#also if you wish to voice your negative opinions then make your own post

[yuikomorii]

// I’m making this post, as a result of seeing way too much hate and misinfo regarding every character. Nobody stops anyone from voicing their opinion but the need to degrade a character, while providing BAD reasons or stating incorrect/out-of-context facts about them only for the sake of internet validation, is such a loser move.

We’re all in this fandom to have fun and even if you have something negative to say about a character you don’t like, keep it to yourself or in private with your friends.

Ayato:

“I don’t like Ayato, he’s overrated”, omg you’re just sooo different! Definitely not like other girls/guys!

Everyone is allowed to dislike whatever they want but if Ayato is your least/one of your least favorite DL characters, then your opinion ISN’T valid. This is a franchise full of abusive characters and he’s literally the most heroic love interest. Why would you hate the hero…?

“He’s dumb and annoying”, says the person who spends their time insulting FICTIONAL characters. 1) Japanese fans like dumb characters, since they come off as endearing; 2) Ayato outdid everyone throughout the routes.

He did more good than all of his brothers and saying that X, Y or Z deserves the main role more, is fake fan behavior because at this point you’re just setting up your favs.

Kanato:

No, you’re not cool for calling him ugly. It’s okay if you’re not into that type of characters but his design is not bad at all.

“He had no development”, he does in CL. It’s not major but it can still be visible.

The whole Teddy thing might be annoying to some of you, but his fans get why he acts that way. Let’s not forget that he is a victim of neglect.

Yes, he was sexually exploited too. Don’t forget this x2.

Laito:

“I hate Laito so much, he was so cruel in HDB 😢”; stop living in the past and move on already.

His development shouldn’t be overlooked only because your opinion about him was formed on something that came out more than 10 years ago.

He’s still the most fascinating DL character and I get that he might make some of you feel uncomfortable but don’t project your triggers on a character that’s merely made after a trope.

Shu:

No, it’s not Shu’s fault for the way Reiji acted. Envy is never a good reason to hurt someone.

“Shu roasts the heroine the most!”, I get that it’s rude but his insults are actually funny?? A bunch of people will like him for being brutally honest or a jerk because it’s literally a game for players with masochistic fantasies. They WANT to be roasted by good-looking men. That’s the point.

“Shu is lazy and stupid, he’s the only one who failed his school year”, genuine question: If you were an immortal creature that doesn’t need food or sleep to survive, would you still care about grades? Besides, he’s really smart.

“Shu doesn’t care about Yuma, he just feels guilty”, in LE he sacrificed himself for him and reincarnated merely because he wished to meet Yuma again and get on well with him in another life—

Reiji:

“He hurt Shu and Yuma”, well yeah but he was shown plenty of times regretting it and trying to fix things. Stop reminding this to Reiji stans because that conflict is already closed.

“He is so mean in other routes”, obviously?? If you don’t teach him how to love, he won’t suddenly act nice towards anyone.

Without him Yui would fail her tests and the Sakamaki household would be in chaos.

Subaru:

“W-What do you mean baby Tsundere is not soft innocent virgin boy? 🥺”; he has never been like that, that’s how YOU perceived him. Stop acting so shocked every time Subaru does something bad because he’s still a vampire after all??

Also, why are so many people reducing his character to Kou and/or Yui—? He’s much more than that and has his own interests, struggles, likes, dislikes, and so on.

“He’s irrelevant”; Diabolik Lovers has 13 love interests, they can’t make everyone extremely important to the general plot. Just enjoy a character as it is, it’s not that hard.

Ruki:

The cat jokes were funny when the Meow Meow Vampire art came out but MOVE ON. I hate that scene and Ruki was in the wrong but come on now, that’s not even the worst thing he has done and MB happened in 2013.

I understand not liking Ruki as a person, because he’s mostly not a good one, but this doesn’t mean he’s not a good character.

“Ruki deserved what happened to him in the past because he was cruel towards everyone”; while I agree that Karma hit him, I wouldn’t say any child really deserves to go through that. He was just a spoiled brat, who most likely wasn’t taught by his parents about modesty or kindness.

Kou:

“He was so cruel in MB 😣”, and HE HAD DEVELOPMENT! He’s not the same anymore, nobody is.

“He overreacts”, sometimes he’s not in the wrong and has all rights to be angry.

Kou isn’t afraid of going against Ruki, even if he’s the brother he admires the most, as long as he knows that what Ruki is doing isn’t good.

Yuma:

“He beat Yui up in the MB bad ending!😡😡”, it’s a bad ending for a reason, lol.

Pretty reminder that Yuma always tries to help others with Kou and Azusa, and was even willing to save the ghouls in LE.

“Yuma doesn’t care about Shu”, did we play the same game or…?

Azusa:

“Azusa is so horrible, he threw Teddy in the fire!”; and he only did it to save Yui, it was not intentional.

While not all his actions are good, keep in mind that he never means any harm and is overall such a sweet guy.

“He is too clingy”; I know that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but is it really worth hating a character just for wanting affection?

The Tsukinamis and Kino:

“They were too easy to defeat in DF!”; Dark Fate wasn’t entirely about them to begin with. Most routes focused on the boys’ internal struggles with their trauma and how to move past it.

“Kino is sometimes mean for the sake of being mean”; it’s almost as if he’s the ✨villain✨

It’s dumb questioning the morals of characters supposed to have an antagonistic role.

“Kino hurt Ayato in LE”; out of all characters who have wronged Ayato, at least Kino felt bad and wanted to apologize.

Yui:

“She’s dumb and ugly”; Japanese fans literally love her for being an idiot because it wouldn’t be fun to see the heroine being the best at everything or not making mistakes at all. Plus, her design is definitely not ugly.

Stop creating your own version of Yui in your head and ending up disappointed when she doesn’t act the way you expect her to. No, Yui is not OOC for liking being bitten, having a low learning ability or saying things she shouldn’t in the wrong moments. Nobody is perfect and everyone has their own kinks and flaws.

“She’s too innocent”; she’s not?? If you really want to see her thirsty, go play Ayato’s routes, especially the heaven scenarios.

“She’s weak”, she’s the opposite. Yui is one of the most mentally strong DL characters.

I can’t understand people who hate on heroines when they’re present in all routes and are the most positive characters.

[percyaugod]

I fucking love your purple prime au!!!11!!!!!1111 anyway question time!!

is brother krang still alive because in some posts you say three new "kids" because if he is that adds a bit too the plot cause well they 100% thought he was dead

weve seen the turtles and caseys opinions what about cass's splinters draxums etc

does senior hueso ever appear? tbh most of my questions involve side characters because they would be so cool too see!!

and we know they can technically still talk too the ancestors if needed do they contact them?

Thank you! ^ ^

Brother Krang being alive is something I've been thinking about as a possibility but never fully decided or what would change. Sure we see him trapped in the ship, but we don't know if it was hard enough to crush him or if he died from the explosion as the portal closed. So he could be running around, watching and waiting as he heals.

This could lead Donnie to think him hearing the Krangs' voice is just him imagining things when he starts hearing another voice in his head. Since the brother Krang doesn't speak out loud the turtles don't know what he sounds like. Bonus points if he actually talks a lot in the hive mind, almost rivaling Leo.

He could just accept Donnie as the new leader, freaking out the others when Donnie brings home another one, or decide to go rogue. This is the turtle that took control of his ship after all. Leading to a situation where Krang one and the sister Krang have to fight their brother to protect Donnie.

If he did join the group the amount of times he scared the others by silently appearing behind them. Damnit Donnie! Put a damn bell on the thing!

Casey Sr would be the only thing Other than Donnie the Krang fear. She bit one of them, will at times just stand still for hours staring at them, those monsters she calls scouts, and Purple Prime has absolutely no control over her! Casey Sr thinks she can bear them in a fight and they're too scared to test her theory.

Splinter spends a lot of time in denial. These were the things that nearly took away two of his sons, there's no way his Purple would just-

He starts to wonder if it was all his fault. He just randomly appointed Blue as the leader and didn't talk about it with the others or ask if Blue even wanted to be the leader.

He had so much potential though! Always coming up with plans and knowing his and the others' strengths and how to properly use them. Not to mention the stress was obviously tearing his oldest apart.

If he had done some things differently, would none of this have happened?

By the time he sorts himself out, the kids have started a trial run with Purple and the Krang since they apparently can't get rid of them without negatively affecting Purple. Again they had to rely on themselves because he couldn't pull himself out of his own head. He regrets making them grow up so fast but is so proud of who they've become.

Draxum is working with Casey Jr on trying to find a way to separate Donnie from the Krang. He wasn't there to see what the Krang did, but the aftermath says enough. Draxum discovers the empyrean he used to create the turtles is of Krang origin and could be part of why Donnie integrated so well. The fear that this means the other mutants and yokai that also come from empyrean are also at risk.

Hueso would definitely be worried about the kids. He doesn't see them too often after everything and they look so beat up and tired. Not to mention Leo is apparently at home healing from injuries. When he does see him again there isn't any of that usual annoying, energetic personality.

For once, Hueso wishes Leo would complain and rant to him about his problems so he knew what was going on. Knew how he could help.

It's fine! ^ ^ Gets me really thinking.

Probably not the best idea to contact the ancestors. When asked about the Shredder they gave some of the worse advice. No one wants to know what they'd say about the same species as the one that created him.

They'd talk to Karai though. She'd do her best to try to comfort them and guide them. Donatello is still family and he sees them as such, his Ninpo proves that. So she tries to be there for him to know that he's still family to them as well.

She won't say it out loud, but she does worry about him losing himself like her father once did.

[luna-rainbow]

Hello! I noticed you have a lot of posts analyzing the details of marvel movies, and there was something in the Winter Soldier that I thought I’d ask your opinion about. No pressure for a response!

This is about Alexander Pierce’s little speech in the bank vault scene. It seemed kind of weird to me when I saw it. You wouldn’t talk to a soldier or a professional operative like that, it kind of sounds like he’s talking to a child. He uses language that will be personable - “I need you to do it one more time” - instead of making general statements on behalf of the entire organization. One explanation for this in my opinion is the brain damage Bucky had. I’m wondering how much that had an effect on the way they treated Bucky, and how he may have perceived their treatment of him in his own mind?

Thanks for the ask! Sorry it took me 3 days to get back to civilisation LOL

My impression of that scene changes on a regular basis 🤣 The scene is very ambivalent and whatever interpretation you have would be based on your own headcanons for Bucky. Some people point to this scene as proof that Bucky had a choice in what he did. Some people see this scene as Pierce taking advantage of his physical resemblance to Steve.

My assumption for Bucky is that the brain frying meant Bucky struggled with complex information and wasn't able to make complex decisions.

My most recent view is shaped by a story from a psychologist about someone who had a background of trauma, and their protective mechanism was to completely disintegrate who their sense of self was. They acted out what other people expect them to do, without ever knowing who they were or what they wanted for themselves. The person was a "people pleaser", who always said whatever made people happy even if it was conflicting information, "because they were afraid of punishment", not because they wanted to deceive or manipulate others. If you asked them something about themselves - their wishes, how they felt, what they thought, they couldn't answer because the identity doesn't exist.

It...reminded me a lot of Bucky, who was forced to have his own identity erased to become the Winter Soldier.

Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves.

I think the way Pierce approaches him is using a few tactics:

When someone is a shocked state -- which Bucky was in, because his mind was in overload from seeing Steve and having some of his memories come back -- they often respond better to tone of voice. Pierce takes a quiet, intimate tone of voice with him, which helps give an illusion of closeness.

When someone is in Bucky's brain injured state, they also tend to respond better to simple phrases rather than something complex and abstract. Pierce does speak in abstracts, though -- and quite possibly Pierce knows Bucky wouldn't have the capacity to process the more complicated phrasing that are blatant lies. Bucky would understand the simpler sentences. "Your work has been a gift", "I need you to do it one more time", "if you don't do your part, I can't do mine". It is pertinent to note that these instructional sentences are much more straightforward in their wording and easier to follow/obey.

If we take Bucky as someone who doesn't have a sense of self, there is no anchor to what he knows or wants, so the only thing he can responds to is positive and negative messages from outside. Pierce first gives Bucky a carrot "your work has been a gift" before applying pressure. And...my other headcanon is that Bucky is driven by loyalty, which boiled down to its essence is a need to please and protect those he thinks are his people. He's not capable of making his own judgement in this state, so he relies on people he trusts to tell him what's right to do. It's also pertinent to note that what Pierce says gives nothing for Bucky to hang onto about what himself -- he's not given any hint about his identity, his previous beliefs or wants, and he's not given an opportunity to speak. "This is what we want and you've always done the right thing, so you'll do it again, right?"

Pierce probably also knows that Bucky's loyalty is to persons, rather than to organisations (Bucky being not keen to join the army is a good indicator that he doesn't get swept up by crowd sentiment and tends to be loyal to the few people he believes in). This is another reason why Pierce would take a personable tone with Bucky rather than speak about the organisation. It is also interesting that Pierce invokes "freedom", which is something more representative of Steve, but perhaps a word that Bucky responds to because of its familiarity.

I don't think that this scene indicated that Hydra or Pierce was kind to Bucky though. Many abusive/exploitative dynamics will have these little islands of superficial kindness between long periods of abuse and depersonalisation. If anything, it was clear from what followed ("Wipe him") what Pierce offered was an ultimatum, and abuse victims are very good at recognising an unspoken threat even if it's presented in a friendly tone. Pierce gave Bucky the illusion of a choice and Bucky's expressions indicate he understood what the "choices" were - do what he was being asked, or go through the wiping and be made to do what he was asked. Nevertheless, Bucky chose defiance, because when Steve called his name, he suddenly had an identity, whereas with Hydra he didn't, and that was important to him.

[crow-caller]

Hello! I hope you're doing well. I've enjoyed your book reviews on YouTube for the past six or so months (finished The Blessed/Precious Blood a couple hours ago), and they've gotten me a little curious. To my understanding, you do or at least did post book reviews on your blog, some or all of which you went on to turn into videos. As someone who wishes to try his hand at writing book reviews, I was wondering if you had any advice, insights, or sage wisdom into the craft based on your experience. I understand if you'd prefer not to answer, and my apologies if this is something you've already been asked.

Thank you very much for reading, and I hope life treats you well!

I've talked about it a bit before, but only briefly when drunk. It's very annoying on tumblr to search archives anyway. This was the breadth of my advice:

"When I first started, my strategy was a very solid one: divide and conquer. It can be hard to understand your thoughts on a book until you understand it in parts. I usually did it as : premise, plot, characters, writing, other details. Dividing into sections can help put words to feelings you may struggle with. Earlier reviews usually fell into this format, ish. Nowadays I usually put it mostly into a plot summary, discussing issues as they come u— I find this smoother. But really, making sections is incredibly helpful and can really assist in finding your “voice”."

I've been writing reviews for several years now. Like since 2016 actually, I did it first formally as an assignment for uni and was previously writing shorter reviews on goodreads because with my memory issues, I would find I totally forgot half the details of what I read a few months later. This was especially annoying for series!

Reading reviews is a first good step. You don't have to take notes- it's just helpful to read how other people review things, in general. You'll naturally notice stuff you wish they talked about more or where your opinions might differ- it's good to read reviews of stuff you have experience with and don't.

I'd definitely suggest reading say, a negative review of a movie you love and a positive review of a movie you hate. Or book, or whatever. See how the argument is made and where you think the reviewer is being an idiot. See where you wish they went into more detail or where they were caught up on something pointless. I think it can be way more helpful than just reading opinions you agree with!

But also do that. And try different formats and people- I used to read a LOT of AVclub reviews for tv shows and movies I never watched, and reading different styles of review helps.

Honestly, it might be good to even look at my early reviews versus recent and see how I've grown! Even though I normally don't really advocate my oldest stuff as it's just. not as good. But check out Relic and then The Commandment and you might notice some stuff in how I've improved.

It's not just studying though. The best method is really just getting started. When you read/watch/play/whatever something, review it. Start with a skeleton (Plot, characters, world) and get better at linking each subject fluidly. Finding an easy transition is hard but great practice for thinking about something as a whole. Reread your reviews, not just before posting but a few months after the fact.

A lot of my own style is based purely on what I'd most value in a review and I'd suggest you center your work on a similar concept. I wanted long, very detailed reviews that spoiled all the ridiculous twists of books I was never going to read. Not enough people provided that, so I did it myself.

Anyway hope it helps!

[hellsideangel]

WARNING SPOILER ALERT

SEMI WARNING OVERLLY LONG AND WAFFLED OPINIONS UNSURE WHY POSTING

I recently watched inside out 2 and I gotta say it was better than what I was expecting. I kinda thought yes they were gonna incorporate darker emotions and the whole puberty thing but I felt it was gonna be kinda ofbase. I was surprised though that it really lead into the cool depths of identity as opposed to humour. Don't get me wrong would've loved more humour but I really like when people create new concepts.

Like the whole building ones sense of self through beliefs. And these beliefs being formed by emotions felt within a memory. I thought that was really cool to see incorporated. And the build up of the childhood belief "I'm a good person or good friend" and "I'm a winner" whilst repressing all memories that say otherwise. And then growing up and seeing everything more complicated, having to make a new identity formed by new beliefs from anxiety which aren't even memories just projections of the future. Idk it was kinda of cool to see the depth of identity formed within it.

As far as anxiety goes I was defo impressed by it's depiction and I think they did the build up really well. But I think in my head, there wouldn't just be anxiety of being alone, but anxiety of her old friends replacing her so naturally the whole betrayal thing didn't ring out right. In my head it would've been a cooler concept to want to be friends with this new person but also stay friends with their old ones and remind them of how cool Riley herself is by trying to push her own friends onto the new friends despite the fact they clearly have different tastes. E.g. new friends invite to hang out/party, so Riley acts all cool pushing her old friends to act as fake as she is. If that makes sense?

I do really love the scene where she gets preoccupied with her thoughts and then has this self awareness of her arms before switching back focus to shit someone's made a joke and I must laugh and it defo being awkward. For me that was done really well. Same for the panic attack part, though I would've expected to see more from embarasment and fear cuz like she knows people can see her and she knows she looks weird and she should be afraid of this random attack she's never had before. But it wouldn't suit the Pixar way of the happy ending uplifting vibe for her to pretend she's ok in the end get embarased run away from camp ice out people in her life, become a stuck in house person before building up the courage to apologise before realising people have moved on without her.

I also really loved the embarrassment secrets and kind of wish there was more. Plus it added back to the humour part too. I kinda of wish they played on the idea of that band she likes now being part of the secret room dumped in there.

Fear of change would've been more fun to explore. Actually the new Kung Fu panda movie explores this a bit but in a more half hearted way than a deep meaning behind way. Speaking off, I loved how they did the bit of po meditating and his focus not focusing instead summoning the many voices in his head. Anyways back to topic, I really love the dynamics of identity, who you have to be, who you are, who you ignore and it's links to emotions. Loved the attention on happiness and anxiety and growing up but I kinda wish there was more attention to some of the other fun emotions like envy. Even disgust could've come into play with the idea of being disgusted at your own actions or fears. But maybe that would've made the show go too far and be too negatively focused.

I think they did a good job to fulfil the outcome of a positive light and resolution to puberty and anxiety, and it made me want to see more things like this in exploring identity.

[justanothersyscourse]

hi ok so !! about your post on singlets in syscourse i just want to say i agree with you! i'm a singlet and my ex is a DID system, and during all the time i knew they were a system (2 years+) and the time we dated (almost a year) i've never really been able to partake (in good faith) in syscourse because i'm a singlet. i've spent over 2 years learning as much as i can about DID and OSDD and sometimes i'd like to partake in some syscourse and each time i try (in good faith! i cant emphasize that enough) both sides treat me like shit. like you said, singlets dont have a place in ALL discussions (i certainly wouldnt and dont want to stick my nose everywhere) but yeah there's a time and a place and like you said, to engage in constructive and positive conversations, which is exactly what i'd like to do. but even in those times and places both sides shut down whatever a singlet says, even if they do actually have some kind of standing in the discussion (like the examples you gave), say things in good faith and have knowledge of what they're talking about (like you also said). i've never really seen anyone display this opinion so kudos to you for voicing that!

My partner has been with us for ten years, and they've known about us for six of those years.

When he first found out, he went looking for resources, and one of the first ones he found was called The Significant Other's Guide to Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's a funny, honest guide written by another singlet partner. It talks about the good and the bad, insurance, therapy, hospitals, etc. Most importantly, it talks about what to expect from your system partner.

It wasn't until a few years later that he showed us this guide, and he explained that the brutally honest take on system behavior helped him become a better spouse for us. It talks bluntly about how systems are selfish by nature. Not in a negative way, just as a matter of fact. We have so much going on in our heads that sometimes it's really hard for us to keep our partners in mind, as well, and it comes across as selfishly absorbed, at times. It talks about how to handle that kind of behaviour, and the rewarding love you get in return.

But that REALLY struck me. It was true, and so was a lot of other, negative stuff (stereotypes?). It kind of put my partner in a new light for us-- we gained a huge amount of respect for him and appreciation for the things he put up with and tried to work with us on. Of how much work he put in and how much patience he had.

Singlets have an incredibly unique view on certain aspects of the disorder and of system life that is SO important to the conversation. I wish he had shown it to me earlier, but he said he didn't think I was in a place to hear it back then, and he was probably right. I wouldn't have taken it as positively and it wouldn't have had such a profound impact on us. Now we do our best to stay mindful of things-- so that we can be better, too.

Singlets tend be an unbiased, outside view. It's why anyone with half a brain encourages questioning systems to see a therapist. Traumatized, mentally ill individuals tend NOT to be good judges of... Much of anything, really. Themselves, situations, other people. I can't tell you how many times I was TEN THOUSAND PERCENT SURE I was a making a safe, smart decision, and he was behind me, rolling his eyes, waiting patiently for me to come to my senses, and then I'd run crying back to him when it all went to shit, because holy crap, that was dumb of me.

He also is VERY aware of the nuances of syscourse, he hears me talk about it daily. He engages with it through me. He's done enough of his own research to form his own opinions and thoughts so he can support me, and/or tell me when I'm being a proper little shit.

I talked recently about the unique perspectives of people who dipped their toes into plurality and DID/OSDD, and realized/admitted they weren't systems, and those who realized it was something else. Those perspectives are just as unique and useful in helping other systems figure their stuff out. They do understand syscourse. They've likely engaged in it before. They're allowed to, still.

Singlets who have never met a system in their life, but have a peer reviewed paper in have are goddamn allowed in syscourse to share it and talk about it.

They sure as fuck might be wrong, but they have every right to get involved, when and where they're welcome.

👏 Singlets 👏 have 👏 a 👏 place 👏 in 👏 syscourse 👏

Anon, you are welcome in my community <3

[inu-yasha]

People say to me when I ship kikyo an inuyasha together is “ no or shut up or get the hell out and never come back” should we still go at war with these people even though we want to end this fight and this is the many people on popular websites they lower people down to make sure there thing is agreed to what should we do ( thank you for being the best person to ship them)

I see. The humiliation of InuKik fans continues. You should tell them something similar! It really hit me when you wrote that because I really know what it's like. I had to go through this too. I'm really sorry you went through this, but don't give up and don't let them intimidate you and shut you down. You have the right to have the same voice as them! Don't let the words get to you! People you don't know! Just say your opinion, you are not worse, they behave worse, think that if they like this shitty ship, they are allowed to do anything and that they are better! It's not true! They want a fight, of course they will get it, but it is best to deal with them substantively based on facts instead of lowering yourself to their level.

We really cannot allow our silencing to continue, we are not inferior! Even if we write a post, we are met with attacks, it cannot continue like this. They silence us all the time, even when we write something and it has nothing to do with them, it's our opinion. Enough! We are not worse, it's time to respond to them. Show that we will not allow ourselves to be humiliated!

Believe me, I've really had enough. In another fandom I'm in, I totally fell in love with a male character. Of course, I face hatred and many times my love has been tested and humiliated. I didn't allow myself for someone I don't know to humiliate me and ridicule my love because that's person hates this character (of course, karma quickly came back to them 😂),I love their howling. I'm just biting back, in a way that offends, but doesn't attack. This is the best way. You need to respond to such people calmly, without emotions, and substantively.

So please don't allow yourself to be silenced. It doesn't matter what your opinion is - whether it's anti, constructive criticism or praise for InuKik/Kikyo. We have the right to speak and respond when someone attacks us for InuKik/Kikyo.

I really think we are too lenient and nice to them. It's time for us to start speaking more boldly, we really are not doing anything wrong!

We are not inferior as they think! They are not the masters of the fandom or ours!

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not calling you to fight them, I'm just asking you not to let them silence you and speak your opinion! Let's just not let them shut us up and silence us like they have been doing to us for years, many, many years. It's 2024 and I get this message, it means it's still going on, it's just terrifying! It's time to break this chain of humiliation.

Most anti fans are afraid to express a negative/anti opinion about InuKag/Kagome, we really need to become braver! They insult and humiliate Kikyou and InuKik all the time. We also have the right to express our opinion, negative or constructive criticism.

If you express your opinion about inukag/kagome or just say that the Kikyou/Inuyasha ship and they don't like it, that's THEIR problem, and you do your own thing

And again I am asking you not to let the words get to you and to shut up! Like I said, they don't like it? It's their business, do your thing, don't let yourself be silenced!

It came out a bit emotional, but I hope you understand my message. We cannot allow ourselves to be humiliated by others just because we have another favorite character and ship! Everyone deserves respect, but not everyone understands it and considers themselves better.

Am I the best person to ship them? Wow Thank you very much for such words! And best regards and I wish you all the best!😊

[daughter-of-lethe]

Just a tought/vent...ya

This post is just to write down things I question myself lately, it won't make a lot of sense to some of you, just scroll.

It is also late night and imma tired so this will be more the flow of my thoughts than an understandable text. I also won't take negative comments about this.

I am a fanfiction writer too, I love to write down stories about my favourte characters, writing is something special to me and it would be easier in my first language, however I force myself to write in english as an excuse to practice with it.

I am doing this primarly for myself.

Having said that, I truly can't stand arrogant people.

I've seen a lot of fanfiction writers believing themselves to be better than the author. -Where is your publishing house? Where are your copies sold?-

The author is the mind that created those charater you're currently writing about, it was not you that thought in detail about the suitable name, their personality, how they interact with others...

You didn't do the hard job, you didn't know what was behind their creation, the tears, the thoughts, you just get the easy part: to read. Than you write about them, you get the easy part (reading, criticizing etc...) therefore you should be more respectful, maybe think about what's behind.

That's ok if you think that something doesn't make sense in the story or you wish a different ending. It's ok to write about that.

But all this "I wrote this alternative, pretend this book didn't happen" or all the "I wrote this as a "fix-it"" are pointless. The worst are those who boast of having done justice to the characters in their distorted vision, they say they are better than authors and take their fic as canon!. Did you ever think to question yourself? That the story makes sense in that way, that there is a reason why it happened this way. I know these people jus like to hear their own voice.

But to me this is just nonsense! How can they be so arrogant!

Go out and touch grass. Downsize a little 'cause this is all stupidly exaggerated.

The next one isn't related to 👆​👆​👆​👆​👆​👆

I'd like to make new friends here, finding people with with my own follies and obsessions -in a good way- on my favorite characters, people to talk to and exchange opinions with...

I do not understand why pages on pages that claim to be fans -and casually fall into the category of writer that I mentioned above- block other fans without ever talking to them. How old are you? 3?

I'm so done to look at blogs and then discover that the runner of that pages actually hates the characters. It's so poor and sad.

I'm looking for Nessian obsessed people like me, people who loves both Nesta and Cassian, not "I like them both but he must be better, Nesta deserves better, Cassian deserves better"😞😞😞😞

Is somebody gonna match my freak?

Maybe they’re not really fans? What’s the point of directing a page to something you don’t really like and as soon as you find someone who really appreciates it, eliminate this person?

Why on earth be like this? Can't you simply enjoy reading?

[eboyabuser]

Honestly I know this is tough to hear and I was the same eay at your age but like pinging someone a second time in response to them answering you saying no pinging is kind of petty and rude. What they're saying is pretty lowkey and they're mostly just expressing being annoyed with you, not truly talking shit or saying you're a bad person or saying anything that isn't about your behavior as opposed to your character. You talked back to a mod, disregarded someone's preferences twice and escalated when they expressed understandable low grade annoyance with you for disregarding a boundary instead of just apologizing. You seem nice overall so i wanted to say something bc putting that on blast in big tags like it's something huge instead of quietly taking the L doesn't paint you in a good light at all, especially when it started with you disregarding a boundary and then escalating when the person didn't give you a customer service voice answer. If you think this is badfaith that's fine, there's no need to publish it or anything, but when I was in my period of doing similar I look back at it and wish one of my friends said something because I'm really embarrassed about it now. If you don't believe me the lack of notes on the post despite a lot of people being exposed to it probably sends a similar but less concise message.

perceiving notes such as likes and other things as something you think you need for validation is pretty weird Lol. It's also a bit weird you think I'm the only one at fault. The person deliberately went into a general chat to talk about me - someone who joined the server purely to get help on a question. If you hadn't noticed, Anadius has a pretty gross history of talking pretty horribly to people asking simple questions - so it's really no surprise the people in his server are narrow minded and self centered as he is to be ass kissing someone of that nature so hard. I don't really care about your opinion on my "L", If I had a negative experience with someone I am in my every right to share it on whatever platform I desire. I don't need the validation of likes and reblogs to know when someone is being an asshole. If you don't want to be pinged, why even go into someone help thread and make a offhand comment with a face people typically tend to use when annoyed with things, then get mad at the person pinging you? To get that aggravated over a simple mistake the first time doesn't warrant me to give you any respect, nor does running to general chat to cry to your fellow self centered bootlickers that someone pinged you. Anadius has several reddit threads dedicated to people having similar outright negative experiences with him, mind you each comment / post in their own right having several upvotes - but you try coming to ME about my post not having any traction. Just super odd people keep assuming I wasn't disrespected in the slightest. So someone can say they don't want to be pinged, and doing so is disrespectful, but if I express I felt their message was passive aggressive with an aggravated emote - and them going to a public chat in attempt to have others gang up on me in a conversation - then yes I will defend myself. Outrageous honestly Lol

[ideas-on-paper]

Oh, be careful with that suggestion about an essay on the Geth as children barred from their heritage. Otherwise, my hand might just slip and I might write it. xD

Just a thought, but perhaps the reason why Legion is a bit late informing the squad about certain things is because they're not used to having to voice their thoughts aloud? Since the Geth always know what they're thinking, they have no reason to do that among themselves, and Legion is probably not that used to working with organics. (Granted, the Geth have worked with the Quarians before, but I'd like to think that "oh, right, they're organics, so they can't do this" is still something they actively have to consider.)

The irony is that when I decided against rewriting, I very much took the perspective of the Geth into account. I took Legion's statement "Geth believe all intelligent life should self-determinate" very seriously, and since Legion calls the Heretics' usage of the virus "forcing an invalid conclusion on them", I concluded that it would be an equally invalid conclusion if you forced the Heretics' to adapt the True Geth's logic. On a more practical side, all Geth having the same perspective leads to a lack of diversity in opinions, which would amplify all potential "negative" qualities of the True Geth. (To use an example, the True Geth have a great desire for peaceful coexistence with organics, but if they make their decisions based on this ideal rather than the real situation, it might put them in danger - for instance, the Geth might be too eager to accept a peace offering from organics, which might get them killed if the organics decide to betray them.)

So, technically, both logic and the Geth's own principles speak against rewriting. I never noticed myself that Legion is more partial to rewriting - but I understand there are situations where it might be difficult to align your principles with your own desires. (In a sense, it's a bit ironic, since it would make me the more logical one in this situation.) Still, I will stand by what I said (which is probably also influenced by me being very averse to the notion of "unity by knocking into shape") - so, if rewriting is really Legion's wish, I'd have to say "I'm sorry, my dear, but I can't do this for you."

I already did a post about the Geth and the Quarians, funnily enough, mirroring each other in many ways, but I hadn't considered including "trying to appeal to any person willing to listen as if they might step in as their lawyer" on the list. Noted. :-)

I'd like to point out that Legion says "We do not feel pain as you do." - meaning that the Geth don't perceive pain the same way as organics. However, if you reeeally read into it, that doesn't have to mean Geth don't feel any pain at all. Perhaps it's not pain as we know it. But striving to be recognized as your own people while simultaneously feeling the pull of the old core directive to help and assist the Quarians? (At least I think that old core programming is still there.) Adhering to the ideal of peaceful coexistence with organics when pretty much all empirical evidence speaks against it? Sticking to the resolution that all intelligent life should self-determinate when the possibility is there to reunite with your own and return everything to the way it was, if you're just fine with a bit of brainwashing? That can't be nice, to be inwardly torn asunder.

Legion dodging the statement about guilt is also quite telling. You would expect Legion to give their usual "Geth do not experience emotions like organics" speech, so you don't have to worry about them feeling guilty. However, given that Legion doesn't do this, I get the impression they're actually concerned they might regret it.

I didn't read that deeply into the phrase of the Geth allowing the Heretics to leave (not sure if saying they had no "right" to leave is an accurate way to put it either), but if you wanted to do that, you'd probably have to do the same for the statement about the Geth "accepting" organics as being different from them. I think both come from the Geth following the principles they imposed on themselves, but what would their opinion be if they did not have those principles? Would they be dissatisfied about the Heretics leaving? Would they admit to interaction with organics being exhausting for them, but they have to arrange themselves with it somehow?

As you said, Legion stating there are Heretic runtimes in the True Geth's networks is puzzling. I suppose there are certain reusable routines (e.g. for the movement of mobile platforms, walking and the like), but does that mean these programs couldn't decide which side to join when the split occurred, and just copied themselves? Wouldn't the Geth remember this if it happened? The only other possibility I can see is the Heretics copying programs without the True Geth's consent. (Would that count as "kidnapping" among Geth?) But wouldn't the True Geth have known if the Heretics intended to do that, since, as Legion says, they would've "heard it in their thoughts"?

The quote about a single Reaper consisting of many minds is most likely a remnant of Chris L'Etoile's original concept for the Reapers. According to his vision, they were made from "ascended" organics, but not some kind of synthetic-organic amalgam - the bodies of the Reapers were 100% tech, and the minds of all members of an organic species would be uploaded into them. I think this has been passed around quite a lot of times, but I dug up the old thread again (source):

"The Reapers were using nanotech disassemblers to perform "destructive analysis" on humans, with the intent of learning how to build a Reaper body that could upload their minds intact. Once this was complete, humans throughout the galaxy would be rounded up to have their personalities and memories forcibly uploaded into the Reaper's memory banks. (You can still hear some suggestions of this in the background chatter during Legion's acquisition mission, which I wrote.) There was nothing about Reapers being techno-organic or partly built out of human corpses -- they were pure tech."

There is even a very obscure line by Legion that directly mentions this: You need to pick the Renegade dialogue choice in the conversation about the Dyson sphere (the last one you can have with Legion) and then talk to them again after the Suicide Mission. Since this requires you to sacrifice your entire crew, it's almost impossible to get, but I found a video of it on YouTube.

Regarding Legion quoting Sovereign, I think the Geth may have already been monitoring the Reapers at that point? As you mentioned, there was no interaction between the Heretics and the True Geth after the split, so there's no way they could've known it from the Heretics' memory logs. Also, during the conversation between Shepard and Sovereign, there weren't even any Heretics in the room. (You could say they might have been linked to Sovereign, but I already surmised that Sovereign had no direct control over the Heretics in earlier analyses.)

Ah, yes, the unspecified shuttle mission that every squadmate had to take part in for some reason - the reason being "the plot demands it". (If I had to guess though, people are going to be sitting on Grunt and Legion's laps, because they're too heavy and no one else can carry their weight. Or Legion just stands in a corner, either because they volunteered or just accepted it when they were ordered to do so.)

I remember some hints from D.C. Douglas's audition lines that there was supposed to be a battle on the Normandy. I think that would've made a lot more sense, rather than coming up with an excuse to get all capable fighters off the ship. (I wonder if it was supposed to happen during/after the Collector Ship mission. It would've been the ideal opportunity for the Collectors to board the Normandy and abduct the crew, while Shepard and Co. were still preoccupied fighting their way back to their ship.)

Mass Effect 2 replay, Legion’s loyalty mission:

-Of course the heretics are inhabiting a former quarian station. There are plenty of other abandoned stations, but when have the geth ever chosen an alternative if the quarians are an option?

There’s probably an essay that can be written here about children that feel cut off from their heritage, but that is outside of my league.

-It took at least 10 years to rebuild the station, so the heretics have been outside of the Veil for some time.

Given the extent of Saren’s plans, the timeline (for once) adds up. It must have taken years for Saren to build the base on Virmire, develop a cure for the genophage, find and hatch a rachni egg, etc.

-Legion doesn’t inform you that the station has little air or gravity until after you land.

To be fair he probably didn’t know, but informing you of the possibility would still have been helpful.

-Legion refers to what to do with the heretics as “the heretics question”. Loaded language much?

-If the virus is complete, why haven’t the heretics used it against the true geth already?

-Legion sure is quick to inform you that there’s an alternative to destroying the heretics.

For all he hems and haws through the mission, it’s implied that the true geth really want the heretics back. They’re just not quite sure it’s safe.

-In the same conversation, Legion is far more receptive to rewriting the geth (renegade) than opposing it (paragon).

On the surface it feels like it’s about the logic.

If you go renegade, you say organic ethics don’t apply to synthetics. He agrees. Every species should be taken individually. Then he notes that changing organics takes time and effort, but changing synthetics only requires a data file.

If you go paragon, he says that whether synthetics should be treated like organics is irrelevant. If you don’t rewrite them, you’ll destroy them. And by the way the heretics will kill all organics because their gods tell you to. And they don’t have emotions to appeal to.

The undercurrent is that Legion doesn’t want to go with destroy. If you support rewriting, he points out how easily synthetics can be changed. If you oppose it, he emphasizes that the alternative is killing them. Then he throws in that the heretics want to kill organics and can’t be negotiated with as if he doesn’t want you to feel bad about your choice.

The vibe is he’s nudging you to rewrite, even if he isn’t quite willing to say it outright. Isn’t willing to admit it to himself, maybe.

-As a general rule throughout this mission, you learn more about the geth if you go renegade than paragon.

-As others have pointed out: Why does a heretic station have med kits scattered all over it?

-Another apology to Project Overlord: The geth do (infrequently) make geth noises.

I still maintain that Cerberus should know they can talk too.

-Legion’s eagerness to talk about the geth to Shepard reminds me of Tali explaining the quarians to Shepard in ME1.

A bit ironic that the quarians and the geth are both badly misunderstood and desperate to talk the ear off of anyone that shows the slightest sympathy to them.

-Legion describes programs as being reduced when they’re in platforms.

I wonder if there are programs that never want to be in platforms to avoid it?

And possibly others that seek it out – maybe they’re seen as weirdos? - because it offers them the chance to experience the world first hand in a way they can’t from a server.

-At the salvage hub, if you go paragon Legion speaks like it’s a given that the heretics will be rewritten.

If you mention that it might be traumatic, he hedges that the geth aren’t sure they can be traumatized. (Spoilers: They’re already deeply traumatized. Complex PTSD or regular PTSD? You decide!)

If you say they might feel guilty once the heretics rejoin, he says that once the decision is made it’s made. It requires careful thought. He never directly responds to the statement about guilt.

-If you go renegade, you compare the heretics to a rogue limb and rewriting the heretics to reattaching a severed arm.

Legion has an interesting line: To use your metaphor, they removed themselves from our body. Took their perspective. Their judgment.

That sounds an awful lot like the geth might be upset at the heretics for leaving.

Legion just spoke about how geth feel reduced in platforms because they’re linked to fewer programs. Now he’s speaking about how the heretics left – which implicitly means that the geth whole was reduced. He claims it was a peaceful parting, but I’m getting the vibe there are some unhappy programs.

-If you say they’re not missing much by losing the heretics, Legion says all points of view are useful.

Than he comments that analyzing organic self-deception has been helpful, which feels an awful lot like a jab at Shepard for them insulting the heretics’ judgment.

-If you comment on possibly losing the heretics point of view if they’re rewritten, Legion acknowledges the risk. The virus changes the possibility of all outcomes, not just the outcome of worshiping the Reapers.

So in other words, the geth’s concern about the virus might be the other impacts it can have besides rewriting the heretics. The ones that favor destroy might not be opposed to the rewriting but concerned about the other possible consequences.

-When you find the heretics’ databases, Legion says they must have runtimes in the geth’s networks.

How have the geth not realized this???

-Legion: The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us.

“We allowed it” is yet another charged phrase. The geth allowed the heretics to leave. The heretics didn’t have the right to leave; it was a privilege the geth gave them.

I would love to hear the heretics’ point of view about what went down.

-Legion struggles to understood how the heretics are so different from when they last met. He doesn’t seem to grasp how time and experience can shape people differently.

I suppose that’s a natural side effect when you’re the sum of thousands programs that can read each other’s minds 24/7. When everyone is you, how do you understand people that are not you? How much experience do the geth have in meeting people after a separation?

-Legion, if you go renegade: We are not fully individuals. There are pieces of us in the heretics. One of those may be at fault.

I need Legion to take more time to explain this, because what part of the geth are in the heretics? The geth are one set of programs, there heretics are a different set. So what’s the overlap Legion is speaking about it? Functions they share? Libraries? I’m going to need more detail to make sense of this.

-Legion, at the end of the conversation: This topic is irrelevant. We must return to the mission.

I think this is very relevant, actually, but Legion’s clearly not ready to speak about this more.

-The combat here is awful if you’re a vanguard. You can’t charge the geth until they’re on the same floor as you.

Also, I got no ammo reloads through this section. How am I supposed to fight multiple waves as a vanguard if I can’t reload my guns???

-The geth can’t agree on rewriting or destroy, but they do agree on making it Shepard’s problems.

I’m getting strong vibes of control and destroy here. But there’s no third option for a synthesis.

-I went with rewrite with great doubts.

I do think it’s unethical, but I want to see the fall out of rewriting the geth with a more critical eye. They obviously retain some individuality since it makes the geth more willing to rejoin the Reapers in ME3.

On the other hand, it also makes peace with the quarins more difficult and I always want to achieve that.

-And mirroring the start of the mission, Legion waits until after he’s set off the virus to tell you the side effects may be harmful to organics.

We need to have some words with him about advanced warnings.

Normandy

-I consider Legion correct in the argument with Tali. Her people were torturing the geth to learn how to kill them. That’s something the geth have the right to know.

-Shepard does make a valid argument that it could result in a war between the quarians and the geth right when the Reapers are about to attack, which is bad for both of them.

Unfortunately, the quarians choose to attack anyway so all failing to prepare the geth achieved is making them decide to ally with the Reapers.

-Sovereign contacted many species over the millennia. How does Legion know this? What happened to the other species? Why do I suspect they’re all dead?

-So a single Reaper does consist of many minds. I thought I remembered that from somewhere.

However, we see later that Reapers are created by turning a species to goo. How does that goo consist of many minds?

And how is any Reaper sane​ after being made out of a species that was murdered?

-Huh. If I investigate first, I can’t speak to Legion. Whelp, time to reload.

-Legion quotes Sovereign from Virmire. How does he know the exact words Sovereign said?

I suppose he could have learned this from a broadcast. Which indicates someone was recording that conversation. Why didn’t anyone record Virgil on Illos?

-The geth want to understand organics better so they can understand the quarians’ actions during Morning War.

-I’d like to know why Legion never fixes the other hole in his platform. Surely that counts as a “structural weakness”?

Collector Raid

-As others have noted, the excuse to get Shepard and the companions off the ship is terrible. How does the entire squad even fit in a single shuttle? Who is sitting in whose lap?

-Kudos to Joker, he shows tremendous courage during this section.

-Shepard and Edi already sound married.

-Why doesn’t Edi ask other crew members for help?

When Joker gets to the Engine room, the Collectors are carry a crew member out of it. That means they must have already been in there. They could have done what Edi asked Joker to to do.

[visenyatargaryn]

When the king brands us p i r a t e s, he doesn’t mean to make us adversaries. He doesn’t mean to make us criminals. He means to make us m o n s t e r s. For that’s the only way his god-fearing, tax-paying subjects can make sense of men who keep what is theirs and fear no one. When I say there’s a war coming, I don’t mean with the Scarborough, I don’t mean with King George or England. Civilization is coming, and it means to e x t e r m i n a t e us. (insp)

[frostedfaves]

Dark Paradise

Masterlist

Pairing: dark!WandaNat x fem!reader

Summary: You meet the infamous Avengers on spring break with your best friend Peter, and two of them seem to adore you more than expected. Requested here by my lovely 🐞anon.

Warnings: 18+ ONLY!!! dark themes, manipulation, mind control, blackmailing, age gap (reader is 21), dubcon (saying this just to be safe because Wanda uses her powers for evil a lot here), smut: oral, fingering, penetration/sex toy use, voyeurism (kinda), edging, overstimulation (if I forgot something please let me know!)

A/N: hi this is 6k words, which is the longest single fic I’ve ever written/posted here haha. also the end is not technically the end, if you know what I mean. anyway this took forever to write so enjoy this super far from canon fic and please tell me what you thought!! (also if you’re on my taglist and you weren’t tagged it’s because your age wasn’t in your bio)

-

“Here, let me take that for you,” Peter offers when he notices you headed toward the car, and you hand your suitcase to him with a smile.

“Thanks, P.”

You close the car door behind you after getting in on the passenger side, instantly reaching for his phone resting on the dashboard once you were buckled in. The two of you had an unspoken rule that you controlled the music whenever you traveled together, so his library was filled with various playlists you’d created simply because you didn’t trust him not to listen to the same five songs for the rest of his life.

“This is different,” Peter comments as he gets in on the driver’s side and catches the opening notes to an upbeat song. “I thought you were going to go with something calmer to help you sleep, like you usually do.”

“Well, I’m not usually going to meet the Avengers, so I’m too nervous to sleep.” You turn to pout at him as he drives off. “Is it too late to cancel?”

“Don’t even think about it. If I show up without you, everyone will think you’re imaginary.”

“Do they think you can’t make any friends outside of Ned?” you question as you open a bottle of water. “Because they’re not wrong.”

“I can make friends!” Peter whines and a quiet snorting sound escapes you. 

“You can’t use me as an example.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re not actually friends.”

He picks up on your teasing nature and rolls his eyes, causing you to laugh as you lean back and settle into your seat more. You had well over three hours to stress about spending a week with the world’s most popular superheroes, and you’d rather be comfortable while you do so.

-

“Wake up, we’re here!”

Your eyes fly open at the sound of Peter’s voice, and any of the nerves that left long enough to let you sleep made a U-turn and hit you again, full force. Sitting up straight in the seat, you practice breathing properly while stretching and taking a look around as he pulls into the garage.

“Are you okay?” Peter asks once he parks, placing a hand over yours as he meets your gaze and you smile.

“I’ll be fine, P. I’m not gonna miss out on hanging out with you just because your super family is super intimidating.”

“Good. Besides, it won’t even be that bad! I’m willing to bet $1 million that they’ll love you.”

“I appreciate your optimism,” you tell him as the two of you get out of the car. “But you’re going to regret that bet when I use your money to retire early in some faraway rural town.”

Peter carried both suitcases as you made your way to an elevator, and you jumped when you suddenly heard a male voice.

“Welcome, Mr. Parker and Ms. L/N.”

“What is that?” you questioned as you faced Peter with wide eyes and he chuckled. 

“You’re hearing Jarvis, Mr. Stark’s AI. Hey Jarvis, can you take us to the common room, please?”

“Right away, Mr. Parker.”

“This is so cool,” you comment as you look around the suddenly moving elevator. “How does it know my name?”

“Knowing everything is kind of its job, I guess.”

“Underoos!” a voice calls as soon as the doors open, quickly revealing itself to belong to Tony Stark as his gaze lands on you next. “So she is real.”

“I told you!” Peter defends as you step off the elevator together. “Mr. Stark, this is Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, kid,” Tony greets you with a shake of your hand. “I’m glad he found you. I was starting to worry that he’d build a robot to spend the rest of his life with.”

“I’m just his best friend, so it’s still possible.”

“Is this your friend, Peter?” Steve cuts off Peter’s response as he enters the room, moving to shake your hand next. “I’m Steve. Nice to meet you.”

“Okay, I’m going to show her to our rooms and then we’ll be back for dinner,” Peter tells everyone once you’d been introduced to Pepper, Bruce and Clint as well, and you’re about to head for the elevator again when someone interrupts.

“How about we take her down to her room instead?”

Your eyes widen as you watch none other than Natasha Romanoff and Wanda Maximoff enter the room hand in hand. Natasha’s hair seemed much longer than the last time she’d been in the public eye, but her all-knowing smirk was just the same and her green eyes were even more piercing in person. You noticed a bit of red glowing in Wanda’s eyes, which faded as she probably realized you’d seen, and you couldn’t help but wonder if that meant she hated you already.

“I know what you’re up to, Red.” Tony seemed accusatory as he pointed a finger at the pair. “You can’t bribe her into helping you cheat tonight.”

“Maybe I planned on giving her tips for surviving this testosterone filled tower.” 

Natasha steps forward and grabs your hand with her free one, and with a flick of her wrist, Wanda has your suitcase floating in front of you as they lead you into the elevator.

“Sorry to whisk you away like that,” Wanda apologizes as the doors close with her head tilted to see you past Natasha. “We’re just excited to meet a new woman here.”

“No, it’s okay!” you insist breathlessly, your nerves slowly returning as Natasha lightly squeezes your hand. “I’m actually really excited to meet the two of you.”

“You know who we are?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I know you personally, but I know that you’re one of the original team members.” You make eye contact briefly with Natasha before turning to Wanda. “And because the news stations somehow get ahold of everything, I know you joined after you helped everyone stop Ultron before he could create that indestructible body and destroy the world.”

“Yes, that’s true. Although I wish I could’ve saved my brother, too.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you lost him...or that you even had a brother.”

“It’s okay,” Wanda assures you with a smile as she lets go of Natasha, shifting to the other side of the elevator to grab your free hand. “I asked Fury to keep Pietro a secret because I didn’t want to see or hear any negative opinions from people that never even met him.”

“And we have plenty of time to get to know each other,” Natasha chimes in as the doors open to reveal a new setting. “This is our floor. We set up a spare bedroom here so we can spend time together away from the boys...when you’re not with Peter, of course.”

“Yeah, that’d be great!” 

They lead you past their living room and kitchen, and you shamelessly admire the simple decor with little personal touches spread about. Turning into a hallway, Natasha walks ahead of you and Wanda to open a door to a bedroom.

“What do you think?” she asks with a smile that widens upon seeing your expression. “I’m guessing it’s good, then.”

“It’s perfect!” you cry out as you walk past to enter the room, immediately noticing the eggshell colored walls trimmed with your favorite color along the borders. “Wow, this is four times the size of a normal bedroom. Wait a minute.”

“Do you like it?” Wanda asks when she sees you pick up the glass figurine on the nightstand. “Peter mentioned your love of this animal and I have a whole collection of them from different places.”

“Like it? I love it! I have the same one in my dorm room!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I can get you a different one.” She steps forward as she brings your suitcase to the floor beside the bed and you hug the small object close to your chest. 

“Like I said, it’s perfect,” you assure her with a grin, which brings one to her own face.

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy with the set up. When you’re ready to head up to dinner, we’ll be waiting by the elevator. Also, if you ever need anything, our room is right across the hall.”

Natasha points to the closed door a few feet away, and you acknowledge her statement with a nod before they leave the room, closing your door nearly all the way behind them. You flop down on the bed with a dreamy sigh as you gaze up at the ceiling with a night sky painted on it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever want to leave this place.”

-

On the elevator ride up to join everyone for dinner, Natasha and Wanda take turns asking you questions about your classes and any friends you’d made, what you liked to do when you weren’t studying. You had to admit that the level of interest they had with you was shocking but flattering, especially when they insisted you sit between them at the table to continue your conversation.

“You don’t seem to be nervous anymore,” Peter acknowledges as you sit down, and Wanda faces you immediately.

“Were you nervous about meeting us?”

“Well, yeah,” you answer timidly, avoiding catching anyone’s curious glances by directing a glare toward Peter. “You might be normal people in here, but to the rest of the world, you’re portrayed as powerful and untouchable beings.”

“Maybe when they’re not talking about how much damage we’ve caused,” Bruce mumbles under his breath as the elevator doors opened again. 

“I’m here, I’m here!” a voice calls as footsteps hurry toward the dining area, and Sam Wilson is revealed as he rounds the corner. “Sorry, I’m late. I was--”

“On a date, we know. You only told us that 500 times.”

“Don’t be jealous, old man. You’re married.” Sam grins at Clint as he sits next to him before his attention turns to you. “Do we have a newbie?”

“No, Mr. Wilson. This is my best friend, Y/N.”

“Call me Sam, kid.” He smiles at you as he goes for his silverware, and you’re just about to acknowledge him when his expression suddenly turns serious. “I’m sorry. You’re not a kid. You’re an independent and capable adult, and I should address you as such.”

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know.” Sam clears his throat and shakes his head as if he was clearing his mind. “I just suddenly felt the need to correct myself…You have any powers we should know about, Y/N?”

“No!” you quickly respond with widened eyes. “I wasn’t going to say anything, actually. I’m pretty used to older people calling me kid by now.”

From your left side, Natasha asks Clint to recall an embarrassing tale for you and the table livens up again, but you can’t seem to move past the unsettling way Sam shifted gears from calm and casual to uptight and disciplined. The image stayed with you through the rest of dinner even after he seemed to fully recover, until dishes were cleared away and replaced with games, and you suddenly had a lot more to focus on.

“I just don’t think it’s fair that he gets to be on your team again when I haven’t had him once.”

“Is anything fair with the guy who could use his personalized AI to cheat for him?”

“Could I do that? Yes. But have I done that? Maybe.”

“Wanna grab some fresh air with us?” Natasha suddenly asks you, causing you to frown.

“Aren’t we about to play another game?”

“It’ll take them another half hour before they finally decide something,” Wanda assures you as her fingers thread through yours gently. “We have plenty of time, and they won’t even notice we’re gone.”

They lead you by the hand to the elevator once more, going up a few floors before leading you out onto a balcony. Because you were so much higher than most of the surrounding buildings, there was an incredible view of the sun that was probably minutes away from disappearing to the other side of the world. The air is chillier than when you’d arrived, but you had to admit that standing in the cool breeze is worth a few goosebumps on your skin. Your hands are released as you reach a bench near the ledge, and you climb over it to sit as the other two women settle on either side of you.

“Why did Peter decide to share his secret with you?”

“Technically he didn’t,” you recall with a laugh. “He’d gone out to deal with something that activated his spider sense or whatever and I came to his dorm room to sleep after an exam because I was too tired to walk all the way to my place. Anyway, I walk in at the same time he’s coming back in through the window, and I swear we both sat there for a full two minutes before either of us could think of anything to say.”

“It’s still very nice of you to keep such a big secret for him,” Natasha praises, and your laughter quiets down as you take in her words.

“I guess I just know what it feels like to not want your life to change drastically because of one thing.” Your gaze shifts between the women for a moment. “That reminds me, I wanted to ask--”

“Wait, look at this!” Wanda quickly cuts you off with an enthusiastic grin. “You’re about to witness one of my favorite things about living here.”

She directs you to lean over and look at the streets as the sun finally disappears over the horizon, and you can’t help the small gasp that escapes you. Street lights begin turning on at what seems to be the center of the city and quickly spreading, increasing the radius of well-lit neighborhoods by the second. It was a mesmerizing sight that--until every lamp was on--nearly made you forget the question you were building toward.

“That was so cool!” you express honestly before clearing your throat awkwardly. “So I wanted to ask if the two of you were dating...or in a relationship or whatever. I mean, I don’t want to assume anything of course, just wondering because you share a room and floor, and you seem to be really into holding hands.”

“Well, I’d never really been into holding hands or a lot of other forms of affection before I met Wanda, but she seemed to flip some switch inside of me.” Natasha admitted with a bashful chuckle as she glanced at Wanda before turning to study you. “And your hands are so perfect to hold.”

“To answer your question, we are together.” Wanda rests a hand on your thigh and casts a sweet smile in your direction when you face her again. “Natasha was the first to give me a chance after everything with Ultron, and initially I thought I was just feeling grateful to receive some type of positive attention from someone other than Pietro. It wasn’t until Tash called me out on staring at her lips that I realized I wanted more than friendship.”

“The only reason I did was to confirm she was feeling the same things I’d finally come to terms with myself.” Natasha chuckles as Wanda sends over a bit of red mist to squeeze her own thigh. “What about you, love?”

“What about me?”

“Do you think you’re feeling more than friendship for Peter?”

“Oh no,” you quickly denied with a chuckle. “He’s the perfect example of a great boyfriend, but not my boyfriend. Plus I’d rather not have the same experience as MJ did.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, the ‘close friends to a relationship that ends with each person pretending the other doesn’t exist’ experience. I’d rather not.”

“Yeah, that does sound messy,” Natasha sighs as she subtly rests her hand on your other thigh. “So you’re not looking for a great boyfriend. What are you looking for then?”

“Nothing really, at least until I finish school, but having a girlfriend would be nice. I’d like to be with someone that respects me and can take care of themselves when I’m not around, because I tried the ‘caring for someone’ thing and it sucks when they don’t put in the same effort that you do.”

“Maybe you should try someone older, more mature,” Natasha suggests as she shifts to squeeze your knee lightly, and you start to feel a bit nervous about where she’s going with this. “Maybe two people that already have their shit together and would go to the ends of the earth to please you.”

“Okay, um…” You push both of their hands away with a bit of difficulty. “You both seem great and you’re incredibly attractive, but I’m not really interested.”

“Don’t worry about it, detka.” Natasha pushes your shoulder down as you try to get up, and Wanda cups your cheek with her hand.

“You may not be interested now…” She stands with Natasha and leans in to kiss your forehead, letting her lips linger on your skin as she continues. “But you will be.”

She pulls away and winks before lacing her fingers through Natasha’s as they leave the balcony, and you gasp in air as the tension they’d built seems to exit behind them. You finally decide to head back once you’ve taken a few minutes to catch your breath and calm your shaking limbs, but you wonder how long the calm will truly last.

-

You found yourself waking up suddenly and practically flying into a sitting position as if someone had pulled you up, but luckily the room is empty. You sit for a moment to catch your breath and survey your surroundings to assure you’re truly alone, and you notice your door is cracked right before you hear an unidentifiable sound.

“Fuck.”

Despite every fiber of your being screaming at you as one would do to a character in a horror film, you decide to climb out of bed to investigate what you were hearing, justifying your actions with the excuse of seeing if your floor-mates were in danger, as if you could save them. A few seconds after opening your door fully and peeking out made you realize that they were more than okay.

“Fuck! Right there, please don’t stop.”

“Such a dirty mouth, malyshka.”

You’re quick to return the door to its cracked position, leaning against the nearby wall with wide eyes as you attempt to process the image across the hall. The bedroom door sits wide open, giving you the chance to examine every inch of bare skin of the two women spread across the bed, Wanda resting on her arched back with her hands in Natasha’s red hair buried between her legs. Her moans seem to raise in volume, pitch and frequency as she’s brought closer and closer to the edge, and you ignore the warm feeling in your lower abdomen as you hurry back to bed and throw a pillow over your exposed ear.

-

“Good morning.”

Your free hand quickly shoots upward to catch your water glass as it slipped through your fingers in your moment of shock, and you try not to make a deal of hearing two sets of footsteps headed toward the kitchen.

“How’d you sleep last night? I know how scary it can be to rest your eyes in a new place.”

“I think I did pretty well,” you answer quietly as you step away from the fridge and lean against a section of the counter that faces out into the rest of the room. “The bed’s really nice.”

“You’re lying,” Wanda accuses as she crosses the room, eyes turning red and hands lifting toward your face.

“What are you--”

“Couldn’t sleep because of us, right?” She chuckles when you go limp under her touch, and Natasha ducks between the two of you to save your glass for the second time. “Did you enjoy hearing us that much?”

“You did sound really good,” you tell her with a drowsy smile as she pins you against the counter to keep you from falling.

“I bet you wish you were in my place, don’t you?” Her tone is light and teasing at first, becoming a bit stern as she shifts to push her thigh between your legs and you instantly roll your hips against the pressure. “Or maybe you want to taste me while Natasha fucks you?”

“No.”

“No?!” she fires back immediately, leaving a red mist around your temples as she grabs your waist with both hands to keep you grinding against her. “You mean you don’t want to cum right now?”

“Well, now that you mention it…”

A breathy moan escapes you as your eyes flutter closed, and if your head wasn’t being forcefully held in place, it would’ve tipped backward. You feel what must be Natasha’s fingertips grazing along your jaw and tracing a line down the side of your neck and toward your shoulder, repeating the gentle motion as goosebumps appeared all over the exposed skin.

“Is everyone decent?”

The fog behind your eyes seems to clear in seconds, and you blink in confusion when you open your eyes to see Natasha and Wanda making coffee nearby. You try to recall even coming into the kitchen, but everything from the moment you stepped into the bathroom to get ready is a blur, so you shake your head and reach for your glass of water on the counter as Natasha responds.

“Come in, Peter.”

“Morning, everyone,” Peter greets cheerfully as he enters the kitchen, his grin falling when his eyes land on you. “Are you okay?”

You open your mouth with the full intention of telling him that you are not okay, not when you were missing at least an hour of memory, and bits of last night were slipping away from you too. But before you could speak, a cold feeling seems to pass through the back of your skull to slip into your brain, and a switch flips.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” you respond with a chuckle. “You worry too much, spiderling.”

“The world’s a stressful place,” he grumbles when you playfully ruffle his hair. “Anyway, are you ready to go soon?”

“Where are you headed?” Natasha quickly asks with a frown. “Y/N hasn’t even had breakfast yet.”

“We’re meeting Aunt May, so we’ll eat with her.”

“I just have to grab my bag,” you explain before heading down the hall to your temporary room, feeling the chilly sensation leaving you as you get further away from the kitchen, and it thankfully doesn’t return when you head back. “Ready.”

“Have fun!” Natasha calls as Peter heads for the elevator again, quickly grabbing your wrist once he’s out of sight. “See you tonight, printsessa.”

Her hand quickly shifts to grip the back of your neck as she leans in to kiss your cheek, and the two women are wearing sweet smiles as you turn away from them to catch up with Peter, attempting to shake the shell-shocked expression from your features.

“You sure you’re good?”

“I’m fine,” you insist as the doors close, in hopes that you really would be fine.

-

Meeting Peter’s aunt was much more of a pleasant experience than you expected, and it was obvious she adored you by the way she spoke to you, although part of you felt she was just happy Peter had more people around to love him. Your day was cut a bit short when MJ unexpectedly approached Peter, requesting to talk to him, and Aunt May offered to drive you back to the tower so you both could escape that awkward mess of a conversation.

“It was so great to meet you today,” you tell her with a grin as you take off your seatbelt.

“Likewise, honey. You have my number so just call me if you ever need anything, okay?”

She pulls you into a hug over the middle console and you thank her again for the ride as you get out of the car, trying not to seem too nervous when you notice Natasha and Wanda standing in the lobby. Your plan was to walk past them without speaking, but you should’ve known that wouldn’t work.

“Why was she hugging you?” Natasha asks coldly as you enter the building and you sigh.

“She was just saying goodbye--wait. Why am I explaining myself to you?”

You keep walking until they’re no longer in your peripheral, stopping abruptly as a red mist surrounds your legs, and your eye-rolling is cut short when Wanda appears in front of you and grabs your chin harshly.

“If Tash asks you a question, you answer.”

“Without attitude,” Natasha adds, which makes you want to roll your eyes again.

“Sorry, I didn’t get the rules handbook when I arrived. Can I go now?”

“You know what?” Wanda cuts off Natasha’s angry response with a smirk. “You can go.”

The red mist surrounding you disappeared, and despite the suspicious feeling that washed over you, you continued on toward the elevator with your head held high. You refused to let them get to you.

-

It was subtle at first. A slight tingling between your legs that you couldn’t seem to get rid of. In the very beginning, you were worried that something was wrong until you realized where the feeling was coming from when it turned into slow circles around your clit as you caught up with Peter in his room. By dinner, there was the added sensation of fingers curling inside you at a steady pace, and you hoped no one would notice your hips slightly bucking under the table as you attempted to repeatedly chase a release that never came.

A movie follows dinner today, and you make sure to cover yourself with a large blanket because you were still being edged and you couldn’t stop moving at this point. You even try to slide your hand into your sweatpants to finish the job yourself, and your jaw clenches in anger every time your fingers lock up because you know who’s responsible.

“Okay, you win!” you announce as you walk into the kitchen on Natasha and Wanda’s private floor, not missing the look shared between the two women. “I’m sorry I was rude earlier. Can you please just stop teasing me?”

“How about we help you finish instead?”

You should decline. You should just say ‘no’ because letting them finish you off tonight will turn into an attachment that you know you don’t want, nor are you ready for. Inviting them in will be equivalent to selling your soul, and you’re not sure you want to put a price on it. But the ache below your stomach is persistent, and if they won’t let you touch yourself, someone has to do it.

“Fine.”

“Don’t be so grumpy about it,” Wanda teases as she grabs your hand and starts leading you toward their bedroom. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

She pushes you back onto the surprisingly large bed as soon as you’re close enough, instructing you to take off your shirt and bra while she watches. Once your top half is completely exposed, she leans forward to run her hands from your shoulders down toward your nipples, circling them with her thumbs until they harden.

“I don’t like being teased.”

“Oh, you don’t?” she asks in a mocking tone as she reaches for the band of your sweatpants and pulls them down, placing her palm over the wet spot in your panties. “Then what’s this?”

“Please,” you beg through a quiet moan, bucking your hips again when she presses her thumb against your clit through the fabric. “Please just fuck me already.”

“Patience, detka.”

You watch with wide eyes as Natasha and Wanda both strip away their own sweatpants, revealing the toys tied to their legs. Natasha goes to untie hers while Wanda uses her powers to rip away your ruined panties in one fluid motion.

“There she is.”

Natasha puts her hand on Wanda’s back and forces her to bend over, and you bite your lip as her eyes flutter closed and mouth falls open while Natasha thrusts into her. You’re just about to grab Wanda’s hand to lead her where you want, when her eyes open suddenly with a glowing red surrounding her pupils, and your wrists are bound together over your head by an invisible force.

“Did you forget who’s in charge here?”

“Don’t get too cocky, malyshka,” Natasha reminds her as she grabs a fistful of her hair and slams into her, causing Wanda to moan and giggle at the same time.

“My apologies, Tash.”

You couldn’t help your sigh of relief as Wanda finally slid two fingers inside of you, her thrusts deepening each time as Natasha fucked her toward you with her hands on her hips. The sounds coming from your mouth and between your legs were embarrassingly loud, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care as she brought you closer and closer to the edge, until a loud whine escaped you as she removed her fingers and delivered a slap to your glistening folds.

“Tell me who this belongs to,” she orders through her own moans, holding you down when you begin grinding into her hand. “I’m gonna cum regardless of what you do, so you’d better answer. Be a good girl like I know you can.”

“Yours!” you cry out finally, sighing when Natasha leans into your line of sight with a brow raised. “It’s yours and Natasha’s.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

She slips back into you without warning, and your back arches off the bed as she finally brings you to orgasm. She continues to thrust into you as you whine and squirm away, luckily slowing down and finally stopping as Natasha makes her cum a minute later, leaving the strap inside of her as they both catch their breath. Wanda pulls out of you and sits up to lean against her, holding her hand up between them as they both clean your cum off her fingers with their tongues, and you sit there clenching around nothing as you watch.

“You seem tired,” Natasha comments as her eyes land on you again.

“Too bad we’re not done.”

Wanda flips you onto your stomach with a quick motion of her fingers, using her hands to pull you by the waist until you’re on your knees at the edge of the bed, and she holds one side of your waist as she delivers a slap to your ass this time. Her touch lingers as she pulls away to free her own strap, and you nearly fall over when you feel the tip of the toy rub against your clit.

“Wait, let me fuck her this time.”

You hear their soft laughter as they switch places, sharing a kiss in the process, and you gasp when a hand wraps around your neck and pulls you up against Natasha’s chest.

“I like having you this close to me, printsessa,” she whispers in your ear, chuckling when you melt against her as she pushes the tip of her strap into you. “How many times do you think I can get you to cum?”

Her grip on your throat is loose as she allows you to adjust to the size, tightening suddenly when she slams into you once, twice, until every thrust is at a rough pace that you wouldn’t be able to handle if she wasn’t holding you against her by the waist. You feel that same tingling circling your clit again, occasionally traveling upward to tease your nipples as well, and it wasn’t long before you were releasing a strangled scream as you climaxed.

Natasha eventually stops thrusting into you as your legs shake, and you breathe out another sigh of relief when she allows you to fall onto the mattress. However, the relief is short-lived when you realize that she only paused to let Wanda push into her from behind, and it wasn’t long before the two of them found a rhythm that was pleasing them and ruining you.

Your wrists are freed as Natasha pulls out of you some minutes later, and you collapse onto one side of the bed with your body aching a bit from a third orgasm, your eyes only halfway open as you watch the pair. They remove the straps from their waists and set them aside, and you become a bit more alert when you notice Natasha grab what seems to be a double-ended dildo.

“No more. I can’t,” you mumble tiredly as your wrists are bound by Wanda’s power again.

“One more, and you can,” she tells you as she flops onto the bed beside you, and that red mist surrounds her fingers again as she guides you onto your knees to hover above her face. “You wanted to cum, so you don’t get to run from this.”

Her hands grab your waist and pull you closer, and you release a shuddering moan as her tongue runs past your hole and over your clit, teasing it a few times with the tip of her tongue before diving in to wrap her lips around it. She alternates between sucking your clit and slipping inside you as Natasha climbs on the bed behind you to position herself with the new toy. 

“Fuck,” Wanda attempts to say once Natasha begins thrusting, and you fall forward as the vibration of her moans become too much, whining when Natasha slides her hands over your breasts and pulls you back up again.

“Take it all like a good girl.”

She keeps pulling until your head drops against her, and she moans against your neck while she kisses and sucks on your skin, bouncing faster on Wanda who groans loudly in response as she attempts to match each thrust. The hums of her voice has you grinding against her tongue, and you yelp when Natasha bites down just as Wanda brings you over the edge. She keeps going despite your protests, managing to get you to cum once more before they finally do.

You lie there with your bones feeling like jelly as you’re covered with a blanket minutes after everyone’s bathroom trip, too tired to even fight for sleeping in your own bed as Natasha and Wanda slide in on either side of you.

“You did so well tonight, detka,” Wanda praises as she strokes your cheek with a loving stare. “I can tell you’ll be a great addition to our relationship. I knew it from the moment I saw you.”

“I’m not doing this again,” you insist as the smile fades from her expression. “I’m not getting in a relationship with two women that don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and I’d prefer sleeping in my own bed.”

“You’re already in a relationship with us, printsessa,” Natasha growls as she shoves you back down when you try to get up, and you push her hand away.

“There’s nothing you can say that’ll make me want to be with you.”

“It’s not about what you want to do. It’s about what you have to do.” She grabs your phone from the nightstand, and you’re somehow not even surprised when she unlocks it on the first try. “Because it’d be a shame if someone was to tell Peter about all the nudes you have of him.”

You snatch the phone from her grip, eyes widening as you scroll through your camera roll, finding naked pictures of Peter scattered throughout it. You check the date on the oldest one and began to feel nauseous when you saw it was taken not even a month after the two of you met.

“Don’t think you’ll be deleting those either, because we can replace them and make things worse.” Her smile was falsely sweet and troubling as she grabbed your chin to force you to make eye contact. “We’ve gone this long without having you, and we’ll do whatever it takes not to lose you.”

-

Tags: @cordeliaswhore @egotisticalstoner @muralskins @natasha-danvers @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @madamevirgo @teenwonder @honeyvenable @slut-for-nat

[whoviandoodler]

Thanks for not being negative on my post, it was a 2am rant that i didnt intend to be read by anyone but those who themselves werent too happy w the book, so im glad that you heeded the warning (also, dont ever apologize for ur language skills when its not ur first lang, if someone picks at it they're being an asshole (it seems great, but im an english major who has a lot of Opinions abt the hegemony of english and the assumption that knowing english perfectly is some kind of bare minimum, so it saddens me when i see other non-native english speakers apologize unnecessarily- own the fact you know more than one language and never apologize for how well or badly you know your 2nd, 3rd, whatever; the people who matter will be glad you know at least some of their language and have put in an effort to communicate with them, and entitled assholes dont deserve attention))

That aside, I have a pretty bad case of post-exams woozy brain, so i hope my reply will be coherent, and i hope it doesnt sound rude, i dont mean it that way, im just giving my perspective. I mainly want to explain that while yes, calling someone queer solely for being flamboyant is stereotyping (dandies are, i suppose, the main argument that comes to mind lol, lots of them were straight and a lot of ppl in history acting in ways we would consider flamboyant now werent seen as queer then), a lot of queer culture is using stereotypes and assumptions to be visible- think if u see someone with blue hair and large earrings; yes, they might well be cishet, but i will assume they are one of ours, and ill give them a compliment that they, if they are indeed queer, will read as recognition.

Especially considering a history of queerness needing to be hidden and only being expressed through signals that other queer people will understand- languages like polari in britain, the handkerchiefs you'd put in your back pockets, saying someone does or doesnt speak latin in some english schools. And some signals are more well-known and have been a more visible signal throughout ages- men with higher voices, who were 'vain', who dressed a certain way-, and were used to queer code characters when they weren't allowed to be canonically queer. Think ryan from hsm- hes flamboyant, and he loves theater, and ashton cucher or whatever that guy's name is; yes, these are stereotypical traits of a queer man, but its those traits that helped 'those who know know' see themselves on screen, and they were purposefully implemented by the writers for that sspecific purpose.

My point is, yes, howl is flamboyant, and yes, flamboyancy is a part of why i read him as queer. He's the definition of a poor little meow meow, he has a college degree, he loves his earring and his hair and his suits and spends exorbitant amounts of money to make things beautiful. He also has ADHD, and the link between neurodivergency and queerness is another thing added to the list (and you could say much the same thing for him being nd- am i allowed to say he's nd bcs his house is a mess and he knows exactly where he put what and if u move it he wont be able to find it? and bcs hes an overthinker and anxious and has to lie to himself in order to get things done? none of these things mean he's nd, but i see my experiences and the experiences of my nd friends in him, and i hence identify him as such bcs he as a character cannot be consulted on his opinions- he exists not as a person, but a mix of traits that can be interpreted in dif ways) . He doesn't want to be a part of the mainstream, he doesnt want to do things other expect him to do. I see part of queer culture in him, and i compile them all unconsciously and read him as queer- a flamboyant university graduate with no real wish in life but to be free of capitalism and pursue his dreams? i'm going to filter that thru my experiences and knowledge, and im going to read him as queer.

I had certain expectations of the narrative, and I didnt get them from it, and i'm so jaded to the stories that end in marriage as the happy ending and have aspects of the kind of romance depicted in the book that i honestly dont believe that ill read it again, or that id have a dif experience if i did. I did come into it expecting a dif thing to the movie, and it wasn't the lack of kisses that discouraged me from getting engaged with their relationship, or that it was different and more real (as i said, they had teeth in the book, which id hoped coming into it since char flaws are what adds depth to a story and more interestingly moves it forward), it was the fact that a relationship made of arguing and snippets of attraction and peace ending in marriage and procreation has never appealed to me either irl or in stories, and tho not exclusive to cishet relationships, it is something that's seen as worth striving towards in some parts of that culture.

It was admittedly my fault that I hadn't checked the date of the book before id read it, and that i expected something of that book that it simply wasnt meant to be, pulled by the queer atmosphere of the movie (i cant fully describe to u how much that movie means to queer people in my circles, and how much we relate to it and see ourselves in it, either bcs howl is gender envy incarnate and has bisexuality vibes thru the roof (i have a bi trans friend who is, essentially, howl), or bcs the vague magical atmosphere of it is inviting).

With that all said, i want to add a disclaimer that ure free to read the book as u like, and to see the characters as you like. The beauty of stories is that we all experience them differently, and i'm not going to knock your interpretation of it any more than i will my own; i will, however, contest the idea that reading a character as queer bcs they embody certain stereotypes of queerness is incorrect and somehow harmful or shallow.

I have and will go on to read a number of books written in times and places where queer rep wasn't and isn't allowed, or is/was stigmatized enough to be avoided outright, and reading those kinds of books with the fear of seeing a character as queer bcs they embody queer stereotypes but havent outright said it is a disservice both to myself and the author's potential intentions.

It's important to remember that chars arent real, living people, and that labeling them as queer or not queer based on what they do and dont do does them no harm like it would to a real, living person (think what happened with kit connor, for example, or what happens to cishet ppl who cant wear what they like bcs someone might keep questioning their identity and not believe their words bcs of it).

(this is a ramble and isn't complimentary, so if you're in this tag purely for positive stuff, please swerve around this post; you have been warned, so pls don't add negativity to this post either, thanks)

Just finished hmc (book) and i have so many conflicting thoughts about it. Like it was obviously very well written in terms of the worldbuilding and the characters and the plot but then with the romance it felt,,, so odd to me.

Maybe it's the fact that it's decades old, but it has that feeling of vagueness that classics and stuff often do, where I don't feel at all invested because it all feels surface level. Like Sophie and Howl clearly have a connection, but I felt like it was never explored in a way that tugged at my heart strings, it was more like they had the grounds for friendship and then bippity boppity they held hands and were getting married.

Which gets me to another thing- this felt very much like someone had taken a very interesting queer character and put them in a very heteronormative romance plot??? Like howl has such major queer vibes, but then he interacts with sophie and vice versa like they're the protags of every heteronormative straight romance book (if there weren't even making out to keep your attention on SOMETHING), and it just feels like they were done dirty even tho they are as the author intended them to be and saw them as.

Idk just... They're such interesting characters and I would have loved to see their love story if it weren't trapped in a heteronormative cage.

The rest of the story is just so incredibly fun and engaging that whenever this stuff popped up and they were forced to play into these roles it felt jarring and left me at the end wondering if I'd just ruined the experience I knew from the ghibli movie and wasted hours just to end up feeling neutral about the story.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

[tw internalized aphobia]

hi!

i always felt good about my aroace identity. i always took a lot of pride in it and never struggled with it, but lately i’ve been thinking that it would’ve been better if i just identified as bisexual (i used the bi label before aro and ace). seeing some posts here really made me think that it would be just a lot simpler if i was in fact bi and not aroace.

i know that labels don’t have to be “old” to be legitimate, but i feel that some people online still see it that way? it makes me wish i was one of these labels that are seen as legitimate and real.

do you have any advice to deal with this internalized aphobia? i try to curate my online space as best of my ability but there’s always a voice in my head that keeps coming back saying it’d be better if i was bi instead.

sorry if this is too much information. your blog is a safe space for me i really appreciate your attention to answering asks and helping people. i hope your doing well 🤍

Yeah curating your online experience is definitely a good first step. Make sure you're also making good use of blacklisting options too. The more you see things that reinforce your internalized aphobia the harder it will be to work through that.

The other thing I'd recommend is go out of your way to regularly see and consume positive a-spec stuff. So that can be following blogs, which it sounds like you're already doing, but seeking out videos, checking out community, spaces, etc. I think it's especially really good to just see aces and aros talk about being ace and aro and talk about their own experiences.

Do you know any ace or aro people? Are you friends with any allies? If not, maybe consider joining an ace/aro discord server or something like that. So you have people you can talk to about being aroace.

If you're not already I'd also look into aroace media, there's more rep coming out all the time and some of it's really good. I've personally really enjoyed the Jughead 2015 run from Archie comics, Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (YA Novel), and The Magnus Archives (Podcast) all of which have a-spec main characters. Alice Oseman is someone else to watch too, she's aroace and has a-spec characters throughout her works. Her book Loveless is specifically about an aroace college student coming to terms with her identity (this could be a bit raw if you're in a similar place), but if you're watching her current show Heartstoppers, Isaac is aroace as well and she's promised there'll be more a-spec content next season.

In general if you're not sure where to look for media, googling lists (such as books with ace characters, podcfasts with aro characters. etc) is usually a pretty effective way to find ace/aro media.

If you're comfortable with it another thing you can consider it pride stuff. If you don't want visible pride stuff around that will out you, maybe you can get a subtle pride art for your phone background or something like that.

Basically you want to connect with your identity, so not just see positive things about but also feel it.

Another thing you can do is some exercises to help yourself think differently. If you can identify the negative thought processes you're having about being aroace, or about it being better to be bi, you can consciously stop them and correct yourself.

So for example if you're thinking 'aroace is a newer coined label and people won't take it serously', you can stop and remind yourself that actually it's a term that has become very widely accepted in a short amount of time, including by most major lgbtq orgs. Or that the people who say that are jerks and their opinion on your identity doesn't really matter (or whatever resonates with you).

And you don't have to do more than that, just a gentle correction and move on with your day.

Another exercise that may help could be something like journaling, where once a week or something you like about the label aroace. So it could be listing things you like about being aroace, it could be things you like the community, things you like about the label itself, it doesn't matter. But that will help get you in the habit of thinking positive things or making positive associations with your label.

So generally speaking it takes time to unlearn internalized oppression. There's no flip you're going to switch and suddenly do better. But usually once you've identified it and you're making an effort, it will usually gradually get better. It's important to give yourself time though and be patient with the process.

All the best, Anon! Good luck!

[hereliesbeetlejuice]

wait why do you not want a proshot of this show? just wanna know cause you’re the only blog whose beetlejuice opinions i trust

oof ok. i didn’t wanna get into it cause i know it’s gonna be an unpopular opinion but like this is so kind?? so i’ll share for you beloved anon <3

(obligatory these-are-my-personal-feelings-and-opinions-based-on-my-own-experiences-with-the-show-and-not-objective-facts-that-i-expect-everyone-to-agree-with disclaimer !!!)

first off just wanna clarify if we do end up getting a proshot (and i have VERY strong suspicions that we will) i won’t be upset or anything i just really, really wish they had been able to film it before the shutdown like they’d planned, for a lot of reasons.

the show of course is a little different now, not so much in terms of the book or songs just small little updates made here and there in terms of the jokes, performances, etc. and 2019-2020 was this show’s peak in popularity, when it was huge on tiktok and selling at 103% capacity. a lot of us fans stuck around for re-opening but for the general public two whole years had passed by so they kinda moved onto other things (as shown in the difference in ticket sales). so for those that aren’t avid longtime fans to get excited about the pro-shot it would probably have to be the same exact show everyone was excited about in 2019, but it won’t be to them

and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, i think some evolvement is good to keep the show fresh. but the way i see it they could’ve either totally revamped and revitalized it or kept it the exact same and instead they went with this weird noncommittal in-between? where yea it’s different but nothing was really added to it. just enough for old fans to say a few “hey that’s new”s but nothing that made it better for new fans. and imo the show since re-opening has seemed to be very much aimed towards the old fans that stuck around from the Before Times. i feel like they relied too heavily on the show’s pre-pandemic popularity and assumed the exact same audience would be the ones coming back post-pandemic. it’s hard to explain but a lot of the small changes, line deliveries, how jokes play out, it feels like they’re switching it up to keep them new and fresh so it’s fun to hear it differently if you know the show but if it’s your first time it’s maybe not,, the best way? sorta feels like they had it right the first time and then felt like they had to switch it up to keep it from getting repetitive to the returning fans (that probably makes no sense it’s hard to put into words idk)

but ANYWAY there’s also of course the sad fact that a lot of the more casual fans will inevitably be disappointed that it’s not the entire OBC, there’s gonna be a lot of unfair comparisons to the actors that originated the roles because the songs won’t sound exactly like the cast album which is what people are used to, i worry that it won’t be received very well by a lot of people.

all this along with other nitpicky things. i think the new makeup design is literally horrid and it’ll look even worse in HD. alex’s character voice has shifted with all of the voiceover work he’s done since the shutdown. i have my personal casting preferences that don’t perfectly align with the current cast though i don’t mind it it’s just not my favorite cast we’ve ever had and not the one i would’ve preferred to be filmed (but i still love and adore them ALL)

tldr; i don’t think a proshot of the current show would be received as well as it would’ve been if it had been filmed when it was originally supposed to and i worry that a negative reception will impact ticket sales (like the dear evan hansen movie), which we can’t afford. although i love the current show it’s definitely not my favorite version so it’s not how i’d ideally like it to be memorialized, and it’s not the version i’d choose to be a lot of people’s first introduction to the show when imo it used to be better BUT i won’t complain either way, this show will still always be my whole damn heart and soul 💜

[interact-if]

I’m sending this in because it seems like I could get good opinions from not only you but also the people who follow you. I have an idea for an IF, and I’m very excited for the story. My question is, would people be offended if I made the playable MC physically female that identifies as female and all the ROs physically male that identify as male? I have seen some out there that are strictly M/M or F/F, and I’m so happy they exist because I feel that population is underserved. I just feel, not having the experience, I could bring justice to writing LGBTQ+ (and I don’t want to offend anyone in that community by writing something incorrect), mostly when it comes to sex (which I plan on including in my game). I support games that have those relationships in them and admire them, even play those games, and I don’t care who plays my game. The more the merrier! I still want the characters to be diverse. One of them will be of a descent that is based on Japanese culture and many others, based on Persian culture. I also want the playable MC to have any skin tone/features the player wants. I just want to know if this…will have people coming after me? I want to tell my story, but I don’t want to be attacked for it, if that makes sense?

I really don’t mean to offend anyone. I just don’t want to cause trouble, and I just want to respectfully ask for people’s opinions on this.

Hello! So, before diving into our response, we’d like to emphasize that we are but five individuals running a blog devoted to interactive fiction. We are neither the end-all-be-all voice on this matter nor necessarily a representative mouthpiece for the community.

First off, you can write whatever you would like to write; as the author, you have absolute control over what you produce, so nobody is going to stop you from writing what you want to write. It’s also important to write what you enjoy.

That said, the community is, in our experience, very inclusive, and largely devoted to providing a space for the queer community. We can understand the desire to have an appropriately inclusive and diverse game, and why you particularly want to turn to characters of color to bridge the gap; however, substituting characters of color for queer characters to claim diversity in a project is possibly something that will receive the wrong kind of attention. Furthermore, assuming that writing characters of color well is any less complex than writing queer characters potentially suggests that said characters could end up underdeveloped or tokenized. (See Nines' and Roast’s response below for more context)

All of that doesn’t mean you can’t make a game that’s genderlocked and restricted to M/F romance, and I don’t think anyone will be offended by such a game, but it might limit your audience. At the same time, there are (many) other visual novels that have this format, so it’s not something unheard of. As far as CoGs and text-based games go, as far as we’ve seen, they are rarely genderlocked unless for plot reasons, etc.

There is also a chance that you may receive feedback requesting that the MC be un-gender locked, or for additional ROs to be added of different gender, or for the ROs to be made gender selectable. These requests may be gentle, insistent, kind, or aggressive, and they may only occur at the beginning of your work, or may occur throughout your game development. Maybe they’ll never happen at all. It’s impossible to predict the future, but in our experience, we have often seen this occur to games in the past with RO gender imbalances, locks, etc.

As for searching for feedback, if you’re looking for feedback but you’re not pursuing the CoG format, may we suggest the Reddit subforum? It’s a little difficult for you to get the feedback/dialogue going here that you’d likely like to get, so Reddit’s format may be more conducive to your needs.

In the meanwhile, those who would like to provide their thoughts are encouraged to respond in the comments of this post. Please remember to be polite with your discussion!

— — —

The above is our general mod response; a few of us wanted to offer some individual thoughts as well, and those can be found below. These are personal opinions and reflect each individual mod’s thoughts, rather than a collective response.

While it can be a little daunting to write about something you’re not familiar with, writing often broaches topics with which we don’t personally have first-hand experience. Additionally, queer relationships are ultimately still relationships between people—they’re not all that different from heterosexual relationships. If you’re worried about the way you’re portraying your content, that’s something well-curated beta readers/testers (from the population you’re trying to represent) can help test for, and give feedback on. And on top of all of the above, that’s not to mention the potential issues associated with substituting in POC to replace queer people, which is perhaps not what your intention is, but is what it feels like your intention is (see Roast and Nines for all the ins and outs on why this is an issue). Ultimately, I stand by the opinion that on the most basic level, most will not be offended by a game that’s about a straight, cisgender female MC—yet some, or even many, may be off-put by such a game. I know I, personally, am. (P. S. Also consider that the MC has to interact with the other ROs that she isn’t romancing, as friends, enemies, acquaintances, what have you—having selectable ROs, for example, also allows the player to “diversify” their acquaintance group, if they so wish.) — Dani

I understand that this ask is coming from well-meaning intent but I would just like to state that writing characters of color is not easier than writing queer characters. One of them isn't a substitute for the other. Writing characters of color and writing queer characters are separate matters entirely, and both come with its own difficulties. Wanting your characters to be diverse, while admittedly lacking the perspective to back such identities, is still a murky water to navigate.

Personally speaking, and I really do have to be transparent about this, the way certain sentences were phrased in this ask rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I understand that this isn't malicious, just someone who is asking for guidance, which is something I can't fault. We all have to start somewhere, you know? That being said, if you really want to write diverse characters, my general advice is to do research. Lots and lots and lots of research. No author is exempt from that, honestly.

Find helpful articles, journals, studies, video essays, etc. to aid you in writing your characters. If you still feel like that's lacking in some way, which is a valid concern, being open to feedback from the appropriate people is also a good way to improve. The integrity of a project is important, but so is reasonable criticism against, for, or about it. Keep an open mind, educate yourself, and don't be afraid to ask for help or clarification should it be needed. — Nines

Nines says it well that queer people and poc are not interchangeable nor any 'easier' than the other. The fact that you're willing to do research and include characters of color yet not include queer characters tells me that you're afraid yet misconstruing how much effort actually gets put into cultural research.

There is a 'purity culture' that goes around tumblr that claims that diverse characters have to be perfect, have to have no flaws, cannot die, cannot have trauma, cannot face adversity, they must be perfect and good and happy.

I think this is bullshit.

I also think the backlash from this 'purity culture' community is what is creating so much fear in authors (including queer authors!!) in making characters with different backgrounds and identities than their own. In making queer characters with flaws and tragedy and negative characteristics.

If we only ever wrote what we knew, what we've personally experienced, fiction would be a very boring world.

Being afraid of representing a community wrong is a valid fear, but it shouldn't stop you from trying. You can write what you want to write, but it shouldn't be limited by fear.

Do your research. Get sensitivity readers. Be open to feedback. Be willing to be afraid, but do it anyway.

If, in the end, you decide to gender lock, make it an informed decision at the very least, and if you are including characters of color, know that that is a heavy amount of research too, and should be handled with the same care as what we've said on queer characters.

And like we've said before, we are not the voice of the community, we cannot give you permission or our blessing or flawless feedback, we are just five people running a blog. — Roast

Alright this was already mentioned a bit before but I wish to add my two cents: M/F relationships are the norm anywhere else in real life, and if you feel like there's no space for you and your relationships in a mostly-queer community then you might want to recheck if this is the community you wish to have as your target audience.

No one's going to be offended if your story is cishet, as we said, but you are extremely reducing your audience by doing such. The appeal of interactive fiction is that a good bunch of us have played female-mc-straight-love-interest visual novels in the past, having to endure being misgendered or romancing people we might not be attracted to.

The current interactive fiction community we're trying to promote has opened a million doors for everyone to explore themselves, so don't be surprised if your story, no matter how good, is ignored due to this aspect. Most of us have no interest in being forced to play as something we're not.

Again, we cannot tell you what you can or cannot do. We don't speak for the community, we speak for ourselves and for this blog. Maybe every comment we've made was incorrect and your game turns out to be successful, really, but it's what we believe you should keep in mind. — Cruz

Honestly, I don’t have much to add since everyone here mentioned and discussed important facets of this ask! At the end of the day, we are not a group who can or will ever dictate what you can or cannot write. That is not the purpose of the blog or the reason why we’re working as hard as we are. 

There have always been games with this specific set of characteristics: gender locked MCs and/or ROs. Some people may enjoy it, others may not, for whatever reason. 

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee anything in terms of how people will respond to a game, because people will react to content differently. All we can do is offer our perspective and the potential things that may happen in the future based on the experience the lovely devs above have had. (fellow interact-if mods, my beloved ❤️)

It’s always admirable for people to reach out when they’re unsure, and I’m sure there are infinitely more opinions that vary or are similar to the ones in this response. But there you have it, some of our thoughts! 

Goodluck with your project! — Mars