#the author is nonbinary. don't get fucking weird.

[inkskinned]

okay if you're really cool about things, i can be honest with you. before you read further, decide if you're a girl's girl. if you're cool and actually cool or like not cool.

men don't talk in my book because i was fuckken tired of the way they're the center of every fucking story. i was tired of how every story takes a moment to let them talk. men can shut up for literally one fucking book.

unfortunately not everyone is cool. professionally what i usually say is i didn't want to add violence to the world. the only men in my book are abusers, so they don't get to talk. they don't get to take up space. they ruined my life, they don't get to have their words echo anymore.

because like, yeah! you find practically any story about a person surviving trauma and... there's a man at the center. men are often rescuing us from these things. a "good man" is always standing around, being a good man, proving to the victim that good men are the real men. that her experience was unique rather than universal.

the redacted text has not been taken well by all of my early readers. there is this weird, crouching growl that keeps occurring with men-of-a-certain-age. why don't we hear his side of the story?

when i sat down to write everything that happened to me, i couldn't look at the frank brutality of my abuser's words on a page and think to myself: i actually let him speak like that. i had to redact his words from the manuscript. i then left it redacted. no victim is going to read this book and hear the person who hurt them. it is a book for the victims to speak. abusers shut up challenge, forever. for eternity.

my father once told me, chuckling, i should just have a page of redaction where i let the man just finally talk. it is funny to joke about how we should make a whole page in my book about a man that hurt me. this was not the only time someone commented - it feels like you're hiding things. how do i know you're actually a victim if he doesn't get to speak?

there are books where women aren't even present. i even genuinely like some of those books. like, who doesn't like the hobbit?

i keep running into people defending this imaginary man. the default narrative is so true to some people that they will defend any man, just by virtue of the assumption - "if he's acting like that, you had to push him." certain people need definitive proof that you didn't accidentally make your partner into an abuser. they need to decide if you deserved it, because they want to be able to judge you.

which makes sense, i guess, from a hind brain perspective. if you can figure out "why" someone was cruel, you can protect yourself against it. if you defend the bully, the bully might side with you. i don't really know their explanation for feeling this about a character in a book. trust me, i wrote the guy. he is not going to protect you.

i guess i just - there was a time in my life where i desperately wanted anyone to defend me. where i could have really used someone saying holy shit are you okay instead of what did you say to make him act like that to you.

instead, over dinner, a friend-of-a-friend i just met is pouring herself wine. i heard you wrote a book, she says. she gives me the kind of chilly smile i associate with knives. i heard it's unfair to men.

[pillarsalt]

hi um

I was? transmasc but recently I’ve been seeing a lot of really misogynistic sexist transphobic stuff from trans community and it’s just been totally accepted, even by other transmascs. It’s been going on for a while but recently there was a murder of a nonbinary afab person and yet the whole trans community here has been silent, instead screaming about a transfem user being banned or something? This isn’t the first time an afab trans persons suffering has been dismissed, but now right after this awful death, i see transfems making posts about how transmascs talking about their oppression are terfs.

I didn’t want to think about it but all i could think about was that it was weird how despite everyone claiming trans men have all this privilege, trans women always come first…they get the most representation, they get the fame the admiration and the opportunities, their voices are always the loudest and their problems always always come first no matter what.

But despite popular belief trans men’s issues aren’t actually less significant, in some cases we suffer far more than trans women especially in regard to sexual violence. Yet we are silenced. We are frequently left poor, we are discriminated against for our sex we are discriminated against for being trans we are discriminated against for being perceived as lesbians. Yet we are made to be silent?

Why are our voices less important than trans women’s?

And all I could think about was that this is how females are treated in every other area.

I don’t know what else to say… I tried so hard not to reach that conclusion because I don’t want to be transmysogynist but I kept coming back to it and I couldn’t find an argument against it. This is how females are treated. This is what male privilege look like. And if trans women have male privilege, then why the fuck am I sitting here letting them talk over me?

I just feel really really angry. Your a blog who I liked your art but I blocked you when I discovered you were a radfem, but I sort of had you in the back of my mind for some reason and now I feel lost and confused, and I don’t think I want to be part of the trans community anymore.

Hey anon, firstly I really appreciate your willingness to have an open discussion with me. This must be weighing on you pretty heavily.

Secondly, holy shit, you're right. While the entire website is treating this user's ban as a national travesty, I haven't seen a single person talking about Nex's murder despite how much they claim to care about trans people. That's really fucking low, and this situation does very much encapsulate the state of misogyny within the trans community.

And you're right, this IS how females are treated in every other area. Throughout history, the suffering and injustice women face is minimized, laughed at, ignored, and when we want to talk about it, we're shut down and told we're making people uncomfortable and our pain isn't that bad. And here we are again, with a female person's death outweighed by a male person's inconvenience.

The denial of sex-based oppression that permeates trans spaces is a blatant lie that can only be held together if nobody is allowed to acknowledge it, and those who do are punished. If the trans community truly stood behind what they say, discussion would be encouraged! The foundation of their movement would be backed up with facts and replicable science! But instead, they'll call you a bigot for pointing out systems of oppression you can see with your own eyes. Because if you do, transwomen's position as Most Oppressed, and therefore the final authority on what's right and wrong, collapses. You are correct when you say that it seems like transwomen always come first; I don't remember who said it first, but just look at magazine covers featuring trans people -- the transwomen are fully clothed CEOs, athletes, movie stars, but transmen mostly get on magazine covers for... being pregnant and half naked. Misogyny is built into every society on earth, and individuals simply calling themselves something else doesn't change that. And when you give male people free reign to be as misogynistic as they want without consequence, they'll grab that opportunity and hold on like their lives depend on it. The way they weaponize transmen's sex against them is indistinguishable from what 'cis' men do to 'cis' women, but if you ever speak out about it, somehow YOU'RE the one hurting THEM. They do not want transmascs to find solidarity with other female people, because then they would have to face the reality of their own place in a patriarchal world, and face the fact that there are experiences exclusive to female people and that we have the right to speak about it. I mean you see shit like this and the motives become completely transparent:

I do find it funny how hard the trans community and their allies work to prevent anyone from hearing what radfems have to say in case they "corrupt" you with mere words. A lot of the time, it's simply listening to transwomen themselves that sparks the feeling of "something's not right here" in your brain. That's what happened with me too. I'll tell you that most of us also used to be proponents of trans activism, many formerly identifying as trans too. You are seeing through manipulation, and I know it's quite shocking to realize. Even when I first started having doubts about trans rhetoric, I thought "well everyone else agrees about this, so I need to shut up and be nice about it even if I don't agree." It's an unpleasant place to be in. The cognitive dissonance is exhausting though, and it becomes impossible to ignore.

The mistreatment of transmasc people in the trans community by transfems is brutal, and It's hard to watch from the outside because I just want to say "Hey, you know you don't have to take this shit, right?" And you really don't. You are not at all a bad person for recognizing the frankly absurd amount of misogyny in the trans community. Feeling lost and confused is shitty, but it's normal for this situation. The best thing you can do is keep observing, keep reading, form your own opinions, and never let anyone tell you to shut up. Above all, prioritize yourself and your mental wellbeing. If you need to remove yourself from gender-related spaces and discussion for a while, that's totally alright. Just know you're not evil or a bigot for not blindly agreeing with everything the trans community has told you. Your opinions and experiences are worthwhile too.

[nekropsii]

I know the kids in general aren't your thing but what are your thoughts on june egbert as a whole?

I've seen opinions on her existence be pretty varied (tho I guess more recent years its a widely accepted fanon and uh some ppl treat her as canon when.. she's... not lmao..) so I'm curious on your opinion if you have one!

(I personally don't subscribe to the headcanon but otherwise I don't have any strong feelings about it ppl can do whatever they want forever lmao)

I've been vocal about this previously, but in my opinion, all J. Egbert is good J. Egbert. June, John, Transfem, Transmasc, Transneu, Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Multigender, whatever the fuck, I don't care, have fun. Whatever gender people subscribe to the character isn't my business, and I have zero way of telling what it means to people unless they're being super blatant about it, which... Doesn't actually happen often?

I have no way of telling if people subscribe to transfem!June wholesale because that gives them comfort, or transmasc!John because that gives them comfort, or genderfluid!Egbert because that gives them comfort, or even just... Cis Trans Ally John, because that gives them comfort. These are all things I've seen before. I just choose to assume good faith, as is healthier, and respect whatever OP is tagging. If they're tagging art as June, it doesn't matter if she looks the same as she does in canon, or if she's pre-transition, that's June to them, so I'll tag it as June myself. If they're tagging art as John, I tag it as John. I have no way of knowing what their idea of the sex of this character is, and I'd find it weird to "correct" them, when they could very easily just be drawing a headcanon they've had for years and found major comfort and gender euphoria in. I don't know their life.

I think the way people have been using June's confirmation- not canonization to HS^2/HS:BC, she hasn't appeared yet- as a way to be transphobic in any direction is vile. I think if you use June as a way to be transmisogynistic, you're an asshole and a transphobe. If you use June as a way to be bigoted against trans men, you're an asshole and a transphobe. If you're finding a way to use it to be bigoted against nonbinary or multigender people, you're an asshole and a transphobe. I would sure fucking hope this isn't a controversial statement. There's no good reason to be a bigot. A disagreement over gender headcanons is an especially pathetic reason to reduce yourself to transphobia. Come the fuck on now.

More Discussion Under the Cut:

Miscellaneous thoughts include... 1.) She is not canon to Homestuck proper. This is because every piece of Homestuck media outside of literal Homestuck (2009) itself has been very open about the fact that they are not canon to Homestuck (2009). Homestuck (2009) is canon to Homestuck (2009), and nothing else is. HS:BC is canon to itself. HS^2 is canon to itself. The Homestuck Epilogues is canon to itself. Pesterquest is canon to itself. Hiveswap is canon to itself. They are not canon to Homestuck, though. These aren't condemnations of these pieces of media, nor is it a reduction of the meaning of this form of the character to people, it just needs to be stated that they're not canon to Homestuck. This is by design, and is also a well advertised fact about them. 2.) She was not "always intended", or "always canon". I see a lot of people say that June was being intentionally alluded to since 2009, and... That's just... Really blatantly not the case? Extremely magical thinking happening there. I think if June was supposed to happen in Homestuck, and was allegedly intentionally alluded to in Homestuck constantly... She would have happened in Homestuck? There's nothing wrong with an author getting asked to make a certain gender headcanon canon and then, you know, canonizing it because they think it's cool, nor is there anything wrong with an author realizing that an interesting arc for a specific character would be a gender transition in sequel material. It doesn't have to always be a "This was all planned from the start" situation. As someone who is a writer... That's genuinely just not really how writing works, and it really isn't where Hussie's politics were at during the time. Hell, I know a lot of genders, pronouns, sexualities, races, ethnicities, religions, and disability statuses were changed throughout me working on my own writing projects. They weren't all "Planned from the Start", and there's nothing wrong with that. 3.) June fans, I am so sorry. You all deserve so much more than these years of J.K. Rowling-tier """canonization""". This was said to be something that was totally going to happen... On Twitter... Through a magical Toblerone wish... Several years ago. And nothing has really come of it since. Not even a hint!! That sucks so much. 4.) Not to be blunt, but some people are really misogynistic about her. Transitioning doesn't completely change your personality. It doesn't fix all of your problems and flaws. Growing into femininity doesn't magically make you a ditzy bimbo girly girl whose only personality traits are Cute, Stupid, and Female. That's just fucking weird, dog. The way some people treat her status as a woman reads very... Caliborn-esque...

[sparklecryptid]

The Folgers "Incest" Commercial and the Internet

the internet doesn't know how to engage with things that make them uncomfortable or self reflective and im a killjoy

TODAY ON: The Internet is once again Hitting My Buttons and I have been Enabled (shoutout to @fatalism-and-villainy for reminding me of my BEEF WITH THIS SPECIFIC MEME) so now you are all going to listen to me rant about why I get so fucking annoyed with the meme that grew out of the Folgers Brother and Sister Commercial.

This is the commercial in question:

Is the acting weird and stilted? Yes. Does the whole thing remind me of bring a teenager and having awkward interactions with the family members I haven't seen in a long time? Also yes. Does this commercial commit the crime of being suggestive? Does it commit the crime of making it seem like the brother and sister are in a *gasp. pearl clutching. etc.* incestuous relationship? No. It doesn't. The acting is bad. The camera angles suck. The lighting is terrible. The script could be more natural. These are valid criticisms of the ad. The fact that a meme culture jumped up around the siblings in this ad making them into an incest joke makes me wonder if we all need to go back to elementary school Language Arts.

Granted I do take the view that messaging in media can be interpreted by others however they please so I know I've already lost some of you and that's chill, I am not here to convince I am here to rant.

Also like. My guys. My gals. My nonbinary pals. The intention of the creator matters. The creator of this stunted and poorly acted commercial did not intend for the internet to read this as an incestuous relationship.

(That doesn't matter to the internet, and is of little relevance here, but it is still important to note.

"But Moose," You say and I already know where you are going with it, "We know that, that's why it's funny to meme!"

"I know," I reply with a sigh that speaks of having just completed three end of term group projects, "But at the moment I'm taking the words incest and incestuous away from you because none of you can be trusted to use it to describe the thing it is made to describe and siblings just being siblings.")

The internet has decided its a funny haha to giggle at the bad acting here. That's fine! It's fine! You do you! I am simply a fellow on the internet that gets annoyed too easily! It's fine! The author is dead and the internet took over and nothing matters ever.

We're here to talk about how one of the reasons this commercial took off so fast as a meme is likely because it showed an awkwardly acted familial relationship that made people uncomfortable because it showed an attempt sincerity and sincerity is cringe. The internet around the time the memes took off was full of people who would rather make jokes about being affectionate toward your sibling than ever admit that sibling relationships are complicated things and that *gasp* being sincere with a sibling you have a good relationship with isn't uncommon! Admitting that you like your sibling might ruin your cool guy street online cred! Admitting you don't get the joke might make people make fun of you!*

Admitting that you're afraid of self-reflection and being forced to confront why you would rather these two characters be in an incestuous relationship than just be siblings is scary!

AND THAT is why this commercial annoys me! Because these memes are seem like they are laughing at a poorly acted aid that at least made an attempt to be sincere about how it portrayed a brother and sister relationship! Is the commercial cringe? Yes. Does the acting suck? Yes. Is the commercial implying anything? No. It's not. You guys just can't imagine something being cringe and sincere and are stuck on the heteronormative imagining that any relationship between a man and a woman has to be sexual if it is to mean anything.

*why i was on the bandwagon for so long. i am not good at Getting The Joke in real life why would I be any better online?

[traegorn]

you actively disrespect jewish people posting like some authority, then double speak that you’re not an authority. Well we know damn well you’re a fraudulent liar

Okay, so we're still on this script.

I say "Listen to Jewish people when they say using Lilith in your witchcraft is disrespectful. Lilith is a figure exclusively from Jewish folklore, and here's a buttload of proof for that."

You try to uno-reverse this by calling me antisemitic for having the audacity to say "Listen to Jewish people."

I tell you that this is a stupid thing to say, and point out the obvious again.

You claim I'm trying to set myself up as an authority on the topic.

I remind you that I'm not, I'm just looking at basic facts and listening to members of an often marginalized ethnoreligion that I am not a member of. I also remind you that I am not in charge of you and that it's really weird you're so fixated on me.

Then you send me a couple of wackadoo messages like this one (and the last one which was such a self own that I didn't even really have a response). We're at the part where you try to claim I don't have any credibility. Got it. We're right on schedule.

At this rate I expect you to call me a transphobe again, even though I'm literally a nonbinary person. Because this is your only play -- try to insult me with absolute nonsense while never challenging the clear evidence I presented literally years ago at this point.

You understand that this is creepy, stalkerish behavior, right? You seem really angry that I, a person you've never met, thinks you're an asshole. I've never gone to you. I don't even know who you are. You literally never have to interact with me, and this is entirely voluntary on your point. You came to me. You do not have to keep coming to me. You could literally live your life entirely free of my opinion.

But we both know you're not going to. You waited months for my Anons to get turned back on and immediately sent me something like a fucking lunatic. I didn't even tell anyone I turned them back on.

Get help.

[ferretwhomst]

Question about the transfem! Stans au: When did they figure out that they were transfem? Also, did they fully transition?

HMMM well. i like to think stan sort of realized sometime during the 10 years she was separated from ford in the 70s. for awhile in her teen years whenever she felt out of place in her body she covered it up with a facade of hypermasculinity in hopes that it would make the feeling go away. however a few years down the line she was traveling the country on her own and that gave her time to Realize Some Things 🏳️‍⚧️ about herself. but of course she was still in bad company and extremely self-conscious and vulnerable (not to mention full of internalized sexism) so even after she figured she was a girl she continued denying it to herself

i think only when she officially began living in gravity falls as stanford did she realize that it literally doesn't matter. she's living in a fuckall town in the middle of nowhere in oregon, everyone in the town is a little weird (not to mention the cryptids and anomalies everywhere) and nobody's gonna care if she officially accepts that she's a woman and starts transitioning

ford also probably realized during those 30 years in the portal. i think she wasn't really as troubled by her gender the way stan was growing up, it was just sort of a side effect of existing, but she never had any reason to call herself anything but a man even if it didn't feel Quite Right. however meeting people from different dimensions with different perceptions of gender made her realise gender is a fuck and she can do what she WANTS...... and then she comes out of the portal 30 years later some flavor of fem nonbinary

i have an incredibly shitposty version of the interaction at the end of nwhs (i guess it'd be nwss in this au) which goes

"That's the Author of the Journals- my brother!"

"I think you'll find it's 'sister' now, actually, Stanley."

"WH- YOU TOO????"

and later in atots:

"Oh thank god, I was a little worried I'd have to explain to you why I've been ordering estrogen supplements in your name for the past 25 or so years"

"You opening this portal tonight could've ripped open the very fabric of reality and that's what you were worried about-"

also re: their transitions, i don't think either of them would be that bothered with it? apart from the hrt, of course, stan might've briefly tried voice training; i imagine she puts on a marginally more feminine voice when she's being ms (mrs???) mystery and then at home or when she's not around customers she drops the voice and just sounds like how stan does in canon. i don't think she would go for any kind of surgery either whether facial feminization or bottom surgery or whatever; she doesn't care that much for presenting as feminine even if it gets her weird looks from some people. she's secure enough in her gender to validate it for herself <3

with ford it gets a little complicated. how much of a human's transition could've been completed while she was dimension hopping?? do they have estrogen in other dimensions??? if ford started doing hrt did they give her estrogen or like an equivalent??? so many questions and zero answers. if not then i think she would like to go on hrt after returning from the portal but like stanley would not care much for surgeries or voice training. both of them like their roughed up old guy voices too much to do anything about it

also entirely unrelated to your questions but i think spending time with mabel would encourage both of them to engage with stereotypical feminine things in a way that feels safe and comfortable and not embarrassing for them. like . for example imagine with me mabel teaching them how to braid each other's hair. (might be a pain because i imagine neither of them have very long hair but you know she tries.) like auughhhhh

[eastgaysian]

hi I'm a casual gomens show enjoyer and pro-sharing the kiss image which was shared on an official show promo account lmao. it's so funny for people to be like "don't share it!! Neil is mad!!! he's sooo upset people worked so hard on this show how dare you share a gay baiting promo image the promo team shared themselves!!" like even if you're Neil and mad for any valid reason about this being public now (which. there's no reason that isn't a Bad Look for him to be mad about this anyway lmao) you should just be having beef with your marketing team? like what happened to the whole once you post something on the internet it's immortal. mr gaiman learn some basic internet safety. don't post hole don't post gaybaiting kiss if you don't want it to haunt you forever. take the L and stop being weird to your fans about a still from the show that Shouldn't Be A Problem unless the context for it in the show is shitty. this whole situation is SO funny. I saw someone on twitter posting "oh I saw Neil say he's furious about this and I feel so bad for sharing it :(" like. good gd you aren't his marketing team this is in all possible ways not even your business

it's such a fascinating and funny phenomenon to me because it could only happen with good omens and amanda palmer's ex-husband. i don't know how much creative control neil gaiman has over amazon's good omens adaptation, and it's entirely probable he doesn't have input on the marketing, but getting so wildly butthurt about it to demand fans don't share or discuss the two frames posted in promotional material by an official account is embarrassing on so many levels. they used material from the show to promote it and it generated interest? oh my god what a tragedy

the fact that people are genuinely defensive about it/him is also morbidly fascinating. it's not just that people have a bizarre parasocial attachment to neil gaiman, it's that neil gaiman has intentionally cultivated this bizarre parasocial attachment by the way he uses social media and interacts with fans as if he is their friend. he is not your friend, he is an author continuing to profit off of the work you're obsessed with because he dangled Men Kissing above your head, who gives a fuck about how he feels. he's been demanding brownie points for 'groundbreaking queer representation' or whatever for years by daring to have two men sorry, non-human nonbinary creatures who are never acknowledged or meaningfully treated as such in the text, be friends sorry, queerplatonic partners or whatever the fuck, instead of filthy homosexual degenerates who fuck raw. anyway no matter what he comes out of this situation looking like a hypocrite and i think it's fucking hilarious

[foxtricksterwriting]

Lani Clatcher

Author's Note: this is 1 of 3 mcs, I'll link the others when they're posted. While making this I wanted to think of like, what genre their band would be considered but like.... I'm terrible at figuring out genres for music😓

Credits: This is a mc for the interactive fiction game-thingy Infamous. Find it here @infamous-if

Preferred Name: Lani Clatcher

Alias: Ivy ("I know it's not original! Shut it!")

Gender + Pronouns: Agender/Nonbinary + they/them and ve/vir

Singing/Voice claim, if any: Andrew Volpe from Ludo is a really close singing voice. Specifically in the album You're Awful, I Love You. I don't have a speaking voice for them unfortunately.

Age: 26

More About Vir; Lani is often described as overwhelming to strangers. They don't tone any part of their personality down, ever. Vir loud, outgoing and loves meeting new people; textbook extrovert. They'll be the first to greet someone walking into a room and try to make someone comfortable. Ve talks fast and only gets faster when ve gets excited... which is often. They often accidentally volunteer their friends for things they definitely didn't sign up for. Ve realizes it quickly and will either backtrack it or take over for whoever they volunteered.

Ve has a habit of not thinking before doing something and often gets in some kind of trouble because of it. Ve's surprisingly a bit of a pushover; they're overly willing to help out and is very willing to do something for someone if they're lead to believe the person can't do it for whatever reason.

Ve's gained a love of nature from Yijun, but it's evolved into a love of travel. Ve wants to travel everywhere they can and honestly fears settling down someday. They collect little souvenirs from every place they go, but they're a little weird; a pinecone from a forest in Y City, a broken thing they found in Z City. And shiny things. Vir kind of like a crow. Sometimes they'll use the random knick-knacks they've collected to make necklaces and bracelets.

Lani has a certain chaotic energy. Everything ve does has at least a hint of this and it almost makes up their foundation. And ve embraces this chaos. Ve loves fast paced things and get very fidgety when they have to slow down. That's not to say that they won't; ve tries to go slow for vir friends and loved ones. It doesn't always work out, but ve'll try vir damnedest so they aren't alone.

Fun Facts:

Their Pinterest here.

Like I said in Yiijun's post, vir band is called The Cult of Dionysus. Ve calls vir fans Dionysians.

Ve has a habit of accidentally talking over people. ("HEY GUYS DID I TELL-- Oh wait fuck, shit, no keep saying whatever you were saying, I'm sorry!!")

HATES silence. If it gets too quiet they'll tap their foot loudly, hum a song or start a conversation. Usually has headphones so ve can listen to music if it gets too quiet for them.

Allergic to nuts and lactose intolerant. Doesn't really care about being lactose intolerant, will consume dairy products anyway.

They tend to wake up early to watch the sunrise and try to always watch the sunset.

True to vir nature, they LOVE talking to fans. They happily invite fans to take pictures with them any time, any place. Recently, ve had some....issues with a small group of 'fans', which caused vir to set very firm boundaries with vir fanbase.

There's a video out there of I think Misha Collins walking somewhere with his security and he hears a fan or someone call him and just fucking ignores his security to go hug this person; Lani would definitely do that lol

Wants to open a PO Box for fans to send them things

Calls everyone bestie, doesn't matter if they're actually best friends or not. Does have specific nicknames/pet names for vir friends tho.

Ve's probably the kind of person to out-loud say lol or lmao

Like the other two, Lani is one of my regular ocs. Vir backstory is the same as Yijun's; the two met when they were 8. They met Storm in high school and started a band after that. Lani is the bassist and backup vocalist. Ve can play keyboard, too.

"You and me, man. Ride or die! Yep, ride or die!"

[cagedchoices]

I saw a post the other day that said it's weird when people say “[muse name] is so spicy right now” because, in their words, “people who do that are just writing smut as a self-insert fantasy to get off to" I thought that was kind of reductive and untrue and it kind of highlights a growing issue I’ve noticed in the RPC and I kind of just wanted to talk about it from my own perspective.

I am an asexual, aromantic, and nonbinary afab person. My most consistently present roleplay muse for the past 4 years is a cis man I headcanon to be bisexual and biromantic. I feel like it should be somewhat obvious that this is not a self insert fantasy for me, but if it's not that obvious, I'll try to explain.

Initially, I based Caleb's sexuality off an admittedly narrow perception of his canon background. I interpreted his relationship with Francis as romantic partially because at the time, I thought “There’s no heterosexual explanation for how emotional Caleb gets whenever he thinks about Francis, so therefore he must have been in love with this man.”

In addition to that, Caleb had 2 failed relationships after Francis died and there’s nothing dictating what gender(s) those partners were.

I was also partially motivated by spite. How many times has everyone heard “ugh not every close emotional bond between two men has to be gay 😒” ? How many times has that been used to shut down any conversation on the question of sexuality when it involves two male characters? I was sick of it.

I used to say that though. Before I knew any better. I'd see two characters who had a connection I liked seeing as platonic, and instead of reasoning that it's perfectly valid to interpret these characters how you want, I would be like “no. absolutely not. these characters aren't gay because the author didn't write them to be and didn't say they were and actually it's pretty homophobic to think the only way men can be emotionally vulnerable is if they're gay” which is…STUPID lmao don't be like Past Me. That was a DARVO tactic and a particularly shitty one at that. I'm not like that anymore and I'm glad I learned to do better.

Anyways... I love shipping, but I’m less attached to looking through shipping goggles these days and I try not to look at anything from such a narrow point of view anymore. Now whenever I think about the bond between Caleb and Francis, I can see it in a multitude of ways. Which is the same way I see his bond with Dolores in season 3 and his bond with Maeve in season 4. And further how I see potential for ships I develop in roleplay.

But recently I'd been struggling a little bit with truly defining the difference between romantic versus platonic ideals. Most of the generic definitions I see out there describe romantic attraction as being “the desire to do romantic things with someone” and then the examples listed are something like “kissing, holding hands, getting married, spending time together, etc.” and I'm just like “okay what about when people do those things *without* romantic attraction involved?”

Like it just breaks my brain. People get married for reasons that aren't out of love sometimes. And as much as I like kiss scenes in fiction and I like writing them when my brain stops short circuiting long enough to actually do that, I think the entire act of putting your mouth on another human’s mouth and sometimes getting tongues or teeth involved in smushing your lips together over and over again is a really weird ritual to show someone you like them. I still write it though because it's cute. As for holding hands and spending time together?? Are we just not supposed to spend time with friends ever? What the fuck.

I stumbled across a video a few days ago by a neuroscientist who has studied the concept of love in the human brain and what she said helped me put things into a better perspective. Someone asked her if there's a good way to differentiate between platonic and romantic relationships when, especially in modern society, we don't have as much separation between the things humans do WITH romantic partners versus in non-romantic relationships and the lines blur more than they used to in the past.

What she said was that romantic love behaves similarly to an obsession or addiction in the brain. It's not just the fact that you want to DO so-called romantic activities with someone, it's more that you want to do them so badly with a specific person, you can't really let go of the thought until you follow the impulse to do it.

Kissing, for example. It's possible you might want to kiss a friend you have a strong platonic bond with, but if you don’t do it, then the interest usually fades and the brain will quickly move on. On the other hand, if you have a crush/partner/spouse/any kind of romantic connection and you want to kiss them, the brain will most likely fixate on the thought of kissing them until you actually go and do something. It will not fully move on until it gets the dopamine hit.

I guess since I’m aromantic, this means that for me, I don’t experience that addictive feeling of wanting to do something with someone so badly that it's all I think about. But I write a muse who is biromantic and does experience romantic attraction, which sort of requires me to know how it works, so I can actually write about it.

I see sexual attraction in a similar way. I’m asexual and in my case, I'm one of the ones who doesn't experience sexual attraction in any way and is not comfortable with being personally involved in sex. But my muse is bisexual and does experience sexual attraction.

So I decided to start writing smutty things last year and I had a couple reasons for it. The first is that I had never actually written smut before so it was something new to try, and practice would mean I would get better at it.

The second was that I have watched, for years, many of my mutuals routinely participate in sexy sunday and similar things. It probably sounds kind of like peer pressure, but it wasn’t like anyone was really encouraging me to do anything or not do anything. It was more like after years and years of existing in my own bubble of never engaging in it, I wanted to see what I was missing. Completely my choice.

Thirdly, after tackling the subjects of “where the fuck do you put your hands?” “does this position sound physically possible? or...comfortable?” and the like, writing simple kiss scenes or non-sexual intimacy no longer feels like a monumental task that I mentally freeze up on the second I realize I have to write.

For a while it also got very hard for me to figure out when someone wanted to ship with me versus when they didn’t. I was afraid to ask. I started overthinking everything to the effect of “what if they think I’m being presumptuous and pressuring them into writing a romantic relationship they don’t want?” or “what if they are afraid to tell me they actually Are interested in a ship in case i think they’re trying to pressure me into it instead?”

There was also quite a bit of “oh god what if they see that i wrote my muse on a date with someone in a certain location and when i put our muses in that same location for a different thread they think it’s a date too when it’s not?” or even “what if a mun of a duplicate muse sees me writing a ship with a different partner writing the same muse and they start thinking i’m only writing with them to add them to a weird little collection or something?” and all the social anxiety I fall victim to when my mental health gets tanked by stress and depression.

All of this to say, now that I’ve climbed back out of the pit of despair I fell into… I don’t think anything is as simple as “people only write shipping to fulfill the desire for a relationship/people only write smut to fulfill their own sexual desires.” I think you have to take it on a case by case basis and not make broad assumptions. Otherwise all you're gonna do is alienate people over things that really don't matter.

Plus, maybe it's just that “[muse name] is feeling so spicy right now!” is a lot quicker and easier to say than “the part of my subconscious imagination that [muse name] occupies is telling me that if this muse were a real person, they would be feeling sexually aroused right about now and I'm willing to write about it!” so like. Y’know.

[indigoinka]

Hi! I’m finally getting around to that intro post I promised months ago, and honestly, you could be here for some time.

I’m squatting on a whole bunch of social media accounts, but this is the only place I feel safe anymore, though I do have a little reader group on the Meta-hole (🤢). I wish I could get my AuDHD head around Discord, but it feels like the old Yahoo boards mated with a speeding train, and I'm just too tired for that. 

Wherever you look, I’ll be indigoinka or Inka York there.

This is me:

About me, then:

I love tea. Would I even be British if I didn’t?

I love cake. British.

And cider. British.

Yeah, and pie.

Food. I like food.

Please rec queer TV shows to me because I don’t watch as much as I should, and sometimes I just need to refill my crusty old well.

I love supporting indie authors, and rarely read trad stuff these days unless the blurb and sample are god tier.

Feel free to ask questions and tag me in writing games, or whatever shenanigans you get up to around here.

What do I write?

I write queer books, mostly urban fantasy, and usually set in the same storyworld. I also write contemporary gay romance, sometimes with an alien twist. And I’m wide with my books, so you can find them at all the major online retailers and in library catalogues.

I write what I like to read, which sometimes includes problematic tropes, but mostly includes wholesome shit like twin stories, sibling banter, ride or die friendships, a hearty mix of fluff and angst, found families, annoying ghosts, salty supernaturals, cinnamon rolls with knives, and sentient vehicles. Oh, and goats. I love me a judgemental goat.

My favourite tropes

Well, it started as a love triangle/square/dodecahedron, but now everybody's fucking (I don't know what this trope is actually called)

Forced proximity/only one bed (or coffin, in my case)

Friends to lovers (AKA idiots who took too long to notice how perfect they are)

Grumpy/Sunshine

Secret twins

Rivals to lovers

Hurt/comfort

My storyworlds

Cascade Apocrypha (queer paranormal/urban fantasy in many subgenres from pirate adventures to cosy mysteries to paranormal romance)

Feverish (contemporary gay romance)

Dracate System (AKA Gay Space Bridgerton)

My books

My first series, Not the Same River, is urban fantasy, upper YA/crossover, set in the Cascade Apocrypha storyworld. It features angels, demons, vamps, vaewolves, goats, succubus nuns, and villains to cry over. Book five is out this month, and the final book is out in February. This is the story of my heart, and the one that spurred a thousand spin-offs that I'll never have time to write.

The first book in that series, A Storm of Paper Starlings, is complete on Wattpad and Inkitt. I was gonna put it on AO3, but it feels weird because I tore all my Potter fics down when JKR started flashing her arse at the entire world, and everything I had on there felt dirty. Anyway, I digress. I might go back. Talk me into it.

I also have two other books updating on Wattpad:

🩷 Victorian Vampire Daddy (MM historical romantic suspense/Cascade Apocrypha)

🩷 My Ex & His Boyfriend (MMM/Feverish storyworld)

My other current series, Tales from the Noctuary (Cascade Apocrypha), has two books out at the retailers:

🩷 Secrets at the Door (historical mystery/suspense with lesbian romance): fat, beekeeping lesbian vampire, queer well-demon with a bad haircut, nonbinary treasure who sometimes makes bad decisions, everybody be gay.

🩷 Puddles in the Pavement (historical mystery and outright shenanigans): queer archangel brother detectives, a perky butler, an escort of indeterminate gender with the worst singing voice in the known world, a vampire duke with terrible table manners, and a Home Secretary with an unasked for appendage (let's hope that doesn't get around).

I have two more books written for this series so far, which will likely debut in my subscription.

Getting to that...

My subscription

13 Club: After Dark is hosted at Ream Stories, the only subscription platform designed specifically for authors and readers, and it is amazing.

You just click on the book cover you want, and the app will drop you into the social e-reader right where you left off, so you can comment right there inside the story. It’s like Patreon + Wattpad + a community board + extra sauce.

Honestly, I could gush about it all week.

This is also me:

So, what’s there?

Well, first, you can follow me there (which is free, obvs) and get access to:

The Weakest Link (Not the Same River #0): features the series MC’s twin sister and the coven she grew up in.

The Cursed Bones of Sergeant Boom!: a contemporary paranormal mystery involving a ghost who gatecrashed a funeral and got followed home by a necromantified corgi (as one does).

Pride’s Treasure: a series of mini adventures with characters from all the stories above, where all the chaos is your fault, because the MC of this story is YOU!

In the paid tiers, there’s 8 weeks early access to the two stories updating on Wattpad, the whole Not the Same River series so far (book 5 is updating now, before it hits the retailers at the end of October 2023). There’s also a 13 Club exclusive story called Earth Render, which is MMMMF (but not reverse harem), again set in the Cascade Apocrypha storyworld. That one features a witch with no beginning, a raven shifter with the best taste in pets, a vampire with memory issues, a vaewolf who can’t control his wolfism, and a nephilim with a huge secret. I promise not to give the Archangel Gabriel a horse penis in this story 👀

There are also physical welcome packs for some of the tiers, and all members are rewarded with After Darkling points, which they can save up each month for sweet treats, like a personalised drabble, or a one-shot featuring their favourite character, or some mystery merch. I love my After Darklings and my little club so much.

My main WIPs at the moment are:

Earth Render serial (mentioned above)

The Dryad's Curse: Pirates of Siorai trilogy (paranormal pirate adventure with romance/Cascade Apocrypha)

Gay Space Bridgerton (space fantasy romance with interplanetary political intrigue and hapless humans/Dracate System)

Almost done... maybe

That was a whole lot of intro (mate, do I love the word shenanigans), but I’m a busy goblin, and though my days are only marginally more comfortable than my painful nights, I still feel grateful that I get to do this every day.

I’d love to chat with you here, on Wattpad,  in my FB group (same name as my sub) or over at 13 Club: After Dark. My subscription is what keeps me and my writing going, so if you’re here because you already love my stories, and you have the means, I’d love to see you over there. Your support would mean the world to me, whether it’s a follow or more. I love in-story comments more than life.

I’d love more friends on here, though. So if you’re into queer media and love reading, feel free to follow and I'll follow back.

That’s it from me. I’m finally shutting the fuck up.

Come chat with me whenever you want.

Stay safe!

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

[euphoricfilter]

Hi this is “afab doesn't equal nonbinary” anon

I went to twitter to check what was being said and it’s apparent that two situations are being conflated here.

So I wanna start off by saying that I wrote my first ask thinking this discourse was about fanfiction headcannoning but it seems someone has brought real life discourse onto tumblr.

The emasculation comment now makes sense too.

To put it shortly, Jungkook in real life is being called a woman, she/her, and a lesbian. This asian male emascalization.

This is up there with calling real life black women “men”.

It’s disgusting and I don't stand by it even as a trans person.

It seems some people -unfortunately white queer people- can’t see how joking and imposing headcannons on real people is an issue.

The only time headcannons and characterization can be used is on fiction interpretation of people.

I’d like to think that most readers and authors have the literature competency to know that writing and reading original characterizations that have BTS’s faces slapped onto them doesn't give us the right to then project them onto the real life members.

This is one of the rules of IRL People fiction.

You don't present these projections as truth in the real world and you ABSOLUTELY DON'T send them said content.

The real Jungkook we know and love is a man who is secure in his masculinity to explore his femininity. But he can only do that if it’s done SOLELY by him. Sexuality and Gender Expression is a PERSONAL journey.

By even delving into his feminine side he is taking back his power as a asian man in a world where asian men have been historically emasculated. But this only works if he is the only one with the choice to do it. It has to be initiated by him or else its bigotry.

When we start imposing what and how we think he’s supposed to express himself then we are becoming proponents of white supremacy.

So just like a trans person doesn't have to tell the world they’re trans, cis people shouldn't either. Like I hope that’s a thing we all understand? Right?

By joking that “Jungkook is gender” or any other weird shit, we’re actively commodifying his identity and essentially playing into Orientalism which is racial violence.

And just like I stated about some nonbinary people reaffirming binaries, white queer people have this tendency to try and put expression into a binary and unfortantely alot of afab grapple onto asian men, especially ones in kpop as their “new gender expression just dropped” as of this isnt a real fucking person.

It comes off like those weird geisha or asian android holograms/advertisements in video games/movies like Cyberpunk and Blade Runner. It's Neo-Orientalism.

So yes FICTIONAL characters who have Jungkook’s name and face can be nonbinary but don’t assume IRL Jungkook’s gender identity until he says so himself.

Even then, if he does come out as trans, we shouldn’t make a spectacle out of it. We should treat Jungkook like before; like when we perceived them as cis.

So I stand by what I said in the first post when it comes to FICTION.

But this is my post to say that whats happening on twitter IS EMASCULATION as what the other anons have pointed out.

With the new context, they are absolutely correct but they’ve brought it to the wrong person which is the author of this blog.

I want to apologize to that anon cuz I essentially argued a VALID point that they weren't making but at the same time what they’re arguing in relation to twitter is not what’s happening on this blog.

We’re conflating two issues.

Essentially we’re both right:

Jungkook can be nonbinary with they/them pronouns in FICTION

Jungkook is a cis man who explores femininity in REAL LIFE AND IS BEING SUBJECTED TO EMASCULATION

And honestly I’m concerned about IRL and it should definitely be talked about.

that was sort of what i was trying to get across. in no way shape or form am i projecting fictional jungkook onto him in real life. they’re essentially 2 different entities, and nothing i’ve ever written about him, be it his gender identity or how he’s presented is me being like hey this is real life jungkook and this is how i feel about him, which i assumed was just a known fact from writer to reader.

me writing gender fluid jungkook isn’t there to emasculate jungkook as a person in real life and his own gender identity, because of course like everyone else i’m simply a fan who has surface level knowledge about his own person and obviously don’t know everything that he hasn’t shared with us

i don’t agree with everything that everyone says on twitter, and i know that what some people see as jokes can come off as more harmful than funny, especially within this context and how people view men or women, or just people in general based off race and problems that have been around for so long that no one apparently wants to talk about and solve

not only gender identity but i think sexuality plays into this too but i won’t go too deep into that because it’s a whole new conversation that we could talk about a lot.

what the anon said about what happens on twitter wasn’t wrong at all, but within the context of what i’ve written i personally don’t think it was fit within what they were trying to argue, especially with their first initial statement made which was me being disrespectful to nonbinary people and then bringing race into it.

yes, people on twitter have the tendency to say weird, harmful shit, and yes i don’t agree with all of it. but i’m talking a fictional story 🕺and nothing i’ve ever written is me saying that yes that’s exactly how i view the members of bts, because it’s not. and i’m not sitting here saying that junkook is this or that in real life. there’s two very different worlds, and i’m fully aware of my boundaries as a fan and my thoughts towards real life jungkook aren’t presented through fiction

i agree!! i think especially with what happens on twitter it’s an issue that needs to be brought up more otherwise we’re just gonna get no where and it’s like a constant cycle of people just projecting and being weird and kinda harmful and just sad 😭

it’s just the anon hadn’t brought it within the correct context. and i’d just assumed we all knew that just because i’ve written something, i’m aware that it’s not me thinking that real life jungkook is that way

and i hope that everyone who reads my stuff, or the fic if i evidently decide to upload it, know that i’m not projecting fictional jungkook onto real life jungkook. i’m very comfortable within myself as a fan, i know where to step and i know what’s wrong and never once would i want to purposefully subject jungkook to being emasculated when i’m aware it’s such a big issue for asian men and a topic that i personally think should be brought up more especially within the twitter community who have a tendency to say things without thinking about the underlying issue of what they’re posting about

anon wasn’t wrong about twitter but there were a few other points i wasn’t totally in agreement with, but i hope bringing up the topic is kinda a way for everyone to think about the issues the more.

and i apologise that if any moment it’s come across that i’ve tried to either emasculate or invalidated any of the members of bts through what i’ve said or written or what’s been posted on this page, because really that’s the the last thing i’d want

[sucrows]

Hi!! I just read your nazuna post and I love it <3 curious though, do you have any other transmasc hcs for other characters? Or was that just a one time thing for the drabble

I love considering any and every character as trans when the whim hits me tbh, butttt I do of course have favorites so I'm going to make a list of who and why for both horny and non horny reasons: (under cut because i got too invested lmao)

Nazuna: Ok we already know i just have the hots for him BUT theres also other reasons. One of the big factors in Nazuna's misery in Ex Valk was because of his voice changing and no longer being able to sing his old parts. Can you imagine the angst potential in that being because he started T? ESPECIALLY if he were stealth? Like, I highly doubt he would've been able to get away with it but, if he were, then his voice changing would've been something occurring due to something he actively chose to go through. Would he feel like him choosing his joy in transitioning is the same as choosing Shu and Mika's misery? There's just so much to consider there

Mayoi: I also have the hots for them and every character I have them for is schrodinger's gender where they're whatever I want at the moment. Otherwise, he's a weirdo! A freak! I love that for him! I enjoy his funkiness and think he should embrace it with his gender. A lot of trans people are already outcasts so fuck it! he's already an outcast why not embrace it. Not to mention it would add another layer of depth to his insecurities. Transmasc, trans man, transfem, trans woman, nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, all of it!! any of it!!!

Kuro: Ok, weird one, hear me out though. It stemmed after I read this on ao3 (AFAIK the author does not have a tumblr). He feels pressure to be good for his unit, his friends, his family, etc etc- but one of the things he isn't good at is basically anything "feminine". He's a very stereotypically manly person in appearance and its often what he's recognized for. What if though, he just... starts longing to be what he's not? Maybe he spends time in groups and circles with more women because of his more stereotypical feminine interests and he finds himself feeling a bit too at home there. Maybe he gets a few opportunities to wear a cute, pretty, or beautiful getup and he's like... oh... i like this. Just!!! Agh!!! I like the idea of transfemme Kuro a lot.

Hiyori: Ignored youngest daughter raised to ignore her own feelings discovers he's happier as a man and goes on to do his own thing but still feeling an obligation to the family that raised him even though he was pushed aside in favor of his older brother? Once again, angst potential. Oh also, he's already really fucky with his appearance in not being scared to wear prettier, more feminine shit in a way that implies he know what he's doing and i love that. Could just be him being cool as fuck, or that tboy swag. Either way, I like it.

Ibara: oh i just think it's be neat, otherwise though, we've all seen the unbloomed bogie time card. Similar vein as Kuro, he was raised in a an environment filled with nothing but men, men, and more men. He probably didn't even consider it an option for a really long time that he could be anything but a man. The way I see it happening is through a convo with someone who is already out and trans and hearing about their experiences. He thinks the experience they describe sounds to similar to his background thoughts on his gender and then it suddenly hits him that "oh no... am I?". He would probably stay in the closet a longgg time and then one day just come out all at once.

Oof I don't have to much energy for the rest of these but some others im fond of: Natsume, Shu, Niki, & Ritsu.

[perenlop]

Sending another warrior bc of warriors brainrot but how about breezepelt?

sorry this is so late xmx i had this open in a tab and forgot about it

sexuality headcanon: hmmm idk tbh. i'll go with bi ace but he doesnt know it yet

gender/pronouns headcanon: nonbinary but also doesnt know it so goes by he/him for now but will eventually be comfortable w he/she/they

rate them out of ten: it has been a hot minute. i'm gonna go with like a 6 or 7 because the discourse about him is exhausting but also fans are not normal abt him so i kinda feel inclined to like him out of spite.

favorite thing about them: can't tell if this should technically be a bad thing because the erins absolutely wrote him the way they did to be like "oh look how much WORSE crowfeathers life is. dont you wish he was present in the three's lives and still with leafpool?? they arent as annoying as him!" but i do like that he's an unconventional abuse victim. like in fiction, authors like to portray abuse victims as only quiet and meek. which like, those people exist in real life so that's not an issue, per say, but people are VERY quick to suddenly say that a child deserves to be abused if that kid lashes out instead. so, personally i like breezepelt for defying that, but at the same time it wasn't meant to be subversive so like, fuck you erin hunter im stealing him

least favorite thing about them: uhhh kinda the above, its like a double edged sword.

why i first started liking/disliking them: it was half the scene where they say that no one in windclan likes him because. uh oh thats me. and half spite

do i relate/project onto/kin them?: sort of. i kind of understand the sheer rage he feels because of how he's treated in windclan even if its not seen as a "big deal", tho not to a murderous degree obviously. i also understand being seen as the obnoxious kid that no one likes and everyone thinks hes a baby that complains, and people saying that they're glad that he's gone because they think he's exhausting. like. uh oh family and school memories flooding back. dont relate to the dad issues tho

favorite quote/moment: not much comes to mind, hes just kind of a sad character so it feels weird to pick one. ig the scene where brokenstar manipulates him bc its a good representation of how fucked up he's become

my fav ship: idk tbh. ive seen breezeblossom get thrown around but i dont really like blossomfall that much tbh. which one of his ships gets the most vitriol (without age gaps or incest)? bc i wanna do that one to be funny

my fav platonic friendship idk how i feel abt breezeheather but i do at least like em as friends. im fine either way w them tho

a ship i hate: not much comes to mind

do i prefer canon or fanon?: well fanon is kinda weird so ig canon idk. i like the version of him in my head ig?

random headcanon:

what color do i picture them as: orange is what i associate, otherwise he's pitch black

cat breed headcanon: oriental cat

unpopular opinion: honestly i don't know why people take him trying to kill poppyfrost as like an end all thing to saying hes a bad character and not someone you should "side with" over crowfeather. like, i do know why but like this is the murder cat book. most of them kill. the book acts like its both scary and epic. like why are you mocking shadowclan and calling them stupid for mourning russetfur's death at lionblaze's hand after thunderclan invaded them and also clutching your pearls over this? when is it ok to kill in this society? and its also an outlandish action not grounded in reality, while crow's neglect hits closer to home. also breeze is a villain at that point lol hes supposed to do fucked up shit while crow's neglect is painted as misunderstood and uwu sad for him at the end of the day. so yeah i do think its fucked that he did that, but at the same time yeah im not gonna "side with crowfeather" and say he deserved the neglect over it. wtf

[teledild0nix]

Fic Writer Questions! (you can find me here on AO3 if you're interested!)

tagged by dear @theburialofstrawberries mwah!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

112 yowza!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

750,421 kinda tempted to go delete one word so it can be 750420 which is a far more Pleasing number

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

12ish but some of them overlap: BBCS/Sherlock Holmes/ACD (these are all different bc my bbcs fics are not the same as my own modern fem Sherlock Holmes adaptation are not the same as my ACD Holmes fic; Good Omens; Harry Potter/The Werewolf Draco Malfoy Cinematic Universe; Captive Prince; The Hobbit; Fleabag (it was a crossover with BBCS but Fleabag is the perspective character so it still counts as a separate fandom imo); Doctor Who; The Office; Parks and Rec; Broad City (one a piece for those last 5 but I AM going to write a Parks and Rec polycule fic for @gaykagome)

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

They're all Good Omens fics from the 2019 Summer of Good Omens! Susceptible to Summer, Fragments Shored Against My Ruin, Something So Magic, Enter Serpent, and Anything We Like

All of those have over 2k except the last one, but average engagement for me is like 400 kudos or so

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try! It depends on what's going on with me. Sometimes I just don't have the energy, and I figure people would rather I spend my brain power on writing new fics than on writing replies to comments. Wish I had a fave button tho so I could let people know I read and reread comments, because I do!

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh I wrote this ficlet series called A Chemical Defect about John and Sherlock's relationship in s3 of BBCS, and it's WILDLY unpopular. People don't read my fic to cry sad tears I guess! John and Sherlock are having an affair in the story, and it ends with the implication that their relationship is unsustainable and that Mary knows about it anyway. I intended to come back to it after s4 and write a more optimistic ending but LOL! Didn't have the heart.

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I know this answer is kinda up my own ass, but like. I think stories that feel true to life sort of feel like they end on a beginning if you know what I mean? You don't really consider a chapter of your life closed until you look back on it from the next? SO that said, I think I'd have to say that it's my big BBCS serial The Only One in the World. I spent 2 years writing it, and it ends with John retiring from medicine to solve crimes and write books full time.

Could also be my WDMCU (werewolf Draco Malfoy cinematic universe) series Moonrise, which starts with Draco isolated in his abusive mother's house, trying to cope with lycanthropy essentially alone and ends with him in love and surrounded by found family in a cozy cottage in Hogsmeade, having gotten some lycanthrope rights legislation passed after working at it for years and talking to Harry about whether they want to have kids. Oh man I feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about it

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I have written one crossover. It's BBCS/Fleabag, because me and @loudest-subtext-in-tv were laughing about how John seems like one of the horrible guys Fleabag sleeps with basically out of self loathing, so I wrote this fic to make Nattie laugh, and you should read it bc it's so good and so underrated.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really, but people don't seem to know that authors can read bookmark tags unless you private the bookmark, and someone once put in the bookmark tag on one of my fics 'writing was meh but it was okay.' Okay so why bookmark it then??

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Fuck yes! I'm not sure what 'what kind?' means? People fucking? Sloppy, silly, and awkward, with lots of laughing. I also really like writing afterglow scenes which are even sillier and gigglier and often involve one character cooking for another. Food as love language is a very distinct pattern of mine tbh

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, but occasionally I'll write a post on here where I make some elaborate head canon, and I'll see people in the tags talking about how they want to write fic of it, and it makes me breathe fire out of my nose like a dragon like PLEASE DON'T. The WDMCU came out of a ficlet post I made on here like a year before I actually wrote the 60k series so like!!! Please don't do that!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! To Russian and I believe Chinese. Not my entire oeuvre but a handful of BBCS and Good Omens fics

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I wrote a fic inspired by an RP I did with my gf right around when we met (actually now that I think about it, it's two fics), and I waaaaaaanna do a WDMCU collab with my beloved Sally @clytemenestras at some point if he has time bc he inspired me to even write werewolf draco with his original lesbian werewolf story

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

favorites are hard for me? I always think I'm currently doing my best writing lol so I'll say drarry

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don't post fics unless theyre finished, so I don't have any WIP up on AO3, but I did intend to continue with my fem Sherlock Holmes series, Your Many Tendencies. I just haven't been in a Holmes mood for a long time. Maybe I'll come back to it idk. This particular series is honestly very unpopular? People will just straight up say they don't read femslash, and it hurts a lot. This series feels really personal too, bc it's about a Black autistic nonbinary lesbian, so it does hurt my feelings that no one seems to care, yknow? I mean the people who read it are extremely kind and thoughtful in their engagement with it, but it has vastly less engagement than my m/m fic, and that's painful. It gets literally 1/10 the attention my fics usually get.

16) What are your writing strengths?

Almost all of my writing is romance, but I tend to write concurrently about recovery and found family, and I think I'm very good at doing that in a way that connects with my audience. I once had someone ask if they could use my words in their wedding vows, and I've had people tell me they started doing things with their spouse that my characters do with their partners in order to express love. I think about that all the time. My Impact. It makes me feel like I have a real duty to my audience yknow?

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

This question is hard for me like I've been writing so long and so much that I'm literally always happy with my final draft! It's always exactly to my taste, yknow? I suppose I could say that my fics tend not to be terribly plotty but so WHAT? That's beside the fuckn point for me. Plot who? I don't know Her. Also honestly like. Stories feel more True to me when they aren't ruthlessly devoted to plot bc like life isn't like that yknow?

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If you're not fluent in that language, get a beta who is!!!!! That said, I have written scraps of very simple dialogue in French using mostly Google Translate (sometimes I check w Sally bc he speaks French but I am usually too impatient), and I am perfectly well aware that I take my life in my hands each time!!! Also don't do that bullshit thing where it's in italics? That shit is weird and exoticizing. Just write it in quotation marks like normal dialogue.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

BBCS babey back in 2012. Ended a 5 year dry spell for me after I got my writing degree.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Hmmmm I think it's probably gonna be the fic I'm working on now that I haven't posted yet, but I know it's called Names for a House, and here's a tiny bit of it

Thanks again Shreya for asking me to do this bc I really love talking about myself. I tag @the-moon-loves-the-sea, @clytemenestras, @tomiano, @gaykagome and @totallysilvergirl

No pressure <3

[vampish-glamour]

I'll try to keep this simple.

There's this book I really really like. Unfortunately there's a character (well, 2 but it's mostly just the one) that has catched the attention of the gender fandom big time and it's hard to find fics that aren't neckdeep in mogai because of that.

Basically, he's a god and for reasons I won't get into his followers started worshipping him as a woman and because of that his female form is more powerful than his male one. All the gods (and goddesses) in this world have the ability to change genders. But most don't do it. This one character, however, likes doing it quite a bit. The only thing he really cares about is whether or not he looks good.

Now, the author switchs between he/him when he's in his male form and she/her when in female form. Probably just to let the reader know "this is what he currently looks like". It's never confusing and the author doesn't randomly switch the pronouns in a scene.

You can probably see where this is going. People are now calling him "nonbinary" and "genderfluid" and I mean. Technically. TECHNICALLY, they're not wrong. But the issue is that I know they aren't treating those topics as the fiction they are but rather as some kind of weird ""representation"" of ""actual"" genderfluids and nonbinarys etc. And it's just. So exhausting.

Ok so. There's this other character which he sort of coerces into taking on a female appearance for some mission.

We first meet both (born male) characters in their female forms. And many people have started calling them lesbians and I'm like. Aight. Not really? The second character never even takes on a female form ever again throughout the rest of the book. So calling them lesbians isn't exactly accurate.

Sorry about this, I just can't really rant about this on my tumblr or Twitter since I don't want to be mobbed.

Ughhh that sounds like such a cool character though!!! And I hate that I know where the gender fandom took it. 😭

And yeah, technically they aren’t wrong that he’s genderfluid. He literally is. But not in the way they think they’re gender fluid!!!

Like there’s a huge difference between a literal fucking god who can actually shift shapes—therefore genders—, and a human who thinks wearing pink makes them a girl for the day.

Why can’t we just have nice things. It would be great to treat genderfluidity and genderlessness as a fantasy concept, without having dumbasses claim to be represented by said fantasy concepts.

As for the “lesbians”… I don’t know the characters so I can’t really say… but if the guy’s a dude for the rest of the book then I think it’s a bit weird to be calling him a lesbian lol.

No need to be sorry, I understand your frustration!! And yeah ranting about this anywhere else would not be good news lol.

The only sort of good thing we can take from this, is that we can point out the “higher-than-thou”/superhuman/superiority complex that people like this tend to have. I notice it a lot in genderfluid/nonbinary circles… they seem to think they’re somehow superior or More Enlightened than those silly binaries. It’s really telling that they always seem to “relate” to gods and other superhuman characters.

[nightcoremoon]

"men shouldn't be gynecologists" is such a weird take. should white doctors stop seeing black people because medical racism exists? should skinny doctors stop seeing fat people because medical fatphobia exists? should cis doctors stop seeing trans people? should neurotypical doctors stop seeing neurodivergent people? should able bodied doctors stop seeing disabled people? should goy doctors stop seeing jewish people? YEAH SURE LET'S FURTHER LIMIT THE MEDICAL OPTIONS TO MINORITIES, THAT'S SO SMART. not like it's already nigh impossible to find a gynecologist at all in the first place since the american insurance system is a fucking nightmare. and why do we even need specific doctors for specific body parts in the first place if all the information is available online?

and never mind the fact that some male gynecologists are trans, and your mandate that all gynecologists provide documentation that they have no dick is just a way to exclude trans people further. and it's not like female/dfab gynecologists have never sexually assaulted THEIR patients, right? no, gay sexual assault doesn't exist either. and your brain will fucking MELT when you take into account nonbinary and intersex people. and the final piece of the puzzle that hasn't surfaced yet (but will), is trans female gynecologists. haven't considered that possibility either, huh?

it's just yet another form of modern day rabid conservativism disguised as radical feminism. every single career position inherently comes with authority that many will abuse when it comes to women and sexuality. that's not a problem that can be fixed with a bandaid that says "men can't do x job". they'll just find it another job. or just put cameras in the ladies toilets like chuck berry did. that's just how our society is: horribly misogynist and obsessed with forced sexual domination. it's called rape culture. that's why girls go to the bathroom together, why they ask trusted men to walk them to their cars. and it sucks. it sucks that that's just what we have to do here to keep women safe; that there's no blanket bans and legal protections that work since the law and cops and government are worse than useless. I don't get why people who are concerned that their gynecologist will assault them don't just... bring a trusted friend. "oh the doctor bans that" THEN THAT'S A RED FLAG, MY DUDE. which is worse, having a gynecologist who happens to have different genitals than you, or having a gynecologist actively forbid you to bring your mom or sister or wife or boyfriend or whatever to make you feel more uncomfortable while you have your legs in the air and your coochie out? that would be creepy if they were a guy girl or other, full stop. sure, force the 10 year old into that situation all alone, that's real smart.

but whatever it's not like I have a "right" to an opinion or anything. can't speak on men's issues because you're transfem, can't speak on women's issues because you're only transfem. welcome to discourseblr