#depiction of hate language including slurs

[eveningrelics]

For the record, we love making games and want them to be approachable.

This whole debacle has had us discuss trigger warnings for the future because some people are only sensitive to certain sub-sets of issues, myself included.

On a store page and in fane, however, these warnings could be lengthy.

Would it be good, I wonder, to have the lists on the store page and at launch, as we have thus far, and then each respectively direct you to where you could read more about each trigger type?

For example, a longer warning might be:

Transphobia:

Depiction of violence against a transwoman; scene includes aftermath of physical altercation

"T Slur" appears twice if player interacts with [PC in Chiyo's room]

Online abuse against a transgender individual (Sexual harassment and dehumanizing language)

In-game, I think it should be fairly easy to do a trigger warning directory with breakdowns and possibly examples of each?

It's time consuming, but if it's something that would make people feel more comfortable playing horror games, I am always looking to explore new options.

I don't think doing this would have mattered in the recent abuse, but it does matter to us for making sure players are comfortable moving forward.

I mentioned these things in my itch.io response on Mare's page before comments were closed.

For what it's worth now, the "T slur" was used because people who tear us down really don't give two shits if I'm nonbinary, trans masc, or whatever. Being trans is enough for them to hate me.

Maybe it's regional, generational, or whatever, but it's been applied plenty to trans masc and nonbinary people around me as much as transfemmes because people who hate us don't really see a difference.

As far as trigger warnings in games though, I am always happy to discuss ways to improve on it further. Z and I are both neurodivergent, queer game devs and I am also disabled.

Making stuff accessible is very important to us, so I would genuinely like to have a conversation about what makes approaching dark subject matter feel safe.

However, given the recent targeted hate campaigns, I will Not be engaging with anyone who comes to this in bad faith.

You will be blocked immediately, and I encourage others to do the same rather than engage.

[somewhere-south-of-neutral]

So, I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Community (I like it, but I don't love it), nor have I watched very much of it (some random full episodes and clip compilations they put on YouTube), and of the core cast Britta might be my least favorite specifically because I really dislike the "straw feminist/liberal rebel without a cause" character archetype, but I have to admit that she might be one of the best written and least offensive versions of that archetype because the writers clearly understand why the kind of person she is parodying is annoying.

See, the tropes Britta embodies are almost always used to belittle or minimize real activism and feminism. Characters who fit them almost always either make actual real good points that are implied by the narrative to be foolish, naive, or harmful, or they are making actual strawman arguments but are painted as accurately representing the entire movement thy parody.

Britta, however, is neither of these. What she is instead is a somewhat heightened but generally true to form depiction of a White Feminist™ who has never once examined her own biases or heard the word "intersectionality". When she is the butt of the joke, the point is almost always not the idea of activism, but the fact that she herself is so obviously bad at it.

A great example of this is this classic scene:

The butt of the joke here is not the concept of opposing animal cruelty, but that Britta finds it more offensive than racism.

Her approach to Abed's neurodivergence, and disability in general, is similar. Community has often been lauded for it's autistic representation, and I think it's worth noting that one of the ways that the representation is good is the way other characters, especially Britta, have a tendency to infantilize and patronize Abed and are almost always shown to be in the wrong and/or working under false premises. Again, in cases like these, the butt of the joke isn't disability activism, but the fact that Britta's conception of disability activism doesn't include disabled people.

Her approach to queerness is also like this, with the clearest example being her depiction of the Dean in her imagined season 7 in the finale. Her decision to make him a trans woman and the speech about "not [being] a joke anymore" the clarification that this is a "real thing" and the claim of "representing the trans community" is both a specific betrayal of every aspect of the Dean's complex relationship with gender, sexuality, and the highlighting of such (he has repeatedly refused to explicitly label his gender and sexuality because he doesn't like to be put in a box and there is at least one episode entirely about him not wanting to be the token sanitized queer) and a general demonstration of her inability to respect or admit the reality and validity of any queer identity other than binary trans person, gay person, and maybe bisexual. And, again, the implication of the scene is not "trans funny" or "nonconforming genders funny" but "lets all point and laugh at the idiot who is so small minded and dedicated to the idea of using the 'right' language while just remaking the gender binary that despite claiming to be an ally her attempt to demonstrate her allyship only leads to her explicitly misgendering and fundamentally demonstrating a disrespect for someone she has known for years because she refuses to acknowledge the infinite complexity of human gender and sexuality".

And the thing about Britta is that, unlike most straw feminist characters, there are actual people like her, and many of them are on tumblr right now sending anon hate to gay people for using what they refer to as "the q-slur".

And yes, that's right, I did just write a multi-paragraph character analysis for a character I don't really care about from a show I don't really watch purely as a preamble to probably the coldest take anyone has ever had on this website.

[nekogobrrr]

Hello everybody!! Big massive announcement and achievement, me and my best friend made a book together which has taken literal years to create - it just got out on the kindle app! I am the illustrator 🙂 We’ve worked really hard and even just a sample read would help so much and we’d love feedback 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Loud, brash, headstrong, and entering her third year of high school, Dakota McGregor has a bad reputation—but it's not her fault. Well, not entirely.

She and her friends haven't exactly acted like the best role models, and she doesn't mind introducing her knuckles to whoever causes any of them trouble. Though Dakota has grown up in Hollygate, Varona, for years, people give her a shoulder colder than the subarctic climate Varonans call home. And it all has to do with that elemental symbol she so gladly wears every day—an emblem that, in the present-day 2113 world, tends to evoke either hate or fear.

That same emblem will soon draw more than just local negative attention. While elemental wielding and magic arts sink further into a rapid decline in favor of technology's increasing influence, a vengeful cult of unknown entities is scouring the planet in secrecy. Aware of ancient knowledge that society aims to abandon, they seek forgotten artifacts of mystic power that most of the public can't even hope to use. When the malicious group appears in the Far North to take their search through Varona, silent watchers from beyond decide it's time to recruit a team of elemental wielders for a special case.

With graduation less than two years away, Dakota just wants to have fun with her quirky crew and beat down the paralyzing weight of a past accident with optimism for the present and future. But while they each have their own inner turmoil marring them, the troubled teens may find themselves carrying targets on their backs and burdens of responsibility as they build upon their powers and skills to ward off the constant threat of bloodthirsty danger—both new and painfully familiar. Past, present, and future are barreling toward them all at once, whether they're ready or not. Just how far are they willing to go—and how far can Dakota actually go—for a turbulent world that doesn't want their kind around?

Content Guidance and Warnings:

This novel contains, explores, and references numerous sensitive themes and mature subjects, including: frequent fantasy violence; gun violence; strong language; graphic depictions of blood and gore; death; crude, mature, and morbid humor not suitable for younger audiences; drug and alcohol use; discrimination, hate speech, and fictional slurs; mental illness; self-harm; suicide; abuse, torture, and sadism; and unnerving imagery. Because of the potentially offensive, disturbing, or triggering content, reader discretion is heavily advised. Please read with care, and always do your best to stay safe and look after yourselves and those around you.

Dakota: Elemental Rebirth https://amzn.eu/d/a8CYOWc

[txemrn]

Ricochet

Part IV: "... This Isn't What I Wanted (or Is It Everything?)"

Need to Catch up?

A New Boss (a prequel of sorts)

Part I: “Like Moths to the Flame”

Part II: “So Far Away, but Still So Near”

Part IIIa: “And I Know It Gets Dark…”

Part IIIb: "...But I Know the Way."

Pairings: Ethan Ramsey x F!OC (Tatum Erikson); Tobias Carrick x F!OC (Tatum)

Series Music Inspo: Ricochet by Starset (more of an acoustic fan? Check it here.)

Chapter Music Inspo: "Shapeshifting" by Taylor Acorn

Series Summary: Almost two decades ago, he gave love a chance–and she betrayed him. Now after all of this time, Dr. Ethan Ramsey and Dr. Tatum Erikson realize that their past feelings might not exactly be ancient history–especially now that they are forced to work together.

Chapter Summary: Tatum has called for assistance from the main OR, but will they be any help when several emergencies emerge at the same time? Tatum takes courage and finds her voice when she remembers an awful experience; she meets a new, young surgical resident

Warning: 🔞mature audiences only 🔞 TW: dub-con/non-con 🍋; strong depiction of a medical procedure; strong depiction of a medical emergency involving newborn infant and mother; language (including a slur against woman); angst; discussion of infidelity

Word Count: 4300 (+/-)

A/N: Characters and some plot belong to Pixelberry! Not beta'd, so please excuse my errors. Fair warning: this is not my strongest chapter (I mean, it took my FOREVER to actually finish it and post), but I hope you enjoy the journey regardless.

A/N 2: It really has been forever and day, so here's a recap: *clear throat* Previously in Ricochet... Unable to sleep after his encounter with Casey at Raf and Sienna's wedding, Ethan's heads in to the hospital despite it being his day off; after a challenging talk with Tobias about unspoken intentions with Tatum, the chief heads over to the L&D ORs, where he finds a terrified Tatum in the midst of a rare, very lethal surgery, and her hesitation doesn't go unnoticed by the staff in the observation deck as they ridicule the new chief of OB, Tobias being the ringleader of the hate; Ethan sternly bans them from witnessing the once-in-a-lifetime surgery before turning to encourage Tatum in the most Ethan-way possible: with just a look...

~🖤~

Remaining in her sterile surgical gear, Tatum carefully takes a seat on a metal stool, saving her back for the arduous surgery staring at her on the operating table. She anxiously chews on her lip, her eyes darting across her patient's open abdomen before fixating on her fresh set of steel tools. 

The procedure she knows like the back of her hand: clamp, cut, control bleeding. But, with the placenta growing outside of the uterus and into other organs, into the delicate vasculature of the pelvis, it's like going into this surgery blindfolded.

The uterus has to come out–and the patient is well aware of this and prepared. But, this isn't like any other hysterectomy. Will it cost the patient her ovaries? Her bowels and bladder? Her life?

Tatum urgently stands back up, staring at the clock on the wall.  It had been over twenty minutes, and her STAT page was yet to be answered by surgery. Too slow for L&D standards; way too slow for her own standards. And at this rate, the patient’s spinal anesthesia is going to dissipate before they even start. 

Damnit… think, Tatum, think…

She could always page Ramsey.

No.

Tatum refuses to resort to that. Well, not that calling on him for assistance would be the worst thing in the world.  

She had a brief moment of weakness–more like a moment of uncertainty, actually–when she discovered her patient’s unknown lethal condition, and Ethan clearly recognized the fear etched on her face from the gallery; truth be told, the accreta scared him, too.

However, Tatum is a highly skilled physician; her reputation for excellence precedes her. If she needs help, she will ask for it–and she has. 

She's embarrassed that she even needed Ethan's reassurance earlier, even if it was just for that moment, that simple nod of 'I believe in you.'  Sure, it was supportive, and it gave her that extra push she needed to power forward. 

But that look, that damn crystal gaze…

Damnit, why did she have to freeze? It was only for an instant, a very brief second.  Tatum Erikson doesn't need a vote of confidence. Not from anyone, not even from the famous Dr. Ethan Ramsey. She is independently strong, independently capable.

But now, Tatum feels as if she's accidentally exposed a secret side to herself, like her own Achilles' heel; it's quite possible now he knows he still has an effect on her.

Worse, now she knows he still has an effect on her.

She turns to Wanda the charge nurse, who shrugs her shoulders to the physician's unspoken question. 

Tatum takes a deep cleansing breath, trying her best to stay calm.  "Can someone please tell me where the hell is my backup ?"

"Right here, Doctor…"

Hearing the monotoned boredom of an unfamiliar male voice, Tatum spins around to find two gentlemen moseying into her operating room, drying off their hands with blue sterile towels. The tension raking her nerves is instantly relieved, seeing her help arrive.

The older of the men continues. "I'm Dr. Aaron Tanaka, chief of surgery," he nods his head towards the taller gentleman. "And this is one of my fourth-years–"

"Sup?" The young surgical resident smoothly winks at Tatum, popping gum under his mask.

Oh great, a kindergartner… Tatum rolls her eyes as the healthcare team assists the men into their protective gowns. As the physicians roll their gloves over the cuffs of their sleeves, Tatum escorts them over to her patient, catching them up to speed on what has happened so far. Together, Dr. Tanaka and Dr. Erikson develop several plans of how to overcome the patient's lethal risk of hemorrhaging.

"Whoa…" the younger surgeon exclaims, "I have never seen anything like that–"

Tatum clears her throat, glaring at the amateur physician.

"Should I start charging admission?" The patient jokes on the other side of the blue drape, causing the room to snicker loudly. 

Tatum leans toward the young doctor, her tone low and syrupy. And quite sarcastic. “Try not to say everything that pops into that feeble little brain of yours–”  He pops his chewing gum, winking with a finger gun.  Fucking residents…

As the room quiets down, the patient softly whistles to get her surgeon's attention. "Dr. Erikson?" Tatum tucks in her hands, carefully wiggling her body closer to the head of the table to hear the patient clearer. 

"Yes ma'am? You ready?"

The patient lowers her voice. "He's not, eh, doing the surgery, is he?" referring to the surgical resident who was shocked by the scene.

The blonde guffaws. "No, ma'am," she glances back to the young doctor who is now talking cooly with her staff, the nurses dow-eyed and eagerly laughing at everything he says. But suddenly, he fixes his flirty, soft copper eyes on Tatum. His intense gaze fools her into inadvertently staring too long as she begins to take note of his tall, trim physique. He begins to smolder, causing her to turn her attention back to her patient. "H–He's here for… my entertainment."  

“Is he hot? He sounds hot.”  Tatum gives a dramatic wink while her patient shoots a knowing look in return, clicking her tongue and giggling.

“Erikson?” The anesthesthetist breaks her from her reverie, confirming the case status. “We’re ready.”

"Perfect.” Tatum takes her place on a metal step stool, matching her height with her assists. She’s above average height for a woman at five-foot-nine-inches, but still, the men tower over her. She looks around the room with a commanding stance. “Are we set then?" 

"Ready when you are, Doc," Dr. Tanaka affirms, others nodding in agreement.

Tatum cracks her neck, taking a big deep breath. "Okay, then," she exhales, surveying her staff, "now who's ready to have a birthday party?" 

After a few shared chuckles, the patient was safely intubated and given the proper amount of anesthesia. Seeing that she was safely asleep under the appropriate gasses, Dr. Erikson quickly proceeds with her cesarean surgery, and in record time, she delivers a beautiful six-pound, thirteen-ounce baby girl. 

The OB takes the tiny infant in her arms, making cooing noises to welcome the tiny one into the world as she suctions out the mouth and nose with a green bulb syringe.  

But as the birthday cheers begin to quiet down around the room, the situation abruptly becomes dire: the baby is limp, her skin becoming dusky gray at the cut of her cord. Tatum continues to stimulate the baby to breathe with no avail.

"C'mon, baby girl," Tatum's words become gruffly matter-of-fact. She wrestles with her legs, flicking her feet  vigorously with her fingers, but her tiny frame lays flaccid in the physician's hands like a limp fish.

Lifeless.

No cry.

"Nurse?" Tatum urgently calls out, quickly handing off the stunned baby to the waiting NICU staff. "Keep me updated–" she orders as the team hooks the baby up to specialized  monitors, performing the necessary interventions to resuscitate.

Tatum briefly closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before she focuses on the surgery. Opening her eyes, she nods assuredly to Tanaka before continuing. “Pickups.” The surgical tech hands the obstetrician a pair of tissue forceps and a cauterizing tool to continue with her surgery. "I need an update, ladies," Tatum shouts. Her tone is assertive and controlled, commanding and clear. Inwardly she is panicked, but she remains calm, a testament to her leadership skills and her quick thinking.

"We're just past a minute of life. Pulse is 52. Starting compressions… draw up epi… let's get an umbilical line…"

Fuck. Tatum's nerves tangle as she listens to the baby's team of professionals administer medications and physical maneuvers to make her spontaneously breathe on her own. Still, the OB continues steadily and carefully with her surgery, glancing over at the baby every few seconds.

C'mon, baby girl. Cmon. Mama needs you–

Suddenly, a trill of alarms begin to blare rapidly, stealing everyone's attention. Before realizing what had happened, warm, crimson fluid spatters across the surgical field, saturating Tatum's arms, gloves and gown; her mask and shield are covered with blood.

"Erikson!" Shouts the anesthetist, "BP 67/23… heart rate now in the 150s…"

"That vessel on the lateral portion of the accreta blew.  She's bleeding out, Erikson–" Tanaka quickly suctions the field of the pooling blood. "She's getting shocky… and fast. How should we proceed?"

Fuck. Tatum grabs a stack of lap pads and tosses them to the young resident. "We need to find the source of this bleeding." He nods and instantly begins soaking up the copious amounts of fluid with the large, thick pieces of gauze as Tatum explores the body cavity with Tanaka.

"BPs dropping," anesthesia hollers.

"Give me a second–"

"Erikson! She doesn't have a second–"

"Bolus her and mass transfuse four units–" Feeling their stares, Tatum looks up at her concerned anesthesia team. "Now!" She growls, her eyebrows furrowing as she returns to the carnage. "Then cross and match four more units… and buy me a goddamn second!"

Taking a deep breath, Tatum flickers her attention to her assistants, both of them giving her an approving nod.

"Damnit! Dr. Erikson! I can't get this intubation on the baby. We need you–"

"Dr. Erikson! Vitals not improving–"

“Dr. Erikson–!”

“Dr. Erikson–!”

Tatum glances around the room, her paralyzing fear slowing down time. All she can hear is the thunder of her own heart racing, the rasp of her breathing echoing in her head. She sees the concerned faces; she hears the whispers of doubt and concern from her colleagues

She’s losing them. The possibility of losing either of them never crossed her mind, but both? A mother and child? This wasn’t the plan; this was never part of the fucking plan.

The sting of tears pricks at Tatum’s reddening eyes. 

What do I do?... what have I done?

------

The torrential downpour hushes to a dull tapping of raindrops as hollow roars of thunder rumble in the distance; but, the storm was just beginning for Tatum as she lays frozen in her bed, her sanctuary that she shared only with the love of her life.

And now, his best friend.

The room suddenly feels so different, so strange and unknown. It seems so ordinary, no longer special. The warmth of home has melted away, leaving a peculiar chill of unfamiliarity. 

There's a handsome smell, a spicy musk that hangs in the air. But, it’s not Ethan.

There’s a pair of distressed jeans tossed carelessly on the carpet, but the body heat that lingers isn’t from him either.

There’s a set of arms possessively wrapped around her naked body. The skin feels … different. The hair? Different. The actual grip and weight on top of her: it’s different.

It’s not Ethan. 

What have I done? Tatum’s eyes pain with the threat of tears, her chest beginning to rise and fall in search of fresh air, in search of clarity. But with each gasp of a new breath, she quietly whimpers in agony for the ache in her heart. 

She had broken the most precious thing she owned.  That she will ever own.

"You awake?" Tobias croons in her ear as his large hand massages the soft, flat planes of her belly. He tenderly works his way down, his fingers intimately petting her sore, swollen lips between her thighs.

She winces, her toes curling as her body grows rigid from his unwanted touch. She consciously holds her breath, hoping he won't notice her terrified nerves.

"What’s wrong, baby girl?" he whispers, pressing his full lips against her neck, biting at the sensitive area. “Are you needing more already?”

Tatum can feel his heavy erection against her hip, his intentions painfully aware. He slowly rocks himself against her body as if to charm her like a serpent, hypnotizing her to give him exactly what he wants. Another rendezvous; another fuck; another sin.

Desperate for a gentle hand, she foolishly lost herself in Tobias’s caress earlier that evening.  She was vulnerable, inebriated, and lonely.  In her altered mind, even for just a small moment, being in his arms made sense–well, being in someone's arms made sense. She needed Ethan. She was broken and hurt, and she despairingly needed her boyfriend’s love and comfort. 

But, Tobias was there. His words, the look on his face, the heat in his touch: it was exactly what she needed to sooth her wounds. For the moment.

And now, he wants to claim her once more.

Shit, can a woman deny a man if she’s already given in once? Does he have a claim over her, a right, an expectation? The conversation played out in her head: 'You said, ‘yes’ earlier, you tease. You whore…'

Oh God,  would he turn on her? Shame her publicly? Worse, would he tell Ethan before she could… that is if she decided to actually tell her boyfriend–no, she had to, right?  But if Tobias told Ethan before her, would he be honest about what happened? Or would she become another victim of slut-shaming? 'She couldn't be faithful; what else is she lying about?' 

It was one time; it was one mistake. Does that unravel three years of trust? Three years of commitment? Three years of love?

Tatum already knew the answer, and the taste of bile grazes the back of her throat.

She needed to stop this from happening again. But how can she while still protecting herself?

This was a grave mistake…

Tobias gently rolls her over, kissing hungrily against her pout. His tongue swipes across her plump lips, his large hand roaming down the outside of her thigh. But then he stops, sensing her awkwardness. “You okay?” His voice is haunting, dark, his gray eyes piercing her vacant stare.

No. “Uh-huh,” she lies with a nod. The corners of her mouth begin to curl as his hand grips behind her knee, hitching her leg around his waist.  Goosebumps ignite across her skin in betrayal as he pushes himself against her throbbing clit.

Stop, her brain screams.

“Relax, Tate,” he growls before reclaiming her lips, nipping and bruising them. "Let me make you feel good."

Tell him to stop.

“Is this okay?”

No. She reluctantly shakes her head 'yes' in agreement.

He aligns his girth with her entrance, fisting the sheets next to her head as he hovers above her docile form.

Say something! Do anything! she screams to herself, but she is paralyzed by fear. It's more than just the fear of the consequences of what's happening. Tatum is terrified of herself.

Then again, maybe she believes she deserves this. It wasn't going to be pleasurable for her, rather an act of attrition. Maybe that's why her body allowed his advances. Maybe she needed to feel the discomfort as a form of punishment for what she had done against Ethan. Maybe this was a last ditch effort to settle the score, to make things even.

Feeling Tobias's weight begin to push into her, she turns her head to her phone laying on the bedside table, praying for Ethan to call her, text her, anything to interrupt this.

But nothing comes through.

And suddenly, she sobs out a painful moan.

------

“Dr. Erikson—!”  

Say something… Do anything…

Tatum subtly shakes her head, the horrid memory fleeing her thoughts.  The frantic voices of the NICU team pull her attention to the struggling infant. 

“Please, doc, we need this intubation. We don’t have time to wait for our back-up–”

Tatum watches the mother’s abdomen pool with blood before turning a pleading stare to her colleague. “Tanaka–?”

“I’m on it.” He elbows his wide-eyed resident, “Suction.” 

Say something… Do anything…

Seeing the men take over, Tatum instantly rips off her dirty gown and gloves and positions herself at the head of the baby’s bed.  

“Would you like for us to call our back-up?”  The neonatal practitioner urgently interrupts.

Tatum remains silent, seemingly ignoring her. She slides a metal apparatus into the infant’s mouth before guiding a clear plastic tube inside the throat and past the vocal cords. Attaching an ambu bag to the special tube to assist with the baby’s breathing, she watches the tiny chest rise and fall in coordination with the squeezing of the ventilation. Tatum steals a stethoscope from a nearby nurse’s neck and listens closely to the lungs.

“Breath sounds…” she moves the flat, round bell to the other side of the tiny torso, “equal and bilateral.”  Tatum smirks as on-lookers silently praise her with sighs of relief. “Now,” she continues, “get this kid some epi. Oh! And ma’am?” She turns to the practitioner while handing the stethoscope back to the nurse. “I don’t need back-up.”

Slipping back into her sterile apparel, Tatum rejoins Tanaka and his resident, but quickly notices that he still hasn’t been able to find the source of the bleeding. She looks to anesthesia, “Where are we on our blood?”

“The first unit is pouring into her, but–”

“--she’s bleeding it back out–shit!”  Tatum stares at the flood of viscous crimson.

“How would you like to proceed?” Dr. Tanaka questions. “Maybe order some more blood?” 

Tatum thinks in silence, racking her brain for a solution.

“Should we call someone? Maybe someone who knows?” Anesthesia sardonically suggests, earning him a hateful side-eye.

“Maybe you should just plug the hole up with your finger,” the resident chuckles, his attending suddenly glaring in disapproval.  Tatum glances at him, her eyes squinting into a glower as her eyebrows furrow. 

These idiots–

But then she stops. She slowly cocks her head with curiosity as she suddenly considers his words.

Actually… 

"My apologies, Dr. Erikson,” Tanaka interjects. “Perhaps we should–"

“--plug the hole up,” Tatum interrupts the seasoned surgeon, echoing the resident's poor joke, only this time, there is a certainty in her voice. "I’m going in." She instantly sticks her gloved hand into the open abdominal cavity, gently feeling her way around the thick, warm fluid.  

“Dr. Erikson,” Dr. Tanaka chides, “this… is… highly unusual–”

“Just keep suctioning,” she orders, her hands tenderly brushing against the fragile uterus and the delicate vessels.  

Tanaka scoffs, giving a knowing look to a worried anesthesia provider. The tall, young resident looks to his mentor, unsure of what to do… or if there was anything to do.  He nervously looks back to Dr. Erikson, but suddenly his jaw falls open. 

Her eyes are closed.

"Erikson–?" the anesthesiologist attempts to get her attention.

"Give me a sec," she carefully feels her way through the body.

His voice grows frantic. "Her vitals are–"

"Got it!" She instantly peers up at her staff with relief before turning to her tech. Her hand remains deep inside the patient, her arm twisted at an odd angle. "Get me a 3-O vicryl suture on an SH. Now please." 

Tatum works quickly in silence as she temporarily fixes the weak, broken vessel. It wasn't a long-term answer, but this would buy them time to thoroughly clear the area of the accreta while cauterizing the necessary vessels before they performed the hysterectomy.  

"Okay, so–"  She flashes an innocent gaze to anesthesia, batting her eyelashes. "What were you saying about those vitals, doctor?" She's grateful she's wearing a mask to hide her smirk, but she knows her eyes are giving her away.

"Stabilizing, ma'am, uh. Doctor."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Dr. Tanaka suctions to clear the field–and it stays that way.

"How did you know that would work?" The resident questions, his warm gaze fixating on the blonde OB.

Tatum stops, thoughts racing through her mind as she considers her words. She then subtly shakes her head, returning to the operation. "I didn't… but sometimes even when you don't know what the answer is, you just have to do something. It’s way better than nothing."

------

Impressive. That's the word men use when a lady doctor kicks ass. The anesthesia team along with Dr. Tanaka couldn't stop talking about Tatum's heroic move of plugging up the ruptured vessel with her finger–and doing so only by her sense of touch, completely blind. If she were a man, they would've given her a cigar; but to be described as impressive? She knows her battles; she'll take it.

As they transfer the patient to recovery, Tatum takes a moment to herself to bask in the relief of saving a life. Of saving two. She slips back into the sink area to be alone in silence. 

Taking in a deep cleansing breath, she allows her nerves to relax for the first time in several hours. She tightly clenches her watering eyes shut, taking pleasure in the subtle sting of warmth after being in the frigid sterile air.

She grips firmly to the edge of the sink as she wiggles and contorts her body, feeling the sudden release of tension as her joints crack and pop.

She's grateful; she knows the success of the surgery was not by her doing alone. She would never be foolish enough to be that cocky, to truly think that something like this was completely in her control. There's only so much in her power, so much that science and her skills can fix.  But when lives are left to chance, she’s grateful that the gamble fell into her favor.

"Am I interrupting anything?" 

Instantly recognizing the familiar lax vocal timbre, Tatum looks up from the large steel sinks to find the tall, surgical resident, leaning against the doorway outside the operating room.  She smiles appreciatively at him as he takes off his blue mask.

He's young– maybe in his late twenties–and handsome with a natural caramel glow to his skin. The lines of his face are cut sharp, chiseled into perfect angles. He’s slender, but well-toned; his green scrub top pulls snug around the musculature of his biceps. Although his hibiscus-laden scrub cap covers his head, his sun-kissed brunette tresses are pulled back into a tiny ponytail. Most of the hairs, however, have already worked their way out of the elastic, resting on the nape of his neck.

"No," Tatum shakes her head, "not at all."

He steps into the room, casually sliding his hands into his pockets. “Can I just say… that was incredible.”

Tatum stifles a bright smile, feigning nonchalance as she picks at her nails. "I mean–" She glances back up at him, but seeing the glint of excitement reciprocated, she instantly forgets whatever smart-ass comment she was about to make and squeals. “God, that was fucking cool, wasn’t it?”

"The fucking coolest!  One of the most interesting cases I've seen in a while," he sucks in his bottom lip, his dimpled grin plastered wide across his face. "You just…” he snickers under his breath, “wow, I don't see myself forgetting this anytime soon."

Their playfulness quickly vanishes as Tatum catches a hint of something in his tone. Is he flirting? Becoming hyper-aware of his proximity, an err of awkwardness falls between them.  Feeling heat bloom on her cheeks, Tatum quickly attempts to rectify the situation by clearing her throat, rolling back her shoulders to straighten out her back. “By the way, thank you," she starts, "for your help in there with the, uh… with the, um–" Unable to find the right words, she begins holding up her pointer finger, spinning it around in the air. "Um… You know? The whole fingering thing–I mean–"

He chuckles, coyly looking down at the ground before meeting her gaze again, flashing his pearly whites. "Dr. Erikson, are you accusing me of 'fingering' in your OR?"

Tatum's eyes widen. She purses her lips together to stifle her laughter. Oh, so you're a bad kindergartner… "That… that's not what I meant, uh… doctor… um–"

"Bryce," he holds out his hand to take hers. "Bryce Lahela."

Speechless, Tatum mindlessly places her hand in his palm. She clears her throat again as she shakes his hand sternly in a poor attempt of being professional. "Nice to officially meet you--" she states matter-of-factly, "--Bryce. I'm–"

"--going to Donahue's," he interrupts.

 "What?"

He snickers. "You're going to Donahue's for a drink."

"Oh, am I now?"

"You are," he takes a step closer, the front of his Crocs kissing the toes of her tennis shoes. "With me. Those are the rules."

"Rules?"

"Mhmm," he hums as he lifts up her hand. Tatum didn't realize that he was still holding on even after their professional handshake. He points to the small tattoo on her wrist that she normally covers with her watch. "See this right here?"

"My tattoo?" She giggles sardonically to herself, curious as to what line he's about to feed her.

"You're a Virgo," he flashes a smirk, "which means we need to satisfy that impulsive side of yours by grabbing drinks together. In celebration of your badassery today, of course."

"Oh, of course," Tatum jests, pulling her hand away from him. "Too bad I'm not a Virgo," she turns to walk away, but stops herself, glancing back to him. "Also… you suck at astrology," she giggles before walking away from the sink area.

Bryce chuckles under his breath before jogging to catch up with her. "What’s with the Virgo ink then?"

Tatum rolls her eyes, glancing briefly at the collection of connected stars. "Long story–"

"--which… you can tell me… over drinks at Donahue's!" They both fall into laughter as Tatum comes to a stop in the hallway.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Hey, I wasn't lying about the rules. We have to celebrate."

Tatum looks up and down the empty corridor before crossing her arms, considering his proposition. God, is this what she is resorting to these days? Last night, Tobias and tonight, a resident? Who really is this guy anyway? 

Tatum wasn't sure if he was messy or complicated; but he was gorgeous, and he was available. Maybe. And he wasn't Ethan Ramsey. 

"One drink. As colleagues. That's it."

~🖤~

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[originalleftist]

I often comment on the horrific outpouring of virulent, literally Nazi-level anti-Semitic hate that has been normalized, particularly in Left-wing circles that should know better, since October 7th. However, I want to take this moment to acknowledge that this war has also seen a renewed wave of viciously, genocidally Islamophobic hate. This includes Israeli officials characterizing Gazans as, for example, "animals". It includes American Republicans calling for a ban on Palestinian refugees, a renewed and expanded Muslim ban (Trump is campaigning on this), and even the use of nuclear weapons on Gaza. One Florida state legislator went so far as to publicly call for the extermination of every Gazan. I reported and blocked a long-time Facebook friend, who I had previously understood to be a liberal, for posts depicting all Muslim or Arab Americans as a terrorist threat who had to be dealt with, in language that only stopped just short of openly calling for their genocide. I have seen some pro-Israel posters on social media who have basically tried to justify every action by the IDF or the government of Israel, or worse, characterized Palestinians as all being terrorists, deserving whatever happens to them, or using racial slurs for them. Some of this is people (like the Republican fascists) who were always virulently Islamophobic latching onto recent events to push their hate back onto centre stage. Some of it is no doubt a predictable product of anger and rage in response to the atrocities of October 7th, and other acts of violence against Israel or Jews. Such a response is not, to be clear, in any way universal or unique to supporters of Israel, Zionists, Israelis, or Jews. It is a common reaction throughout human history in war time to dehumanize and advocate atrocities against those who share a race, religion, or nation of origin with the enemy (I'm old enough to remember what America was like right after 9/11, I remember the "Leftists" who would now likely whine about "forever wars" cheering on the invasion of Iraq, and I have a distinct memory of, shortly after the attacks, watching a Fox News host, I don't recall their name, call for the nuking of Mecca). To an extent, I can even appreciate the feeling, when one's own people have been brutally attacked. But regardless of the reason, it's still racism. It is still condemning innocent people, including children, because they happen to share a nationality or faith or skin tone with some very evil people. It is collective punishment, it is ALWAYS wrong, and if you see it you should call it out, report and block it.

[sskk-ao3feed]

Only MINE and no one else's

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ew7WJSt by mei_rin {This fanfic happens in an alternative universe where some characters from the anime bsd are idols} Love? Hate? Obsession? Need?...What does Dazai actually feel for Chuuya? He doesn't want to touch him, less kiss him. but why he feels so annoyed when someone is slightly close to him?   This fanfic includes: - Shinsoukoku - The personalitys are changed slighly - Mention of suicide, SH and different types of psychological and physical abuse - Slurs This fanfic is written based on the videos of the "Idol AU" of my channel (@mei-rin.) Words: 2186, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs), Sato Hikaru Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke & Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Soukoku | Double Black (Bungou Stray Dogs), Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Gaslighting, Trauma, Childhood Trauma, Psychological Trauma, Love/Hate, Not Canon Compliant, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Obsession, Please Don't Hate Me, Fucked Up read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ew7WJSt

[fire-emblem-kincord]

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[williamjohnson059]

What exactly is neurodiversity? Using precise language about disability matters in schools

The connection between meaning and language has been well recognized. Our dialect is directly connected to how we treat and view others. Inclusive language is vital to achieving good change, stuck in social justice and human rights.

Several countries today have laws against language that wilfully promotes or incites hatred against an identifiable group. Many school boards, organizations, and municipalities have established wide-ranging language directors.

Though the range of these laws fluctuates, what they have in common is identifying the significance of language. And yet, who selects the correct words? My research has measured this question concerning infirmity in kindergarten to Grade 12 education.

A community’s expertise

The disability community proves preferences for impairment-related language. These favorites are refined over time through various factors, including empirical research, legislative and legal proceedings, grassroots activism, allyship, and advocacy.

In Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms promises the right of persons by protecting those privileges, and definite limits on them, in the supreme law of the land. The Charter guards against discrimination with impaired hate speech.

Globally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), of which Canada is a major participant, targets to protect the dignity and rights of persons with disabilities without bias and on an equal basis with others. Events to the UNCPRD are required to ensure and promote the full enjoyment of human rights with disabilities, containing full equivalence under the law.

Language about any community must reflect their ideals, preferences, and autonomy. The disabled community has been subjected not only to eugenics but also paternalism. Officials across cultures have ignored their inborn knowledge.

Systemic ableism in schools

In the latest study including adults with disabilities imitating their capabilities in kindergarten to Grade 12 learning in the United States, scholar Carlyn O. Mueller found schools remain to break behind in terms of:

· a lack of disability depict in the K-12 curriculum;

· a lack of disability communal in K-12 schools;

· a lack of school teams with disabilities.

Schools must reason differently-abled students into conventional planning, so families don’t have to fight for specific accommodations. These results remain stable today with what I have detected about complete ableism in Canadian schools and existing research in disability studies and inclusive education.

Kindergarten to Grade 12 schooling is often denouncing for students with differently bled learners. Ableist slurs endure, segregationist performs abound while disability depicted in staff, curriculum, and programming remains restricted at best.

A community

It is vital to recall disability is not identical to notions of pity, charity, or lacking. The differently abled community is the prime diversity-equity group worldwide. It’s also one that several of us will join through our generation.

Nor do differently baled people need to be secure through interferences. Rather, disability is part of human knowledge.  

Moving away from critical terms, such as exceptional, is essential. This helps positive depiction of people within the disability community and esteems their human rights.

The human rights view stresses that our society names disability and recognizes it as the value of a person networking with an environment that does not house their alterations.

This absence of accommodation obstructs participation in society. The disparity is due to the inability of society to remove obstacles for interesting persons with disabilities.

Some terminology

The following are some terminology that communities and schools can use to promote inclusivity:

Neurodivergence and neurodiversity: Neurodiversity, devising in the autism community, reveals that all body-minds work in various ways. As renowned by the Critical Disability Studies Collective at the University of Minnesota, the terms neurodivergence and neurodiversity “come from autistic communities, who have greeted folks with other sidelined brain/body-minds to use them, with but not limited to people with learning, epilepsy, brain injury, cognitive, and mental health disabilities.

Ableism spreads the belief that “classic” abilities are superior and normal. Ableism accepts that restricted people need to be stationary, and an ableist attitude describes people as lesser while counting damaging typecasts about disabilities. Ableism regularly leads to discriminatory actions, attitudes, and beliefs, often resulting in exclusionary and segregationist measures.

The medical model of disability says people are restricted by their differences or Impairments. Under the medicinal model, injury is associated with needing a fix and being broken. The individual is considered minor even when the difference or impairment does not cause illness. The medical model lens may be considered a prelude to ableism and can lead to stigma.

The social model of disability: Shaped by disabled people, the collective model contends humans come in a range of bodyminds shaped and

changed by our environment. Differently, ableism is part of the human experience. The social model claims that nil is wrong with the restricted body-mind but that inaccessible attitudes, systems, and structures of society are the subjects that need fixing. The social model arrays the basis for rightful approaches to inclusion.

Wheelchair rider/user: Those who practice a wheelchair. Allies, scholars, and educators must demand disability-appropriate representation and terminology in all K 12 schools.

Wrapping up

Acadestudio specializes in standard and certified translation using only experienced and professional translators. We provide accurate, high-quality, and affordable translations in over 99+ global languages.

We also deal in transcription, interpretation, localization, voice-over, subtitling, etc.

[lets-talk-appella]

i’m nobody’s but yours

Chapter 15/25 - Beca

Summary: Beca is straight as an arrow. 100%, totally, completely straight. Except for one problem that 100%, totally, completely changes everything: Chloe Beale.

Title borrowed from Calum Scott’s “If Our Love Is Wrong.”

Word Count: 4k

Rating: M (for dark themes, homophobia, masturbation, and eventual smut in later chapters)

TW: This chapter depicts homophobia, hate language, and slurs. Please be prepared for that.

AO3, FFN, and below.

The sound of her phone buzzing incessantly shatters Beca’s concentration. She reluctantly drags her eyes from her laptop screen and reaches for her phone, seeing several texts from Jesse.

J: How’s it going?

J: Becaw!

J: Are u with Chloe?

J: I bet ur with Chloe

J: Did u guys do it yet?

Beca cringes and rolls her eyes. There’s just something that seems so very wrong about her ex-boyfriend asking about her current girlfriend (even thinking the word still makes butterflies flutter in Beca’s stomach). She types back the only thing she can think to say to that.

B: Gross.

His reply is almost instantaneous.

J: If u think it’s gross u might have to reexamine

J: Again, I mean

Beca sighs, giving her laptop a last regretful look, mourning the loss of her productivity. She pushes her chair away from the desk so she can prop her feet up on it while she types up her reply.

B: I mean you asking about it is gross. It’s weird, dude.

J: It’s been like forever tho

Beca scowls. It most certainly has not been “forever,” and besides, it’s really none of his business in the first place.

B: It’s been 3 weeks.

J: Forever

B: You’re weirdly invested in this. Stop.

J: Just trying to be ur lesbro. If I were gay for Max, I’d expect u to support me

Beca snorts; if Jesse were, in fact, “gay for” his new roommate, she supposes she’d be asking him just as many questions about it.

But not those kinds of questions.

B: Supportive is different than asking if we’ve done it. Are you gay for Max?

J: Don’t think so

B: Great. Bye, Jesse.

J: Bye!

Beca sighs in relief, placing her phone face-down on the desk. She returns to her laptop, lowering her feet from her desk and scooting her chair back in place. Just as she moves her hands to the keyboard, though, a light knock sounds on her closed bedroom door. Unlike Jesse’s intrusion, this one is welcome; she smiles, the familiar sound filling her chest with warmth, and calls, “It’s open!”

A second later, the door opens and she hears light footsteps on the stairs leading up to the room. Beca looks over and catches Chloe’s eye, peeking over the railing.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Beca greets her, grinning happily when Chloe walks toward her with purpose.

Instead of answering, Chloe rests one hand on the back of Beca’s chair, pushes it away from the desk, and, with practiced ease, swings a leg over to settle into Beca’s lap with a contented sigh.

“Oh, hi,” Beca manages, her hands rising automatically to Chloe’s hips to steady her and keep her from falling backward.

“Hi,” Chloe grins down at her. “Have a second?”

Beca nods, already tilting her face up, and Chloe leans forward until their lips meet.

They exchange kisses for several minutes, Beca losing herself in the feel of Chloe’s body warm and solid against hers, and of her lips and tongue moving languidly against her own. No matter how often they kiss, Beca doesn’t think she’ll ever tire of the way it makes her entire body light up and hum in response. She’s starting to think that any minute not spent kissing Chloe is a minute wasted.

Her hands slip up the back of Chloe’s shirt, fingers idly drawing patterns against the warm skin of her back. Her touch grows bolder, sliding up to trace over Chloe’s bra strap teasingly and back down. Chloe hums and presses even closer, her hands letting go of the back of the chair in favor of sliding into Beca’s hair, cradling the back of her head and holding her close.

After several minutes of this, their kissing comes to a natural end. Chloe pulls back somewhat reluctantly and turns around to sit in the chair so that her hips rest between Beca’s legs. Beca leans forward to wrap her arms around Chloe’s waist, drawing their bodies even closer together, and rests her chin on Chloe’s shoulder, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

“Feels nice,” Chloe whispers, leaning into Beca.

Beca hums in contentment, watching Chloe examine her open laptop.

“What’re you working on?” Chloe asks, reading the screen.

“Applying for a couple of jobs,” Beca replies, pressing a kiss to the side of Chloe’s neck and smiling when it makes Chloe squeak a little. “Um, New York, mostly. Chicago, too, and Nashville.”

“All over, huh?”

“I want to keep my options open.”

“Right,” Chloe says faintly, leaning her head into Beca’s temple momentarily. Her fingers trace idly over Beca’s arms around her waist, leaving Beca’s skin twitching in response. Chloe takes a deep breath that Beca can feel, then asks, her tone a little off, “Do you wanna go on a walk or something? Take a break from this?”

“I’d love to,” Beca replies, now pressing a kiss to Chloe’s cheek, “but I’m meeting my dad and Sheila for dinner in, like, half an hour.” She glances at the time on her laptop. “Or, like, in twenty-three minutes.”

“Oh, that’ll be nice,” Chloe replies, her tone a little too bright to be natural. Her hands still against Beca’s arms.

Beca raises an eyebrow and looks at her as best she can from their position.

“Okay, yeah,” Chloe concedes, “I know, but they’re paying for dinner at least.”

“That is a good thing,” Beca agrees, leaning her cheek against Chloe’s shoulder. “I don’t know, my dad has just been on my ass about getting together since we saw them.”

The temperature in the room seems to drop at the reminder of their last encounter. Beca squeezes Chloe gently, trying to bring her back to the present.

“Well,” Chloe says bracingly after a moment. “Good luck, and tell them I say hi.”

“Okay, thanks,” Beca sighs. “I’ll need it.”

Chloe taps on her arms lightly once, asking without speaking to be let up. A little begrudgingly, Beca releases her hold around Chloe’s waist, allowing Chloe to rise from the chair. As soon as she stands, Beca misses her warmth.

“I’ll let you get some work done, then, before you go,” Chloe says, making her way back across the room. “Come find me later?” she asks.

“Definitely,” Beca promises. “Got something planned?”

“Maybe.”

Chloe makes a show of walking away, swaying her hips more than totally necessary, and consequently, Beca finds herself more focused on them than totally necessary. At the top of the stairs, she pauses, turning with a smirk, and Beca knows she’s been caught.

“Um, ah –”

Chloe grins wickedly, but before she can comment, the bedroom door reopens and Amy’s voice drifts up from the foot of the short staircase.

“Oh, hi, what were you two aca-lesbos up to? Better not have been on my bed.”

“No promises,” Chloe quips back, her tone less than innocent.

Beca closes her eyes, leans forward, and groans into her hands.

She’s totally whipped.

Beca parks Chloe’s car (they pretty much have an unspoken agreement that Beca can borrow it whenever she needs) in the lot of Platter o’ Peaches, her father’s favorite family-style restaurant in Barden. She turns off the car but doesn’t get out yet. She feels twitchy, electric, almost, as if some sort of storm is coming in the distance. The last time she’d seen Sheila and her dad echoes unpleasantly in her mind, setting her teeth on edge.

Well. I’m sure if you asked, maybe he’d be willing to be more than friends again. He’s good for you, Beca.

Honey, with your looks, you should be able to get any cute boy you want.

She hasn’t unbuckled her seatbelt yet, and for a moment she debates the merit of just driving away again. She could always claim she forgot about meeting them and try to reschedule. She has a feeling that won’t fly, though, and takes a steadying breath, resigning herself to her fate.  She unbuckles her seat belt with a grumbled swear word and steps out of the car.

She’d parked close to the entrance, so the walk is short. She hauls open the annoyingly heavy door, knowing she’s running almost five minutes late. Sure enough, when she steps inside and greets the expectant-looking host, she hears her name being called.

Glancing to her left, she sees her dad and Sheila already have secured a table toward the center of the restaurant. They both wave at her, her dad looking happy to see her, and Sheila appearing almost disappointed, as if she’d been hoping Beca wouldn’t show.

Beca can already tell this won’t be pleasant.

With a closed-lipped smile at the host, Beca walks over to their table, weaving through other customers. It’s a Wednesday just before dinnertime, so the place isn’t super crowded, but it’s far from empty. While no one sits at the tables directly next to Warren and Sheila, a group of what looks like businessmen sits at an adjacent table, and an elderly couple sits near the windows on the opposite side of the room. The back wall is lined with booths, only two of which hold small groups of people, already digging into their gravy-covered meals.

Beca reaches her dad and Sheila’s table, forcing a smile onto her face that probably looks just as painful as it feels.

“Hi, Beca,” Warren greets. “You’re looking well.”

She hates how formal he is. He never used to talk like that when it was just him and her mom.

“Thanks,” she replies, pulling out her chair.

“Cutting it a little close on time, though,” Sheila notes, taking a sip of her water.

Beca’s teeth clench together as she takes her seat. “Yeah, well, my hair took a while.”

She’d pulled it into a messy bun 30 seconds before leaving the house.

Sheila raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment any further.

“So… how’s it going?” Beca asks, trying for at least some civility. She knows she’s probably being harsher than they deserve, but they had almost ruined her second date with Chloe.

“Really well, thanks,” Sheila answers, then follows with, “No Chloe?”

Beca’s back tenses against her chair. Sheila’s tone is neutral, and if Beca didn’t know better, she’d almost think Sheila’s asking out of polite interest. However, the way Sheila looks at her, as if waiting for her to stumble and give something away, is unnerving. Warren merely peruses the menu in front of him, seemingly oblivious.

“Oh, no, no Chloe,” Beca tries to laugh it off, moving her chair back closer to the table. “Why do you ask?”

“You two seem to spend a lot of time together,” Sheila replies with a shrug that’s probably meant to be casual. “I think you’re with her more than with just about anyone else, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well,” Beca stalls, hiding her nerves by unfolding her napkin and arranging it in her lap. “Just, we were co-captains. So, Dad, what’s good here?” She knows it’s a blatant deflection, but it’s the only thing she can think to do.

Warren looks up, blinking, as if surprised to be addressed directly. “Oh, you know,” he says mildly, though Beca most certainly does not know. “The burgers are always my go-to.”

“Awes, well, I’ll look,” Beca replies, hiding her faint blush at the use of Chloe’s word behind the menu as she starts to search for a decent lunch.

Thankfully, silence falls as all three of them examine the menus. Beca’s almost positive her dad and Sheila don’t really need the menu; they probably eat here often enough, since neither of them can really cook. Beca uses the time to try to calm herself down, reading each menu item through carefully. It’s mildly concerning that the only items that seem to come without some form of gravy are the salads and club sandwiches.

When the waitress comes to take their order, Warren selects a regular hamburger and Sheila orders a salad and soup, with a loud and unnecessary comment about watching her weight. When the waitress turns to her, pen and pad in hand, Beca panics a little and ends up ordering the turkey club sandwich, even though she doesn’t really like turkey.

As soon as the waitress leaves with their orders, Sheila opens her mouth, probably to ask about Beca’s personal dating life or something equally invasive, but Warren cuts her off.

“So, you’re applying for jobs, then?” he asks, leaning forward.

Relieved, Beca takes the opportunity to tell them about the various producer positions she’s uncovered all across the country. He seems genuinely interested, as does Sheila, and that topic of conversation lasts well after their food comes and they start to eat. She’s careful to avoid mentioning Chloe and her own job search.

The lunch is actually going surprisingly well, and Beca feels herself relaxing as their meal continues without incident. She’s already more than halfway done with her club – the bacon on it helps cover the turkey – when two women, slightly older than her and holding hands, enter the restaurant.

They’re very clearly a couple; not only are they holding hands, but they’re looking at each other in a way Beca recognizes from how Chloe looks at her now. Beca immediately tenses, her eyes flicking to Sheila, who appears too enthralled by her limp salad to have noticed the couple’s entrance.

Beca watches closely as the host greets the women with a friendly smile and – no, no, no – leads them toward the table Beca shares with Sheila and Warren. Beca’s shoulders tense and she stares down at her club sandwich, desperate to keep Sheila’s attention down and away from the couple. The host leads them so close to their table that it Beca can feel the air stirring as they pass, but she still doesn’t look up.

Beca wonders why the women aren’t more careful in public. A small, snide part of her thinks they should know better than to act like that around potentially hostile strangers.

It’s not until the host returns to his stand that Beca risks a glance over her shoulder to see where the women ended up. To her alarm, she sees there are only a few tables between them, the women sitting at a booth along the wall directly behind Beca.

If Sheila were to look up, they’d be almost directly in her line of sight.

“Are there usually tomatoes in this salad?” Sheila asks the table at large, poking at a leaf of lettuce with her fork.

“Um –”

“You know, I’m going to ask,” Sheila twists around, looking for their waitress, even though she’s almost done with the salad anyway.

Her eyes scan the restaurant, and Beca can tell the instant she sees the couple. Her eyes lock onto them and her jaw goes slack.

Beca winces, dropping her attention to her plate.

“It’s getting worse,” Sheila says in an undertone, her voice full of disgust.

“What is?” Warren asks.

“That,” Sheila emphasizes, and without looking up, Beca knows she’s either pointing or nodding at the women so Warren can spot them.

Beca’s stomach rolls. She doesn’t think she can finish her sandwich.

“Maybe they’re friends,” Warren sighs, sounding so tired that it makes Beca look up. “Or sisters.”

“Not with the way they’re looking at each other.”

Knowing that she can’t feign deafness any longer, Beca glances over at where the women talk over their menus, smiling at one another with clear affection and happiness.

“Ugh, as if anyone wants to see that,” Sheila spits out. “I have half a mind to ask to switch tables.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Warren admonishes, rolling his eyes.

It doesn’t have any impact on Sheila.

“It’s in public now, everywhere,” she continues. “You know, ever since they passed that ridiculous marriage equality garbage, the whole country has gone downhill.”

“Sheila…”

“What? I’m just stating facts. That law has everyone in a tizzy. It’s rude, you know, forcing themselves on us, like –”

“I’m dating Chloe.”

The words come out before Beca can stop them, totally beyond her control and likely in response to the disgust in Sheila’s voice. As soon as they’re out, she wants to take them back, to rewind, to pretend it hadn’t happened, but she can’t.

Immediately, panic rises in Beca’s throat like bile; she’d never intended to come out like this, with just some throwaway comment that doesn’t even come close to describing the most important relationship in her life.

Warren stares at her, his expression blank and surprised. She can’t tell what he’s feeling, has no idea what he thinks of her. Sheila, cut off mid-sentence, only stares at her, mouth open. It makes her look very foolish.

Beca takes a bite of her sandwich in an attempt to settle her stomach. Her entire body is numb.

“What did you say?” Sheila asks quietly.

Beca can’t answer.

“You’re a dyke?”

The instant Sheila asks, Beca stiffens and grips her sandwich tightly, the word impaling her stomach like a knife.

Beca’s dad puts down his hamburger and turns to Sheila, his expression serious. “Hey, that’s not –”

“That’s what she said, Warren, not me. She said she’s a dyke.”

Beca’s ears are ringing and she struggles to catch her breath. This is all her fault. She’d messed up. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“No, I said I’m dating Chloe,” she manages.

Sheila laughs, a cold scoff of a noise. “Same thing! Either way, it’s not natural,” she insists, then turns to Beca’s dad. “See, Warren, I told you they were too close, I told you it wasn’t right –”

Warren speaks over her, ignoring her scandalized expression. “While this is a, uh, surprise… we would love to get to know Chloe more, Beca,” he says kindly. “Why don’t you invite her over for dinner sometime?”

“Oh, sure, just encourage her!” Sheila throws her hands into the air, shutting down the idea before Beca can respond.

Beca puts down her sandwich, setting it back onto her plate. Her hands have started to shake.

A few people at the tables around them have tuned to stare, while simultaneously pretending they don’t notice anything amiss. Beca can only hope that the lesbian couple sitting behind her haven’t heard Sheila’s carrying voice.

“How long have you two been… how long has this been going on?” Warren asks carefully, compensating for Sheila by keeping the volume of his voice so low that Beca has to lean in to hear it.

“Um. Like three weeks,” Beca replies, not looking at him.

“Three weeks?!” Sheila gasps. “That’s – we saw you! Warren, I told you they’d been holding hands. I saw it!”

Beca knows she can’t lie.

“That was a date,” she whispers. On her plate, her food stares sadly back up at her.

There’s a beat of silence while Sheila and Warren absorb and process what she said. Beca’s eyes flick from the table to the door, mentally calculating how long it would take to for her to cross the distance.

“Beca, you’re confused,” Sheila begins in a sickly-sweet voice. “You’re not – what makes you think – how do you know you’re – like that?”

“How do you know you’re straight?” Beca fires back, meeting her in the eye for the first time in several minutes.

Sheila gapes at her in shock, while beside her, Warren seems to be trying to hide a smile. Beca shifts in her chair.

“You know what, I never liked this Chloe girl,” Sheila says pompously after a second, lifting her water glass to take a leisurely sip. “Suspicious type, and loud. Too friendly, like she wants something.”

“Sheila –”

“No, no, let me finish,” Sheila stops Warren and leans forward, extending a hand across the table to Beca, as if asking her to link their hands. Beca doesn’t touch it.

“Listen, Beca, honey,” she says quietly, adopting what is probably supposed to be a motherly tone. Beca hands curl into fists in her lap. “Did she persuade you? Is the threatening you with something if you don’t go along with her sick game? Has she touched you... inappropriately? We can bring her up on charges for that kind of thing.”

“Sheila!”

“It’s – that’s – no!” Beca argues back desperately, her eyes starting to sting. “I asked her out! I’ve wanted to date her for a long time!”

“I’m sure that’s what she let you believe –”

“No, that’s how I feel! I’m in love with her!”

“She’s brainwashed you into feeling something you don’t! You aren’t in love with her!”

Silence follows Sheila’s shout. Around them, the restaurant stills and heads turn in their direction. Warren shifts, looking awkward and uncomfortable, and reaches for his hamburger as if his wife and daughter aren’t engaged in a heated argument.

Gradually, the other diners around them return to their own business, and the soft hum of conversation around them resumes.

Beca breathes hard, staring at her plate again, trying to calm herself down. Yelling isn’t getting her anywhere. She needs to get out.

Before she can, though, Sheila says, much more softly, “Is that why you broke up with Jesse?”

“Oh my god!” Beca stares at her, incredulous. “Is that all you care about?”

“You broke up with him to be with – with Chloe?” Sheila presses, closing her eyes briefly as if Chloe’s name is a disgusting swear word.

“No, I – well, yeah, but it’s not –” Beca doesn’t even know what she’s saying anymore. She can barely hear her own voice over the pounding in her ears.

“You said you like women now.”

“I –”

Sheila leans forward again, glancing around to see whether she still has an audience. Satisfied that no one seems to be watching them, she says grimly, “You know what, I knew it was wrong to leave you with your mother for so long.”

“What?” Beca gasps, bewildered.

Warren looks up from his burger sharply, his eyes flicking between Sheila and Beca.

“Beca, I need you to be honest with me now,” Sheila continues. “Were you ever molested as a child? Did that turn you away from men?”

Beca’s jaw falls open. She can’t think of a single thing to say.

“Oh my god,” Warren hisses, angry for the first time. “You can’t honestly believe that!”

“She hasn’t answered, Warren.”

He turns to Beca, looking exasperated. With a sick pang, Beca realizes he actually expects her to answer the question.

She’s never despised him more than she does in that moment.

“Of course I wasn’t molested,” she spits out through gritted teeth, her face warming with rage. “That’s just – that’s disgusting.”

Sheila sits back in her chair, annoyed. “No, honey, that’s us trying to get to the root of this problem. I know the marriage equality passing must be confusing, and I’m so sorry about that. You aren’t – you’re not gay, Beca. I think, if you try to get back with Jesse, or just even if you find the right guy –”

Beca rises abruptly from the table, her hands slammed flat against its surface. Her entire body trembles with rage and she knows she’s about a second away from crying in anger, but she refuses to give Sheila the satisfaction.

“You know what?” she spits, taking petty satisfaction in how her father flinches away from her. “I’m done. I’m in love with Chloe, and that’s all it is. What you’re saying is – it’s –” Beca growls in rage, furious her words are failing her now. She takes a breath, then says with as much poise as she can muster, “You have to get used to it, or this is the last time we see each other.”

“Beca…”

Beca doesn’t even glance at her father. She reaches down, snatches her purse off the floor, and digs in it until she finds her wallet. Snapping it open, she fishes out a ten-dollar bill and throws it on the table, paying for her own meal.

Without another look at Warren and Sheila – and with a silent apology to everyone else in the restaurant, and especially to the lesbian couple – she walks away from the table, head held high.

“Beca!” Warren calls again, but she ignores him as completely as he’d ignored her when he’d walked out on her and her mom all those years ago.

She flings open the restaurant door, storms to Chloe’s car, fingers fumbling with the fob to unlock it. She has to try twice, but she eventually gets it, wrenches open the driver’s door, and throws herself in before slamming it.

Resting her forehead against the steering wheel, she draws desperate gulps of air into her lungs, trying to calm down so she can drive. She’s still trembling head to foot, and her throat and eyes burn with unshed tears. Squeezing her eyes closed, she imagines what’s happening inside the restaurant, wondering how long it will take her dad to come after her.

She imagines she has time to kill before that happens.

She yells out wordlessly in frustration; her heart still pounds and she wonders if she’s about to be sick. She knows she shouldn’t drive yet, but she needs to run, to escape from the mess she’d left behind.

Gritting her teeth, she starts Chloe’s car, turns the stereo up as loud as it can go, and, after fumbling with the seat belt until it clicks into place, tears out of the parking lot at top speed. It’s risky, and it’s stupid, and it’s impulsive, but she presses the accelerator down even further, her only thoughts of escape and of the home she has in Chloe’s arms.

[eiirisworkshop]

The Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext

(As Used on Ao3) by Eiiri

Also available as a PDF here. This thing is 13,000 words.  The PDF is recommended.

Intro: What is Metatext?

Metatext is everything we fanfic authors post along with our story that is not the story itself: title, tags, summary, author's notes, even the rating.

It is how we communicate to potential readers what they're signing themselves up for if they choose to read our story, how we let them make informed decisions regarding which fics they want to read, how we get their interest and, frequently, how they find our story in the first place. A lot of metatext acts as a consent mechanism for readers, it's the informed part of informed consent.

Since most of us who write fanfic also read it, we understand how important this is! But, for the most part, no one ever teaches us how to use metatext; we have to pick it up by osmosis. That makes it hard to learn how to use it well, we all suck at it when we first start out, and some of us may go years without learning particular conventions that seem obvious to others in our community. This creates frustration for everybody.

Enter this guide!

This is meant to be a sort of handbook for fic writers, particularly those of us who post on Archive of Our Own, laying out and explaining the established metatext conventions already in use in our community so we (and our readers!) are all on the same page. It will also provide some best-practices tips.

The point is to give all of us the tools to communicate with our audience as clearly and effectively as possible, so the people who want to read a story like ours can find it and recognize it as what they're looking for, those who don't want to read a story like ours can easily tell it's not their cup of tea and avoid it, nobody gets hurt, and everybody has fun—including us!

Now that we know what we're talking about, let's get on with the guide! The following content sections appear in the order one is expected to provide each kind of metatext when posting a fic on Ao3, but first….

Warning!

This is a guide for all authors on Ao3. As such, it mentions subject matter and kinds of fic that you personally might hate or find disgusting, but which are allowed under the Archive's terms of use. There are no graphic descriptions or harsh language in the guide itself, but it does acknowledge the existence of fic you may find distasteful and explains how to approach metatext for such fics.

Some sexual terminology is used in an academic context.

A note from the author:

This guide reflects the conventions of the English-language fanfiction community circa 2021. Conventions may differ in other language communities, and although many of our conventions have been in place for decades (praise be to our Star Trek loving foremothers) fanfiction now exists primarily in the realm of internet fandom where things tend to change rather quickly, so some conventions in this guide may die out while other new conventions, not covered in this guide, arise.

This is not official or in any way produced by the Archive of Our Own (Ao3), and though some actual site rules are mentioned, it is not a rulebook. Primarily, it is a descriptivist take on how the userbase uses metatext to communicate amongst ourselves, provided in the interest of making that communication easier and more transparent for everyone, especially newer users.

Contents

How To Use This Guide Ratings Archive Warnings Fandom Tags Category Relationship Tags Character Tags Additional Tags Titles Summaries Author's Notes Series and Chapters Parting Thoughts

How To Use This Guide

Well, read it.  Or have it read to you.

This isn't a glossary, it's a handbook, and it's structured more like an academic paper or report, but there's lots and lots of examples in it!

Many of these examples are titles of real media and the names of characters from published media, or tags quoted directly from Ao3 complete with punctuation and formatting.

Some examples are more generic and use the names Alex, Max, Sam, Chris, Jamie, and Tori for demonstration purposes. In other generic examples, part of an example tag or phrase may be sectioned off with square brackets to show where in that tag or phrase you would put the appropriate information to complete it.  This will look something like “Top [Character A]” where you would fill in a character's name.

This guide presumes that you know the basics of how to use Ao3, at least from the perspective of reading fic. If you don't, much of this guide may be difficult to understand and will be much less helpful to you, though not entirely useless.

Ratings

Most fanfic hosting sites provide ratings systems that work a lot like the ratings on movies and videogames.

Ao3's system has four ratings:

General

Teen

Mature

Explicit

These seem like they should be pretty self-explanatory, and the site's own official info pop-up (accessible by clicking the question mark next to the section prompt) gives brief, straightforward descriptions for each of them.

Even so, many writers have found ourselves staring at that dropdown list, thinking about what we've written, and wondering what's the right freaking rating for this?  How do I know if it's appropriate for “general audiences” or if it needs to be teen and up? What's the difference between Mature and Explicit?

The best way to figure it out is often to think about your fic in comparison to mainstream media.

General is your average Disney or Dreamworks movie, Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon shows, video games like Mario, Kirby, and Pokemon.

There may be romance, but no sexual content or discussion. Scary things might happen and people might get hurt, but violence is non-graphic and usually mild. Adults may be shown drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco, and some degree of intoxication may be shown (usually played for laughs and not focused on), but hard drug use is generally not shown or discussed.  There is little to no foul language written out and what language there may be is mild, though harsher swears may be implied by narration. There are no explicit F-bombs or slurs.

Teen is more like a Marvel movie, most network television shows (things like The Office, Supernatural, or Grey's Anatomy), video games like Final Fantasy, Five Nights at Freddie's, and The Sims.

There might be some sex and sexual discussion, but nothing explicit is shown—things usually fade to black or are leftimplied. More intense danger, more severe injuries described in greater detail, and a higher level of violence may be present.  Substance use may be discussed and intoxication shown, but main characters are unlikely to be shown doing hard drugs. Some swearing and other harsh language may be present, possibly including an F-bomb or two.  In longer works, that might mean an F-bomb every few chapters.

Mature is, in American terms, an R-rated movie* like Deadpool, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Exorcist, and Schindler's List; certain shows from premium cable networks or streaming services like Game of Thrones, Shameless, Breaking Bad, and Black Sails; videogames like Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, and The Witcher.

Sex may be shown and it might be fairly explicit, but it's not as detailed or graphic or as much the focus of the work as it would be if it were porn. Violence, danger, and bodily harm may be significant and fairly graphic. Most drug use is fair game. Swearing and harsh language may be extensive.

Explicit is, well, extremely explicit. This is full on porn, the hardcore horror movies, and snuff films.

Sex is highly detailed and graphic. Violence and injury is highly detailed and graphic. Drug use and its effects may be highly detailed and graphic. Swearing and harsh language may be extreme, including extensive use of violent slurs.

Please note that both Mature and Explicit fics are intended for adult audiences only, but that does not mean a teenaged writer isn't going to produce fics that should be rated M or E.  Ratings should reflect the content of the fic, not the age of the author.

Strictly speaking, you don't have to choose any of these ratings; Ao3 has a “Not Rated” option, but for purposes of search results and some other functions, Not Rated fics are treated by the site as Explicit, just in case, which means they end up hidden from a significant portion of potential readers. It really is in your best interest as a writer who presumably wants people to see their stories, to select a rating. It helps readers judge if yours is the kind of story they want right now, too.

Rating a fic is a subjective decision, there is some grey area in between each level. If you're not quite sure where your fic falls, best practice is to go with the more restrictive rating.

*(Equivalent to an Australian M15+ or R18+, Canadian 14A, 18A or 18+, UK 15 or 18, German FSK 16 or FSK 18.)

Warnings

Ao3 uses a set of standard site-wide Archive Warnings to indicate that a work contains subject matter that falls into one or more of a few categories that some readers are likely to want to avoid.  Even when posting elsewhere, it's courteous to include warnings of this sort.

These warnings are:

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Major Character Death

Rape/Non-Con

Underage

Just like with the ratings, the site provides an info-pop up that explains what each warning is for. They're really exactly what it says on the tin: detailed descriptions of violence, injury, and gore; the death of a character central to canon or tothe story being told; non-consensual sex i.e. rape; and depictions of underage sex, which the site defines as under the age of 18 for humans—Ao3 doesn't care if your local age of consent or majority is lower than that.

In addition to the four standard warnings above, the warnings section has two other choices:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

These do not mean the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably. “No Archive Warnings Apply” means that absolutely nothing in your fic falls into any of the four standard warning categories. “Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings” means that you the author are opting out of the warning system; your fic could potentially contain things that fall into any and all of the four standard warning categories.

There's nothing wrong with selecting Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings! It may mean that some readers will avoid your fic because they're not sure it's safe for them, and you might need to use more courtesy tags than you otherwise would (we'll talk about courtesy tags later), but that's okay! Opting out of the warning system can be a way to avoid spoilers,* and is also good for when you're just not sure if what you've written deserves one of the Archive warnings. In that case, the best practice is to select either the warning it might deserve or Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, then provide additional information in other tags, the summary, or an initial author's note.

Unless you're opting out of using the warning system, select all the warnings that apply to your fic, if any of them do. So if a sixteen year old main character has consensual sex then gets killed in an accident that you've written out in excruciating detail, that fic gets three out of the four standard warnings: Underage, Major Character Death, and Graphic Depictions Of Violence.

*(Fandom etiquette generally favors thorough tagging and warning over avoiding spoilers. It doesn't ruin the experience of a story to have a general sense of what's going to happen. If it did, we wouldn't all keep reading so many “there was only one bed” fics.)

Fandom Tags

What fandom or fandoms is your fic for?  You definitely know what you wrote it for, but that doesn't mean it's obvious what to tag it as.

Sometimes, it is obvious! You watched a movie that isn't based on anything, isn't part of a series, and doesn't have any spinoffs, tie-ins or anything else based on it. You wrote a fic set entirely within the world of this movie. You put this movie as the fandom for your fic. Or maybe you read a book and wrote a fic for it, and there is a movie based on the book, but the movie is really different and you definitely didn't use anything that's only in the movie. You put the book as the fandom for your fic.

All too often, though, it's not that clear.

What if you wrote a fic for something where there's a movie based on a book, but the movie's really different, and you've used both things that are only in the movie and things that are only in the book?  In that case you either tag your fic as both the movie and the book, or see if the fandom has an “all media types” tag and use that instead of the separate tags.  If the fandom doesn't have an “all media types” tag yet, you can make one! Just type it in.

“All media types” fandom tags are also useful for cases where there are lots of inter-related series, like Star Wars; there are several tellings of the story in different media but they're interchangeable or overlap significantly, like The Witcher; or the fandom has about a zillion different versions so it's very hard, even impossible, to say which ones your fic does and doesn't fit, like Batman. Use your best judgement as to whether you need to include a more specific fandom tag such as “Batman (Movies 1989-1997)” alongside the “all media types” fandom tag, but try to avoid including very many. The point of the “all media types” tag is to let you leave off the specific tags for every version.

In a situation where one piece of media has a spinoff, maybe several spinoffs, and you wrote a fic that includes things from more than one of them, you might want use the central work's “& related fandoms” tag. For example, the “Doctor Who & Related Fandoms” tag gets used for fics that include things from a combination of any era of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

And don't worry, from the reader-side of the site the broadest fandom tags are prioritized. The results page for an “all media types” or “& related fandoms” search includes works tagged with the more specific sub-tags for that fandom, the browse-by-fandom pages show the broadest tag for each fandom included, and putting a fandom into the search bar presumes the broadest tag for that fandom.  A search for “Star Wars - All Media Types” will pull up work that only has a subtag for that fandom, like “The Mandalorian (TV).” You don't have to put every specific fandom subtag for people to find your fic.

If you wrote a fic for something that's an adaptation of an older work—especially an older work that's been adapted a lot, like Sherlock Holmes or The Three Musketeers—it can be hard to know how you should tag it. The best choice is to put the adaptation as the fandom, for instance “Sherlock (TV),” then, if you're also using aspects of the older source work that aren't in the adaptation, also put a broad fandom tag such as “Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms.” Do not tag it as being fic for the source work—in our Sherlock example that would be tagging it “Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle”—unless you are crossing over the source work and the adaptation. Otherwise, the specific fandom subtag for the source work ends up clogged with fic for the adaptation, which really is a different thing.

By the same token, fic for the source work shouldn't be tagged as being for the adaptation, or the adaptation's subtag will get clogged.

The same principle applies to fandoms that have been rebooted. Don't tag fic for the reboot as being for the original, or fic for the original as being for the reboot. Don't tag a fic as being for both unless the reboot and original are actually interacting. Use an “& related fandoms” tag for the original if your fic for the reboot includes some aspects of the original that weren't carried over but you haven't quite written a crossover between the two. Good examples of these situations can be seen with “Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)” vs. “Star Trek: The Original Series,” and “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)” vs. “She-Ra: Princess Of Power (1985).”

Usually, this kind of mistagging as a related fandom happens when someone writes a fic for something that is or has a reboot, spinoff, or adaptation, but they're only familiar with one of the related pieces of media, and they mistakenly presume the fandoms are the same or interchangeable because they just don't know the difference.  It's an honest mistake and it doesn't make you a bad or fake fan to not know, but it can be frustrating for readers who want fic for one thing and find the fandom tag full of fic for something else.

In order to avoid those kinds of issues, best practice is to assume fandoms are not interchangeable no matter how closely related they are, and to default to using a tag pair of the most-specific-possible sub-fandom tag + the broadest possible fandom tag when posting a fic you're not entirely sure about, for instance “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.”

The Marvel megafandom has its own particular tagging hell going on. Really digging into and trying to make sense of that entire situation would require its own guide, but we can go through some general tips.

There is a general “Marvel” fandom tag and tags for both “The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom” and “The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types.” Most of us who write Marvel fic are working with a cherry picked combination of canons from the MCU, various comics runs, both timelines of X-Men movies, and possibly several decades worth of cartoons. That's what these tags are for.

If your cherry picked Marvel fic is more X-Men than Avengers, go for the “X-Men - All Media Types” tag.

If you are primarily working with MCU canon, use the MCU specific tags rather than “all media types” and add specific tags for individual comics runs—like Earth 616 or the Fraction Hawkeye comics—if you know you're lifting particular details from the comics.  If you're just filling in gaps in MCU canon with things that are nebulously “from the comics” don't worry about tagging for that, it's accepted standard practice in the fandom at this point, use a broader tag along with your MCU-specific tag if you want to.

Same general idea for primarily movie-verse X-Men fics. Use the movie-specific tags.

If your fic mostly draws from the comics, use the comics tags. If you're focusing on an individual run, show, or movie series rather than an ensemble or large swath of the megafranchise, tag for that and leave off the broader fandom tags.

Try your best to minimize the number of fandom tags on your Marvel work. Ideally, you can get it down to two or three. Even paring it down as much as you can you might still end up with about five.  If you're in the double digits, take another look to see if all the fandom tags you've included are really necessary, or if some of them are redundant or only there to represent characters who are in the fic but that the fic doesn't focus on. Many readers tend to search Marvel fics by character or pairing tags, it's more important that you're thorough there. For the fandom tags it's more important that you're clear.

If you write real person fiction, you need to tag it as an RPF fandom. Fic about actors who are in a show together does not belong on the fandom tag for that show. There are separate RPF fandom tags for most shows and film franchises. Much like the adaptation/source and reboot/original situations discussed earlier, a fic should really only be tagged with both a franchise's RPF tag and its main tag if something happens like the actors—or director or writer!—falling into the fictional world or meeting their characters.

Of course, not all RPF is about actors. Most sports have RPF tags, there are RPF tags for politics from around the world and for various historical settings, the fandom tags for bands are generally presumed to be RPF tags, and there is a general Real Person Fiction tag.

In order to simplify things for readers, it's best practice to use the general Real Person Fiction tag in addition to your fandom-specific tag. You may even want to put “RPF” as a courtesy tag in the Additional Tags section, too. This is because Ao3 isn't currently set up to recognize RPF as the special flavor of fic that it is in the same way that the site recognizes crossovers as special, so it can be very difficult to either seek out or avoid RPF since it's scattered across hundreds of different fandom tags.

On the subject of crossovers—they can make fandom tagging even more daunting. Even for a crossover with lots of fandoms involved, though, you just have to follow the same guidelines as to tag a single-fandom work for each fandom in the crossover. The tricky part is figuring out if what you wrote is really a crossover, or just an AU informed by another fandom—we'll talk about that later.

There are some cases where it's really hard to figure out what fandom something belongs to, like if you wrote a fanfic of someone else's fanfic, theirs is an AU and yours is about their OC, not any of the characters from canon. What do you do?! Well, you do not tag it as being a fanfic for the same thing theirs was. Put the title of their fic (or name of their series) as the fandom for your fic, attributed to their Ao3 handle just like any other fandom is attributed to its author. Explain the situation in either the summary or the initial author's note. Also, ask the author's permission before posting something like this.

What if you wrote a story about your totally original D&D character? The fandom is still D&D, you want the “Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)” tag.

What if there's not a fandom tag on the Archive yet for what you wrote? Not a problem! You can type in a new one if you're the first person to post something for a particular fandom. Do make sure, though, that the fandom isn't just listed by a different name than you expect. Many works that aren't originally in English—including anime—are listed by their original language title or a direct translation first, and sometimes a franchise or series's official name might not be what you personally call it, for instance many people think of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series as The Golden Compass series, so it's best to double check.

What if you wrote an entirely new original story that's not based on anything?  Excellent job, that takes a lot of work, but that probably doesn't belong on Ao3!  The Archive is primarily meant as a repository for fannish content, but in a few particular circumstances things we'd consider Original Work may be appropriate content for the Archive as well. Double check the Archive's Terms of Service FAQ and gauge if what you wrote falls under the scope of what is allowed. If what you wrote really doesn't fit here, post it somewhere else or try to get it published if you feel like giving it a shot.

Category

What Ao3 means by category is “does this fic focus on sex or romance, and if so what combination of genders are involved in that sex or romance?”

The category options are:

F/F

F/M

Gen

M/M

Multi

Other

The F/F, F/M, and M/M categories are for stories focused on pairings of two women, a woman and a man, and two men, respectively.  These refer to sexual and/or romantic pairings.

The Other category is for stories focused on (sexual and/or romantic) pairings where one or both partners are not strictly male or female, such as nonbinary individuals, people from cultures with gender systems that don't match to the Western man-woman system, and nonhuman characters for whom biological sex works differently or is nonexistent, including aliens, robots, and inanimate objects or abstract concepts. There are some problems with treating nonbinary humans, eldritch tentacle monsters, sexless androids, and wayward container ships as all the same category, but it's the system we currently have to work with. Use Additional Tags to clarify the situation.

Multi is for stories in which several (sexual and/or romantic) relationships are focused on or which focus on relationships with multiple partners, including cases of polyamory, serial monogamy, strings of hookups with different people, and orgies.  A fic will also show as “Multi” if you, the author, have selected more than one category for the fic, even if none of those are the Multi category. Realistically, the Archive needs separate “Multiple Categories” and “Poly” options, but for now we have to work with this system in which the two are combined.  Use Additional Tags to clarify the situation.

Gen is for stories that do not contain or are not focused on sex or romance. Romance may be present in a gen fic but it's going to be in the background.  While rare, there is such a thing as a sexually explicit gen fic—solo masturbation which does not feature fantasizing about another character is explicit gen fic; a doctor character seeing a series of patients with sex-related medical needs following an orgy may qualify if the orgy is not shown and the doctor is being strictly professional—but such fic needs to be rated, otherwise tagged, and explained carefully in the summary and/or author's note.

Much like the warnings section, category is a “select all that apply” situation. Use your best judgement. For a fic about a polyamorous relationship among a group of women, it's entirely appropriate to tag it as both F/F and Multi.  A poly fic with a combination of men and women in the relationship could be shown as both M/M and F/M, Multi, or all three. A fic that focuses equally on one brother and his husband and the other brother and his wife should be tagged both M/M and F/M, and could be tagged as Multi but you might decided not to just to be clear that there's no polyamory going on. If you wrote a fic about two characters who are both men in canon, but you wrote one of them as nonbinary, you could tag it M/M, Other, or both depending on what you feel is representative and respectful.

When dealing with trans characters, whether they're trans in canon or you're writing them as such, the category selection should match the character's gender.  If there's a character who is a cis woman in canon, but who you're writing as a trans man, you categorize the fic based on his being a man. If there's a character who is a cis man in canon, but whom you're writing as a trans man, he is still a man and the fic should be categorized accordingly. When dealing with nonbinary characters the fic should really be classed as Other though, by convention, fics about characters who are not nonbinary in canon may be classed based on the character's canon gender as well or instead. When dealing with gender swapped characters—i.e. a canonically cis male superhero who you're writing as a cis woman—class the fic using the gender you wrote her with, not the gender he is in canon.

Most of the time, gen fics should not be categorized jointly with anything else because a fic should only be categorized based on the ships it focuses on, and a gen fic should not be focusing on a ship in the first place.*

*(One of the few circumstances in which it might make sense to class a fic as both gen and something else is when writing about Queerplatonic Relationships, but that is a judgement call and depends on the fic.)

Relationship Tags

The thing about relationship tagging that people most frequently misunderstand or just don't know is the difference between “Character A/Character B” and “Character A & Character B.”

Use a “/” for romantic or sexual relationships, such as spouses, people who are dating, hookups, and friends with benefits. Use “&” for platonic or familial relationships, such as friends, siblings, parents with their kids, coworkers, and deeply connected mortal enemies who are not tragically in love.

This is where we get the phrase “slash fic.” Originally, that meant any fic focused on a romantic paring, but since so much of the romantic fic being produced was about pairs of men, “slash fic” came to mean same-sex pairings, especially male same-sex pairings. Back in earlier days of fandom, pre-Ao3 and even pre-internet, there was a convention that when writing out a different-sex pairing, you did so in man/woman order, while same-sex pairings were done top/bottom. Some authors, especially those who have been in the fic community a long time, may still do this, but the convention has not been in consistent, active use for many years, so you don't have to worry about putting the names in the “correct” order. Part of why that died out is we, as a community, have gotten less strict and more nuanced in our understandings of sex and relationships, we're writing non-penetrative sex more than we used to, and we're writing multi-partner relationships and sex more than we used to, so strictly delineating “tops” and “bottoms” has gotten less important and less useful.

The convention currently in use on Ao3 is that the names go in alphabetical order for both “/” and “&” relationships. In most cases, the Archive uses the character's full name instead of a nickname or just a given name, like James "Bucky" Barnes instead of just Bucky or James. We'll talk more about conventions for how to input character names in the Characters section. The Archive will give you suggestions as you type—if one of them fits what you mean but is slightly different from how you were typing it, for instance it's in a different order, please use the tag suggested! Consistency in tags across users helps the site work more smoothly for everybody.

This is really not the place for ship nicknames like Puckleberry, Wolfstar, or Ineffable Wives. Use the characters' names.

Now that you know how to format the relationship tag to say what you mean, you have to figure out what relationships in your fic to tag for.

The answer is you tag the relationships that are important to the story you're telling, the ones you spend time and attention following, building up, and maybe even breaking down. Tagging for a ship is not a promise of a happy ending for that pair; you don't have to limit yourself to tagging only the end-game ships if you're telling a story that's more complicated than “they get together and live happily ever after.” That said, you should generally list the main ship—the one you focus on the most—first on the list, and that will usually be the end-game ship. You should also use Additional Tags, the summary, and author's notes to make it clear to readers if your fic does not end happily for a ship you've tagged. Otherwise readers will assume that a fic tagged as being about a ship will end well for that ship, because that's what usually happens, and they'll end up disappointed and hurt, possibly feeling tricked or lied to, when your fic doesn't end well for that ship

You don't have to, and honestly shouldn't, tag for every single relationship that shows up in your fic at all. A character's brief side fling mentioned in passing, or a relationship between two background characters should not be listed under the Relationship tag section. You can list them in the format “minor Character A/Character C” or “Character C/Character D – mentions of” in the Additional Tags section if you want to, or just tag “Minor or Background Relationship(s)” under either the Relationship tag section or in the Additional Tags section.

There are two main reasons to not tag all those minor relationships. The first is to streamline your tags, which makes them clearer and more readable, and therefore more useful. The second reason is because certain ships are far more common as minor or background relationships than as the focus of a work, so tagging all your non-focus focus ships leads to the tags for these less popular ships getting clogged with stories they appear in, but that are not about them. That is, of course, very frustrating for readers who really want to read stories that focus on these ships.

If your fic contains a major relationship between a canon character and an OC, reader-insert, or self-insert, tag it as such. The archive already has /Original Character, /Reader, /You, and /Me tags for most characters in most fandoms. If such a relationship tag isn't already in use, type it in yourself. There are OC/OC tags, too, some of which specify gender, some of which do not.  All the relationship tags that include OCs stack the gender-specific versions of the tags under the nongendered ones. Use these tags as appropriate.

For group relationships, both polycules and multi-person friendships, you “/” or “&” all the names involved in alphabetical order, so Alex/Max/Sam are dating while Chris & Jamie & Tori are best friends. For a poly situation where not everyone is dating each other you should tag it something like “Alex/Max, Alex/Sam” because Alex is dating both Max and Sam, but Max and Sam are not romantically or sexually involved with each other. Use your judgement as to whether you still want to include the Alex/Max/Sam trio tag, and whether you should also use a “Sam & Max” friendship tag.

Generally, romantic “/” type relationships are emphasized over “&” type relationships in fic. It is more important that you tag your “/”s thoroughly and accurately than that you tag your “&”s at all. This is because readers are far more likely to either be looking for or be squicked by particular “/” relationships than they are “&” relationships. You can tag the same pair of characters as both / and & if both their romance and their friendship is important to the story, but a lot of people see this as redundant. If you're writing incest fic, use the / tag for the pair not the & tag and put a courtesy tag for “incest” in the Additional Tags section; this is how readers who do not want to see incestuous relationships avoid that material.

Queerplatonic Relationships, Ambiguous Relationships, Pre-Slash, and “Slash If You Squint” are all frequently listed with both the “/” and “&” forms of the pairing; use your best judgement as to whether one or the other or both is most appropriate for what you've written and clarify the nature of the relationship in your Additional Tags.

Overall, list your “/” tags first, then your “&” tags.

Character Tags

Tagging your characters is a lot like tagging your relationships. Who is your fic about? That's who you put in your character tags.

You don't have to and really should not tag every single background character who shows up for just a moment in the story, for pretty much the same reasons you shouldn't tag background relationships.  We don't want to clog less commonly focused on characters' tags with stories they don't feature prominently in.

You do need to tag the characters included in your Relationship tags.

A character study type of fic might only have one character you need to tag for. Romantic one shots frequently only have two. Longfics and fics with big ensemble casts can easily end up with a dozen characters or more who really do deserve to be tagged for.

Put them in order of importance. This doesn't have to be strict hierarchal ranking, you can just arrange them into groups of “main characters,” “major supporting characters,” and “minor supporting characters.” Nobody less than a minor supporting character should be tagged. Even minor supporting characters show up for more than one line.

If everyone in the fic is genuinely at the same level of importance (which does happen, especially with small cast fics), then order doesn't really matter. You can arrange them by order of appearance or alphabetically by name if you want to be particularly neat about it.

Do tag your OCs! Some people love reading about OCs and want to be able to find them; some people can't stand OCs and want to avoid them at all costs; most people are fine with OCs sometimes, but might have to be in the mood for an OC-centric story or only be comfortable with OCs in certain contexts. Regardless, though, Character tags are here to tell readers who the story is about, and that includes new faces. Original Characters are characters and if they're important to the story, they deserve to be tagged for just like canon characters do.

There are tags for “Original Character(s),” “Original Male Character(s),” and “Original Female Character(s).” Use these tags!  If you have OCs you're going to be using frequently in different stories, type up a character tag in the form “[OC's Name] – Original Character” and use that in addition to the generic OC tags.

Also tag “Reader,” “You,” or “Me” as a character if you've written a reader- or self-insert.

You can use the “Minor Characters” tag to wrap up everybody, both OC and canon, who doesn't warrant their own character tag. Remember, though, that this tag is also used to refer to minor canon characters who may not have their own official names.

Just like when tagging for relationships, the convention when tagging for characters is to use their full name. The suggestions the Archive gives you as you type will help you use the established way of referring to a given character.

Characters who go by more than one name usually have their two most used names listed together as one tag with the two names separated by a vertical bar like “Andy | Andromache of Scythia.” This also gets used sometimes for characters who have different names in an adaptation than in the source text, or a different name in the English-language localization of a work than in the original language. For character names from both real-world and fictional languages and cultures that put family or surname before the given name—like the real Japanese name Takeuchi Naoko or the made up Bajoran name Kira Nerys—that order is used when tagging, even if you wrote your fic putting the given name first.

Some characters' tags include the fandom they're from in parentheses after their name like “Connor (Detroit: Become Human).” This is mostly characters with ordinary given names like Connor and no canon surname, characters who have the same full name as a character in another fandom, such as Billy Flynn the lawyer from the musical Chicago and Billy Flynn the serial killer played by Tim Curry in Criminal Minds, and characters based on mythological, religious, or historical figures or named for common concepts such as Lucifer, Loki, Amethyst, Death, and Zero that make appearances in multiple fandoms.

Additional Tags

Additional Tags is one of the most complicated, and often the longest, section of metatext we find ourselves providing when we post fic. It's also the one that gives our readers the greatest volume of information.

That, of course, is what makes it so hard for us to do well.

It can help to break down Additional Tags into three main functions of tag: courtesy tags, descriptive tags, and personal tags.

Courtesy tags serve as extensions of the rating and warning systems. They can help clarify the rating, provide more information about the Archive Warnings you've used or chosen not to use, and give additional warnings to tell readers there are things in this fic that may be distasteful, upsetting, or triggering but that the Archive doesn't have a standard warning for.

Descriptive tags give the reader information about who's in this fic, what kind of things happen, what tropes are in play, and what the vibe is, as well as practical information about things like format and tense.

Personal tags tell the readers things about us, the author, our process, our relationship to our fic, and our thoughts at the time of posting.

It doesn't really matter what order you put these tags in, but it is best practice to try to clump them: courtesy tags all together so it's harder for a reader to miss an important one, ship-related info tags together, character-related info tags together, etc.

There are tons and tons of established tags on Ao3, and while it's totally fine, fun, and often necessary to make up your own tags, it's also important to use established tags that fit your fic.  For one thing, using established tags makes life easier for the tag wranglers behind the scenes. Using a new tag you just made up that means the same thing as an established tag makes more work for the tag wranglers. We like the tag wranglers, they're all volunteers, and they're largely responsible for the search and sorting features being functional. Be kind to the tag wranglers.

For basically the same reasons, using established tags makes it easier for readers to find your fic. If a reader either searches by a tag or uses filters on another search to “Include” that tag, and you didn't use that tag, your fic will not show up for them even if what you wrote is exactly what they're looking for.  Established tags can be searched by exactly the same way as you search by fandom or pairing, your off the cuff tags cannot.

Let's talk about some well-known established tags and common tag types, divvied up by main function.

Courtesy

A lot of courtesy tags are specific warnings like “Dubious Consent,” “Incest,” “Drug Use,” “Extremely Underage,” “Toxic Relationship,” and “Abuse.” Many of these have even more specific versions such as “Recreational Drug Use” and “Nonconsensual Drug Use,” or “Mildly Dubious Consent” and “Extremely Dubious Consent.”

Giving details about what, if any, drugs are used or mentioned, specifying what kinds of violence or bodily harm are discussed or depicted, details about age differences or power-imbalanced relationships between characters who date or have sex, discussion or depictions of suicide, severe or terminal illness, or mental health struggles is useful. It helps give readers a clear sense of what they'll encounter in your fic and decide if they're up for it.

One the most useful courtesy warning tags is “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” which basically means “there are things in this fic which are really screwed up and may be disturbing, read at your own risk, steer clear if you're not sure.” This tag—like all courtesy warnings, really—is a show of good faith, by using it you are being a responsible, and thoughtful member of the fanfic community by giving readers the power and necessary information to make their own informed decisions about what they are and are not comfortable reading.

Saying to “Heed the tags” is quite self-explanatory and, if used, should be the last or second to last tag so it's easy to spot.  Remember, though, that “Heed the tags” isn't useful if your tags aren't thorough and clear.

“Additional Warnings In Author's Note” is one of only things that should ever go after “Heed the tags.”  If you use this, your additional warnings need to go in the author's note at the very beginning of the fic, not the one at the end of the first chapter.  If your additional warnings write up is going to be very long because it's highly detailed, then it can go at the bottom of the chapter with a note at the beginning indicating that the warnings are at the bottom. Some authors give an abbreviated or vague set of warnings in the initial note, then longer, highly detailed, spoilery warnings in the end note. It's best to make it as simple and straightforward as possible for readers to access warnings.

Tagging with “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat,” “Heed the tags,” or “Additional Warnings In Author's Note” is not a substitute for thorough and appropriate courtesy tagging. These are extra reminders to readers to look closely at the other warnings you've given.

While most courtesy tags are warnings, some are assurances like “No Lesbians Die” or “It's Not As Bad As It Sounds.”  A fic tagged for rape or dub-con may get a tag assuring that the consent issues are not between the characters in the main ship; or a fic with a premise that sounds likely to involve lack of consent but actually doesn't may get a tag that it's “NOT rape/non-con.” A tag like “Animal Death” may be immediately followed by a freeform tag assuring that the animal that dies is not the protagonist's beloved horse.

Descriptive

There are a few general kinds of descriptive tags including character-related, ship-related, temporal, relation-to-canon, trope-related, smut details, and technical specifications.

Many character- and ship-related tags simply expand on the Character and Relationship tags we've already talked about.  This is usually the place to specify details about OCs and inserts, such as how a reader-insert is gendered.

When it comes to character-related tags, one of the most common types in use on Ao3 and in fandom at large is the bang-path. This is things like werewolf!Alex, trans!Max, top!Sam, kid!Jamie, and captain!Tori. Basically, a bang-path is a way of specifying a version of a character. We've been using this format for decades; it comes from the very first email systems used by universities in the earliest days of internet before the World Wide Web existed. It's especially useful for quickly and concisely explaining the roles of characters in an AU. Nowadays this is also one of the primary conventions for indicating who's top and who's bottom in a ship if that's information you feel the need to establish.  The other current convention for indicating top/bottom is as non-bang-path character-related tags in the form “Top [Character A], Bottom [Character B].”

Other common sorts of character tags are things like “[Character A] Needs a Hug,” “Emotionally Constipated [Character B],” and “[Character C] is a Good Dad.”

Some character-related tags don't refer to a particular character by name, but tell readers something about what kinds of characters are in the fic. Usually, this indicates the minority status of characters and may indicate whether or not that minority status is canon, as in “Nonbinary Character,” “Canon Muslim Character,” “Deaf Character,” and “Canon Disabled Character.”

Down here in the tags is the place to put ship nicknames!  This is also where to say things like “They're idiots your honor” or indicate that they're “Idiots in Love,” maybe both since “Idiots in Love” is an established searchable tag but “They're idiots your honor” isn't yet. If your fandom has catchphrases related to your ship, put that here if you want to.

If relevant, specify some things about the nature of relationships in your fic such as “Ambiguous Relationship,” “Queerplatonic Relationships,” “Polyamory,” “Friends With Benefits,” “Teacher-Student Relationship,” and so on. Not all fics need tags like these. Use your best judgement whether your current fic does.

Temporal tags indicate when your fic takes place. That can be things like “Pre-Canon” and “Post-Canon,” “Pre-War,” “Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “1996-1997 NHL season,” “Future Fic,” and so on.  These tags may be in reference to temporal landmarks in canon, in the real world, or both depending on what's appropriate.

Some temporal tags do double duty by also being tags about the fic's relationship to canon. The Pre- and Post-Canon tags are like that.

Other relation-to-canon type tags are “Canon Compliant” for fics that fit completely inside the framework of canon without changing or contradicting anything, “Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence” for fics that are compliant up to a certain point in canon, then veer off (maybe because you started writing the fic when the show was on season two but now it's at season four and you're not incorporating everything from the newer seasons, maybe a character died and you refuse to acknowledge that, maybe you just want to explore what might have happened if a particular scene had gone differently), and the various other Alternate Universe tags for everything from coffee shop AUs and updates to modern settings, to realities where everyone is a dragon or no one has their canon superpowers.

The established format for these tags is “Alternate Universe – [type],” but a few have irregular names as well, such as “Wingfic” for AUs in which characters who don't ordinarily have wings are written as having wings.

If you have written an AU, please tag clearly what it is! Make things easy on both the readers who are in the mood to read twenty royalty AUs in a row, the readers who are in the middle of finals week and the thought of their favorite characters suffering through exams in a college AU would destroy the last shred of their sanity but would enjoy watching those characters teach high school, and the readers who really just want to stick to the world of canon right now.

Admittedly, it can get a little confusing what AU tag or tags you need to describe what you've written since most of us have never had a fandom elder sit us down and explain what the AU tags mean. One common mix up is tagging things “Alternate Universe - Modern Setting” when what's meant is “Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence.”  The misunderstanding here is usually reading “Alternate Universe - Modern Setting” and thinking it means an alternate version of the canon universe that is set at the same time as the canon universe, but is different in some way. That's not how the tag is meant to be used, though.

The Modern Setting AU tag is specifically for fic set now (at approximately the same time period it was written), for media that's canonically set somewhere that is very much not the present of the real world. This can mean things set in the past (like Jane Austen), the future (like Star Trek), or a fantasy world entirely different from our own (like Lord of the Rings or Avatar: the Last Airbender). Fic for a canon that's set more or less “now” doesn't need the Modern Setting AU tag, even if the world of canon is different from our own. If you're removing those differences by putting fantasy or superhero characters in a world without magic or supersoldier serum, you might want the “Alternate Universe - No Powers” tag instead.

Some of the most fun descriptive tags are trope tags. This includes things like “Mutual Pining,” “Bed Sharing” for when your OTP gets to their hotel room to find There Was Only One Bed, “Fake Dating,” “Angst,” Fluff,” “Hurt/Comfort” and all its variants.  Readers love tropes at least as much as we love writing them and want to be able to find their favorites. Everyone also has tropes they don't like and would rather avoid. Tagging them allows your fic to be filtered in and out by what major tropes you've used.

Explicit fics, and sometimes fics with less restrictive ratings, that contain sex usually have tags indicating details about the nature of the sexual encounter(s) portrayed and what sex acts are depicted. These are descriptive tags, but they also do double duty as courtesy tags. This is very much a situation in which tags are a consent mechanism; by thoroughly and clearly tagging your smut you are giving readers the chance to knowingly opt in or out of the experience you've written.

Most of the time, it's pretty easy to do basic tagging for sex acts—you know whether what you wrote shows Vaginal Sex, Anal Sex, or Non-penetrative Sex.  You probably know the names for different kinds of Oral Sex you may have included. You might not know what to call Frottage or Intercrural Sex, though, even if you understand the concept and included the act in your fic. Sometimes there are tags with rectangle-square type relationships (all Blow Jobs are Oral Sex, but not all Oral Sex is a Blow Job) and you're not sure if you should tag for both—you probably should. Sometimes there are tags for overlapping, closely related, or very similar acts or kinks and you're not sure which to tag—that one's more of judgement call; do your best to use the tags that most closely describe what you wrote.

Tag for the kinks at play, if any, so readers can find what they're into and avoid what they're not. Tag for what genitalia characters have if it's nonobvious, including if there's Non-Human Genitalia involved. Tag your A/B/O, your Pon Farr, and your Tentacles, including whether it's Consentacles or Tentacle Rape.

Technical specification tags give information about aspects of the fic other than its narrative content.  Most things on Ao3 are prose fiction so that's assumed to be the default, so anything else needs to be specified in tags. That includes Poetry, Podfics, things in Script Format, and Art. If it is a podfic, you should tag with the approximate length in minutes (or hours). If a fic is Illustrated (it has both words and visual art) tag for that.

Tag if your fic is a crossover or fusion.  The difference, if you're not sure, is that in a crossover, two (or more) entire worlds from different media meet, whereas in a fusion, some aspects of one world, like the cast of characters, are combined with aspects of another, like the setting or magic system.

If the team of paranormal investigators from one show get in contact with the cast of aliens from another show, that's a crossover and you need to have all the media you're drawing from up in the Fandom tags. If you've given the cast of Hamlet physical manifestations of their souls in the form of animal companions like the daemons from His Dark Materials but nothing else from His Dark Materials shows up, that's a fusion, the Fandom tag should be “Hamlet - Shakespeare,” and you need the “Alternate Universe - Daemons” tag. If you've given the members of a boy band elemental magic powers like in Avatar: the Last Airbender, that can be more of a judgement call depending how much from Avatar you've incorporated into your story. If absolutely no characters or specific settings from Avatar show up, it's probably a fusion.  Either way, if the boyband exists in real life, it needs to be tagged as RPF.

Tag if your fic is a Reader-Insert or Self-Insert.

You might want to tag for whether your fic is written with POV First, Second, or Third Person, and if it's Past Tense or Present Tense (or Future Tense, though that's extremely uncommon).  For POV First Person fics that are not self-inserts, or POV Third Person fics that are written in third person limited, you may want to tag which character's POV is being shown. Almost all POV Second Person fics are reader-insert, so if you've written one that isn't, you should tag for who the “you” is.

A fic is “POV Outsider” if the character through whom the story is being conveyed is outside the situation or not familiar with the characters and context a reader would generally know from canon. The waitress who doesn't know the guy who just sat down in her diner is a monster hunter, and the guy stuck in spaceport because some hotshot captain accidentally locked down the entire space station, are both potential narrators for POV Outsider stories.

Other technical specifications can be tags for things like OCtober and Kinktober or fic bingo games.  Tagging something as a Ficlet, One Shot, or Drabble is a technical specification (we're not going to argue right now over what counts as a drabble). Tagging for genre, like Horror or Fantasy, is too.

It's also good to tag accessibility considerations like “Sreenreader Friendly,” but make sure your fic definitely meets the needs of a given kind of accessibility before tagging it.

Personal

Even among personal tags there are established tags!  Things like “I'm Sorry,” “The Author Regrets Nothing,” “The Author Regrets Everything,” and “I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping” are common ones.  Tags about us and our relationship to the fic, such as “My First Work In This Fandom,” “Author is Not Religious,” and “Trans Porn By A Trans Author,” can help readers gauge what to expect from our fic. Of course, you are not at all obligated to disclose any personal information for any reason when posting your fic.

The “I'm Bad At Tagging” tag is common, but probably overused. Tagging is hard; very few of us have a natural feel for it even with lots of practice.  It's not a completely useless tag because it can indicate to readers that you've probably missed some things you should have tagged for, so they should be extra careful; but it can also turn into a crutch, an excuse to not try, and therefore a sign to readers they can't trust your tagging job. Just do your best, and leave off the self depreciation. If you're really concerned about the quality of your tagging, consider putting in an author's note asking readers to let you know if there are any tags you should add.

You might want to let readers know your fic is “Not Beta Read” or, if you're feeling a little cheekier than that, say “No Beta We Die Like Men” or its many fandom-specific variants like the “No Beta We Die Like Robins” frequently found among Batman fics and “No beta we die like Sunset Curve” among Julie and The Phantoms fic. Don't worry, the Archive recognizes all of these as meaning “Not Beta Read.”

The Archive can be inconsistent about whether it stacks specific variants of Additional Tags under the broadest version of the tag like it does with Fandom tags, so best practice is usually to use both.  You can double check by trying to search by a variant tag (or clicking on someone else's use of the variant); if the results page says the broader or more common form of the tag, those stack.

There's no such thing as the right number of tags. Some people prefer more tags and more detail, while other people prefer fewer more streamlined tags, and different fics have different things that need to be tagged for.  There is, however, such a thing as too many tags.  A tagblock that takes up the entire screen, or more, can be unreadable, at which point they are no longer useful. Focus on the main points and don't try to tag for absolutely everything.  Use the “Additional Warnings In Author's Note” strategy if your courtesy tags are what's getting out of hand.

Tag for as much as you feel is necessary for readers to find your fic and understand what they're getting into if they decide to open it up.

A little bit of redundancy in tags is not a sin.  In fact, slight redundancy is usually preferable to vagueness. Clear communication in tags is a cardinal virtue. Remember that tags serve a purpose, they're primarily a tool for sorting and filtering, and (unlike on some other sites like tumblr) they work, so it's best to keep them informative and try to limit rambling in the tags. Ramble at length in your author's notes instead!

Titles

Picking a title can be one of the most daunting and frustrating parts of posting a fic. Sometimes we just know what to call our fics and it's a beautiful moment. Other times we stare at that little input box for what feels like an eternity.

The good news is there's really no wrong way to select a title. Titles can be long or short, poetic or straight to the point. Song lyrics, idioms, quotes from literature or from the fic itself can be good ways to go.

Single words or phrases with meanings that are representative of the fic can be great. A lot of times these are well known terms or are easy enough to figure out like Midnight or Morning Glow, but if you find yourself using something that not a lot of people know what it means, like Chiaroscuro (an art style that uses heavy shadow and strong contrast between light and dark), Kintsukuroi (the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold), or Clusivity (the grammatical term for differences in who is or isn't included in a group pronoun), you should define the term in either a subtitle, i.e. “Chiaroscuro: A Study In Contrast,” or at the beginning of the summary.

As a courtesy to other writers, especially in small fandoms, you may want to check to make sure there's not already another fic with the same title in the same fandom, but this is not required. In large fandoms, there's no point in even trying. After all, there are only so many puns to be made about the full moon and only so many verses to Hallelujah.

It may be common practice on other platforms to include information such as fandom or ship in the title of a fic, but on Ao3 nothing that is specified by tags belongs in the title unless your title happens to be the same as a tag because, for instance, you've straightforwardly titled your character study of Dean Winchester “Dean Winchester Character Study” and also responsibly tagged it as such.

Summaries

Yes, you really do need to put something down for the summary. It might only need to be a single sentence, but give the readers something to go off of.

The summary is there to serve two purposes: one, to catch the interest of potential readers, give them a taste of what's inside, and make them want to know more; and two, to give you a space to provide information or make comments that don't really fit in the tags but that you want readers to see before they open the fic.

We've already talked some about that second function. When you put an explanation of the title or clarification about tags in the summary, that's the purpose it's serving. You can also put notes to “Heed the tags” or instruct readers that there are additional warnings in the author's note here in the summary, rather than doing so in the tags.

The first function, the actual summarizing, can be very hard for some of us.  It's basically the movie trailer for your fic, butwhat are you even supposed to say?

There are two main strategies as to how to approach this: the blurb, and the excerpt. Blurbs are like the synopses you at least used to see on the backs of published books, or the “Storyline” section on an IMDb page. Writing one is a matter of telling your readers who does what, under what circumstances.

Depending on the fic, one sentence can capture the whole thing: “Sam and Alex have sex on a train.” “Tori tries to rob a bank.” “If anybody had mentioned Max's new house was haunted, Jamie wouldn't have agreed to help with the move.”

Sometimes a blurb can be a question! “What happens when you lock a nuclear engineer in a closet with a sewing kit, a tennis ball, and half a bottle of Sprite?”

Of course, plenty of blurbs are more than one sentence. Their length can vary pretty significantly depending on the type and length of fic you're working with and how much detail you're trying to convey, but it shouldn't get to be more than a few short paragraphs. You're not retelling the entire fic here.

An excerpt is a portion of the fic copied out to serve as the summary. This, too, can vary in length from a line or two to several paragraphs, but shouldn't get too long. It should not be an entire scene unless that scene happens to be uncommonly short. It's important to select a portion of the fic that both indicates the who, what, and under what circumstances of the fic and is representative of the overall tone. Excerpts that are nothing but dialogue with no indication of who's talking are almost never a good choice. Portions that are sexually explicit or extremely violent are never ever a good choice—if it deserves content warnings, it belongs inside the fic, not on the results page.

Counterintuitively, some of the best excerpts won't even look like an excerpt to the reader if they don't contain dialogue. They seem like particularly literary blurbs until the reader reaches that part in the fic and realizes they recognize a section of narration.

Some of us have very strong preferences as to whether we write blurbs or use excerpts for our summaries. Some readers have very strong preferences as to which they find useful. Ultimately, there's no accounting for taste, but there are things we can do to limit the frustration for readers who prefer summaries of the opposite kind than we prefer to write, without increasing our own frustration or work load very much. Part of that is understanding what readers dislike about each type so we know what to mitigate.

Blurbs can seem dry, academic, and overly simplified. They don't automatically give the reader a sense of your writing style the way an excerpt does. They can also seem redundant, like they're just rehashing information already given in the tags, so the reader feels like they're being denied any more information without opening the fic.

Excerpts can seem lazy, like you, the author, don't care enough to bother writing a blurb, or pushy like you're telling the reader “just read the fic; I'm not going to give you the information you need to decide if you want to read or not, I'm shoving it in front of you and you just have to read it.” That effect gets worse if your tags aren't very informative or clear about what the plot is, if the excerpt is obviously just the first few lines or paragraphs of the fic, if the except is particularly long, or, worst of all, if all three are true at once.

A lot of the potential problems with blurbs can be minimized by having fun writing them! Make it punchy, give it some character, treat it like part of the story, not just a book report. A fic for a serialized show or podcast, for instance, could have a blurb written in the style of the show's “previously on” or the podcast's intro.  Make sure the blurb gives the reader something they can't just get from the tags—like the personality of your writing, important context or characterization, or a sense of the shape of the story—but don't try to skimp on the tags to do it!

Really, the only way to minimize the potential problems with excerpts is to be very mindful in selecting them. Make sure the portion you've chosen conveys the who, what, and under what circumstances and isn't too long.  You know the story; what seems clear and obvious from the excerpt to you might not be apparent to someone who doesn't already know what happens, so you might need to ask a friend to double check you.

The absolute best way to provide a summary that works for everybody is to combine both methods. It really isn't that hard to stick a brief excerpt before your blurb, or tack a couple lines of blurb after your excerpt, but it can make a world of difference for how useful and inviting your summary is to a particular reader. The convention for summaries that use both is excerpt first, then blurb.

If you're struggling to figure out a summary, or have been in the habit of not providing one, try not to stress over it. Anything is better than nothing.  As long as you've written something for a summary, you've given the reader a little more to help them make their decision. What really isn't helpful, though, is saying “I'm bad at summaries” in your summary. It's a lot like the “I'm Bad At Tagging” tag in that it's unnecessarily self depreciating, frequently comes across as an excuse not to try, and sometimes really is just an excuse. Unlike the “I'm Bad At Tagging” tag, which has the tiny saving grace of warning readers you've probably missed something, saying you're bad at summaries has no utility at all, and may drive away a reader who thought your summary was quite good, but is uncomfortable with the negative attitude reflected by that statement. Summaries are hard. It's okay if you don't like your summary, but it's important for it to be there, and it's important to be kind to yourself about it. You're trying, that's what matters.

Author's Notes

Author's notes are the one place where we, the writers, directly address and initiate contact with our readers. We may also talk to them in the comments section, but that's different because they initiate that interaction while we reply, and comments are mostly one-on-one while in author's notes we're addressing everyone who ever reads our fic.

The very first note on a fic should contain any information, such as warnings or explanations, that a reader needs to see before they get to the body of the story, as well as anything like thanks to your beta, birthday wishes to a character, or general hellos and announcements you want readers to see before they get to the body of the story. On multi-chapter fics, notes at the beginning of chapters serve the same function for that chapter as the initial note on the fic does for the whole story, so you can do things like warn for Self-Harm on the two chapters out of thirty where it comes up, let everyone know your update schedule will be changing, or wish your readers a merry Christmas, if they celebrate it, on the chapter you posted on December 23rd but is set in mid-March.

Notes at the end of a fic or chapter are for things that don't need to be said or are not useful to a reader until after they've read the preceding content, such as translations for that handful of dialogue that's in Vulcan or Portuguese, or any parting greetings or announcements you want to give, like a thanks for reading or a reminder school is starting back so you won't be able to write as much. End notes are the best place to plug your social media to readers if you're inclined to do so, but remember that cannot include payment platforms like Patreon or Ko-fi.

As previously mentioned, warnings can go in end notes but that really should only be done when the warnings are particularly long, such that the length might cause a problem for readers who are already confident in their comfort level and would just want to scroll past the warning description. In that case, the additional warnings need to go in the note at the end of the first chapter, rather than at the end of the fic, if it's a multi-chapter fic; and you need to include an initial note telling readers that warnings/explanations of tags are at the bottom so they know to follow where the Archive tells them to see the end of the chapter/work for “more notes.”

When posting a new work, where the Preface section gives you the option to add notes “at the beginning” or “at the end” or both, if you check both boxes, it means notes at the beginning and end of the entire fic, not the beginning and end of the first chapter. For single-chapter fics this difference doesn't really matter, but for multi-chapter fics it matters a lot. In order to add notes to the beginning or end of the first chapter of a multi-chapter fic you have to first go through the entire process to post the new fic, then go in to Edit, Edit Chapter, and add the notes there.

Series and Chapters

Dealing with Series and Chapters is actually two different issues, but they're closely related and cause some of us mixups, especially when we're new to the site and its systems, so we're going to cover them together.

Series on Ao3 are for collecting up different stories that you've written that are associated with each other in some way. Chapters are for dividing up one story into parts, usually for pacing and to give yourself and your readers a chance to take breaks and breathe, rather than trying to get through the entire thing in a single marathon sitting (not that we won't still do that voluntarily, but it's nice to have rest points built in if we need them).

If your story would be one book if it was officially published, then it should be posted as a single fic—with multiple chapters if it's long or has more than one distinct part, like separate vignettes that all go together. If you later write a sequel to that fic, post it as a new fic and put them together in a series. It's exactly like chapters in a book and books in a series. Another way to think of this structure is like a TV show: different fics in the series are like different seasons of the show, with individual chapters being like episodes.

If you have several fics that all take place in the same AU but really aren't the same story those should go together as a series.  If you wrote a story about a superhero team re-cast as school teachers, then wrote another story about different characters in the same school, that's this situation.

Series are also the best way to handle things like prompt games, bingos, or Kinktober, or collect up one shots and drabbles especially if your various fills, entries, and drabbles are for more than one fandom. If you put everything for a prompt game or bingo, or all your drabbles, together as one fic with a different chapter for each story, what ends up happening is that fic gets recognized by the Archive as a crossover when it isn't, so it gets excluded from the results pages for everyone who told the filters to Exclude Crossovers even though one of the stories you wrote is exactly what they're looking for; and that fic ends up with tons and tons of wildly varying and self-contradictory tags because it's actually carrying the tags for several entirely different, possibly unrelated stories, which also means it ends up getting excluded from results pages because, for instance, one out of your thirty-one Kinktober entries is about someone's NoTP.

Dividing these kinds of things up into multiple fic in a series makes it so much easier for readers to find what of your work they actually want to read.

If you've previously posted such things as a single fic, don't worry, it's a really common misunderstanding and there is absolutely nothing stopping you from reposting them separately. You may see traffic on them go up if you do!

Parting Thoughts

Metatext is ultimately all about communication, and in this context effective communication is a matter of responsibility and balance.

Ao3 is our archive. It's designed for us, the writers, to have the freedom to write and share whatever stories we want without having to worry that we'll wake up one day and find our writing has been deleted overnight without warning.  That has happened too many times to so many in our community as other fanfic sites have died, been shut down, or caved to threats of legal action. Ao3 is dedicated to defending our legal right to create and share our stories. Part of the deal is that, in exchange for that freedom and protection, we take up the responsibility to communicate to readers what we're writing and who it's appropriate for.

We are each other's readers, and readers who don't write are still part of our community. We have a responsibility as members of this community to be respectful of others in our shared spaces.  Ao3 is a shared space. The best way we have to show each other respect is to give one another the information needed to decide if a given fic is something we want to engage with or not, and then, in turn, to not engage with fic that isn't our cup of tea. As long as our fellow writer has been clear about what their fic is, they've done their part of the job. If we decided to look at the fic despite the information given and didn't like what we found, then that's on us.

Because metatext is how we put that vital information about our fics out in the community, it's important that our metatext is clear and easy to parse. The key to that is balance. Striking the balance between putting enough tags to give a complete picture and not putting too many tags that become an unreadable wall; the balance between the urge to be thorough and tag every character and the need to be restrained so those looking for fics actually about a certain character can find them; the balance between using established tags for clarity and ease and making up our own tags for specificity and fun.

Do your best, act in good faith, remember you're communicating with other people behind those usernames and kudos, and, most importantly, have fun with your writing!

[moviehealthcommunity]

They/Them (2022)

This is a Movie Health Community evaluation. It is intended to inform people of potential health hazards in movies and does not reflect the quality of the film itself. The information presented here has not been reviewed by any medical professionals.  

They/Them has lights flickering on in the middle of the night late into the first night the story takes place. This flicker lasts about 3 seconds. A late scene involving a projector in the dark uses rapidly-changing images that create a strong strobe effect for about 30 seconds. One of the last scenes is lit by police car strobe lights at night.

All of the camera work in this film is either stationary or very smooth.

Flashing Lights: 6/10. Motion Sickness: 1/10.

TRIGGER WARNING: This film takes place at a gay conversion camp, with extensive language depicting that mission as a positive. Graphic pictures of past abuses of this camp are shown in one scene, and two scenes depict shock aversion therapy. A trans person is aggressively misgendered. Real-world experiences of LGBT+ people are shared, including descriptions of hate crimes and slurs. Someone is forced to euthanize a dog with a gun while listening to homophobic abuse.

Image ID: A promotional poster for They/Them

[super-unpredictable98]

Exposure Therapy (The Road Within AU)

Chapter 3: Many More Kisses

Warning: Strong language, depiction of mental illness (including tics), smut

(Exposure Therapy Masterlist)

"I'm sorry," Vincent shook his head violently, pulling back. "I didn't think, I just..."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I didn't ask permission, I got carried away and I forgot."

"Why did you do that?"

"I just... I... CUNT!"

"Maybe we should go home."

"No, wait, Mona, I didn't wanna scare you, I..."

Without thinking about it, I ran away. I felt like he was mocking me, like that one time in middle school when I was at a party and a boy asked me to dance. I said yes, we twirled around the room until I noticed his friends laughing in the corner and filming us with their phones. Turns out he lost a bet and had to dance with the weird chick.

I didn't even bother picking up my stuff, I headed straight to the house. Once I arrived, I took a long shower to get that dirty sand and ocean water off of me. It was a terrible idea to go to the beach in the first place and all the anxiety that I avoided while I was there, was starting to catch up.

"Ramona? Mona?" Alex knocked when he saw me leaving the bathroom and going into my room crying. "Can I come in?"

"Is Vince there?"

"No."

"Then yes."

Alex walked in and sat by my side, looking at me with a look I hate. It's usually the one my mom gives me when she says 'I'm worried about you' so I assumed it's a preoccupied expression.

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah, I ruined everything, as always."

"How?"

"By existing, by being this person I am, by looking the way I do. It was supposed to be a nice moment, but it was just cruel."

"What did he do, Mona? Why are you angry at Vincent?"

"He kissed me," I shook my head as a response to that thought.

"And you didn't want it?"

"I did, but I know a guy like Vince is never gonna fall for a girl like me."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm a freak! I say weird shit, I stim when I'm nervous, I can't eat most foods because the texture makes me sick, I can't do normal things everyone does because I'm too scared of disease, and to top it all off... I gained 60 pounds over the last year."

"Well, if he kissed you that means he likes the way you look. Vince really isn't the type to toy with people's feelings."

"There was something he said, it was a tic but... It really hurt my feelings."

"Oh, Mona," he chuckled. "You should know by now the tics are like a separate entity, can't believe what he says when he's doing that. Sometimes he calls me very offensive slurs, I know it takes some getting used to, but it doesn't mean anything."

"Why would he kiss me if there's no chance in hell he would ever fall in love with me?"

"How do you know that? There's nothing wrong with you! We all have our problems, I also am too scared of germs to do most things the regular way, but I find a way that works for me, and you will too, that's why you're here."

"What if I never get better?"

"Trust me, you will. I used to be way worse than you, in every single way, I couldn't even drive over a pothole without having to stop and check if I just killed someone."

"I don't drive," I laughed, imagining that scene.

"Then we will teach you. When I first started the treatment, I would never imagine setting foot on a beach, you just did that, that was huge!"

"I guess it was..."

"And do you really think Vincent doesn't feel insecure about his Tourette's? He feels like an outcast just as much as we do. You know, it's good for him to like someone who isn't a narcissistic attention whore for once."

"Oh, don't say that, that's mean."

"Well, if you really wanna know, she was very manipulative. Mental illness isn't an excuse to be an asshole, I had to learn that the hard way."

"Even if there was a chance of anything happening, now there isn't. He freaked out, I freaked out and ran away. He probably thinks I hate him... Why do I always have to act like a 12-year-old? Why can't I have social skills like every other human being?"

"In my experience, the best way to build social skills is to socially interact with people."

"What do I do now?"

"Mona?" Vincent's fragile voice came through the door. "Are you in there?"

Alex quirked an eyebrow at me and shrugged.

"Only you can decide," he mumbled. "I better go."

As he left the room, I saw Vince waiting by the door, looking down, hitting his head with the heel of his hands.

"Come in," I nearly whispered.

"Hi," he joined me. "I showered already, you don't need to worry."

"Well, thanks..." I backed off away from him, hugging my knees.

"Can we talk?"

"Aren't we doing that already?"

Vincent tried not to laugh, even though I didn't mean to be funny. He waited for the tics to stop before finally speaking up:

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have done that, running I mean."

"It's totally okay that you don't like me that way, I shouldn't have pushed... We're such good friends, and now I blew it."

"Wait, what?" I grimaced.

"I like you, I think you're cute and funny, and I like talking to you," he cut himself off with a whistle. "But I don't wanna make things- fuck weird. I probably should've told you before I just kissed you."

"You like me?"

"I thought we had a moment and I just couldn't help it..."

"You like me?" I repeated in disbelief.

"What's wrong with that?"

No one has ever liked me before. I think my quirks and limitations tend to push everyone away, that's why I never made friends, that's why I never had a boyfriend. I'm just an unlovable person at the end of the day.

"Did Dr. Rose ask you to do this?"

"What? No! Even if she did I would never do it!" Vincent yelped.

"I was beautiful, you know? I didn't have these ugly dark circles, my skin was clear and I didn't even need makeup, I was thin. If we met two years ago, before things got really bad, you could've liked me, and I would've felt like I deserved you, but now I don't think you can. Not now that I'm broken, undesirable, and ugly. You're perfect, what do you want to do with me? Why are you doing this? to me?"

"Mona," he breathed. "I don't think you are any of those things, I never did. I don't know how you looked like before, but I know you are beautiful now, and I know that you know that deep inside. I like you a lot... I wanna fuck you against the wall," he twitched abruptly. "That was uncalled for."

"Oh my God," I cackled, finally loosening up and moving closer to him.

"As you can see, I'm great at flirting. Very subtle," he blushed and looked away.

"Nobody ever flirted with me ever, and every single kiss I ever had was on stage, so... I don't really mind."

"You know, guys probably flirted with you in the past and you just didn't pick up on it."

"I am bad at social cues, but I think I would know."

"Did you notice me flirting with you ever since you arrived?" he smirked.

And that's when it hit me, maybe he was right! I am horrible at reading people. Is it possible that I'm not as repulsive as I think I am?

"Not at all, but I just assumed a guy like you wouldn't flirt with a girl like me."

"A guy like me? A lanky mentally ill mess who's only now graduating high school online?"

"No... A handsome, kind, interesting, funny, charming guy who could essentially get anyone he wanted."

"Oh," he raised his eyebrows surprised. "so you- cock sucking slut. So you like me back?"

"Aham..." I got on my knees and kissed his cheek slowly.

"FUCKING WHORE," he pushed nearly hit his head on the wall. "FUCK OFF, CUNT!"

"You don't really mean that, do you?"

"No, please don't fuck off," he giggled. "I want you close."

"Good, I want you close as well," I brushed my lips against his, softly.

His lips captured mine, taking his time so I wouldn't be startled. He lowered me to the bed, still in that tender kiss. It felt so different from being on stage, it felt like flying. When he slid his tongue in, I was taken by surprise, usually I would never want someone else's tongue in my mouth, but now... It was almost like I needed it.

"Maybe we should cool down a bit," he pulled back, panting.

"Why?"

"I don't wanna... Scare you or make you uncomfortable by going too far."

"Okay," I felt sligthly disappointed for some reason I couldn't understand.

"Is something wrong, Mona?" Vincent frowned, watching my face change. Sometimes I forget I was the one who couldn't quite read people's facial expressions, but they could read mine.

"I... What if I want you to go too far?"

"Oh, that would be okay, if you wanted to," the way he swallowed, heavily, making his adam's apple bob gently, made me hyptnotized. "But don't feel pressured, it's cool if you're not ready."

"I am, I wanna do it," something inside of me made me sure. "I just haven't done it before."

"That's alright, I'm not that experienced either. I'll go slow," he kissed the curve of my neck. "And if you wanna stop, just ask and I will."

His hand slid up my shirt and my breath got caught in my throat, my eyes shut tight and he backed off immediately.

"Can we turn off the lights first?" I asked.

"Why?"

"Just- I don't want you to see me."

"I could if it makes you feel better, but I would like to see you," he mumbled.

I didn't know what to think, I wanted this more than I've ever wanted anything in my life, why was I letting a simple insecurity get in the way?

My mom kept telling me I should watch it, I obviously wanna go back to the way I used to be before, but should I just stop being happy while I don't get there? It's not like I became a repulsive monster... Vincent didn't seem to care, why did I?

"Maybe a lamp?" I hoped he would be happy with compromising. "Let's go easy on the behavioral exercises."

"I'm fine with that," he smirked as he turned on the lamp next to the bed.

"Cool," I took off my shirt and Vincent stared at me for a moment, making me question every decision I've made over the last five minutes. Why won't he say something? Do I look that hideous?

"You're so- fuck fuck," he jerked. "So sexy."

"Am I?"

"Very," his gaze lingered on my chest. "Can you wait just two seconds? I just need to get a condom, it will be super fast, don't move."

Vince ran out of the room and I couldn't help but laugh when I heard Alex yelling at him for running in the house. In less than a minute, he was back, trying to catch his breath

"Sorry I took so long."

"You didn't take... Oh, it was a joke wasn't it?"

He nodded, getting on top of me again. When his hand went between my legs, I had to cover my mouth not to scream.

"Is this okay?" he checked.

"Yeah, it just feels weird."

"Weird good or weird bad?"

"Weird wonderful."

"Good, if you wanna stop, or if there's something you want me to do, just let me know."

I sighed as his fingers circled my clit. I was a little scared to lose my virginity, I think everyone is at least a little bit, but that was one of those moments when desire is bigger than fear.

"I wanna feel you..." I begged.

For once, Vincent seemed to forget about all the tics and my rituals, he was completely focused on that moment, relaxed. He seemed to be enjoying it as well, which was a little weird to me, I was under the impression that men only enjoy themselves when they're properly fucking someone.

"I wanna make you feel so good," he freed me from the rest of my clothes leaving me totally naked, I didn't like this feeling at first, but the way he looked at me made me feel better.

Okay, I'm sure that's not what my mom or Dr. Rose had in mind when they sent me to California for that little exposure therapy, but I have to say... This whole thing was helping a lot more than any medication ever did, so I guess it's a win, right?

Vince watched me attentively as his fingers worked their magic, he carefully slid one inside of me and I gasped softly. That was such an odd feeling, I thought I would hate it, but I didn't, It felt kinda nice.

"Keep going," I exhaled shakily. "Please, and kiss me."

He smiled, nodding softly as he claimed my lips, moving slowly and enjoying every second our bodies were touching each other. I could feel his stiffness against my thigh and when I glanced down, he was rock hard.

"Wow..." I mused, not realizing that I was staring. "Is that because of me?"

"You're really wet, that's sexy," he mumbled.

"Can I touch you?"

He silently agreed and I reached between us, stroking his cock a few times. I had a total of zero experience, so I didn't expect it to feel good, but he shuddered, letting out a breathy moan.

"Oh, I want you, Mona. So bad."

"I'm ready," I took a long, deep breath.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I wanna do it."

Vincent quickly grabbed the condom and fumbled a bit with it before managing to put it on. When he finally did it, he held me close, kissing all over my chest as our bodies slowly connected. He moved so carefully, giving me time to stop him if I wanted.

At first, it wasn't really comfortable. I felt a little pinch and whimpered, but after some getting used to, I started to like it. I involuntarily started to move my hips to meet his thrusts, and get some friction.

My body was totally relaxed and I nearly closed my eyes, but I didn't want to. I wanted to look at Vince, watch him quietly cry out my name, his beautiful curls moving around beautifully as he moved more and more eagerly.

Of course I've had orgasms before, I'm not frigid, but this felt much more intense. I tried to keep it down, but it was nearly impossible as that overwhelming pleasure drowned me, it was almost ethereal, magical.

I came undone and my brain became a hazy mess until one thought popped in there: what if you get pregnant? Yeah, you're wearing a condom, but what if? What if the condom has a micro fissure, just enough for a single sperm to pass through? What if Vincent put it on wrong?

"Vince," I called.

"Yes, baby?" he slowed down a bit.

"Can you pull out? I'll help you finish."

"But I'm wearing a con-"

"I know, but would you mind?"

"No, it's alright."

He did exactly as I asked and I didn't even stop to think before wrapping my lips around his cock, taking as much as possible in my mouth. He grunted and he clenched his fists as he came.

"I'm sorry about that, I just had an intrusive thought about getting pregnant and..." I tried to cover my body with the sheet and noticed a tiny red spot, which freaked me out even more. "JESUS CHRIST! I fucked everything up!"

"Hey," Vincent whistled and slapped his own face, clearly disturbed by my reaction. "Don't worry, it's not your fault, it's just a little blood, I'll take care of it."

"Was that good for you at least?"

"Yeah, it was amazing," he pulled me into his arms. "Your mouth feels like heaven."

"Next time I'll keep it together."

"It's alright... Wait! Next time?" his eyes lit up.

"Yeah, unless you don't want to," I pulled back, a little scared.

"I do, of course I do!" he kissed the top of my head. "Did you come? Was it good for you?"

"You can say so... It was perfect."

"Then there's nothing to worry about."

I smiled up at him, he smiled back, stroking my arm soothingly.

"Cunt sandwich in a bag!" he barked, making me fight a grin. "Ha! I love you!"

My mouth dropped and my eyes widened, that was a tic, right? It had to be. Vincent covered his eyes in frustration.

"Was that a...?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "I'm sorry, I-"

"So you don't mean it?"

"Well, I do, but I don't wanna freak you out. We haven't met that long ago and it's literally our first time. In my experience, it's not good to say that to a girl after the first time."

"You do mean it?"

"I do," he admitted.

"I love you too," I leaned back against his chest with a sigh.

Tag List: @elliethesuperfruitlover @firstpersonnarrator @spanishmossmagnolia @a-ghoulish-tale @seanfalco @badsext

[morebedsidebooks]

The yearly list of most challenged books continues to illustrate flashpoints in US culture. Along with perennial questions every community faces not only over texts, but when a creator themselves becomes a subject when it comes to harm.

American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020

 1.      George Melissa’s Story by Alex Gino. Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community.”

2.      Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds. Banned and challenged because of the author’s public statements and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people.

3.      All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism and because it was thought to promote antipolice views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now.”

4.      Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint, it was claimed to be biased against male students, and it included rape and profanity.

5.      The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of the author.

6.      Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin. Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote antipolice views.

7.      To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience.

8.      Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes and their negative effect on students.

9.      The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse.

10.  The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Challenged for profanity, and because it was thought to promote an antipolice message.

 (courtesy of American Library Association, image edited)

[rubberduckyrye]

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME ASKS BEGGING FOR MONEY OR A PLATFORM. 

I cannot donate or provide you with a platform at this time.

Anyway, edit aside:

Before You Follow...

I have never, ever once in my life made anything like this before, but I suppose it will be fair to make a list of things that make me uncomfortable.

I’m absolutely uncomfortable with/will not tolerate:

TERFS, Transmeds, sysmeds, Radfems, Homophobia, Biphobia, Transphobia, Acephobia, Arophobia, racism, sexism, ableism, basically all of that jazz.

Harassing anyone for any reason, ESPECIALLY over fiction.

Politics. I despise Politics.

Real life tragedies, such as murders, death, acts of terrorism, suicides, war, to name a few. Self harm and self deprecation is also on this list as these things can cause extreme depressive episodes since I can be very empathetic and sympathetic. (Fiction of any of these is fine though.)

Real life gore and excessive cartoon gore really squick me out please no.

Antis/Anti Shippers/Fan Police (or whatever you call yourselves now). I’ve seen this song and dance before, it’s just head canon wars disguised as activism. Anti-Antis/Pro-Shippers are okay I suppose, but don’t drag me into the drama.

For reference, I don’t necessarily identify myself with Pro-shippers. I identify as a Fiction Supporter--or Pro-Fiction. Meaning I don’t care what you write, if it’s fiction it’s fine.

I’m too tired for fandom wank. To clarify, these beliefs in particular are especially bothersome for me:

       1. The belief that shipping reflects a person’s morals, including ships that are unsavory. This includes any kind of shipping that reflects things that are inappropriate, frowned upon, or even illegal in the real world. Fictional characters in books or cartoons are not real people. They are dolls to play with, and even the darkest of shipping does not reflect a person’s true morals in reality.

       2. The misuse of the Japanese word “Fujoshi” and speaking over Japanese people and taking a word that is not yours and redefining it. I don’t even need to say why that’s messed up, do I? It’s not a word for westerners to butcher, so don’t. If Japanese people living in Japan say that Fujoshi is a reclaimed slur for women that now means “Woman who reads M|M” then you cannot redefine it as a person living outside of that country and culture. (If you misuse this word and say “Fujoshis” and “Fujos” please stop, you’re butchering the language, Fujoshi is already a plural word and it does not mean what you think it means.) This is just an example, but please stop taking words to mean something for marginalized people who are saying otherwise. I am a White American, I have no place in this debate and unless you’re a member of that marginalized group of people, you do not have a horse in this race either so stop before you look like an ass.

       3. The belief that people who enjoy darker fiction deserve harassment, bullying, and witch hunted. This is especially heinous. Reading, drawing, or writing/consuming dark fiction does not equate to real life morality, and while I may personally be uncomfortable with certain things depicted in fiction, I don’t care. No one deserves harassment. End of discussion.

        4. The use of strong words like “Predator (censored P)”, “Abuser”, and “Incest” so incorrectly and often that it has created alarm fatigue and aids actual abusers since the words are losing their weight. Like seriously, people roll their eyes at call-out posts now because of the fanpol calling every shipper a Predator (censored P). Now it’s become a word where people roll their eyes at because of so many false alarms and real abusers who hurt real people are getting away with it. Stop misusing words.

I will add any necessary Anti/FanPol rhetoric that I’m uncomfortable with as I go/remember. Anyway, to continue my DNI:

Blogs dedicated to hating a character or ship are gross, ‘kay? No one needs that negativity in their lives.

Anti-kins of any kind, just. Don’t? Be an asshole?

If you think ADHD is fake please get the hell off of my blog. This also includes rhetoric like “Well EVERYONE is a LITTLE ADHD...” like no get away from me.

If you believe that you need to have trauma to be a system, please leave. I am a “trauma” system and I think this is a stupid, bigoted take.

I’m super uncomfortable with people posting hate about my favorite characters, please no? This just really upsets me.

On that note if you actively harass people or post hate in the tags of characters or ships you don’t like you’re on my shit list

Theft of creative works of any kind will also put you on my shit list

Things that make me uncomfortable but aren’t the biggest deal in the world:

Minors following this blog, since this is a personal blog and not really actively trying to keep it kid friendly. Younger than 16 is especially sketchy, but I’m not about to check 1100+ blogs to see if any of you are minors and really shouldn’t be following this blog.

Reblogging from certain users I’ve had issues with in the past

Improper tagging, just try and I won’t be up in arms about it

A bit about myself:

My name is Rye!

I have ADHD, Autism, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, and who knows what else.

I’m the core/host of a system! Info on that Here.

I’m Trans! Agender and use They/them (Plural) pronouns. I’m also aroace with a platonic life partner named Celest.

I’m an aspiring author!

I am an artist, but I find it more to be a hobby above everything else. That said, I really want to make animations and 2D video games!

Due to my ADHD/Autism I can be very blunt and abrasive. I apologize for this.

I’m a salt mine, once you activate my salt be prepared for some kind of rant. I try to tag my salt though.

I’m Too Old For Fandom Drama and bigotry and if you try to fight me I’ll just block you

This blog is a sideblog!

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading!

[maghrib-genova]

I’m scared to ask but what happened to Roberta in the movie? I’ve only seen the clip on YouTube where she’s at the club with her friend (the main character?) and then another clip where she gets out of his car angrily.....

So I will go to the start of the movie where her character being introduced. Sorry for all offensive language because that was what the movie use to describe her character. We have to start from the beginning to understand the "motive".

Warning : Graphic depiction of Violence. Also apologize if there's any pronoun mistake.

So the Roberta's friend you saw on the clip that picked her up at her work place Name Luca (isn't it ironic lol,) so Luca worked at a restaurant and he has three colleagues. One of them is a short old man, this man is filthy, talking about obscene scene at Job place.

Luca also has other colleague who is closer to him that I think Luca was comfortable enough telling him about himself, we will called this the average man, this average man told this obscene man that Luca had been seeing a sex worker and I think the obscene man might had used her service once.

So Roberta introduction to us audiences was this old obscene man calling Roberta tranny (which is a slur, like a whore but for trans person) asking Luca if He got her number, Luca didn't give the number to this old man, you know what pissed me off? He later confronted the average man just to ask him why did he told this obscene man that he was seeing a hooker? He said Roberta was just a friend and he looked offended that his average man friend would think something like this about him.

Omg I lost track this movie is insane when I am trying to unpack it and talk about it, the pointless thing they included in this movie lmao. So Luca actually was seeing a hooker but it was this rich old woman who offered a service at her big house fill with antiques. (Even when trying to compare this rich woman sex worker with Roberta I would sound like I hate woman so I don't know how to explain here lol)

Omg You weren't even asking for the full story lmao.. so get back on track brain. Where were we? Oh yeah we have to come to the third colleague that Luca have.

So this man is like such difficult to work with, we will call him tall man, he had worked in San Francisco for 15 years before he returned back to Italy because his wife left him (this movie is filled with the message that all the woman will leave you lol including Luca's love interest which is the only decent woman portrayed in this movie lol) and he was depressed and lost his job there (he was a waitress too).

So this tall man saw this obscene man snapping picture of the customer boobs so he told the boss about it and the obscene man gets a warning from his boss about his behavior.

Over all this tall man always bossing them around despite they are actually at the same level, he told Luca how to do his job, how to pour wine and stuff and even made him clean the toilet because the boss was complaining about something smell in the restaurant and this tall man was ready to fix the problem but of course he didn't do the job, it was Luca who did it, he just wanted to safe his face.

And the obscene man made another mistake in the work place and this tall man was about to report to the boss again, so the obscene man had an Idea, and it was the stupidest idea ever I think what was they thinking!

I think Luca was in this, after all, when his average man calling him about the plan, he asked "did you forgot?", meaning he had discussed about this plan, the three of them, to record the tall man sleeping with a trans sex worker and later use it against him If he ever thought to boss them around or sell them out to boss again.

There's where the nightmare stare for Roberta, I think the one who hired her must be that obscene man, since he was the one who get out of the car and confirmed it to Roberta, probably about the deal and stuff.

Luca was in another car with the average man, waiting dreadfully, like the shoot was from his perspective, then this tall man get into Roberta's car, they were in there for quite a while I think they went as far as kissing, we can't see what happened in the car, then the tall man came out from the car swearing that he touched "his balls" gosh the use of the language in this movie against trans woman, I am rolling my eyes so hard.

And Roberta also get out from the car she was angry with the assaulted and they get into a fight, she kicked the tall man's on his balls and then she saw Luca's in the car and she walked toward him and then the tall man rushed toward her and slammed her against the windshield, and he was beating her, and then the obscene man come to interfere, but Roberta while she struggled hit the obscene man with her elbow on his dick, it made this man furious.

Roberta was down on the road with the tall man keep attacking her, kicking her but we can't see her because the camera perspective still in the car with us as Luca, so this obscene man came back with a big stone in his hand and smashed her head repeatedly with it.

Only after all the horror had ended and The average man was begging Luca to go left the place that Luca reacted.

The other three men left. Luca was with Roberta when she died, he was cradling her in his lap and Roberta was asking for her wig to be put on her head and then Luca left her body on the street and went back home.

Later the obscene man called Luca to get back to the crime scene to collect his phone, and during the conversation with Luca to convince him to go back to take his phone, this obscene man keep calling Roberta as he, though Luca insisted in referring toward Roberta as her thorough their conversation.

So Luca get back to the crime scene and Roberta's body was not there anymore, the alien that had come to occupy this earth had resurrected her and taken her with them.

That's what happened to Roberta in this movie.

(I can write another essay why Roberta being taken by the alien send a whole other bad freaking message rather than trying to tell the audience like look at Roberta she was such a nice person too good for this world)

I am sorry if this wasn't the answer you are looking for and too long of an answer

[pumpacti0n]

guide for attempting to transform ableist/oppressive language

I’ve been doing my best to avoid using language that unintentionally suggests that certain abilities are normal and universal for all people -- this language can mistakenly make people’s presence feel isolated or unacknowledged, which isn’t my intention.

I believe it is important for all people to feel as if their abilities aren’t hinderances to their personhood, only features unique to their experience. to this end I'll be doing my best to try to catch when I use language that normalizes ableism and I encourage you to do the same if you have the same concerns, not out of a sense of political correctness, but out of respect for a community of people who have historically been pushed aside as lesser individuals unworthy of our time, love and consideration.

this is not a comprehensive list. I am still unlearning my ableist habits and may still make errors, despite my best intentions. Feel free to add on or provide even more alternatives. This list is a living document.

“I stand for/with xyz.” ...can be replaced with: “I believe in/am in solidarity with xyz.”

why?

not everyone is able to “stand”. colloquially, people might be able to understand what you mean when you say this, as it often doesn’t entail actually “standing”, but it might come off as insensitive for people who can’t relate to this action but would still otherwise align with an idea or action

“I saw/see/heard/hear you/xyz” ...can be replaced with: “I understand you/xyz”

why?

this one also might be tricky. it has to do with the habit of making “hearing” and “seeing” analogous to understanding some thing or someone.

not everyone has the same ability to processes audio and visual phenomena, but they may still understand information if it is presented in another format, such as sign language or dictation or kinetics.

there are nearly infinite ways to “understand” information, but less ways to “hear” or “see” it, specifically. unless it has to do with the literal act of hearing or seeing something, and if it makes sense to substitute with “understanding”, I will avoid using it for this purpose.

[dilligence in omitting words that stigmatize people experiencing chronic mental disorders]

why?

there is no shortage of phrases used to describe people who act outside of the expected behaviors of “normal” society -- and this includes people with various mental faculties. most of the connotations for these words are overwhelmingly negative.

given how difficult it can be for people who have any number of such conditions to access certain spaces and care, the continued use of these words have historically been used to separate people into less advantaged social classes from the rest of their communities, sometimes leading to unavoidably tragic ends.

rather than stigmatize people based off these conditions, we can be more specific about the  actions they’re performing or how they make us feel without employing language that has been used as a justification to harm, torture and kill others.

instead of suggesting that someone is “crazy” (for a very mild example), we can focus on what actions they’re doing and what impact they  have without making assumptions about their mental state, usually with limited information and no close relationship with the individual.

we might ask: is what they are doing actually harmful to me or anyone else? is it reasonable to ignore them, if we can? what information about them do we have access to? do they need help? can I, or are there any others that could help them? what would de-escalate the situation?

[diligence in omitting any slurs or insults regarding intelligence]

why?

“intelligence” as defined by scientists, the state, private organizations and institutions under capitalism is not exempt from influence. how we come to understand and acknowledge the intelligence of other beings is absolutely affected by politics and immoral hierarchies of race, gender, skin tone, anatomical features, physical and mental ability and species. given this history, to insult someone based of their assumed relationships to knowledge often aren’t fair criticisms to lobby against someone.

what we may really mean when we call someone any of these insults directed at their intelligence, is instead that they are bigots, ignorant, inconsistent, boring, selfish, liars, rude, violent, racist, ableist, transphobic, hateful, obnoxious, unwelcome, or simply awkward. 

we must take care not to associate “low intelligence” with any or all of these qualities, even accidentally. people with mental disabilities might share with you their experiences of having their disabilities used as leverage against them in their social relationships, or used as a way to deny the aid they need. we should judge people’s actions that they choose to perform, not attack qualities about themselves that they have no control over.

[omitting speciesist language]

why?

oddly, this might be the more controversial point, given that non-human animals are often omitted from discourse about liberation and respect for marginalized individuals, which is precisely the point. humans have consistently not taken the lives of non-human animals seriously, and it has resulted in mass extinctions that threaten our ecosystem in irreversible ways, due in part to speciesism and anthropocentrism, which shows up in the language we use daily.

when we use language that suggests that non-human animals are inherently inferior, evil, unimportant, and lesser-than their human counterparts, it directly encourages animal abuse and the bigoted belief that animals are here specifically for human use as products to buy and sell under capitalism, rather than being unique individuals with their own values, bodies and communities worthy of respect and admiration, and contributors to the environment we all share.

this language is even common among people along the “left” end of the assumed political spectrum, who might call cops “pigs”, compare snitches to “rats”, cowards to “chickens” and depict their enemies as being similar to infestations of roaches, locusts, or other such insects and “pests”.

this is concerning. these words function to dehumanize the targets of their insults, transforming them into “beasts”, therefore making their lives forfeit, and justifying any violence directed at them. it also implies that the problems that they cause are not of human origin, placing the blame of failing systems and relationships on “less human” elements, as if non-humans are the ones who are responsible for the atrocities that other humans created.