#also ace discoursers are here too? this isn't about you either?

[samble-moved]

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[aro-bird]

I've been thinking about how to phrase this post for months but honestly it's been a bit of a struggle but I'll try anyway.

Considering I made a post before about shipping aroace characters and how allos tend to use the lived experiences of aros and aces in order to justify shipping a (typically repulsed or uninterested) non-partnering aspec character I do think this discourse genuinely has way more nuance especially considering other aspecs and shipping and a wider discussion about the community.

As much as I do want to agree here that some aroaces do use media to explore their sexualities and romantic orientation and they often project it on to established or widely regarded aspec characters, as well as non-partnering aspecs have a right to feel upset when a non-partnering character gets partnered in media, it feels like there's a defensiveness from both sides about the issue and it definitely reflects a larger discussion on romance and sexuality in the community.

It's true, for example, that we don't get much aroace representation in media and the ones we get are often limited or very stereotypically non-partnering romance-repulsed ace characters, but even with these stereotypes there are very much real aroaces who fit them who shouldn't have to beg people to have a character's identity be respected especially from other members of the aspec.

It's also true that non-partnering romance-repulsed characters in media do need to be seen and respected as these characters often have an impact and helping the aspec community be recognized without being treated as some strange other, but being treated as some strange other is also something that other aspecs have to deal with especially if people have a very narrow view of what aromanticism and asexuality could be.

People seem extremely defensive on both sides and honestly it's not surprising. A lot of the people in the community deal with erasure, not just in media but even in their own social circles and it could be exhausting trying to prove your existence to other people, especially in spaces where you would expect to be more respected than others like a fandom that has a prominent aspec character for example. It doesn't seem to be just silly fandom drama at times but an extension of the other issues in the community too.

How we treat romance and sexuality for example as a topic reflects that with aroaces discoursing on whether or not we should discuss more of these topics with the amount of posts either saying that "aspecs can do [insert romantic/sexual activity] too and should not be infantilized or treated as all repulsed about this thing besides being a narrow view of aromanticism/asexuality which can invalidate and hurt other members of the community" or "we should be more careful with discussing sexual/romantic discussions because it feels like a lot of them are veering into shaming repulsed people territory which is what this community was trying to set out not to do like other communities had done to hurt us in the past". There's definitely a nuance there that should be recognized when diving deep into this and especially with regards to the effect of allonormativity and amatonormativity that often gets ignored in some of these discussions.

I don't know where I'm going with this but I guess I understand why some aroaces may want to ship the (typically repulsed or uninterested) non-partnering aroace character and I also get why others are defensive about shipping them.

I do feel like the solution isn't gonna be that simple except maybe stop harassing each other over this but otherwise the discourse will continue even if we get more aspec characters in the future from what I'm seeing. We genuinely have a lot more aspec characters than we ever did before and a lot more queer characters in general, and the discourse is still there as it was ten years ago.

[nothorses]

People's reactions to atheism kinda feel similar to people's reactions to asexuality and aromanticism. "What do you mean you don't have gods/sexual/romantic attraction! Everybody has that! You probably just haven't found the one you vibe with yet".

At least as an ace person who grew up without religion and find that it is not for me, I keep seeing the similarities. People act like my thoughts and ideas about my own life in regards to religion do not matter since I don't have one. I have friends who downright said "of course you should celebrate Christmas, everyone does!". If I had been Jewish or Muslim I doubt they would have said that, but since I am seen as "neutral/not yet converted" they think it's fine to treat me as "Christian lite" even though I'm not christian and have never been. It's very annoying and it's gotten to a point where I am seriously considering converting to forn sed (asatru) just to get them off my back. Although I doubt they'd recognize that, either...

(Obligatory i don't hate religion and I can see what value people get out of it, and from an outside perspective I find it similar to any relationship, aka it could be abusive/hurtful but in general it is a positive experience for the people involved.)

Hey anon I understand where you're coming from, but. I regret to inform you that it is in fact extremely common for people to try to pressure non-Christian theists into celebrating Christmas; Jewish and Muslim people very much included.

I really recommend connecting with and listening to the experiences of Jewish and Muslim folks, because while avoiding making those assumptions in the first place is a good first step, it can be hard to really understand your own blind spots without some real context.

I also point this out because I think this tendency to compare hardships is really damaging, and takes away from the solidarity atheists need to have with minority religions. This isn't a "theists vs. atheists" issue, it's a "dominant religion vs. marginalized beliefs" issue. It's not about the presence or "lack" of beliefs- it's about marginalization and oppression on the basis of belief.

And you're right: we need to be able to see atheism as the presence of a belief (that there is no higher power), which contributes to a unique and valuable worldview just like any religion.

The key here is that we're shifting the conversation away from this Christian-fabricated argument about whether atheism is Right And Good, or Immoral And Bad. Because it doesn't matter, and it's not the basis any other conversation about religion is operating on- any other religion deserves to exist regardless of "accuracy", and atheism- no matter how much we believe it's the most correct- operates the exact same way, and deserves the exact same space.

Just like the a-spec discourse, the divide is artificial. A-specs have unique experiences with oppression, but ultimately the reason for their oppression is the same as any other queer identity: because they're not straight*. And just like them, atheists have some very different experiences from marginalized religions, but ultimately atheism is marginalized for the same reason any marginalized religion is: because we're not Christian.

I think that's a great comparison for another reason, too: a-specs can share intersecting identities (gay ace, pan aro, straight ace, etc.) that do create overlap with experiences unique to those intersecting identities (including straight experiences!); but we argue that straight a-specs ultimately aren't considered straight in the eyes of cisheterosexism, and aren't given the same treatment as them, because any deviation from that established norm is cause for punishment.

*I say "straight" to mean the position of power; identifying as/being straight is one thing, but being treated like you're straight, and afforded that position in oppressive power structures, is a completely different thing.

[scramble-crossing]

1, 3, 15, 16 for the love for fandom asks :]

List 3 positive things about your current fandom

1. It feels like a cozy and closely-knit community :] When I see someone on the dash + in the main tag there's a good chance I'll recognize them (to the point where I sometimes actually take notice of new talkative folks dropping in) and even know a little bit about them, the characters they like, the headcanons they have, their thoughts about the series, etc. It's cool! And it makes me appreciate the content I see even more when I'm like "Oh it's them!! Hi!" like I'm excitedly waving to a distant neighbour. Of course from fandom events I know twitter would be a whole different ballpark but I'm not on there and never will be <3 so that's ok!

2. It's not as much of a thing anymore, but we had a bunch of really fun polls back when they were still new and exciting and I still remember the autistic + trans tournaments fondly

3. There's a lot of aspec headcanon-ing and acceptance + celebration of those headcanons! I was on tumblr in the late 2010s. That's when I was first getting into fandom, and coincidentally it was also the peak of """ace discourse"""". I didn't trust fandom spaces for a long time after that. Here I can come in swinging saying "Idc if you all think Sho is hot. He does not fuck." and not only have I not caught a single bit of flack for that, turns out quite a few other people hc him as aspec too! And not just him either, I've seen quite a few aspec headcanons floating around out there without anyone tearing them down...it's nice :]

3. A character that fandom has helped you appreciate...Popular pick! I've answered this one before and I'm running out of ideas so I hope you don't mind if I hop on 9. A ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy just to shake it up a little

I'm not much of a shipper myself, but I've warmed up a lot to NekuBeat in the last little while, and as an extension Hachicule. My personal belief is that a Hachiko Gang polycule is good but ONLY if each relationship Neku has is different. One has gotta be a platonic partnership or QPR. One romantic. One utterly incomprehensible and unlableable (vague hand gesture) something or other and no one knows exactly what it is, not even the people involved. Shiki and Beat take turns swinging between the first and second option but Josh always gets to be third.

15. The character that always makes you smile

(LONG SUFFERING SIGH)

...

^This fuckin guy. Bane of my existence. Ruiner of my life. I hate him.

16. Tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

I'm out of steam so look at him. I think more people should see this screenshot in particular

What the cat doing

[northropi]

ACVI is probably the widest disconnect between the degree to which I feel good at the game and the degree to which I like the overall feel of the game I've ever experienced, with Ultrakill as a runner-up.

I've only just gotten to the end of Chapter 1. I got bopped for getting greedy in CH2M1 and going for combat logs on those Tetrapods while being too scared to take resupplies out of fear that I'd get locked into that room before finding everything, and haven't really attempted that one since because frankly I'm gonna need to devise a build with more ammo first, while also just buying out half the shop in general so I don't get stuck without an easy way to overwhelm a boss again. ("oh look at me i beat Balteus with shotguns you don't need pulse weapons to do it" well i didn't have those either, genius)

Now factor in my job, the fact I'm going for a trip this weekend, and my sheer executive dysfunction, and I don't anticipate to get anywhere close to the end for a few months.

It makes me think about why I tend to shy away from games I know to be hard, you know? One definite factor is that beating something hard is just not satisfying to me. The way people describe the feeling of a boss being a pain in the ass enhancing the feeling of winning is alien to me. I feel bad during the attempts and I almost feel worse when I beat it. I get mad and cuss it out as it goes down, far from the usual reaction you see from people who like that sort of thing.

On top of that I'm never sure if I got good or if I got lucky. I don't think I'd suddenly be able to do what I did again- and I swear I straight-up glitched Balteus because while it brought the flamethrowers out at 50% HP the winning run didn't see it pop assault armor until it was at like 25%, and I two-cycled the thing. Ultrakill, Claire de Soliel on Violent, my approach essentially got patched out with the harder weapon freshness rules now. Marauder, all that time ago, yeah I ate too many hits, with only a few successful attempts at sidestepping as I stood at optimal range with the SSG out- would not have flown on any higher difficulty. At least ACVI doesn't make me have to wrap my brain around constant weapon switching, though, but the fact that I tend to play all at once without taking breaks until I'm done, out of fear that I'll forget tricks I do pick up, probably also isn't helping my performance or my mood. I stayed up for like three hours on Balteus, it just wasn't fun.

After the AH12 I felt great, that was like three attempts. Juggernaut went down in two, that optional Tetrapod was like three, and I was shredding every conventional AC I found. I kinda joined into the meme of "the Souls fans don't know how to comprehend a vertical axis." That, I feel, is kind of true. Flight is an adjustment that came naturally to me because it's just part of the games I play the most. I felt vindicated that a group I saw as acclimated to hard games was hitting a rut when they encountered a challenge I dealt with on the regular. But from everything I hear, it's almost like having an easy time with the Helo and Juggernaut, and even Sulla, who I chewed up and spat out in a matter of seconds, is almost an indicator of how bad you're gonna do on Balteus.

It's here that it all caught up to me. I can flaunt how the movement fits me like a glove, but anyone who's just used to hard games in general has a lot that I don't. Reaction times, adaptability, planning, tilt-resistance, and, of course, fucking mindset- the ability to enjoy the gauntlet, or at least to walk away and come back refreshed.

I don't have these, and I don't think I can learn them.

This is kind of where the shitty difficulty discourse we've been in for ten years breaks apart. Souls games initially seemed like a mix of just not looking like my type of game on a functional level, and too hard for me to approach, and with what looked like little reward for a lot of struggling, I simply didn't. With how popular they are, it eventually hit me that they actually do look really fun when they're not pushing your nose into the dirt. I wanna play them in some context where I can be kept from getting mad, streaming them with friends or something (unfortunate that the one that looks the most appealing to me is also currently the least accessible).

Here comes ACVI, which I knew was gonna be hard but, hey, at least it closes the other side of that equation, maybe I'll have fun losing or even "git gud" and have some talent to show for it. Then Balteus made me feel fucking ill and I just don't know anymore. I kinda just want to go back to drawing for the last few hours of this weekend, but I'm afraid I'll never finish it if I do. Maybe a more functional version of me would see that break as exactly what she needs to come back and crush it but with the brain I have here and now that's not happening and this is at serious risk of becoming a second Signalis situation.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

i just accidentally found an aphobe’s discourse blog and kinda doomscrolled through all their posts and reblogs because i was curious and couldnt stop myself and now i just want to go back into the closet with my labels, throw the closet into the ocean and pretend i’ve never had any thoughts about anything at all.

that person specifically also had that thing where they “support” some aros and aces but not all of them, and it just sucks more because it’d be easier to deal with if they were just a flatout mean aphobe, but they pretend to care and they come from this “think about it logically, i’m only being reasonable” angle and it just leaves such a bad, bad taste in my mouth. it hurt to see that those posts had thousands of notes too. plus the fact that they were LGBT too, it just feels like nobody’s safe for aros and aces.

it really got me down and i’m not the only one who’s affected like this right? idk i feel like i need reassurance, something to say not everyone’s so against aros and aces, and that i’m not the only one who feels so isolated.

(also i wish the block button did more, because yes i can block someone but that’s only after reading their bad takes, how do i block that from my memory 😭😭)

Yeah you're not the only one with these kinds of feelings when you come across this stuff. And it's very deliberate what they do and the point is to cause hurt.

I definitely watched this movement pretty closely while it was at its peak on Tumblr (against better judgment), and as much as they play up the 'I'm just a rational human being having rational takes', the moment someone explained the flaws in their logic they were pretty quick to reveal they were just trolls and start replying with nonsense.

The 'I support some aces and aros' is generally bullshit too. Conditional support isn't support, and by support they meant 'I don't hate some of them if they fit my narrow definition for what I think they're allowed to be' not 'I've ever done anything to support this community'.

There's a reason the ace exclusionist "discourse" has mostly petered out on Tumblr though, and just pushed into a few small pockets, and it is because they started getting enough pushback it was easier to either move on to a new target or move to a new site where it was easier to spread hate than stay here. And a lot of that pushback came from the greater lgbtqia community who caught up to their tactics and didn't want it. Gatekeeping like what they do hurts all lgbtqia people, not just their current target, and most groups and organizations want nothing to do with these people.

If an lgbtqia group is tolerant of gatekeepers or not is also a great litmus test to see if it's a safe community (and most do not tolerate it at all).

It can be a trip going through one of their blogs though, especially the way they distort reality and say things in the cruelest ways they can. I definitely recommend just completely avoiding those blogs if you can.

So hopefully this helps you feel better. All the best, and take care!

[uselessheretic]

Lmao "how dare you not make fanworks of this canon bland wholesome couple with no conflict between them and no major personal flaws, you must be ableist" or the other acussation which is that you hate bald men (??? These people are shipping Lucius and his dumb sideburns and Izzy who's also not what you'd call traditionally hot??? Why would they balk at bald????). Lucius/Pete is just boring for the popular fic tropes. Like I have yet to see one person say they dislike them in canon! But there's what's good and enjoyable to see on screen as a background pairing, and there's what's going to get its claws deep enough into the brains of people who do transformative fandom to compell them to write fic about it. These two do not provide the correct brainworms.

Izzy is sort of catnip for fanfic writers which I called as soon as the oooh daddy Thing happened. He's a mess and so are all of his possible relationships (also kinky on main without wanting to be kinky on main) but at the same time if you go the "if you touch him right he melts" or "if someone railed him he'd calm down" route it's also believable, bc he's a mess, so you dont have to commit to a 60K angst fest to fix his life or make it worse either. Fandom bicycle pathetic little meow meow.

It's also why so much Blackbonnet content is about their reunion when it's not pure fluff or a pwp, it's the closest bit of relationship drama that has to be resolved (even if you flatten them into uwu cinnamon roll non-pirates and thus ignore any other issues they'd need to work on to make their relationship not implode, you still have this fight to resolve! If you dont do that both of them have so much shit to work on to survive past the honeymoon phase and get better as people together that you do probably need like 70K of fic, maybe a series. This is why they're the central relationship in canon lol. Given the Steddyhands fic Ive read it seems to me to have hit bc if you put Izzy in that mix it's so volatile they HAVE to talk shit out they cant just ignore their problems for 48 chapters without Izzy leaving or dying of stress??)

Cant comment on how the actors being hot factors here bc im too ace to tell when none of them are like. Hollywood Hot/a model?? They're too normal people I could see on the street in real life to like. Rank.

it's just silly because this keeps popping up about the canon pairings as if izzy's going to steal their spot and it's like?? that is not a threat?? i'm trying to not be too heavy on ship hate or whatever but iont even like Lucius/Pete as a pair, but ik they're gonna stay canon and i hope they do bc lots of people enjoy them! but otherwise fandom's just a lil sandbox for me to play in and i wanna see izzy kiss ppl.

i think the "this is problematic" discourse is funny though because i think people are struggling to find a way to make it more woke when both ships are literally white m/m with not much else. you can't even argue a problematic age gap since izzy and pete's actors are only 4 years apart. (lucius confirmed for on a dilf hunt btw) so you just get stuck with "conventionally attractive" which i stg is discourse that only ever happens around white men. (tbf i think people are super out of pocket when they say a poc isn't conventionally attractive. like someone said taika was unconventionally attractive once and like dude. taika is hot in a very like traditionally handsome way??)

and then it's odd because i feel like it's like?? kinda an appropriation of the language used when talking about the racial biases people have against characters of color in fandom. it is an issue when character of color are sidelined or erased in favor of white characters. or sometimes people just? erase canon aspects of characters/pairings to make them flatter than they actually are. like people call jim/olu a fluffy low stress ship, but they're not? their meet cute is a murder and they have ups and downs with separations and communication issues. i do legit think if they were two skinny white cis men that people would be more on them with writing angst and other drama, but :/

either way that concept's being stretched too far where people keep talking about ships where izzy usually just replaces another white guy so what does it matter. even if people wanted the pair to breakup in canon and be replaced with izzy it like... doesn't matter? representation isn't being lost? who cares lol.

i think maybe people just need to work on their propaganda or smth tbh like i didn't find con oneil hot at first and im p sure i got brainwashed into being super into him by fandom. maybe people need to stop complaining about pete being bald and just start talking about wanting to slap him on his bald ass head while topping him and get the tumblr girlies in on the action

[brightsuzaku]

shipping? yeah you can ship that,

hi, effortless textpost here, but

sometimes i think one of the ways i generally avoid shipping discourse or ship wars within fandoms is mostly by being a multishipper

you can ship these characters with anyone! i don't have to always like it, though there are many pairings and throuples, and polycules i enjoy a lot, but also there are ones i don't always enjoy or like, and... it's fine!

if it makes someone else happy or it entertains them, then that's a fine and okay ship! I DO NOT ATTACH MORALITY TO SHIPPING BECAUSE A MAJOR PART OF IT IS ENTERTAINMENT.

I had a wild time in college discussing crack pairings and strange ship ideas with friends, and it was specifically because it was entertaining to think about, and not because we had any serious attachment to whether these characters "ought to be together" or something. I have shipping goggles and have used them for good, and warned a friend about their writing, "you better watch out, this sounds like an implied ship that you REALLY ARE NOT INTENDING," before.

Anyway, back then, I didn't even ship in hopes that a ship ought to be canon, as much of the fun was ships and pairings not being canon at all. Then, we could break other rules about how that would go, without any expectation that the author would actually put these characters from two different left fields together, AND IT WAS FUN.

The blessed thing about being a multishipper is also that I, implicitly, am fine with not shipping a given character to another, either. lIKE, "Oh, you don't actually ship Sherlock Holmes with anyone because you consider him aroace? Go ahead!!!!"

Heck, you don't even have to come out and defend your ships with me. This is a no-judgement zone. Yeah, some stuff miGht make me uncomfortable, but there's been plenty of characters I don't ship, and other character ships that I don't want to ship, but I see the kernel of why they get shipped, and I'm like, "dang, you're having a good time over there".

I am not even annoyed about shipping in general, I am old and tired. I have lived through the flame wars of the early 2000s internet and have been aware of even older ones of times past. It's fine. I don't mess with it.

This was supposed to be a really short post, but then it got out of hand.

Much of the thrill of shipping is first the entertainment of it, and then the rest is the romance and the character exploration. Heck, I have seen ace pairings before, and you know what? That's the coolest thing ever!

I get why some people don't want to see specific ships tagged with their art: it is very tiring if you have a strong aversion to a certain specific ship, or just find its fans annoying, or just dislike a certain type of ship, and so on. That's fine!!!

I'm not one of those people, I actually like discovering new ships, lol. But, there is nothing wrong with traversing fandom on your own terms! And ,if that means blocking ships you don't wanna see, or putting a "please don't tag" in the text, then that's all OK, too!

I would say that shipping is a part of fandom, it's been there for a long time! And while I so strongly" wish it could be wholly fun again", I know that it wasn't always fun even in the past, either. The flame wars existed back then, and they will continue, too.

But shipping isn't the only way to play with a story or tis characters, and not shipping characters is great, too!

I am always down to see more about characters that aren't romantically or sexually with each other, too!

TL;DR, hi I am a multishipper, and I like shipping in general, because it's fun. Even the ships I think are uncomfy, or ones I don't really jibe with, well: someone else likes it, and I'm not them, so that's OK! You can ship characters and you can not ship characters. All of that is fine! I think multishipping includes choosing not to have a pairing, and that is good, too.

This post is not about when people "take it too far". You gotta learn to make your own boundaries and make use of working within your own boundaries too. I promise you, teenagers have been joking about boy band members dating each other since probably forever. 90% of the time or something, it's not actually that gross, people just do this for fun. People generally start shipping characters (or people, lol) primarily because it's fun.

Yes, I turned off reblogs in advance.

[theotherrookie]

😒 😒 😒 Gimme three!

send 😒 for me to talk about a trope/cliche I hate. (Still accepting)

Welcome to a new episode of "Doc is annoyed at the new Star Trek again"! Buckle up because this will be definitely long.

As we're on the internet and I still have flashbacks from Ghostbusters 2016's incredibly academical discourse, a preemptive disclaimer since I'm going to reference the shows: I grew up watching on and off various iterations of Star Trek. It was one of those things the whole family would sit down to watch and I still rewatch it because it's one of the few things on Netflix that I can stomach. It's by all means not a masterpiece of writing. It has revolutionized TV in the '60s and later, pretty much made fandom into a mainstream thing, but between very good episodes with very interesting takes there are many episodes where stuff didn't age well/was straight up sexist or racist even for the time. I recognize this, let's move on already.

1) Asexual rep

So, this is a controversial matter because to this day we're starved of representatives in media. I usually don't care for this stuff because I don't care to see romance especially if my token character is annoying as hell. However, I'd like to discuss how very often the asexual of the group is anything but human.

As far as I'm concerned, it makes sense. Someone who isn't human is likely to not see romance and sexuality the way most humans (of any orientation/identity) do. The show has variety as far as this is concerned but I can agree that the aces are usually some kind of machine-based lifeform even elsewhere.

I personally don't take issues with stuff like "I'm an android, I can't have a romantic relationship with you [the way you conceive it]." It makes sense. An android doesn't have parents the way we supposedly do and definitely doesn't get sent to sex-ed or sees any type of relationship the way we do. Moreover, as far as I'm concerned, I like androids and I like stoic cyborgs so having that as rep is cool.

What I dislike is the next step. Either the acedroid has a Pinocchio moment and becomes a real boy with real feelings, or any kind of character progression gained through dozens of episodes is nullified because "I still don't get love because only humans get love." We really don't get it, so screw that noise.

For once it'd be nice to see an ace character who gets to be ace in peace. I'd like to see them go "Well, I've learned a lot about feelings the way biological lifeforms intend it. I seem to have my own set of feelings, even if they are more subtle than my very emotive friends. I'm different. I'm complete and I don't need to get fixed. I'm happy the way I am."

Or we could shove them in the arms of a dude because "Pretty people can't stay single" or "Well, the actresses were memeing about it so they're lesbians now. Look! The pretty lady is a lesbian! We're a good corporation!"*

*also kudos for the accidental biphobia by implying that the evil mirrorverse is such because the lesbian married a man. It would be as such if it wasn't for the fact that it's canon that she was into men in the older stuff (despite both I and the fandom wishing otherwise because fuck that guy). Good job, guys 😬

I'm going to leave this here:

2) The smart guy is an asshole

"Doc, have you seen that new Sherlock Holmes? He's a genius but he doesn't get social interactions."

I used to think that writers out there think that making a smart guy into an asshole is actually a genius take, an original idea that no one has tried before and something that will keep me invested into any adventures that do not include this guy and a truck running him over for 40 minutes straight.

Now I'm pretty sure that someone is just bitter they could never grasp what a sphygmomanometer is or that the Earth is round and takes their frustrations out like this. The asshole nerd is everywhere and he's sexist because he's smarter than women and their uteruses.

Actually, too many characters are made into assholes.

"So, we're a crew of highly trained specialists with an average of three uni degrees each. We can build a nuclear accelerator using a spoon and an old Betamax tape but never in those ten years of training has anyone taught us about such trivial things like discipline and respect for our peers. Fuck you!"

It isn't the best of feelings when I'm rooting for the character the closest to myself to die a horrible death, you know. Please, make adults act like adults again. I'm not watching a Fortnite gameplay.

3) In English, dammit!

Take that bit from above about the highly trained crew and add that for some reason never in their entire career they ever learned how valuable clear communication is when you're about to blow up with your entire spaceship.

"The thing is on fire! The fucker broke down!" Very professional and also very useful when ever your goddamn toilet is connected to a supercomputer.

Once again, there's two options: either this is the sloppiest attempt at making science accessible to those very stupid children networks insist actually exist in the real world, or someone simply can't be arsed to use words with more than four syllables.

Either way, I find that stupidifying people, especially in a sci-fi show, breaks the immersion and basically shoves your story on the side of fantasy. You know, the genre where every slightly strange even is explained with ✨magic!✨

Also, swearing. You don't look good if your characters make the AVGN sound like a gentleman.

[on-stardust-wings]

Regarding the good omens post I do believe it's weird useless discourse, but also I cant help but get mad when I see someone say shit like "headcanoning Crowley and Aziraphale as anything other than men is homophobic and transphobic" like yes I've only seen it once and it had a bunch of reblogs but FUCK it's so tone deaf and chronically online that it ruined my day.

Absolutely weird useless discourse, yeah. It helps nobody. It achieves nothing. It just makes people mad at each other over... fictional characters.

The beauty of Good Omens is that especially Aziraphale and Crowley, both as individuals and concerning their relationship, are so easy to read into whatever suits you best. It's one thing that really spoke to me about its fandom, too, when I first came here, the way fans were happy to interpret them as gay men, as genderqueer, as trans, as ace, as so many things, and there was art and fic with it and it all happily coexisted. Like, last year it was normal and celebrated that you'd read one fic, be it canon or AU, where they're gay married and then another where they ace and in a QPR and then one where one of them is intersex and all of them were right and wow look at all our cool rep and the community and the love and acceptance we have for each other here. I loved that. It was such a welcoming place.

And, thing is, I think it still is. The majority of those people are still here. Gatekeepers are a small, loud minority in any community, and looking at the notes on my rant post... yeah, a large number of fans want to have this open to interpretation, this accepting culture around the show and the ship (and are still in fact living it, enjoying a variety of different queer readings of the show and book).

I agree with you, it's very tone deaf.

Also, a thing people forget about Good Omens is that it isn't a queer rep show. It's the adaption of a book, it's a story about averting Armageddon, about finding out who your friends are and where you belong and who you are and learning to do what is right by you own moral compass. It does Good Omens a great disservice to reduce it to "oh, it's queer". It includes queer coded characters. It includes queer themes. But they're not meant to be the core message. They're one element of the story among many. Good Omens is a very rich and nuanced narrative, and some of those nuances include genderless characters and characters in relationships that aren't straight.

But a number of people don't see themselves represented exactly the way they want to, either by Good Omens on its own or by Good Omens when comparing it to other things like Our Flag Means Death, and now they're unhappy about it (because they're hurting), and lashing out at everyone who likes the thing they don't like, not seeing that all it does is hurt other queer people. (I'm starting to be a little bit Internet Old, and this is such a common, sad pattern in online spaces for minorities, especially spaces that tend towards minority activism. It's true for queer spaces, for disability rights, for the fight against racism... A lot of us have been hurt in our lives, and continue to be hurt, and the hurt makes us defensive, and we lash out at each other instead of standing together against the actual problems. Fighting amongst ourselves weakens and distracts us, and leaves us with less energy to deal with the actual problems. ... Sorry for ranting.)

[capri-ramblings]

No one asked for it but I've had scenarios of a Yandere poly-relationship for the First Year Squad for a while now and I just felt like indulging myself for a bit ✨ Hope you all like it as well!

Requests are in the works,both new and old. Your patience is greatly appreciated ❤️.

Warning; Toxic/Unhealthy relationship.

[ A Dent in the Mold ]

Epel looks at you with glistening eyes,his hands clinging onto your arm as he tugs you down into the seat beside him. He smells of lavender and goat's milk and his warmth is the kind that buzzes around you like a cocoon.

"Hands off, shorty!" Ace yells with a frown,his red brows furrowed as he takes up the empty space beside you. His hand comes up to swat Epel's away from you but misses when Epel swiftly evades him.

"Why? It's not like I'm taking up any of your space, and plus, who are you to tell me where to put my hands anyway?". The sneer that came onto Epel's face then bellied his soft features, and at a glance from someone outside the circle it may look like a boyish banter between two friends, but from where you sat trapped in-between them, the glower of possessiveness and envy didn't seem to miss either one of their gazes.

"Stop making a scene you two. Can't you see you're making them uncomfortable?", it was Jack who came by then, along with Deuce and Sebek. His sharp gaze almost immediately landed on you, a tinge of irritation encircling the ring of his pupils at the sight of how close you were to Epel.

You would've told him that it was against your own will, that despite his small stature Epel had a grip of an iron maiden set aflame to fix you in place and eat away at your flesh the more resistance you gave him. But you knew better than that. Dismissing Epel meant giving him an opportunity to punish you later.

Then again you also knew Jack was the most possessive of the group. Your explanation would have fell on deaf ears anyways.

"It's fine." You murmured, quickly before feigning a smile. It did no good to have them fight after all. You'd barely be able to handle them if they decided to turn against one another.

"What did you get for lunch?" You directed the question towards all three newcomers. Jack remaining his stiff expression while Deuce and Sebek beamed at your acknowledgement of them.

"They ran out of egg dishes for today but I bought you and I some sandwiches to eat together!" Deuce took out the sandwich he mentioned and immediately handed it to you, his teal coloured eyes tinting a slightly shy shade of blue as he raked your figure.

You returned his gesture with a smile of your own, somewhat grateful you weren't stuck with just Epel and Ace. Though the small act alone made the other four send death glares towards Deuce who still seemed dazed from your attention.

"Sandwiches aren't really nutritious you know, Deuce." Sebek pointed out with a frown before sliding a bottle of herbal tea in your direction. "Here,to wash away the leftovers".

He seemed so pleased with himself when you took the bottle and nodded your head, so satisfied that you were willing to take what he'd given you. It made the rest of the boys coil with annoyance. The kind that seemed to seethe and boil to a frightening degree.

But of course,to every other student watching, you were all nothing more than a group of first years conversing with one another.

And thus, your days at NRC repeated itself as if on loop. Trapped between the clutches of boys who would degrade anyone that dared interfered in their game of house with you.

Twisted and erratic, the unsettling delusion that you belonged to no one other than themselves grew apparent with each passing day.

General Headcanons

- Epel and Ace are the most clingy. They're always the first to latch themselves onto you like some sort of extra appendix.

- They make up the part of the group who watches who you interact with and keep track of where you go since they rarely ever leave you alone.

- Epel clings to you the most though and makes it close to impossible to shake him off without people asking you why you'd leave your meak-looking friend all alone.

- Ace is a bit more laid back but being easily jealous, he's quick to make a situation awkward for anyone he thinks is taking up too much of your time. Things like slinging his arm over your shoulders or making fun of you is his way of telling people you're his as opposed to Epel who leaves small, bright hickeys on places that are easily seen then pointing them out later as if he didn't know where they came from in the first place.

- Jack is quiet and stiff, but being a wolf, he's the most possessive in the group. He plays the part of the pact leader in the sense that he's always the one coming in between fights within the group and keeping you sane.

- He likes having you near him and makes you wear one of his wristbands so it's easier to find you and because he gets off on the fact that his scent is on you.

- Sebek and Deuce are the salves in the group. Since their possessive levels depends on their mood, which is always on the upside as long as you remember to flash them a smile and give them your attention, they're less likely to lash out on you or cause any great harm.

- However, once you get them on their bad side,these two won't hesitate to corner you together.

- Sebek's natural intimidation as a Fae will leave you unable to form words while Deuce's harshness leaves you a trembling mess.

- The group functions well together as long as they don't feel like you're favouring one of them and thanks to Jack you're not completely defenceless but there are times when even the loyal wolf enjoys watching you squirm underneath the great pressure of pleasing all five males.

Nsfw [ m i l d ]

- Jack gets to have you the moment school period ends. Deuce and Ace can't afford to spend the night due to Riddle's strict rules and because they can't have people questioning why you're being coddled by these boys too much while Epel and Sebek have their vice dorm heads hovering near them.

- He's always the one to walk you to Ramshackle Dorm and the one who warms your bed at night.

- He isn't overly aggressive when it comes to it but Jack has a tendency to lose control of his strength, watching you beneath him all writhing and crying makes it hard for him not to press you harder against him. The feel of your bare skin touching his drives him crazy, causes his thoughts to stir up this sick fantasy of having your flesh submit to his fangs.

- In the morning it's Ace and Deuce who greets you, Jack will have to be gone before they do to avoid any bitter discourse.

- Deuce's kisses are gentle but lingering, he likes having his hands on your waist as he pulls you closer to him. He gets all hot and bothered when he doesn't let you pull out for air and you let out this small helpless whimper against his lips.

- Ace is cheeky. The first thing he does after you pull away from Deuce is tug on your hair before he dives in for a kiss. Long and messy, Ace nudges open your mouth to let his tongue roam around your cavern without really asking for permission. The way his hands grip you is hard and careless, but when he ends the exchange, he grins and flashes you a wink. Boyish.

- Epel clings to you all throughout recess. His fingers cold and slender as they come in contact with your skin. He sits with you and even eats off the same plate, sharing food is a commodity of his you've learned to get used to but it's the trips before recess ends that always leaves you breathless and worn. He'll make the excuse of wanting to put away his and your plate but afterwards he pulls you into the bathroom and has you kneel in front of him before he slips in two fingers in your mouth and watches with ravenous eyes as you suck on them.

- He'll coo at you with praises and even play with your hair before he leans down and presses his lips against yours. Tongue impatient and hungry. He'll undo your collar and start leaving hickeys until you're whimpering and he sees your eyes swell with tears. He always cleans you up afterwards, spraying some of his cologne as a finishing touch.

- Sebek has you through the last two periods before school ends, and usually it's spent with him teaching you the history of his hometown and having discussions about magic and other various subjects. He isn't really a touchy type but he adores it when you flash him your shy,small smile or when you go through the trouble of adjusting his uniform for him.

- He lets you do whatever you felt like doing as long as he could involve himself in it, but on some days he likes having you play with his hair while he rests his head on your lap.

- All five have agreed on keeping you a virgin, the furthest act of sexual intimacy being oral sex.

- They have it decided that you'll choose who to belong to by the end of the school year.

- As long as they can keep the peace between one another of course.

[obsessive-bear-walking]

I've never been one to overly police fandom but I will say that I'm actually begging you guys to be considerate of the fact that queer people get nothing we look like the majority sometimes but a lot of it is fetishism of mlm, trans women, internalized misogyny, and misogyny. wlw don't get 1/4 the attention mlm get and aphobia. Ace characters? Canonically sex disinterested ace characters? Too bad you're fucking because someone finds you hot. I know it doesn't seem like that, but it is.

Also, I know how much of fandom is based on projection so a lot of folks are writing for themselves, but please understand this, you need to be considerate of the people who Yelena is actually for as a canon queer character. I see a lot of debates about "If you can make everyone gay why does sexuality matter?" it is different. Fandom has always had a and issue with how it treats queer people when we are sitting right here and I am not asking you to drop and erase every single piece of fan content you've made that erases a character's queerness. I am only asking you to be compassionate. Gonna do one of those stupid apple comparisons. (Sorry) Personally, I'm trans, gay, and demiromantic. I have maybe 10 apples to live off of and some of them rotted, not even remotely editable either because they're too old for most people born after my generation to eat.(as in queers under 25 might have no idea who they are) or because they're predatory or bad representation.

Also, like none of them are aspec. Cis het people? They, each individual, not as a group, have hundreds of thousand ache orchards. (I wont get into race/ethnicity, religion, and disabled/abled here but that makes it even more complicated and I don't think I should be the person to make a post about race)

If I personally took 300 apples from you it would not hurt your apple population at all. There would be 0 change in your apple consumption you wouldn't even notice they were gone. Though straight people love to act like they're losing something and the world is over and "evil queer pandering" when they're faves become queer ... it doesn't actually hurt you, you're just kinda being babies.

Also a lot of my gay apples came with women who hated me, who thought it was strange or gross that I was an actual gay man because how dare a gay man exist outside of their little sexy sinful day dreams? How dare I love men? So sometimes, understandably when we see our stuff being taken and added to the majority it can fucking hurt, our apples are only in the double digits, if that, and some of them are rotted through.

I'm not specifically in the fandom Yelena is from. I don't know a ton about her but when you absolutely flood fandom with content that erases her queerness that hurts the queer people in your spaces, who are actually working hard at building your spaces too. So I'm just saying, be mindful be considerate have an ounce of compassion before you completely flood Yelena's tag to no return with stuff that would hurt the people that she's for and make them feel alienated and like they don't matter. One of my friends fandoms has a queer character who's always shipped outside of their boundaries you finally see a queer character in the sea of nothing and their tag is only full of them with their orientation erased? I've had women in fandom say in their own wrods that they love certain queer ships but always genderbend one because they think queer folks are gross or strange.

That shit hurts. It's just another reminder that we don't belong in fandom, there isn't actually a place for us despite a lot of the content being about us. I don't want any "but ace people can date" discourse on this post I'm just saying be mindful. I also don't wanna hear from people(not even queer ones) whining that fiction isn't reality. That's not what this is about and I am not attacking anyone I am not saying "never write these things"/"Never post these things" I'm just saying to have some thought and consideration. That's all this post is.

[nothorses]

honestly the cripplepunk discourse sounds exactly like the way ace exclusionism started and it scares me. it's all a bunch of 'this group is not as disadvantaged as me and now they're invading my safe spaces and being (homophobic)(ableist)..... the only way to keep my safe spaces safe is to ban an entire category of people, and this will totally work, because everyone who really belongs in the community has exactly the same experience and cannot ever be laterally aggressive, of course' like. man. it's exactly the same, right down to the surface-level claim of being about who can and can't reclaim a slur. I'm just really disturbed that a bunch of people I've trusted are buying it. so far you seem to be the only one who isn't

I don't think it is, actually.

Ace discourse started because queer organizations started including aces. It was immediate, reactive backlash to inclusivity. They harassed the Trevor Project employees en masse to a) bully them into not supporting ace teens, and b) tie up their phone lines in order to prevent them from helping other suicidal teens until they complied.

The "queer" reclamation discourse was not saying, "only these people can say 'queer'" (though that argument was and has been around too), it was saying, "queer is a bad word that nobody should say", because the word inherently allows broader inclusion.

Compare to this discourse: the conversation that started it was one person telling another that ND people are less accepted by society than physically disabled people, and the other person saying, no, they're both not accepted, please stop trying to compare the two and please stop telling me my experiences aren't real.

That's not backlash to inclusivity, that's backlash to actual oppression olympics. Which is itself a tool of exclusionary politics.

The "cripple" discourse is not "nobody should say cripple", it's "who should call themselves a cripple?". That's still a type of conversation I don't particularly like, but I don't think it's the same as the "queer is a slur" stuff, either.

I have seen the people on "the other side" of you say, repeatedly, that they're not trying to keep anyone out of the disability community. They're not trying to police who calls themselves disabled, or even physically disabled.

The argument that I've seen has been, "there is reason to have spaces for physically disabled people", in the same sense that there is reason to have spaces for transmascs, and spaces for transfems, and spaces for bi people, and spaces for a-spec people... etc.

That's different from saying, for instance, "this is a space for women, no men allowed"; the language there excludes a category of people and necessitates gatekeeping (i.e. checking that nobody who's there is a man, however you, specifically, define man).

But saying "this is a space for physically disabled people; you're allowed as long as you consider yourself physically disabled, and we're not interested in questioning you on why you do" (which is the stance I've seen most often) is a way of creating a space for a group of people that does not require gatekeeping- and, in fact, discourages gatekeeping!

That's what most inclusionist spaces for specific groups of people do, actually! That's the same way I run my transmasc server; you're welcome so long as you consider yourself transmasc (or closely relate to the experiences), we're not checking, we're not asking why.

Look, there are absolutely people here and there making shittier and more exclusionary arguments. I have seen that, too. It's not okay. The randos crawling all over the notes of every single post saying shit like "ND people aren't really disabled", or harassing people involved over nothing- that sucks. And I don't think everyone's been acting the best way they could be in this argument, either; the treatment of other humans has been incredibly shitty, and I have seen so many unnecessary bad takes and reactive language, and I am fucking tired of it.

It's also not the fault of the people who essentially just said "physically disabled people do not have it better than mentally disabled people" and then, in trying to make that point, were misunderstood as exclusionary; by people who have a history of being harassed by exclusionists, and have been trained to see exclusionist rhetoric everywhere- including shit that is not exclusionist rhetoric- in order to keep themselves and their communities safe from harm.

Anyway I think I said it better on discord a while ago:

To be crystal clear: I'm not Declaring Alliances. The shit's nuanced, and a lot of people are operating purely out of panic and trauma. That's all I'm saying.

[voidromantic-culture-is]

Oh, hey! This is a submissions-based blog run by everyone's favorite (/j) mod Kalmiya (you can also just call me Mod lmao). (I'm the only mod here TwT) I use king/kingself and she/her pronouns (and also they/them if you'd like, I don't mind). I am a minor, and my main blog is @crowstar-in-a-hat, though I also operate a blog for soft/cute stuff on @littlebunnydiphda. (I am the only mod on both of those aswell lmao, and I use different names depending on the blog because I am testing names to find the ones I like)

While this would technically fit under the umbrella of "aromantic" (I still thought it would be cool to have one), voidromantic is defined as, and I quote, "an aro-spec orientation where one's orientation feels hollow or it feels like a void where one's romantic orientation should be. It is similar to the difference between agender and gendervoid. An aromantic person may also feel as though they never had a romantic orientation in the first place, however a voidromantic person may feel like there is a place where a romantic orientation would or should be but isn't."

This blog takes asks about voidromantic experiences! You can also ask questions about being voidromantic or just talk to me one-on-one! All I ask is that you follow the submission rules (or lose your kneecaps): Submissions MUST start with "[BLANK] culture is". Asks are the same. Unless you have a general question. Submissions must also check off every tag on the tags list.

If you have a general question, do not format it the same way as a submission. I will treat it as a submission if it is formatted as such. You have been warned.

Using the term “opposite gender/sex” will get your ask deleted - if needed, “other binary gender” can be used instead. I'd prefer this just for sanity's sake. Gender norms can jump out the window for all I care. (/j, /lh)

Keep discourse out of this blog - I don’t deal with discourse, and will just delete asks directly talking about it. Same with hate asks too--I will not respond to it. It’s going straight in the trash. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Ableism, exclusionism, racism, etc. will not be tolerated either - “Cringe culture” is also included. Any of this will get you a block. On another note, all asks including “simp” will be deleted, as it is AAVE and a slur. (Again, nobody has time for that!)

NSFW posts of any kind will not be tolerated...either - Since Mod is a minor, this will result in a block and your post being deleted.

That being said...welcome to the blog! DNI info is below the cut!

(DNI ID: transphobic, TERF/radfem, homophobic, anti-Mspec, racist, pedo (MAP/NOMAP) or supporter, supportive of incest, sexist, ableist, ace/arophobic, anti-non-binary, anti-microlabels, anti-neopronouns, anti-xenogenders, and/or an exclusionist. END ID)

[luxwing]

Okay so I'm drafting this and then gonna post it right before I go to bed so if you need to make a comment on it or whatever go for it asks are off but do whatever you need to do okay I'll just say a thing and then put some more words under a Readmore that you don't gotta look at if you don't wanna okay so anyway

Like hey I think ace and aro folk are included in the lgbt+. That's my hot take.

If that's something that you think hmm don't like that then cool. If you wanna unfollow me then cool. If we've been mutuals for a while but that's the deal breaker then cool. Do whatever you wanna do man it's 100% chill with me. I won't say anything or check who unfollowed like feel no worries or anxieties as far as I'm concerned. If you wanna make a comment then I guess go ahead but if you wanna make a comment I'll actually look at hmu on discord @luxwing#4343. Do whatever you wanna do okay?

The rest of this is skipabble its not me explaining my viewpoint or trying to say why you should or shouldn't agree with me it's just me talking about life and this shitty website feel free to ignore it.

Tumblr is a fucking bad community. Like, it is it really fucking is. Yeah, I've made some good friends and had good experiences and like I'm glad I got on here because I met some of the best people in my life here but this website is bad. It's a bad website. It's a bad community. It's horrible.

And there are so many reasons why it's bad and I can't even get into all of them in one post because I don't have the brain power to deal with it. It's not just the shipping bullshit or the terfs or discourse or any of that stuff. It's the fact that 90%o of the people that everyone listens to on here and takes their words as the gospel are too fucking young and inexperienced to know everything. And that's not me digging on young people I mean I'm almost 30 and I don't know everything either.

But like we act and treat everyone on here like we all have the same amount of experiences and knowledge and power and we fucking don't. No one on here is gonna know everything you do. Someone who's half your age isn't gonna fucking know that what they're saying is an absolute truth. Someone who's twice your age isn't gonna know that either. There are gonna be people who fuck up and make some pretty bad fucking takes and they're gonna be in all age groups that's life man that's part of living fucking up and making mistakes.

But this site is so bad about perpetuating bad bullshit because oh my friend agreed or disagreed and instead of talking to them about it yall do this passive aggressive vague shit instead of just fucking talking one on one in private and having a goddamn conversation. Not just making a comment like "lmao ok bye" like having a fucking discussion about shit that doesn't sit right with you.

And like I get it you got anxiety or you're intimidated then okay I understand. If someone makes you feel that way then why are you subjecting yourself to them? You ain't obligated to anyone on the fucking internet and especially not tumblr. Just, fuck man consider yourself. A friend is someone you feel comfortable talking about shit with. And also if they do or say something that just really fucks with you, then you don't need to keep subjecting yourself to them. Don't be afraid to back away from someone. Like hell if I do or say something that makes any of yall feel like that then do whatever you gotta do to feel safe and happy my dude. If you don't feel comfortable talking to me about it then I get it aight? I'm a lot older than some of yall and that's an issue sometimes so I completely understand this is your free pass to do whatever you need to do to feel safe and happy. Forreal. None of yall owe me shit.

But man this is a shitty ass website and some of the fucks on here have such bad takes and just hateful attitudes and yall rally around them like that's okay and just like... Why? Just why?

Anyway that's all I wanted to say again if you wanna talk about this at all message me on discord and we'll talk. If you wanna softblock or block me or unfollow then hey man go for it there's no hard feelings from me and I'm not gonna look and see who does what. It's cool. I'm too old for that crap man. Don't lose sleep over it.

No matter what any of yall do yall just stay chill and healthy aight?