#they Do Not give a shit about heteronormativity or amatonormativity.

[redtail-lol]

Presenting, Enderqueer

[Image ID: 2 6-striped flags. They are the same flag, but the one on the left has an end portal overlay, which makes it darker with lighter rectangular speckles. Colors on the right's, in descending order, are: pink; light purple; dark purple; black; dark teal-blue; slightly dark sea green. The right has darkened versions of these same colors. End ID.]

My own blankqueer label. I've been wanting to make one for a while. Name and flag based on the End dimension from Minecraft.

Core principles of Enderqueer:

The core principles of Enderqueer are as follows

The right to self identification with little restrictions and rules.

Inclusion of non-harmful identities in the communities they say they belong to.

Respecting the identities of people even if you do not understand.

Giving everyone a chance to explain their identity before deeming it harmful; as well as respecting someone's choice to not explain and assuming good faith rather than passing judgement.

Putting experiences over definitions; allowing all labels to have outliers if they're comfortable with the label even when it doesn't fit them perfectly.

Queer liberation and the advancements of our rights.

Destroying heteronormativity, cisnormativity, exorsexism, intersexism, allonormativity, amatonormativity, and mononormativity (all 3 meanings of mono: monosexuality, monogenderism, and monogamy).

Enderqueer beliefs:

On identity, enderqueer believes the following

Most forms of self identification are valid, however anything that is identified with for harmful reasons (such as transphobia, biphobia/multiphobia, homophobia, ableism, racism, etc.) or things that are harmful regardless of reason (such as transabled, transrace for non-adoptees, transnazi, shit like that), are not valid.

It is okay to ask questions about identities you don't understand or think are harmful before fully accepting them without question. However, if a person doesn't want to answer, that is their right, and it doesn't give you the right to argue against or hate their identity. Assume good faith and maybe ask others who have similar identities.

Identity is complicated and every label, regardless of definition, can and will have outliers, and this is not a problem

Experiences and personal comforts are more important than definitions

All mspec identities are valid and are not biphobic

All aspecs are queer unless the aspec person in particular says they aren't.

All Polyamory, ambiamory, and other nonmonogamy is queer unless the polyam/non-monogam person in particular says they are not queer.

Redundant terms are okay

Multigendered and genderfluid people are "really" their genders. The existence of their other genders or the temporary nature of their genders don't make them less real

On paraphilias, enderqueer believes the following

Paraphilias are morally neutral. Paraphiles who's paraphilias are nonconsensual or harmful to themselves or others deserve support and recovery, and paraphiles who's paraphilias are not harmful should be allowed to act on it. Paraphilias that can either be harmful or not harmful should only be practiced in a safe and ethical way.

On flag discourse, enderqueer believes the following

Flags should not be gatekept from certain groups unless they are specific to one identity or one group of identities. people can decide to use your flags based on your beliefs.

Controversial original flags can be used regardless of if you agree with the creators, but replacement flags should not be used by people who don't agree with the sentiments behind the cancellation. Racist transphobes should not use the orange and pink lesbian flag. Mspec lesbians and supporters should not use the new pan or aroace flags. This is because the new flags have a goal: punish the original creator for a belief by replacing their work. Using replacement flags is accomplishing that goal, and if you agree with the original creator, you shouldn't punish them.

Multioriented and abrosexual people are "really" their orientations. The existence of their other orientations or the temporary nature of their orientations don't make them less real

Other things enderqueer believes the following

Queer labels should not concern themselves with non-queer issues, as that is a different part of one's identity. Making queer labels that concern themselves with non-queer issues excludes the people who are either uneducated on the topic or have no business voicing the opinion because they are not a part of the community or even adjacent.

Gender is real. Social constructs are powerful things that can cause real and observable phenomenon in the brain, and gender being real doesn't invalidate any funky gender identity

Gender Abolition is transphobic. Gender is the identity, and taking away gender leaves nothing but biological sex which may still allow binary trans people to exist if they experience dysphoria but will definitely erase all nondysphoric and nonbinary people.

Transmisogyny and transmisandry are real

POC queers are an unremovable and important part of the queer community

What does enderqueer explicitly support?

Enderqueer supports the following identities, actions, or forms of identification:

Unlabeled identities

People who use few labels for themselves

Termcollectors and labelhoarders

All aspecs, including loveless aros, any sex stance for aces, romance stance for aros, friendship stance for apls, etc, and atertiaries

Anti-contact, pro-recovery paraphiles who's paraphilias are harmful to themselves or others

Paraphiles who's paraphilias are not harmful to themselves or others

Paraphiles who's paraphilias can be harmful or can be safe who only act on them in a way that is safe and ethical

Mspec monos

Mspec gays, veldians, lesbians, cenelians, enbians, straights, etc who do not consider themselves monos

Straightbians, straight gays, straight veldians, gaybians/velaurians, and other labels often used by multigender people

Lesboys, turigirls, ceneliboys and ceneligirls, enbiboys and enbigirls, trixiboys and trixigirls, and toriboys and torigirls

Any other form of "contradictory" labels

Aspec and non-aspec SAM

Xenogenders

Xenidens, or xenoids used in reclamation

Allion orientations

Gender nonconformity, including pronoun nonconformity

Neurolabels, when used by people who have those conditions

Reclamation of slurs and derogatory terms, even when used as an identity

Transracial adoptees

Transspecies therians

Transage chronosian or transage age regressors

What does enderqueer explicitly denounce?

Enderqueer denounces the following identities, actions, or forms of identification:

Radqueers

Winterqueers or Winterpunks

Transidentities that are not transgender, transrace adoptees, therian transspecies, or chronosian/agere transage

Pro-contact harmful paraphilias or neu-contact harmful paraphilias. This also applies to unethical or unsafe ways of acting on a paraphilia that can be done in a safe, ethical way

Comp-contact for paraphilias that can never be safe or ethical in practice

Anti-recovery for ANY paraphilias. Nonharmful paraphiles may choose to recover anyway

Anti-contact for paraphilias that are never dangerous or unethical

Radical feminists

Not recognizing attraction to elsegender people as being just as real and valid as attraction to aptobinary people. This includes calling all exclusive lesbians monosexual, saying all sexualities inherently include elsegender people, thinking enbians are choosing to date nonbinary people or cenelians are choosing not to date aptobinary people, rather than recognizing that they are attracted to other elsegender people, potentially exclusively, or calling WLN and MLN labels transphobic or enbyphobic

Bad faith labels such as superstraight, quasihomosexual, animesexual (though animesexual can be reclaimed by fictosexuals), and others made to mock queerness or justify bigotry

What is enderqueer neutral on, or what does enderqueer not believe needs to be part of a blankqueer label?

Enderqueer is stanceless on the following:

Syscourse

Shipcourse

Self diagnosis

Furries

Alterhumanity (OP supports and it's close to queer discourse but ultimately I decided it was far enough removed that it didn't need to be included)

Engaging with problematic media and/or creators

Kink at pride (I know this one is super relevant but I don't have any strong opinions and the ones I do have are very mixed)

Enderqueers may have no opinion on the above issues, or a stance that they do not believe is important to a blankqueer label. Or they may just agree with everything else included under enderqueer and choose to use it.

[eyobis-andthe-bunnycats]

I'm so fucking pissed off I need to vent somewhere. Feel free to skip this post if you're not interested in reading what an angry non-partnering aroace has to say.

***

Backstory: There's this cute little webcomic I've been reading that has confirmed soulmates with a Red String of Fate. You know, stereotypical amatonormative shit but portrayed in a cute semi-fantastical world. I really enjoy the world building of the story and the themes the author is exploring. I'm currently reading a spin off of the comic. So far we have been shown everyone is born with a Red String tied on their pinky and that at the "right time" that string connects to someone else and you're bound to have a very good relationship with that person(s) [I do believe it is mentioned in universe that there's been people whose red string connects to more than one person (yay polyam!)] and if you work through the beginning stages, you and your string partner(s) are guaranteed to have a fulfilling relationship, which is HEAVILY IMPLIED to be romantic.

In recent chapters of this comic, there was a character currently shown to be on his own. In a more recent episode, the guy is said to have been born without a string and is fine on his own. I was fucking ecstatic! I have been wondering how this world would handle aromantic and other identities and here was an established character that didn't match up with the current narrative of the setting. I left a comment on the episode listing possible scenarios as to why this character did not have a string and why he was fine alone.

I theorized that maybe he was aroace. Or he could have been some other a-spec identity that I wasn't familiar with. And then I theorized maybe he was non-partnering, something that very rarely ever is portrayed in any media that I've seen. Everyone is constantly paired up with someone for one reason or another. So seeing a character without someone and is fine on his own and fucking said he's fine, I was overjoyed to learn more about him and how the setting worked in this comic.

The problem: it might be a coincidence but this other commenter keeps replying to my comments about not being partnered with the phrase "soulmates don't have to be romantic, they can be ✨ best friends ✨."

I did not say at any point that soulmates were only romantic and that best friends didn't count. Like I'm not fucking talking about partnerships? I'm talking about NOT having ANY. And the fact this person said this shit to me twice on two different comments is annoying as all get out. I do not know if they know they're talking to the same person (me) or they think they're being an advocate for aromantic people who have a partner or something.

This just struck a nerve with me because as previously mentioned, non partnering people are hardly EVER discussed or shown in stories, and if it is, it's usually along the lines of "oh they're a broken person who needs fixed." I even have to deal with this shit IRL with my bigoted dad and cis heteronormative friends who are starting to try to pair me up with their friends' kids. Someone I'm BARELY acquaintance with just got engaged a month ago and to be married this weekend and our mutual acquaintances are starting to ask me about my partnerships because of that.

As an aroace person who is not interested in partnership, I'm ticked off.

So, you know, seeing a character in a story not partnered and living alone and BEING HAPPY in a world where everyone has at least a someone, made me really happy and I was excited to learn more about this character and this world he's a part of.

I do not give a shit if my theories are wrong, they're just theories. I just want to learn how this setting works. I have hardly seen any media that has soulmates talk about a-spec identities or non partnering people, and especially I've not seen it written with characters who are not cishet.

This series has gay relationships galore and it also has relationship trauma THAT GETS TALKED THROUGH AND RESOLVED. Great things that I am enjoying! I just really enjoy this setting and the world building and I just want to see if the creator will throw me a bone; I've just been getting scraps and I'm a little nippy.

(this is okay to reblog if you want! I'm just screaming here)

[casstars]

(non-art related ramble under cut)

This might be a very aspec take so sorry about that but tbh I never really understood why people make such a big deal about shipping. Why do we treat it so differently from every other facet of engaging with media? Most people don’t give a shit which platonic character dynamics you like the most but as soon as it’s romance it’s suddenly super important and a cataclysmic event that people will get super pressed and angry about. I mean I get it if it’s like incest or something I get why that’s upsetting but aside from that why do we make it such a big deal. Why do we treat romance as if it’s so fundamentally different from every other type of relationship, as if liking a romantic pairing is the most important thing about engaging with media. Like we have names for romantic interpretations of dynamics but nothing else. What kind of “shipper” you are is treated like it’s part of your identity. Hmmmmm… it’s almost like we as a society treat romance as something fundamental to our being and necessary in order to prove our humanity and not as a slightly different kind of interpersonal relationship. It’s almost as if we live in an amatonormative culture that tries to push made up relationship hierarchies onto us in order to perpetuate the colonial, heteronormative ideal of the nuclear family. It's almost as if fandom perpetuates that conce-[I am dragged off the stage by 2 large men in trench coats and sunglasses]

[lilolilyr]

Valentinesnormativity

I definitely don't have the time to write a full fic at the moment & it's exactly midnight and therefore past my bedtime right now & I'm too late for valentine's day by more than a day now anyway, but I had Thoughts so you get the bare bones of the fic in just dialogue under the cut, who knows if I get some reblogs I might turn it into something longer on Ao3 when I have the time!

~

(team talk ends with among others Markus needing valentine's day off work to try and save his relationship, Deborah just nods and waves her hand for him and everyone to leave, leaving her and Ava sitting next to each other)

A: So. Valentine's day...

D: Don't tell me you also need the day off. I know you're not in a relationship that would warrant that, do you really need to schedule your one night stand on that day?

A: no! Ugh, no. I don't need the day off, I just wanted to ask, because we were already on the topic... Valentine's day. Thoughts?

D: -_-

A: like it, hate it love it, don't care? Cause, well, I mean, it's definitely a capitalistic dystopia invention to just sell more shit on another invented holiday and stress everybody out about making the day perfect and romantic... But it's also kinda cute how schoolkids give their entire class friend valentines and sweets and stuff, right? Though I guess we already have Christmas for cards like that and Halloween for candy... But valentine's day kind of went off with the candy heart aesthetic! Of course all unimportant compared to the dangerous way it proports amatonormativity...

D: what now

A: amatonormativity! You know I already explained heteronormativity to you -

D: too many times than I cared to listen

A: if you listened the first time I wouldn't have had to - anyway. Like heteronormativity is about how the society is all about straight couples being normal and expected, amatonormativity is about how romantic love in general is like that, too! I mean sure falling in love is great and all but that's not the only love there is! Some people never fall in love and that's okay! And even if you do, that doesn't have to make that relationship the most important one for you, people are capable of having important platonic and not-romantic relationships, I mean friendships and stuff... And, back to valentine's day, no shut up I'm getting to the point already, valentine's day makes people think that there's something wrong with them when they don't have a significant other because it looks like everyone has one or at least wants one!

D: I wasn't interrupting-

A: •_-

D: okay I was but I was just going to say I think I get it. Important platonic relationships, they can be more important than romance. A bit like us two.

A: looking down) oh, uh. Yeah? I guess...

D: ?

D: Of course, if your little speech didn't mean much and you'd still rather spend the day with some random tinder d-

A: no! No, (reaches for Deborah's hand) definitely not. I mean, you're importantly to me too. And I'd love to spend valentines day with you.

D: (looks at her, sees that despite her best efforts not to, Ava is blushing) ...oh.

D: I suppose I should have used me and Kiki as an example for that important platonic relationship. Does that make us a part of the unimportant amatonormativity now?

A: (splutters) Deborah!

~

Lmk if you want me to @ you if/when I turn this into a proper fic or write sth else for these two!

[sunsetrose20]

I hate it so, so much when people assume I'm straight and then get upset at me because I'm not. And they ask me, "Why didn't you tell me? You should have told me!"

Umm... excuse me? Are you listening to yourself? Like, shut up, bitch, nobody told you to assume shit about me. Also, I literally wear an ace ring; it's not my fault your ignorant ass doesn't know what that means.

But, being serious, I don't actually care if people don't even know what being ace means, as long as:

1. They are willing to learn about it when they encounter it.

2. (following #1) Don't reply with something ignorant like, "Oh, don't worry, you'll find someone."

3. (and this is the important part, kids) Don't get upset for having their heteronormative assumptions disproven.

Another note: I also believe this behaviour is disgustingly amatonormative. Seriously, people. Society needs to learn that humans do not need to be involved with someone to be happy. Honestly, even if I weren't also aro, I think it would be a life choice not to have a romantic partner (because that's what people really mean, in my experience, despite the fact that I give no show of being interested). There are a million reasons why people choose not to be sexually or romantically involved with someone, and we need to normalise this. Hell, we also need to normalise that some people just don't feel platonic attraction either and stop treating it as an illness or other kind of defect.

Short version, though: DO NOT ASSUME. Like, seriously, dude. It'll make your life so much easier. Not just ours.

Now, before I depart, a kind shout out to all the assholes I've encountered with an acephobic stick shoved up their ass! FYI, I'll much rather lick a woman than you! Because, seriously, have you guys seen how smooth some women's skins are? Looks yummy.

Peace! ✌️

[unnecessarilygrandiose]

listen i actually liked these two episodes okay, and i liked what they're doing and where the plot is heading and it truly was a roller coaster especially what they did with max in the last episode jesus god. it's a good cliffhanger. but like! i need to grieve byler and aroace eleven okay?

so here goes:

WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT IN THE NAME OF JESUS HELL HETERO CORNY ASS AMATONORMATIVITY HETERONORMATIVITY COMPHET FUCKING SHIT WAS THAT??

A. WE WERE ROBBED OF WILL COMING OUT SCENE!!!!!!??? why the fuck would you say his sexuality was addressed when the word gay was not even uttered once??? THAT is how you handle coming out??? make will cry twice??? express all his feelings for mike by making him say 'that's what el would have thought'??? not even make him say out loud even once that he's in love with mike? WHAT THE FUCK

B. THE PAINTING??? the painting that was supposed to express will's love for mike??? THAT is what it was??? like. it was a decent painting, you drew your red heart out on mike's shield. but will, baby, EL COMMISSIONED IT??? what in the actual shitty hell??

C. MIKE FUCKING WHEELER IS AN ASSHOLE. it would have been such a neat explanation as to why he had been acting like a douche to his best friend and girlfriend for two seasons if they had just said internalised homophobia. but no!! he just went from the guy who would literally jump off a cliff for his friend to the guy who would treat two of the closest people in his life like shit. treating your best friend like that just cause you have a girlfriend and are supposedly grown up?? douche. not having the gall to say i love you to the girl you are supposedly in love with FROM FIRST SIGHT??? FUCK YOU. im seriously gonna puke.

D. EL NEEDS MIKE MY FOOT. they literally made her say she needs mike???? WHAT THE FUCK. WASN'T THAT SUPPOSED TO BE HER ENTIRE ARC?? TO FIND HER PLACE IN THE WORLD??? like. okay, she's allowed to want him. it's fine if she's intersted in romance-- i'd love it personally if she weren't, but it's fine. she wants mike. but the fact they said she NEEDS HIM??? FUCK YOU AMATONORMATIVITY FUCK. YOU.

E. THIS IS JUST ME RANTING ABOUT AMATONORMATIVITY AGAIN POST ENDED IF YOU WANNA STOP READING THAT'S FINE JUST. OF FUCKING COURSE EL NEEDS A MAN IN HER LIFE OF FUCKING COURSE. OF FUCKING COURSE THE MAIN CHARACTER CANNOT END THE SHOW SINGLE AND STRONG AND INDEPENDENT AND READY TO FIND HERSELF OUTSIDE OF A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP OF FUCKING COURSE. CAUSE THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING RIGHT?? EVEBN IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE EVEN IF YOU'RE DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIT IN AS LONG AS YOU HAVE A MAN IN YOUR LIFE EVERYTHING IS BLOODY FINE AND FUCKING DANDY.

also mini rant at the end of this mega rant but did they really have to frame that final shot that way? like three couples and one el? did they really have to frame it like jopper, jancy, and byler? and one single independent head held high el?? THE EXACT THING I WANTED THAT THEY AREN'T GIVING US BECAUSE WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS, APPARENTLY?? did they really have to rub salt in the wound???

[svartalfhild]

.

Listening to the album Tommy by The Who for the first time since I was a teenager has awakened long buried memories of the time I pretended to be someone's girlfriend in order to go see the 2009 Star Trek movie when it came out.

I really really wanted to go see it, like I was fucking obsessed, but my parents sure as fuck were not going to take me, and I had friends who wanted to see it too, but I'd not met them in person before because I'd met them over FB through a mutual friend, so I had to convince another friend to come with who had parents willing to drive.

Enter the friend I will here refer to as Collin.

I use the word friend loosely here. Collin was a friend in the sense of he was an absolute shitshow of a person who was one of the few people in school who didn't hate me and didn't give a shit about my bad reputation. Didn't hurt that he had some of the same interests. One of the things about him, though, was that he was constantly trying to get me to date him and I had absolutely no interest in him whatsoever, especially after having seen all of the previous drama of his love life. He was also the only person I knew who had had sex (we were in our early teens, so that was a big deal), so I knew that that was an expectation of his and that made the whole thing even less appealing, especially because I didn't really trust him (and I didn't know I was ace yet either). When I say shitshow of a person, I mean it.

Anyway, Collin told me he'd ask his dad if he'd be willing to drive us, and then later he was like "yeah, he will, but only if it's for a date, so you gotta pretend to be my girlfriend for an afternoon" and I was like "Wtf, really? And then what?" and he goes "Oh, I'll just tell him it didn't work out if he asks why there haven't been anymore dates." And I didn't see any holes in this plan and I could not bear the thought of not seeing this movie, so I was like alright fine I'll do it.

Plan went off without a hitch (although apparently my distance was sus, so I had to agree to sit close to Collin and hold his hand), but to this day, I still don't know if his dad really wouldn't have let him go to a movie with a girl without it being a date or if he straight up lied to me to trick me into going through the motions of a date with him, because either were entirely plausible. His family were a bunch of redneck Republicans from Mississippi, but also he very much went in with the vibe of "someday you'll date me for real". He had this notion that if he could just worm his way past all of my emotional walls and get me to let go of my relationship angst, I'd surely break down and let him date me.

There's a lot to unpack there.

First of all, if that really was his dad's attitude, that's its own kind of fucked up. It's the implication that romance is automatically far more important than friendship. It's the idea that boys and girls shouldn't just hang out together. Just...ugh, the intense heteronormativity and amatonormativity of it all.

(Silver lining! When Viva la Vida came on the radio and I was like "oh I like this song!" his dad turned up the volume and no one has ever done anything like that for me before or since.)

If it wasn't his dad's attitude and he'd just made that shit up to manipulated me, then that's, uh...pretty violating, especially because this scenario forced me to be physically close and have contact with him when I didn't want to. I'm glad it wasn't something I had to carry on with afterwards.

As the years went on, Collin's shitshow levels only increased. Less than a year later, he started bringing packs of beer in his backpack and showing up to class high as a fucking kite. His romantic relationships got increasingly messy and he got way too comfortable saying racist and homophobic shit. I had very little to do with him by the time we graduated. While I was in college, I heard he was in jail. Shocker. A few years later, he came in with his family at the sandwich shop I used to work at. We pretended not to know each other. Never seen or heard about him since, thank fuck.

Anyway, I think this may explain why I don't have a lot of enthusiasm for fake dating tropes most of the time.

[thisisjaybaker]

personal reflections on five years post highschool graduation

5 years ago today i graduated highschool so i feel like it is a good day to reflect on some things

first and foremost, even though i sometimes feel like i'm floating around without a clear path in my mind and just some ideas on how i want to live my life in the future, i was actually really successful with my post-highschool plans:

i moved out of my parents' place & to a new city and studied media & theater just like i planned, i now have a bachelor's degree in those subjects and am in a master's program at the same university

i studied abroad for a semester (even though it was spring/summer 2020 so that didn't go as expected but it filled the adventure quota of my life that i feel like i have to fill every few years)

i work for a publishing company (although not in the way i imagined in highschool but it's a good job)

i had planned to live alone for a while after moving out of my parents until i found someone to move in with as friends because i couldn't imagine sharing a flat with strangers and it worked out pretty well! i've been living in a shared flat for almost 3 years now and though my flatmate is in the process of moving out we found another friend to take over her room

i also really wanted to get out of the rural area i grew up in and while i still feel connected to the places i frequented as a teen i now know that it is my choice to visit there and there's always home to come back to

secondly, a lot of stuff happened that i could have never planned:

i had some heavy health issues in the last few years and it was shit but it had a few positive side effects, e.g. that it cleared up some insecurities i had about my body as a teen. i have now a much healthier relationship to my body and body image and generally feel more comfortable

i found a very queer group of friends and had the ability to explore my own orientation and found the words and concepts to describe what i have been feeling. i am now much happier with ideas of a future outside of a heteronormative, amatonormative nuclear family and it lifted a weight off of me that i had not known i was carrying

i discovered what i want to do with my life. it's still a rather vague plan and who knows, it could be derailed, but it is something that will give me purpose, let me play to my strentghs and will hopefully be quite fun

thirdly, i want to mention something i regret because i think it's important to acknowledge things past things that may have hurt us: i expected to keep in closer contact with my friends back home over the years. i still see most of them like once a year and it's usually nice to meet up but i kind of miss the dynamics between us that changed. Still, i don't miss the person i was when we were closer, i think i changed for the better in the past few years.

looking back to the past five years i think it all went rather well. in everyday life i tend to forget that i actually rather successfully followed my younger self's plans. i tweaked the plan a bit to fit my personal development and i had to overcome some obstacles i didn't expect.

i think my younger self could have never expected it all to turn out this well but i am very, very happy it did.

[liperpiper]

Queerplatonic Liper is god-tier.

[aroaceconfessions]

One of my most despised tropes is undesired wingmanning. By that I mean the trope where the character's best friends forcibly push them to be romantically involved with someone when said character has explicitly said they have 0 romantic interest in them.

I say this because I've personally experienced it myself.

I'm aroace, but closeted. My ex-friends used to looveeeee "shipping" me with whom they assume my crush is. And I... literally do not give a shit about that person???? I thought they'd be fun to talk to from time to time because we shared some interests but somehow that's some "proof" that I'm romantically interested in them?? Bitch, I don't give a shit. I don't find anyone attractive.

And so they kept pushing and pushing and pushing me and them together and it's so frustrating because it's not even a case of unestablished boundaries. I explicitly told them, "I don't have a crush on that person. I have literally never had a crush on my life."

Then they go and tell me, "That's impossible! Everyone has a crush. It's impossible to have never been romantically interested in someone." and thanks for invalidating my entire life so far, I guess. No wonder we're no longer friends.

So, whenever I see in media those annoying friends who keep forcing their romantic narrative on someone who has explicitly said they're not interested, I always just get flashbacks and it annoys me so much how so many people think that it's fun? It's not. It's not fun. It's invalidating of your own personal boundaries and basically feels like yelling at a brick wall because they. just. won't. listen. It also feels so manipulative of them when you say "I'm not interested" and they consistently throw back "Uh, nope lol you definitely are." Like, I know my preferences??? And even if the character is indeed interested, just dense, i still am of the opinion that that does not warrant the invasion of boundaries by doing shit they did not want you to do.

And so, I hate it whenever those stories end up with the characters ending up together because it just "proves them right". God, what I would give for a story where the character tell off their friends' shit for forcing their agenda.

Also just, assuming someone's sexuality by assuming they're romantically and/or sexually attracted to someone is ehhh. It makes it so hard to make friends when every single time I interact with someone of the opposite sex, they immediately go "ohmygod they have a crush on each other." Yay let's go 2 in 1 amatonormativity and heteronormativity! Winning combo, really.

Me and my friends (who know im aroace... and also not attracted to people of my gender lol) have been assumed to be romantically together and it's genuinely uncomfortable that we actually didn't interact for a few days just so we could quell the rumors. The whole matchmaking stuff that people promote irl is just not "tee hee they're so cute together" innocent shit like some people make it out to be. It affects real people's lives and relationships.

Lastly, a side note / disclaimer: I do enjoy wingman characters... only if the character explicitly says they do have a romantic interest and would like help. In real life, I have wingmanned for a friend before and I only did that when they explicitly told me to help.

Don't be a wingman without consent, is all I say.

[piracytheorist]

everyperson in the fucking world of THG would have generational trauma though? because every district had to take part in the games, every district had their own shit to deal with (hello 11 and I doubt the mines in two were a barrel of laughs to work in if you weren't drafted to actually work for the Captiol) and Katniss and Peeta both got therapy (Dr whose name I remember but can't think of the spelling of)

Did they get therapy? I don't remember that part. Though again it's been about nine years since I read Mockingjay. But considering their trauma they would probably need long years of therapy.

Look, I'm not saying traumatized people shouldn't have children. I'm saying to not have them expecting them to make you happy. And idk, seeing Katniss' development in the story... she turned caring for Prim because her mother was too depressed to take care of them, so Katniss assumed the role of caring parent in the house, though still seeing herself as Prim's big sister. Then she bonds with Rue, and it's not because she feels motherly towards her, but again, because Rue reminds her of Prim and therefore her sisterly instincts kick in.

Throughout the books, she never stops for a moment to think how her life will be like with a family of her own. Yes she fears that her children might get reaped, but it never struck me as her saying "I so wish I had children, but I worry about them getting reaped into the hunger games". It struck me as her simply not wanting children.

Maybe it's just me, because I don't want children, and there are times that I catch myself asking why people keep having children in such a horrible world that we're in... and I kinda think there is a moment in the books where Katniss has the same thought? I mean, I understand that there are people who want to have children and bring them into this world with the hope that they can provide them with the best circumstances they can give. But I'm not like that, and throughout the three books, I couldn't peg Katniss for that either.

And the fact that Peeta spent, what was it, fifteen years trying to convince her to have children, fifteen entire years after Capitol had fallen and the hunger games had ceased to exist... and she was still unsure until she felt her baby move inside her. She had agreed to pregnant, and it took until the baby could move inside her (which according to a quick search is at four months of pregnancy) for her to go like "Oh I want to be a mother".

I'm not saying she or Peeta would be bad parents. It just screams amatonormativity to me, you know? Heteronormativity in this case, too. It's the trope where a woman cannot be happy without a husband and kids by her side. And I dislike the epilogue because Katniss was so openly indifferent to gender roles, so caring for other people but at the same time never expressing the desire to have children, that suddenly seeing her get pulled into a grossly misogynistic stereotype left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Again, not saying that it's misogynistic if you're a woman and you want to end up with a spouse and children, or if you enjoy fictional female characters of that kind. You do you. But it's misogynistic to depict female characters like that all the time in the media.

[ven-finn]

begging you to give us your incoherent aspec jerida thoughts

fuck ok???? i dont have like. any order to them or anything im just. spiraling. also im really tired so this is such word vomit. BUT U ASKED FOR IT! 

Her mom would have given Merida a lot of internalized garbage, completely unintentionally but still incredibly hurtful all the same. Like just everything about Brave is Merida rejecting her patriarchal society at large, but especially its heteronormative/amatonormative culture that Elinor keeps pushing onto her. She’s not even marrying for love in the first place, she’s marrying for peace, and fuck does Merida hate ALL of it. It’s not malicious, but in Elinor’s head something that just comes with keeping up appearances are straight milestones. 

and u don’t need a reason to hc a character as ace for any reason ever but like fullstop I think why I hc Jack as ace so strongly is because of the way he just kind of ignores Tooth’s blatant crush on him. Like. Thinking specifically of when Tooth hugs him towards the very end of Rotg and he just goes. Aha. Welp. And moves right back onto talking things out with Jamie. It’s just my interpretation of the scene but I think viewing it that way is kind of funny. He just....doesn’t feel the need to address it, because how can he, y’know? Not any of his business. 

They’re partners. In crime. And also partners. And they laugh every time their allo friends TRY *try* to define whatevers going on with them in the very limited way allos tend to do. Like are they boyfriend and girlfriend? Not strictly. Are they dating? Yes. Is romance involved? Depending on the day. Why the fuck do you need to know? And that confuses everyone else to no end, and while that confusion might have bothered a younger, still questioning, Merida, I think Jack’s easygoing nature would help her laugh off a lot of shit. Like, in her head she can go yknow what? Jack’s right, I doesn’t care about what people speculate about my love-life and nothing about my orientation is confusing or messy, I’m fucking great. She especially doesn’t care when she’s got Jack, and he’s got her, and they’ve got their friends who DO understand. All that matters at the end of the day is that Jack and Merida care about each other a lot, labels be damned. 

also obsessed with them bullying the shit out of awful romcoms together. just. completely tearing apart stupid tropes. rapunzel’s like “c’mon guys u have to admit (xyz film with weird manipulation plot at some point bc u know how straight romcoms are) is KIND of cute” and Jack and Merida share looks like ‘is this girl serious.’  

they got matching aro/ace rings baby. i fucking love ace rings. i love aro rings. i love rings in general. and i think merida would like them too. 

idk its just really appealing to me that Merida DOES find love on her own time, just not in the way everyone expected her to. Since it fits with everything else about her character, and also goddamn it arospec merida just means a lot to me. i’ve said before I’m partial to demi hcs with the two of them, but honestly any sort are good. 

oh also elsa is an aro lesbian. not really related but I think its really cute to imagine Merida using their intersect of identities to worm her way into being friends. yknow. like. oho. you’re aro? i’m aro. what a coincidence...................please be my friend. 

[blaisey-bee]

hi what t h e f u c k, my mom has such twisted ideas? like she doesn't understand/see things the way they are? just now she said to me "when you were born and growing up, your grandfather saw how much you liked your aunt and how close.you were and he would say "you should just give her (me) to her (my aunt). you already have another one and she (my aunt) doesn't have a daughter. just give her to her." and that's how liberals think. they would say 'oh you have enough' even though the other person didn't go through the labor and being pregnant. don't be liberal." and she was like laughing about it but she absolutely meant it and I tried to look confused even though I'm so fucking frustrated with her because I'm liberal and I 100% don't think that? wtf. where did this idea come from? she's so fucking crazy I can't wait to get out. I totally get that some people want multiple kids, and that's fine, we don't really need to control our population like china once did. and if someone wanted kids, they could get kids? like I get my aunt is unmarried and a christian so she wouldn't want to get pregnant but she could 100% adopt? I also get that it's a process but if someone wanted kids then they would do that?? also my aunt is always like (a lot of my fam actually) "when YOU have kids..." and...bitch?? tf? stop pressing amatonormativity on me. ik I'm gonna hear heteronormativity and homophobia in this family but like I don't fuckinf want kids and I won't change my mind (I have considered this whole other idea of adopting older kids and stuff but that's not what we're addressing today). I'm really fucking tired of my family saying shit like this.

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @greenleaf1316!

Summary: Five times Laura played matchmaker for Stiles and Derek and one time she didn’t have to. Or: Laura’s guide to dating.

Autor’s notes: This is a Sterek Secret Santa 2019 gift for green-leaf, who asked for, among others, Fluff and Feels, Lydia, and Hale Family. I tried to make something lighthearted and it involves Laura and Lydia, although I couldn’t hold back angst completely – there is a mention of Kate and her relationship with Derek, although it’s vague.

I hope you’ll like the story! I admit I had some trouble finishing it because I didn’t have enough time (real life, am I right?) so if there are any mistakes, I’m sorry about that.

Inspired by isthatbloodonhisshirt's fic Get Together (Or So Help Me!).

That said, merry Christmas! May sterek stay strong with you.

*****

Tuples

The Things You Have in Common, Or, The Revelation

Laura doesn’t know what it is about mathematics that makes her think of anything but mathematics.

“A tuple,” says Deaton, “is a list of elements. What’s interesting about them, however, is that they can have different data types. I will explain this further during the math club if anyone’s here interested…”

And Laura is already watching Lydia’s perfect notes, her manicure, then turns to stare out of the window. At least she isn’t the only one to not pay attention to the class – Derek is scowling at his notebook, tightly gripping his pen. He grimaces and carefully whites out the pink heart that was drawn on the margin.

Honestly, Laura doesn’t know what’s the fuss about. Sure, Paige was nice, pretty, and funny, but it’s been so much time already. Things haven’t been that good between them for a while and it was coming, anyone could see it. Yet Derek always makes the same expression when thinking about her.

Paige had to move out because of her parents but it was an opportunity. Even Derek admitted she should go to this music school she's been dreaming about. However, he was marathoning Star Wars later, and sometimes Laura still catches him coming back to the films.

Laura sighs and looks away, a flash of something catching her eyes. It’s a keychain with R2-D2 hanging from Stiles’ bag. Because Stiles likes Star Wars.

And he likes Batman. 

And comic books.

By the end of the class, Laura’s notebook is full of things common for Stiles and Derek instead of tuples, sets, and multisets.

As there’s a bell signaling the end of the class, Laura breathes, “I’m a genius.’”

* * *

“You’re an idiot,” says Lydia.

“Give me one reason for why that’s a bad idea,” replies Laura, raising her index finger. 

“First, you’re making Derek fall into another relationship when he doesn’t want to. Second, you’re not giving him enough time to grieve. Three, what have I told you about amatonormativity? Expecting everyone to be better off in a monogamous-“

“Relationship, yeah, I know. But I’m not making them do anything,” says Laura. “I’m just… creating… possibilities. Just giving Derek a little push. Besides, how much time does he need? Come on, it’s been almost a year, and that thing with Paige wasn’t all that serious.”

Lydia doesn’t answer, so Laura continues, “And hey, at least I’m not heteronormative. So. Will you help me?”

“Of course not.”

 School As A Natural Habitat  

“I can’t believe I’m here,” says Lydia again.

“Shh. We’re observing them in their natural habitat, they can’t know we’re here.”

“They already know we’re here, it’s our school. And since when is school a natural habitat?”

Laura ignores her and lowers her voice. ‘Now we can see as the predator stalks his prey-“

“Wait, Stiles is the predator?”

“Well, it’s not Derek, right?” reasons Laura.

“You’re right.”

“The predator stops, analyzing his prey, his gaze gone cold and calculating, imagining the best way to conquer-“

“You think too highly of Stiles.”

“-but it means nothing when faced with the fiery heart of burning passion and desire. Stiles can’t stop himself anymore – he wants, no, he needs to see Derek-“

“Wait, how did it turn from an animal documentary to a soap opera?”

Laura shrugs. “I just describe what I see.”

“How does your brain work?”

Stiles comes up to Derek, they exchange a few words, and then Stiles nods and goes away.

Laura blinks. “Considering they are perfect for each other, that was rather disappointing.’

“Well, what did you expect?’

“Frankly, the same enlightenment I had during the mathematics. Like, they would see each other just understand, you know?”

Lydia makes a face. “I really don’t.”

“What do you think they talked about?”

“Probably math project.”

Laura slowly turns to Lydia, the hope reviving inside her. “Oh my god, you’re right.”

“What? Why?” asks Lydia, stiffening. 

“They can work together for the math project. See? It’s all about possibilities.”

Lydia looks at her. “It always makes me nervous when you agree with me and it’s always for a good reason.”

* * *

2. Cinema Date To Get To Know Each Other

“Did you know that 0,5% of people find their significant others in a cinema?” says Laura. She has no idea what’s the real number but 0,5% sounds reasonable enough. “That’s why you should go to the cinema.”

Derek gives her his ‘you’re an idiot’ face but honestly, Laura can’t even acknowledge that he tries. He’s no half as good at it as Lydia. 

“You say that like it’s a lot but it’s really not.”

“If you go, you raise the probability of the already possible,” argues Laura. “Which means it’s gonna happen.”

“Look, even I can tell that’s not how it works.”

“Even I can tell you don’t know shit about dating.”

“That makes no sense!”

“Jesus, just go,” says Laura, directing Derek to the door. “Here’s your ticket. Row at the back, seat 10, you’re welcome. Oh, and by the way, you’re going with Stiles.” Laura grins and closes the door in his stunned face.

* * *

“You’re a terrible date,” says Lydia. “Late, focused on other people, won’t accommodate my needs-“

“Your needs are stupid,” replies Laura, rolling her eyes. Who doesn’t like caramel popcorn?

“If you’re hungry we can go to the Red Sun restaurant after the movie.”

“I’m not going there, they always eye me oddly when I’m there.”

“That’s just because you had worn jeans, sneakers, and Wonder Woman shirt back then.”

“My Cat Woman shirt didn’t help either.”

Lydia gives her one of her My Patience Is Eternal But You’ll See The End Of It looks. “Black and white colors aren’t enough to make something elegant, Laura.”

“Whatever. And I told you I was late because it took me ages to convince Derek to come.” Laura straightens, then hides behind her bowl of popcorn. “They’re here! Why are they arguing?”

Lydia watches the boys for a while. “Seems like they don’t like the film you’ve chosen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Lip reading.”

Laura blinks and glances at Lydia. “Sometimes I forget how amazing you are.”

“Then don’t,” advises Lydia. “Derek is entirely against the film but Stiles is trying to defend it. I don’t think it’s working.”

“Free tickets,” mutters Laura, “and they still have problems. Well excuse me, but I didn’t have much room to choose from.”

“About that – why did you choose a romantic comedy?”

Laura raises her eyebrows. “Uh, so that they make a connection between love and themselves.” She barely holds back a ‘duh’. 

“I don’t think that’s how a human brain works,” replies Lydia. “Also, are we going to talk about ethical repercussions of you stalking them?”

“I have good intentions so it’s fine,” replies Laura easily.

“You know, sometimes I’m jealous of how simply you see the world. But no, Laura, you’re stalking Derek and Stiles. It’s creepy.”

Laura mulls it over for a second. “How about I tell them later about it? And buy them food to apologize.”

“You can bribe Stiles and Derek, but it won’t work on your moral judgment.”

Laura frowns. “Wait, you think I’ll feel bad about it later? I won’t.”

Lydia shakes her head. “You sure are something else. Come on, they already went inside the movie room.”

They start walking, trying to remain hidden from Stiles and Derek.

“Oh, it’s like we’re detectives on a case! Hold my pipe, Watson.”

Lydia makes a face. “Sherlock Holmes never said that. How come it’s the first thing that came to your mind? And was it supposed to be sexual?”

“Oh,” notices Laura and laughs. “Man, I’m hilarious.”

3. Bowling Date With Mutual Friends

“Hey guys,” says the waiter and smiles at them. “Double date?”

Laura’s smile freezes for a second. She doesn’t like the thought and is surprised herself to see how much. It’s not the first time someone thought she and Stiles are dating, and the sheer thought that Lydia and Derek would date is ridiculous. Even back when Lydia was dating Jackson Laura was always rolling her eyes at the mention of two of them. 

Derek is the first to react. He looks at the waiter seriously and says, “Never.”

“Oh, you wish you were on a date with me,” shoots Stiles.

“I can’t imagine a fate worse than that,” replies Derek. “I’d die of secondhand embarrassment.”

“I can be charming when I want to,” replies Stiles, defensive. “it’s just that there’s no point to make an effort for you.”

“That’s just it, you have to put an effort to be even remotely dateable. And it’s not worth it,” says Derek. “Dates are just… meh.”

Stiles raises his eyebrows. ‘Evidently, you’ve never been on a date with me.”

“No, evidently, you’ve never been on a date, period,” counters Derek. “You have to make conversation, think of the other person, plan everything, be nice and funny… It’s not worth it,” Derek repeats.

Stiles frowns. “Then how about you go on a date with someone you already know a bit?”

Laura watches in tension, wondering if that’s the moment one of the boys – or maybe even both – will realize. 

“But there’s no one that I know and am interested in.”

“Huh. Well, that sucks,” comments Stiles.

“It’s not that bad,” Derek shrugs. “I got used to it.”

“It’s not a double date,” says Laura, turning to the waiter, “but it will be,” she promises darkly.

“Four cokes and one alley for an hour,” orders Lydia and watches the waiter leaving to prepare the drinks. She sighs deeply and says, “Tell me all about a secondhand embarrassment.”

* * *

“So I take it not one of us knows how to play bowling,” grins Stiles.

“I think I’m pretty good,” says Derek.

“Not you,” replies Stiles coldly. “You’re a freak when it comes to sports.”

“You don’t have to be jealous,” says Derek, condescending. “I could teach you.”

“Aren’t you the picture of an arrogant jock,” says Stiles. “Together with not understanding the basic concepts of math.”

Derek’s smirk falls off.

“Right!” Laura claps her hands. “Do you guys know already with whom you’ll be doing math project?’’

“Lydia?” asks Stiles hopefully.

“No way,” replies Laura. “Lydia’s with me.”

Lydia narrows her eyes thoughtfully. “As long as you promise a few strikes and at least one 5-bagger.”

“Promise.”

“I’m sold,” states Lydia. 

“Don’t leave me like that! I know nothing about bowling.”

No one would believe something like that coming from Stiles. 

“Fine, I may have read about it a bit,” Stiles huffs out. “I know the best techniques and all this shit but it’s not enough. It’s never enough,” he adds bitterly.  

“Come on, how hard it can be?” asks Laura. “You’re just rolling a ball.”

“You have no right to speak,” replies Stiles. “You’re a freak like Derek.”

“And that’s why I’ll be in a team with Lydia and you’ll be in a team with Derek. For math project, too.”

“No way,” says Stiles. “I’d rather be in a team with you, and Lydia can be with Derek.”

Laura grimaces. “You want to play into the waiter’s expectations?”

“Why not? It’s funny,” says Stiles.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if he thought it was a double date but with me and Lydia and you and Derek?”

Stiles and Derek stare at her.

“No,” says Stiles. “That would be just weird.”

‘’You sound like a straight guy,” says Laura.

“Now that’s just offensive.’’

In the end, though, that’s how they play. Lydia and Laura win, although Derek does try to tutor Stiles. He gets considerably better but Laura did get a 5-bagger. She may boast about it.

4. Romantic Restaurant Date

“Derek opened the door for Stiles. They both dressed up nicely. They are still civil to each other. What the hell,’’ muses Laura, watching them through the aquarium, “my plan is actually working.”

“You sound way too surprised considering how confident you were in your project.”

“Oh please,” says Laura. “My idea is brilliant, Derek and Stiles should be together. It’s just that I was going about it the wrong way. I mean, let’s face it – Derek’s hopeless. Stiles is the one who can bring them together.”

“Is that so?” asks Lydia. Just as she opens her mouth to say something more, the waiter comes to take their orders. They talk for a while and once the waiter leaves, Lydia says, “Oh, Stiles is reading a book.”

“Hm?” Laura doesn’t take her eyes off of the menu. If there’s one thing she loves about Red Sun, it’s the steaks. Just imagining the taste of each one is a pleasure in itself.

“Stiles took out a book and now is reading it aloud to Derek,” explains Lydia.

Laura frowns and tries to watch the boys through the aquarium. She thought it was smart to take this table, to observe and not be seen, but it’s difficult to guess what’s exactly going on through the mass of water, algae, and fish swimming around.

“This dork,” she says finally, disbelieving. “I gave him The Manly Art of Seduction book under the excuse of him mentioning dating a lot during bowling. He was supposed to read it and try all of the moves on Derek! It even has a whole chapter about seduction at a restaurant.”

“They are laughing at all the advice,” observes Lydia. “At least they seem to be having fun.”

“I want them to be together, not have fun,” replies Laura, put off. “Can you tell what they are talking about?”

“No way, I can’t see them clearly through the water.”

“I’m going to the bathroom and will try to listen in,” says Laura. “They won’t recognize me like this, right?” she asks, gesturing at her clothes.

“Even I have a hard time believing it’s you,” says Lydia. “You look so nice today.”

Laura rolls her eyes and stands up.

“Basically, the right smile is the basis,” says Stiles now. “Give me your best smile, Derek.”

Laura doesn’t see the expression Derek makes, but it makes Stiles lean back from him. “Whoa, okay, it is an invitation to intimacy but of a deathly kind, you know? You should be friendly and relaxed, not dreadful and deranged. Come on, no smile, no game.”

“I don’t need a game,” replies Derek. “You want to be seductive and shit, you try that.”

Laura’s already passing them but she still hears when Derek asks, “Why are you winking? Jesus.”

Already on her way there, Laura decides to go to the toilet. Once inside, she catches her reflection in the mirror and has to pause. 

She really looks different. Laura has never liked to wear jewelry and fancy clothes because they tend to hinder movements which makes no sense to her. That’s exactly the reason she decided to dress this way tonight.

Now that she thinks of it, Lydia’s words might have a grain of truth to them. Laura is confident neither Stiles nor Derek will recognize her as they won’t even imagine Laura being this elegant – they’d just assume it’s a look-alike. That’s also why Laura didn’t even bother to color her hair like Lydia. 

On her way back, she again slows down her pace to listen to Stiles and Derek.

“It’s your shoe,” says Stiles. “It’s weird. I can’t focus, it’s shape is wrong.”

“It’s a normal shoe, Stiles.”

“And your pants. The material feels strange when I rub it.”

“Shut up and rub. It was your idea to try it out and get better.”

Their voices are hushed so she can’t hear as much as earlier, although that may be for the better. Because, okay, Laura must admit she feels a bit weird. As much as she thought about Stiles and Derek’s relationship, she’s never considered its… physical side. 

She finds her table and sees that the entry was served already. Awesome – she’s hungry and can’t wait to try Red Sun’s food, the restaurant has never failed her. Yet now, instead of eating, she watches Lydia.

She’s beautiful, of course. Lydia’s always taken care to be elegant. Tonight, she has a new dress and earrings which bring out the green in her eyes.

“Well?” asks Lydia.

“Stiles and Derek are playing footsie.”

Lydia raises her eyebrow. “They are lucky the tablecloths here are long enough.” She turns to watch the boys for a second. “Who’d have thought, they seem quite serious about it.” 

Laura makes a face. “We don’t have to do that, right?”

“Why would we have to?”

“I don’t know, it feels like we should do that. There’s always this scene in the movies,” replies Laura. “When characters dress nicely.”

Lydia shrugs, not looking at her.

‘So we won’t play footsie,” repeats Laura to make sure. “I mean, it’s not like you need to train, right? To get more confidence or something. Be charming. Whatever.”

It’s a while before Lydia replies, bringing a glass to her mouth to sip some water and put it down. “Yeah,” she says slowly. “We won’t.”

Laura already knew the answer but the time it took Lydia to answer kind of annoys her. “Yeah. Footsie is not, like, cello, it’s not based on the muscle memory,” she adds. 

“I was thinking of telling you sometime so I suppose it can be now. I’m gay, Laura,” says Lydia. “I like girls more than boys.”

Laura’s mind blanks for a minute, then starts working a mile a minute. “Oh,” she manages through it all.

“I didn’t mean to hide it from you,” adds Lydia, sounding apologetic. “I just wanted to make sure first.”

“Make sure,” echoes Laura. Because Lydia is a lesbian. Right. You need to make sure of it first, huh? Yeah. 

Lydia nods. 

Laura wills herself to react normally. “It’s good that you know now,” part of her brain says. The other one still freaks out, even though, honestly, there’s nothing to freak out about. When she heard that Derek was bi and that Stiles was gay it made no change to her. But this is Lydia. She was, like, dating Jackson. Sure, it wasn’t serious, but they were going on dates and stuff together. 

Lydia nods again. 

The silence stretches between them but Laura has no idea how to fill it in. She gives up altogether when the waiter comes up with their dishes. 

Halfway through the meal, Laura can’t believe her mind is still reeling from the news. She’s always thought of herself as an accepting person. Maybe she has this much difficulty now because they were always so similar, Laura has assumed Lydia was straight, too. To Laura, sexuality has never been a question. She liked boys. What’s there to think about?

Boys.

Laura suddenly remembers about Stiles and Derek and snaps her head to them. Fortunately, nothing’s going on. They are eating desserts and talking, so Laura turns away.

She frowns at the last bite of her steak and looks at them again. It’s actually going really well. Stiles must have just said a joke as he grins expectantly at Derek, who huffs out a laugh and looks at him from under his lashes. 

“Oh, seriously?” she asks, breaking the silence, and looks at Lydia. She’s so frustrated she forgets about the atmosphere for a second. “They are still making fun of the advice in the book.”

Lydia observes them for a while. “Are you sure?”

“It’s chapter 10, ‘Body Language’ and Reading It. And it only makes Derek look stupid,” says Laura. At Lydia’s look, she adds, “I skimmed through it before giving it to Stiles.”

Lydia smiles. “Remember anything good?”

Oh. Laura didn’t know Lydia could make this expression. It’s like… it could mean something. Talking about flirting advice is not flirting itself, right? It’s just talking. How do you flirt? Lydia glances at her. It’s getting worse. How do you talk? “Uh-“

“Can I take your plates?”

Laura startles but nods at the waiter. 

“Can we have a receipt?” asks Lydia. 

“Sure.” The waiter leaves with their plates and Laura blinks. She kind of hoped for a dessert but then again, the atmosphere feels strange. No wonder Lydia wants to end this quickly.

* * *

During the weekend, Laura concludes that she’s a horrible person. No wonder Lydia cut their time short, she has all the reasons to avoid Laura now. She decides to apologize to Lydia on Monday and do whatever she asks, even if it’s taking a break from each other for a while.

However, when she sees Lydia the next day, she hears, “I’m sorry.”

Laura frowns. “Why?”

“I knew it was a surprise to you, yet I got frustrated that you weren’t 100% accepting.” 

“I, uh, I tried,” says Laura with a grimace. “It’s just, well-“ she deflates suddenly. “Yeah. It was a surprise.”

It’s better, but not that much better. During lunch, it irks Laura that Lydia glances at Allison passing them and blurts out, “She’s straight. She’s dating Scott McCall.”

Lydia shrugs. “I’m just looking.”

And it still annoys Laura. She’s never thought she could be this much of a homophobe.

The thoughts of Lydia take up space usually sacrificed for Stiles and Derek, which means that by the end of the week, she finds Stiles just to say, “No plans for the weekend. Do whatever.”

“Oh, that’s good,” says Stiles. “You finished your project?”

Laura shrugs. “Something like that.”

“I’m coming over to Derek to play some video games.”

Laura stares at him. “To Derek?”

“Yep.”

“You’re willingly spending time together?”

“Well, not exactly. We need to prepare this math project and something to motivate us. So we decided that each gets to pick something the other hates to do while we meet.”

“Huh,” manages Laura. “Okay. I don’t get it.”

Stiles shrugs. “What’s there to not get? It’s mutual suffering for the mutual benefit.”

“Right,” nods Laura, staring at Stiles, the shrugs again. “If it works.”        

“You’d be surprised.”      

5. Home Visit

Laura watches as the teabag sinks and resurfaces with the movement of her hand. The teabag’s string stays on the surface of the liquid and Laura thinks about surface tension. Her mother always makes tea when she needs to think about something and Laura stares down at the liquid, waiting for the results, but so far nothing. 

“Oh hey,” says Stiles, entering the kitchen. He looks at Laura for a moment. “You okay?”

“I’m thinking about surface tension.”

“That bad, huh?” Stiles pours himself some coke. “You can come to play sudoku with us.”

“Weren’t you supposed to play video games?”

“Derek’s turn,” explains Stiles. “It’s him tormenting me now.”

“Your fair system truly amazes me.” 

“Honestly, me too,” says Stiles and angles to the door. “Anyway, the offer stands.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll go watch something.”

Derek’s always watching Star Wars when feeling down so Laura figures it wouldn’t hurt to try.

As The Force Awakens plays, Laura decides to try out Stiles’ method of using the sofa in every way but intended, with legs on the backrest and head on the floor. She still has no idea how to amend her relation with Lydia. 

She sighs and looks to the side, under the sofa. Like this, she can notice something pink standing out from a place just next to one of the sofa’s legs. Frowning, she reaches to take it but it seems to be fixed to the material. Curious, Laura forgets about the movie completely and slides to the floor.

It’s a piece of paper pinned to the material of the sofa. Laura takes the pin and carefully releases the paper.    

She sits back on the sofa, this time normally, and reads what turns out to be a note on a pink, girly  paper.

Derek,

I hoped you were more mature than that but part of the fault is mine, for expecting something from a child you turned out to still be. I don’t hold it against you, sweety. We could still have some fun but I won’t wait forever.

Kate

Laura reads the note again and then again, but the content still doesn’t make any sense. The only Kate Derek could know is younger than them and deep in her goth phase. She’d never use this kind of stationery, with the imprinted hearts on the side. Not to mention that the note seems to written by someone older. The ‘have some fun’ part makes her especially uneasy.

Well, no point in thinking about it. Laura stands up and is already going upstairs before it strikes her as really bizarre that Derek would pin the note under the sofa. She stops, frowning. If he wanted to hide it, he could do that very well in his room, but for some reason chose the living room, used by everyone in the family and the guests. 

This seems like the kind of thing you need to think about. Admittedly, that’s not Laura’s strongest point. What would Lydia do? 

First, she definitely wouldn’t confront Derek about it right away. Slowly, Laura turns away and comes back to still playing Star Wars.

She reads the note one last time and carefully pins it back to place. 

* * *

Laura waits. It’s not until Wednesday that she asks Lydia about the note. She wanted to have the time to think of something herself but it didn’t help. The longer she waits, the more it only unsettles her.

“Do you know if Derek knows someone called Kate?”

Lydia searches her locker for something but the moment she hears the name, she freezes. It’s just for a second, easy to overlook but Laura’s watching her closely. 

“You know something,” she says, surprised. “And I could tell that,” she realizes, amazed. “Like I’m a special agent or something.”

“Or something,” agrees Lydia, her mouth quirking before she sighs. “Yes, I saw them once together. I can’t tell you more, though. Derek wanted me to keep quiet.”

“That makes no sense,” argues Laura. “Why wouldn’t he tell me? I thought he was thinking about Paige all this time. I called him Hopeless Romeo Soulpuzzle.”

Lydia doesn’t answer. “How do you know about Kate, anyway?”

“Found a note from her.” Laura glances at Lydia and bites her lip. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do about it.”

Lydia doesn’t answer for a second. “If I were you, I’d talk to him about it. Say something like, I found this by chance, I admit I’m curious but also a bit worried? And I know it’s not my business but-“

“It kind of is my business, though,” Laura interrupts her. “I mean, I have vested interest in Derek being single so that he can date Stiles.”

“Oh, haven’t you heard? Derek asked Stiles out yesterday but got rejected,” says Lydia.

Wait. What? 

“What?” asks Laura stupidly. 

“Yeah, I’m not sure what this is about,” continues Lydia. “I’ll have to talk to Stiles later.”

“He wasn’t supposed to do that!” says Laura, stunned. “Stiles was supposed to ask Derek out! I got this whole thing wrong. I should’ve given Derek this Manly Art of Seduction book.” Laura blinks suddenly. “Oh well, actually, that’s for the better.”

“How is that for the better?” frowns Lydia, confused by her changed attitude. “Wasn’t your goal them dating? This is the opposite.”

“No, now that I think about it, I wanted to give Derek a push,” says Laura slowly. “Make sure he’s still there. And he is, right? He even asked Stiles out.” She mulls it over for a second, then shrugs. “Oh well,” she repeats. “It will be fine.”

“You sure are easy-going,” comments Lydia.

Laura shrugs. “I should buy him some ice cream. And keep Stiles away from me. I can’t be held responsible for my actions around him right now.”    

Lydia gives her an odd look. “Math club is about to start so you should probably-“

“Oh please,” says Laura, incredulous. “He won’t come to the math club right after he rejected Derek!”

“It was yesterday.”

“Same chance! He should be at home right now, crying in his pillow, tormenting himself and cursing everything that led him to reject Derek.”

“Um,” says Stiles awkwardly.

“I saw it coming from a mile away but it’s still satisfying,” comments Lydia.

Slowly, Laura turns to eye Stiles coldly up and down. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“We’re going to talk about tuples?” tries Stiles. “Look, don’t be mad, please. We can still be friends, right? Like, see, I’ll give you my keychain,” he shoves the R2-D2 towards Laura.

“I don’t like Star Wars,” Laura snaps.

Stiles frowns. “But this weekend you-“

“I was watching it because Derek always watches it to feel better.”  

Stiles has enough sense to drop his eyes. 

“So what is it about Derek that’s not good enough for you?”

There’s some mumbling that sums up to, “It’s not like that.”

“Well, tell me how it is, then.”

Stiles tightens his lips. “I didn’t exactly reject him, okay?”

“Oh, did you let him down gently?” asks Laura, scathing. “How kind of you.”

“I – it’s not like that,” he repeats, miserable. “It’s just… how can I tell that I can date him? I mean, sure, I like him but how do I know it’s enough to date? We could be just friends. What’s the threshold? How can I tell my liking is different?” asks Stiles. 

“You’re overthinking it,” mutters Lydia.

Stiles shrugs. “Anyway, I said ‘I don’t know if I can’.”

“And what did Derek say?”

This time, Stiles meets Laura’s eyes. “’I understand’.”

* * *

“I bought ice cream,” says Laura, still in the door. “I’m not sure if they are celebratory or if they are to cheer you up.”

“Me neither,” mutters Derek, already sitting before TV.

“Sucks.”

“Mm.”

They don’t say anything more until the end of A New Hope, when Laura speaks up, “I tried to set you up.”

“Hm?”

“With Stiles,” clarifies Laura. 

Derek rolls his eyes and takes another spoonful of ice cream. “You don’t say.”

“Wait, you knew?”

“Of course I did,” replies Derek, offended. “I just didn’t care. I like Stiles, so.”

In a sudden wave of affection, Laura hugs him. “I’m sorry. I feel like an asshole.” 

She stands up to play The Empire Strikes Back but looks at Derek first. “Can I ask why did you decide to ask him out?”

Derek shrugs and busies himself with the ice cream for a while. “He was talking about dating and stuff. That he needs to find someone, everyone has someone, is Danny still with his boyfriend, so I just. Snapped.”

“You snapped? What does that mean?”

Derek fixes his eyes on the ice cream carton, his cheeks coloring. “I said something like, ‘Just date me if it’s such a problem’.”

“Wow, talk about disappointing confessions,” mutters Laura. At Derek’s glare, she adds, “Sorry! But honestly. Did you say something more at least? Explain?”

Derek makes an odd move, something between trying to hide behind ice cream and a shrug. “Kinda.”

Laura groans. “Well, I’m waiting!”

Derek comes back to watching the ice cream. “I said that I like him.”

“You said why?”

Derek sighs. “Do I have to say that again? Because he’s funny and smart, and, and pretty? You know, the usual shit,” he tries, and fails, in nonchalance. “That he lights up the room. That I feel like I can be myself and it’s okay.”

Laura blinks. “Whoa, dude.”

“Shut up.”

“What did Stiles say to that?”

A tiny, stupid smile appears on Derek’s face. “He, uh. He liked it.”

Laura takes pity on his blush and plays the movie.

They are almost finished when Laura suddenly remembers about Kate and can’t stop thinking about it. When the end credits scrolls down, she can’t hold it anymore.

“There’s something under the sofa,” Laura blurts out.

Derek stops licking his spoon full of twirling caramel chocolate. “Wha-?” 

“Something, uh, something bad.”

“What are you talking about?”

Laura stares at the TV. “I may have found Kate’s note under the sofa.”

Derek tenses beside her but doesn’t say anything. It’s not a good sign, though – Derek will always win the silent wars.

“I didn’t know about her,” says Laura gingerly. “I thought you were still missing Paige or something.”

Derek doesn’t answer.

“Did she – was she – I mean, I kind of got the feeling that she-“

“She didn’t do anything,” says Derek, suddenly angry. “I was an idiot.”

Laura darts a look at him. “How old was she?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Now it’s Laura’s turn to stay quiet. She has no reply to that.

“I was an idiot,” repeats Derek. Laura winces at his tone, the self-hatred evident in a few sounds. “She didn’t do anything but she – she expected. She was waiting and kept talking to me and calling me a ‘child’-“ Derek breaks off, turning to the side.

“What happened?” asks Laura after a moment.

Derek shrugs. “She got bored. Moved out.”

“Can I ask you for something?” asks Laura, fiddling with the blanket.

Derek glances at her.

“I think you should throw it away. The note. Burn it in a ritual fire. Flush in the toilet. I don’t know, something, it’s disturbing that it’s still here.”

She didn’t expect an agreement, at least not an easy one, but Derek nods. “Okay.”

“Oh. Uh, really?”

“Stiles wants me to throw acid on it, too.”

“He knows about Kate?”

Derek shrugs. “Mentioned it.”

That requires some trust, right? Laura’s no expert but she can tell this much. This whole thing starts to look rather serious.

“Why is it here, anyway? If you wanted to hide it, you could’ve found a place in your room.”

“I wanted to remember it.”

“But what if someone found it?”

“What, like you did?”

“Oh. Right.” It makes an odd sense, she thinks. To hide but in a way that someone, sooner or later, would’ve found it. To not be able to say anything oneself, but wait for someone to ask.    

“I think I can stomach Return of the Jedi,” says Laura, looking at the TV. “I expect some help in return if I have some trouble with something. Like Lydia.” Wait, that sounded odd. “Something.”

“You two are like that?”

“Like what?” Laura makes a face at Derek’s raised eyebrows. “Gross, I’m not dating anyone,” she says with a shudder. “Although if I had to, I guess it’d be Lydia.”

“So you’re just friends?”

“We are not just friends. She’s my best friend and… I mean, we are not dating, I don’t even want that, but we aren’t just friends either.”

“Huh.”

“Actually, I’m sure Lydia knows a word for it. I’ll ask her about it.”      

“I kind of thought you were straight?”

“I don’t know what I am,” replies Laura. “I’m not straight because I like Lydia, but I’m not gay. I mean, I know the way Lydia looks at Braeden sometimes at the gym and… I don’t look like that at anyone. So I’m not bi either.”

“Huh. So, like asexual?”

Laura lets out the air. “Label is a label is a label,’ she says instead. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess? Whatever.”

+1. Your Everyday Dinner Date

Laura watches as Stiles eats Derek’s fries and Derek drinks Stiles’ milkshake. They argue about C-3PO, then discuss surface tension of the milkshake as Stiles drips his fry in it and Derek watches in horror but knows better by now than to stop him.

“When do you think they will realize they are dating?”

Lydia shakes her head. “They won’t. Ten years later, they’ll still think of themselves as platonic life partners or something.”

“I was thinking they might go down the friends with benefits way, except they have trouble setting boundaries.”

“Or the fake relationship. Everyone assumes they are dating so they decide to pretend to be dating to break up and have it over with, except they can’t quite just pretend.”

“Oh, I like this one,” Laura grins ad settles back in her seat. “Anyways, my plan totally worked.”

“It was a complete failure,” replies Lydia. “Your goal was to make them date.”

“There were a lot of goals, okay, they’ve changed, and many were achieved.”

“You can’t just change the goals.”

“Of course I can,” shrugs Laura. “It’s my plan.”

“I know I’ve said that a few times already, but I’m still impressed by your carefree attitude and easy-going nature.”

Laura bumps arms with her, smiling. She thinks back to the day she found Kate’s note, recalls heading to Derek’s room. Stiles was there then, wasn’t he? And it was just before Derek asked him out. Now that’d be a shitstorm if Laura went in to ask about Kate. “Good to have you to analyze everything.”

Lydia smiles back and Laura thinks suddenly of the talk she had with Derek. “Hey, is there like a name for when you’re friends, but more? Not like dating. Like, someone important, a friend, but not your… I don’t know.”

Lydia shrugs. “One that I just said. Platonic life partner?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“There’s also QPR. Queerplatonic relationship.”

“Hm. That’d suit us more, right?”

Lydia gives her an amused smile. “Is that your way of asking me out?”

“Is that your way of trying to embarrass me?”

Lydia nods. “Fair. Sorry. But is it?”

“Would you rather I call it a tuple like Stiles?”

Stiles grins. “My tuple rocks.”

“Ugh.”

“Jealous much?”

“Stiles,” Laura makes a face. “This is my brother.”

“Your point?”

Sure, Derek’s smitten, but Stiles is just as bad. 

“So I have different options?” asks Lydia.

“Well, we can always stay friends, so yeah.”

Lydia looks at her, curious. “What about dating?”

“No way.” Laura wrinkles her nose. “I’m crossing this one out.”

“QPR sounds nice.”

Laura smiles, suddenly feeling shy. “Yeah?”

“But tuple sounds better.”

“Jesus, no one asked you, Stiles!”

“Yeah, well, no one asked you to play matchmaker, either.”

Laura narrows her eyes. “I know you just want my muffin but fine. Take it.”

“Thank you.”

“Though, seriously, don’t say I didn’t influence you getting together. I should get a gift, like, a fruit basket. Once a month.”

“Okay,” says Derek.

“Okay?” echoes Stiles, incredulous. “Those are terrible conditions!”

“Well, we are together, right?”

“Gross,” says Laura, staring at Derek in abject horror. “You’re sweet.”

Lydia smiles at Laura, getting her attention again. “Tuple is good, too.”

“Seriously?”

“As long as it’s with you.”

“Romantic shit,” comments Derek. “I approve.”

“This is the last time we have a date together,” hisses Laura.

She knows it’s not, though, and really, she doesn’t mind. She doesn’t even care about the name for her and Lydia’s relationship, as long as it has the space to change and shape what they may have. Even if it’s a tuple.

[tenitchyfingers]

also i just thought about how exclusionists (of all kinds) are so silent and quiet about norms. Like, all kinds of norms. And by norms I mean gender norms, amatonormativity, heteronormativity, etc... basically the background that makes oppression possible. One of the bases of oppression, if you will. Without a widespread culture with specific norms, there would be no term of comparison for bigoted people to other specific groups, because without rules and norms to follow we’d all be the same and think of each other as fundamentally equal. And yet exclusionists will obsess about visible, physical oppression, and completely not give a shit about how a lot of identities are isolated and othered specifically because their very existence challenges and sometimes completely subvert norms. They are pretty much always silent and quiet about those very norms, unless talking about them will favor their narrative in specific cases.

and I think that’s rooted in the fact that exclusionist ideology is based on acceptability politics and assimilation, aka distancing themselves from “the kweers” and climb to the same level of power as the same straight people who hate them, basically accessing to a position of power where they can hopefully stop being oppressed and switch to being the oppressors. Basically exclusionist policies are all about participating in the same culture they were oppressed by, and joining the oppressors instead of dismantling the system that created homophobia, transphobia, and all sorts of inequality.  I mean, I’m not saying anything new, but my point is that I just noticed how exclusionists never talk about norms, and when you do mention them they’ll resort to “so you think gays aren’t normal! homophobia!” when that’s not even remotely the point (or anyway it highlights how they’re already thinking like oppressors do).

[theclaravoyant]

Any thoughts on the implications behind AIDA being a female-shaped android who is portrayed as an evil, rapey, unstable person while Enoch, the male-shaped android is portrayed as a "beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world" who sacrifices himself for the team?

Do I have thoughts? Oh, so many thoughts…..

I know this ask is leaning toward gender politics & representation but you know what? I was actually thinking about this while watching the finale and I had to stop and rage for a second because you know what? You know what I can’t help thinking about why this happened?

FITZAND FITZSIMMONS DRAMAAND MAKING FITZ LOOK BAD AND WEAK AND MAKING HIM FUCK UP

and also gender politics bc that shit is inescapable

so SOME THOUGHTS

first of all, pronouns. Enoch insists that they have no gender (*I don’t remember their feelings re: pronouns). Aida couldn’t have done that, because according to the (sarcastic) big book of When It’s Appropriate To Be Nonbinary, you can’t humanise something without pronouns (other than they because that’s obviously not a real pronoun, no The Literal Dictionary, kiss TBBWATBN’s ass) and to do the story they did with her, you have to humanise. If you want to humanise, just make up a gender! 

As long as, where a man is creating the inanimate object, that gender is female and if humanoid, the object is attractive or at least has boobs. (see the sarcastic big book of When It’s Appropriate to ID as Female). You can’t have a man obsessively crafting the naked form of another man or masculine shape, especially not an older, not-particularly-sexual one! That would be creepy! Especially if in their introductory scene they were naked, and apparently had anatomically correct genitalia! Gross!

Taking a deep breath and chilling out with the sarcasm now, you also couldn’t pull the sometimes character-threatening hype they did on Fitz. Idk how much the promo team stoked the fire or not, but the fandom was losing their shit with thoughts of “Fitz is going to cheat on Jemma with Aida”, some even advocating for it. (Same with Elena before she came in too). They ended up going for a ‘lol it’s cute that you would think I was cheating’ storyline, which was better, but still would have been ZERO question with Enoch.

Thank fork they didn’t do a full-on Born Sexy Yesterday with Aida. oh my GOD. but still I don’t think they would have got as much of a kick out of Fitz having to hide her with Enoch either. Sure, he was technically hiding her because of protocols, but come on. I’m also really, really annoyed they had Fitz lie to Jemma about this whole thing, it was bullshit for unnecessary drama but I’ll try not to get side tracked.

Would Fitz have been as keen to save Enoch and advocate for him as he was Aida? Possibly. We by and large loved Enoch by the end and Fitz did talk to him like a person and sort of friend, so it’s possible.

Would we have got the “oh no Fitz is in love with it” thing before, during, or after the Framework? Heteronormativity says NO FORKING WAY SON. and in FACT a LARGE part of the Framework story as a whole would fall apart!!!

Why?

Because it wouldn’t be about Jemma anymore.

Through a combination of heteronormativity and amatonormativity I don’t believe Enoch could have taken Jemma’s place in Fitz’s life as Aida could have. Therefore they’d have to restructure the entire Framework and the aftermath from it. How could Enoch have got what he wanted from Fitz? Been his father, threatened him? Been his father, gently coaxed him into an adulthood where he would do something bad? I’m giving myself feels about that one actually oops. Idk. It might not have been that bad. It might have actually been better and less non-conny for Fitz. Maybe they wouldn’t even need the Framework. Or maybe Enoch would be asking for help to make a (female, obviously, bc duh) companion or something and because Fitz believes in love he would do it, or something. It depends what they would have done with the FW if they couldn’t embed Fitz’s romantic relationship with Jemma so deeply into it. But moving on.

When Fitz got out Jemma would probably have looked better actually, because she wouldn’t have gone straight to ‘what if he’s in love with somebody else’. With Aida, we couldn’t trust Fitz’s feelings, he’s a man and will fall in love and/or sleep with anything appropriately female that moves, and that would get in the way of FitzSimmons, which is why we would care about that. We probably wouldn’t get Jemma “standing up for her man” so much as Fitz taking revenge because heaven forbid he show mercy to man that couldn’t make people freak out about him still being in love with her / it. While I want to believe better of the situation, they never did anything with his hesitation other than that, so that’s what I’m stuck with in this train of thought.

MEANWHILE I wonder if they’d ever make an old timeless genderless robot in a woman’s figure, let alone a young-looking, attractive-looking woman like Mallory. I wonder if they’d do it without sex jokes. I WONDER if we would have made it 74 years in cryofreeze with this chick standing guard and no fears of Fitz sleeping with someone else in the intervening years (*laughs forever because we got that anyway even without an attractive mentor-slash-partner-robot on the scene*) or Jemma, not being able to hear and thus fully comprehend a situation, assuming that the robot is Fitz’s new love that he found in the time apart and Angst. Because obviously, no man and woman can hang out for that long and not at the very least Comfort Sex each other. (*eyes a certain other storyline we know*)

I got through all that and I haven’t even TOUCHED the sexualisation of evil, femme fatale seductresses, the allure of “Madam Hydra”, or any of that. Oh, so many thoughts. Thanks for the ask, this was really interesting (and actually, surprisingly fun, if in a slightly bitter way) to reflect upon!