#just to clarify I mean when they themselves specify in the post they have no experience

[schnuffel-danny]

I'm not going to tell anyone how to live their life, but something about basing your silly little headcanons on mental illness you have no real life experience with feels a little wrong to me.

[llycaons]

You are getting eaten uppp on the AO3 sub for that fic anti-rec list jsyk. Probably because it’s incredibly weird and mean behavior. Be blessed

No one “hates you” but someone posted your anti-rec list thing on the AO3 sub and people are (rightfully) saying it’s a weird thing to do that shows zero awareness of fic etiquette or like, being a normal person. Just strange. Like you want people to trigger tag *fruit* but are comfortable saying all this shit about authors (not just the fics themselves… the regular-ass people who write them)… weird and strange behavior

I was so excited to receive this ask until it was clarified that nobody actually hates me :( exciting news either way. is this reddit? were you on the ao3 REDDIT? good fucking luck on there anon I cannot imagine subjecting myself to that. also it's not a trigger tag and it's really bizarre that you bring that up at all when it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual conversation here

let's start. you're placing a heavy amount of moral weight on 'weirdness' while (I think?) also recognizing that it's inherently an amoral quality. and it is - but that criticism doesn't really mean anything to me. I've never been a 'normal person,' and idk what you mean by that. normal by who's standards? people who frequent ao3? let's say I am an out-of-touch meanie who doesn't understand 'fic etiquette'. based on the fact that it's ao3 fans, I can only assume it's people who are cool with ao3 hosting slave AUs and explicit child/adult content. and I'm really going to pretend like I care about their standards of conduct? oh no, the people who say 'your kink isn't my kink' about rape porn think I'm being mean to them! whatever shall I do! trust ao3 fans to consider legitimate critique a breach of etiquette but not...idk, incest porn. sure, I'm making assumptions but I am well-acquainted with the culture of that site lmao so am I wrong?

like, the meat of this ask is just so hung up on 'normality', which is not a very useful metric for moral behavior or critique and I'm not sure what you want me to do with it. I do many harmless abnormal things, and there are many 'normal' things that cause great harm. like, what does a normal person do according to ao3 fans? do they read cp? do you consider that normal behavior? is that harmless? does reading cp, or turning a blind eye to it, adhere to this precious fic etiquette? should I conform? should I be polite and sit quietly while the community I'm in runs wild with abuse apologism and bioessentialist nonsense? I recognize this is not what your ask was about, but you're asking me to compare my behavior to what ao3 fans think is acceptable, and I went through the entire tag last year so I KNOW what kind of things they like. I just don't think I can extend the benefit of the doubt to this place I've never heard of until today but which sounds a bleak and wretched place

anyway I am autistic and I don't mind being weird, and idk why you're so fixated on that as a value judgement or a way to shame me. you have to understand how little I value the moral standards of the average ao3 fan or the 'normal' signifier.

on to your next grievance - my critiques of the authors as people. I just read through my entire list and I am extremely specific and detailed about why I hated those works, going into poor characterization and soulless, boring writing. I specify if the works are confusing, infantalizing, bioessentialist, out of character, nonsensical, overwrought, passionless, disrespectful, insensitive, boring, poorly researched, misogynistic. is it really unfair to extrapolate from racist writing or an unwillingness to self-educate that the writer has racist ideas, and that might bleed out into their behavior and actions in the real world? that someone who writes an AU that doesn't make sense for the character didn't understand the characters' journey? that someone who writes a nonsensical story doesn't know what they're doing? that's just drawing conclusions based on what the writers themselves have already posted. that's entirely within the scope of a reader and any argument to the contrary is both absolutely absurd and an insult to the intelligence of literally any reader, of anything

but on that page I barely talk about the people who wrote them. except for the author who was white? because I know she's white, I looked her up and I think her writing of Chinese characters is really awkward and bad. I've also called a few writers racist idiots, but their fics were really poorly written, and the other one got mad when being corrected on cultural inaccuracies, so I mean. is that a stretch? like, maybe, but it is really unfair? I think no. it's not even that personal of an attack. but by and large I don't even care about the authors, and I don't know why you're getting so defensive of them when I'm simply judging their work and not them as people.

no matter how much of a fun hobby anyone claims fanfic is, it's not a form of media uniquely exempt from criticism. and I don't think it's healthy for any writers to take criticism of their work so personally. that's something for them to take responsibility for if they're going to post their stuff on the internet, and by extension readers need to be okay with that too.

also I gave them all gold stars...ao3 girlies can't appreciate a passionate and thoughtful critique smh.

back to my tag request, which is something that makes my personal blog usable for me - trying to act like an unusual tag request is the same as making assumptions about people based on what they write and post publicly is both unfair and really shitty of you, anon. is my 'weird' request really as bad as calling someone a misogynist for writing something sexist? I DO judge people for what they decide to publicly put into the world, and rightfully so. people have a responsibility for their creations. meanwhile there is absolutely no reason to judge me for my tagging requests no matter how strange they seem to you, because they're absolutely harmless. this isn't hypocrisy and I don't understand why you seem to think it is.

and I don't go out of my way to be an asshole - if someone's first language isn't english or if they're clearly not an experienced writer, I'm not going to be a dick about it. I mean, I try. I barely have over 100 followers. the anti-rec page is hard to get to, and notposted anywhere but my blog. I have never harassed anyone, or encouraged harassment. I don't even comment negative reviews. I purposefully didn't tags the recs when they were posts because I didn't want people finding them, and I don't even talk about my interests on other websites, much less spread my rec list around. this is purely a personal project I did for fun while under one of the most stressful times of my life to share with my online friends, and I don't regret it. I had a blast. this is nothing I wouldn't post on my blog or talk about with my friends anyway. I don't mind being criticized for it, since it's public too. I just don't feel bad about it either nor do I feel like apologizing or taking down the page.

so yeah idk what you expected from me but I don't really give a shit that a bunch of fanfic readers are mad at me for having standards. you (general you) simply cannot expect to publish something on a public website with a massive fandom and then whine when a random stranger on the internet dares criticizes you. one of these writers is a published author! if she's one of the people upset - learn to take some criticism! maybe it'll improve her writing! and I'm hardly posting on the front page of a major website here, I don't even know how that sub found my list because I don't really post about it on here either unless specifically asked about it

anyway this ask got me to go back and read that page again and I had such a good time revisiting it that I'm linking it. so hi everyone read my anti-rec list it's genuinely so funny and I'm very proud of it and it's actually quite well-thought out so yeah i'm not ashamed or embarrassed but thanks for letting me know as this is kind of fun news and brightened up the day

ALSO I feel like there's so much focus on the anti-rec page when I have a lovingly crafted and THEMED rec list right there split into equal sections, all carefully and appropriately titled with summaries, ratings, trigger warnings...I'm very proud of my rec list most of all. in fact, the anti-rec list was the wild child I tacked on at the end for a laugh when I really needed to complain

bascially tho I'm a complete stranger who put like six fanfics on a list and talked about them because I didn't like them so idk why everyone's freaking out. well knowing ao3's allergies to the slightest criticism I guess I do know why, but it IS deeply unserious. anon. pretend I'm looking you right in the eye. you know this. I don't need to be blessed. it is deeply unserious. it's going to be fine.

[alex-just-vibing]

uhh... gonna be bad at this but

Heir?? Seer??? Heir just... sounds right... But also I have like, a need to Know, not exactly always Learn tho..

Aspect uh... Mind????? I sometimes like to, clear things up, plan things out, and then come up with ideas there.. Or maybe Void???? I am... rather lonely, in real, and, isolate... Often. Real life tho.. Also often do, stay in the dark, or hide, using darker themes and having lower light real, and sometimes actively hiding away from people online when I know they are and would likely question it or something

...I'm onna go through, what I *think* might be the way each works, bcus I, know basically nothing abt homestuck, and there is a good chance there is a clear character who is one of these..

(Oh btw considering, when looking online, skipped past Hope as an aspect, uhhh... Derse, also I do like purple, a good bit, thumbs up)

Heir of Void, I think would bring isolation. Likely isolating themselves, and others possibly by proxy of isolating themselves, in a way of disconnecting, when there would be a link.

Heir of Mind, I think would be a sort of... archivist (not the other big thing with stuff like this I know nothing abt) like.. has a lot of info, likely either having been given or searched it out, and just, has it on hand, likely only sharing the knowledge when necessary, and specifically relevant to the situation, likely coming with a "That would've been useful to know a bit before it's immediately happening!" And a reply of "You didn't ask, and there's too much to tell"

Seer of Mind, Uh, most likely would be the one giving information, and likely when that clear info is used wrong, or that info is ignored, being the one to say "I told you so" (Karma part of Mind)

Seer of Void, Likely the one who specifies when something HAS no deeper meaning, when there is nothing, and just as well likely gives information not with full context.. May say "You may lose something important to you" and you just break your glasses, or say, "your glasses are going to end up needing to be changed", and they end up breaking into your eyes, or you go blind and thus not needing the glasses

Uhhhh.... So.. honestly Heir does fit better here uh... I think, considering online, which, sburb is a game right? I'm not as antisocial as Irl... And often do end up going into wikis, and doing research, and being curious on random things, and often the one who ends up making a plan and clarifying things bcus I am tired of everybody acting confused and not understanding things, and also... This entire, like, essay?? explaining and clarifying things so.

Heir of Mind

Dream Moon Derse

This is most definitely inaccurate, and also very rambly, and also only using the two ask explanation things, and two random tumblr explanations I found online... (Also this was done, while researching into things so!! And again, I have never read and know basically nothing abt homestuck other than internet osmosis and You Posting osmosis) But uh, does it fit me, ya think? And uh, is there any character(s) who are also Heir of Mind?

Okie thx and uh, what is your, Classpect, you think?

i think you got it pretty good? and there arent any characters who are heir of mind (at least in homestuck proper, possibly in hiveswap idrk), but there is a seer of mind (terezi) and heir of void (equius). i think it fits pretty well! and i bounce between knight, mage, and seer of mind, but ive settled on knight of mind For Now.

[mostlydeadallday]

hello! i dont want to bother or sound mean but the way you use 'it/its' pronouns as being self derogatory bothers me a bit because i myself identify with it/its and seeing it spoken of like its wrong makes me uncomfrtable

if it want meat like that in your fic then sorry for misinterpreting it that way! hope you have a good day!

Hello anon! No bother at all, and I appreciate you reaching out about this. Honestly, it's something I've wanted to address ever since I began posting this fic, but I wasn't sure how to go about it, or if it was actually necessary.

I do understand your discomfort with my choice of pronouns for Hollow. I'm hoping that explaining the background for why I made this choice will help a little.

Hollow using it/its internally during this fic was never meant to be a statement about those who choose to use those pronouns for themselves. Rather, it's a comment on Hollow's state of mind—a glimpse of the conditioning they're under, where they've only ever been referred to as an object and don't have a concept of their own personhood. The element of choice is crucial, and Hollow was never given one, never allowed to form or shape their own identity, or specify how they would like to be referred to. I'm portraying that pronoun usage as wrong because it is wrong... for Hollow.

I could definitely see another vessel, one more comfortable and confident in its own identity, choosing those pronouns for itself, but Hollow is not there yet, and perhaps never will be. I do agree that there's a lack of representation of this concept in the fandom; however, the convention I'm relying on is far too firmly established in Lost Kin to change it now. (I have seen an increasing amount of fics using it/they interchangeably, however. For a couple of good examples, check out @ashyronfire's recent oneshots, @lingershade's ongoing comic, or ctdogma's current fics.)

My use of this narrative device was informed by other HK fics that I've read and loved, in which Hollow's character growth is signaled by moving away from the pronouns that were assigned to them and toward ones they choose for themselves. I was vaguely aware that there were possible repercussions for going this route, but my interactions in the fandom were limited at that point, so while I wish I had been able to tackle this issue with more knowledge than I had, I could only work with what I knew at the time.

Others have made the point that the game itself uses it/its in a neutral fashion, but I was not familiar with that theory when I started this fic. For the purpose of this AU, I'm positing that the language spoken in Hallownest makes a sharper distinction between person/object pronouns than English does, and "it" is just the closest approximation of the word Hollow is actually using, which would be a unique pronoun that is only ever used for objects.

At the end of the day, though, your mileage may vary. If seeing a character being dehumanized by your choice of pronouns is disturbing to you no matter the context, it may be beneficial to choose other fics to read.

Once again, I appreciate you reaching out to clarify. I'll be (perhaps belatedly) adding a disclaimer to the beginning of the fic regarding Hollow's pronoun choice and eventual change, and the reasons behind it, to inform future readers right away. Hope you have a great day as well!

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

mm its been bothering me so im just going to clarify here-

i mentioned sometime last night (not in a post) that i think ford has a martyr complex. clarifying because theres a lot of definitions people use for it, and i want to specify the ones im using

because yknow. ford's the most. we need to specify

so the definitions im using are "a term to describe a trait where a person persistently carries out self-sacrificing behaviors. a person with a martyr complex may sacrifice their own needs to serve others, even at the cost of their own well-being"

and "in which the person experiencing the complex repeatedly puts themselves into situations which require sacrifice for the benefit of others, or service to others, without regard for their own well-being, happiness, or success"

i mean. he does do that

the reason i need to specify that is because, when looking it up, youll get a lot of defintions that more accurately describe a victim complex rather than a martyr complex. ford really doesnt seem to have a victim complex- he doesnt fall into any of the definitions ive seen for it

also should state- do not use this as "proof" that fords a bad person or whatever (you missed the point harder than sisyphus)

[icedmatchatae]

(yeah with poc i feel like i should’ve specified who but it was after i sent it off, my apologies)

but what i mean is black!reader friendly..

you use causal descriptions of hair being wavy

“You decided to straighten your natural waves for some kind of change.”

and cheeks/lips going pink/red..

“Your bottom lips were so red and plumped”

however it kinda ruins the ‘x reader’ aspect for darker skinned readers with kinker hair. most black authors write x black reader for those reasons specifically, the descriptions exclude everyone who doesn’t have flowy, thinner hair and those who don’t have visible blush due to it not appear on their skin.. it’s a definite turn off for black readers when they read descriptions that elude to a lighter skinned reader (see types of complaints below) i would look up alternatives to flustered behaviors that stay away from certain colours and leave hair textures alone.. maybe instead of saying what kind of hair style, you can describe how good it looks on the reader?? idk but i really hope you take this into consideration for future works

examples of complaints since they explain it better:

https://www.tumblr.com/eurydiceslove/700407195037204480/x-readers-cater-to-skinny-white-girls-most-of-the

https://www.tumblr.com/the-ravenist/709143383084580864/im-getting-kind-of-sick-of-seeing-this-stuff-how

https://www.tumblr.com/qveerfemmemusings/654272015099920384/okay-this-needs-to-be-said-and-it-needs-to-be-said

Hello again,

First of all, thank you for clarifying what you mean by POC-friendly. Initially, your comment upset me because I’m a POC and I felt I was being dismissed. I’m brown-skinned and dark-haired, and I was genuinely very confused and conflicted with the use of the term due to my background. I try to be vague in my character appearance so my readers can picture themselves. Still, I understand how I can do even better.

With that being said, I apologize for the trouble I have caused with the use of my words. Nothing was intentionally. I am now fully aware of my implicit bias to naturally write through my personal or own lived experience because it is what I’m used to and what I know, like I still flush with my skin. Not saying I will want to ignore other things because I try to be as conscious as possible, hence why I try to make physical descriptions pretty non-existent especially for skin or eyes. I had experiences where descriptions were so detailed with features, I don’t continue as well. Typically if I do point out features, it pertains to the story like the succubus being short in stature. But of course, there are little things that I miss.

If I’m being honest, it is difficult because editing, revising, and going over all my fics before posting is just me! No one unfortunately helps me through this process so I don’t have second eyes or a beta, so I miss things. I only see what I can see, so it wouldn’t be a concern until it was pointed out like this.

I appreciate you for telling me and I will do my best to be black-friendly! It’s honestly very needed to be aware of these things, especially for all writers. I want to continue to grow in my writing and this very much will help. I look at what I can write to make it as inclusive as possible. It won’t be a perfect path, but it will be a journey with tremendous experience and growth.

If by all means, it continues to not satisfy you even with the improvements, then I understand if you choose not to read my work. I cannot simply satisfy everyone. Thank you again for your time.

[askaceattorney]

(Referenced Letter)

Dear Dawsongfg,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: All three bring me to the main page of tumblr. You’re making no sense, as usual.

Dear Anonymous,

Chief Mod Edgeworth:

 Agreed. It’s especially funny when Edgeworth gets things wrong in the Investigations games.

Dear Anonymous,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: 

I... think you’re getting things mixed up. Kazuma had known the ancestor of the von Karma’s from Ace Attorney due to that ancestor having been the student of Genshin Asogi. That’s not a headcanon. That is CANON.

(Referenced Link)

(Full Referenced Letter)

Dear Jacob,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: 

I don’t understand what you mean. Is this a response letter to us or characters? You never clarified.

Co-Mod: It took me a while to get it, but I got it as soon as I saw all the “no”s.  Nice one!

Dear Anonymous,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: Agreed, Myriam Scuttlebutt is funny and cute. 

Though, my favorite would have to go to The Skulkin Brothers with the two redheads and Daley Vigil being close second or third. 

I love how The Great Ace Attorney games always have to have a stooges trio or duo lolz.

Co-Mod: I loved Myriam as well, but I think my favorite would be Olga Orly.  She was pretty fun for the short time she appeared, plus she had quite the memorable breakdown.

Spark Brushel gets an honorable-ish mention for his unique way of showing surprise. 

Dear Skibot99,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: 

It’s actually five letters a day. The rules have since been updated. So, you are allowed to post five letters but no more.

Dear Skibot99,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: It depends, but official art can be considered “canon” under certain context. As for Japanese game manuals, neither of us have read them or know any with English translations, so for now, no.

Dear Uncleared,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: Yes, you can write bad ending letters, but please specify. Also, I know almost everyone does this and it’s confusing when they do it, but please don’t label the bad ending of Fairwell my Turnabout to “Miracle Never Happened.” The first time I saw this I mistook it for the bad ending for Duel Destinies, because the spaceship taking off was also considered a miracle. Also, those kinds of letters keep titling that way and it confuses the heck out of me.

I know, they technically never called it a “miracle,” but neither did the bad ending to Farewell my Turnabout. Just title it “Bad Ending: 2-4″ “Bad Ending: Farewell my Turnabout” “Bad Ending: 4-4″ “Bad Ending: Turnabout Succession,” you get the idea. It’s not against the rules but it is confusing. 

Dear Anonymous,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: Normally, I’d wait until this one reached the bottom of the queue, but... this kinda disturbs me. I have never seen any letters that mention urine or feces, except from the person making these letters right here.

If this is the person you’re talking about, stop it. This is not sexualizing feces or urine and, in fact, is based off of historical context in Japan. Japan used to use dung and urine for fertilizer, even monopolizing it, before Westernizing themselves. During the Meiju Era, the factories using urine and poop buckets for fertilizer began slowly decreasing as pressure was placed upon them to Westernize themselves. This helped clean the streets and crops grow. They don’t need to give reference to this fact. That can be done from the writers out of curtesy, but it’s not required. 

If you find this gross, I... guess you will get grossed off of most children shows? I’ve honestly seen more potty humor from Rugrats than these letters. They don’t even make up the majority of letters this person writes. Heaven forbid, someone mentions poop and pee based on historical facts and turns it into a head canon for Ryunosuke’s family. I’ve already drawn my line in the sand of what is too far and it’s not going to be over shit and pee.

I have never asked anyone to act tactfully or make references to head canons, unless it’s a response to former letters, which these have done. It might shock you, but many of us mods are not the tactful kind of people, except maybe Co-mod, but myself, Mod Justice and Modthorne are not the kind to bring up anything gross or disturbing tactfully. We say it like it is. So, don’t expect us to delete letters over not being tactful or being disturbing. So long as they don’t break the rules, they’re good.

Co-Mod: Nah, that’s giving way too much credit.

(Referenced Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: I was mostly confused than anything else. I am to guess you had just finished Dual Destinies? 

In that case, it makes sense. People are likely to make wild assumptions. I still remember after The Great Ace Attorney was released that there were people thinking Kazuma was trying to kill Barok when placing him on trial when it doesn’t make any sense in the grand scheme of things. 

I’d be lying to say I’ve never done the same when playing an AA game.

(Referenced Link)

Dear Gumshoe-letty-fan,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: Not sure. I’m not someone that eats muffins, unless it’s with family or something. Like the cosplay picture.

Co-Mod: I deal with “life and stuff” a lot as well, so no worries.  I’d say I’m mostly a blueberry muffin kind of guy (as long the blueberries are the real deal, that is).  And as for the cosplay picture:

That’s the Co-Mod Seal of Approval, in case anyone forgot.  And a wonderful day to you as well!

Dear Charicla,

Chief Mod Edgeworth: I’ve decided to let this letter be answered now since I feel many worry about this. No, there isn’t. You can write letters from an AA or some other character as OOC as you wish. 

BUT... and this is a big “but,” don’t be surprised if the AA characters catch on that it’s a letter from an imposter. I find it can also put someone like Phoenix OOC if he believed a letter from Maya with her saying that she hates burgers. The same also applies to Manfred von Karma writing a letter to Edgeworth that he hates him and wants to beat him up and send him to hell. Despite if you believe MVK does feel this way about Edgeworth, he’s not abusive or has shown to hate Edgeworth as much as he claims outside of framing him for murder. I’m not just going by the games, but also my research and understanding of Japanese culture and the canon characters from the original games vs the localization.

Point is, you can write letters as the canon AA characters to another and make them OOC, but don’t be surprised if the other characters it’s being sent to catches on that it’s an impostor. I suggest, if you want the characters to act OOC for whatever reason, make sure there’s enough of their canon character in them to be convincing or else send it to characters that don’t know them well. You can also send it to the characters before they knew the character you’re making OOC such as making Athena OOC in a letter to Apollo when they first meet in The Monstrous Turnabout. 

-The Mods

[deviantartdramahub]

It's 2023. We should be out of the same mass hysteria thing we've been going through in the 1600's with witches, the 1950's with the LGBT, and the 1970's with Communists. In the end, we never did catch/kill any witches, we finally gave rights to the LGBT, and the whole red menace hysterics ruined many, many careers.

And then we come to today. We still do this for some reason. I'm tired of people ranting and ranting about, ahem, certain people, whom I will call nonos. I will not specify who I mean by nonos by the fact that I disappoint myself every time I hear about them, and I should clarify that, if you're a nono, society is no place for you, but I am tired of hearing about them and just want to enjoy posting my art, not constantly witness people use a very real term to destroy a man's whole career.

Excuse me if autocorrect puts numbers in automatically, but I am tired of 1) people getting mistaking for nonos all the time 2) people thinking nonos are worse than murderers despite attacks being something people recover from (if they didn't recover from them, we would be opening validation for self-harm, something WE DON'T WANT) 3) people setting the bar for what a nono is low 4) nonos not seeking help out of how utterly stigmatized they are 5) hearing of their association with innocent/vulnerable entities when (and you can look this up on YouTube) most aren't even interested in them 6) people not wanting anything to do with anything a nono even remotely touched, such as when a nono works at a business and people saying it devalues the business and so they won't buy the products 7) lots of leverage because people won't adequately define a nono 8) people commonly making up things about nonos 9) people forgetting nonos cannot help themselves, and most importantly 10) intense worries that nonos might make their own Stonewall protest out of how awfully they're treated, because that's what happens when you stigmatize a group too intensely, even if they deserve it.

This is not the first time these ten points have been brought up, nor will they be the last, they even hold a distinct title, "The Ten Justice Hunters' Tenets" because people fall victim to not being precautionary regarding those ten things all the time. It's the reason I decided to come here to submit things rather than DeviantArtDramaNow even though I would otherwise prefer them. I just want to upload my art, please. Is that so much to ask?

Unfortunately it would seem so. Witches, Communists, and the LGBT are all at the top of their game today, who knowknows what these nonos will bring.

I won’t even assume what you mean by nonos, as in different cultures different things (like drug traders if you’re Southeast Asian) might come to mind, though I have a pretty good idea of what you mean.

[the-ghost-king]

About the cupid scene, Nico was forced to come out, but its also made very clear that Cupid is the bad guy. So is Aphrodite to an extent. They have a twisted and fundamental misunderstanding of love and how it works for mortals. I get that people could be mad about how Nico was forced to come out and putting him through more emotional trauma, but I also think its very realistic in showing how callous and cruel the gods understanding of love is.

I am reminded of the quote by Madeline Miller, "There is no law that gods must be fair..."

I also understand why the scene might be traumatic for other young LGBTQ+ readers, I've seen a lot of people talk about the fear of being outed in regards to them reading that scene as a kid. I completely respect their feelings on that, and I understand that as well. However, as someone who had been forcibly outed once before reading that scene, that scene really helped heal me. I don't think the Cupid scene is inherently homophobic, and I'm often bothered by the lack of nuance regarding around how it's handled.

I recognize it's a very emotional scene, and that people may have a hard time fully separating their emotions from that scene, but at the same time if there's a group of people saying "hey I understand why you disliked this scene but it was really helpful to me as a child because of the different experiences I had" maybe slow the breaks and hear what others also in the community have to say before determining if the scene is homophobic. You don't have to like the scene, and yeah maybe the scene did hurt you but that doesn't make it homophobic.

I want to specify on my word choice there a little closer, because of course outing someone is an act of homophobia, and the scene is homophobic in that sense. However often times the conversation about homophobia in this scene goes to "Rick was homophobic for writing this" where personally I would say this scene toes the line at being too far without ever crossing it. Some people may think this depiction crosses the line into "Rick was homophobic for writing this" which is fine, but just because something depicted homophobia and hurt you doesn't mean it was homophobic. Something doesn't have to out rightly be stated to be bad, in order to be read as bad*, and the Cupid scene does a wonderful job of depicting this.

I talk here about how Nico is shown what love is, and how love is treated by Nico, and how it affects his character. I think it's important to note that Nico's entire storyline can essentially be encompassed in an Orpheus-like or Odyssey-like tale. Nico's undergone this huge emotional and physical labor all in the name of having some form of unconditional love. I think that post is a really important read in the context of this one because I very carefully outline how love shapes Nico and how Nico shape and chooses his own definition of love, but I want to specifically dig into the Cupid scene on this post.

The big criticism often seen is "it's homophobic" which I covered above, and I want to clarify I'm not upset with or mad at or trying to tell anyone they can't dislike it or even say you can't say it's homophobic (my words on my one post are a bit off I'll admit) but the problem I have is when people believe they hold a moral high ground for thinking it's homophobic, or they remove all nuance from the discussion with "it's homophobic". Which is frustrating and annoying because it's a very complex scene, and it really changes Nico's arc and personality and it does help characterize him.

The big reason it shapes him so much is because of the other largest reason the scene is criticized, Cupid's behavior. What often fails to be recognized in those scenes is that Cupid is intentionally painted as the villain, this is very important to the scene.

In the context of this scene Nico makes an unspoken choice, a choice of "what is love to me?". I talk about how Nico claims his narrative in BoTL when he overcomes Minos, and he partially peaks that arc by convincing Gods to join the final battle of TLO. Following that arc however, Nico falls into his second arc, his crush on Percy was important in PJO, but not as important as it is in HoO.

By HoO Nico's entire character revolves around Percy, how to help Percy, how to aid Percy, etc. All of this has to do with Nico's crush on Percy, but also as an act of repayment because Nico hurt Percy- Nico lied to him about knowing him at New Rome in SoN, and he goes to Tartarus shortly after... This mirrors what Percy did after Hades tricked Nico... Percy choked Nico because he was upset with him, so Nico tried to win back Percy's affection by bathing him in the river.

The Cupid Scene is the resolution of Nico's arc, he is essentially given a choice- Cupid or Jason?

For this reason, we do see Nico recognize love for what it has been vs how it could be.

Cupid is there to represent what love is, to Nico love is brutal, and painful, and a lot of hard work... Nico has made himself utilitarian in love simply because it is the only way he can find any affection. Love to Nico is about flaying yourself for the benefit of others, to trample any and all parts of yourself simply to appease those you care for, because you want them to love you so much as you love them. The parallels I could draw between Nico and Orpheus, or Nico and Odysseus... I'd be here a long while...

In that scene Jason represents the alternative form of love which Nico chooses after his interaction with Cupid.

Jason says during the scene that he "preferred Piper's idea of love" which has to do with kindness and caring, etc, and then Jason becomes the embodiment of that idea during the scene- which showcases the alternative of what love can be, thus making Jason a personification of love in the context of that scene.

Jason looks to Nico, he doesn't ask for more, he simply looks to Nico with understanding and acknowledges him for who he is, and he does the exact opposite of what Nico expects:

Jason loves Nico where he is, without conditions, without forcing Nico to become something more. Jason didn’t force Nico to say more than what was necessary for him to understand, Jason looked at Nico and he called Nico brave.

Cupid is a more volatile form of love than Aphrodite, Cupid shoots arrows that makes people animals, that can make a god grow insane, but Aphrodite's form of love is about acceptance and humanity (think to how she picked Ares over Hephaestus even if it was perhaps "wrong")- both are about truth but one is about force and the other about acceptance.

When Nico walks out of there, he makes his choice- he is forced to come out yes, Cupid is wrong for doing this, but Jason again stays a figure of love in Nico's life. Jason basically says, "Good job, I know that was hard, thank you for sharing and let me know if you need anything, people will care about you and understand you," again and again and again to Nico, he doesn't tell Nico he has to come out, and he agrees to keep it between them for now. Jason is love as acceptance, Jason is the first person who unconditionally loves Nico, and that's the choice.

Will Nico accept unconditional love? If the answer is no, then Cupid wins and Nico is denying himself. If the answer is yes, then Jason and Nico win, and Nico no longer needs to make himself utilitarian in love in order to be loved.

The choice is made with Reyna and Hedge, most specifically Reyna.

When he accidentally comes out to them, and they accept him without making a big deal of it, without show, just that acknowledgement and "thank you for sharing" and Nico accepts their words and friendship still- Nico made his choice then to accept the love he was being freely given.

“He carried so much sadness and loneliness, so much heartache. Yet he put his mission first. He persevered. Reyna respected that. She understood that. She'd never been a touchy-feely person, but she had the strangest desire to drape her cloak over Nico's shoulders and tuck him in. She mentally chided herself. He was a comrade, not her little brother. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture.”

This is where we see the slow and steady, and healthy, end to Nico's arc in regards to love really grow into itself, and he begins to heal. He no longer sees such an intense need to make himself utilitarian for love, and he begins to heal from his internalized homophobia too.

(Internalized homophobia discussions with Nico also bother me too often times, people too often assume you can't date while struggling with internalized homophobia or at least very heavy handedly imply that which is just not true... You may have some issues in your relationship, but you can work through the internalized homophobia while building a new relationship and be just fine. Also to assume someone has an unhealthy relationship because of internalized homophobia is weird and lowkey reinforces the idea that "broken" people don't need love, but also does a huge disservice to so many LGBTQ+ people who are happily married/themselves but still struggle with these feelings, and to see a healthy relationship depiction despite someone in that relationship struggling with internalized homophobia is fine and good actually. As long as the individual can recognize what they're dealing with, and work through it in a healthy and constructive manner, then there's nothing wrong there...)

When I started this post to be honest I thought I would have a lot more to say, it's a scene that touched and changed me so deeply as a person, and beyond that in a more objective experience it completely changes Nico's character, by turning his arc around and beginning his healing process. To be honest, there probably is more to be said on it, I just haven't found the words yet... I know parts of this post are clunky and in a year I'm going to read this and see all the places it could be better but for now I'm content with it.

Whether or not someone considers the scene homophobic is a subjective experience, but I think this is a very well written scene purely for the characterization and symbolism, intentional or otherwise. I don't really care that much to debate if it's truly a homophobic scene or not, I can see both why people say it is and why people say it isn't and that can be culminated into "people have different needs" and "minorities aren't a monolith". Personally my much larger complaint is the complete lack of nuance and insight scenes like this are handled with, not the matter of personal opinion an individual reaches on the scene.

*the post uses the word "adult audience" and yes, fair point, children should not be able to decipher symbolism to the extent adults can. But older children and young teens, which the RRverse series are sold for, is when critical thinking skills and media analysis do begin to become parts of classroom curriculum. The scene does an excellent job of not outright stating Cupid is evil, but of depicting that in a very clear cut way.

[queen0fm0nsterz]

What do you think is the succession order for the Ladies to be precise?

MASTERPOST

To clarify: THIS IS JUST A THEORY DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED!!!

Now, moving on to the actual succession... you guys. You know the little Lady statues we have to find in the Residence? Yep. Those girls. They match to the masked girls and their symbolism in a way that is too specific to be accidental. Or at least that's what I think.

Give these posts a read for context so you know what I'm talking about, and let's get into it.

The First Lady (In Green)

When we first enter the Residence we figure out pretty quickly that we have to find these Lady statues in order to open the door, and we do so because one of the statues is already there.

This is Fox.

I made the connection as soon as I saw her head. I previously assumed that she may have died horribly due to the ripped off head symbolism and while that may have been the case, it was probably a reference to this statue.

The rip on her head matches.

So, because she's the first one we find consequentially we can assume she's the first Lady of the Maw, which I think fits perfectly.

We established that, out of all of the Ladies, Fox is the one that most resembles Six in personality, and if the theory that Six abadons the Maw at the end of LN, which would result in the Maw ceasing to function, is correct, then I think it'd be beautifully poetic. I mean, it takes someone special to bring something like the Maw to life and someone who's just as special to end it, and we know both Fox and Six are very special girls.

I specified that she's dressed in green because I believe the color in which the statues are dressed in also matches their personalities.

From what I was able to find, people whose favorite color is green tend to be kind, loyal and nurturing people who often put their own needs aside in order to help others. They're intelligent, indepentent and curious, but because they're peacemakers they're also people-pleasers who end up having trouble standing up for themselves.

Some other words associated with the green she's wearing are Change, Learning and Awakening.

Don't know about you but that sounds like Fox to me.

The Second Lady (In Red)

Tengu joins the group!

I'm a 100% sure of this one. So, the way to actually get this little statue is to replace it with a fake one that looks identical to this one except that it's made of wood.

Since we've read Tengu's mask description, we know she had to put on a fake persona to avoid being overwhelmed and crushed by the horrors that surrounded her, which in this case is symbolized by a literal wall coming down to crush RK if you don't place the wood statue. Notice also how the Eye is wide open when the statue is removed: to me, that symbolizes the gaze of the monsters, the ones that will hurt her unless she pretends to be one of them.

About the color red. People with "red personalities" tend to be extroverts who are task-focused, meaning they tend to be quite active and always know what to do when it's about getting to their goal. This leadership they display can often be interpreted as them being bossy and mean, since they're so driven they often forget about other people's feelings.

Some other important words associated with red are Courage, Tenacity and Energy.

Now. I'll be honest with you guys: I only placed Tengu as the second lady because the official order puts her as the second statue to get (after Fox which we already have), but she may be interchangeable with the next one.

The Third Lady (In Blue)

Scarecrow.

To get to her, we have to solve the three eyes puzzle, then enter and entirely cold and dark room, then solve the paintings puzzle and then we get to her, but we have to be quick or else we get turned into stone.

We know that Scarecrow is terrified of the monsters that surround her and, unlike Tengu, she prefers to hide away and avoid them altogether instead of trying to mix with them. The security eye could be a reference to the paralizing fear she would feel when she leaves her safe place to mix with the monsters.

I'm also pretty sure Scarecrow used to be a worker on the Maw - and she may not have been alone. You see, to get to her we need to solve the famous painting puzzle. We established that the pictures are all of previous Maw workers who were there during the years (based on the fact that all the current employees, including the missing Bellhop and the Ferryman who only appears in the comics, are present).

And the pictures of these two girls in particular caught my attention, because they have the same clothes as the headless statues in the next room. Perhaps, the ripped painting of the Pretender in Scarecrow's room was a reference to these? She was also missing her whole head.

They look very similar and, because one looks older and one of the statues is slightly taller than the other, I'll assume they used to be sisters. Maybe one of them became the Lady while the other kept working at the Maw?

This is just an assumption I'm making though. I'm not so sure of this theory; I'll try to look for more clues to base it on but I'd like to hear you guys' thoughts on this.

Now, about the color blue. People with a blue personality tend to be sincere and trustworthy. They have a need for peace and harmony and they like to keep for themselves. Relationships, especially family bonds, are important to them. They also tend to be rigid and to strongly dislike unpredictability, because of their need to be in controll of their lives.

Other words associated with the color blue are Faith, Trust and Purification.

And lastly...

The Fourth Lady (In White)

I'm a 100% sure this is Teapot.

If the the literal Maw being her container, keeping her imprisoned inside, isn't enough to convince you, then let's take a look at the path we have to take in order to get to her.

First of all, she's locked behind not one, not two, but three doors, all of which are a challenge to open. The way to get to her is quite the adventure, something Teapot would definetely enjoy being the explorer. She's guarded by the Shadow Children, who only show up during this particular segment - and about the Shadow Children, did you notice the kid in a cage?

However, the thing that caught my attention the most was the last door separating us from her.

Huh! Isn't that familiar! It's the same set of stairs Six climbed at the end of LN 1. So it seems as if the ending really was hinting at Six becoming the next Lady after all.

Now, color segment!

Of course, the color white is associated with innocence and purity. It's also associated with health, which I think is quite ironic considering the reversed teapot is a sign of illnes. People with white personalities tend to be open minded and efficient, organized and with a sense of order. On the other hand, they can be perfectionists which leads them to be critical of both others and themselves.

Some important words associated with the color white are Comfort, Hope and Isolation.

This last one really applies to Teapot in my opinion, see how her room is separated from all the others and she's locked away, all alone.

(In case anyone was wondering: our Lady is wearing a darker shade of tangerine.)

Wow! This one was a lot of work. I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think.

[lovethisletters]

Dating Grell HC!

Hi! SO sorry for taking this long, irl stuff got in my way but I’m finally here! Agreed, finding Grell content is kind of difficult, and though they aren’t my favorite character, I do enjoy their personality. Before we start, I would like to clarify that I wrote this with gender neutral pronouns for Grell since I’m kind of confused: in the manga and anime sometimes, characters will refer to them with: He/Him pronouns, they refer to themselves with: She/her but their wiki refers to them with they/them pronouns; so, if someone could clarify that for me (and provide a link that confirms is cannon) I would be beyond grateful!

Word count: 1220

Keys: Y/n = Your name.

Summary: Grell starts to feel in a way they have never felt before.

Warnings/Additional notes: none…I think(? But I tried to keep it neutral for the reader too, since pronouns weren’t specified.

Grell being a reaper they have little to no time on their hands, so most probably they met you at work.

They were the one to approach you first by practically throwing themselves at you going on a ramble about how GORGEOUS you are.

I think that at the beginning their feelings are more like a simple crush that will fade away with time or mindless lust that is set to disappear the moment they get to have sex with you.

So, until that happens you will have to deal with practically a cat, they get all touchy: rubbing their cheek against yours, hugging you enthusiastically (like how a child would hug a stuffed toy) begging for attention constantly and even directing not so subtle innuendos at you.

But overall Grell is someone fun and pleasing to be around (especially if you are feeling a bit down) their bubbly and dramatic personality is just so contagious you can’t help but smile!

So that’s why you don’t push them away as harshly as Sebastian or William would

And I feel like that’s why they get a little bit more interested in you.

Even though they identify themselves as a masochist, that does not mean they enjoy being treated poorly all the time, they know their personality is…hard to cope with, but Grell appreciate when someone would still make the effort to get along.

So, when you don’t just…you know…kick them in the face every time they approach you (cofcofSeb&Willcofcof) they feel more comfortable being themselves around you, since no matter how eccentric they might be, you always continue the conversation in a kind manner.

Grell is someone who’s VERY emotionally driven, to the point I think it must be hard for them to differentiate certain emotions like: anger to frustration, sadness with deception and romantic love to lustful attraction. I feel like for them there’s no grey area, is either love or hate so in the beginning this might cause your relationship a bit of trouble.

As your relationship grew closer you started to notice a change in Grell’s behavior: They started being a bit more serious (still as theatrical as ever but different none the less)

They suddenly seemed to have become aware of what personal space is supposed to mean, the hugs became relatively short, the innuendos stopped almost completely and when the two of you started talking, Grell was eerily quiet.

This probably would make you feel like you might have angered them in some way, but don’t worry…the truth is..Grell is just confused.

Lust driven love is all they’re ever known, but their feelings for you have changed, evolved if you may. The only thing they know: is that they like you, but not in the way they like Will, Sebastian or Undertaker, no. They like you in a different way…a deeper way.

So please be patient and let them figure it out on their own.

BUT tbh I don’t think they figured out on their own…I just think they where in the phantomhive manor one day (just to tease Sebastian or double-check these newfound feelings were indeed different) But Ciel just felt so uneasy since he had never seen Grell so quiet and deep in thought.

—What is wrong with you, Grell?—His words condescending as ever.

—Pay no mind to them, master. The reaper is just hopelessly in love—Said Sebastian with a smirk creeping on his lips.

Sebastian’s words were almost eye-opening to them. “Love? Was it truly the right word to describe this feeling?”

Yes, yes it was, they knew the moment they went back to you that day.

Saying that you were surprised when Grell suddenly appeared at your house, late at night, pinning you to the floor by giving you the BIGGEST hug in your life, after weeks of not seeing each other since apparently, they were ignoring you, was a severe understatement.

—What has gotten into you, Grell?— you questioned, caressing their long red hair.

—Oh! Y/N my love! I love you!—You smiled, Grell had finally come back to you.

—Ha Ha Ha, I love you too, Grell!—Grell froze in place.

You thought they were messing around with you like countless time before, so you just responded in the usual joking manner.

—No, no, no! You’ve got it all wrong my dear!—For the first time since you had known them, their expression turned serious and gently took your hands in theirs.

—Y/n you are probably the only person I have ever felt this strongly, I feel like if you were to die today, I will die with you! Y/n my dear…I love you! This are my true feelings…Won’t you accept them?

Such sweet words, spoken with the most profound sincerity.

You couldn’t help but tear up a little (Which made Grell panic a bit)

—Yes, Grell, I love you too, so please accept this feelings of mine as well.—The hugh that followed was not only an acceptance but the seal of a promise, the true love kind of promise.

From here onwards you can see a change in Grell’s behavior towards you (in a positive way that is)

Dating Grell means you get to see them in a whole new light.

They are much more sincere (still dramatic as ever but a bit toned down)

They allow themselves to be vulnerable with you, no longer hiding their worries under a carefree and almost indifferent facade.

You become a safe place they can come to when things get difficult or simply when they just feel tired and overwhelmed with their reaper duties.

Something that stays pretty much the same in your relationship is how much attention-seeking they are.

You have to put on hold whatever you’re doing ‘cause those things can wait but Grell don’t.

“Nee~ honey, pay attention to me!” is a phrase you might hear often if you even dare to pay attention to something else when they are right beside you!

Grell will 100% shower you in kisses constantly.

Cuddles! Cuddles are a MUST with them.

Be prepared for Lots LOTS of PDA, they don’t care if it’s not the appropriate time or place, they need to show you how much you mean to them now!

I feel like they are the type to pull you closer and start dancing or reciting a dramatic dialogue of some romantic play they recently saw, out of nowhere in the middle of the street.

Grell also loves when you touch, caress, braid or brush their hair, is just so adorable! (If you want to turn them on, just pull their hair a little and see what happens ;)

If you have long hair, they will do the same but if you don’t expect them to go wild with how much flower crowns, hats, hair pins, etc they gift you.

Matching outfits! They even gifted you a red coat like theirs!

Grell loves when you let them do your make up! (if you wear any that is, otherwise they would allow you to do theirs) and it goes without saying, they are so good at it! you always end up feeling like royalty.

Theatrical pet names!

Sometimes they would allow you to borrow their Death Scythe (even if is for ridiculous things like idk cutting bread lol) but shhh, don’t tell Will!

Theater Dates!

Kisses, TONS of kisses (they love when you bite their lips, if you do; you might even hear them moan)

Overall, Grell is just so happy to have someone like you in their life and they will demonstrate it to you every chance they get.

♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

If you spot any misplaced pronouns, please let me know! I will correct it asap! just know that I didn’t do it with any ill intention and that english is not my first language and perhaps that’s why something might have slipped! as well grammatical errors, I’m trying to polish my writing in this language so calling me out on any mistakes helps me a lot!

I will forever thank you if you go check out my other profile: @aileysmirnov​ where I post things about my OC: edits, one-shots, imagines, art, etc. If you like Greek mythology and the bat family maybe you would like her as much as I do!

Anyway! Thank you for reading!

[nonbinaryresource]

hi. i wanted to ask whether or not it’s ok to take comfort in a person that has not officially come out as trans but has included many forms of gender expression in their work? i’m trans and when i listened to this artist’s work (harry styles - she & fine line) i connected with the songs immediately? i found a lot of people in the community who too connected to the songs and interpreted the lyrics as a struggle with one’s gender identity. at first i was against calling harry trans because i thought it was wrong, but then after reading master posts i discovered that he constantly portrays gender in his work (using the trans flag on his album cover; being ok with his friends referring to him with she/her, miss, ‘sue’ instead of ‘harry’, and sis; his obsession with babies and especially wanting to get pregnant; relating himself only to female artists; etc.) and now i’m really confused. it feels comforting as a fan to relate to him and i, and a lot of other fans from the community, sometimes refer to him with he/she/they instead of he/him (he never said his pronouns are he/him). is that wrong? every time my (trans) friends and i refer to him with pronouns other than he/him or tell people not to assume he’s cis as he never specified that, other (usually cis. a trans fan called me transphobic and told me to stop seeking validation from cis white men.) fans will start calling us transphobic and delusional and attacking us to the point we had anxiety attacks over it? i’m just really confused right now. i don’t want to misgender anyone but i don’t understand why relating to someone who, from their actions, could be part of the community is wrong. i’m not out to anyone irl and sometimes i wish people caught on to the little things i do and recognise that i am part of the community. i don’t understand why people keep shutting down the idea the harry could be trans when he never said he was cis and was ok being referred to as she.

he has previously said that there are no lines between what's masculine and what's feminine for him anymore. i'm sorry this is so long and thank you

(You also sent in the song lyrics - thanks for the easy reference! - but I’m clipping those for length reasons.)

Disclaimer before I dig in: I am not a Harry Styles stan, I know very little about him, most of what I am going to say specifically about him is stuff I researched about specifically to answer this ask. I want to speak mostly generally to your question.

Okay, so you posed a pretty succinct, straight forward question. “i wanted to ask whether or not it’s ok to take comfort in a person that has not officially come out as trans but has included many forms of gender expression in their work?“ However, there’s also a lot of context to this ask that makes things not so straight forward, and there are several distinct issues touched upon here I want to delve into. But it seems a good a starting place as any to start with the direct question you asked.

Yes, of course it’s okay to find your own meaning in art and role models and relate to art your way from your perspective based on your experience. In fact, that’s nearly the entire purpose of art! And it makes sense too, that we as social creatures would look up to and be inspired by celebrities, artists, mentors, role models, etc. Feeling connected to and less alone because someone in the spotlight plays with gender presentation like you might or want to makes a lot of sense!

However, we have to remember that A) sometimes art is just art, and B) someone being in the spotlight doesn’t mean we actually know or understand them or are/should act familiar with them.

As an example, a couple years back, Will Jay released a song called “Never Been in Love” that pretty much exploded with aros and aces and became a bit of an anthem for a lot of us. Many wondered if he was aspec himself and there was a lot of queries about it (and I saw quite a few blogs reminding folk that they were allowed to relate to the song even if it meant something different to Will Jay or he wasn’t actually aspec). Earlier this year, he released the song “Lies” where he admits that he was writing songs he thought people would relate to and he actually had been in love even before writing “Never Been In Love”. That should do nothing to diminish how meaningful the song was to people, though! If we related to the song, we related to the song, and if it was meaningful and made us feel seen and understood, that’s great! A lot of times, art is personal, but sometimes art is just an exploration.

This concept applies even more to people themselves. It is soooo easy to idolize and romanticize people you’ve never actually met and really only see the persona they want you to see. Yes, they share personal information with the world and they experience a general lack of privacy that makes you feel like yeah, you really know who they are. But how can you really, personally, intimately know someone without interacting with them, chatting with them, getting to know them one on one? It’s fine to have role models and feel represented by and relate to a celebrity - just do not lose sight of the fact that what you’re feeling is personal feeling on your own end. It’s not something that this celebrity has actually built with you.

To put this another way: it is fine to headcanon fictional characters, but it’s not okay to headcanon real people.

Now, what I’m building up to here is that there are a lot of assumptions I am seeing - from both sides - that we cannot truly know because all we know is what Harry [or anyone] chooses to share with us. I’d like to break this down by going through some specific points.

at first i was against calling harry trans because i thought it was wrong

Okay, there are two sides to this.

1) It is wrong to apply a gender label/descriptor to someone without their permission.

2) In a cisnormative society, “cis” is the default gender label/descriptor to apply to everyone, and that’s equally wrong, so I get why it feels like a rebellion of the system to go “well, there are Reasons they could be trans, so I’m just going to go ahead and call them trans”.

We should get away from automatically labeling everyone as “cis”. However, the way we fix this isn’t to just decide we get to apply whatever label/descriptor to someone we want.

If someone hasn’t clarified or specified their gender (and you can’t/it isn’t a good or safe idea to ask them), it’s the safest bet to go by what they seem to be majority being called or what you can find of them referring to themself as.

In some cases, when someone seems to be specifically avoiding labeling themselves or uncomfortable with labeling themselves, it may be most comfortable for you to also avoid labeling them just as much as possible.

being ok with his friends referring to him with she/her, miss, ‘sue’ instead of ‘harry’, and sis; his obsession with babies and especially wanting to get pregnant; relating himself only to female artists; etc.)

It’s worth considering - is this something for friends only? Or is it open to fans and other public sectors?

Usually if something is for friends only, it’ll be kept out of public eye, but if only friends are doing this, is this something that is only being shared with you or is it something you’re entitled to as well?

Aaaaaaaaalso, it has to be pointed out that it’s binarist and cisnormative in it’s own way to equate different names/pronouns automatically with being trans or being a specific trans identity. Wanting to get pregnant? Do you know how many cis women I’ve heard go on and on about wanting a penis so they can pee standing up (like... all of them anytime we’re outside or camping)? Plenty of cis people use pronouns you might not expect! You don’t have to be trans/nonbinary to use multiple or ‘atypical’ pronouns. Cis people are allowed to use other pronouns as well! They’re allowed to have names typically associated with other genders! Not all gender nonconforming or genderqueer people/people queering gender are trans! Not everybody exploring their gender nor gender presentation is trans!

not to assume he’s cis as he never specified that

It’s great to not assume someone is cis! But that doesn’t automatically make them trans.

i don’t want to misgender anyone but i don’t understand why relating to someone who, from their actions, could be part of the community is wrong.

Do you specifically, absolutely need to gender someone in order to relate to them?

i don’t understand why people keep shutting down the idea the harry could be trans when he never said he was cis and was ok being referred to as she.

I’ve only recently seen a tiny bit of this ‘discourse’ around on twitter, but what I see is a few issues/points:

A) It’s not up to us to claim someone as trans if they have not come out as trans. Coming out is an extremely personal choice and should be up to each individual. “Claiming” them is basically dragging them into something that very well may be not theirs. And if it is theirs, why would you want to steal that moment of getting to determine and declare that away from them?

B) We are all so done with cis, able-bodied white folk being prioritized above the rest of the queer community!!! There are actual, legitimate, out trans people that can be your trans role models and they’re being shoved to the back of the closet in favor of a privileged, white Schrödinger’s Trans. Let’s uplift our actual community instead of getting stuck on someone who may or may not be a part of community - and may not even want to be a part of it!

All that being said, I do want to say something really quickly on Harry himself because it ties back into the assumptions we’ve been talking about. Harry’s sexuality has long been a question on fans and journalists minds, and Harry has pretty consistently made it clear that he’s not really interested in labels or boxes. Harry’s gender is not something that has been asked about, talked about, or answered on much. And his comment on masculinity and femininity? Let’s remember that, like pronouns, masculinity and femininity don’t automatically or inherently relate to one specific gender or not. And, quite frankly, it is faucet of toxic masculinity and cissexism to equate a gnc man/man in a dress with being trans. Men are allowed to wear dresses and makeup and heels! Men are allowed to be soft and nurturing and to cry! Cis or trans, men are allowed to be these things, and arguing that they’re trans simply for doing or being any of these does continue to enforce dangerous and strict views of the gender binary.

Okay, it feels like I kinda put you through the wringer, so I want to go back and reiterate: it is 100% valid to relate to and feel connected to/inspired by someone on the basis of their presentation and gender exploration. It is not valid to claim ownership over their identity because of this. It is possible for two people to experience same or similar things and yet come to different conclusions about themselves!

If Harry Styles as an icon is important to you, I’m glad you can have that! But not everyone will or has to share your connection, and the only one actually qualified to speak on Harry’s gender is Harry himself. Harry could be trans, but it’s his right and his right only to claim that label. Any assuming we do is just that: an assumption. And I want you to be careful with your own feelings getting too attached to the image of Harry you’ve built up in your own head only to potentially have them shattered if Harry decides to speak on things and it turns out his feelings don’t mean what you thought.

Your identity is valid regardless of how Harry Styles feels or identifies. You feeling validated and seen and represented by Harry’s actions is valid regardless of how Harry Styles feels or identifies. It’s great to have role models and be inspired by people, but remember that at the end of the day, you need to be able to rely on yourself to keep up your ego and determine your sense of self.

~Pluto

[eremiie]

hi i’m tryna get better at writing, and i really enjoy your writing. i honestly hope to get as good as you are lol. but do you have any writing tips for beginner writers? i’m stuck.

hey, yeah i can give you a few basic writing tips!

grammar

as basic as it is it’s really important. grammar can really turn people away from your story really fast— nobody wants to read something that sounds like how they text

show don’t tell

i talk ab this a few times on my page but it’s really important. it gives the story life and gives the reader a chance to immerse in the story. reader will be able to feel what you’re telling them to feel, reader will be able to indulge more deeper in the story. here’s an example i gave from a previous post i talked about;

telling: she kissed him passionately.

showing: a whine, she whined for him as her hands scrambled to grab a hold of the fabric of his shirt, twisting it between her hands and pulling him forward hard, lips clashing with his.

“slow down,” he mumbled against her lips, but she didn’t listen— kissing him harshly, sloppily, like she’d never get a chance to feel the slight chap of his lips again, like she’d never be able to feel him again. like he’d be gone when she woke up.

which one sounded better, and which one could you really feel? envision?

detail

detail is a really big part of story telling. being detailed with your writing really helps, and this kind of relates to the show don’t tell thing. adding detail into your story gives better imagery for the reader and really gets across what you’re trying to portray in a non-vague way. for example;

not detailed; “she ran her fingers through his knotted hair.”

detailed; “deft fingers carded through his blonde locks, some of the digits getting caught on the knots he failed to brush out that morning.”

once again, which one sounded better? which one could you really feel? envision?

diction

diction isn’t as important but it can really make a story feel more alive. having good word choice and picking the words you use carefully can help paint a more precise picture for the reader. not only does it help with that but it can also help you whose writing with your vocabulary + expanding words you use in a story. also, it can remove redundant words in a sentence, give a sentence clarity, and clean up a sentence in general. for example;

“his green-blue eyes looked over to her then looked back to his book.”

compared to,

“verdigris eyes flit to her then back to his book.”

and sometimes diction isn’t even about making sentences more clear, or shorter. sometimes it’s just about being more specific to let the reader envision what you want them to see better.

“she crouched into the space between the front seat and the backseat, hiding herself from the lights that were shining through the glass of the car window.”

compared to,

“she ducked into the footwell, concealing herself from the light that tried to spot her through the windshield.”

even if you don’t know what footwell means context clues would give you an idea. concealing is a stronger word than hiding and gives you this imagery of someone really trying to cover/hide themselves from something compared to hiding which is a more familiar word. you already know that lights shine so there was no point of saying that, and you know that car windows are made out of glass so why say that? also, specifying that it was the windshield makes you paint a better picture of the way she was hiding and where the light was coming from.

or another thing is that using good diction can paint emotion as well, tell a story better. i’ll use eremika for an example (this is just an example!);

“the purple flowers on the windowsill were drooping down, and mikasa’s heart ached— the only memories she had left of eren dying right in front of her eyes as well. the splash of her tears hit the edge of the pot, falling down the side until it met the white sill. not even her tears could revert the death of the flowers, and they wouldn’t revert the death of her love either. ”

compared to,

“campanula’s sat idle on the windowsill. the flowers were wilting, and mikasa could feel pain grasp at her heart. the only memories she had left of eren began to die— fall from her hands like him, right in front of her eyes. a splash of water hit the edge of the pot, swimming down it until it met the white sill. it was her tears, and not even they could revert the death of the flowers, nor would they revert the death of her love.”

so yeah, go diction! 

write from your heart!!!

most important tip in my opinion. let your writing flow. stop focusing so much on being the best writer, instead focus on what writing should be— a way to express your feelings and a hobby not a chore. when we put too much thought into writing it can really sway how we feel about our writing. a tip is to fast draft at first, which is just getting your words on the page first thing. afterward you can go back and add details, remove details, add diction, clarify your writing, things like that. writing is a process and you’re writing’s not gonna be perfect the first time you get it on the paper. also READ!!! read other people’s works, don’t steal their writing but definitely take tips from their writing. see what you like in their writing and make it your own, see what you don’t like and make sure you don’t do that. you’ll never stop improving writing. from here on out you can only go up <3.

hope this helps!!

also some youtubers for writing help that i like are diane callahan and alexa donne!

[mt-words]

This post is my attempt at making sense of why people were dissapointed by c!Techno and c!Philza’s reactions to c!Tommy’s death yesterday and why their responses make sense both in character and in the meta.

I'm making it out of desire for understanding within the fandom. I tried to reach out to people who were upset with the reactions because the last thing I want is to strawman anyone, but if you feel like I misinterpreted or missed anything please feel free to add on in the comments. I’m not here to judge morality or anything, just to show why things make sense from each character’s point of view.

TLDR; cc!Philza and cc!Techno chose this reaction and they had meta reasons to do so. It’s ok for characters to process things in different ways. It makes sense from the characters points of view to have conflicting or negative feelings about c!Tommy. Head canons are awesome, keep drawing and writing whatever makes you happy! That said, the creators are the authority on their characters as canon goes. Please respect them.

(for this section all names refer to ccs unless otherwise specified) In Philza’s Friday stream he mentioned that he had put some thought into how his character would respond to c!Tommy’s death. Based on all the donation asks he’s been getting in relation to c!Tommy and his reactions, I think it’s safe to say Philza is tired of people seeing his character only as being a bad father for c!Tommy. If you listen to his reaction, before c!Ranboo breaks the news he clarifies who they’re talking about with “that chaotic child?” His reaction was chosen to try to help people recognize that any family relationship between the two is not canon.

This can be confusing. As someone pointed out to me yesterday, there are a lot of moments that make it seem like c!Philza and c!Tommy have an important relationship like the friendship emeralds and him checking on them after the butcher army execution. There are also moments from the same time period that make it seem like they are total strangers, such as c!Tubbo asking for his opinion on L’manburg and c!Philza saying he disagreed with some things their vice president was doing.

It feels to me like Philza was trying to leave things open so that Tommy had room to do whatever he wanted about their relationship, but because no one clarified and no defining actions were taken he decided that the only relation between their characters is knowing each other through c!Wilbur (which honestly makes the most sense for his choices). The actions he takes now are to solidify that choice, and it feels like I’m still getting mixed signals on Tommy’s end but I’m sure the creators will work it out between themselves. Whatever they decide on, I’ll just be enjoying the ride.

Also, Techno and Philza needed to react in similar ways or whichever one didn’t show grief the way people wanted was going to be attacked with the evidence of the others reaction used to show why they were a terrible person.

(after this point names refer to the characters unless specified) People have talked about reactions to grief far better than I can, so in relation to it being ok for the characters to have different reactions than what people might expect I give you three posts if you’re interested. Heads up, the tone of the second post is a lot more vitriolic than what I normally go for.

Neurodivergence in relation to grief and other reactions

Denial being a valid response to grief (with neurodivergent understanding thrown in)

The lines that people are quoting from their responses weren’t their first reactions. Niki, Philza, and Techno all initially responded with shock and disbelief.

The final point I want to talk about is that it’s understandable for the characters to have mixed or negative feelings about Tommy. Disclaimer, having negative feelings about someone doesn’t generally mean you should celebrate their death, but these reactions seem more to me like a mix of disbelief and “eh, it’s not my problem. Moving on.” Also take into account the linked posts.

As discussed, cc!Philza has chosen for his relationship with Tommy to be that he was a friend of Wilbur and Phil didn’t know him very well, but now that Tommy betrayed his best friend he doesn’t really care about him. Philza is ancient. He’s seen a lot of people die, it doesn’t make sense for him to have a super strong reaction to someone’s death if he doesn’t have much attachment to them.

Techno is a bit more complicated here, people were disappointed in his lack of mourning because we know he has genuinely cared about Tommy in the past. May I propose that that genuine care made Tommy’s betrayal (at least from Techno’s point of view) hurt worse? Technoblade shows that he cares about people through actions because it’s hard for him to open up and make himself vulnerable, especially to someone who (from his perspective) has already betrayed him in the past. He shows care by helping people survive and succeed, both giving them the tools to do so and fighting by their side.

On the day of the green festival he gave Tommy his axe as a sign of trust, defended him and his integrity from a large group of enemies, and was even willing to go after Dream to help him accomplish his goals. Within less than a minute of deciding he didn’t want to fight for the disks, Tommy left Techno to fend for himself from that same group of enemies and refused to give back the weapon that had been given to show trust saying that he was “worthy” of it. I think it was the best decision he could have made under the circumstances, but you have to understand how that looks to Techno. So yes, he cared, but every expression of that care was thrown back in his face the second he wasn’t useful (or that’s the reasoning Techno took from it, we can see that it was more because of Tommy’s care for Tubbo). Then when he confronted Tommy on Doomsday Tommy still brought everything back to the disks.

Since then they have only interacted through Tommy apologizing in a way that seems pretty insincere (from Technoblade's pov) as a distraction while stealing from Techno and the invitation to the hotel. People are always talking about character development, let Techno have more than two streams to try to get through all those complicated emotions. Of course he isn’t going to process all of this in front of two people he only recently started to trust.

We know that Tommy has regrets on how their relationship ended, but Techno doesn’t know that and even if he did it would make sense for him to have reservations.

I’m not trying to say anyone is a good person because of how they reacted, their failings make them interesting. This post was made out of genuine confusion that people expected or wanted different reactions from what we got. I hope this clears things up a little, please feel free to share your own opinions!

[a-womans-rhetoric]

Natalie Wynn's "J.K. Rowling" and Disruptive use of Women's Rhetorical Tropes: A Defiant Reply to Transmisogyny

ContraPoints, surrounded by an opulent, candle-lit set and adorned in witch's garb, leisurely pours champagne into her glass — she's ready to breach the internet's hottest topic of January, 2021: her childhood idol being outed as a transphobe (link here). The video itself being over an hour and a half long, I would be hard-pressed to claim that I could ever hope to cover its entirety, comprehensively, in a single post. So to save-face, I'll be dedicating this space only to breaking down her most frequently used rhetorical tropes, one by one.

Irreverence

"Joanne, I wanna talk to you, Joanne! [Fans herself with a rainbow paper fan with the word "BIOLOGICAL" written across it] What is it about Joannes? I can't catch a break from these people" (00:23-00:29, emphasis added).

Wynn's introductory lines immediately open a dialogue with J.K. Rowling — however, this invitation of discourse is defiantly "irreverent" (reminiscent of Nomy Lamm's punk-feminist style in "It’s a Big Fat Revolution” (1995)). Contrapoints, herself a transgender woman, is aware that her very existence is considered in opposition to the TERF-ideology that Rowling subscribes to. Thus, she's rather playful — even openly disrespectful — with her diction: calling the British author by her first name in a mocking-tone and flaunting her own trans identity to the camera (in a way that would likely offend the fragile sensibilities of a transphobe). Her personal tone (with ample use of the pronoun "I") servers a duplicitous purpose: a simultaneous message of "sit down and listen" and a fair degree of "I don't care if you can't accept me."

"So, now that 2020 is finally over, I think we can let the record conclusively show that it was a year whomst is bad. And on top of everything else going on, truly the last thing we needed was the author of Harry Potter coming forward to announce there's two things she can't stand: bigotry, and the transgenders. (00:31 - 00:50, emphasis added).

Finally broaching the subject at hand directly, Wynn employs kairos alongside her irreverence. Kairos, or the rhetorical use of an "opportune moment," holds incredible weight in the first month after 2020: the year in which the whole world fell into a stasis. Characterizing Rowling's transphobia as a collective "the last thing we needed," is also rather dismissive — she unites herself with her audience with the pronoun "we" and invites us all to groan at the exasperating nature of Rowling's bigotry.

Claiming the Right to Speak / Personal Experience

"This is a painful topic for me all around because, as a transgender woman, I am honestly really hurt by a lot of the things Joanne has said in the last year. But I also know what it's like to be the target of a Twitter mob" (01:36-01:47).

As she begins to touch on the topic, Natalie Wynn claims the right to speak on the issue of Rowling's transphobia — a type of bigotry that directly effects her. However, Wynn also situates herself partially with Rowling in her acknowledgement that receiving Twitter backlash is a terrifying experience (an experience, she argues, that the human brain is not prepared to handle the scale of, 01:49-02:39). In treating her subject with such dignity — and adding her own deeply personal account— ContraPoints creates a credible ethos in the beginning of her video essay. The audience is inclined to listen to someone who has been directly effected by the subject of Rowling's controversy (transphobia) and someone who is, rather compassionately, willing to empathize with those who would wish her harm. Although the generally sassy, glamorous, and irreverent tone of the video still appears soon after (see: the above image), her opening up for this somber moment garners a fair degree pathos in the viewer — we, as human beings, are inclined to sympathize with people who are open about being hurt.

Metis (Embodied Rhetoric)

[The following ContraPoints quote is addressing the above J.K. Rowling tweet, content warning for transmisogyny] "Transphobes love to play this game where they pretend that trans people just don't understand basic biology, that's our problem! As if I didn't start taking female hormones because I'm acutely aware that my body is not the same as a cis woman's body, that sex is real. "[Fictional TERF character] You will never be a woman, Nathan. Every cell in your body is male and has a Y chromosome." Really? That's crazy. How you'd you learn so much about science? You know I don't really feel the need to have a second X chromosome, I get by with only one, I make it work. I actually like the Y chromosome, I think it's a little more dainty, you know, it's little softer, a little more petite. The X chromosome has a lot of extra appendages, and don't you think? I don't need anymore of those, thanks. No trans person thinks it's possible to change chromosomal sex and to pretend otherwise is to argue in bad faith" (08:47-09:34).

If you can excuse my gargantuan quote, I hope you'll agree that the dialogue ContraPoints builds here was just too good to cut short. Within this excerpt, we see Wynn's use of irreverance and personal experience blended seamlessly together. For this YouTuber, the personal is perpetually political — especially when her own identity is constantly taken as an ideological stance. She uses her own expertise in trans issues to pick apart just how disingenuous Rowling's assertions are — even accusing her of "argue[ing] in bad faith" with her reductive claims (later, taking specific issue with how Rowling treats trans-ness as a costume). But, here, she also directly invokes another rhetorical trope: that of metis, or embodied rhetoric. Natalie Wynn specifically references her transgender body as a sort of counterpoint to the condescending "sex is real" claims by TERFs. She cites her intrinsic desire to pursue hormonal therapy as evidence that she — and other trans people like her — are all "acutely aware" that there are chromosomal differences between themselves and cis women. With this salient statement, she then follows with some humor: which, again, utilizes her trans body in her rhetoric. Her characterization of the Y chromosome as "more petite" and playful declaration of not needing "extra appendages" lightens up the often dark tone that arguing for trans rights and liberation can take. The clever points she makes are by no means weakened by her humor — if anything, the audience is more willing to listen to someone who can "joke about themselves" (so to speak) while still arguing an incredibly important message.

Naming and Defining Issues

"When I see Joanne tweeting about how trans people think sex isn't real and they're erasing same-sex attraction and they're silencing women, alarm bells are ringing because I recognize these as familiar transphobic talking points, specifically TERF talking points. "TERF" means trans exclusionary radical feminism. God are we still talking about this? I promise this is the last time. So TERFism is a hate movement that disguises transphobia as feminism. ... The fundamental problem with TERFs is not that they're mean. It's that they're politically reactionary, they want to reverse the progress of trans liberation." (14:05-16:02)

In her definition of TERF rhetoric, Natalie Wynn outlines some dog-whistles that are obvious to her, as a trans woman. She calmly explains to the viewer that, oftentimes in the present-day, rhetorics of exclusion are thoroughly disguised; TERFs, specifically, hide their rampant transphobia as a form of feminism. However, she further clarifies that the specific "danger" that TERFs pose is not from their cruelty — it's from their fervent dedication to strip away trans rights through political means. By specifying this danger, Natalie Wynn shifts the conversation away from empty discussion of offensiveness/terminology, to issues which directly affect the lives of trans people every day.

[This portion addresses the picture above] Also an act of naming and defining, ContraPoints makes a distinction between "Direct" and "Indirect Bigotry." She argues that many people envision bigotry as a festering, public, frothing-at-the-mouth hatred — a phenomenon she dubs "the Westboro Baptist Church theory of bigotry" (20:06). In bringing attention to the human tendency to think of people as exclusively practicing "direct bigotry" — envisioning them as a sort of delusional "other" — she then forces the audience to contemplate the relative omni-presence of the more covert (and possibly alluring) "indirect bigotry." This definition, crucially, requires introspection. By allowing ourselves to think of bigots not exclusively as "Westboros," we're made to adopt a much more nuanced view of subjects (most) generally prefer to keep black-and-white. Natalie Wynn uses her J.K. Rowling case study to complicate this 2D view of "The Bigot," inviting others to more carefully examine how politically reactionary views develop.

Phew, this was probably the longest post I've ever typed up on tumblr! Hopefully, I succeeded in demystifying (or at least adding clarity to) some of the specific tropes ContraPoints uses (that are common to women's rhetorics as a whole). Thanks for reading if you stuck around this long, and my ask box is always open!

[word-addict-lisette]

I can’t believe this!!!

So, something very weird and crazy happened yesterday night. I got i to little debate with my mom. It started from feminism and we ended on the LGBTQ community. But either way it was chaotic.

But the argument ended in me realizing that older generations... As in our parents, don't actually care about this feminism thingy at all. They don't care at all. They want good lives and want equality but it's for themselves, they fail to see that there are different types of women out there too. And even worse is that my mother has no idea of what the LGBTQ community is. And that's sick!

The only thing she is aware of is that gay is a bad word to call some like. What the hell? It sure as hell isn't! So it was like late night, and my mother was randomly scrolling through her phone while me and my sister were just cracking random jokes and laughing among ourselves.

That’s when my mother made this comment on seeing a post, “Women don’t look good until they have good hair.” I gave it some thought, not in the mood for an argument at 11 in the night. But my sister felt the need to speak so she retorted with, “Not necessarily, everyone looks good, and I don’t see how a person’s hair matters.” I agreed, my mother didn’t.

She said, “Not necessarily everyone looks good, we just say everyone is beautiful for the sake of it, but i don’t really think people look good with bad hair. And i don’t think really really short hair suits people either.” I didn’t like that comment one bit, so i stepped in.

“Not everyone says that everyone is beautiful just for the sake of it. Everyone truly is beautiful, and A lot of people look good with really short hair too, you can’t judge them like that.” She threw me a look for that.

“At that rate, you will say that even bald people look good. They don’t necessarily look good. they are people like that.” I shot back at her, cause now it was getting on my nerves. I told her, “Who said bald people don’t look good, i thought i just specified the fact that everyone looks good, and there are no exceptions to that case, even my sister had gotten my bald she was very young, you didn’t call her ugly. Then why others?”

“She said fine, I am not gonna argue with that, not necessarily all women and men look good. I don’t think that everyone is good looking. Beautiful doesn’t mean human, you need to have some things in you to be termed beautiful.”

My sister contradicted with, “I don’t think anyone set the parameters for beauty yet, if anyone has, they are crazy. Everyone is beautiful and if you don’t feel so, i’m sorry i can’t change that. But i’m with my sister in this.”

But i had a whole different topic to discuss after that, “This whole conversion was carried out as if it was pointed towards women, I don’t see why women don’t look good with short hair. Men look good in short hair, men and women are equal, and if men can have short hair and not be judged, it can be the same with women.”

That seemed to put my mother to think, but she didn’t change her thought one bit. she responded with, “Women and men are different, sure women and men are equal, but there are some differences, and by the way women are built differently and they ought to look good. That’s when you feel like a women.”

my sister felt differently, “Men and women are equal, at least they should be. And the word equal, doesn’t come with any exceptions like beauty or anything, so equal means equal. That’s what feminism is for.”

My mother looked confused at the last sentence, she looked like she didn’t know what feminism is. But then she automatically assumed it to have something to do with women being superior than men. She clarified that she didn’t think women ought to be on a higher position in the world, like unless the women actually deserved it with all right. But men had the higher position and the best we ought to get was gender equality, between females and males. 

Until a few years back, i would have agreed with her, just the way my sister did after explaining the real meaning of feminism to my mother. But, I didn’t agree with that statement either. Gender equality did not mean equality between males and females, it meant equality between all the genders. That is when i got in the LGBTQ+ community. My mother had literally 0% idea of what that was. And i felt like digging my own grave and burying myself alive. 

I did not even ask her to google the community like i had asked her to google feminism. I simply asked her what was her view on the transgenders. She said, “not much, they are like okay though i am not sure i really support them. I am still dicy about them.”

That reminded of something that happened long back. When I was in Class 7, one of my classmates accidentally called a guy in our class gay, because he used to make fun of them in class a lot. I truly used to resent it when they used to make fun of transgenders in my school, I wasn’t aware of the the LGBTQ+ community back then, but still I hated it.

When the fact a guy had called a friend of his gay in school spread around and our parents got to know, the kid got suspended for two days, and got a diary note. Moreover my mother told me then that I hope you don’t use such bad words and vulgarized language in school. If I hear you calling anyone such a foul word anytime, consider yourself grounded for a year. 

That day stuck with me forever, How the heck was GAY a bad word? 

So last night during the argument, I told her that gender equality meant it was for all the genders, literally all the genders. And i literally told her about the fact that she told me gay was a bad word whereas it wasn’t. I told her that there are homosexual people as well and just told her about the LGBTQ+ community. She didn’t seem to support them much. But at least she knew about it.

She still didn’t agree about the lgbtq+ community thingy and different genders. she also mentioned that she didn’t know anything about this community, and she wondered if she could have cared less about it before. And she was very shocked about the fact that i supported them, and that I was a feminist. she said that she never taught me any of this and was thoroughly surprised when she found out I knew so many things, that she thought that I shouldn’t.

It sucked that she thought of all of it in such a manner, But before i could go further with the convo, my sister just asked us to cut it out... Though i was so not pleased to know that my mom didn’t even know that there is something called the LGBTQ+ community and feminism. A similar thing had happened a few month ago, where i told her about black lives matter. Turns out our generation is quite more socially knowledgeable and mature than our parents. 

But then again, this morning i was called lazy, and again made to feel like crap. my mother termed that i ought to study and not spend so much time on my laptop and mobile, because, they aren’t going to get me anywhere and social media is poisoning my mind. Interesting part.... TUMBLR is my only source of socializing on the internet! She isn’t even aware of that. But yeah... at the end: I am the stuck up kid in the house.