#This will definitely be in multiple parts

[originalleftist]

Yeah, Holmes has this image of being just an aloof, cool-headed intellectual. And that's definitely a part of who he is. But he also has a deep sense of both chivalry and justice, and if he feels it's justified he will 100% take the law into his own hands (this cuts both ways too- he lets criminals go in multiple stories when he feels that their crimes were justified or that the law would be harsher on them than they deserve).

He's very much a forerunner of modern superheroes, and that includes acting as a vigilante, as well as his borderline-superhuman intellect and skills.

Thinking about the Holmes story where a blind girl goes to him and is like "My fiancé is missing and he kept telling me the week leading up to his disappearance that he would always love me and come back for me,were anything to happen so I think he knew he was in trouble and I love him so much and I'm going to wait for him but I'd like to find him faster,ya know?" And Holmes figures out that it was this girl's parents to scam her out of money she was owed from an estate which she gave to them because she was still living at home,which she wouldn't be if she ever married,so her step father PRETENDED TO DATE HER for MONTHS to keep her from ever getting engaged to a real person and when Holmes finds out he confronts this man and this man is like "Well,you caught me! But it wasn't illegal:) so:)" and Holmes is like "No,but it was sickening and cruel and if she had a brother or good male friend he should post you up and whip you but she doesn't." And the man is like "No,she doesn't." And does the Victorian version of sticking his tongue out and Holmes is like "Well,I guess I'll do then!" And HE PULLS OUT HIS HUNTING WHIP.

[asxgard]

Companionship | pt. 2

Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch x f!reader

Previous | Next

Summary: You and Michael have some late night phone calls. He struggles to open up.

Note: wow! Y’all are really so nice omg, I really appreciate all of you who took the time to like, comment or reblog. I also appreciate all you silent readers too! I’m genuinely surprised with how much traffic part 1 got, so thank you all so much! Contemplating adding this to my AO3 account from the perspective of a f!oc, but still undecided (I prefer to keep my reader works strictly for tumblr, idk why). This is definitely going to be multiple parts (my rough outline currently has ten chapters whoops).

I don’t know much about sugar babies aside from what I’ve read, so I took some liberties with my guesstimates.

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: age gap, slowburn, foul language, allusion to a panic attack, work stress, Robby trying to avoid his feelings/anxiety, my basic understanding of accounting, angst

not beta read

“You’re lucky. Someone only looking for companionship is a small pool of men. Not as lucrative as a traditional sugar baby, but if that’s more your speed, maybe reach out to some more.”

Your smile twisted, “I’m already uncomfortable with just one. Thinking about adding more makes me feel icky.”

Erin rolled her eyes, “Why? They know what they signed up for. If they wanted fidelity, then they should get a girlfriend.”

“I’m telling you, I could hook you up with a shift or two a week at the bar. I make great tips.” Marsi said, her eyes not flickering from her laptop.

You frowned. “I already gave him my number. My Google Voice number, but yeah.”

“That’s my girl!” Erin praised with a laugh.

You wondered if it was a mistake. He had not reached out since you had sent the number on the app, nearly four days prior. Perhaps he was having second thoughts. Anxiety filled your chest at the thought of having to go through the whole process again.

Or just drop it and take Marsi up on her offer.

—

Your night passed slowly, studying with your friends until dinner time, when they left. You kept your focus on the Excel spreadsheet in front of you, checking over your homework with careful eyes. Numbers were easy, they did not hold the complexities of human beings—

Your phone buzzed on the table, immediately pulling you away from your work.

You have any time to talk?

It was an unknown number. You watched as the three dots appeared immediately after, though it wasn’t hard to guess who it was.

This is Michael by the way.

So formal, you found yourself thinking with a small smile, quickly adding him to your contacts.

I have time.

It only took a few more moments before your phone started ringing. Anxiety thrummed through your system, heart beating like a drum against your ribcage. You took a long breath through your nose before answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi.” He answered awkwardly.

“How are you?” You asked out of habit.

There were several moments of silence. “I want to say I’m okay.”

“But you’re not?”

“But I’m not.” Came his quiet reply.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Another measured silence. “No. Yes? I don’t know.”

You hummed. “I understand your hesitation, we don’t know each other. But isn’t that the whole point? I’m unconnected to your life and you basically have anonymity. I won’t pry, so we can talk about something else, if you’d like.”

He was silent for a long time. You checked the call to make sure it hadn’t dropped. The seconds ticked away on the call, so he was still there. You waited.

“Just a…rough day.” He said, his tone sounding stressed. “I think I’d rather talk about your day right now.”

“My day?” You questioned, surprised.

He only hummed in response.

“Do you want the play-by-play or the cliff-notes?”

Michael exhaled a ghost of a laugh, “Give me all of it.”

You cleared your throat, “So my alarm went off at 5:20, no! 5:25, and then I got out of bed—”

He laughed, bringing a smile to your lips.

“I have early classes on Thursdays, so I was up earlier than I usually like to be…”

“Night owl?”

“Guilty.” You smiled. “But it was my forensic accounting class, which I’ve been enjoying, so I wasn’t too upset getting out of bed. Add in my morning coffee, and I was a pretty happy camper.” You paused, but he was quiet on the other end. “I had taxation today too, and despite the fact I love the numbers, learning tax law just isn’t my favorite thing.”

“Why do you like it? Accounting?”

“Oh, um,” you paused, deliberating. “I like turning unreadable stuff into a well-crafted report, turn a mess into an easy to read story of a company’s financial history. Plus, numbers are a lot less complicated than human beings.”

There was his quiet laugh again. “Yeah, I can see how that can be true.”

“As a doctor, I can imagine you would.” You were smiling.

“I’ve seen…a lot of complicated people.”

You waited a few moments, but he didn’t elaborate. People were the primary reason you had left the medical field early on in your college career — while you enjoyed being helpful, people could be too overwhelming.

“And my shift today was good, busy and boring, but easy enough.”

As you went on about your day as a payroll clerk (though vague about the company details), Michael was quiet. It was clear he needed the distraction from whatever his day had been. You explained your studying routine with your friends and your love of baking. You got the occasional hum of acknowledgment, but it was clear he just wanted to listen to you talk. You moved from topic-to-topic without complaint, pausing occasionally to make sure he did not want to comment, or change the subject.

It was late when you realized the time: 11:08.

“Michael? I’m sure I could keep going, but I’m not sure you want to hear my opinions on office politics.” Your tone was jesting.

Still no response. Furrowing your brows, you listened silently to the other end.

Small puffs of air, slow and steady, in and out. In. Out. He had fallen asleep.

Your first instinct was to be offended — no telling how long since he had drifted off or how long you had rambled to no one. But then you relaxed. He had clearly needed the distraction from what was going through his head when he first called, enough to quiet his brain. Or perhaps he was just that exhausted. Either way, you did not take it personally, you would have likely been up this late anyways.

You ended the call at two hours and seventeen minutes.

—

Are you available at 9?

You checked your phone when you moved into the living room, dinner cooking in the oven, finding a text from Michael. Per your agreement, you usually talked about once a week. He usually gave late notice, though it usually reflected how bad his day had gotten. Your last talk, however, had only been three days prior.

In addition to the one only days ago, you had talked two additional times since your first, typically at night, where you did most of the talking. You almost found your talks therapeutic; plus you were getting paid to just talk. Though, you wished he talked more — part of you felt like you were taking advantage of the situation and he was barely getting anything out of it.

He had already put money on the prepaid Visa card you had picked up after your first phone conversation. Michael thought the card would be more discreet and confidential than Venmo. The $400 dollars you had agreed on for the month had done wonders with relieving the pressure on making your rent payment.

Erin had encouraged you to set up an online wishlist as well, adding things periodically in case he wanted to buy something extra for you. “As a tip,” Erin had told you, a wide smirk on her face. That same day, Erin had coincidentally brought her new Valentino canvas bag that you were sure cost more than your rent payment. You held off on the wishlist, but you kept a few things in your notes app. Just in case.

You sent him a confirmation that you were fine with nine. He must work late hours. He had said he was a doctor, but you wondered in what specialty or where, but you had never broached the topic. You both valued your privacy when it came to your arrangement, not wanting to muddy the waters.

Surprisingly, he did not call at nine. He was usually pretty punctual when it came to a time he asked for. You waited patiently for several minutes before moving to start some hot water for tea, looking out the window at the rain. You figured to give him a bit of extra time before turning in.

At 9:24, your phone rang. Part of you nearly picked it up on the first ring, but you gave it a few moments before picking up. When you answered, he spoke first.

“Please just talk. About anything.” He sounded out of breath, talking quickly. His tone sounded more stressed than you had heard before.

“Are you alright?” Was your first instinct instead of doing as he asked, standing from your chair at the dining table, mug of tea forgotten.

“Fuck. No, I’m not. Please just talk to me. Your day. Your job. The fucking traffic this morning. Anything,” Your name was so quiet on his tongue, you nearly missed it.

It sounded like a plea.

You swallowed, pulse quickening, before running with it, “This asshole actually cut me off this morning, which considering his bumper stickers, wasn’t all that surprising. No blinker, nothing. I swear, sometimes the subway is less stressful, though I hate the morning crowds.”

Suddenly realizing talking about stressful things might not be the best way to calm him down, you pivoted, pacing across your apartment. Deciding quickly on something boring to most, you began to explain your most recent accounting assignment. How you came up with the financial analysis from the numbers your professor had given, to the tax implications of several of the (fake) business’s decisions. You explained it as best you could in layman's terms, trying not to make the math too complicated, before walking him through your report and your thoughts about how to help the business improve.

You paused long enough to hear his breathing, not quite as ragged but still loud and quick. “I don’t need you to respond, but think of five things you can see.”

Oh this was cliche, but you did not dwell on it.

After a few moments, “Okay, four things you can touch.” You paused, finding four things of your own to ensure he had time. “Now three things you can hear.”

“You.” He croaked, much quieter than he had been. “I can hear you.”

“That’s good. Now two more things.”

“…the rain. The cars outside.”

“Good,” you breathed out. “Two things you can smell?”

He didn’t answer, though his breathing had slowed tremendously from when you had first answered his call. It felt relieving, and you finally made your way to sit on the couch.

“Last is one thing you can taste.”

He let out a long deep breath, but kept whatever it had been to himself.

“Are you okay?” You asked again after a few moments.

“No.” He said. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

You nearly huffed, but the annoyance was fleeting. You smiled, “I can tell you more about accounting, but most people find it incredibly boring.”

“You seem to really enjoy accounting. Though, I can’t imagine being cooped up in an office all day.”

“Well I wasn’t quite cut out for psychiatry, and I’ve always enjoyed a good spreadsheet.”

“Psychiatry?” He sounded surprised. “That makes a lot of sense, actually.”

“What does that mean?”

“You would’ve been good at it.”

Oh?

“Thank you.” You whispered. “Um, can I interest you in what my professor assigned today or how my manager nearly fucked up payroll this week?”

He cleared his throat, “I’ll take ‘how my manager nearly fucked up today’ for $200, Alex.”

Your lips quirked back up at the Jeopardy reference, trying to shake off the feeling his praise had given you. With a long sigh, you rubbed your fingers along your hairline.

“He messed up the new employee’s tax deductions by misclassifying his title. When he backtracked to fix it, he cleared out the entire category — thankfully I caught it when I was putting my own numbers in for the small team I oversee.” You told him, looking at your nails. “Led to quite a frustrating day.”

Despite the fact that it had led to quite a hectic start to your workday, adding several tasks that interrupted you workflow, you felt mildly pathetic knowing his day had clearly been so much worse. You tried not to compare, your days had just as much value as his, but it was still a creeping feeling in your gut.

You continued on after a beat of silence on his end. Fixing the problem hadn’t necessarily been the issue — it was redoing every employee's numbers that led to your annoyance. That, and the lack of accountability from your manager.

Time ticked on, Michael only adding in his thoughts here and there, mostly staying quiet.

He coughed awkwardly during a lull in your conversation, “Uh, thank you for tonight.”

Beginning to feel your exhaustion, you smiled tiredly. “No thanks necessary.”

“Goodnight,” there was your name again.

“Goodnight, Michael.”

[ Next ]

want to join the taglist? shoot me a message!

[itsmebeff]

Agrotale Introduction Thread!! (Take Two)

Agrotale is an AU based on the Queen Alphys neutral ending you can get by abandoning a geno route in Hotland. Which means that Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, and Asgore are all dead. The fallen human, Everett, must traverse the underground and avoid being captured by the Royal Guard and escorted to the Queen. The name Agrotale comes from the fact that Everett is a gardener and helps with the Underground's agriculture after a malfunction in the CORE limits food supply.

Sprites:

Everett - The Fallen Human

《 Beginning (Twitter) 》

Climbed Mt. Ebott in search of rare plants, but accidentally fell in. Stuck in an unlucky situation, but tries their best to get on the Underground's good side. Uses the seeds in their pocket to plant food when the CORE experiences a malfunction. Got confronted by Muffet in the ruins, who was tasked by someone to take their soul, but was saved by Sans. He looks out for them to make sure they don't try anything stupid, and he makes it well-known that there'll be consequences if they do.

Muffet - Ruins Hermit

《 Ruins (Twitter) 》

Muffet was banished to the ruins after her actions during the previous human's rampage led to countless more deaths, as well as the fact that she threatened to cannibalize the Queen on multiple occasions. Muffet is the same as ever- greedy, and willing to do anything for money. She may have even made a new business partner...? It may be best to grow eyes on the back of your head, I think someone may be watching you.

Dess Holiday - Head of the Royal Guard

《 Dess Casual Outfit , Dess Talksprites , Dess RG Walksprites , Dess Casual Walksprites 》

Dess was inspired to take up head of the Royal Guard after Undyne's passing, and was able to secure her position due to hard work and determination- as well as some nepotism sprinkled in the mix. Dess is great at her job, but she takes a lot of breaks to goof off with her sister, Noel, in the forest. She finds Sans a bit annoying, but for the most part they are on good terms. She has a rocky relationship with her mother, and after Asgore passed, it's been worse than ever. She's glad that her job gives her an outlet, and she's glad that she has a bat on her at all times (lest she needs to take her frustrations out on random items in the forest). She patrols Snowdin.

Noel Holiday - An Angel, Wouldn't Hurt a Fly

Dess's sister and Carol Holiday's daughter, Noel. A bit skiddish, but it seems she made some friends at the library. And, she's well liked amongst Dess's Royal Guard friends, too. Noel gets babysat by Grillby whenever Carol or Dess are unable to watch her, and since Sans is a frequent visitor she's become pretty close with him as well (to Carol's dismay).

《 Bonus 》

Carol Holiday - Royal Advisor to the Queen

《 Carol Talksprites , Sans and Carol Doodle , He's Just Annoying (Twitter) 》

Is not handling Asgore's death well at all, and she's a pain in the Queen's ass, but, she's exceptionally good at her job. So, she keeps her position as the Royal Advisor swiftly secure. Becomes frustrated with Alphys easily, but does make an attempt to keep her composure, as she knows that this isn't Alphys's fault. Sans, on the other hand, she can't stand. In any other context, maybe she would have taken a liking to him, but in this situation? He never takes anything serious, and it irritates her to no end.

[ Bonus ]

Birdly - Works at the Library

Works at the library whenever the owner can't make it. Definitely breaking multiple child safety laws, but his family needs the money, and the owner needs a break. So it's not like anything'll change anytime soon. Birdly lives with his mom, Bird. She's at Grillby's majority of the time, so he makes himself at home at the library. He even made a few friends too! Once Suzy came to town, she was a bit of a loner, and she wasn't up for conversation. She took a liking to Birdly when he started giving her recommendations for books he thinks she would like (and was correct). Noel also comes in for books pretty frequently, and it seems like she started showing up more once Suzy moved in.

Suzy - New Kid in Snowdin

Moved from Waterfall for a change of scenery, and because it's where everyone else was going. Doesn't talk about her home life, and no one knows where she lives. Friends with Birdly and Noel, and, she won't admit it, but the only reason she still comes to the library is to see either of them.

Grillby - Professional Cook and Babysitter

Still works at Grillby's, except now he has a new unofficial job as a babysitter for Noel. He became close with the Holiday's since Rudy was such a frequent visitor of his restaurant, and he used to watch Dess as well when she was younger. He enjoys the break away from his job, and he believes it's good for his daughter to get some work experience. He doesn't appreciate all the free handouts she gives to her friends, but I guess he'll let it slide. Especially considering he technically does the same thing for his. Sans and Alphys visit the restaurant frequently, and he's always happy to make them food even it's for free. He appreciates all the work they're doing for the underground, and he likes to help wherever he can.

Fuku Fire - Grillby's Daughter

《 Dess & Fuku Fire Doodle (Outdated Design) 》

Works at Grillby's whenever her dad can't. Friends with Dess, and gives her free food during her breaks. Pretty close with Sans, since he's known Grillby for a while, and she's been getting closer with Alphys because of how often she visits Grillby's nowadays.

Monster Kid Teen - Dess's Right Hand

《 Design , Doodle , Sunflower (Twitter) 》

Was inspired to join the Royal Guard after they watched Undyne die in front of them. Suffering with intense survivors guilt, MT swears that they won't wimp out this time when the next human falls, even if it means disobeying their orders. Deep down, still just a dorky kid, but they put on a tough exterior to seem more intimidating than they actually are. Really close with Dess, and Dess helps train them (and helps force them to take breaks when they push themself too hard). Alphys is very empathetic towards them because she knows exactly how they feel. Sans also helps train them every now and then, but his training style isn't nearly as serious as MT would prefer. They still live in Snowdin, but are assigned in Waterfall typically (per their request).

Gerson - Royal Guard Trainer

Wise old man with a lot of fighting experience, trained all of the new Royal Guard members, starting with Monster Teen, since they were the first to ask him. Of course, he obliged. Talks to Sans and Alphys often when they pass through Waterfall.

Mad Mew Mew - Vigilante / Future Royal Guard Member

Was killed by Frisk just after she fused to become Glad Dummy, however, she brought herself back to life out of spite and possessed the Mew Mew doll in a last-ditch effort to survive. She's now falling apart at the seams, and she is determined to get revenge. When she's not causing chaos, she's hiding in people's sinks or messing with fast food workers on their breaks. She patrols Waterfall, illegally.

Catti & Jockington - (Honorary) Royal Guard Members

Jockington is an official Royal Guardsman, however, Catti is not. She just follows Jock wherever he goes, and became an honorary member in that way. They both patrol Hotland.

Sans - Queen's Assistant / Bodyguard / Jester / Royal Scientist / ....uhhh? What the hell's this guy's deal, anyway?

《 Sans Royal Scientist Walksprites 》

The Queen's right hand man, almost never leaves her side. Says it's for Alphys's sake, but it's also for his, too. In contrast to his True Pacifist counterpart, Sans is secretly longing for a Reset to occur, and in a painful set of irony- no longer believes it to happen. Once he had this revalation, it took him weeks to catch up on all the months of grief he prevented himself from processing. But, Alphys was there to help, just as he was there for her. He's an all-rounder in terms of occupation, he does whatever Alphys needs whenever she needs it, no questions asked. Well, maybe some questions- like why she needs a flatscreen TV installed in the lab, and why she thought Sans was the right guy to call for help.

Sans proposed a new rule for humans, stating that there is no need to kill on sight unless they are shown to be outwardly aggressive or a genuine threat. He and Alphys are both smart enough to know that not all human children that fall down will be dangerous, and they don't want to continue the cycle of violence that ended up getting the people of the Underground nowhere in the end. And since they never made a promise to their people that went against their morals, they are free to do so. And since Asgore's plan didn't work out, the general public decided to give it a chance as well. Sans and Alphys put evacuation procedures into place for whenever a human were to fall down, just to be safe. They also installed cameras in the Ruins as well, so they can monitor whether or not that has happened yet, and plan accordingly.

Sans visits Toriel's home every now and then, keeping it as clean as he can for her. He does the same for the catacombs, since he knew she watched over the Ruins like a second home. He also found her joke book, and he writes a new entry every day to keep it going. He bumps into Muffet every now and again, but she knows to keep her distance.

《 Judgement Hall , Bonus Sans & Queen Alphys Doodle 》

Alphys - The Queen

《 I Depend on You , Design Sketches , Sans & Alphys Walksprites 》

The new Queen of the Underground. Tries her best to do what's right, but most of her good decisions come from the hands of Carol, who's really doing all the work behind the scenes. She was allowed to move into the Castle, but her room is too... imposing for her liking. It reminds her of everything that happened, of all of her new responsibilities as Queen. So, she uses it as a work station instead. And elects to sleep in Sans's room right next door, instead.

She tries her best to live up to Asgore's expectations, but seemingly falls short each time. She's grateful for Sans being around again, but she's upset that these are the circumstances that led to them getting back in touch. Not to mention that most of their interactions are work-related nowadays. But, she would rather it be Sans than anyone else. She made her armor as if she was making a cosplay, which is why it's so extravagent. It IS functional, but its very inconvenient, so she only wears it if she has to. Typically, she just wears pajamas under her cloak. She changed the Delta Rune symbol on her cloak in order to honor Undyne and Mettaton, along with all the others who fell to the human. Instead of a triangle in the middle, a star takes its place. Symbolizing their sacrifices.

With an unlimited budget and an engineering degree, Alphys & Sans spend a lot of their free time building gadgets. A lot of which ended up being weapons. Hotland has gotten a large revamp since Alphys became Queen, and it is one of the safest parts of the Underground due to all of the security measures in place.

《 Bonus Alphys Sketches , Bonus Sans & Alphys Sketches 》

End!!

This post will be updated whenever I can think of something else to add, or whenever I make more content for the AU.

There are some other external links for this AU I would like to share, one of which being the animatic I made on YouTube!!

I have an old Twitter QRT thread with reference sheets for most all the characters, however, some of the information and designs are slightly outdated, and all of the art is old so I'm not the biggest fan!! 😭 BUT!! For completion's sake I'll link it here if you want to give it a look.

Fanart Extras:

IHop Saga (Twitter Thread)

Muffet Fanart

Birthday Art

Watering Can

Plenty Qualified

Mewpants

Madpapyrus

[arciam]

Underrated JayVik moments/lines (16/∞)

"I suppose your legacy has been well-secured."

How is this a JayVik line? At first and even second glance it isn't, but bear with me for a moment.

What this line does do initially - seeing as it's said in response to Heimerdinger stating he never contemplates his own death - is tell us how important the idea of "legacy", of leaving something good behind to be remembered by, is to Viktor.

This is not a novel idea; I've seen multiple posts talking about the tragedy that is Viktor, in the end, leaving no legacy at all (if he's lucky, that is - otherwise there would only be the tale of that one time a metal maniac threatened to end all of humanity) because all of his accomplishments and good intentions vanish with him and Jayce.

And yes, that sure is one - very bleak - way to look at it.

However, fortunately that's not all there is to his story.

Because if you think about it for a moment - think about Viktor's motivations throughout the show -, there are two additional driving forces that contribute to this desire to leave a legacy, apart from his desire to help and his strong moral compass:

Loneliness and a damaged self-image.

People suffering from both often end up believing they will only ever be as good, as desirable, as lovable as the good they do for others. They wish to be remembered in death because they can't imagine feeling treasured in life.

I think for someone like Viktor - having placed all of his capacity to make a difference in the world on his "gifted mind" rather than his value as a person -, to be loved unconditionally for who he is may have been so grand an idea that changing the world honestly seemed more attainable to him.

Yet as I pointed out in part 4, even after ostensibly achieving what he thought he wanted in the commune ("an immaculate physique, community, the ability to help people and 'make the world a better place' - a perfect legacy"), from the way he speaks to Jayce and goes on to think and act after facing rejection by him, you absolutely get the sense that there is something vital missing from the picture here.

And it's scarcely even new information at that point, really, as we already learned this a lot earlier by how - when faced with the loss of both love and legacy - it wasn't the threat of losing legacy which Viktor's mind got stuck on:

"Jayce will understand."

It's almost as if... oh I don't know, as if Viktor had thought what he wanted was to bring magic to the world, but ultimately...

Oh.

"I thought I wanted us to give magic to the world... Now, all I want is my partner back."

Jayce, same as Viktor, had big dreams of making a difference in the world since childhood, which - while definitely also driven by a strong desire to help people - is proven here to be equally rooted in the very elementary human desire to connect with someone. For someone to understand him and share his dreams ("our HexTech dream").

He found, and was found by, that someone in Viktor. The fact that the very catalyst of Jayce's dreams - the mage - turns out to literally have been Viktor all along only serves to emphasise this point.

And here, at the end of everything they've endured, Jayce concludes that maybe, to love and to be loved in kind can be enough. Can be everything. Can be all he wants.

I like to believe that Viktor came to that same realisation about himself in those final moments of perfect connection they shared.

Part 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16

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[tiramiiswu]

ੈ✩‧₊˚ indomitable

⋆⭒˚. invincible x green lantern!reader ⭒˚.⋆

✦ masterlist || next ✦ imagine: local delinquent girl acts as the one and only green lantern of earth and who just so happens to have a distinct disdain for a certain half-viltrumite she has the displeasure of meeting ✦ pairings: mark grayson x reader ✦ warnings: n/a ✦ a/n: reader is a sort of magical girl inspired green lantern in the sense that i keep picturing her hero costume to be reminiscent of the pretty guardian sailor moon sailor senshi outfits, specifically sailor jupiter’s since she’s already green. her personality is bit of a mix of makoto kino from pgsm and kyoko sakura from puella magi madoka magica when it comes to inspiration because i love my bastard daughter, but i think it definitely evolved in a way that doesnt really align with that as well anymore ✦ originally this was meant to be longer but im not super used to the like? headcanons bulleted list style of formatting this imagine is in and i tend to like ramble and get off my initial thought so hopefully this cut version is readable enough, i might make multiple parts to this just to get some of my other headcanons out because i did really like some of the extra ones i just didn’t think they fit that well with the main ones (i also just want to write about gl!reader and her beloved punching bag ^^;; )

edit: I FORGOT THE OTHER HALF OF MY DRAFT FUCK.

✦ mark grayson was a fucking loser

✦ that was something you were sure of

✦ he’s some stupid dweeb with a dorky interest like seance dog who’s not even worth looking at over the gum stuck to your shoe

✦ you’ve known him since you were kids, when he was an annoying little boy with a gap in his teeth

✦ your parents trying to set up playdates with him and his family after moving into the neighborhood some time before you developed your powers

✦ before everything went to shit

✦ at twelve you were sought out by the green lantern’s ring, unsure as to why it chose you or how you were considered worthy

✦ maybe it was due to your childish belief that evil could be thwarted by the power of love and justice, like the pretty guardians and magical girls in the boxsets your mother let you read with her and the old vhs tapes you watched sitting in her lap growing up

✦ maybe it was your stubborn resolve when it came to protecting your friends on the schoolyard from snotty little boys who tried to pick on them (you were sent to the principal’s office due to your quick response to slug your tiny little fists at some stupid brat’s mouth enough to be on a first name basis with them, much to your father’s dismay)

✦ whatever it was, you were over the moon with your newfound abilities

✦ through sheer willpower you were able to construct anything your imagination thought of, you could fly, and (most importantly to your 13 year old self) your ring could create any hero costume design to anything your heart desired, complete with a dazzling transformation sequence to boot

✦ at first it was everything you ever wanted, days at school spent wanting to do nothing but go out and fight the forces of evil with your totally awesome magical powers (sort of)

✦ for a while you even wondered when you’d get your own team (all magical girls had a team comprised of their friends to fight off evil, so obviously you would get one eventually, right?)

✦ you spent a lot of time in class doodling what you thought your team would be like, which of your friends were bound to be chosen next and join your side (in the back of your notebook you even had some little doodles of you and some masked phantom thief type character that you could no longer pin who your kid self was thinking of at the time when you stumbled upon your old notebook)

✦ but of course, life wasn’t that simple

✦ you never got that team of magical girls, or other lanterns to come to your aid and help you fight off evil

✦ you didn’t have a moment where a kind older teammate you picked up along the way reassured you and comforted you when your body ached from being thrown around like a rag doll by some super powered freak trying to destroy a city block

✦ no one else was there to help you when your ring faltered and your constructs fell apart because you were just a little girl fighting for love and justice against real monsters, bad guys who wanted to break your bones or worse, ones who couldn’t be magically defeated with a magic tiara or a special transformation power-up

✦ it was you who had to do all of that

✦ it was you who had to choke back tears and lick your wounds just to push all of that fear down into the pits of your stomach and pull yourself back onto your feet to hit the bastard who broke your rib ten times as hard

✦ your constructs were tougher, brighter even, they no longer shattered after one heavy hit against the body of a big bulky target

✦ but it wasn’t your courage making them stronger—

✦ it was the unwavering resolve that you were going to punch and claw your way out of each hell you got into and survive, even if you had to die trying

✦ at some point you quit sticking your neck out for other people

✦ you stop searching for fights to start and to prevent crime before it escalates with regular patrols of the city

✦ you only ever came to the aid of civilians when danger was making itself present in big conflics, it gives you more time to be a regular girl and live your life

✦ by eight grade you had had to switch schools for fighting other students

✦ mark noticed that before your expulsion you seemed to have quit picking fights to protect your friends (friends who gradually started to drift away from you late seventh grade) and now you seemed to just be starting fights out of nowhere

✦ you needed to let off steam from your hero work, taking it out on some annoying boy in class was the closest thing you had to a goon or grunt

✦ he didn’t see you again until late into high school

✦ or, really he didn’t see you until he ran into eve after getting his powers

✦ because you saw him immediately after transferring back to the same school district and getting enrolled in the same high school as him

✦ somehow the world couldn’t be smaller

✦ you saw him the first day of senior year

✦ how could you forget, you punched him in the jaw at your parents’ funeral nearly four years ago

✦ you basically ignored him as much as you could

✦ i mean really he’s the same as he was as all those years ago as a stupid kid— dorky and innocent

✦ it was almost insulting the way he didn’t recognize you at first, but to be fair you gave him the cold shoulder and pushed past him in the halls whenever you could

✦ he often saw you smoking under the bleachers during breaks

✦ you still got into fights sometimes, he’s seen you throw a mean right hook whenever one of the other students were bothering you, so he generally he keeps his distance (still, he found himself looking at you over his shoulder every time he did notice you, something about the bad girl delinquent vibe gave you an allure of some kind)

✦ so now imagine being you, taking a night off for once from beating crooks bloody and waiting for civilians to get into trouble before swooping in to save them (again), loitering around Burger Mart and using your lantern ring to make a lighter to light a cigarette (you left your lighter at home— a nice vivienne westwood that belonged to your mom)

✦ you’re minding your own business when you see a familiar face come out from the back of the restaurant

✦ your brows scrunch up identifying the boy in uniform as your least favorite regular human on the planet as he’s hauling two trash bags over to the dumpster

✦ you groaned at the sight of him and rolled your eyes, going back to lighting your cigarette when you see him fidget with the bags for a moment before fucking chucking one of them into the fucking stratosphere

✦ you just sort of stare at him from where you were sat with wide, furious eyes

✦ because no way this loser gets powers out of fucking nowhere

✦ no fucking way you have been busting your ass for years getting stronger, learning how to suppress your fear and push yourself to be stronger, faster, more durable, everything to survive when you’re doing your rounds as Earth’s only green lantern

✦ and mark fucking grayson gets to throw massive heaps of trash into fucking space like it was nothing

✦ if there was a God somewhere, you were sure he’s laughing right at you

✦ you’re there when mark— sorry, when invincible makes his debut as a hero, during the initial flaxan invasion,

✦ you’re exceptionally more irritated than usual

✦ the others chalked it up to your usual grouchiness, but atom eve (your one and only friend) caught onto your ire rather quickly with just how aggressive you seemed to be that day

✦ when mark approached eve in the halls at school afterwards you didn’t do anything to hide your scowl, appearing behind her like a shadow

✦ it took him a second to notice you and he’s not all to proud to say your sudden arrival made him jump a little

✦ scared for a second that he was talking loud enough for someone to have heard him reveal his identity when he remembers you as one of the heroes who he fought beside during the flaxan invasion

✦ you’re annoyed when eve offers to lend an ear to mark, call it jealousy or just you being territorial of your only friend, but there was no way mark grayson gets one rocky start as a hero and immediately gets to be reassured by someone

✦ he gets his powers without needing to prove anything, he gets support from the get go by another hero like eve as soon as he doubts himself, it made you sick— HE makes you sick

✦ from then there on you just couldn’t shake this guy off you

✦ you ran into him more often at school, or at the store, hell you were getting put on the same assignments by cecil

✦ you’re sick of him

✦ sick of his stupid face and that dorky grin of his

✦ how he’s always checking in on you when you go down during a fight and how his voice sounded a bit softer when he spoke to you

✦ the way he makes your face heat up and made your stomach flip when he looked at you—

✦ oh…

✦ oh hell no.

✦ you needed to hit something and you needed to hit something hard (preferably mark)

✦ you were already pretty standoffish and kind of mean when you had to interact at school, but now?

✦ whenever you’re paired with him for missions half of it is spent barking at him and calling him stupid for not being careful enough

✦ he doesn’t even really know what gets you so heated sometimes but he’s getting better at dodging your punches when you start wailing on him post fight

✦ you hate how much effort you have to put just to keep up with him sometimes

✦ he makes you put in the work when he’s barely breaking a sweat

✦ you want to hit him with your hardest construct sometimes just to see him get skipped like a stone. he’s durable, he’ll live

✦ seeing you in action is something else

✦ your costume hasn’t really changed since you were younger (really the sailor scout uniform was just too good to switch up)

✦ but the duality of the cute bows on your leotard and the short pleated skirt compared to the sight of you slamming a heavy green mallet over some poor supervillain’s head always draws his attention to you

✦ you fight so effortlessly in mark’s eyes, you’re quick on your feet and there’s a unique power behind your punch that make him feel the earth beneath his feet shake when he sees you clock someone in the jaw

✦ you always looked so cool with your stoic, determined expression and he admires how ✦ you seem so put together, you barely stagger between attacks, it’s as if you’re just going through the motions

✦ watching you ring-sling is such a sight to see

✦ you’re so quick to adapt your light constructs he can’t imagine how fast you must be thinking for you to be able to switch as naturally as you do, almost like breathing

✦ he’s seen you combo your ring-sling constructs with your raw strength, hitting them with a green baseball bat before the same light construct stretched into a tether or a lasso to yank them back into your ring bearing fist— which by then had some brass knuckle or gauntlet wrapped around it to bust up their jaw

✦ you do surprisingly well at keeping up with him, you’re nowhere near as fast or durable as he is after he starts getting deeper and deeper into being invincible, but your willpower wasn’t something to laugh at

✦ he admired your courage and strength, even if he was at the end of some of those punches

✦ the two of you were such a strange pair

✦ both of you seemed oblivious to the way you looked at each other

✦ maybe it was the goggles on his costume but mark never seemed to realize that the scowl on your face wasn’t the same as your usual resting face (though he found the scrunch of your nose and the furrowing of your brows very cute)

✦ and you (despite your observational skills and general common sense) couldn’t tell that the sheepish puppy dog look on his face when he talked to you wasn’t just how his stupid face looked

✦ you also didn’t seem to realize that thinking about him as consistently as you did wasn’t something you’re supposed to do about someone you claimed to despise

✦ eve is at her wits end with you guys, especially since she was most often the one left to mediate between the two of you

✦ rex tried to do that once, but seeing as you were strongly aligned with eve and hold grudges longer than anyone else you still weren’t giving him any civilized response that didn’t involve chucking him into a lamppost ever since eve confided to you about him cheating

✦ also he used your spare lighter as ammunition once and he was still feeling the pain in his arm from when you broke his wrist after that

[liorlenn]

(Spoilers for KCD2 romance)

One thing that really surprised me about Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (particularly the Hansry romance) was the direct reference to Galehaut and Lancelot (let me tell you I CHEERED), so I wanted to start talking about some other queer medieval Arthurian texts and Arthuriana adjacent texts.

I’m by no means an expert (I focus more on Welsh poetry and prose) but medieval Welsh literature includes some Arthurian literature, so I know a little about Arthurian Literature in general. Most of these stories are either Old French or German and about 13th century. SGATGK is 14th century.

For one, I want to say that the tale being referenced in the game is the Vulgate Cycle or the Lancelot-Grail Cycle (the Vulgate Cycle itself is multiple parts, with Lancelot’s (The Story of Lancelot/Prose Lancelot) being the largest). It’s a big ol’ mash up and retelling of a huge part of the early tradition + new stuff. There’s also the Post-Vulgate which is itself a retelling of the Vulgate Cycle. This is NOT the one you want if you’re looking for Lancelot and Galehaut.

Another thing of note about the Vulgate is that Galehaut and Lancelot are not the only ones I would give the old side eye. Gawain says (about Lancelot even!), “If God were to grant me my health… I’d immediately wish to be the most beautiful maiden in the world, happy and healthy, on condition that he would love me above all others…” Come on man.

Now, for other queer texts!

First up, I have to plug my best friend and my silly rabbit: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Thanks to the movie (which was good but fairly different) this one is a bit more well-known. I could talk endlessly about the moral of the original story and I think the Gawain Poet is incredibly talented at weaving together imagery. I also appreciate Gawain’s willingness to kiss women AND men. Some argue that it’s not queer because of differing social norms but personally I think Gawain wanted it. And by it, haha well let’s jusrt say—

Next we have Parzival/Percival (referencing the German “version” by Wolfram von Eschenbach here. Each iteration of a “Percival”, including Chrétien de Troyes’ earlier (and unfinished) Story of the Grail, all have their own differences). This one is even more up to interpretation than SGATGK. There’s a very explicitly performative aspect to Parzival’s presentation (his gender is “knight”), focusing distinctly on clothing and the role clothing plays in others’ reactions to him that I think is very relatable. I don’t have much else to say about this one unfortunately. I read parts of it once years ago but it was super interesting and there has been scholarship done on Parzival and gender so…. take what you will from it.

The next stories are Arthurian adjacent (as in, medieval stories about knights). First off: Le Roman de Silence is either about a woman knight or a trans knight who is… sighs. Forcibly outed. Interesting read but definitely a bit of a downer if you interpret Silence as a trans man.

Yde et Olive, however is very explicitly about a trans man! Happy ending too! I was incredibly surprised to read a 13th century story about a trans man getting magical/miraculous top and bottom surgery (yes, forreal).

And to cap off this small list, here is some medieval Welsh literature. This one is just me being a little wistful, but let me tell you about Blodeuedd/Blodeuwedd and the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi (Math fab Mathonwy). This one is…sad. It’s not a good ending for Blodeuedd, but I could wax poetic about her: how she was fashioned from flowers to fulfill a gendered role. How she failed to do so and was punished.

There are plenty of other stories with queer interpretations in Arthuriana and other medieval literature (do not get me started on Guinevere and Morgan le Fay’s whole… thing. Also Luned and her Lady…) and there are plenty of modern/early modern retellings that are explicitly queer. I just wanted to stick to medieval texts for this and also limit myself to a select few among that even.

[sufficientlyantique]

I feel you and all. And dealing with the public when you're in public is a challenge.

I often walk in wilderness or remote areas because I like spaces largely free from mechanical, electrical, or repetitive sounds.

I have, apparently, extraordinarily sensitive hearing. I also have, apparently, audio processing issues. And multiple persons talking to or at me simultaneously causes me physical stress and essentially paralyzes me mentally and physically.

So I also head to the far away natural to be away from the sound of other human voices.

Some of you have issues with speakers on trails. I do, too.

I have issues with people talking on the trail. I can hear people 500m away, clear as day, and I hear indistinct words, but definitely human speech, at 1km.

People talking, even to each other, especially when I need quiet time, are stressful and unavoidable and part of public life for me.

So, yes, for me, noise canceling ear buds were a revelation when using public transit or being in any space dense with humans. I don't like missing certain audio cues (like a hush coming over a crowd or a suddenly strident voice). But having stressful stimuli heavily dampened? Definite improvement in my life and in where I can go comfortably. Way better than ear plugs. Way better because they edit out an awful lot, rather than just muffling everything equally. Plus I can play tunes or noise.

I can't control what others do, especially in shared spaces -- which is, essentially, everywhere. But I do have some control over myself and there are some tools and tech that can help filter painful-to-me stimuli down to a more pleasant level. And I'm glad they're available and I'm happy to use them.

That said, not all people, but yeah, if you're being an asshat, and are so unaware of your surroundings and the people around you that you don't adapt accordingly, there will likely be a "find out" experience at some point.

my unpopular opinion is that i hate tiktok because now people just publicly watch loud ass videos in public spaces with no regard for anyone else. 100% it was not this bad with youtube, it’s such a different thing with tiktok. put on headphones. you are grown.

[meadowfics]

nsfw alphabet

cho hyun ju x f!reader

warnings: minors do not interact!! 18+. all smut. kinks are involved. pre-bottom and post-bottom surgery headcannons are mentioned.

aftercare

hyun ju is the most attentive woman ever!

she will run you a bath, make sure you have your favorite snack and water nearby. she knows about your body and will remind you to go pee afterwards (no risk of utis in this house!)

there are times where hyun ju can be very clingy afterwards, especially if the sex was rough.

body parts (hyun jus favorite part of hers and yours)

hyun ju’s favorite body part of herself is her hands and her boobs. 

she put a lot of money into her boobs, and they came out so perfectly. you always remind her that.

hyun ju loves how strong her hands are, she loves the manicured looks she gives herself.

the ex-military woman’s favorite body part of yours is your legs.

she is OBSESSED with your legs. 

hyun ju loves having your legs wrapped around her waist, her shoulders, across her lap, anywhere on her body.

cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

hyun ju loves the taste of you. she will push you to cum multiple times just to get more of your taste.

dirty secret

if there was a scenario where you served in the military alongside hyun ju… you were definitely her barrack bunny…

she snuck you into her bed every. single. night.

hyun ju was possessive of you, nobody was allowed to have you except for her.

experience

hyun ju did not have much experience.

the only partners she had were back during her military days, before her transition.

however, she knows what she is doing with you.

there was a bit of trial and error on both ends, but you both learned each others bodies and have grown to please each other to the maximum.

favorite position

pre bottom transition: the. fucking. mating. press.

hyun ju loves folding you in half and ramming inside of you. your noises, your sweet uncontrollable noises, almost make her animalistic in the way she pounds deep inside of your walls. 

post bottom transition: scissoring

the sensitivity down there + your pussy kissing right on hers!!?? that pushes her to the edge so quickly.

goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

sex is mostly serious with hyun-ju.

however, there have been a few times where you and hyun-ju had a good laugh over something unserious which might’ve happened. 

for example, the first time you’ve seen her naked.

your jaw dropped lightly. 

“how is that supposed to fit inside of me?” your face made hyun-ju giggle a little, reassuring you that it will fit.

hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

hyun ju is groomed.

the carpet does match the drapes (dark brown)

however, hyun ju is waxed.

intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

hyun ju is super intimate.

even if the sex is rtough, she will always say or do something which reassures you that she loves you dearly.

she praises your body, makes sure that you always finish first before her, and plays with your hair most of the time during.

jack off (masturbation headcanon)

hyun ju used to jack off all of the time in the military.

ever since she met you, she went down to doing it just once a month whenever you are at work or not around to take care of her in person.

kink (one or more of her kinks)

mommy kink. sorry NOT sorry. that woman is OBSESSED with you calling her mommy, mama, etc. one time you were in missionary below hyun ju when you accidentally called her that.

“fuck that feels so good, mama.” and that unlocked something in hyun ju. lets say you couldn’t walk properly for a week after.

auralism. sometimes she has to hold back from cumming whenever she hears the wet sounds your pussy makes with the contact of her cock (or strap if its post-bottom surgery).

somnophilia. this is on both ends, and yes there is consent always!!!!!!!

praise kink. which is connected to the auralism too^^^

location (favorite places to do the do)

all over the apartment that you and hyun ju share.

on the bed, on the couch, in the shower, in the laundry room!

motivation (what turns her on, gets her going)

praising hyun ju and basically being down horribly for her will turn your woman ONNNN!

calling her ‘mama’ will set off something in hyun-ju as well.

“you’re so pretty, mama.”

seeing you half-naked or fully naked will set hyun ju into a horny mindset as well if it is at night, and in bed together.

no (something she wouldn’t do, turn offs)

nothing to do with bodily fluids like ‘golden showers’. 

hyun ju finds that very gross.

oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

the perfect 50/50 woman!

if you are giving her head first, there better be time for her to eat you out afterwards! 

everytime hyun ju eats you out, you always cum. always!

that woman loves tongue-fucking a few orgasms out of you at a time!

pace (is she fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

hyun ju loves taking her time whenever you guys are having normal or lazy sex. 

however, do not underestimate her military strength and stamina. 

whenever you’ve been stressed or moody, she will fuck that stress out of you!

she will go super fast, at least going five rounds before you tap out.

quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

hyun ju is never opposed to quickies.

quickies only happen maybe once a week before you go to work in the morning. 

however, she would prefer moments where the both of you have more time together.

risk (is she game to experiment? does she take risks? etc.)

i do not see hyun ju being super-interested in risks.

hyun ju isn’t opposed to experimenting, but i think she would rather stick to what you both know best <3

stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

that woman could go a dozen rounds.

hyun ju’s military experience gave her stamina beyond comprehension.

sex with hyun ju lasts all night. sunset to sunrise. 

your legs and kitty are always sore afterwards :’)

toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

post bottom surgery, i can see hyun ju owning a few vibrators along with yourself. 

the both of you use them a lot.

a few straps would be bought as well.

hyun ju will use it on you and on herself.

unfair (how much they like to tease)

mama is super unfair!

through her praise, she will tease you about how much you’ve been wanting her. 

“you’ve been waiting for mama all day, have you?”

“yes mama” you pout.

volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

hyun ju LOVES noises (again, the auralism)

she encourages you to be loud. in the process, she might get loud herself.

the both of you have your own apartment with no roommates, so the both of you are vocal.

wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

whenever you have work in the morning, hyun ju lovessss engaging in her somnophilia. you give her your full consent of course. she loves waking you up by eating your pussy in bed, or entering you from the side. afterwards you go to work all happy and stress-free :D

x-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

that girl dick is bigggg.

five on soft, seven on hard. 

she is a grower!

those boobs are so perfect as well, sitting in a way that makes you (playfully) jealous sometimes.

post bottom transition: hyun ju has the prettiest kitty :’)

yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

hyun ju and you have sex nearly every night.

that sex drive is highhh behind that pookie persona hyun-ju has.

you and her yearn for each other always.

zzz

hyun ju will stay up sometimes, making sure to give you (and receive) aftercare.

sometimes the both of you will stay up and watch a movie afterwards, falling asleep in bed and cuddling during that movie. 

masterlist

[justcruisingaroundrevived]

i loved ur yandere bill fic !! Can u make one about Pete ? <3

Wanna Tear You Apart

Summary: YANDERE! Pete x reader

TW/CW: Stalking, obsessive behavior, mentions of dead animals, self harm (both ends), bones

A/N: Thank you for the request anon! Pete would honestly be the worst yandere overall, so these were especially fun to do honesty!

Reblogs are appreciated!

* Pete would honestly be the scariest yandere out of all the members

* Pete’s love for things violent, bloody, gory and everything in the technicolor rainbow will mean he’s an obvious yandere

* You can feel his presence at any point of the day. Even when he’s hanging out with the club, if he spots you, his eyes are fully on you (if you can catch him, you’ll see that there’s no light in them)

* If he’s alone, expect him to already be at your locker, trying to act all suave, but he’s not. He’s not even doing the right pose, and any “small talk” he does comes off as stiff and uncomfortable.

* Would actively follow you home from school, and you wouldn’t even know it. His small stature makes it easy for him to hide practically anywhere the moment you suspect him watching you (catch him in the act will result in an aloof Pete, complaining “I don’t know my way around this neighborhood.” Before going to a random store)

* Alone in his bedroom, he’ll have fantasies of him being the serial killer and you the final person. Imagining how scared you look as he approaches you, before you two making out with the corpses of your friends underneath him (he definitely has masturbated to that)

* Will stalk you online. Your MySpace, family’s Facebook and even online forums are not safe from Pete. You had to block multiple different accounts because of how persistent they were being (messages going from loving to demanding, knowing personal information about you, possibly sending pictures of gore + deaths from horror movie to scare you)

* Fuck, he’ll probably send you weird gifts to your house (animal bones, an actual human heart, his favorite movies, etc). You throw them out of trash for the most part, but Pete knows you throw it out…he’s just thinks you’re playing hard to get

* Little graphic, but he definitely carved your name onto his hip (at least your initials). He would have to constantly hide it if you two started dating

* Speaking of which, the confessions done in note form. He poorly stuff it in your locker with chocolate he brought from the pharmacy. It’s honestly couple of pages of rambling about what he knows about you and maybe a sentence being “Oh yeah, I like you”

* Accepting it would have him over the moon. Expect him to tackle you and just lay on top of you, talking about how happy he is and how you’re stuck with him like glue

* Would absolutely brag about you to anyone who meets him, especially the club

* The gifts will not stop, but he’s going to try and put some effort into them (maybe bones of your favorite animals, perhaps)

* You would have to keep him on a leash cause he would not be afraid to jump on people and attack them for talking shit about you or him (someone tie him up like Hannibal Lecture)

* If you carved his initials onto your skin, you’ll have his loyalty forever <3

* Good luck, solider. You’re going to need it

[crimsoncandy04]

Your post ab Wanderer being scared of intimacy in the beginning is so so real. Like some people make him out to be a sex god but realistically?? If we're sticking to canon, the only era he'd realistically be getting laid in is MAYBBEE Scaramouche. And even then he disliked humans so much he probably never demeaned himself to do so. As old as he is, there is a good chance he's a big fat virgin and only now feels confident enough to try

I almost agree with you. However I also want to throw this out there too in defense of his Kabukimono era, have you ever lived with multiple men?

Like there's no way bro didn't accidentally walk in on or wake up to someone trying to secretly rub one out at some point and if he DID his curious personality would definitely have him thinking about it and also maybe trying to touch himself and explore that part of him.

I think he's either a 500+ year old virgin like you said or maybe has a body count of like 2 at the very most. Only because sex is literally everywhere and I guarantee you if you read the hidden stuff in game about the fatui and learn about stuff they had going on that wasn't mentioned in archon quests (like the illegal vision fighting ring for the wealthy) that you'd probably assume they had a hand in human trafficking as well. And at some point Scaramouche was bound to discover that humans have a reproductive process.

I think you're right and he either ignored it completely, or he got hella curious and maybe took someone off to the side like once or twice JUST for experimentation purposes to see if he could get anything out of such an experience.

Like I'm no expert. But I feel like if I was different from others and noticed that they seem to put some sort of physical mating act on a pedestal, I'd probably try to look into it a little more just for shits and giggles to see if I could enjoy it too. Especially if I longed to be like everyone else around me for most of my life...

[stout-stoat]

not entirely certain what the “ritual objects” one is referring to, but if it's about archaeologists referring to unknown artifacts as possibly being a ritual object, then you're half right.

this is now a joke within archaeology, actually. this is more common under the old-guard of archaeologists; from a time when straight-passing and white-passing men were the only people in many western academic spaces deemed ““smart enough”” to be part of the field.

way too in-depth explanation of archaeological theory under the cut.

archaeological theory has changed a lot, though. there's now two main camps of archaeologists, processual and post-processual.

processualism, the “old guard,” is often referred to as “new archaeology.” big boom in archaeo theory thru the 60's and 70's.

here's the gist of processualism:

1) we should be more scientific about all of this

2) societies go through cultural phases, generally triggered by 'environmental factors.' three-age system, stone, bronze, iron. etc.

3) if we have multiple types* of archaeologists on a team then maybe we can figure shit out better

4) boxes are fun and easy. lets use 'systems theory' to put things in conceptual boxes :)

* multiple types of archaeology means you can get the longest names of fields of study known to man. paleoethnobotany, archaeoacoustics, archaeopedologists (dirt, not pedophilia), and archaeoastronomists being notable mentions

post-processualism, the “new guard,” is jokingly referred to as "new new archaeology." another boom in theory in the 80's and 90's when women, POC, and queers finally got their foot in the door of archaeology and could make their voices heard.

here's the gist of post-processualism, though technically an umbrella term:

1) hey did y'all never consider that you don't know everything, white western men?

2) we should be more human about this. almost like we're studying humans or something. crazy

3) discussions of power, ideology, feminism, personal agency, etc

4) stop it with the cultural phases shit. stop making boxes. everything is more complicated than that

5) humans have always had queerness, but it almost never directly aligns with our modern definitions and labels

6) indigenous people being archaeologists sounds like a good idea. we should. do that.

a common critique of the old guard is assuming that an artifact with an unknown purpose was ritualistic, and therefore unknowable. it's an easy, clear-cut box that absolves any reason to do more research.

while there are plenty of old guard professors up and about teaching their methods, to refer to ALL of archaeology as being their domain with their problems is a disservice to the last 40 odd years of progress made by indigenous people, people of color, women, and queers.

sources

i'm a history-archaelogy undergrad. if you know more feel free to add on :>

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0056.xml

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_269#:~:text=Post%2Dprocessual%20archaeology%20stemmed%20from,%2C%20processual%20and%20post%2Dprocessual.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_%28archaeology%29?wprov=sfla1

People on this website will really mock anti-vaxxers and flat earthers for ignoring scientists and getting their alternative facts from facebook, and then turn around and insist they know more history than historians and more archaeology than archaeologists because they read an unsourced tumblr post once

[codnasties]

more mlm with anyone tf141/los vaqueros? 👉👈

soap getting his ass filled 🧼 (🌽 link) - male reader -

soap is insatiable. he somehow is that kind of person who just gives and gives, he likes it, it's part of his character. but like everyone else, he loves to be on the receiving end as well, think of it as a little token of appreciation.

with that, soap like getting his ass played with and fucked, like a said, a little appreciation. but the bet of all for him is to have his ass filled with cum, to the brim, until it can take no more and it starts leaking out. he loves the feeling of it.

definitely trying hard to get himself a stud. a guy that can last multiple rounds, who's stamina matches his own and, on top of all that, someone that's able to cum multiple times. so when he got his hungry paws on you, he knew he wasn't going to let you go.

like yes, do creampie that hairy ass of his. one load isn't enough to fill him up as if you were trying to get him pregnant. pull out teasingly to cover his ass cheeks and his plucked hole with your seed only to push you cock back in. the continuous thursting making it leak out os his hole, making a mess all over it, cum running down his balls and onto the floor.

this nasty fucker for sure does collect some of the cum on his lingers and gets himself a nice taste of it.

[race-week]

Is there any chance you could explain what might have been happening with landos brakes? I’m so confused on how it’s possible for it to get half a millimeter longer per lap. Does that mean he had to push farther for an engagement point on the brakes to work. And it got to the point where the brake was all the way down and car wasn’t slowing? Is it like bike mechanical brakes, where a wire pulls the brake pads to squeeze, was that wire just slipping??? Sorry I’m so confused and you seem to frequently have so much technical insight 😭

I’ll try.

So a long brake pedal is a brake pedal that requires a significant amount of force and pedal travel to activate the brakes.

Now F1 cars brake pedals require a much higher force than the brake pedals on your standard road car, as seen in this clip taken from the Silverstone museum.

F1 brakes are part of a hydraulic system, so the driver applies force to the brake pedal, and this force is then amplified by the hydraulic fluid to the brake callipers which apply the force.

Norris having a long brake pedal, means that he was having to apply even more force than usual and having to push the pedal down further to get the ‘typical’ amount of braking force. And each lap he was having to increase the amount of force and increase the amount the pedal was pushed.

He was saying at one point the brake pedal was flat and he was barely getting any braking power, essentially this could have continued until no matter what force he applied there would be no difference with the brakes applied, and it was definitely heading towards that, with Norris having to lift a lot earlier and slow the car with the gears. I expect that if the race was a couple of laps longer he would have likely retired or been out of the points, because it’s not easy to control a car with little to no braking around a track like Shanghai.

This could have been caused by multiple different things, air in the hydraulic system, worn brake pads or an issue with the hydraulic system such as a leak.

[cultivateplagueblessing]

I know a lot of this conversation comes from the definition of person often includes the word human in the definition; but I’d like to talk about this a different way than that common discussion over if personhood is a good word.

Instead I’d like to talk about something on the alterhuman side, specifically the plurality one.

-

The basic answer is; some of us consider ourselves people while there are others who don’t. (To be front about it: we don’t attach the word person to human-hood.)

There is a genuine issue with overly pushing or removing personhood from people in multiple systems / plurals.

There’s people who insist every single being in a plural is their own person. There’s also people who insist every single being in a plural is just parts of one single person.

When really a middle point is better, that some are people, some are not. Some are parts of a whole, some are whole on their own. Or of multiple wholes! There’s combinations, complexities.

And for us, there’s a lot of us who are our own people, are parts of a people, but there are also those of us who are not people at all. To insist they are people counteract the core of what they are and how they function. It can be actually quite distressing for them. (If I’m honest I wasn’t going to make this post, but they insisted it’d be good to add to the discussion).

There’s multiple ways for a plural to have non-person members. It can depend on them and their definitions and how things function but there’s NPCs and fragments are often some of the most likely, definitely for us who consider themselves not people.

There’s also some who don’t consider themselves people because they don’t have any true sense of self, but at least seem to be ‘whole’. Their self is so fluid and it’s only because we can physically interact with each other in our worlds that we know they are the same being, but not necessarily the same ‘person’ at any point in time, and thus feels distressed being called a person, when they don’t have any true shared traits with those of us who are people, or feel we are at least. It’s complicated and I’ll let them feel as they do. Things in systems and plurals can be quite complicated and I have no idea how to put to words these concepts sometimes.

But yeah! Uhh for the most part yeah, it doesn’t necessarily force humanity on us or anything, it’s just some of us don’t feel they fit, or feel distressed being insisted, they are a ‘person’.

I have a question for other Alterhumans/nonhumans. Do you consider yourself a person? I saw a post saying they think of animals as people and It made me curious.

[uniquethingtastemaker]

I give sporadic updates so here’s one for you, and as always I clump all my latest stuff together.

The Rook x Reader fanfic is already 17k words and I’m not even fully to Chapter 6 now. There’s a lot of question marks on how far and detailed I should go for a few scenes, specifically Vil’s speech and subsequent introduction of the VDC crew to the audience. It’s important to the plot, but idk how much I should add. I have to add a questionable Vil moment in the part that has “Mira Mira” too. Now I have to move on to Chapter 6 which hopefully this section isn’t too too long. It’s hard to keep up the motivation but I’m spurred by my desire to give this fic to u guys. It’s amazing so far!! I have a fun time reading it lol and some of my friends too!

It will be fantastic when it’s out. It’s my baby.

I had another idea Rook x Reader fic! I can also make a Vil x Reader using the same concept and take it a different direction. I’m referring to it as “Role Reversal”

I’m recycling something that I created for the Rook x Observant Reader. I had to make a whole ass outline for a movie plot that Vil would star in. I thought it would be fun if there’s a director who comes to NRC and wants to use the students to film a movie or whatever. As always, Vil gets cast as the villain. However, he accepts it because he cares about the director, production, and storyline or whatever. No one else can play the villain as well as he can, so he’ll do it.

The director sees Reader and goes “you! Let me see how you fair in this character.” The character is the protagonist and you nail it multiple times. You become the director’s favorite low key. However, you read the script and go “bro, the villain is way cooler. I wanna play the villain.” You glance up at Vil, who doesn’t want to play that role and go, “I think I can make this work.”

Then you proceed to absolutely obliterate everyone’s expectations by being the perfect villain. Like, it’s better than Vil’s, which is saying something. However, you insist that Vil should be in the protagonist instead.

He’s confused but doesn’t questions it. You help him be the main character and help him as a person along the way.

Regardless of if it’s Vil or Rook, it works. I’ll adjust the romance as needed lol.

I’ve also been working on Silver’s “Dreaming of You” fanfic, which is fun. I definitely have to cut some of the original dialogue down and alter it. Usually when I do this, it isn’t as straightforward as it has been with this. The Reader is just very encouraging and empathetic. They’re strong in an emotional sense and always stand up for themselves or others, including Silver. There’s a lot of compliments that our knight has to get used to.

There’s also a great moment where you show and tell Malleus you’re scared of him which is so good and low key angsty, but in the best way. I like telling people off when they’re hurting people lol.

Also I’ve had an idea for Rook’s “Dreaming of You.” Can you tell who my favorite character is? Anyway, I have an idea for him that I’m working on. However, it’s not fully fleshed out. I’m trying to decide how Rook acts in this. I won’t spoil anything though lol

I just started tampering and working on Azul’s “Dreaming of You,” which is great so far. I really like it. However, I want to make sure that it’s longer since I like longer fanfics. It’ll probably have to continue into the Savanaclaw section, fleshing out their relationship. I love Azul so I want to make sure he has more screen time lol.

I have to go back and watch some moments toward the end of his dream. I remember how to tweel’s act really callous, but I don’t remember what happens before then. I’ll have to do that.

That’s all for the update now. I’ll probably post the segment I have for the Rook x Reader — Role Reversal just because I like it lol. I’ll probably post it in the next few minutes lol

[goodbyeyellowbrickcloset]

The A to Z of Plausible Deniability: Taylor Swift’s 2019 Vogue Interview, Decoded

https://www.vogue.com/article/taylor-swift-cover-september-2019

Hey Kids! Spelling Is Fun!

There are a few moments in Taylor Swift’s career that fans point to as definitive—words etched in stone, used to silence entire communities of listeners. Chief among them? One quote from her 2019 Vogue cover story, often held up as the nail in the coffin of Gaylorism. And yet, as with everything in Swift’s world, what seems like a clear declaration rarely is.

When she said, “I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community I’m not a part of,” many saw it as a disavowal.

But those of us who’ve studied her work closely—who’ve listened deeply, read between every line, counted every beat and coded phrase—understood something different. That wasn’t a confession. It was a cover.

In this essay, I’ve taken the 2019 Vogue article apart chronologically, letter by letter—twenty-six meticulously crafted sections, each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. Why? Because Taylor is nothing if not deliberate, and the only way to honor the intricacy of her storytelling is to mirror it with equal care.

From Allyship to Zooming Out, we’ll explore the breadcrumbs she’s left us, the plausible deniability she’s mastered, and the coded queerness that pulses through every paragraph of this interview.

Welcome to The A to Z of Plausible Deniability. Let’s start spelling.

A — Allyship or Authority?

In the second and third paragraphs of the Vogue article, the author describes the star-studded, rainbow-saturated set of “You Need to Calm Down.” It’s a gay wonderland: Hayley Kiyoko shooting arrows, the cast of Queer Eye sipping tea, and Todrick Hall holding court. At the center of it all? Taylor Swift—literally cast as the sheriff of this queer town.

This visual begs the question: would all of these openly queer artists sign on to uplift and center a straight woman’s vision of queerness if it were just that—straight? Would a “sheriff” character not feel weirdly self-appointed unless it was someone already accepted by the community she’s symbolically policing for?

If Taylor were purely an outsider to the LGBTQ+ community, the optics of this video might feel off—like performative allyship bordering on appropriation. But instead, these queer creatives joined her vision. That doesn’t prove anything definitive, of course, but it does challenge the idea that Swift was simply “borrowing” queerness for optics. The role she plays in that trailer-park utopia feels more like one of quiet authority.

B — Byzantine Breadcrumbs

In paragraph six, the Vogue author confesses: “I hadn’t understood how coded and byzantine her body of work had become; I hadn’t learned, as Swift fans have, to see hidden meanings everywhere.” This is a powerful observation—and one that Gaylors have long embraced as a cornerstone of Swift’s artistry.

The word Byzantine isn’t just poetic. It’s specific. It implies complexity, secrecy, and intentional obfuscation—a storytelling style that thrives on symbol and structure. It mirrors the way Swift weaves metaphors, numbers, time-stamped references, and narrative misdirection into her public-facing work.

This is where plausible deniability enters the chat. Taylor gives her audience enough—just enough to be interpreted—but never so much that anything is definitively confirmed. She can’t be “proven” one way or another. And that’s the point. This isn’t just fan projection—it’s a blueprint. The layered, coded nature of her work invites analysis because it’s crafted to sustain multiple truths at once.

When Swifties reduce this system to “easter eggs for the next album,” it undercuts the literary, poetic, and queer-coded lineage of what she’s actually doing. She’s not just teasing projects—she’s hiding a whole life in plain sight.

C — Codes, Clues, and Calculations

In paragraph eight, the author writes: “Apprehending the Taylor Swift Universe is like grasping quantum physics.” It’s a nod to the sheer complexity of her work, but more than that, it validates the way many fans—particularly Gaylors—approach Taylor’s art: through close reading, detailed timelines, and intertextual analysis.

This isn’t a stretch. Taylor loves numbers. She codes her life in them. From referencing “Track 5” songs as emotionally significant, to dropping albums and music videos on symbolically loaded dates (like Pride Month, or Lesbian Visibility Day), there is historical precedent for believing she crafts with intention.

So when Gaylors notice the consistent use of numbers like 8 and 3—Karlie Kloss’s birthday—or see mirrored timestamps and patterns emerge across albums, it isn’t “reaching.” It’s reading. It’s noticing the very kind of symbolic complexity Taylor herself says she values.

To reduce these patterns to coincidence is to ignore the deep, ongoing conversation she’s having with her audience. She knows how to whisper through art. The question is: who’s listening?

D — Dates and Declarations

In the 9th paragraph, the Vogue article notes that Lover was announced just after midnight on June 1st, the first day of Pride Month. The timing wasn’t accidental—and neither was the content. Taylor also released a letter to Senator Lamar Alexander, asking him to support the Equality Act, and posted a petition in support of LGBTQ+ civil rights. These weren’t vague gestures—they were coordinated acts of public political advocacy.

What makes this significant isn’t just that she said these things—it’s that she’d never said them this loudly before. Prior to Lover, Taylor had a documented history of quiet support: a donation to GLAAD in 2011, a pro-gay lyric in Welcome to New York, presenting Ruby Rose with an award, and even subtle visual nods like her lavender sweater in Mean. But none of that matched the scale, clarity, or political urgency of her 2019 actions.

Then there’s the author’s note that her letter was written on her personal stationery, which cheekily read: “Born in 1989. Loves cats.” If that’s the personal truth she’s putting on paper, her next sentence—“I personally reject the president’s stance”—reads differently. “Personally” doesn’t just signal belief; it signals lived experience. If she were writing from a purely ally perspective, wouldn’t it be easier to say “I support the rights of the LGBTQ+ community”? Instead, she positions the rejection as something that affects her directly.

This is part of what makes the “I recently realized I could advocate for a community I’m not a part of” statement so strange in the same interview. She’d already spent years advocating for queer people—what changed? Perhaps it’s not that she was finally advocating for LGBTQ+ people, but that she was finally speaking about trans rights, a specific subgroup she hadn’t addressed before. The specificity is important—because if she’s not part of the trans community, but is part of the LGB community, then the quote reads very differently than it’s often interpreted.

E — Enemies of Progress: Who Was YNTCD Really For?

In paragraph 10, Vogue lists the targets of You Need to Calm Down: trolls, cancel culture, homophobes, concert picketers, and those who pit successful women against each other.

But let’s pause—who was picketing Taylor’s concerts? Why were people already protesting her shows before YNTCD ever dropped?

Because her queer alignment didn’t start in 2019. For nearly a decade, she’d quietly supported queer causes, coded her music with queer subtext, and stood in solidarity behind the scenes. YNTCD wasn’t a beginning—it was a confirmation.

And it did more than call out hate. It placed her at the center of queer joy—as sheriff, no less. That imagery wasn’t subtle, and it challenged the idea that she was merely an ally.

The song also critiques how women are constantly scrutinized and compared—adding a deeper layer for someone who’s long had her personal relationships dissected under a heteronormative lens.

YNTCD made her stance unmistakable. Even if she didn’t spell it out.

F — Family Matters: “If He Was Gay, He’d Be Gay”

In paragraph 12, Swift shares a moment with close friend Todrick Hall. He asks, “What would you do if your son was gay?” Her response: “If my son was gay, he’d be gay. I don’t understand the question.”

It’s a powerful moment—especially in context.

They're sitting in a secret garden shaped like a cocoon—a space symbolizing transformation and protection. The metaphor is striking. Here’s Taylor, wrapped in this image of safety and potential change, confronted with the idea that someone close to her had doubts about where she stood.

Her realization? “I hadn’t been publicly clear enough.” But clear to whom?

Of all the marginalized communities Taylor could have highlighted, she centers the LGBTQ+ community. Not women. Not BIPOC fans. Not people with disabilities. This is who she’s focused on.

And her emotional reaction—“devastating”—isn’t just about perception. It reads as personal. If she were queer, this would be a moment of profound internal reckoning. Because being seen as an outsider to your own community is a unique kind of pain.

That’s why the answer hits different. “If he was gay, he’d be gay.” It carries the energy of someone who’s long wrestled with her own identity and doesn’t want that struggle projected onto others.

If she was gay, she'd be gay.

What’s the question?

G — Guarded in Conversation, Glowing in Song

The writer notes that Taylor’s answers on LGBTQ+ topics were “direct, not performative or scripted,” but also that she seemed tense—“like she’d enjoy [the interview] about as much as a root canal.” The exception? When the conversation turned to music. Suddenly, her “face lit up” and she began weaving melody into her speech. That’s where she’s most at home.

It begs the question: Is music the only place she feels free to speak her truth?

If her public language is burdened with risk—fear of missteps, media backlash, or violating a carefully crafted persona—then songwriting becomes her sanctuary. A protected space where she can communicate honestly, albeit in metaphor and code.

She seems guarded in speech, but in music?

She radiates.

H — Hints from the Heartland

The author of the Vogue piece acknowledges that Taylor had been sending pro-LGB signals for years—since at least 2011. And Gaylors know it goes even further back: in 2008, she was participating in anti-gay bullying PSAs and quietly supporting LGB causes long before it was deemed “safe” for someone like her to do so.

And that matters. Because she was a young country star from Nashville. We explored this in The Glass Closet post: country music has a long, fraught history with queerness. Chely Wright’s career was decimated the moment she came out in 2010. Taylor would’ve seen that play out in real time—and internalized the lesson.

So her early advocacy wasn’t just subtle. It was strategic. She laid groundwork in winks and whispers, not because she didn’t care—but because she knew the cost of being too loud, too soon.

I — In Plain Sight: A Timeline of Taylor’s Queer Advocacy

Long before Vogue 2019, Taylor Swift had already been participating in meaningful acts of queer advocacy—subtly, consistently, and often in ways that flew under the radar for casual fans. Here’s a quick timeline of what she had already done by the time this article was published:

2008 – Participated in a Seventeen magazine PSA against anti-gay bullying following the murder of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old shot for being gay.

2010 – Released Mean, widely interpreted as a song about homophobia and bullying. In the video, one character wears a lavender sweater—later referenced in the Vogue article.

2011 – Began to be more visibly supportive of queer artists and fans. Notable moments include her friendship with out lesbian musicians like Hayley Kiyoko (who later appears in her music video) and support for LGB charities behind the scenes.

2014 – Released Welcome to New York with the lyric: “You can want who you want / Boys and boys and girls and girls.” This marked one of her first overt queer-affirming lines in a song.

2016 – Publicly presented Ruby Rose (a genderfluid lesbian actress) with a GLAAD Media Award.

2017–2018 – Dedicated “Dress” on the Reputation tour to Loie Fuller, a queer icon and gender-defying performance artist.

2018 – Wrote a personal, viral Tumblr post ahead of the midterms calling out anti-LGB legislation and specifically criticizing Marsha Blackburn’s homophobic voting record. This was a major shift for a celebrity who had previously remained silent about elections.

2019 (pre-Vogue) – Donated generously to GLAAD and the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative during Pride Month. She also began actively using her platform to uplift queer voices, and started the You Need to Calm Down campaign by launching a petition in support of the Equality Act. This is where the organization/policy she supported explicitly included gender identity in its mission or language and Taylor acknowledged this publicly.

These moments span more than a decade—and they are not subtle. Her engagement wasn’t a sudden pivot in 2019; it was a steady climb toward louder, more direct action.

Soon, we’ll return to the infamous “community I’m not a part of” quote that so many Swifties have latched onto. But before we get there, it’s worth recognizing: Taylor’s track record of queer advocacy was long established well before that moment.

J — Judgements and Justifications

In discussing the Tennessee Equality Act, Taylor says she “loved how smart it was to come at it from a religious perspective.” On the surface, this is a political observation—praising a tactic that reframes queer protections in a language conservative lawmakers might understand. But for a songwriter like Swift, who builds entire albums around thematic layers, this statement feels more personal. In The Tortured Poets Department, she references biblical imagery, heaven and hell, sin, redemption, punishment, and divine judgment. The emotional weight behind her lyrics—especially when dealing with shame, silence, and secrets—often echoes the internal conflict so many queer people experience growing up in religious households or communities.

Swift doesn’t just casually name-drop religious themes; she builds worlds out of them. To highlight the “smartness” of using religious justification in advocacy suggests a deeper awareness of how moral arguments are weaponized against queer people. It also implies she’s personally familiar with the pain those narratives can cause—and how powerful it can be to reclaim that language for liberation.

K — “Kicked Down by the Church” The release of “You Need to Calm Down” wasn’t just met with celebration—it triggered backlash, including from a Colorado pastor who declared Swift “a sinner in desperate need of a savior” and warned that “God will cut her down.” Beyond the absurdity of that rhetoric lies something much more serious: the reminder that queerness, or even perceived queerness, invites violent cultural policing. Some LGBTQ+ activists also questioned the suddenness of Taylor’s embrace of Pride imagery, critiquing her for corporate allyship or performative politics.

But if you’ve been paying attention—as the Vogue article subtly invites you to do—you’ll know none of this came out of nowhere. She had been quietly aligning with the queer community for years. And for a woman who had never been called a “sinner in need of saving” before, this moment was a turning point. If she received this kind of vitriol just for advocating, imagine the fallout if she openly identified as queer.

Maybe that’s why she dresses herself as the literal sheriff of a technicolor gay village in the “Calm Down” video. It’s a declaration of belonging disguised as allyship—plausible deniability in rhinestones and pastel wigs. Maybe this was her version of coming out. Or maybe it was a warning shot across the Bible Belt. Either way, the message was loud.

L — “Legacy or Liberation?”

Taylor has never been afraid to speak out—when it matters most to her. Whether pulling her music from Spotify, standing up to Apple Music, or fighting for artist ownership of her masters, she has repeatedly put her reputation on the line to challenge powerful institutions. In the Vogue interview, she explains her choice to let go of the past and focus on the future: “It was either investing in my past or other artists’ future, and I chose the future.” This quote, while referencing her business decisions, echoes another liberation she seems to be chasing—one that lives between the lines of her music and her imagery.

It’s not a stretch to read this through a queer lens. If Taylor has accepted the limits of the glass closet, she’s at least trying to leave the door cracked open for others. She’s built a career on coded confession, signaling over and over again to those who know how to listen. And still, she’s never named Gaylors as harmful or called for the conversation to stop—even while she’s called out just about everything else that’s hurt her.

People point to this article as the smoking gun of heterosexuality. But they fail to see the queerness that fills every page. If this is the definitive “she said she’s straight” moment… explain the rest of the article. Go on. We’ll wait.

M — “Met Before the Moment”

Before we even reach the infamous quote Swifties love to use as proof that Taylor is straight, we’re grounded in a moment of bravery: her decision to take a stand in her sexual assault trial. The article recounts how she testified publicly, in open court, against the DJ who assaulted her—seeking only a symbolic $1 in damages. It’s a reminder of the way she’s used her platform to speak up, even when it’s uncomfortable or risky.

This moment of strength isn’t just about justice—it’s also about identity. It’s about taking back control of her own narrative, something Taylor has fought for time and time again. And that matters in the broader context of queerness too. The fear, vulnerability, and risk of being scrutinized, disbelieved, or minimized—it’s not the same, but it echoes the kind of high-stakes exposure that often accompanies coming out.

So when we talk about what Taylor says next, let’s not forget the emotional terrain she’s already laid. She knows what it means to be disempowered and to reclaim the story. And she knows the cost.

N — “Not a Part of the Community?”

Here it is—the quote that gets endlessly tossed around to “shut down” Gaylor:

“Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,” she says. “I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of. It’s hard to know how to do that without being so fearful of making a mistake that you just freeze. Because my mistakes are very loud. When I make a mistake, it echoes through the canyons of the world.”

At first glance, it seems like a straightforward disavowal. But let’s slow down and really examine it.

We’ve already established that Taylor has been advocating for LGB rights since at least 2008—from anti-gay bullying PSAs, to her GLAAD partnerships, to lyrics and symbols embedded across albums. So if she had always believed you shouldn’t speak on behalf of communities you don’t belong to… why was she advocating for queer rights all along?

The math only works if we understand that this quote is referring to her first time advocating publicly for the trans community—a specific identity group within the LGBTQ+ umbrella that she may not personally share.

Her activism in 2019—especially around the Equality Act and her statements on gender identity—was the first time she explicitly centered trans rights. So when she says she “didn’t realize” she could advocate for a community she’s “not a part of,” she may be drawing a careful line: she is part of the queer community. But trans rights advocacy, in that moment, was new territory. And for someone with her level of fame, she was terrified to get it wrong.

This reading not only makes sense—it’s supported by the timing, by her language, and by the long arc of her advocacy.

So no, this quote isn’t a denial. It’s a rare moment of vulnerability about the risks of public advocacy when you belong to some parts of a community, but not all. And for a woman who’s spent her career walking the tightrope of plausible deniability, this kind of carefully crafted phrasing is not a slip—it’s intentional.

If she believed she couldn’t advocate for people she didn’t identify with, then all her previous advocacy points to one conclusion: she does identify with the queer community. Just not every part of it.

O — Omitted on Purpose: What We Choose to See

Let’s talk about timing.

On April 26, 2019, Taylor posted “ME! Out now” — the first single of the Lover era — and signed it off with hearts and rainbows. She posted it on Lesbian Visibility Day. A release date known to be significant in queer circles, posted in rainbow color palettes, launching her most colorful era yet. And that caption? “Out now.” It’s subtle. Or maybe it isn’t.

Then, she released Lover just after midnight on June 1st, the official start of Pride Month. These dates were not arbitrary. This is the same Taylor Swift whose fans currently believe she will announce Reputation (Taylor’s Version) on March 28 (3/28) because it mirrors her original Reputation announcement date of August 23 (8/23) — and that a ram mask worn upside-down in the "Karma" music video is somehow pointing to this through astrological symbolism related to Ram Day. Don’t get me wrong, I love the deep digging and cool connections just as much as anyone, but it’s the way that some things are totally acceptable to clown while others are outright rejected as nonsense.

Like… let’s pause. If that level of acrobatics is applauded and celebrated by fans, how is “Out now” on Lesbian Visibility Day somehow “a reach”?

It’s selective attention.

The fandom chooses to dismiss the simplest, most plausible clues when they point toward queerness — while simultaneously clowning for far more elaborate theories that conveniently uphold heteronormative narratives. The rainbow murals, bisexual wigs, LGBTQ+ symbolism, and carefully chosen dates from this era are too consistent to be random. And yet they're brushed off while a mirrored ram date theory spreads like wildfire.

When it comes to the Lover era, maybe the Easter eggs weren’t just hinting at a re-record or a new album drop. Maybe she was dropping something else entirely — and everyone missed it. Or worse, they chose to.

P — Perception Shift: From Girlhood to Glass Closet

In this section of the article, the interviewer shifts to a conversation about sexism, asking whether Taylor had always been aware of it. Her response is vulnerable, self-aware, and (importantly) layered. She reflects:

“When I was a teenager, I would hear people talk about sexism in the music industry, and I’d be like, I don’t see it. I don’t understand. Then I realized that was because I was a kid. Men in the industry saw me as a kid... The second I became a woman, in people’s perception, was when I started seeing it.”

This quote is essential not just for what it says about how women are treated in entertainment — but how it might also parallel her internal awakening, particularly as it relates to queerness.

When you're a kid — especially a girl — people write off your perspective. They infantilize you. You’re considered safe, nonthreatening, charming. And if you’re queer, but not yet perceived as someone who could pose a challenge to heteronormativity, your existence is easier for the world to digest. But the moment you step into adulthood, when your body is sexualized, your career becomes powerful, and your voice begins to matter… suddenly you’re “too much.” Suddenly, you’re dangerous. Sound familiar?

If Taylor entered the industry with any part of herself tucked away for safekeeping — a glass closet agreement, for example — then this realization about sexism might have dovetailed with a larger reckoning about her identity and autonomy. Not just who she was perceived to be, but what she was allowed to say, and who she was allowed to love.

That quote about songs like I Knew You Were Trouble and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together marks a turning point in how the industry saw her — and maybe, how she saw herself. It's not hard to imagine that her emergence into “womanhood” in the public eye also came with the devastating realization that if she was ever going to live authentically, it would be on someone else’s terms.

This is why grace matters. If we allow Taylor room to grow in her awareness of sexism, why wouldn’t we offer the same space for her to process queerness — not just in others, but within herself? This paragraph plants the seed that not everything was visible to her when she was younger — but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. It just hadn’t yet been allowed to be seen.

Q — Quiet as It’s Kept: The Art and Accusation of Her Songwriting

This paragraph may not scream “Gaylor” on first glance, but it offers one of the most quietly profound insights into Taylor’s artistry — and how it’s been misunderstood, minimized, and even weaponized against her.

She reflects:

“People would act like [songwriting] was a weapon I was using. Like a cheap dirty trick. Be careful, bro, she’ll write a song about you... First of all, that’s not how it works. Second of all, find me a time when they say that about a male artist...”

There’s something almost queer-coded in this experience: being punished for your method of expression, having your emotional honesty misread as manipulation, your perspective dismissed as dramatization. Taylor’s frustration here reveals just how deeply misunderstood she’s been — not just as a songwriter, but as a person who makes her private longings legible through art, only to have them distorted by the public eye.

What she creates is not a “cheap trick.” It’s a quiet art, a system of layered metaphors, symbols, personas, and lyricism — where truth lives just beneath the surface. Her music is often so personal it’s uncomfortable, but not because it overshares. On the contrary, it hides itself in plain sight. It’s legible to those who speak her language — and confounding to those who don’t.

The idea that her songs are “a weapon” implies that her truth, when unveiled, is dangerous. And maybe that’s exactly the point. If you are queer and closeted, your truth is dangerous — not because it’s shameful, but because it threatens the illusion that protects you.

Taylor isn’t just writing songs. She’s coding messages. She’s weaving grief into gowns and secrets into choruses, making it possible for a person to be understood without ever being exposed.

This quote might not name queerness directly. But it names the system that makes queer storytelling so difficult in the first place — and that alone makes it worth highlighting.

R — Rejection, Reputation, and the Refuge of Art

When the article shifts into the fallout from the Kimye scandal — Taylor’s cancellation, public exile, and retreat — we’re reminded just how brutal her relationship with the public has been. She describes the experience as catastrophic, a mass shaming that stripped her of her voice and agency. Her instinct? To make music. She says it was the only way to survive.

This coping mechanism is revealing. When the world misunderstands her, she writes. When she feels unsafe to speak, she sings. When she’s exiled, she creates a universe where she’s still in control.

It’s not hard to see the queer parallels here. Closeted people often use art to express what they can’t say aloud. When you’re queer and afraid — of rejection, judgment, or losing everything — your survival strategy becomes storytelling. You bury your truths in metaphor, hoping someone will notice. You write your way into safety.

Reputation was born out of trauma — but so were the following albums. Her entire discography is a roadmap of surviving silence. Her queerness, if present, lives in that pattern. It’s not just what she says — it’s what she has to say in order to keep going.

So when people demand a public declaration, they ignore the fact that Taylor has already given us something far more raw: her refusal to stop writing, even when the world tried to silence her. Her art is her resistance. Her survival. Her truth, coded and crystalline, waiting to be heard.

S — Silence, Stigma, and the 2016 Election

The article then turns to her silence during the 2016 election — a moment that defined how millions perceived her political stance. She explains that no matter what she said, she would’ve been torn apart. Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t. Her solution? Say nothing.

This feels like the exact bind she faces with her sexuality.

If Taylor were to come out explicitly, she risks alienating part of her fanbase, fueling media obsession, and potentially damaging the global brand she’s spent nearly two decades building. But staying silent also invites criticism — queerbaiting accusations, claims of vagueness, and doubts about her integrity.

It’s the trap many closeted people face, only magnified a million times under a global spotlight.

What’s interesting is that in the years following that election silence, she became louder about everything else — especially LGBTQ+ issues. Instead of retreating, she emerged with the Lover era: bright, bold, full of rainbows and carefully coded references. She may not have spoken in press conferences or interviews, but her art screamed louder than ever.

Taylor’s fear of saying the “wrong” thing isn’t weakness — it’s strategy. It’s survival. And it’s a strategy many closeted people know intimately. Because when your truth feels dangerous, silence becomes a kind of armor. And when you can’t say the words, sometimes a song — or an entire album — has to speak for you.

T — The Taylor Swift™ Bunker and the Burning of the Lover House

When Look What You Made Me Do dropped, much of the world misunderstood it. Critics dismissed it as petty or vengeful. But for Taylor, this was more than a clapback — it was a transformation. This was the moment she leaned into the idea of Taylor Swift™ — a constructed persona that allowed her to exist safely within the narrative, while taking control of it.

The Vogue article discusses how she built a house — a metaphorical one — to contain the many versions of herself. Each era a new room, a new reinvention. During Reputation, she built a bunker around that house. She didn’t give interviews. She retreated, but not passively — she did it with precision, choosing silence as a weapon and reinvention as her defense.

And now? We’ve watched the Lover House burn to the ground on the Eras Tour.

What does it mean to burn down the structure she’s been living inside?

Maybe the bunker — the shelter she created to weather public scrutiny, queer speculation, and personal betrayal — isn’t serving her anymore. Maybe this is a quiet rebellion, an acknowledgment that the narrative she once tried to control no longer needs protecting. She’s not hiding anymore — not in a tower, not behind metaphors, not in a rainbow-painted house. She’s setting fire to the architecture of plausible deniability, one spark at a time.

U — Underneath the Butterfly Wings

In the Vogue article, there’s a brief mention of the ME! butterfly mural in Nashville — a moment that signaled the beginning of the Lover era. But notably, the author doesn’t mention the actual date ME! was released: April 26th, aka Lesbian Visibility Day. That omission is important — because it’s exactly what plausible deniability looks like.

They do mention the intentionality behind other dates — Lover dropping at the start of Pride Month, YNTCD on Trump’s birthday — yet the most obviously coded date goes unspoken. It’s not an accident. It’s an invitation. (This makes me think about the three polaroids...)

The butterfly itself is a rich, poetic motif. A symbol of transformation, of rebirth, of self-expression emerging after a period of concealment. For Taylor, it’s a perfect metaphor — not just for the era, but for her own evolution. And painting it as wings on a wall? An invitation to stand in the middle. To imagine yourself inside the transformation.

You don’t have to decode it all. You just have to be willing to look.

V — Vanishing Act (feat. Joe Alwyn) (kinda)

For an album that many claim is all about Taylor’s great love with Joe Alwyn… it’s kind of hilarious how absent he is from the actual Vogue feature. He’s mentioned once. In parentheses. By the narrator. Not by Taylor.

No sweeping anecdotes. No “he changed everything” soliloquy. No quotes from Taylor about their relationship. Just… blink and you’ll miss it energy.

The Lover era was supposedly Taylor’s most outward celebration of straight romantic joy — and yet the guy at the center of that narrative is completely offstage in her biggest pre-release interview? Not even a carefully scripted nod to “my amazing boyfriend who inspired this album”?

Privacy is one thing. But this? This feels like a deliberate vanishing act. Wonder why.

W — Wordless, Yet Wildly Loud

When Taylor calls Lover “a love letter to love,” it’s easy to gloss over how many shades of love that encompasses. Maddening, passionate, exciting, enchanting, horrific, tragic, wonderful… That’s not the language of a blissfully simple straight romance. That’s the language of a person who’s lived through love as survival, as loss, as transformation. It’s the language of someone who has loved deeply, maybe even when forbidden.

She describes feeling at peace after the grief of the Reputation era—an era where she famously stayed silent, building a “bunker” around herself. But silence doesn’t mean absence. It means strategy. The shell of Reputation may have been hard-edged, but inside? She was hatching something delicate and deliberate.

By the time Lover bloomed, Taylor wasn’t just reemerging. She was writing in full technicolor. And yet… still not saying it outright. This is the magic of her authorship: speaking loudly through subtext, through metaphor, through music. The story was never gone. It was just written in a language only some were listening for.

X — X-Ray Vision: Seeing Through “The Man”

When Taylor introduces The Man as a “thought experiment,” it’s easy to read it as a feminist anthem—and it is. But it’s also something more queer, more layered. The bridge is what really breaks the binary: “What’s it like to brag about raking in dollars and getting bitches and models…” This isn’t just about misogyny. It’s about power, performance, perception—and maybe projection.

What if she’s not imagining herself as a man, but imagining what it would feel like to live her actual life openly, if she were afforded the protection of maleness? The success, the swagger, the dating history, the freedom to be sexual, powerful, and unapologetic. So when she flips the mirror—“They paint me out to be bad / So it’s okay that I’m mad”—you realize she’s not just mad about double standards. She’s mad about what she could never say out loud.

If she were “the man,” maybe the things she’s done—raking in dollars, chasing models, reclaiming power—wouldn’t have to live under so much scrutiny. Or metaphor. Or plausible deniability.

Y — Yearning for Recognition: Loie Fuller and the Queer Artistic Lineage

When Vogue’s writer suggests that Loie Fuller may be the “most illuminating clue” to decoding both Reputation and Lover, it’s not just an offhand observation—it’s a revelation. Fuller, a queer icon of performance and illusion, was known for using light, shadow, and fabric to transform her body into living poetry. Her dances were about metamorphosis, concealment, emergence. Sound familiar?

Taylor honored Fuller on the Reputation tour Jumbotron and carried her motifs—serpents and butterflies—through to Lover, making it crystal clear that this reference wasn’t just about artistic ownership. It was about transformation and identity. About queerness.

Loie Fuller was a master of the “hide-and-seek illusionist game.” She dazzled and disappeared in the same moment. And what has Taylor done, if not mastered that same art? She's evoked symbols, created personas, coded her stories in velvet-lined metaphors—and paid tribute to queer artists along the way, often without her fandom realizing the depth of the gesture.

So why don’t more Swifties connect the dots? Why don’t they learn from the artists she literally projects on screens during her shows? Maybe because to do so would require acknowledging a legacy they’ve never been taught to look for. But Taylor is trying. She’s leaving us a syllabus. And Loie Fuller? She’s chapter one.

Z — Zooming Out: The Dollhouse, the Lover, and the Open Ending

As the Vogue article closes, Taylor delivers one of its most chillingly vivid metaphors: superstardom, she says, is like living in a dollhouse—a glass box where anyone can "ship you with who they want," decide who your friends are, and track your every move. The phrasing is razor-sharp, almost too articulate to be off the cuff, and it perfectly encapsulates the trap of fame. But in the context of everything else this article has covered—rainbows, butterflies, secret gardens, queerness, plausible deniability—it takes on another dimension entirely.

When she calls herself a baby doll in “ME!” and promises you’ll never find another like her, we’re reminded of that same dollhouse. A curated, polished version of herself, smiling behind glass. And yet, the lyrics wink at the queerness of desire: “You can want who you want / boys and boys and girls and girls.” She sings that line in Welcome to New York, but she lives it in the margins of her work—always teasing, always performing, always keeping the truest version of herself just out of reach.

This final image—of a woman fully aware she’s being watched, packaged, and dissected—feels like a deliberate warning shot. It's not a confession. It’s a dare. And now that the Lover house has burned down, the question remains: What was she trying to escape from? And what—if anything—is she finally ready to reveal?

That’s the question the article leaves us with. And it’s the question we’re still asking.

Conclusion: The ABCs of Plausible Deniability

When I first sat down to comb through Taylor Swift’s 2019 Vogue interview, I did what Taylor has taught me to do—I grabbed a highlighter. And as I read, I found 26 moments that stood out, 26 points that deserved more attention, 26 reasons why this article is far richer than the one sentence people love to cherry-pick as their “gotcha” against queer interpretations of her work.

So I took a page out of Taylor’s book. Hey kids, spelling is fun! And suddenly, the A-Z structure felt like the perfect way to break this all down. Because if there’s anything I’ve learned from Taylor, it’s that details matter, words are chosen with precision, and if you take the time to look closely, there is always more to the story.

The 2019 Vogue interview is not a smoking gun that “shuts down” Gaylor. It is a dense, layered, and coded piece of work that mirrors the way Taylor has always built her narrative—through plausible deniability, careful omissions, and a delicate balance of what is said and unsaid. This article deserves so much more consideration than one sentence that gets wielded against queer readings while everything else—from the trans advocacy, to the Loie Fuller references, to the calculated dates, to the butterfly and cocoon metaphors—is ignored.

Taylor Swift doesn’t do anything by accident. Not in her lyrics, not in her Easter eggs, not in her carefully crafted public image. So why would she accidentally load an entire profile with queer subtext, nods to hidden figures, and a narrative about metamorphosis and liberation?

I’ll leave you with this: at the end of the Speak Now prologue, Taylor signs off with a little smirk—“P.S. To all the boys who inspired this album, you should’ve known ;)”

And after reading this article as closely as I have, all I can say is: P.S. To anyone who thinks this interview ends the conversation… you should’ve known. ;)