#this is such a cool concept for an issue wish there were more of these

[call-me-oracle]

barbara gordon in nightwing #105 pt. 1

bonus:

[yourdoseofapple]

I think there should be a building game show for Minecraft. Like Lego Masters, most cooking shows, etc. Like listen. I think fighting is cool and all, and I myself was raised on watching bed wars and Minecraft hunger games and all that, but like also… builder are insane? Like I love watching, Empires, Hermitcraft, other big builders (and redstoners for that matter) because I’m so fascinated by how their brains work???? Like you’re telling me Bdubs took some dirt and made a literal mountain as a BACKDROP for his build in a season??????? Bro????? Like I want some builders to go head to head in a building challenge.

Like, okay hear me out, each week their “building themes” could go from mimicking IRL architecture styles - medieval, French colonial, minimalism, etc - OR could rely on game mechanics. Like you gotta make a build, but it must include five red stone functions - could be as simple of auto lighting and stuff - all the way to farms included into the make of the build!

Judging wise, I think that would be the hardest thing to pin down, because the issue with Minecraft building is that there are a lot of factors when it comes to the concept of building because every builder has an inherent “style” they have and so to compare isn’t necessarily fair???? Because what one person likes may not be the same as another person, so I don’t believe you can judge inherently on how a build looks, but more so if it fits the criteria - did you do your research and keep to the prompt 100% or did you take some liberties in the favor of making it seem stylistically “better” - also, while I am inclined to be like “hey look we could have it audience choice” I am aware that in previous Minecraft events - every tournament event live-streamed like ever - every YouTuber is gonna have bias on their side, and if there is someone with a larger viewership that others, there is of course going to be favor towards them. The ONLY way I could see this being different is if it was all pre-recorded and episodic, but I still believe there would be a heavy amount of bias if someone was on the show with more viewership than others. We would want it to be fair. I do think audience participation is important though, and should be a major inclusion! Like, before an event is to occur I think it would be fun to choose the prompt of what they’re building that week, but the contenders just can’t tweet/say/promote one they wish to do, so it is STRICTLY up to the audience without bias.

Also, I think everyone should come out a winner, not in the “No one came out on top because we are all equal” way - because while that is important it is still a tournament, and as we’ve seen in literally every competition show ever there is always a first place winner - but more so in the, while you didn’t win, let’s reflect on how you are still fantastic and getting something out of this. I know it sounds a little basic, so I do think it would need to be extrapolated on. But I wouldn’t want anyone who “loses” to just go away with “you got clout” award. You were featured on the show, that’s inherent, you deserve more than that, again this can be fleshed out later, but they deserve more too, somehow.

Also for the finalists - I’m thinking either 3 left or 2 left - it should be a mega build level prompt. Could be something like “build a city!” Or just “build a mega base with x block being the main block” and, again, not sure how it would be judged, but winner comes out, with second/third place having some reward as well, not as good, but still considerably great. I also think it would be fun to have prior contestants come on and have to participate in the “here is your block that I got to choose for you” to add some spice to it. IDK what the prize would be, I know it is normally money, and while it could be that, I think it would be more fun to have something a little different that would still be fun and a true “winners” item. Again, not sure what it could be, but it would need to hold to the truth of “oh, hey, this is a true prize and its still fun and I’m getting something out of this!”

Anyhow, enjoy the strange thoughts of my brain and if any streamers/youtubers are out there reading this, lemme know what you think cuz I’m curious. Do I think I could ever do this? Probably not cuz I’m an opera singer doing my masters so time is bet a dream to me at this point, but like. I think it is interesting and would love opinions on it just from the standpoint of discussion. I streamed at one point, maybe I’ll start back up again one day if only to have fun. I feel like that should be what it is, fun, that is the most important thing at the end of the day and builders should have some competitive fun too!

Also, I will admit that I am obviously not knowledgeable on everything - again opera singers not full time Minecraft anything - so I don’t know if something like this has been done before, and while I think it would be cool if something like this existed, it may already exist and I quite simply don’t know! Thoughts, opinions, anything else?

Anyway, if anything, have a good day!

[writingseaslugs]

Idia Shroud x Reader: Thighs (NSFW)

Hi, this is super self-indulgent smut. It's been on my mind for like a week straight now and I got the motivation to write it finally after reading a fic by @treysimp which you should totally check out btw it's the couch series with Idia and the NSFW continuation is everything I need to breathe.

This features a reader with no pronouns and anatomy isn't ever discussed for them!

Part 02

Word Count: 2,759

Idia Shroud x Reader: Thighs

Warning: This is NSFW so if you’re under the legal age or uncomfortable with content like this, please skip over this one!

It had taken, in all honesty, months to get Idia more comfortable around you. He had issues with confidence, but also issued when it came to any social situation. Physical intimacy in itself was a foreign concept to him, you were pretty damn sure. It all started off slow, grazing your shoulder against his when you guys were gaming together, putting your hand on his shoulder, and eventually sitting shoulder to shoulder with him.

Just those small things made him burn up and flinch at first, but now he was calm. Things like hugging took longer, always starting out with your hand barely touching his linking arms, then finally a side hug. Kissing? Boy that in itself was a beast.

Finally though, after months, Idia was finally getting used to the fact that you wanted to touch him, kiss him, and over all just be with him. He never thought he’d ever actually get a significant other in his lifetime, but here you were.

Now you sat on his lap, watching him game while also scrolling through your phone and liking random memes. You’d occasionally get his attention when the game wasn’t at some serious point to show him some. You laughed at a particular funny meme, clicking the like button and feeling Idia shifting under you to get a better look.

“That’s so cringe.” Idia commented with a grimace and you raised an eyebrow while looking at him.

“So, you’re cringe and I still like you.” You pointed out, making him pout. He opened his mouth to say something before noticing you were giggling, “I’m sorry that was kinda mean.” You cooed, trying to cool off your boyfriend.

“Ya it was, and if I’m cringe what does that make you?” He said, adjusting you in his lap while he unpaused his game.

“A cringe lord, obviously. Master of the Cringe…ruler of the cringe-topia, the cringiest of cringe.” You began listing off before he groaned, moving his head into the crook of your neck as he clearly was being dramatic.

“You can s-stop now, you know.” He muttered and you chuckled again before you went back to scrolling through your phone.

In between the memes, you’d occasionally run into some random couple photo that you knew would make Idia groan and call them ‘Normies’ if he bothered to look. You couldn’t help but like them though, imagining you and Idia in those situations. You wished he’d let you snap a photo of the two of you during one of his gaming sessions. To you, it looked like the perfect gamer couple scenario, and the blue lighting of the room was picturesque.

Just as you were thinking this, you came across a mini video. It had a guy playing video games and his girlfriend trying to get his attention, before finally sitting on his lap with their chest to them and kissing the breath right of his lungs. The thought made you flush. It’s not like Idia wasn’t paying attention to you, you guys had made an agreement today to spend the day together just doing your own thing. Him just letting you sit on his lap was already more than enough.

Still, the thought of kissing him breathlessly was enticing. You two had never gone further than heavy makeout sessions, and while that was fine you were craving something more. Kissing him while you sat on his lap might be a good leeway into those things. Still, you always respected Idia’s boundaries and always asked before doing anything that might make him uncomfortable.

“Idia?” You asked, getting his attention. The video game he was playing was some open world RPG and his character was in town buying supplies, so it was the perfect time for him to save and put the controller down. Still, he continued gaming, simply humming in response to let you know he heard you, “Wanna make out?”

Idia froze and you could see the tips of his blue hair turning pink, and you knew if you looked behind you his face would have the same pink dusting across his cheeks. “I-w you want to what?” Idia said, almost shrieking right in your ear. 

“I mean…we’ve done it before. And I really wanna do it right now. That cool with you, or nah?” You asked, fully willing to drop the subject at the slightest hint of resistance. 

“I-I mean I wouldn’t mind but…” He trailed off and you finally turned to look at him. You waited patiently for him to say anything else and he took in a shark breath. “Y-you’re on my lap though…” You seemed to catch his drift pretty fast.

It was no secret that every time you guys had a particularly steamy makeout session, he’d excuse himself right after and angle his body just right so you couldn’t see what he was working with. Disappearing to the bathroom and coming back like nothing happened, but definitely not being able to make eye contact with you afterwards.

“So what? If you get excited I’m down to help if you want. Or I can get up and let you take care of things yourself. I don’t mind.” You were pretty sure your words made Idia short circuit for a moment as he dropped his controller and it fell to the ground.

“I you…wait does that mean?” Idia said, covering his face with his hands, too mortified to think straight. He thought he wasn't suspicious at all, but apparently it had been clear as day that whenever you made out it made him harder than a rock and he had to leave before you noticed.

“Idia, seriously it’s fine. It’s a compliment, really. Besides, you should see the state you leave me in.” You joked and he looked at you from the cracks of his finger.

“I uh…put you in a state?” He managed to murmur out and you did your best not to chuckle at how innocent his voice seemed right now.

“Hot and bothered, every time without fail.” You put it bluntly and he squealed, covering his eyes again but you could see the corners of his mouth trying to go into a smile. “So, can I kiss you or nah? All up to you, pretty boy.” You said, trying to calm him down.

“I…okay…” He finally murmured, moving his hands away from his face. You couldn’t help but smile as his hands wrapped around your waist and tugged you closer to his chest. You angled yourself just enough to capture his lips, your mouth clashing with his chapped lips.

You hummed happily at the taste of energy drinks and some chocolate snack you guys had shared earlier that day. The warm, fuzzy feeling that always overwhelmed your senses made you hum happily against his lips. He returned the kiss tentatively, his breath hitching as he tasted you. He groaned into the kiss, feeling how your teeth nibbled slightly on his bottom lip.

Idia nervously opened his mouth enough for your tongue to explore; you loved every minute as one of your hands came up and ran through his hair, clutching it a bit closer so he wouldn’t just pull away. It was all a bit messy as Idia slowly grew more confident in your lips moving against him and you whimpered into his mouth as he began taking control of the kiss.

You could feel him underneath you, slowly getting harder and you couldn’t help but be cheeky and grind your ass against his crotch. This earned a gasp from him, his clammy hands clutching your waist tighter as he separated from the kiss, a small string of saliva still connecting you two.

His length was poking you through his sweatpants and you knew it had to be uncomfortable. Idia’s breath was labored as he looked at you with hazy eyes. “You uh…you said you wouldn’t mind helping me…?” Idia finally said, his voice dipping down a bit lower than normal, sending a shiver down your spine.

“Ya…however you’d like. My hands, mouth, or body. Your choice, Idia.” You said, leaning in to kiss his jaw, since it was all you could reach at this angle. Your back was still firmly pressed against his chest, and as much as you wanted to shift to face him, you knew he was more comfortable like this.

“I…you can see…I don’t know if I can…” He kept murmuring, not knowing how to articulate his words properly. You smiled as your hand played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“You don’t feel comfortable with me seeing your body, is that it?” You asked and he nodded, looking anywhere but your eyes, “Do you feel comfortable seeing mine?” You asked, getting an idea.

“I…wouldn't mind but if I see all of you, it might be too much to handle…” He bit down on his lower lip, a bad habit of his whenever he got nervous.

“Do you have any lube at your desk?” You asked, knowing damn well he’s watched hentai at his desk before. He froze up before putting his head into the crook of your neck and murmuring out a yes. He squeezed your waist again, making you smile at how adorable he was being. “Where is it Idia?” You asked and he took one shaky hand and pointed at the drawer.

You leaned forward, making Idia gasp as you shifted against him, and opened the drawer. It wasn't hard to find the half full bottle of lube sitting in there, and you grabbed it happily. You put it in front of you before moving to your pants and unbuttoning them. Idia seemed to scramble, not knowing what you were doing.

You chuckled at him as he began stuttering out a sentence, but stopped as he saw your thighs coming into view as you pushed off just your pants. Your underwear still remained and it was slightly obscured by your school shirt. You went and pulled off your tie, then unbuttoned the first three buttons of your shirt so if he wanted to he could peek inside your shirt.

“How about this, Idia.” You began, pulling his attention away from your plush looking thighs and back to your face. “I’ll wrap my tie around my eyes so I can’t see anything, and you can fuck my thighs with some of the lube. I won’t be able to see anything then, and you’ll be in control of everything that’s happening. This way I can still help you.” 

“I…” Idia’s face was scarlet at this point as he processed what you said. You were going to let a filthy shut-in like himself fuck your thighs at his desk chair? This wasn’t really happening; it was too good to be true. “Are you sure?” He finally managed and you nodded.

“Super sure, now do you wanna or?” You asked and he nodded his head frantically, “Cool…want me to spread the lube on my thighs or will you do that when you’re ready?”

Idia didn’t know how to respond as he bit his lip again and averted your eyes. You chuckled as you grabbed the lube and poured some on a hand. You spread your legs a bit, spreading the lube where you thought he’d probably be using you, before wiping the excess off on Idia’s sweats. He went to protest, but realized he’d probably be making a mess of your underwear anyway.

You then went and wrapped your tie around your eyes and made sure it was snug and couldn’t see anything. Idia watched and decided to show two fingers in front of you to see if you’d say anything. You didn’t, just sat patiently for him to make a move. Once Idia was sure you couldn’t see, he felt a little more confident.

He shifted you on his lap as he worked on pulling down his sweats and underwear. You helped by hovering while he pushed them down to his ankles and slowly guided you back onto his lap. You could feel his hot length rubbing between your thighs, making you gasp in surprise.

“I s-sorry was I not supposed to…?” Idia felt a moment of panic before you quickly quelled it.

“N-no you’re fine. You just feel bigger than I thought, is all.” You admitted and he could see your face growing a bit hot. It filled him with a sense of pride, realizing that he was going beyond your expectations. Still, the thought of you seeing him was too much to bear right now. He’d just use your thighs, just like you said he could.

He moved your thighs to close around his cock and it was his time to gasp, feeling how warm and slick they were. The soft skin wrapping around his length almost made him cum right then and there. He hissed as he slowly lifted your thighs and slammed them back down onto his lap. He couldn’t help the broken moan that escaped him at the sensation.

Your thighs were just right and you yourself were biting down moans as he slowly began moving your thighs up and down his cock. Occasionally he would thrust his hips up to meet your thighs and you couldn’t help the whimper. The thoughts of his cock now being between just your thighs but inside of you was driving you wild and you knew your underwear probably was getting a wet patch on them from your arousal.

Idia’s nails dug into the skin of your thighs, possibly leaving marks and maybe even breaking skin, but you couldn’t really tell. All you knew was your heart rate speeding up and the sensation of Idia’s labored breath fanning across your neck in between his moans.

“F-feel so good, Idia.” You encouraged him, noticing how his cock twitched in between your thighs and you swore you felt a glob of precum splatter on your thigh, “So good for me.” You murmur lovingly. He groaned as he moved one hand to your face and forced you to turn your head.

His lips crashed into your own in a heated and sloppy makeout session, leaving you dizzy with sensations. His hand left your face and went back to your thigh, but you kept your mouth there, accepting every hungry kiss of his. You were on cloud nine and just from that alone you felt like you could cum yourself.

All too soon for your liking, Idia’s breath and hips stuttered and you felt him groan into your mouth as his cum painted your thighs white. You shivered at the feeling of how hot it was and he parted from your lips, panting against them as he came down.

“I…thank you.” Idia finally said, not knowing what else to do. You chuckled as you pointed at your lips, wanting another kiss but not wanting to miss him. He leaned in, giving a chaste kiss as he lifted you off him and tugged his pants back on. “You can uh, take off the blindfold now.” He said, giving you the green light.

You untied the back and then turned to Idia, looking at his flush his cheeks were and his half lidded eyes. He had a nervous grin on his face as he took you in. You stood up fully and looked down at your thighs, admiring the white streaks on them. Idia covered his mouth, looking away.

“S-sorry, I’ll clean you up. I uh don’t think I got it on your shirt or underwear…” He paused as he looked over at you. You couldn’t help but be cheeky, running a finger over some of the cum and then popping in into your mouth. You let out a theatrical moan at the taste of him. It wasn’t exactly the best, but like hell you’d ever ruin that slight confidence of his.

Idia was cherry red as he watched you suck your finger, basically just eating his cum, “I hope next time I can get it right from the source, huh Idia?” You said suggestively and he covered his mouth with his hand.

“Y-you’re gonna kill me one of these days.” Idia finally murmured and you just laughed and shook your head.

“Well come on, you were planning on being a gentleman and cleaning me off right?” You asked, holding out your clean hand for him to take. Idia got up slowly and began dragging you to his bathroom to clean up any evidence of what you two did, and hopefully get over his embarrassment.

Should I make a continuation? Because I totally have an idea and would write an AFAB and AMAB version. Decisions, decisions...

[i-might-be-a-simp]

I need your opinion, do you think Ron knew that Cale was no longer the same person?

I was stalking the fandom (as usual) and I saw a comment, by who I assume to be a new reader, wondering how Ron would react finding out Cale was actually KRS, that the child he watched grow wasn't actually the man he believes and it made me think a bit.

When I read tcf the first time, one of the things I was most curious about was all the odd looks Cale got in the first few chapters, and my biggest question was, surely a very sharp and experienced assassin who knew the know-hows of blending into different crowds would have immediately noticed that "Young master" was no longer the same person.

I'm sure you caught this too when reading, but there were many moments when Ron's expression turned odd after Cale did or said something.

Ron the whole first chapter:

It starts by something he dismisses, such as Cale waking up immediately after Ron calls out to him, on the very first attempt. But as the chapter progresses, Ron gets more and more intrigued.

He notices how Cale says thanks after he receives water and when servants dress him. Along with his other odd actions, asking the date, repeating his own name, asking to go to the study, not breaking things etc.

And then finally, Ron gives him the ultimate test, the lemon tea. I think this was his way of confirming that Cale had changed. It proved to me Ron was definitely onto something.

Now this is where I need your opinion. From my interpretation of Ron's character, yes he "loved" ogCale or held at least a bit of affection for him. Let me pull up some receipts:

^(sorry for light mode)

Although Ron treated him like his grandson he did not think Cale had a soft spot for him nor that he treated him like a person and never really took much interest in him aside from his duties.

And while I was doing a deep-dive I went on the wiki and saw this.

So Ron saw ogCale, his situation and therefore pitied him, yet he thought of him as a helpless impertinent puppy, which is why he did not have much issue with following Beacrox who wished to leave with Choi Han in BOAH. But only after Cale changed is when he begin to be interested.

Now the question is, was the lemon tea experiment he did, just to test whether Cale had become aware of Ron's true identity, or was it to confirm Cale was a changed person entirely???

Personally I think it was both, and that Ron was aware from the very beginning. However this is where I am conflicted, because the idea of Ron watching that small boy become so big and smart is so satisfying to me, because the author wanted to paint this as a "cale finally stopped pretending to be a dumb oblivious trash and started to take matters into his hand" like it was all a plan cale had to hide his powers and get stronger in secret while acting unsuspecting. This is what the public believes and it sounds very cool but... hmm I wish we got a chapter focusing more on Ron's feelings.

Like I am aware he loves Cale very much and especially after getting the new arm he started to feel a sense of loyalty for Cale he didn't have before but the fact that he was one of the few people og Cale was very close with since he was very young, the fact that a whole new person was in the body is kind of not addressed in its full concept, this transition from no interest to loyalty was also a transition from og cale to krs cale so I wish we got more on it.

Thanks for reading my ramble. I love them.

[conarcoin]

Actually, no, I wanted to make one more post on this topic that I feel is important and that is that I don't think a lot of the current MCYT fandom understands the history and context behind the concept of "CC boundaries", and I feel like it's important to clarify this.

Prior to 2019, "CC boundaries" weren't really a thing in MCYT fandom spaces as far as I've been able to find. And it wasn't because people didn't care about CCs' wishes, but rather because fandom tended to be contained to fandom spaces and was self-regulated. CCs only really tended to see shipping content and the like when they intentionally seeked it out.

As far as I'm aware, the concept of "CC boundaries" came into MCYT fandom spaces in 2019 following CallMeCarson's serious stream and the creation of the Tumblr blog smp-boundaries. I'll get to smp-boundaries later, but I first want to give some more context on the serious stream and the SMPLive fandom in 2019 in general.

The serious stream mainly focused on stan Twitter culture, which is what most of the early "CC boundaries" applied to, but it also singled out a fanwork made by a young creator, a popular fanfiction called SMPRonpa. The issue with SMPRonpa however, was that Carson was the only CC who ever seemed to actually take an issue with it.

In the stream he talked on behalf of all of his friends, but really, these friends had been reading, joking about and praising the fic on Twitter, or seemed disinterested in it at all when it was mentioned to others. Even in hindsight up to just last year creators who were in it would say on stream that they had no real issue with it or thought it was cool.

The serious stream led directly to the creation of smp-boundaries, the first real documentation of "CC boundaries". This blog is still cited as the primary resource for CC boundaries to this day... Despite the fact that it hasn't been updated in over a year, and many of the lists contain outdated information, uncited claims, out of context clips and dead links.

The primary source people point to for "CC boundaries" is a relic that hasn't been touched in over a year, and we now have a fandom where separating the person from who they play in Minecraft is the norm. This wasn't the norm in 2019.

Additionally in 2019, a creator, ZombieCleo, was harrassed off of Tumblr for saying she couldn't control shipping and telling people to just block fancontent they don't like.

Many of the users who chased Cleo off are the same users you'll see on Twitter today pushing boundaries. Many of them are also ex-SMPblr users.

So uh, yeah. This is the context behind "CC boundaries" as a concept and is why you so often see people harassing others over "boundaries" that they straight up made up on a CC's behalf. Because that's where the concept originated.

[hawkins-losers]

I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips | Robin Buckley x Reader

Summary: Robin can’t believe you have a crush on her

Word count: 1.2k

Request: hello, hello! hope you're doing well!! how about 98 with robin with a female reader, please? i'm talking about the 100 ways of kisses, idk if someone had asked them yet sjdjsjd98 (98. “let’s just kiss to see what it’s like” then pulling away, lingering for a moment, then going in for the second kiss)

** keep sending numbers from this list

-

You and Robin were laying on her bed with the fan on, cursing the July heatwave. You know, the kind of weather where your popsicle melts before you can take a second bite? And it lasts days. You liked summer, but not when it was suffocatingly hot.

The local pool had opened a few days ago, but that's where everyone goes during heatwaves, meaning it would be packed. So you stayed inside with your new best friend - the fan - and an extra large slurpee.

‘’I’ve got a genius idea!’’ Robin exclaimed beside you, sweat glossing her freckled skin. She took a noisy sip of her blue slurpee. ‘’We should run a bath of cold water and make it into a pool!’’

The concept sounded amazing, better than a kid pool that will get filled with grass and bugs, and it would be a great way to feel refreshed, but there were some technical issues Robin seemed to have not thought about.

‘’How are we going to fit both into your tiny bathtub? Did you see the size of your bathtub?’’

It was your turn to take a sip of your slurpee, getting a brain-freeze and squeezing your eyes to make it go away.

‘’It’s not that tiny,’’ Robin debated.

‘’And I don’t have my bathing suit,’’ you added.

Robin shrugged. ‘’So what? We jumped in Lover’s Lake many times in our bras. Besides, underwear and bathing suits are not much different. Unless…you’re not comfortable with that. I would understand if-’’

‘’Alright. Let's go.‘’

It was a terrible idea. While it did cool you down, you were now freezing and full on shivering from the icy cold water of the bath.

''Holy shit, that was so fucking cold!'' Robin grabbed two towels to dry off your bodies and tossed you one.

Teeth clattering, you caught it and wrapped it around yourself to warm you up. ''I told you to add a little bit of hot water.’'

Robin laughed, squirming on her feet and shivering. ‘’It didn’t make sense to me when you said it, okay?’’

Once you were no longer dripping wet, you and Robin went back to her bedroom.

You felt much better - and cooler - than an hour ago.

Luckily, Robin’s window overlooked the backyard, or else her neighbors would’ve gotten a show of two teenage girls in their bras and underwear.

As you passed in front of the dresser mirror, you noticed how your nipples were poking and showing through your wet baby pink bralette, making you feel very exposed. You took a quick and subtle look at Robin to see her in the same situation. Although darker, her sports bra was just as inefficient at hiding anything.

‘’You have really pretty eyes,’’ you pointed out, trying to not think of Robin’s wet bra. God, you were no better than boys!

You had noticed Robin’s blue eyes before, but they stood out even more now that she cut her hair and got bangs.

Robin flopped down on her bed, not caring that the bed would get damp. ‘’I got them from my mom.’’

You sensed Robin's eyes on you - on your body. She was forcing herself to look away, but you wished she didn't. You wanted her to look at you. That way, you wouldn't feel so weird or guilty for wanting to look at her.

You joined her, landing a bit too close to her than planned and causing your fingers to graze. ‘’And you got long lashes too. That’s unfair! I’m so jealous.’’ You purse your lips into a pout, wishing you didn’t have to apply three coats of mascara every morning to make your lashes look somewhat nice.

‘’What’s with all the compliments today? I’m gonna start to believe you got a crush on me or something,’’ Robin joked, forcing a laugh.

Your own laugh got stuck in your throat. Oh no. Were you that transparent?

Noticing your mind was somewhere else, Robin took advantage of your absence of attention and faked to attack and bite your finger, which made you gasp in surprise, pulling you out of your thoughts in the process.

She began laughing at her own tomfoolery. ‘’I’m sorry.’’

‘‘What if I do?’‘

Robin’s laugh cut short, a bit stunned. ‘‘W-what?’‘

You bit your lip and rolled on your side, now laying facing each other. ‘‘What if I do have a crush on you?’‘

‘‘You don’t.’‘ Robin shook her head firmly, stubbornly. ‘‘You don’t.’‘

Your eyebrows pulled into a slight frown. ‘‘Why do you say it like that?’’ you asked, running your fingers through a piece of her dark blond hair and tucking it behind her ear to see her face better. You thought she would move away from your touch, but she didn’t. ‘’Is that so impossible for you to believe that I have a crush on you?’‘

Robin looked down, fleeing your gaze. ‘‘No one has a crush on me. I have a crush on people.’‘

You didn’t know how you should interpret this. Was she self-deprecating herself, as in no one can have a crush on her because she doesn’t feel ‘pretty enough’ to be someone’s - anyone’s - crush, or was she just in complete disbelief that you had a crush on her?

Instead of feeding the debate, you proposed a game. It was silly, but perhaps that will make her open her eyes and make her realize how honest you were being.

'’Let’s try something,’’ you suggested. ‘’Why don’t we kiss, and then you can tell me if you believe me or not?’’ There was no pressure in your voice. It was purely a proposition.

You could read the hesitation on Robin's face as she looked right at you, her train of thoughts likely racing in her head. ‘’Yes- no. I mean, yes, I do want to kiss you- Wait, I don’t remember if I brushed my teeth this morning. Do I have bad breath? I need breath freshener...and lip balm and-’’

Her rambling was silenced by your lips, gently and sweetly kissing her.

The sudden impact had stunned Robin, her breath catching in her throat. She did not expect you to kiss her now. As her brain started to register what was going on, she kissed you back, putting her hands on your waist pulling you closer.

It felt more intimate without your clothes on, but neither of you tried anything sexual.

She tasted of artificial blue raspberry from the slurpee she drank all afternoon and her lips were very soft from how much lip balm she puts on daily - it’s an addiction, really.

You ended the kiss as you needed to breathe, getting a soft whine or protest from Robin. For a girl who was hesitating fifteen seconds ago, she didn’t want to stop now.

You opened your eyes, seeing a bashful smile glued to her lips and hunger in her sparkling eyes.

‘’Do you believe me, now?’’

Robin nodded. ‘’I was afraid of liking it - kissing you - and then you telling me it was a joke, that you didn't like me that way,’’ she confessed vulnerably, her teeth catching her bottom lip as her blue eyes tried to flee yours.

You cupped her flushed cheek and brushed your thumb over her cheekbone. ‘’I’d never make that kind of joke.’’

Playing with someone's feelings was vile and disgusting. It just hurts people.

From here, your face barely an inch from Robin’s, you could see very clearly how bright and beautiful her eyes were - and those damn lashes. You could also see every freckle on her face and how her left eyebrow had an arch more pronounced than the right. ‘’God, you’re so pretty it hurts,’’ you whispered, then dived in for a second kiss.

-

Taglist:  @broadway-or-noway​ @violetsleftfist​ @thelaststraw3​ 

Robin Buckley taglist: @uhidklol-26 @prettyplant0​ @ran-rap​ 

[lets-try-some-writing]

A concept for you:

Cybertronians are much more respectable about gender preferences because in a society where anything can be changed by a visit to the doctor's office, gender isn't as controversial to them as it is to humans.

Imagine Miko talking with a friend with Bulkhead nearby, possibly listening in, and as they drive back to base Miko refers to the friend with "They". Initially Bulk's confused since as far as he knew humans only used he/him and she/her, but as Miko explains, he thinks it's cool that humans didn't limit themselves if they thought the default didn't fit them.

Miko thinks it's cool too, but idly mentions that it'd be cooler if there wasn't a lot of controversy around it.

This stops bulk in his tracks, "What do you mean?" he asks, but Miko says she would rather discuss this further at base because... she's been thinking about using they/them along with she/her but worries about how it would affect her relationship with her friends.

So it's safe to say that she's floored by all the support she gets from not only her fellow humans but Team Prime as well when she finally speaks her mind.

Interesting concept. Hope you don't mind if I use this as a chance to make more lore up on the spot. But don't worry, Miko still gets her support, its just more toward the end of this post.

Cybertronians and Gender

Cybertronians as a general rule, do not care at all for gender like humans do. As Cybertronians do not actually have any physical differentiations that would give them reason to have gender, they didn't bother coming up with a set of terms for any. As such on Cybertron there was only ever one symbol used to speak of, describe, and refer to a bot. The way they differentiated each other was not through using separate terms, but by adding special tonal indicators in their glyphs that pointed toward a more feminine or masculine nature in an individual. Cybertronians only really used pronouns when interacting with other races, mainly to make themselves more relatable and appealing to possible allies.

Simply put, they had no males, females, or whatever other classifications came from other species among their people. They merely adapted to better suit their environment as needed. When not on missions, Cybertronians fall right back into using their universal designators. But since the bots arrived to earth, they have taken the time to research human customs to create designations, pronouns, and even voices that would best fit the world they have come to see as a second home of sorts.

Everything the bots presented to the humans was catered and altered to best be understandable, right down to tone, body language, and speech. Like the best actors in the galaxy, everything they did was thought out and carefully mulled over in sub-processing routines to ensure the clearest communication. Still, they did not forget their origins despite playing such an intense game of pretend. So when Miko came to base speaking of a friend who wished to go by different pronouns, the bots were a little put off but not startled in any way.

Miko: I have a friend who uses "they" as their pronouns.

Bulkhead: They as in plural?

Optimus: Is that not incorrect grammar?

Ratchet: I thought you humans only had two sexes?

Miko: Um, well they refer to themselves that way because they don't feel like either gender. And since there isn't another word for someone who doesn't feel like either, we use "they".

Arcee: And why is this such an issue?

Miko: Most people don't like it when a person deviates from the normal he/him and she/her. So it's a bit scary trying to ask others to use new pronouns.

Bumblebee: That's ridiculous! We swap genders all the time and its no big deal!

Miko: Wait, what?!

Jack and Rafael who had previously been paying little attention were suddenly very invested in the conversation as the bots shrugged like it was completely normal. When asked what they meant by that, Optimus stepped forward to explain.

Optimus: We are autonomous robotic organisms. We have no components that set us apart biologically like organics do.

Jack: So you don't have genders?

Optimus: No we do not. On Cybertron we all use the same symbol to refer to one another.

Rafael: Then why use pronouns here?

Optimus: Other species have trouble comprehending that while we use the same words to refer to one another, we still recognize our individuality. So to make things easier, we take on the designations used by whatever species we are interacting with.

Miko: So when Bumblebee said you swap genders all the time he meant that-?

Ratchet: We adapt our behavior to suit our environment. Did you really think our voices naturally sounded this way or that we have the same body language as you humans?

The children were left a little dumbstruck once the explanation was complete. But it didn't end there, soon they began questioning more and the team had to explain to them why it simply wasn't a big issue for them. However after a few botched attempts to verbalize their reasoning normally, they ended up telling stories of their other experiences to make their point.

Optimus told the children of his experiences making deals with a species of techno-organic whose largest and most dominant citizens were all female. And so to get along with them, Optimus had taken on the pronouns that equated to she/her in their society, made his voice higher pitched, and did his best to meet their customs. He was dressed up in silks at one point and danced among the noble woman of their courts. He wore bright colors and adjusted his body language to be more feminine to get along. And he even went out of his way to perform what they considered more lady-like activities since all their ruling class were female. To the surprise of the children, Optimus didn't mind all that much despite preferring to lean toward the more masculine end of the scale.

Arcee then added to the tale by telling the children of her experiences with that same group of techno-organics during a mission she had there. Among their kind the males were all very small but highly agile and the most aggressive little things known to their sector of the galaxy. And Arcee being a small bot ended up taking on their version of he/him pronouns and worked her way into their society with practiced ease. She deepened her voice, adjusted her body language, and joined the males in their activities. She fought alongside them as a battle-brother, she performed their rituals of combat, and aided them in their duty of protecting their females and young despite their small size. And once again, the children were left a little bewildered as Arcee shrugged and stated that it wasn't an issue for her since she had been integrating into other societies for centuries.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack shared their story of the time when they were working with some organics who possessed both sets of genitalia needed to produce offspring. The wreckers had used both male and female pronouns interchangeably to make their companions more comfortable. They had adjusted their behavior and swapped between male and female body language and voice pitch every other day or so just like their companions. Wheeljack had been particularly fond of using feminine pronouns while beating tailpipe since organic species tended to find the idea of a female demolishing them in battle outrageous. He then found it equally entertaining to use masculine pronouns to make terrible dad jokes around the crew. Bulkhead on the other hand liked to use feminine pronouns while working on artistic pursuits since it made him feel more inspired. And at the same time he liked using masculine ones while fighting since it aided him in feeling confident.

The children for their part didn't find this particularly odd since Bulkhead and Wheeljack already gave them mixed wine aunt/fun uncle vibes. As such they nodded sagely as Ratchet threw in his own tale to the mix.

At one point the medic had been among a technological species that was built with a specific function based on two models that were akin to male and female. They viewed those who were not forged in either of these models as holy and to respected. So when Ratchet turned up to do some research during his medical schooling he found himself heralded as some sort of saint due to his effective androgyny. Not wanting to be bothered figuring out the specifics he took on the species' version of they/them and moved on with life. Although to keep them from being uncomfortable he evened out his voice, adjusted his alt-mode to something that didn't lean too far toward either side of the gender scale, and did his best to remain focused on his studies. He actually ended up enjoying being referred to by their version of they/them since it meant he wasn't obliged to do anything outside of his studies or comply with any of their cultural norms.

The children blinked rapidly in disbelief at hearing this but opted to not think on it too hard. Ratchet had always been so much like a dad, a grumpy uncle, and a tired grandpa that is was hard for them to see him in a more androgynous light. Jack and Rafael weren't all that invested in Ratchet's story, but Miko was totally enthralled at the idea of one of the bots going by they/them at some point. She only grew more interested when Bumblebee added his own experience to the table.

Bumblebee upon seeing Miko's excitement perked up and went on to tell her and the others all about his younger years. On Cybertron, to allow younglings and sparklings to discover themselves, they were not given gendered pronouns when interacting with other species no matter the situation. Bumblebee was always given the species gender neutral pronouns whenever he interacted with them or he was only referred to by the Cybertronian designation used for all bots. It stemmed from the belief that sparklings and younglings were pure and therefore should not be tainted with the sinfulness of the world around them until they had fully developed. As such he spent his entire sparklinghood using the Cybertronian designation or other neutral pronouns all while never being forced to be more feminine or masculine. It was his choice and only once he was grown in frame did he choose to use masculine pronouns when interacting with other races when possible.

Miko's eyes sparkled at this, although Bumblebee made sure to clarify that like the rest of the team, he did not care for gender like organics and would willingly swap as needed. Of course after every bot shared their stories, one question hung in the air.

Wheeljack: So kid, why did you bring up the topic of gender anyway? Something going on or were you just interested?

Miko: I was thinking of using they/them alongside she/her since I don't always feel comfortable only being seen as a girl.

Bulkhead: Cool. Do you want us to start using they/them now or a later?

Miko: Cool? You don't think its weird?

Arcee: Is there a reason to? We just told you about how gender does not bother us at all.

Miko: I'm an organic and I can't rearrange my body like you bots can. I don't know... I guess I was worried you would think it was silly for me to want to be seen differently.

Optimus: If I were you, I would take some time to do some "soul searching" as you call it before you make any changes to your body. But beyond that, we will gladly support you in your journey of self-discovery.

Miko: You mean that?

Bumblebee: Of course! It's better to be your true self rather than remain locked in a box your whole life! How can you figure out who you are if you never try anything new?

Ratchet: So long as you don't make your chosen designation your entire personality, I see no issue with you changing your pronouns.

Miko: Guys...

Miko was quickly met with casual and not at all overbearing support. The team didn't make a big deal out of her decision and quietly began referring to her as they/them every now and then to help her decide if she liked it or not. Optimus would take time with her on occasion and swap his persona around to match hers to make her feel more comfortable. On such days he would swap to using more non-gendered pronouns to show his support, even adjusting his voice, tone, and body language as he would with other species to show his support.

Ratchet took it upon himself to ensure Miko felt at peace with her feminine nature and female body to contrast Optimus's gentle teachings meant to safely help her explore this new idea that she was fostering. To ensure her desire was not due to her changing body and hormones, Ratchet sat down with June and walked Miko through a deep-dive of the female body (much to her boredom). Once that was done, he went through a series mental health questions to assess her and once again look for possible issues that could have caused a degree of dysmorphia. Then finding nothing serious he took the opportunity to also swap his pronouns, voice, and overall disposition around to give her a better idea of what she was trying to become.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack didn't so much as stutter as they rapidly began swapping through pronouns over the course of a few weeks. They both preferred sticking to a set, but they were willing to swap around to show their support and show Miko that gender really isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things. They made a point to still do what they always did even while adjusting their voices and body language. They didn't want her to feel that she was an outcast or that her choice of pronouns changed anything about her place among them. Miko appreciated their efforts and often enjoyed watching them present differently.

Bumblebee for his part didn't change his pronouns or anything. He was content to just give Miko words of affirmation and treat her kindly as he always had. There wasn't a need for him to make a big deal out of it since it really wasn't all that big of a deal. Miko wasn't altering her body or harming herself in any way, so Bumblebee was not pressed to make it an issue by being super outspoken about the whole thing. Although at one point he did teach her a few of the other alien versions of they/them that he had used over the centuries just in case she found one to be interesting.

As for Rafael and Jack? They literally did not care, but in a good way. They didn't change anything about how they treated her or interacted with her. They just gave her a thumbs up as she went about figuring out what she wanted to be called and continued on with their day.

[littleeyesofpallas]

As much as I've always been pretty critical of the Lost Agent arc, and the Fullbringers as a concept, and the way their individual powers were handled... There really were a few little nuggets worth exploring that I wish there had been better plot accomodations to do so with.

I love the whole animist idea, I just don't know that it fit very well into the Bleach world building. The idea of imbuing spirit and power and indeed a Heart into inanimate objects, especially in the context of Ichigo and Ginjo having lost shinigami powers in different ways, COULD have made for a really fascinating parallel with zanpakutou if it had been even lightly explored.

And while the idea of the Fullbringers getting their innate powers as a consequence of hollow attacks on their mothers was wildly and needlessly arbitrary, I DO wish they'd interrogated the Hollow-like nature of those powers. We got a few back stories more or less just establishing that they were all a little toxic, but not all in ways that reflected the Hollow M.O. it didn't come as a conflict of powerful desire and overindulgence. It didn't manifest as a need to consume and destroy those close to them.

It could have been really interesting to see more of how a human can have an innately hollow like personality or impulse problems. It could have been cool to see how a familiarity with hollows spiritually could have resulted in a natural need to manifest a mask, but the mask is the Fullbring, but the Fullbring is more like a zanpakutou and its shikai than like a hollow mask. So instead of putting the best of yourself into a sword that can look you in the eye and offer you power in exchange for self respect and understanding you put the worst of yourself into an object and it gives you power in exchange for indulging in your compulsions and fixations.

Really the best version of this that we got was Riruka, where her "love" is literally possessive and manifests that first time as her abducting the boy she's basically stalking. And basically no one else got this kind of relationship with their Fullbring

Arguably Yukio replacing his negligent parents with his videogame world sort of touches on a version of it as well, but he's given such a passive role in that dynamic that it doesn't quite reflect on him so much as on his parents. If anything it could have been interesting to see his life as not as bad as he'd convinced himself it was, but that he actively chose fantasy over reality, rather than being pushed towards it by circumstance.

Alternatively it could have been cool to see how the Fullbring itself could've been hollow-like. In the way a hollow puts itself into its mask, a Fullbringer puts themselves into their objects. Is the spirit given to that special object benevolent, or even ambivalent, or is it a repository for all its user's negative thoughts and feelings? Does it grow stronger only as it serves to mask more and more of their self hatred and identity issues? Like the initial threat of the inner hollow swallowing and consuming an identity that Hirako threatens Ichigo with, could the Fullbring itself have threatened to consume its user? If you put enough of yourself into the object, and the object gains power and identity, is it possible that one day the object contains more of "you" than you do? Does it begin to want power on its own? Does it start to take more of that power, that emotional investment, that connection, that heart from its human user?

It would have been an interesting vehicle for Ichigo's arc if the Fullbring has explicitly been powered by unhealthy obsession and the substitution of a fetish totem in place of real interpersonal connections: if Ichigo's implicit flaw had been his attachment to his powers as an extension of his need to protect others. The way Riruka's flaw was in how she loved people onesidedly, literally objectifying them. The way Yukio's flaw was in how he retreated into a fake reality while neglecting the real one in a desperate need for control.

[filmmarvel]

PJO Series Overall Thoughts + Pros and Cons

Disclaimer! First of all, there are a lot more cons than pros here, and if you loved the show and don’t want to hear my criticism just keep scrolling. Second, I’m not someone to complain just because it isn’t exactly how it was in the book! I have quite a range of feelings about story changes. In regard to the ones I’ve listed as cons, i’m just irritated that they haven’t been able to match the book in frankly any capacity. I believe that if you’re making changes, it should be a) out of necessity, b) to improve upon the material, or c) taking positive creative license to try a new spin on an element from the source material. But the changes I’m complaining about, for the most part, haven’t met any of those requirements.

Pros:

Sets and Visuals

It was so magical seeing camp come to life!

The Underworld looks fantastic, the visuals are super cool, especially the Fields of Asphodel. That was a really cool spin on the books- the CGI was pretty good, and the concept there was really interesting.

Olympus was very cool looking too! It reminded me of Asgard.

Overall I Just Think There’s Lots of Potential!

Since the leads are fairly inexperienced (and kids), you can’t expect them to be incredible. They’re doing just fine, but I think they have a lot of potential, and I’m excited to see them grow over the course of the series!

Generally I still really like the casting and have high hopes for these actors, I just wish (for our sake and theirs) that they had better material to work with.

Plot Changes

This ones kind of a pro AND a con: Generally, I really like the flashbacks! They add a lot more depth to Sally, and her relationships with Percy and Poseidon. That being said, the episodes typically feel far too short to be adding material that wasn’t in the books. I thought it was fantastic in episode 7, but in other episodes it didn’t quite work when so much else was cut, or there were opportunities left untaken as a result.

I also liked that they included a few flashbacks with Luke in the finale- there was so much training and time at camp that didn’t fit into the first two episodes.

They got rid of the “names have power” stuff which is great (never made sense in the books).

They did a really nice job humanizing Medusa, but still creating conflict with her, and simultaneously setting up further issues with the gods.

I also agreed with their decision to move the fight from Santa Monica to Montauk, to save time.

Cons:

Dialogue and Writing

The dialogue is definitely less charming than in the books. It’s a huge part of what makes them fun, and the dialogue here is honestly pretty bland. The characters don’t totally feel like themselves, but it isn’t only the acting. Forcing the characters to be explaining stuff to each other nearly every time they have a conversation makes them a lot less personable.

Honestly, this series feels kind of elementary in comparison to the middle grade books. I’d imagine that, like the books, they were aiming to create something that could be enjoyed by young kids and adults alike. But I didn’t find it as successful as the book in this regard.

And the dialogue is consistently so surface level! Stiff, boring, and above all, CONSTANTLY telling over showing. This affects the likability of the characters, and the ability of the actors. Both parties are deterred by the info dumping, as they aren’t really given as many genuine lines or interactions as they should have.

Honestly, it kind of feels a bit like they gave some of Percy’s personality to Annabeth in parts of the show? I saw someone else point out that they’re kind of giving Annabeth the Hermione treatment (ie giving her some of the other characters good moments), which I kind of agree with. However, a lot of that was towards the beginning and middle of the season and has somewhat improved since.

I posted a whole rant earlier about the Lotus Casino episode, which I’ll just summarize: theres a consistent pattern in the show of having the characters figure out what’s going on immediately, removing the danger, and more importantly, not allowing the characters to make mistakes, which weakens both them and the plot. In addition, I didn’t like that they brought up May Castellan already, primarily because it was just another info dump, which (in my mind) gets lost amongst all the other info dumps and removes the poignancy from the reveal. Now, there’s absolutely time to fix the May Castellan situation and ensure that it still packs a punch later on, but for this season it wasn’t great. Go check out my last post if you’d like to hear the rest of my argument on that episode!

Some additional examples of the ‘not letting the characters experience danger’ thing: Procrustes (obviously), and Kronos- forget whether or not Percy should know who Kronos is, the biggest issue is that there’s very little evidence or buildup, so (again) there’s no tension or shock at the reveal. And finally, with Luke. I was so annoyed when Percy figured it out! I could’ve believe that they were doing it AGAIN. I still enjoyed that scene because Walker and Charlie were great, but that was disappointing for sure.

The thing with the pearls honestly amounted to nothing, and there was no reason for Annabeth to not be present in the underworld: that was just a tearjerker for the sake of being a tearjerker (manufactured drama).

Lowering the Stakes

I just wish they’d made it SLIGHTLY more mature- don’t get me wrong, it’s a kids show! I’m very well aware of that! But this feels a lot tamer than a lot of kids (PG) movies involving monsters and stuff.

Gabe was a real piece of shit in the books, but in the show they just kinda made him look lazy and turned him into comic relief. And I don’t believe in the argument that they had to make this change to benefit a younger audience- they didn’t really need to change anything there.

Throughout the majority of the season, I felt like they weren’t allowing the gods to be truly intimidating, or powerful. First with Ares, who wasn’t BAD but generally didn’t have that kind of dramatic presence that he had in the books. Again with Hades, who wasn’t shown as being REMOTELY intimidating, and perhaps the biggest offense of all- Zeus. Having the deadline pass with seemingly zero consequence or threat of consequence does absolutely nothing (and certainly doesn’t increase tension like I’m pretty sure Rick Riordan said was their reason for changing it). Up until the finale, viewers had very few reasons to fear the Gods. Even Dionysus and Hephaestus! In the books there’s a clear line- you can interact with them, but you DONT want to offend them. There’s a clear threat of power, and that just wasn’t remotely present for a while.

And again, I just want to clarify- this is an overall writing problem! It’s not that Ares, or any other one of the gods I just mentioned has a different personality than in the books, it’s that a show like this (KIDS OR NOT) should still be compelling, and part of that includes having real danger and clear stakes.

I would add that they did a much better job with this in the finale! Lance Reddick gave such an amazing performance, and truly made Zeus an intimidating figure. The fight on the beach with Ares was great as well. So I’m optimistic about this criticism moving into season 2, but I stand by the idea that this was an issue for the majority of the series.

Overall, it felt like they weren’t taking the serious parts seriously, AND they didn’t take the comedy as seriously either? So it isn’t as lighthearted OR as impactful as the books. It feels so much more bland and watered down by comparison.

Episodes Were Too Short

Everything just flowed really well in the books, here the pacing is off and the dialogue isn’t as natural (again, they’re forced to rely on a lot of telling instead of showing which takes away from genuine moments). Many character details and personality traits were cut for the sake of additional verbal explanation

As many others have pointed out, the fight scenes also feel pretty rushed, and haven’t quite conveyed the sense of urgency that they should. It all just lowers the stakes.

This Ones Kind of a Joke, but the Casting for Hephaestus

It’s mostly my book bias. This guy was NOT giving Hephaestus. Mainly because Hephaestus is the god of the forge, and I can’t picture this guy anywhere near one of those. He kind of looked like one of Santa’s elves, he’s giving tinkerer not GOD of the FORGE. This is also something they can absolutely fix/win me over in time lmao

Changes

I already mentioned most of the changes (good and bad) already, but there’s one more. I kind of wish they had kept Percy’s dream about Tartarus, especially given that they decided to have Percy figure out Kronos is behind it all earlier- it just would’ve clicked a little easier.

Finishing Thoughts

I don’t want to totally sound like a hater! I’m still enjoying the series, and I really hope it gets renewed for season 2! I was just disappointed in the weak writing. I hope that the writers will be able to recognize these flaws and improve for season 2.

Alright, I don’t really expect anyone to read this whole thing, but if you made it: thanks for reading! I’m curious to hear your thoughts, so I’d really appreciate comments, just keep it civil!

[kylo-skywalkerr]

It has come to my attention that some people apparently didn't know about the Duel of the Fates script??

Okay so here's some of the official concept art for the original (and better) direction that the sequels were meant to go down.

1. Many cool fights were cut from the script. Kylo was supposed to fight a form of Vader to outline how he's always been in the shadow of expectations that Vader left. The Knights of Ren actually got used for more than just a brief battle. The Knights hunted the Resistance actively, and as seen in the art, it wasn't just Ren or Rey fighting them. In fact, Rey kills them, and it makes her fear that she's slipping to the darkside. Rey runs off as Luke had and goes into hiding so that she doesn't use her teachings to be anything like Kylo. In her fight with Kylo Ren, she's blinded.

2. The story also went a far darker route. Years had passed between the movies. Characters were older, and changes were made.

For example, Rose and Finn get sent away to a First Order labor camp for their crimes against the FO.

While I can't find an image for it, the Resistance also takes fewer prisoners with them. Rigging FO ships to explode if they attempted to escape, disguising bb8 as a FO droid to rob their ships, all that fun stuff that wasn't featured as much in the sequels we got.

My favorite part was that Hux was the chancellor. All of the power he wanted was his, and Kylo was alright relinquishing it. It was proof that they were stronger together, with Hux admiring the force and even having a lightsaber collection of his own. Chancellor Hux wishes he had the force and is frustrated that he doesn't, so he keeps Kylo as a tool to use instead of banishing him from the FO or simply killing him.

The darker aspect comes from what Hux does after the Resistance defeats the First Order. In shame for all that Hux lost, he commits suicide with a lightsaber. Another thing to note is that if you read about it, it's mentioned that the lightsaber was supposed to be purple. The concept art, however, shows a red one, like Kylo's. (I'll have to note this particular fact down for later.)

3. Kylo gets stronger. A Sith holocron guides him to a new master, from whom he learns to drain life from and use force lightning.

Eventually, these teachings are used to kill Kylo's new teacher, bringing him closer to the dark side than he was before, despite the internal conflict still being present.

Kylo was also intended to get a new mask! It may or may not have been intended to be a show of his journey, but imo the concept art seemed interesting enough to note.

4. How Kylo's redemption was handled. While hunting a sith artifact, the artifact senses the light in him and pretty much explodes, leaving him disfigured and severely injured. The locals of the planet, despite knowing who he is, help him recover. Kylo begins to reconsider his actions due to the kindness he was shown and works his way towards redemption.

He still dies, but only when Leia stops him from killing Rey. He sacrifices his life to save her as in the original, making his death the endgame in both scripts.

5. Relationships. Reylo isn't a thing, I think she actually kisses Poe or something at a point. Rose and Finn are canon and at the end of their story have force sensitive children. That could have been in the original if not for Disney's "issue" with them being together. (That's not a story for today)

6. Rey's true name was revealed to be Rey Solana. Not Skywalker.

To conclude, the script was fascinating to me. There was redemption, suicide, new characters, different relationships to explore, and so much potential for a darker yet more interesting story than what we got. Thank you for reading!

Here's some sources if you'd like to read more about it yourself, those were just key things to note about the script!

(And of course, a source for where I got the concept art from)

[adiluv]

♡ JOHN DOE + IDOL DARLING HCS. ˚⊹꒷

﹕₊˚ʚ❤️ɞ・[word count] 2060.

﹕₊˚ʚ🐞ɞ・[warnings] yandere character [obsessive behavior, stalking, kidnapping], mentions of ending 4, not edited/proofread.

﹕₊˚ʚ🖤ɞ・[adi moment] a request from 🐎 anon, which you can view here. this was a really cool concept to write [everybody thank 🐎 anon for coming up with the realest ideas!], especially since i’m a fan of seeing the more obsessed side of doe come into play! [and i apparently had a lot to say about this concept since it’s the first thing i’ve written to break 2000 words...] even though this isn’t a very fluffy post, i hope that you enjoy! (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)

also, just as a note, i don't support yandere behavior in real life! please don't take these headcanons as a justification for any of the actions that doe takes.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・Believe it or not, I actually do believe that it’s within the realm of possibility for Doe to become obsessed with an idol. Circling back to something that I had mentioned within a previous post, I personally headcanon that Doe has a large amount of admiration for humanity. And with the rise of the internet in our daily lives, I think it would make sense for Doe to consume a large amount of media, including content of you! I imagine that it would be a large coincidence. Maybe he was just watching some random videos on YouTube and managed to come across one of your interviews for a new album. Maybe your career had been doing quite well at the time and you had managed to make it onto TV, and he had seen you while idly scrolling through the channels. Regardless of how he had managed to come across you, he would have fallen for you instantaneously. I’m talking going down the rabbit hole, getting so close to the TV that his eyes might as well just be touching the screen, watching so much content of you that his recommendations are mostly filled with videos about you.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・This obsession would grow incredibly quickly, with all of the content he’d watch feeding it even further. He’d buy all of the merchandise you offer, whether that be from a collaboration or from something that you’d create on your own. He’d design shirts based off of the song and album covers you’d create, wearing them more often than others so he could show the amount of adoration he holds for you. He’d sing your praises both online and in person, whenever and wherever he could, annoying as many people as he could with rants and raves about how amazing you were. And his obsession would only continue to worsen as he’d find himself in deeper and deeper parts of the community, all of them sharing a similar obsession and justifying it. 

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・It would honestly get to the point where he’d start to believe that the two of you were destined to be together, soulmates that would stay together through thick and thin. The only issue that lay within his perfect fantasy would be the fact that you live outside of the Valley - the rest of the world that functioned entirely differently than what he knew. And he would mourn that fact, you know? Wishing that he could have a chance to meet you, to show you how much you two had in common, how you two were simply just two halves of a whole. 

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・I think he’d also start to grow jealous of fans that were able to see you at one of your shows. The Uncanny Valley, despite its growing population, wouldn’t necessarily be a place that idols would often visit, a claim that would hold through to you. No matter how many times you’d tour around the globe, it would seem that the Valley would never be graced with your presence, as even so-called ‘world tours’ would go out of their way to keep you from stepping foot in the place. So he’d have to force himself to make due with the recordings of those concerts posted online, with him watching you dance and sing around the stage as everybody cheered. He’d try to imagine himself standing there alongside everybody else, imagine you reaching out a hand, pulling him up to stand beside you where he longed to be.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・As such, you could imagine the absolute joy that he experienced when he learned that you would be moving to the Valley in order to take a short break from your usual lifestyle. He’d sit in front of the screen in disbelief, watching as you gave one final smile and wave to the paparazzi as you disappeared from their view. And as a smile crept upon his face, nothing could’ve stopped the belief that those gestures had been intended for him. And by that point, I doubt that anything could have convinced him otherwise.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・The Uncanny Valley isn’t a very large place, and all newcomers usually get to the city on the same bus. This is something that Doe would know relatively well, something that he would try to use to his advantage in an attempt to meet you. Depending on how far away you would’ve been before deciding to come to the Valley, Doe would go out of his way to try and calculate when you’d finally make it over, keeping tabs online for any updates and visiting the bus stop daily with a pen and a poster of yours on hand. And he would know for certain the day that you would be arriving, because as he would step closer to the platform he would see the appearance of a large crowd piling around the station. He would try to squeeze his way through the massive sea of fans, though he would be disappointed to find himself getting shoved back with each attempt. And all hopes of being able to make his way closer to you would practically be dashed the moment that the bus would’ve started to pull in, with everybody fighting each other to get closer as you finally stepped off. 

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・To make matters even worse for him, he would’ve only gotten away from the horde after taking some damage to both his faux body and his [no longer pristine] merch. In fact, the poor poster would be clinging to whatever life it had left after he had made his escape, with it being bent and ripped in ways that he couldn’t repair. And even though there were small dents and chunks missing from his faux body, leaving segments of hair peeking out, he’d be so deep in his infatuation that he wouldn’t even care. After he’d get over the initial feelings he’d have about the situation, I imagine that he’d try to take it as a lesson. Doe is a person that values being straightforward, though he’d realize that approach wouldn’t work due to how large your fanbase is. And much to his benefit, it turns out that you didn’t bring any bodyguards with you! Just… don’t ask him how he knows that.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・With all of that buildup out of the way, I imagine that Doe would be a rather devoted stalker. The fact that he’s inhuman would also come along to help his goals, with him not needing to leave your side in order to rest or sleep. This fact would also spell out trouble for you if you ever learned about his actions, seeing that [even if you tried to move to another hotel] he could just follow you around at any time of day. Once again drawing back to something mentioned in a previous post, I imagine that the scars littering his arms would be his way of counting the amount of days he’s been stalking you for, with him sitting near your current hotel room during the night as he’d tally another day of success. He would even leave gifts around your suite, ranging from some of the merchandise that he’s been stockpiling to the more bloody gifts that he leaves behind in the game. Interestingly enough, however, I think that the first gift he would leave you would be the crumpled up poster from the bus stop. You’d probably take it more as a threat than anything, though to Doe your fear would signal interest.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・Of course, Doe wouldn’t be the only person who decided to take his so-called ‘loyalty’ to the next level. From other ‘regular guys’ to other types of entities - and possibly even some other humans, Doe would find himself surrounded by people who were desperate to get your attention as well. Sharing, however, isn’t something that he’d prefer to do in an ideal circumstance, and he’d be quick to try and find ways to keep you all to himself. Some weaker entities would be easier to deal with, with most of his tactics just involving misleading them away from you or scaring them off if they were more persistent. When it comes to the more troublesome ones, however, he prefers to leave that up to the proper authorities. Leaving a few pictures of those other stalkers near your door, or possibly giving the police a direct tip-off are his go-to’s, and he’s never close to feeling any remorse as he sees them get exposed. If anything, he sees it as something that they deserve, with their attempts of coming between the two of you. Besides, there’s no point in getting himself into a battle that he knows he can’t win.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・And, of course, he wouldn’t just stalk you without making attempts to get closer to you. And trust me when I say that he’d make good use of the information he’d gain while watching over you every day. Similarly to the events of John Doe +, Doe would likely take on a more normal looking form while approaching you, doing his best to come off as human-like as possible. You’d be shocked about how well the two of you get along, seeing how much you both have in common. And despite common sense telling you that you shouldn’t get too close with fans, you’d still find yourself saying yes when he’d ask you to a café.

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・Depending on how things go [and how strong Doe’s obsession is at the time], your little coffee run with him could go in one of two ways. One way is relatively normal, with things going well enough for you to not raise any suspicions against the figure. In that case, you’ll simply just assume that he has a compatible personality to yours, and the two of you will continue to hang out with each other as friends [leaving you unaware of his activities outside of your meetings]. On the other hand, assuming that his façade starts to slip up, Doe might end up unveiling the truth behind himself and trapping you in a similar way to ending 4. You would barely even register it happening, with you leaving the café at one moment and suddenly finding yourself in the strange, messy maze of his home. Everything would click as you’d turn around to find a familiar silhouette, leading to you rushing up to him and then reeling back in shock when he’d face you with his normal appearance. He’d hug you while practically yelling from excitement, telling you all about the ways that he had stalked you, how he had been your fan for so long and he had just known that the two of you were meant to be together - how when you came to the Valley he just knew that it was a sign! He’d talk about all of the other people that had been on your trail, too, chide you for not having anybody to protect you - but now he was here and you were with him and he wouldn’t let anybody hurt you!

╰₊˚ʚ🔪ɞ・Getting away from Doe would be an incredibly hard feat, at this point, with him practically staying glued to your side all the time. Even in the rare instances that you would manage to get out of his sight, it would be incredibly difficult to navigate through all of the piles of garbage and seemingly endless maze of doors, rooms, and hallways. It didn’t help that the place had some strange affinity for blocking out your cell phone’s signal, or that every door you opened seemed to lead to some place that seemed much worse than where you were already. He’d at least bring you food and water, even if on an irregular basis, making you glad that the thing holding you hostage at least had some concern for your well being. He also didn’t seem to get upset with you, even after you’d try to escape, with him mainly seeing you wandering off as a game. Nevertheless, it would seem that you would have to adjust to life stuck within his weird home, at least for a while until you could devise a proper plan of escape. Whether or not that works, however, is purely based on luck. And even though Doe might not take escape attempts too seriously, I imagine that he’d certainly get more serious if you ever managed to get away.

[planefood]

What are your favorite computers/ computer monitors?

I like the design of the old Macintosh. I just love how unique it used to be from the other models, besides the G3 IMac.

I thought about this for a bit and as much as I think G3's are gorgeous I enjoy the white and beige colour scheme of older computers more, and I see G3's so much now I tell people not to design me any G3 characters cause if I ask someone to make me a robot guy thats the first thing they tend to do Anyway call me cliche but you gotta admit the iMac G4 is gorgeous AND handy, when I used Jasper it was so comfy on my back because i didn't have to lean forward to see my computer screen (bad vision) so I wasn't sitting like a shrimp, my computer could do it for me!

The eMac G4s (the one on the right) were also so gorgeous to me but they had a yellowing issue which made them look filthy after a few years which isn't ideal.

But ohh man the iMac G5 is also just... stunning <3 The light glass around the white display gives it like a foggy look its so cool. I wish they made thick displays again... I guess there's not much point in it though. I'm a very aesthetics driven man my main mouse is still the iMac one pictured with the G5 below and it is a PAIN to use but you gotta admit it's pretty

I kinda wish the iMac G4 screen hinge took off more... It was genuinely handy tho I guess it was seen as a bit gimmicky which is a shame. They probably wouldn't look as nice/work as well with modern giant paper thin screens. I saw this concept for one and it's just...eugh that looks unbalanced and dangerous some how despite it probably being more balanced and safer than a regular monitor. It's not very, balanced design wise.

[twilightbloom]

Bear with me I just need to yeet my thoughts into the void for a second

I have played HSR's 1.4 story quest a little while ago but having felt really conflicted about it I honestly didn't know what to think and needed some time to gather my thoughts, but... the quest was good, don't get me wrong, but my thoughts on Topaz are quite complicated

Like I've read around and I've seen people either being like "y'all are awful to Topaz this is why Hoyo doesn't do morally ambiguous women!!" or "Topaz is a horrible character and I hate her so much" and my take is that while I do enjoy Topaz's character AS A CONCEPT I just wish HYV would've decided her framing in the story

Like I get the first argument. Morally ambiguous women get either waifu'd like Raiden (and my opinion on her character is in line with most of the community that she was horribly mismanaged for all of her buildup, until the second character quest put a bandaid on her) or not that explored in the story (see Yae). Topaz is in a very awkward middle ground, with the complicating factor that she is a tax collector so she will rub some people in a very wrong way.

Still, my issue is that she jumps between being a cold "I'm just doing my job, no hard feelings" kinda gal and "oh my gosh animals are so cute and I'm so kind uwu" with almost no in between. I would really like to see HYV commit to one of the two in the framing, because while I can kinda see the "outside of work she's a sweetie" angle they were going for but given what kind of work she does, and WHO she is working for, it doesn't really work for me. And it ended up souring her as a character for me.

That's without covering the fact that we KNOW most people in the IPC are assholes after the Aurum Alley event, and Topaz doesn't really help their case. She's "one of the good ones", supposedly, but... Ehhh. I would've preferred she stayed an antagonist and they weren't this wishy-washy while treating her. It's a shame, because I feel like she would've been a really cool antagonist/villain had they not flip flopped around with her personality and tried to absolve her of the IPC's darker sides.

Idk basically I like her design A LOT and wish she was framed better by the narrative, like they either should've stuck to plushy waifu (which would've weakened the story though I feel) or antagonist/villain with OCCASIONAL hints of a softer side underneath.

Basically, 1.4's story was good but ironically enough Topaz was my least favorite part of it. Shame. Hope her story/companion quest makes her character feel more defined so I can decide my stance on her.

[adobe-outdesign]

What are your thoughts on Iron Valiant?

One of the big problems I (and many other people) have with the future Paradox Pokemon is that many of the designs tend to be bland; usually just the same as the base Pokemon with a layer of "robot" plastered over top. The reason this tends to be so frustrating is that there are a few good future Paradoxes that don't do this—and that includes Iron Valiant.

The big thing that separates it from its peers is that it's a hybrid of Gardevoir and Gallade, with some elements of the megas tossed in there for good measure. It's not just one or the other But a Robot(TM), it's an actual unique design that incorporates both new elements and old in a way that looks well-balanced and cool.

Visually, I have virtually no issues with it. First, the colors are good—the dark green contrasts nicely with the white, and it avoids the blues that muddle Gallade's colors. The hot pink accents are particularly striking—Gardevoir and Gallade have some pink on them, but it's much more subdued compared to the LEDs here, and these accents help pull the eye through the design.

I also like how it balances both designs, kind of getting the best of both worlds. For example, it has the same awkward waist bulge as Gallade, but it looks completely natural here because it basically forms the base of Gardevoir's "dress". The legs have Gallade's toes, but this time in pink, which makes them feel a bit less pointless. It also gets to keep Gallade's cool arm blades, though with the added functionality of them being detachable:

Meanwhile, it also keeps the "bodice" of Gardevoir, the dress, the hair and the two-color palette (dropping Gallade's blue as previously mentioned). As an added bonus, it also has an element unique to it in the form of "pigtails". I've always like Gardevoir but never liked Gallade that much, but this design does a great job with both elements and really creates something nice out of them.

My only complaint is that the way the black piece cinches in twice around the waist looks a bit odd—just once would've worked better. It being a robot is also somewhat incidental to the concept (the entire design could easily work as an organic Pokemon, minus the detachable wrist blades), but that's a problem most of the future Paradoxes have so I won't blame Iron Valiant for that.

Also, final note: I love the little detail that it was supposedly an attempt at making the most powerful psychic-type Pokemon, because Gardevoir is psychic/fairy and Gallade is psychic/fighting... so it's naturally fairy/fighting. That's really clever, and is also one of the few future paradoxes with a justifiable typing.

Overall, one of the strongest future Paradox Pokemon due to its distinct theme and visuals along with its carefully well-balanced design. I just wish all the other future Paradoxes were this good!

[entropy-sea-system]

OK OK impromptu rant but I need to get this out there as I still feel somewhat connected to the aro community-

I have been watching the tags, I've been talking the people in my local a-spec community and I think it amazes me just how incredible the relationships put forth by aro and aces are, while the communities just don't reflect any of it.

I've stopped identifying with the aroallo label because there was no sense of community associated with it. The a-spec spaces are made for aces only and the ace stuff in them is abhorrent. I am tired of people passing it off as repulsion, while still seeing people saying "hookers" are disgusting in a-spec tags. I'm tired of people saying PDA is bad. I'm tired of people acting like aros and aces can only be clueless cinnamon rolls. I'm tired of people being so so so stuck in their own perspective of the world they act like people in romantic relationships can't be happy. So on and so forth.

The concepts we have are passionating. They're the coolest ones I've been exposed to in queer communities. However, nobody thinks about them. Nobody speak about them. All we have is endless messages about how the world is so so confusing or hatred directed at sex and romance. I get that but I wish we went even a tiny bit past that really. It's a community filled with adults that feels so immature and I honestly think there is some sort of self infantilization going on. I don't like that I don't have symbols that aren't associated with uwu smol bean dragon lover stuff. It makes me sick and is why I don't identify with it anymore but it's genuinely sad to see because technically that's still the people who will relate to me the most.

It feels like people are always desperate to understand how the norm works and how they can best align with it instead of fully experiencing their identity. And that's an understandable thing to do but the community is just that with sex and romance negativity sprinkled on top of it.

I wish they were angrier. I wish they were more introspective. I wish they thought about breaking the norms more instead of headcannoning every female character without a love interest as aroace and talking about how gross sex is. I wish I felt like I can connect with the people who are supposed to be at least partly like me.

Anyway you're cool and I hope you're doing well! Sorry to drop all of this onto you but yeah I trust you with my ranty feels about the community.

We didn't really expect this ask but thank you for sending it!!

There are a lot of issues with the aspec community, especially online, (we have no experience with irl ones yet). And what you described here explains the issues with it quite well.

I feel like most of the aspec community ends up catering to mainly aces, and to a lesser extent aros, and slightly to apls, while other atertiary is hardly discussed (and agender ppl often just lump w gender stuff instead even though its aspec). I think the community is also rather divided, personally.

We're in some discord servers w mostly other apls and aros/run by other apl aros (often also romo aro) and they tend to overall be normal about aspec identities without being negative about attractions or actions or gatekeeping aspec labels. Currently we logged off discord a bit but we have in the past been in aro spaces that had many of the issues you mention , and still come across people being that way on tumblr.

I think there is a problem where some aros think that calling romance inherently toxic is somehow "activism" and deny that romance negativity exists, then claim that they "don't have to consider every culture ever" when people state that some cultures are romance negative and do harm people for engaging in romance.

They seem to think its "punching up" and some alloaros in particular try to justify it by acting like the united states is the only country that matters and citing sex negativity as a reason for romance negativity "not existing". When aces do this about sex its harmful, but thats not supposed to be a reason to deny that being romance negative is toxic and harmful to others even if their country doesn't persecute people for engaging in romance.

I also personally see a some aros hesitant to id with ace or acespec terms that technically fit them because of how bad the ace community has been about sex and anyone who isn't ace, as well as aces and aros generally forgetting about atertiary ppl. Some of them prefer terms like lightspec or such or allospec partly because of that.

It's understandable that some people feel a disconnect from labels like aro and ace as a result of how the communities tend to be tbh. I've had moments when I didn't want to id as aro because of this, and I consider myself both aro and alloro due to my arospec orientation.

Also being tertiary repulsed and being repulsed by sex repulsion (it just happens to repulse me a lot to read about even if not stated in a sex negative way), makes it a bit hard to be around other aspecs. I feel really disgusted and triggered when other aros talk about squishes and qprs and friendships, even if I think they should be able to talk about that. Which makes it hard to be around some other aros.

I also get what you mean about people trying to align with the existing norm. I'm seeing a rise in people maligning labels they don't understand and this attitude of "the only kind of weird thats fine is the kind of weird I am", which the aspec community has certainly not been immune to either.

I feel like for some reason most aspecs I see online, especially aros, are minors? Maybe because the aromantic label only really caught on after 2005 iirc so older people less likely to have heard of it? Im not a huge fan of how aspec tends to be infantilised either. I find issues with how some of the aro symbols are very derivative of ace symbols because we are not some extension of ace we're our own community. I can also see how ppl may find it too infantilising to have symbols like frogs and griffons etc.

Also yeah what is with people doing that about characters who are women or girls and express that they don't want to get married??? Or even just don't have a love interest. I understand if aroaces want more headcanoned rep or non-aspecs I guess idk want to fill some headcanon diversity quota without actually supporting aspecs but.

Not wanting marriage or not having a love interest is not inherently equal to not wanting romance and/or sex. I feel especially that people like to assume not wanting to have children means not wanting sex (which I find pretty reductive in that its acting like thats the only reason ppl have sex, especially as a sex favorable person who doesn't want kids). And all aspecs deserve more canon rep to begin with. I think I have a gripe with ppls aspec headcanons almost always being alloace or aroace. It's like they forget other aspecs like apls, alloaros, neu aros, non sam aros, atertiary, etc. even exist!

Additionally I think its partly because romance is emphasized more for female characters that even fans decide to make their interpretations about romance/a lack there of as if its the character's only personality trait. In my opinion its just as obsessive about romance if someone thinks all there is to a character is not engaging in it. I also see people act like they're solely worried a woman/girl character is going to fall for a man/boy character they hc as aro but not often the opposite like. Just say you see romance as gendered/feminine in some way and go I guess lol.

I also feel like mainly allistic non-aspecs do this but when ppl hc an autistic character as ace or aroace it feels infantilising if theres literally no other rationale behind their headcanon. I feel desexualised at times as an autistic and thats mostly bc ppl pick up on some kind of nd thing and they assumed I'm too "innocent" to like romance or sex, or because they view us as "unable to consent"(which can be true of some people if their neurodivergence affects their ability to consent to things even as an adult, but isn't universally true.) . I think some of this perception is also rooted in eugenics (due to people equating sex with having kids and viewing disability and/or neurodivergence as a tragedy and thinking its 'bad' for disabled and/or nd ppl to have kids).

So I don't really appreciate implications that someone is ace just by virtue of being autistic. I think its also unfair to autistic aros and aces because our neurodivergence can influence our orientation, but being autistic does not mean that makes someone inherently ace and/or aro.

My physical disability is relatively mild and less talked about (chronic pain and fatigue), and I don't reveal it to most ppl(ppl who dont live with me won't know I get exhausted from non-taxing to abled ppl activities, and chronic pain is not visible at all and we can't get mobility aids due to not being independent yet) so Im not fully aware how people view my apl and aro identities in that regard.

And there is definitely an issue with aspecs trying to enforce NEW norms. They cry about how people are forced into performing romance and sex to fit in but then turn around and tell people they need to love or have friends or family or pets in order to be a good person. It's also very harmful to aspecs bc some of us are loveless or atertiary etc. in ways that aros and aces apparently hate lol. A lot of aros in particular are very platonormative.

The aro community is also rather hostile to romo aros. There are still people who exclude romo aros from the aro label or act like we have to bend over backwards and acknowledge that we are "amatonormative oppressors" for liking romance or feeling some connection to it.

I think also the meme about putting a box away on a tall shelf away from a child is relevant here. The word amatonormative is constantly misused by a lot of aros. I've seen aros call alloromantic apls "amatonormative" and act like "amatonormative" means 'person who engages in romance'.

Its not a term abt engaging in romance or liking it. It's also not an excuse to pressure people to have or like friends either. I think aros should have actual discussions about amatonormativity that aren't just US-centric and about romance(wow do aros love to ignore that monogamy, non-queer, cis, etc. are social categories deemed more valuable under amatonormative societal norms), instead of using it to describe anyone they deem as interested in romance .

On that note, a lot of them use some examples of toxic relationships as reasons to call romance toxic and almost advocate for romance to never exist(which is especially disgusting to see for me, as in my country a lot romance negative conservative rhetoric is literally worded the same way). These people almost never acknowledge that other relationships like friendship can be toxic too.

I think some of these people believe in 'morality of repugnance' in that they think if its something they personally find repulsive in some way, that means its inherently immoral, which is not conducive to having unbiased views of the world, or critical thinking. I think a lot of ppl my age and younger are especially trying to do this because Ive lost count of how many I've seen be like "ewww thats gross/weird and so its wrong/immoral", and literally spouting conservative rhetoric while thinking they're politically liberal/leftists, perhaps with different wording but yeah. (I think that one tumblr post abt ppl in that age range being 'conservative on accident', especially in the united states- though that is concerning given the way ppl from other countries tend to absorb american opinions and such too much, describes this phenomenon)

I think some aros are also still so caught up in how much of a tragedy they think their aromanticism is, and I feel bad for them but thats not all there is to being aro and its a bit weird when ppl act like it is.

I think one of the best things about being aspec for me is feeling more like I can engage in and not engage in relationships (Im only favorable to sexual partnerships w no label other than 'sexual partner', and romance only w two partners as of now, and completely averse to all tertiary/nonrose. before I fully realised my aspec identities i pressured myself to have friends and felt like I'd be obligated to be favorable to nonsexual romance if someone wanted that with me, to 'be an ally to aces', even though it repulsed me. I also felt obligated to want qprs especially after realising Im aro. Realising Im atertiary helped me stop forcing myself to want nonrose relationships.)

Anyways that was a lot of rambling but probably most of my opinions on the aro and some extent aspec community.

[actualmermaid]

It's been three months since I made this post about Saints Sergius and Bacchus, John Boswell, classical Western homoeroticism, and Christian homophobia.

Since then I have read both of Boswell's books on the history of gay/queer people in premodern Christianity (Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality and Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe), familiarized myself more fully with the spectrum of charges against Boswell and his scholarship, and realized that he's been the subject of ideologically-motivated smear campaigns by just about every political/religious/academic faction you can imagine. My conclusion: Professor Boswell is a saint, martyr, and important queer elder who does not get the respect that he deserves, and I'm in awe of the sheer volume of the massive genius brain that was somehow crammed into his little blond head.

ANYWAY. This is an official followup to my original post, now that I've read Boswell's work.

I take back my hunch that Boswell's work was not intersectional. He was, in fact, a pioneer in the field of medieval social history, and utilized a wide range of critical lenses in his work. He was inhibited by the lack of documented evidence about some groups (for example, he was frequently criticized for not writing more about lesbians, but he was open about the difficulties of researching lesbians in history and explained what he was doing as a scholar and as a teacher to mitigate this) but he constantly called attention to issues of class, gender, and other social factors wherever they were relevant.

I was RIGHT in noticing that the slight difference in rank between Sergius and Bacchus seems to be an erastes/eromenos indicator! Boswell spoke at greater length and with greater sensitivity about erastes/eromenos dynamics in history, so if you want a deeper look into that, you should read his books.

I was also probably right in noticing that the legend of Sergius and Bacchus is seeded with various forms of Byzantine propaganda! I really wish that I could talk to him about it. :(

Both secular queer theorists and religious queer theologians seem to be most uncomfortable with the fact that Boswell was reporting on historical facts and observable social forces, not idealized concepts of queer people as somehow being more ethical or spiritual than the straight majority. He included evidence of things like abuse, prostitution, and exploitation not because he thought they were cool, but because they were part of the material reality of queer people's existence in the past, just like they were part of the material reality of his own 70s-80s gay subculture.

That was his bottom line: gay/queer people are a normal human variation, and as a historian, he could provide hard proof of their existence and what their lives might have been like. If his work seems "shallow" or "dated" to some more modern queer researchers, it's only because so many people were willing to dismiss his scholarship, reject his work, and abandon his research leads after he died. But, he was actually super smart and his scholarship was actually meticulous, so even his most dedicated critics have been unable to "debunk" him. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality most recently had a 35th-anniversary reprinting, and he is still being cited as an authority by more recent scholars.

Even though the full strength of the Church and the Academy were leveled against him, his work has proven its own worth. He still deserves to be read and discussed by both professional scholars and enthusiastic hobbyists. And, the Open and Affirming movement in Christianity wouldn't be as strong as it is without his confirmation that "gays and lesbians are normal," as he put it, and not simply a construct of modern society.

Rest in power, Professor Boswell. We won't forget you.

Since I made that post, I have also opened a sticker shop with a bunch of queer Christian saint icons, including Boswell and some of the queer saints he discovered/wrote about. They're pretty cool. You should buy one.