#being really bad at being traditionally masculine.

[alfiely-art]

Raincode is an interesting commentary on masculinity. Yakou, Number One, Makoto, and Yomi all refuse to get help, upholding the "men are not allowed to be helped and have to deal with everything on their own" ideal. A lot of the games tragedy comes from these guys being too scared to reach out and get help and God forbid they get too emotional or take a step back and say they can't do this. Yuma is forced into accepting others help and expressing his emotions because he has amnesia and is just so confused and in so much danger he literally can't operate otherwise. The solution to everything is teamwork and communication instead of trying to take everything on yourself and worrying about being seen as weak or unmanly or whatever. That you really don't have to do it alone and it's better if you don't. If Yomi hadn't become so self-rightous and allowed others in, to have equals, he probably wouldn't have become so power-hungry and. Well. Yomi. If Makoto had someone, anyone to talk to, he could've found a better solution for the homunculi's diets. As soon as he opens up about what's going on, a better solution is almost immediately made. If Yakou had opened up to the NDA about his wife and the letters, they definitely wouldve helped him out. Investigating, finding the truth, maybe even getting Huesca arrested. If Number One had EVER accepted help, he wouldnt have needed to give himself amnesia to solve one of his own mysteries- because Makoto most definitely retained that trait of his. If any of them had asked for help, things would have been better. Asking for jelp is good and healthy, and something that many guys struggle to learn and accept and get used to.

Idk. This game definitely sucks when it comes to how it treats women but. This is. A very nice take on expectations of guys. That no, that stuff is stupid actually.

There are very few male protagonists that are allowed to be emotional or empathetic or unsure of themselves. The only ones that really come to mind rn outside of Kodaka's works are. Steven Universe. Shinji Ikari. Uhhhhh............... yeah that's all I can think of rn. And those two characters are shit on and called weak and that they're not real men. And Yuma also gets shit on by Some People for those same reasons. (Obviously there's other reasons to dislike him and the other two, but I'm talking about these specific reasons)

And idk. It's just.... really nice to see a game go out and make its ENTIRE message about how you don't have to do it alone. It's a universal message of course but it's also really important for a lot of guys. I know I sure resonated with it. My family is very gung-ho on being the perfect example of masculinity. So it's just. So rare to see a piece of media challenge these ideas. Thank you Raincode you mean a lot to me. Even though you're stinky. Ily

[therevengeoffrankenstein]

something i love about lawrence van helsing is how he is a protector... and how his strength lies in his compassion for others. his love and care for other people are what makes him truly strong. all he wants to do is make people feel better.

he is such a tragic figure, really, because he's always putting on a brave face for others. he's always putting others before himself. ever the selfless hero. but there is definitely something to be said about him neglecting himself and basing his worth on his importance to others by his actions.

[logically-asexual]

personal problems in tags

[galactichelium]

I love the idea of dying my hair in concept. But in practice, I have no clue what colour I'd like to dye it to. I just can't imagine having anything but my dark brown hair. However. In the future, when I have more of a beard, dying my beard sounds like a fun idea lmfao. I can totally imagine dying my beard crazy colours

[melonsharks]

MORE TRANSFEM DIPPER!!! SHE IS MY LIFEBLOOD 😭😭😭😭😭

(ur art style is so nice btw)

dipper pines and the art of repression

notes below the cut for funsies haha.

its kind of interesting to me to watch gravity falls with the lens of transfem dipper because when you watch it like that, its like. shes trying SO hard to push it down. it kind of reads like shes trying to convince not just everybody else, but HERSELF that shes a boy. like the idea that anybody could even think shes a girl is terrifying to her (this kid really does read as trans in any direction LMFAO i love dipper) but like. why transfem? right… full hc territory here, please be nice to me.

-she doesn’t like her deadname (its traditionally a masculine name, as far as i know 😭) so she goes by the nickname that as given to her because of her birthmark…

-she gets made fun of OFTEN for not being manly enough even throughout the show and so she associates femininity with Bad Thing To Be. so she CANT be a girl because being a girl would be a BAD THING FOR HER TO BE. shes 12 years old yk so like. this deep, deeeep repression sets in.

and so:

-she overcompensates. shes not just going to be manly, but shes going to be SO manly that nobody is going to make fun of her for it again. sometimes to the point where she feels like she cant even really be herself.

i feel like she doesn’t even really realize it in canon,,, its probably post-canon. but the realization would hit her SO hard. like a truck. and it would be so scary at first but then its not, then she feels Right and it feels GOOD and shes so happy and her family would love her and accept her so much and whatever WHATEVERRRR.

anyways, i was just rewatching gf and this was really making the rounds in my head the more i watched, because its kind of how i experienced being trans myself (and im transmasc so LOL) like. just repressing the thing i thought was bad and overcompensating like crazy, until i realized… that its not a bad thing to be. other people making you feel bad about it doesnt MEAN its bad. and then that realization that your identity not being what you thought it was doesn’t mean you change as a person. you’ve always just been you. but it feels better. it feels real.

[kakiastro]

Saturn + Saturn Placements

Hey you guys! Let’s talk about Saturn for a little bit. It’s a full Moon in Capricorn so let’s talk about her ruler. So get comfy, grab a snack and your favorite drink because this will be a long post

As a cap stellium, I’ve gotten to really know and deeply understand Saturn over the years!

I feel Saturn is misunderstood a lot in this community!

Saturn is Not the bad guy! Honestly without Saturn, your life would be in chaos! Saturn brings law and order into our lives.

Saturn delays but never denies!

Saturn is the stern parent that wouldn’t let you go to that one friends house but you rebelled and went anyway. Only to find out that one friend was never really your friend and you realize the stern parent was right.

-Saturn rules both Capricorn, Aquarius and is exalted in Libra. Saturn creates the rules for structure and order (Capricorn). Saturn can also break and create new rules for the betterment of society(Aquarius). He makes sure the rules are in balance and fair for all(Libra)

-Saturn rules over all things Government related. A lot of politicians will have Aquarius/11h, Capricorn/10h or Libra/7h placements in there . Saturn transits show us the energy of what the politics is going to look every 2.5 years.

Example: so I’m in the US, so with Saturn in Pisces, there’s a strong level of uncertainty, it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen since it’s an election year. The mental health of both candidates are being questioned, as there age. All very Saturn Pisces. Pisces rules over fog, health and uncertain energy. Saturn rules over age.

- The colors Black, Brown, Earthly Greens are Saturn colors

-Saturn rules over time. You know the phrase “All good things take time.” Saturn is ruled by Greek God Kronos who is considered “the God of time.”

-Capricorn is actually a feminine sign not masculine. It’s really funny when it’s called the “daddy” sign when it’s really “big mama”😅 keep in mind, feminine doesn’t equate to woman in Astro , it’s an energy!

- Saturn rules over these animals: Goats, Crows, Ravens, Bats, Eels, Owls, Crocodiles, Donkeys, Snakes, Camels, Beetles, poisonous animals, black colored animals/insects, domesticated Cats, and Buffalos.

- Saturn rules over these places: dry places like the dessert, low humidity, mountain locations, cold places, thick forests, underground places, caves, barren places. It also rules over graveyards, tombs and old temples. Government related buildings is also ruled by Saturn.

- Saturn traditionally rules over death. Pluto is the modern day ruler but Saturn also rules it. “Death is like meeting an old friend” that doesn’t sound like Pluto does it?😅 Saturn rules over time, when your time is up…

- A lot of people don’t know this but Saturn rules over weed not Neptune. Saturn rules over agriculture in general. Weed is a natural plant that takes time to grow and needs to processed. Neptune rules the actual high of the plant when you smoke it.

-some other plants Saturn rules is the Oak and Willow Trees.

- another thing people don’t know about Saturn is that it rules your hair not Venus. Saturn rules hair follicles and the texture of your hair. Aspects to it can show what type of hair you have. Venus is how you take care of your hair such as shampoos, conditioners, oils, hair styles etc..

Personal example: I have Saturn Aries, my hair is really thick and tightly curly. My hair fits on my head like a big helmet😅 i don’t even wear a hat in the winter because how thick it is😭I have to constantly keep it moisturize because it gets dry and itchy quick!! Summer months is never a fun time😂 I have a lot of Saturn aspects so I can make a whole post about my hair by itself LOL

-Saturn rules your teeth and bones.

- your Saturn placement can show you what your elder years will look like. That’s because it rules over the elderly.

-if you feel like you’re losing control of your life, you can tap into your Saturn energy to get it back.

Personal example: I have Saturn Aries, so when life feels like I’m out of control, I start to look at myself and what do I need to do with myself. I start making bold decisions about what I need to do! Aries is Mars energy and rules “thyself”

-Capricorn Suns can have a tough relationship with their father. Their father may have put lots of pressure on them to be the best or they want their child to be like them in some way, which makes the child feels restricted in showing their true personality. A lot of cap suns may have an absent father or father that was physically around but not emotionally around. These natives were born during a time when the father was either achieving something great or they missed an opportunity so they want their child to do it for them. This results in cap suns becoming workaholics and wanting achievements in their life.

-Capricorn Moons can also have this energy but it’s a little different. Capricorn Moons are born into families that put lots of pressure on them to be great but don’t fully believe in their success. Capricorns have big dreams that seem unrealistic to others especially family members. So they work hard, they’ll climb biggest mountain and they don’t care how long it takes because they know it’ll be worth it in the end. They may be the ones who creates a lasting kegacy in their family.

-Aquarius Sun may have more of a friendship type of relationship with their father. “That’s my buddy” type of energy between them. On the flip side, their dad may have been distant towards them. They were born during a time when their father was going through something and it made them feel distant. Their fathers could’ve had gained a new friend group. One of his friends could be these natives godparents or play uncle.

- Aquarius Moons come from family that’s emotionally distant or feel stagnant in some way. Their family probably feels more like a friend group than your “traditional family” they are here to gain freedom away from their family, do things outside the box of the traditional family . They are the black sheep of the family and may have a different vibe to them compared to their family all together!

I will end it here but I will continue to talk about Saturn for the next few days

[randys-ranch]

I get kind of dysphoric seeing Kabru being the only one to get depicted as a trans man in all the dungimeshi fanart, he is short, effeminate, cunty- its weird, why is your first assumption the feminine short man is trans? What exactly do you think is inherent to the afab body that makes it such a immedianet thought?

You cant really ..tell queers just by looking at someone.

Why is it never Laios or Senshi? Its uncommon to see transmasc art of them, and i know why that is.

Theyre "traditionally masculine"

Which isnt true entirely, Senshi was described as effeminate for a dwarf, but he adheres to Our standards of masculinity, so he doesnt appeal to the inherent idea people have of trans men- and people think trans men are women.

So. Yknow. Think before you trans i guess. Youre actually perpetuating some bad ideas by not having any range in your depiction of transgender men.

If you only ever draw short, cunty, pretty, effeminate, snappy yet subby men as transgender men...

You...are doing a poor job at spreading transmasc positivity.

Even if you yourself are transmasc you are still susceptible to perpetuating the idea that trans men are inherently weaker, softer and more feminine compared to cisgender men.

Yes gnc trans men exist, its important to depict those in art aswell, but unique gender presentation doesnt equate to your personality.

The problem with trans Kabru is all the art im seeing of him "mothering" Laios' children, taking on a "female" role in the ship art, adhering to a status quo because of his vagina..

There is just a lot of shitfuckery and i think you need to give it more thought before deciding the femmy subby man is a transgender man.

And i've NEVER seen a transfem Kabru- oh but everyone LOVES transfem Laios, theres probably more to unpack about transfem Laios being so prevalent but its not my place to do so.

[dimplyowl]

😩 one of the main things I see about Izzy and why he’s an innocent little lamb who has done nothing wrong is that he’s got a lot of internalized homophobia going on, as well as issues with toxic masculinity. And yeah, OFMD is all about taking those toxic societal expectations and telling them to shove themselves up their asses. And I think having a character who has those internalized feelings and who holds onto them until being proven that they’re wrong is an interesting character arc. Growth is a great thing! We love to see it!

The problem comes when people use those characteristics as excuses for any of izzys bad behaviors, as if they give him a free pass to do whatever he wants to do. But that’s not how these things work. The problem I have with Izzy’s character arc in s2 is that he doesn’t do anything to make reparations until his deathbed apology to Ed. He just kind of…continues to be there, ignoring Ed, letting the crew extend kindness to him and still not really engaging until Calypso’s Birthday.

You know who has done some really shitty things and does actually work toward making reparations? Ed. And that’s another thing I see a lot of Izzy fans say: that gb people give Ed a free pass for everything he did because of his childhood and his trauma and his self hatred and broken heart. But babes, when we talk about these issues, you’re misunderstanding why we’re talking about them. I obviously can’t speak for all Ed fans, but the majority of us aren’t listing these issues as excuses, we’re naming them as reasons for his behavior. So we can understand why he feels the way he feels and did the things he did.

I am fully aware that he did some really shitty things to people who care about him and who he cares about. I acknowledge that. I also know why he did them. And knowing why doesn’t make it okay. It helps me understand him more, and to know that he wasn’t doing them because he enjoyed them and, most importantly, that they’re things he regrets doing. That’s obvious throughout the entirety of eps4-6, in his hesitance to return to the ship, in agreeing to wear a burlap sack and allowing Lucius to push him over the ship, in taking time to actually listen to fang about his own experiences during the kraken era. It’s part of the entire reason they have a party, it’s part of turning poison into positivity. Ed doesn’t have great apology skills. His “apology” speech was definitely lacking as far as our modern standards are concerned. That’s fine. Those aren’t natural skills to have, they’re learned, and he never really had the opportunity to learn them. But you can see that he wants to, and he’s trying and he’s learning, and that’s the most important thing.

Izzy doesn’t do that shit. In season 1 he uses his position of power to bully the crew, to go against Ed’s orders (his captains orders; that’s essentially mutiny right there); he loses and turns his captain and a ship full of queer and poc to the cops; he then becomes captain and it takes less than a day for the crew to mutiny on him because he’s a fucking asshole and no one wants to work for him; and to top it all off, he tells his boss—his friend, supposedly, his depressed and already established to be suicidal friend—that he would be better off dead than be like he is.

Where are his attempts at reparation? Where does he turn around and say “yeah calling the cops on you was fucking horrible and I shouldn’t have done it” or “I shouldn’t have said those things when you were already struggling” or “I’m sorry for taking advantage of my power and using it to bully and abuse my employees and another captain’s crew.”? He doesn’t do any of that. He doesn’t even try.

Internalized homophobia doesn’t make intimidating your gay subordinate or calling your friend a “namby pamby in a silk dressing gown” okay. Toxic masculinity doesn’t make repeatedly insulting someone for having traditionally feminine traits and interests okay. Doing those kinds of things can never be okay. But recognizing these as faults and actively working to improve yourself and grow and apologize to the people you’ve hurt and try to make things better does make it more likely for the people who care about you to forgive you.

[genderkoolaid]

Hi!

I (24 nb) am having a serious issue with girls my age being quite misandric and using radfem rhetoric in their speech.

The issue is I understand their fear and mistrust of men in patriarchy and with many of them having horror stories to share about bad heterosexual relationships. But i am deeply uncomfortable with misandry and i don't know how to effectively point out that no it's not good feminism to hate on men.

Do you have any resources you could recommend me to build a good argument? I want to be prepared for this kind of discussion because it keeps happening more and more frequently.

I know it's not the main topic you cover on your blog but as it is closely related to transandrophobia I was hoping you (or your followers) could still give me some advice.

I wish you a wonderful day

My advice would be to start with talking about the negative impact of misandry on women first (although don't use the word misandry, at least at first). Starting off with "it hurts men" in any regard will likely not go over well, but if you first bring up the issue in relation to a group they already really care about, they'll be more likely to listen. Also, I would reaffirm that having trauma or bad associations with men isn't the problem, they aren't obligated to associate with men in ways that make them uncomfortable or exhausted, and that they have a right to feel their emotions, be angry, be annoyed, etc. Affirm that your concern is with how their actions and attitudes could be causing real harm to others, and that anger being valid does not mean you don't need to take responsibility for how you choose to act.

Some potential talking points:

When women are perceived as manly or masculine, they tend to get viewed with the worst traits of masculinity: butches and trans women are seen as aggressive, violent predators who prey on sweet, feminine straight/cis women. The patriarchy doesn't just hurt women through their femininity, but through their (real or perceived masculinity as well.

Even inside queer spaces, butches are expected to fulfill toxic masculinity: they are expected to be sexually dominant tops, not be emotionally or physically "weak," not do feminine things, etc. Butches can get ridiculed by others, even partners, for not fulfilling these things. Things like balding and small penises, that are traditionally seen as failures of masculinity in the patriarchy, are also made fun of in queer spaces; it seems like queer spaces have issues with how they deal with (real or perceived) masculinity.

When spaces make jokes about hating men, put a lot of emphasis on gatekeeping men, etc., it makes it a lot harder for trans women and nonbinary people assigned male feel safe. Some trans women & genderqueers might not realize their gender because they are kept out of spaces that could've helped them realize because of how queer & feminist spaces act regarding men. Butch trans women and genderqueers often face heightened scrutiny because of their masculinity, from both inside and outside their communities. (Also, send them this article.)

^ As a result of all of that, maybe we need to be more careful with how we think and talk about masculinity. It seems like we are reusing a lot of negative patriarchal stereotypes about men & masculinity in ways which hurt marginalized people the most.

From there, you can bring up marginalized men: you can talk about how trans men, multigender/nonbinary men, men of color, Jewish men, fat men, disabled men, etc. are negatively affected by negative patriarchal stereotypes about men & masculinity- I emphasis that because its how I would go about referring to "misandry" or "antimasculism" without actually using a word. Since misandry (and anything that sounds similar) is such a trigger word for many, its important to set the foundation that there is a big difference between the MRA concept of misandry, and the transunitist concept of misandry. Transunitist misandry focuses on how sexism & genderism* is used to target marginalized groups (specifically trans* people). Transunitist misandry does not say that misogyny doesn't exist, or that men are oppressed in the exact same way women are; its saying that the patriarchy (as a part of kyriarchy) uses gender and sex to harm not just marginalized women, but marginalized men too.

My goal with this would be to introduce and try to convince them of the idea that Misandry Is Harmful Maybe, and then once they realize how its harmful, bring up the idea that this kind of stuff needs to be named. Once they generally agree with these ideas, I think it will be much easier to help them understand why misandry is bad even beyond marginalized men: because the patriarchy relies on harmful ideas and expectations for men, even as (dominant/non-marginalized) men have a different place and more rewards; because liberationist feminism must be concerned with universal liberation, and that means it must be concerned with everyone's wellbeing and liberation; because we cannot disnantle the master's house with the master's tools, and letting any patriarchal thinking in poisons the well of your feminist praxis; because it just makes you a meaner and shittier person. In my experience people who think in the ways you described are resistant (not necessarily for bad reasons) to any kind of criticism towards sexism/genderism towards men, so my tactic would be starting with areas (like women) that they are concerned with not hurting and show how misandry hurts that group. Connecting the harm of this way of thinking to something they care about is going to make them more open to seeing it as an issue in general.

*I use "sexism" to describe the system of oppression based on physical sex, and "genderism" to describe the system of oppression based on gender identity/presentation/roles.

[thatweirdguyinthebushes]

breaking bad and it’s themes of toxic masculinity is one of those things that ill never get over. upon first glance jesse is very traditionally masculine, more so than walter, but as the show goes on it becomes clear that walt strives much more for the toxic and self-destructive standards of masculinity, where he must not only be the sole breadwinner for his family but must be acknowledged and praised for being such, where he must be the most intelligent most respected most deferred to of all the other men in his life. his son must respect him the most, his wife must acknowledge and be grateful for the money he brings no matter how he treats her or how he gets that money, his family must be grateful that it was him who provided for them, not strangers on the internet or charity or any of their friends, him. he needs to be acknowledged and respected, needs constantly to have his ego stroked. its one of the reasons he attaches himself so quickly to jesse, because jesse is in desperate need of both parental acknowledgement and a sense of academic achievement. walt takes on a kind of fatherly role, yes, but he's also jesses former teacher, and so his praise comes with a kind of undercurrent of that academic acknowledgement. and also, his relative ignorance at least at first of the technicalities of cooking meth makes it easy for walt to compare himself to jesse and therefore boost his ego. he does genuinely like jesse, but the amount of respect the kid has for him (extending even to the way he addresses him, "mr white", as if theyre still teacher and student) makes him feel superior, which is what he wants. and, as the story later reveals, jesse also has more traits that are stereotypically regarded as soft, feminine, non-masculine. he's highly emotional, much more so than the rest of the cast, and he cries more than every other male character combined. he's very gentle, and enjoys taking care of people, which is evident in the way he treats his romantic partners but also in the way he treats walt, specifically in the episode fly. he likes kids, gets along well with them, and goes above and beyond what every other character does in order to protect them. his emotional nature, especially when children and them being in danger come in to play, is one of the things he is most criticized for by other characters in the show. he's called impulsive and irrational and stupid and rabid, and he's repeatedly punished by the world for how much he cares about things. it seems, for a while, that the world of breaking bad is not only reprimanding him, but reprimanding these traits in and of themselves, saying "Look at what happened to the guy who really cared. Look at all the other male characters. They were all put together and angry and prideful and they cared about no one more than themselves, and they're on top of the world while Jesse is crying in a corner somewhere, because he wasn't a enough of a man." but then, as the story winds further into a close, you see everything play out more clearly. because the characters who are more explicitly masculine than jesse, who keep their emotions together and feed their own egos constantly and comply to the standards of toxic masculinity, all end up dead. gus has to brag in the face of the man who killed his partner, needs the revenge and the gloating and the satisfaction of having ground another man into the dust. mike has to get in the last word against the stupid son of a bitch that fucked it all up. hank has to arrest walt on his own, has to keep his job and his dignity. walt has only ruined his life this much because of his ego, and specifically dies at the hand of his own invention, designed for vengeance against all who wronged him. he offers the gun to jesse and jesse does not take it. he lays it down and instructs walt to do it himself if he wants it that bad. and then he drives away, and he is not stoic or cool or anything like his many foils, he is loud and emotional and he screams and cries and smiles. and at the end of the day, despite the world punishing his open emotion and his love and his gentleness, he is alive, and every other character who disregarded and talked down to him is not.

[affectionatecorpse]

Neon J is just such a valuable character to me, honestly. It goes beyond "haha funny military robot man" but when you actually realise what Malaysia (where the game was made and set) is like then it's just like WOW, this character is so so important.

Malaysia isn't really a fan of people who fit outside a box, like the SAGA community. So in knowing that, having a Malaysian man be skinny with a snatched waist, wear a soft red turtleneck, be a single dad to 5 sons who dance in a way traditionally assigned to women, have a beautiful autotuned voice, and being so openly emotional and caring towards his people, while also not falling back on stereotypes by making him all overly dramatically sensitive and campy and addressing how he's incredibly tough, strong and brave, with a military background, and have him survive a bad injury that left him half machine, yet he's still as lively and stubborn as ever??? He's so cool???

Props to NSR for having a male character be kind hearted and unafraid of toxic masculinity and also have very grabbable hips, which I have only good intentions for (lie).

[temis-de-leon]

Day 15 - Kiss while being carried

Characters: Asmodeus x male!MC

25 kisses challenge Masterlist

Main Masterlist

CW: drunk Asmo, MC implied to be taller, pure fluff, established relationship

A/N: happy birthday, Asmo! You may be my least favourite, but I know a bad bitch when I see one <3 (also happy birthday to twst Silver)

.

When MC opened his eyes all those months ago and found himself in the presence of the Demon Prince, he’d honestly thought he’d died. He’d thought his religious neighbour was right all along and his soul belonged to Hell, that he would receive an eternity of punishment for his heinous sins.

Loving men, that is.

And he didn’t even know how the wretched woman was aware of his sexuality given that she viciously avoided talking to him. Had it been that obvious? MC had always believed his appearance was traditionally masculine enough, almost painfully bland, like an average 9-5 office worker. Also, he had never brought a boyfriend home before. Was the closet he came from wide open and he just didn’t know?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter anymore.

MC never would’ve thought that being in literal hell not only wasn’t actually that bad, but he also enjoyed it quite a lot. He made friends, learnt magic and, in a turn of events that shook his core, fell in love. With Asmodeus, to say the least.

At the beginning he felt uncomfortable around the demon, not used to such a demanding personality. It was something artificial and impersonal that didn’t tug his heartstrings until it slowly evolved into an honest friendship. He discovered the good and the bad, the narcissistic tendencies and the sweet generosity, the begging and the devotion. They’d go shopping or partying and in their laziest days they’d stay home and gossip about everything and anything while doing each other’s skincare routines.

Romance appeared at a steady rhythm and none of them needed to confess to be with each other. Their relationship just happened, no questions asked. One day, MC had enough courage to lean over and kiss the demon and he hadn’t stop doing it ever since.

So, when he found himself carrying his boyfriend bridal style, because how else would he do it, and staring into his drunken state with a loving gaze, MC hadn’t really been surprised. He could only enjoy the warmth Asmo’s body radiated and the way his long nails scratched the skin of MC’s nape, strands of hair twisted between his fingers and face and neck completely stained with lipstick.

Asmo was giggling, whispering sweet nothings in his ear and swinging his legs like a child on a swing, his heels clicking against each other with every step MC took.

“So you enjoyed the party?” murmured MC, feeling more satisfied than every.

He tilted his head to the side, offering more skin for Asmo to kiss and cover in hot pink, but his movements were growing slower by the second and MC feared he’d fallen asleep. To his disappointment, however, he leaned back and stared at him, eyes glossy from the alcohol. MC stopped walking.

“Of course I did! You were there, hon’!” he laughed, curling even closer against him and trying to kiss his lips, unfortunately missing “You make everything so much better…”

His words immediately made him fluster and then it was his turn to hide his face and bury his nose in Asmo’s soft hair.

“I’m serious!”

Asmo cradled his jaw, slowly making him raise his head. Although deeply inebriated, he looked determined and sincere and MC’s heart skipped a beat at the sight, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep with him and wake up to his features every morning.

“I’ve had a lot of birthdays, MC, but none of them made me happier than the ones I’ve shared with you… Please, let’s celebrate the rest of them together! Forever! Me and you, we don’t need anyone else!”

MC laughed, not sure at what. He knew he looked completely dumbstruck, smitten and lost in thought. He wanted to give the rest of eternity to Asmodeus, but his mortality would probably upset the demon, especially in his current state.

“I’ll be here for the rest of my life and beyond”

He wanted it to be true and, judging by his boyfriend’s delighted smile and teary eyes, so did Asmo.

Before he knew it they were kissing again, teeth clashing and hands grasping everywhere they could reach with desperation. MC slowly stopped a few seconds later, right after tasting the sweetness of the beverage in Asmo’s tongue while he sneaked his hands under MC’s shirt. Laughing at his pouting expression, he placed a tender kiss on the demon’s forehead.

They could pick it up in the morning. For now, cuddles would be more than enough.

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Taglist: @ourfinalisation  @owlisbuffering  @chizukimp4  @ravenredwine @darkflowerav  @beatlebeesstuff   @mehkers

[ingravinoveritas]

Following up on this excellent post from @nightgoodomens, it really is astonishing to see so many people in the GO fandom misunderstanding the characters/personalities of Aziraphale and Crowley. While I by no means am against people having head canons or differing interpretations, it has become frustrating to see people pushing their ideas about Aziraphale and Crowley onto others and declaring them to be official canon, leaving no room for any kind of discussion.

One of the things spoken about in the above linked post is the denigrating of Crowley, which seems to be a near constant in the fandom at this point, particularly in relation to the "apology dance" scene. (Which, to be fair, is chock full of soft!Dom Aziraphale vibes--thank you, Michael Sheen.) What seems to keep getting missed is that the entire apology dance routine is something that Aziraphale and Crowley do to each other. There is just as much of a possibility that Crowley sat there with a similarly smug look on his face and let out a guttural, snakey "Very nice" when Aziraphale did the dance in the years he listed off, because they play this game together.

Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship is one of equals, and I think this is also something people seem to not understand well. It seems as though a lot of fans who project themselves onto Crowley want to be taken care of, and so they want to believe the same of Crowley, and that the reason he wants to be taken care of is because he is broken. But someone doesn't have to be broken to want someone to take care of them. Sometimes the people who are a shambles on the outside can be dominant, just as sometimes the most buttoned up, put together people can also be submissive. And sometimes the people who look in control on the outside can feel not at all that way on the inside.

But this nuanced thinking seems to increasingly be difficult for many GO fans, particularly those who spend a great deal of time on social media, a place where people are either blindly praised or denigrated and torn down, and where such behavior greatly reinforces that binary, black-and-white mindset. We so badly want the world to be clear-cut--good vs. evil, heroes vs. bad guys--but very often that just isn't how things work. And it is exactly what Terry and Neil were trying to speak against in the GO book (and subsequently, the TV show).

The other thing that I think influences a lot of fans' perceptions about Aziraphale and Crowley is their chosen corporations (i.e., Crowley being thin and Aziraphale being plump). There is an automatic assumption that thin somehow equals more vulnerable, and for all of the emphasis that is placed on Aziraphale and Crowley being genderfluid/nonbinary/not subscribing to traditional gender roles, it's Crowley who seems to be viewed as more androgynous/femme, and is therefore looked at as inherently vulnerable. Meanwhile Aziraphale is thicker and viewed as more masculine, and therefore he is somehow inherently not vulnerable. Yet if the body types were reversed, it seems highly likely that fans' attitudes toward them would be much different.

(It also saddens me that this seems to mirror the fans' treatment of Michael and David, where Michael serves as a target for the fans' venom and is seen as less desirable/more threatening because he presents more traditionally masculine, while David is not targeted or attacked and is seen as more desirable/less threatening because he presents much more androgynously. Consequently, many fans find it easy not to sympathize with Michael, and when you can readily disregard someone's feelings, it becomes easier to see them as "less." In the case of Aziraphale and Michael, it leaves no room for either one to be vulnerable and is unfair to both of them.)

What I have always taken away from Good Omens--and from Michael and David's portrayal of Aziraphale and Crowley and how deeply they both understand these characters--is that Crowley doesn't need to be a perfect angel for Aziraphale to like him. He just needs to be a little bit of a good person. And Aziraphale doesn't need to be a perfect demon for Crowley to like him--he just needs to be enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. Neither one has to fully subscribe to the other's outlook or point of view to listen to what they have to say.

Aziraphale and Crowley meet in the middle. In the place that becomes their side, and where they take care of each other, fight with each other, and love each other. And that's more than most of us could ever ask or hope for...

[jubileemon]

Why Adam Wilkins is the most hated character on Invincible?

He has a very rocky relationship with his daughter and is generally unsupportive of her decisions and aspirations to be a superheroine.

He's a misogynist who holds outdated views on gender roles and chastises his daughter for not having traditionally feminine aspirations as a way to cover his insecurities and fragile masculinity. He states that the only reason he ever let Eve become a superhero was because he assumed her then boyfriend, Rex was going to "protect her", even though Eve is extremely powerful herself.

While it's shown that he does care about Eve and most of his disdain for his daughter's career choices come from a place of worry about her welbeing and the welbeing of those around her, that is simply too weak of an excuse to justify his actions, as he damaged his relationship with his daughter because of his own choices, to the point Eve started to actively dislike him. Even though he sometimes brings up good points, such as calling out Eve for using her powers in an inconsequential manner, the way he goes off about them doesn't help and only further cements him as a bad father.

While it's shown he had a good relationship with Eve when she was a kid, ever since the day he learned she had a special ability to identify atoms and molecules, Adam began forming a disdain for his daughter and started acting rude and abrasive towards her.

He was also rude to her babysitter after he started praising his daughter's advanced intelligence. He initially refuses to send her to a school for gifted children, calling her a freak. When Eve didn’t show up to her birthday, he ate a part of the cake and when called out by her, he furiously yelled at his daughter.

When she runs to her room he rudely yells at her that that he and his wife are the only family she has.

While it's implied that he does genuinely love his wife (especially in the flashbacks seen in the Invincible: Atom Eve special), it's rarely ever shown onscreen, and it's stated that they frequently fight a lot. It's also implied that he might even be psychologically abusive towards her as well, to the point she's completely submissive to him and enables his behavior.

Season 1

After finding out that Eve had broken up with Rex after she found out he was cheating on her with Dupli-Kate, Adam lashes out at his daughter, telling her to forgive him, saying that "everyone makes mistakes".

When Eve tells him that she's considering quitting the superhero career, Adam rudely tells her that it was "about time".

When Eve decides to leave her family home in order to become a full-time superhero away from them, Adam doesn't respect her choices and further insists that she quits her dreams in order to live a "normal life". He even told Eve to her face that the worst day of his life was when she got superpowers, something that really hurt Eve emotionally.

Season 2

While he does take a job at Burger-Mart in order to provide for his family after being fired from his previous job at the furniture store, Adam is shown to have been very reluctant to do so and puts the blame on the superheroes for having destroyed their corporate office, essentially blaming his daughter for getting fired.

He stubbornly refuses to get his daughter's help for income, purely out of a place of insecurity, and still persists on lashing out on Eve, despite her being very understanding towards him.

After Eve uses her powers to turn an apple into gold and gives them to sell it, Adam angrily refuses to do so and, later on, even throws the apple in the trash.

During their argument in Eve's second visit to their house, he blames her for an accident in Chicago, where Eve had used her powers to build on an abandoned lot, not knowing it was actually unstable. While Adam tries to rightfully talk some sense into Eve to not use her powers irresponsibly, he's still overly harsh to her, telling her that her powers don't make her a hero, they make her dangerous.

Overall, Adam is generally an unpleasant and rude person who is unreasonable to his daughter for no good reason, and is by far one of the most hated characters in the series.

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

The longer I sit with it, the more I find Ed considering Izzy family actually really fitting and poignant. As a queer person, I feel like probably most of us have family like this? Izzy, in season one, violently rejects and sabotages Ed's queer relationship, and Ed's beginning to embrace a not traditionally masculine gender expression. And there's something in Ed's Kraken turn that still reads like a detransition arc to me. At the very least it's a trying to shove himself back into the closet, playing up the parts of himself that Izzy approves off. And it's stifling in the closet, it's killing him, he can only be happy if he comes back out and gets to be his true self and together with his boyfriend.

And Izzy eventually sees that. He starts out rejecting all parts of Ed he doesn't want to see, that don't fit his own headcanon of what Ed is supposed to be, and for a while, even looking at Ed being utterly miserable, he thinks he's doing him a favour! But then he realises, no, this is wrong, this is hurting Ed so badly, and he opens up to it. He starts letting Ed be himself, he begins to accept Ed's boyfriend, he eventually encourages Ed to embrace his own softness, to start over and live his life the way he wants.

And this is, like, an experience I have made with family members. I think this is an experience a lot of us have made: a family member reacting really negatively to our coming outs, trying to turn us "back" into a more acceptable version of ourselves. Sometimes, we lose this family member, because if they can't change their minds and accept us, we just have to eventually cut them from our lives if we want to be free and happy. But sometimes it doesn't go quite as bad, sometimes the family member changes their mind and grows to accept us, and Izzy grew to accept Ed. And even independently of Izzy's own story of overcoming his repression and getting to be loved and soft and accepted while he sings in drag, this story of "a family member who rejected your queerness comes around and learns to love you as your true self" is a very fitting story to tell within a narrative like OFMD.

Not all family members love you unconditionally at all times. Not all family members accept you out of the box. In my experience, coming out to people who have been in your life a long time, who never really knew you closely, but saw you around and assumed they know everything about you, is so much more complicated and conflicted than coming out to friends. Family isn't always happy. It's often complicated. But it's also complicated because you love them! Even when they don't seem to love the real you, even when they hurt you and you'd die for them to see you and your pain and your needs, you still love them. Because love is messy. Because family hurt us, people hurt each other in families, sometimes someone hurts you and then you hurt them back, sometimes a family is toxic, there's so much baggage in families, they're not inherently a safe space of acceptance. But sometimes they can grow into that. Sometimes the love is enough and we can move on from the hurt and be a better family together. Sometimes we can forgive each other. Sometimes we get to hear "hey, there you are, I see you now, and I want you to live in a way that makes you happy". And it seems so important that Ed gets to hear that from his only remaining family.

[punksocks]

Lilith square Ascendant

Lilith square ascendant is an interesting placement. It’s packed with energy that often seems excessive and uncontrollable. Lilith energy is always tied to the mythology of Adam’s first wife, Lilith. She was an unfit wife because she saw herself as equal to Adam and could not be “tamed” to follow him as her husband. Lilith the figure is filled to the brim with complexity, s*xual energy, and intrigue just like the placement is.

Lilith can be felt powerfully in the angular houses (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th) as these are the houses tied to how you are perceived and received by others (self, childhood/family, spouse/partners, public). Personally I have Lilith in my 10th house squaring my ascendant which is why I wanted to dive into some of my observations with this placement.

Lilith aspecting the ascendant is often observed as an alluring placement. Lilith is impactful, often others will have a strong reaction to you. When you walk into a room you will have people that immediately love or hate you no matter how neutral you attempt to be.

Individuals with Ascendants that are Trine/Sextile to Lilith tend to enjoy and find empowerment from the often sexual attention they receive. While Asc Conjunct/Square/Opposition Lilith individuals tend to feel disgusted or turned off by these strong reactions.

In all honesty, strong Lilith placements are in the individual’s birth chart to encourage them to come into their own without shame or making themselves smaller for others.

Lilith square ascendant is said to be the most alluring and untamable placement because of the strength of the tension of energy of this aspect.

In addition to that, there’s something startling about the energy of strong Lilith placements/aspects, not because of Lilith herself but because of the reactions of others.

People often assume that the version they perceive of you to be all that you are. They also tend to be quite possessive and controlling of you. Either they shame and avoid you because they feel especially overwhelmed by your energy. Or they try to capture you, as if they could be the one to assert total control and dominance over you and to make you up in whatever image they view as “respectably feminine”.

This is obviously a trap, because Lilith’s energy cannot be muted, so when controlling people cannot change your essence they will sometimes react badly. As if they are following dark impulses, something snaps and they simply cannot process you being so uncontrollable.

Personally with my Lilith in 10th house in Leo squaring my ascendant in Scorpio, I find I usually get a certain set of reactions. From feminine energies, I often get femmes that suddenly get very competitive with me. For attention, skill, or otherwise, especially at work. (Check your 11th house to see where competition tends to come up). I usually have an easier time making friends with femmes with Lilith energies who are more aware of and embrace their “alternative” or “dark feminine” sense of expression and social s*xual power/identities.

For masculine energies I often get contempt or infatuation. Contempt in the form of avoidance and belittling. Or infatuation in the form of pushing boundaries with leery behavior. Something about Lilith makes some men really uncouth in a jarring way. It’s like the socially polite part of their brain just shuts down and they devolve in front of you.

Lilith isn’t a bad placement, just to be clear. I don’t believe any placement is bad, I know that every placement has its disadvantages and advantages and your lesson is to use them accordingly. Lilith is just a litmus test. If someone is an envious, possessive, abrasive sort of person, their behavior will be shown to you almost immediately. Especially with very masculine or very “traditionally” feminine energies.

I’m synastry too, Lilith overlays will show you a lot about your partner and their behavior towards you. Lilith shows if people around you are developed or undeveloped the easiest of most placements I believe.

This is definitely a placement to be careful with because you can’t really tell how far into scary behavior other people will go once they’ve made up their minds about you.

Day by day, I’m learning Lilith’s lesson of not letting people control you by gaining means to be independent and have my autonomy supported throughout my relationships always, but I’ve definitely gotten through some scary situations by having to get away from people that want me to submit to them.