Iida r friends because they grew up together (see headcannon 2).

14: Sero is a flavor of ace<3 same with Shinsou but undecided.

15: Both Sero and Iida have mommy issues. Sero’s mom took care of him until a little before high school when they came out to her. She shoved him to Aizawa and her whole side of his family abandoned them.

16: (Continued from 15) Iida’s mommy issues stem from his mom being extremely insensitive, overbearing, and actively making anyone he dated feel like shit. Including Sero. Iida’s dad didn’t do much to stop his mother, instead enabling her, so Iida started living with Tensei.

17: (Continued from 16) Tensei was treated with the same overbearing treatment that Iida was, but a bit less. When their parents saw how well Tensei did and decided to be more overbearing on Tenya to get a better result. Instead, it just kinda… breaks him? A bit?

18: Sero’s saliva neutralizes their tape’s stickiness. They can also decide to make their tape one or double sided. The tape doesn’t stick to their skin, but he does have a good grip when he holds it.

19: Sero’s skin is just slightly sticky. Not rlly the gross kind, but kinda grippy. His sweat amplifies his stickiness. This is useful for climbing and such, but it also sticks to them. This means if they fold their arms while really sweaty for about a second or two, they will stick together a bit. Pulling them apart makes their skin raw.

20: Sero’s saliva also works on the sweat.

21: Tenya tends to shut down and not talk when he feels stressed or overwhelmed. He cuts off his emotions at the source to keep from getting overstimulated and when he doesn’t have the time or energy to feel.

22:Tensei is the opposite of Tenya, in that he clings to those close to him and feels everything over the empty feelings.

23: Rich kid trio (Momo, Shouto, Tenya) are very close pre cannon and Momo decides to “adopt” both of them the minute she realizes that their parents were absolutely dog shit. She knows how to get both of them to open up.

24: Momo is the rich kid with the best parents. They are a bit overbearing and pushy, but she knows they mean well and genuinely care about her a lot.

25: Similar to Tenya, Shouto shuts down and doesn’t talk about his feelings, but he’s also much easier to get to open back up (specifically by Momo and Midoriya).

Could anyone help with hiving this AU a name??

[northwest-cryptid]

You know I wish less shit was so in your face about its core message. Even when I agree with the messages. Like it really feels as though the majority of games or shows have to leave you with some kind of moral message rather than just being a story these days.

I really miss when games were just a story you got to experience or a sequence of puzzles to solve or a bunch of fun mechanics to interact with.

That's not to say you can't have some kind of central moral message at the heart of it all. Most did and the key factor there was that it wasn't super in your face.

I recently watched a playthrough of Silent Hill, a short message or whatever it's called. The writing was awful, the gameplay was non-existent, the message was REALLY in your face; it felt nothing like silent hill. It was just bad. It was really disappointing and I didn't realize why I felt so strongly until I really thought about the last time I got to play a story driven game that wasn't some moral preaching of how I should be a good person and not kill myself or something.

And again, I agree! I can't overstate how much I agree with the idea that murder is generally bad and suicide isn't good. Yet I don't need a game to aggressively tell me this every two seconds while trying to make it seem like they pulled a fast one on me with a DRAMATIC TWIST I could see coming a mile away because they fucking announced it.

When it comes to games trying to deliver a message I really think there's a scale of like, absolutely not saying anything to saying way too much.

Silent Hill 2 is a great example of not saying anything but it's good because the people who care will dive deep enough to get the message out of it. Believe it or not there's people out there who played sh2 and think James is a good person which like... Did we play the same game?!

A little further down the scale we have xenoblade 1 which I feel absolutely states the message but does so well within it's lore to the point it feels natural and doesn't detract from the experience.

Even further still I feel Undertale fits the middle of the road. You get it's message clear as day, almost annoyingly so; however I can't complain too much because the game is an enjoyable experience regardless and the core message fits well. It makes sense. The characters are enjoyable. There's still a lot to love there even if it punches me in the face every 5 seconds with "MURDER IS BAD" it feels earned and justified.

The problem I have is that beyond this, there's almost no middle ground between "it's heavy handed but good!" And "please fucking shut up I get it I get it I get it!"

A Short Message is bad any way you slice it. We're talking bad animation, weird immersion breaking third person and then first person and then third person and then live action but only for this scene and then game engine again type shit. We're talking bad voice acting, bad gameplay where you really don't get any agency or choice. It's a whole mess of problems and the entire time they're really hamming up the core message they want to deliver, which doesn't even go anywhere. The characters don't grow, the plot "twists" are obvious and bad, and the characters kinda just don't make sense at all. This isn't exactly meant to be a review so much as it is to say

This is the unfortunate norm for a lot of games now.

I don't want to sound like some "right winger" so no I'm not going to say that a game trying to align with younger leftist values is inherently bad. I'm all for games with gay characters or characters who are trans or whatever. I'm literally a disabled NB/Genderfluid/queer pansexual Native American and man does that feel like buzzwords at this point so obviously I don't mind that stuff showing up in games...

What I do mind is when games think they can skirt by because of all that. Gameplay? We don't need it our main character is gay, we gave him a boyfriend who's trans! Story? What do you mean what's the story? I just told you gay trans boyfriend!? What more do you want?!

Or just you know "hey you know what, what if you were the bad guy the whole time because killing is WRONG!"

Sure alright you wanna see that done really well? Unfortunately if I tell you the name of some games now it'll spoil them completely but I can think of 3 games so here's a list without names.

1. You literally spend the whole game fighting enemies who speak a language you don't understand and you view them as monsters to be killed because you don't know they're pleading with you to not kill their friends and loved ones. However on a second playthrough you CAN understand them and guess what? This doesn't change anything, have fun needing to kill innocent beings to progress the story all while finally understanding what they're desperately trying to tell you.

2. You're taking over for the last guy who had this job and my god he was a dick. As you go through the game you're going to learn a lot about him and why everyone has beef with the guy and doesn't really trust you as a result. Only they seem to take it really personally when you speak confidently that you'll do better than he did... That's because you literally are him and you're not aware because it's a time loop. This dude you spent like half the game seeing as a horrible person is literally you and suddenly everything makes sense when it comes to how these people treat you. Unfortunately you still have a job to do and it's a lot easier if you start thinking like he did.

3. You're an innocent victim of war and spend half the game attempting to make right the suffering inflicted upon you and your friends, only when you're finally face to face with the man responsible for the war itself you're let in on a secret that no one knew but him. Finally understanding the nature of not just the war but the world itself you can almost understand why he's doing what he is, and unfortunately for everyone your words aren't enough to talk him down with going through with his plans to literally end the lives of everyone from your entire continent. Now you're faced with the gut wrenching decision to kill him to protect the very people you've learned are actually even more at fault, as you figure out he's merely doing this since your people attacked his long before and he's trying to protect them from another genocide by making sure your people don't have the chance. You're both in the wrong, and it's just your luck that when you refuse to kill him a third party steps up to finish the job and take his place as the big bad of the story; but hey at least you're not the bad guy anymore.

There's more but these three games, which I unfortunately will not name because doing so now will spoil them; handled the concept really REALLY well. Proper twists in the story, waiting to say their piece till just the right moment; actually giving you information that makes sense for you to know instead of trying to infodump about how clearly you're in the wrong.

I miss stories that are worth telling instead of games just shouting at you about morals. It's like if metal gear revengance took itself seriously but somehow amped up the cheese factor at the same time.

Side note I know people who play mgr and think it's absolutely the deepest thing ever and took it like a stoic masterpiece and I genuinely have no idea how. Like so much of that game is silly random over the top bullshit you can't get mad at people for laughing at it. These people get mad if you jokingly say "MEMES JACK, THE DNA OF THE SOUL" like you're shitting on some sacred tomes or something.

Anyways I'm not saying every game sucks now or something, I play plenty of good shit. But few have good STORIES I really want something genuine, a story to be told that I get to experience and that I can go back through over again and enjoy maybe a little differently. This was never too much to ask even a couple years ago but I feel like if the game isn't trying to nudge me aggressively with "we're just like you cool trans gay teens!" It's aggressively in my face about "noooo don't be mean being mean is bad! We're gonna stop this problem by being nice uwu" and not even in the fun self aware Undertale way, just like in the really annoying in your face "I'm taking the moral high ground so I'm better than you" kinda way.

Anyways before anyone yells at me about how I totally said your favorite game is awful, feel free to ask my opinion of a game in an ask or something and then if I say it's bad you can absolutely get on me about it. Unless your favorite game is that new silent Hill a short message game thing in which case I'm sorry that you have awful taste in games because there are better games that deliver on the same message with better gameplay AND story AND graphics AND voice acting so like I don't get it.

[am-i-the-asshole-2]

Aita for purposefully lying to people?

I feel a bit like an asshole here, but my brother says I'm not while my partner says I am

I (white, nb 19) work at a small family owned UK import store in a large urban city that has a large poc population. The business only has 4 employees, including me (F white 33, F white 60s, F Chinese 50s* (she works in the kitchen in the back)), and only one of us is tending the store per day. My bosses (F 50s, M60s) are very hands off and just leave most of the work to us.

My bosses are a husband and wife, and while they are very sweet, the husband is a trump supporter and makes jokes about POC, women, and queer people, and even with us he gets a little too open and asks about things he shouldn't. While his wife is honestly just a very sweet women. I'm very open about my queerness and they know I have a partner, they haven't said anything about it. They're not cruel, the wife is Chinese so I think the husband dials it back a lot for her but the racism is definitely there.

The customers that come in though... are openingly racist, homophobic, and just overall offensive? I'm not trying to generalize but it applies to probably,,, 45% of our customers

Now for the actual AITA part.

One of my coworkers is quitting soon, so we've been accepting applications, theres no posted hiring sign but if someone comes in and asks if we're hiring we can take their resume if we deem them to be a good fit for the company

Because of the high poc population, there's been a lot of them coming in, but the vast majority of them speak very little, and very broken English, to the point where I can't understand what they're saying, and some they get angry and threatening when I don't understand them

But even when they're not being threatening, I still say that were not accepting resumes, and point them to a bunch of places that are hiring and even directions to those places and what buses to take to get to it

I do this because I know that if they got hired and if they started working at my workplace, it would be a living HELL for these people. No one that comes in speaks the language they speak (it's all the same Ethnicity), and the customers that come in are raging racists, even to me! Because I'm the "wrong kind of white" being Irish and not British. I feel like that if they never even knew that we were accepting applications there's no harm to it?

I still feel like an asshole for it but I genuinely just don't want them to deal with these horrible customers, and their English isn't just a little bad or below average, it's genuinely incomprehensible. It's a "they can't understand when I ask about their day" bad, and in an English import shop it just wouldn't go well

So- AITA for lying to people?