#and i can't even tell them to get over themselves because my pronouns are about me not them

[foxxsong]

I get not understanding neopronouns. I totally understand if people with developmental or intellectual disorders need to avoid people that use them because they can't wrap their brain around them enough to use them right or find having to think about them long enough to use the right one, when they very literally are incapable of understanding, distressing. Competing access needs are a morally neutral thing that I will never judge anyone for.

But to go on to talk about how despite this you respect neopronouns EXCEPT (plain text: except) it/its? If you feel the need to clarify that you don't have an issue with most of them, but want to single people like me out specifically? Trauma is understandable, and I know people with those disorders are in particular susceptible to being referred to that way cruelly, but you can just... not mention us.

Literally everything they shared was FINE (plain: fine) up to that point. But singling us out and saying you'll never respect our pronouns specifically - when you could've just not mentioned us at all - does in fact make you an asshole. Having trauma and saying that people that identify with something that was used to hurt you means you don't have to respect them makes you an asshole. Just don't fucking mention us and avoid us like you JUST (plain: just) said you can do fine with every other neopronoun user. You do not have to sit there and list off all the reasons you will never respect us specifically!!

I/DD people have so many limitations that most people just refuse to try to understand and take seriously. If someone struggles to not talk badly about things they find upsetting or confusing because of having an I/DD then that's one thing. People upset by it can block and move on because harassing someone who cannot change is cruel. But you don't get to demonstrate and self-proclaim that you CAN (plain: can) respect and avoid and move on for other people and then turn around and go out of your way to single a specific group out and talk about how horrible their identity is and act like that's somehow acceptable.

Literally, just shut up and do not talk about us. We KNOW (plain: know) people hate our pronouns. We KNOW (plain: know) there are people who do not respect our choice to use them. We KNOW (plain: know) there are people who will just never call us by them no matter what. We don't need people fucking going out of their way to single us out while defending how they respect everyone else like us. That makes you an asshole.

[jaewritesfic]

Melon AU Part 4

Cass is quietly adamant that her new cling-on be taken to the Batcave, no matter the concerns Bruce raises.

If he's honest, his protests fall a little flat even to his own ears. The fact of the matter is that he looks at the midnight apparition she holds and just…can't bring himself to fight very hard.

The creature clings to her like a desperate child, claws curled into her cape in a way that's bound to leave holes. Bruce hasn't caught so much as a glimpse of the face since it grabbed onto Cass, head resolutely tucked into her shoulder. That long sinuous tail is wrapped around her waist and down one leg as if the slightest disconnect could wrench them fully apart.

She was right, it's scared and it needs help.

Bruce almost thinks convincing Commissioner Gordon to lift the police barricade at the end of the alley will be the difficult part, but he's proven wrong. Gordon is more than happy to foist the situation off onto the Bat colony, it's just a matter of figuring out actual transport.

It's not that Bruce doesn't want the creature in the Batmobile. It's that nobody is sure the creature will respond well to someone other than Cass being in proximity to it.

Bruce may be feeling distinctly sympathetic, but he's still not comfortable leaving his daughter totally alone with something strange, unknown and dangerous.

He doesn't want Cass alone with it - them. They probably won't respond well to anyone but Cass being close enough to be in a car with them.

Ultimately this culminates in Bruce pulling the Batmobile around and trying to be very. Very. Quiet.

The shadow creature hasn't raised their head from Cass’s shoulder once, so hopefully as she climbs in the back with her clingy cargo they won't notice they're not alone.

…nobody is going to claim this is a good or creative plan. It's kind of just the only option they can think of.

The creature clicks and whines as she climbs in, aware and nervous about the enclosed space probably, but they don't raise their head or move.

If anything they just wind themselves around Cass a little tighter.

“Shhhh,” Cass hushes gently. “Car. Take us to safe place. I promise.”

Bruce is used to her cowl enough to be able to tell she's glancing at him in the rear view mirror.

Thankfully, the Batmobile can autopilot to the cave. His presence is solely because he refuses to leave her alone with their new…guest. That means he can sign at her.

Did you get a better look at the injuries?

She shakes her head minutely. Hm. Bruce had feared that was the answer, considering how fast the creature had plastered themselves to her.

Do they seem to be losing a lot of blood?

A tiny shrug. Not a yes, not a no. Bleeding, but not gushing. Or maybe she's not sure how much without a visual, though if it was egregious she'd feel it even with the suit.

The heat of it, the slickness.

Bruce decides the shrug is a tentative good sign.

“Let's play questions,” Cass says suddenly, hands rubbing gentle, comforting back and forth patterns against a back so dark it looks like a void. “Nothing scary. Get to know you questions.”

There's no answer, but it doesn't seem to faze her. Of course not. She's Cass.

“Will you play? Tap once yes,” she says softly, tapping the creature's back with her index finger once, “And twice for no. No is okay. You can say no.”

There's a long moment where Bruce watches them in the rear view and nothing happens. Then Cass's cowl shifts in the way that means she's smiling.

“Thank you. Pronouns first, okay? One for she-”

She taps once.

“Two for he-”

She taps twice.

“Three for- oh. Thank you. Good boy. I'm she.”

The rest of the family exposes themselves as listening, quiet murmurs and exclamations over the comms at the new knowledge that their creature considers himself male.

Bruce isn't surprised that his kids have been listening with baited breath.

“From Gotham? One for yes, two for no.”

She hums softly, going back to petting his back gently.

“Me neither at first. Home now, like the back of my hand. Can show you all the best spots. Like burgers?”

There's a long pause. Bruce suspects the creature is having a hard time believing she's talking about and proposing such casual topics.

Eventually she smiles again. “Me too. Will buy you Batburger, I promise. Nectar of the gods.”

An odd little vibration goes through her new friend, audible as well as visible. It seems almost like a weak laugh.

“....bets on shadow noodle’s favorite Batburger order?” Dick asks over comms.

Bruce purses his lips not to huff in amusement. They're almost to the cave, he'd like to stay incognito until then. He wouldn't want to alarm any shadow noodles.

Masterpost

[heartfullofleeches]

Sorry let me fix the pronouns

Will Carnis ever tell reader about their hair/head being the most delicate and important thing to them? Because reader would be so touched and take care to always be gentle with Carnis’s head and pet them and stroke their hair and everything

How was Carnis the night reader found them and made them take a bath and took the time and effort to untangle all their hairs??

(You're all good- Carnis uses he/they, but you added another question so I'll respond to this ask)

Context:

Carnis is reluctant to talk about their past, but it doesn't mean they won't. The more you open your arms to them, the more Carnis opens themselves up to you. Carnis would sooner take what happened to them in the lab to a metaphorical grave before meeting Reader. As their connection grows, talking about their past with Reader Carnis' chest feels... lighter? They can't quite describe with words, but they sleep better knowing there's a least one person out there who hears their pain and does their best to understand it.

Carnis was ready to bolt when Reader when Reader tried to touch his hair. The rest of the bath was nice, soothing even, but the instant Reader reached towards their head Carnis was back on edge. Reader was able to defuse the situation by combing their own hair and showing Carnis hairstyles they could put their rat's nest of hair in when they were finished washing it.

-

"See? It doesn't bite... I'll go as slow as I can so it won't hurt either."

The water's gone cold. Carnis hated cold baths. Warm baths were a reward for good behavior, a privilege. They've been so difficult with you tonight and yet you've done nothing but welcome them into your home. The comb weaves through your hair so smoothly. Their fingers gets caught on the tangles and knots in theirs. Can you make theirs that easy to brush? Can they really trust you?"

"No.... no..cutting? I don't want to lose.. Don't want to lose...me."

"I can't promise you that, Carnis... Your hair is extremely tangled, but I'll only cut what I have to. It'll grow back in no time. That, I can promise."

"Promise..."

"Oh! Check this out! I was searching online while your water was getting hot. See any hairstyles you like?" Grabbing your phone off the edge of the sink, you quickly pull up some of the pages you found that would best fit their hair length, scrolling through for him to pick from. Water splashes all over you as Carnis glued themselves to the side of the tub, excitedly gripping tuffs of their hair.

"B-braids! That one!.. Twisted.... Like a....like a... donut! My mm.. mom snuck me one for my birthday when I was smaller. When.. is your birthday?"

[akawrites000]

when two people meet and they belong together on some level - a prompt list

again, this can be used for anyone - close friends, s/o, crushes. please feel free to change pronouns as you see fit :)

A and B are benchmates, and by the end of the lecture, they've managed to become more than strangers, and people with common interests. They exchange numbers - "can I have your full name?" "sure, but why?" "I just like to store the full names of people's contacts that I'm going to save."

A has never eaten out with their new friend before, so they're pretty nervous because they eat differently? compared to the locals. "i'm sorry, but can I eat with my hands? I just feel more comfortable doing it." B just smiles kindly at A, and A immediately feels at home, despite being miles away from it. "of course you can, please be comfortable!"

A introduces their cuisine to B and B absolutely loves it. "I can't believe I've never had this before!" "do you like it?" " of course! this is easily one of the best meals I've had in my life". Then they both grin at each other and continue to spend the upcoming hours in the restaurant, smiling, chatting away and having a jolly time. (the restaurant people are nice because they don't get kicked out xD)

A teaches B how to eat food from their cuisine and B follows obediently. A is so impressed by B's efforts, just looks at B with a fond smile while B is busy trying to eat the food correctly. "am I doing this right? can I eat this with both hands?"

B invites A over to their place for Halloween and A is so pleasantly surprised, that they can't believe it. "You're inviting me over? really?" "of course! I'd love to have you over if you'd like to come!" A later gets to know that B themselves was a transfer student who went to another country to study, so they can understand the feelings of an international student. A was just so touched and couldn't stop smiling.

It's A's first Halloween and B watches them smile and get excited about everything with a fond look on their face. A turns to them, almost shy, "um, i- I didn't really bring any Halloween clothes," and B has to try really hard to hold in their laugh because A was just being really cute right now. "I can help with that," - B finds a pair of cute purple socks and a headband for A to wear and A's excitement lights up B's entire evening.

"so, do you invite people often?" you seem to be a really good host." B, surprised, "ah, thank you for saying that, but actually, no, I don't." A smiles at the answer and they continue watching the movie playing on the tv, a comfortable distance between them, feeling warm despite the cold winds outside.

B watches A order their usual and smiles at them, "hot chocolate as usual?". A nods, happy with their favourite drink in hand. "What are you getting?" B points to their plate, "oh, just a plate of strawberry cheesecake, I really like these." A makes a mental note of it.

At the cafe again, weeks later, after class, "one hot chocolate and one strawberry cheesecake please!" B just stares at A, dumbfounded, "you remember!" "of course I do!"

"do you want to talk? I don't want to go home just yet." A and B walk over to a bench on their campus and proceed to talk into the evening until A had to catch a bus back home.

A spots a duck upside down in a pond and immediately texts B (who's absent that day) - "uhh, a duck is upside down and I'm worried about it." A doesn't know but B was wheezing while texting back, " that's normal don't worry, it's just feeding." A lets out a breath of relief, "thank goodness! I haven't seen a lot of ducks in my hometown." "I can tell."

A and B compare their hand sizes, after which B holds A's (much smaller) hand. "your hands are so small, no wonder you get cold easily!" A just smiles happily and holds B's hand tighter.

A and B spend the whole day together and then can't stop thinking about it after. "is it weird that I'm grinning, still thinking about how fun today was?" "no, because I'm still thinking about it too."

[yuri-is-online]

Another Beautiful Day (First Years x Yuu)

(gif taken from google, originally uploaded to tumblr but user apparently deleted)

You have been having strange dreams lately. Every time you go to sleep you se the same set of flashing images, a carriage ride, a crumbling castle under a ink stained sky, ending in the jaws of a monster. The pain you feel from the flames makes you wonder, on nights when you are alone in Ramshackle with Grim, if those dreams are less fiction and more of a memory.

You are not the only one who has those dreams. There's another, laying awake in his bed, hand clutched tightly over his frantically beating heart trying desperately to hold the fraying edges of his sanity together. How many times has he done this? How many times has he tried to hold onto the last fleeting traces of warmth in you with his cold, unworthy hands.

Again. He loves you, that is the one thing that refuses to change no matter how many times the world is reset. He loves you, he has no choice but to try again.

notes: they/them pronouns used for Yuu, hurt almost no comfort, borderline yandere behavior. If this made you feel something you can check out the other parts on my masterlist.

Ace

There was, perhaps still is, a pretty viral theory about Ace being a traitor involved in resetting time. While I can't ever see Ace purposefully causing Yuu's death ever, I can see him deciding that if he has to play the villain to get the outcome that he wants, well then, that's just what he's going to have to do. Ace knows how to annoy people, comes with the youngest child territory, more specifically he knows how to annoy you. He can stand having no one if it means everyone's focus is on keeping you safe, it's easier to admit that he loves you when no one's around to hear it. It occurs to you that he might, it even crosses your mind that the strange dreams your time-loop troubled subconscious is so desperate to hang onto, ones where you are with someone you love dearly, could be about him. How else would he know how to push all your buttons, why else does he always know when and where you'll be in trouble. If Ace doesn't love you, why does he know all the things you like about this world before you do? It's a painful thing to be known, even more so if the person who knows you refuses to let themselves be vulnerable with you. The more things change the more they stay the same... huh?

Deuce

Ever watched Tokyo Revenges? I know some of you have, I can see you. Anyway Deuce might not be a crybaby but he is loyal, determined, and stuck on desperately trying to save you. Well not just you, Deuce realizes that Overblot Grim spells doom for a lot more people that just those inside NRC. Sage's island might be remote, but people still live there, if the monster got out who knows what sort of damage it will do? He tries his best to be normal around you, to befriend you and protect you in just the same way he did before, but he's a much more serious and moody person than he was the first loop around. How is he supposed to explain to you he couldn't save you, that he's watched you die countless times and only had ashes to hold and cry over? Not just you either, he's seen Ace and Epel and Jack, hell even Sebek, Die over and over again because he wasn't smart enough to stop it. Ace manages to pick up on something being wrong, and Deuce being Deuce he fails to lie properly, "dragging him into his mess." But he can tell Ace doesn't mind. He takes his impending doom as a challenge, encouraging Deuce to do so as well. He's stupid, he should just give up and let someone smarter save you. But he's your stupid, kind of crybaby hero. He'll save you, just you see.

Jack

Trying to save you is as much an instinct to Jack as it is raw emotion. You are his soulmate, there is nothing casual about his investment in your relationship, nothing short of divine intervention that will keep him from trying to save you. But he will admit he feels rather unprepared for this... development. It's all well and good to say you will break reality before he lets it take you from him, but actually being strong enough to do that? Jack's a good boy, but no matter how smart he is he's a bit of a muscle head. He throws himself into problems fist first, without any back up unless someone yanks him by the scruff and forces him to look at it. Usually that's you, sometimes it's Ruggie or Leona, but in the past it was you. He knows he can't keep himself from you, even if that could make you safer. Unlike the first timeline, he makes sure to introduce himself as early as possible, makes sure to be with you for every overblot. You might find it annoying but he'll push you to train just enough so that you'll have the speed to run when the final monster comes. Maybe this time, he'll be strong enough to kill it before it catches up to you.

Epel

Sleep Kiss cannot put you to sleep forever. Yet. Yes yet, Malleus isn't the only one who thinks letting you nap forever is a good idea. Great minds think alike, and unlike Malleus's, Epel has an added bonus. He can encase you in a glass cage that is literally meant to protect you from anything that wants to hurt you. Not that you would ever expect this plan from Epel. He's cute, kind, non-threatening when you're paying attention, the most you see of his temper as the loops continue is the slightly bratty glare he focuses on pre-overblot housewardens. And the headmage, but hey any anger at him always gets a pass from him. Not that you need to worry about that, once Epel masters his spell you won't have to worry about anything. He does wonder if you'll be able to dream, the first time he cast his spell on you it was like you didn't realize anything had happened at all. Maybe he won't tell you anything, maybe he'll wake you up every once and a while to convince you that you were never asleep at all. But that's not a concern for now, all you need to do is close your eyes and sleep. Sleep and wait for your Prince to return from the war.

Sebek

Following the current timeline, events aside, Sebek is on the outside of your friend group. No one likes him, he can't sit with you. The only real reason Sebek has to pay attention to you is because Malleus does. And he has to admit he doesn't exactly hate what he sees, he just- doesn't want to give credit to a human. When time is re-set though, he goes out of his way to befriend you, convinced he needs to keep an eye on you to save his lord. After all, how could he not find it suspicious that Malleus befriends some random human from not-Twisted Wonderland and then suddenly overblots? He is ready to strike at the first sign of betrayal, but he does not find it. He finds a human, weak and flawed, but paitent and kind with him, unwilling to let him talk down to them but still willing to talk. You die, but you never stop trying. You refuse to let the flaws he picks at stop you from trying to live. You refuse, no matter how many times he yells about the amount of times he has lost his lord, lost you, to let him do all the work alone. There is beauty in your struggle, in your life. He can't betray this for his lord, even if it was the cause of his plight. It's Silver he turns to for help, begging him for guidance through tears as he desperately clings to you. He finds it of course, he never had to do any of this alone, but he should know by now that doesn't guarantee success, no matter how much he wants it to.

[arklayraven]

I can't sleep rn while this annoyed/pissed off. So time to remind people OM is canonly a queer game as hell and to tell the queerphobes and transphobes to FUCK OFF. (Seriously, why are you following me if you hate queer and trans people/characters? Get out of here.)

This is a official post by OM devs over the creation of OM and their MC. Read the left section well.

"OM isn't a queer game" many like to say.

The game, writers and characters beg to differ.

From someone kind who felt they knew all about the game and characters well, even tho they played it themselves.

Let's go back to that official post by Solmare about OM and this section specifically.

Hope you read that well, and the person(and many who think/believe this) learns how damn wrong they are.

Also...God don't bring up my Asmo and act like you know all about him. Another thing from that kind person.

Firstly, canonly none of the characters have set labels. But they are all in fact canonly queer. Whether you like to believe/accept this or not. It's fact, was fact from day one.

Asmodeus is the most openly proud queer boy in the series, and gender nonconforming too at that, even if he uses only he/him pronouns(but he's been shown to be fine being called princess, queen, etc. So he's clearly open to all gendered/less pronouns/labels I feel).

He drips of gender fluidity, and going against gender presentation norms(Babe has presented so fem and nonconforming for awhile now. Learn to look at him and appreciate him better). So take note of all of that, and never say again he's not queer, because that's a damn fucking lie.

Also I hate how bi is used as default for queerness as a whole for characters who are interested in more than one gender, and wish for the day people stop using it as so. (Use MSPEC or just queer if you wish to sound more inclusive of all possible labels/identities for a canon queer character with no canon label set.)

Second, back to what I said before, ALL THE CHARACTERS IN OM ARE QUEER. If you ship your MC or yourself with them, know that's a canon queer character you're pairing them/yourself up with. And you can't erase their queerness and identity. Especially if it makes you personally feel bothered or crap.

And before you say anything, dating them, as a straight woman, doesn't automatically make them straight now too. They are still queer, but are dating you, who happen to be a straight woman. (stop being damn queerphobic challenge.)

I'm already tired of this crap, so gonna end this now and fast.

OM is a canon queer game, and was made with a MC who is genderless to be inclusive of ALL PLAYERS. This opened the door quickly for men, nonbinary, etc players to enjoy the game too, and be part of the fandom as well. There's as much men and nonbinary players in the series like women are, but only difference is in the fandom mainly. Many people choose to see which fans or MCs are more accepted in the community, and which ones to show more love/attention too.

If you tried to expand your horizons more, you will surely quickly find people who identify as men, nonbinary, etc in the fandom as well. And learn how we're here, always been here, just greatly drowned out or ignored by a vast majority of people just because of who we are. (Lots of people with dislike for MCs who are men, or just plain damn queerphobia and transphobia in the works.)

The more people try to ignore the clear fact men and nonbinary people play OM too. The more easier it is for them say OM and its characters aren't canonly queer, and they can feel special/happy about playing the game. That they want to believe was just made to cater to women only. But in reality it was made to be catered to all players, no matter their gender identity or lack of, and same for romantic/sexual attraction.

Also another thing I forgot to add to put more facts that OM is a queer game to be inclusive of ALL PLAYERS.

Already, the undateables from day one are canonly queer too. If you need to be reminded and stated that as well.

That's pretty much it on this annoying tiring topic.

Enjoy playing OM, the canonly queer game made for ALL PLAYERS. <3

[genderqueerdykes]

I saw the post about respecting it/its pronouns users and I wanted to ask a question. I am genuinely curious and want to understand better so I’m sorry if I miss the mark. Personally my discomfort with referring to someone with it/its isn’t from the idea that I don’t personally want to be referred to that way, but from feeling like even though it is being specifically requested, it feels dehumanizing. I think it would be a similar feeling if someone named themselves something that is typically a slur or hate speech. I wouldn’t call them the wrong name but I don’t think I would be able to use their name if that makes sense? It deeply uncomfortable to refer to someone in a way that I see as dehumanizing. I don't know how to get over this thought process. Do you have any suggestions? I want to be able to fully respect people’s choices and pronouns properly and understand.

hello thanks for stopping by!

since i get this exact question constantly, let me phrase it like this:

this is hypothetical, i don't know your real pronouns. but let's say you started telling people "my pronouns are they/them, please use those for me, i only use they/them." and everyone around you went:

"i can't use they/them for you. i won't do that, that feels dehumanizing to me. it makes me uncomfortable."

are those people justified in misgendering you because they are uncomfortable?

all of those things you said:

all of these things are about you. you are are thinking about yourself and your own feelings here, not someone else's.

you cannot project your own personal discomfort on to a total stranger like that. they asked you to be referred to by it/its. you are misgendering them if you refer to them by any other pronouns. that is dehumanizing. instead of getting caught up in how you feel about being referred to as it/its, think about how you're dehumanizing someone else by misgendering them instead!

it's never okay to misgender someone because of how you feel about a pronoun set that genuinely is harming no one. it doesn't matter how you feel about those pronouns as you are not the one being referred to by them. the thing is, you are not being called it/its in this scenario. it is the other person who you are calling that. they told you and asked you to do it first. it's not a bait and switch, you're not getting baited into misgendering someone. it is misgendering when one refuses to use that set of pronouns

my suggestion is question why you felt it was appropriate to consider your comfort over someone else's. do you approach people who use they, he, and she this way? if so, that's something you must address, as those pronouns are also used to dehumanize intersex and trans people every day. every day trans women are dehumanized with he and trans men are dehumanized with she. those can also be deeply dehumanizing pronouns, the focus shouldn't be on it/its

the more you use them for people who want them used for them, the more comfortable it becomes. also, it might be good to just.. ask that person how those pronouns make them feel, what they like about them. it might give you a better perspective on it as opposed to a negative assumption

hope that helps! feel free to ask any more questions you may have. all in all, don't make someone else's queer identity about you. that's the best way to approach any identity that someone asks you to be called that isn't outright appropriative or actually harmful or dangerous.

[bellrocsgf]

Bellroc x GN! Reader

Disclaimers: I am using all he/she/they pronouns for Bellroc and just referring to them as all genders as to my knowledge they are androgynous, pls excuse me if I'm wrong about that

Congratulations, you successfully obtained a flamethrower girlfriend that hates all of humanity. How? good question, onto the head cannons :)

They always have a reason to be right next to you, it's a windy day in the Flying Fortress of the arcane order? what if you get blown away and fall and they need to catch you? You should just stay near him today. Skraels in the room? Youll get too cold! You need to stay next to me just incase (yes Bellrocs presence alone is warmth, they are your personal campfire). You have chores to do around the fortress? What if you get lost? it is giant, he will have Skrael take over watch today so Bellroc can accompany you. "Just admit you wanna spend time with me" "don't imply such nonsense, you are a mere mortal. Should danger arise, You need me to protect you" You get the gist, they aren't paranoid and needs your presence to relax them no no.. You're the one that needs them constantly 100%

He will never admit he is somewhat clingy and if you even dare insinuate that you will get a 2 hour lecture on why you're incorrect in ancient fancy Shakespeare sorcerer language, the "thou"s and "thine"s come out when they get defensive (I'm messing, they get flustered af when they get called out accurately but mask it like hell)

She is definitely the more dominant side of the relationship, if that wasn't obvious. She believes you are like glass and they are very protective of you, they won't outright say they worry for you. Nono you fool thinking they would admit that, they'll make up reasons you can't do certain things and why they have to always accompany you even in the fortress, you have a very hard time getting to touch grass and on the lucky occasion you're out alone, they're just stalking you from afar. They do understand your need for freedom and time to yourself... somewhat.. which is why you're allowed to leave at all, she doesn't necessarily want to upset you so best case scenario, you will never find out whenever you go outside they use spells or even just stalk you themselves 24/7. just to make sure you're safe.. and you come back

cough cough moving on

they will get offended if you ever use a lighter or any other means for a heat source

yes I'm fr, they won't admit it though because he would feel weak to care about that

Bellroc's love language is quality time 100% however they believe human affection is.. stupid. Stuff like cuddling, pda, kissing yeah no and they will say that very confidently. However they wouldn't necessarily stop you if you decided to hug them, they would be confused as to be honest, Nari is the only one that's ever hugged them in their billions of years of existence, also Skrael but that's like a once in a millennium thing and neither of them will ever admit it (they both feel its a weak thing and also they don't like to admit they do have genuine care for each other). If you hug them they will probably just very awkwardly put an arm around you and if you're lucky, they will sit on their knees so you can properly reach them (reminding you they are 6'8... AHH-)

They are willing to stay in your room with you at night or just have you in their own chambers even though they rarely need sleep but if you think they're cuddling you oh nuhuh they are literally just standing at your door staring at you all night. However, if you nag enough and pull the "its so cold" card they might just give you one night, but you are NEVER TO TELL THE OTHERS

Bellroc doesn't in the slightest want to seem soft for you even if they are. They do actually have a slight aversion to touch, it got a lot worse after they were blinded (I head cannon its a spell that allows them to use the pauldrons as eyes and it can get tiring so most of the time they like to just chill out when they can) because of course, now they don't always know somethings gonna touch them before it does. However, there's a minor exception for you

Im tired, pls bring this fandom to life and give me more bellroc

fin.

[seangelfish]

Meet and Greet

Jun Sazanami x Reader ♡ Tags: Fluff, established relationship, romance, no mention of pronouns ♡ Word count: 864 ♡ Synopsis: An idol like yourself shouldn't be spotted at events like this. That's just too risky! But you're here anyway to not only experience what it's like from the fan's point of view, but also to surprise your boyfriend, Jun Sazanami from Eve. ♡ A/N: Had this in the drafts for a while and it is finally finished! I miss my Jun Sazanami phase~ I still love him and he will forever be my dream boyfriend.

Your hair was tied back with a black cap covering your head. Over your eyes laid a pair of dark shades and a mask to cover your mouth. This was the perfect disguise for you to go see your boyfriend at his meet and greet. After all, you were an idol at the same agency he was in, so you had to be careful about being recognised by his fans.

However, what you really came dressed in was not the disguise you should've gone for, but a casual outfit instead. Sure, you still covered your head with a cap, but your whole face was exposed which could lead to trouble.

You thought otherwise though because despite being a popular idol at Cos Pro, you were still going to attend a meet and greet for Eve, a unit that attracts all eyes. So, you didn't need to worry about being recognised as everyone's attention would be only on them. You doubted anyone would look your way if the Hiyori Tomoe and Jun Sazanami were in the same room as them.

You entered the line, awaiting your turn to meet Eve. For some reason, the idea of being here as a fan when you were an idol was absolutely nerve-racking. Maybe you should've gone in disguise? It was too late now as the line started moving forward, yet thankfully enough, as you expected, no one batted an eye at you.

And despite feeling so nervous, you felt a sensation of excitement brew in you. You were going to see your boyfriend from a different perspective! This is so exciting! you thought to yourself happily. I can't wait to see him!

You hummed a little tune to yourself as you watched fans squeal in delight as they readied themselves to shake their favourite idols' hands.

The venue was crowded with girls which wasn't a surprise to you since Eve catered towards that demographic, but a part of you couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous when Jun would dish out his attention to them. At the same time, you were proud of him. He looked so happy and fulfilled to be given such love for his hard work. It was his dream to become an idol, so seeing him smile so brightly like this only made your heart flutter.

"Thank you for supporting me and Eve," he said politely, shaking a fan's hand firmly. "I appreciate it so much."

"O-Of course!" they would bashfully reply, a slight blush appearing on their cheeks. "I will always be your fan!"

You sighed contently at this. You were nearing the front of the line now, so you readied yourself as you stepped in front of the dark blue-haired boy.

Before you could greet him though, his eyes widened at your figure in front of him.

"(Y/N), w-what are you doing here?" he hissed worriedly. "You're not even wearing a mask! Did anyone recognise you? I hope you didn't get harassed... I'll call security later to escort you out, but you shouldn't..."

Despite the shock in his eyes, you could see how they lit up when he saw you.

"Don't worry, Jun," you whispered back. "No one recognised me!"

He sighed but smiled. "Alright, let's get this over with. Take my hands."

You placed your hands in his. As expected, they were calloused and rough, but at the same time, soft. Your boyfriend shook your hands gently, but his grip was tight as if he didn't want to let you go.

"Thank you for coming here to visit me!" he exclaimed. "I appreciate your support so much!"

His usual lines. He really was taking this seriously so that no one would spot you.

You grinned, then said, "Jun, I'm so proud of you. Do you know exactly why I'm here? I'm here to tell you that you've been doing such a good job getting to this point. You've worked so hard and it's admirable. I hope that you keep at it, that life continues to treat you well."

He looked at you dazed, but his eyes glistened. He wasn't sure if it was the lights that had him squinting like this, but your words did take an emotional toll on him.

"And remember that you're loved," you continued.

At that point, he knew that it was you – the reason why his eyes started to water. Your words touched his heart, and hearing them from you made it all worthwhile that he was here, existing, as an idol.

"T-Thank you..." he stammered out. "I really am happy that you're here, (Y/N)–"

"20 seconds left!" reminded one of employees.

"My time's nearly up, Jun," you stated. "Have a good rest of your day. I love you."

You whispered the last part, but only for Jun to hear. Thankfully, he caught it amid chatter.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

"Next!"

You unlinked your hands from Jun's, then stepped away from the table to chat with Hiyori. Jun continued his job greeting the next fans in line, but from the corner of his eye, he kept looking at you, hoping that you, his lover, would have a good day too.

Intro page | Ensemble Stars masterlist | Rules

[katiekatdragon27]

More Flatland stuffff~~~

[Cursive transcript: I'm so sorry this is so sudden, but I had to keep my Chosen safe!]

So, uh, the 4th dimension, am I right?????

So, on my last post, people were more interested in A. Tesseract than I thought. I did not expect her to stir so much interest, but here you go lol.

More under the cut lol / lots of notes:

Some basic information on 4th dimensional beings:

They refer to themselves as "hypersolids" and "polytopes". Only Tesseracts prefer a different name than just "hyper(insert shape here)". When talking to other dimensional beings, they call themselves "Spacelanders".

They usually keep their eyes closed, and they do not emote much.

Their bodies naturally morph as they talk. They are also partially transparent, so you can see their inside movements. Not organs or anything, but the next emotions or actions they are going to express. Sort of like key frames or a fade in effect.

They call "Spacelanders" "Heightlanders".

Their civilization is located in space. They are able to breathe through little pockets of air on their rings that recharge when they enter the atmosphere of other plants. (This is why they are spotted relatively frequently)

Buildings are constantly moving spirals. They also fly everywhere, so they require a lot of energy to maintain their health. Luckily, any stars nearby tend to charge them up just fine.

Also, everyone goes by they/them along with another pronoun if they choose. Gender constructs be damned (or certain groups are fighting for that).

There will be more once I think of it, but that's what I have in the world-building department right now.

Some basic information on Angelica "A." Tesseract (she/they):

She tends to say "I'm sorry" after anything they might think could have been of inconvenience or offensive.

They are relatively soft-spoken, but they are incredibly smart compared to her peers.

Her quiet nature causes others to disrespect and step all over her.

She overthinks LITERALLY EVERYTHING. You could tell her something that is even the slightest bit vague and they have the chance of spiraling.

She KNOWS there are more than four dimensions, but they are struggling to prove it with science.

They are much more emotional compared to other hypersolids. They tend to cry easily.

She chose A. Sphere because of his confidence and drive to get his points across. They admire him for that.

Some basic information on A. Sphere in this:

He's much less snarky. His whole vision of the world was destroyed in the blink of an eye, and he's stuck in another world completely unknown to him. He's going though it currently.

He's still blunt about everything. If you suck, he'll tell you. If you are cool, it'll take a little longer, but he'll tell you.

He got his eye busted after the attack on Messiah Inc. When getting removed from "Heightland", his eye got caught in the blow last minute and it got damaged. He can still open it slightly, but he can't see out of it.

He was relatively indifferent to seeing his body transparent. He was more worried about his eye injury over anything else.

At first, he did not like A. Tesseract (cuz kidnapping), but he learns to appreciate the gesture and does his best to help her out.

[Cursive transcript: For now, I'm afraid so... sorry. / I'm so sorry. If I was just a but faster, I could have saved your eye.]

Yeah, their friendship starts out really rough.

A. Sphere adjusted to the environment very poorly at first. He was very standoffish and snappy, but it then soured to just sorta feeling sad all the time. He gets better eventually the more he learns about the world, but it takes a lot of effort out of A. Tesseract to get him there.

I mean, he expected to die, lost his eye, everyone in "Heightland" hates him now, he lost his business and research, and he fails to take the blame for anything for a while. I would also be super pissed and sad.

A. Tesseract was not any better. She feels an incredible amount of guilt for not stepping in in time to prevent A. Sphere's eye damage, and she constantly apologies to him for everything. This sucks for A. Sphere since he finds it super annoying.

[Cursive transcript: N. H.Sphere: You weren't supposed to bring them HERE! / A. Tesseract: I'm sorry, I had to save him- / N. H.Sphere: I should fire you-!]

N. H.Sphere is a mega grouch. He is A. Tesseract's boss who treats her terribly. Discrediting her work, ignoring their research, and just not valuing her opinion cuz women, he is not fun to talk to or just be around in general. No one knows how HR lets him stay in charge, but some theorize that he pays them off or something.

Despite all of the traumatic crap A. Sphere has gone though in this story, he still does not stand for disrespect from anyone. When he learns that A. Tesseract is constantly being pushed around by her bitchy boss, he decides to defend her.

This solidifies their friendship and later science partnership when the story ends. This also makes N. H.Sphere more resentful towards both A. Tesseract an A. Sphere. This leads to A. Tesseract actually getting fired from her job. Thanks A. Sphere.

[Cursive transcript: N. H.Sphere: Why are you so scared? He's fine! / A. Tesseract: It's my un-medicated anxiety!!]

One of the downsides of being in the 4th dimension and living in space is that the gravitational pull is super sporadic with no real patterns. Some areas have super powerful gravity while others have zero. 4th dimension beings have learned to adjust perfectly fine.

The pressure changes and general lack of oxygen negatively impact A. Sphere's body, however, so to help him be okay, he sits in those vacuum boxes that allow for added pressure to be put on him to help even his breathing. He usually isn't put in unless he is fading in and out of consciousness, since he hates the confined space. It freaks out A. Tesseract every time it happens.

Her boss thinks she's stupid for worrying so much and using company tech. A. Tesseract worries more for A. Sphere than keeping her job, so she ignores N. H. Sphere.

[Cursive transcript: Care to see him again?]

Outside of the partial angst and stuff, this dimension is the reason why A. Sphere shows up in A. Square's hallucination.

During A. Square's trauma-induced hallucination, he shows up in the 4th dimension briefly with the Monarch of Pointland. A. Sphere and A. Tesseract take notice, and she offers him the ability to talk to A. Square one last time for closure reasons.

In this version, this scene would be longer, with A. Sphere possibly apologizing for denying the existence of the 4th dimension and not being able to assist A. Square in the way he wanted to. It's more wholesome and conclusive than transactional like in the movie. The other stuff is there too, but having more sentimental moments would be so cool.

----------

I am very sorry how messy these particular doodles are, I was drawing all these super late at night during my shift, so I was not paying much attention to the flow of the images. When the inspo hits, you don't really realize how incohesive they are until you start photographing the images to post lol

Thank you once again for reading this whole thing, and have a wonderful day :)

[harrypotterfuryroad]

please explain the comic editing drama i'm nosy

ok so it started with this comic by someone who's reasonably popular on twitter, maybe you've seen his stuff before (note: he went tim recently but that's not immediately relevant)

the joke is obvious, but the execution is needlessly wordy. anyway someone quoted it pointing that out

the author found it and decided to touch the poo

and then all hell broke loose

tangential but important here is scott mccloud's understanding comics. anyone who was a career weeb in the mid 2000s will recognize that name since it was stocked in every barnes and noble manga section, but if you haven't read it it's a really good explainer on how comics work as a visual medium. i read it in college for a course on manga and it was literally life changing. it covers all sorts of things about how comics compare to written word, with things like panel spacing, visual composition, and page layouts all being leveraged to get your message across. notably one of the things he covered was how to use text with maximal efficiency, i.e. how to use exactly as many words as you need and no more

i bring this up because the shitstorm that broke out over the comic edit was centered around how the criticisms of wordiness were unfounded and unfair... mostly from people who i know for a fact have retweeted pages from mccloud effusively praising him for being a genius god of visual media

a lot of the big-name pronoun havers immediately declared for the artist's side because as i noted at the top he recently went full-time timmy, and there were a lot of people claiming that the critiques of his work were based entirely in transmisogyphobiny

... ignoring the fact that the guy who made the edit is also among the begendered

part of the critique that got unfairly represented was the guy saying something to the effect of "your composition is so bad that even shitheads like stonetoss are more effective communicators" which then got deliberately misinterpreted as "i love nazi comics and everyone should aspire to be like stonetoss"

and then the artist continued to Tweet Through It despite all common wisdom telling him that doesn't work and this has been going on for at least a whole day

so yeah in this one minor twitter kerfuffle we have:

lefties can't meme without a massive wall of text

terminally online people never beating the low reading comprehension allegations (lots of responses to the tune of "you literally need all that text to know what's going on")

online lefties will be harsher to someone who 98% agrees with them than to someone who openly opposes them

gender identity as a shield

zero continuity in platform, they'll gladly contradict themselves if it means they can dunk on today's main character

and lots of people pointed out that a certain other webcomic artist also famously threw a tantrum over people saying he was excessively wordy and he responded by producing loss.jpg

(which led to my favorite response to the drama:)

[alex51324]

Dear it/its users

OK, so this is a speech I've been working on ever since my sister told me that my two nonbinary niblings had added it/its to their list of pronouns. So far, they haven't indicated that those are their first-choice pronouns, so we've kind of been skirting the issue, but I've been getting this ready, because I love them and want to try to help them avoid long-term unintended consequences as they enter the adult world. Now I'm sharing it with you, because doing so is as nice as I know how to be.

First: If I, as a queer elder and active Tumblr user, have the initial reaction of, "Fuck, these little shits are going to get somebody fired with their 5-edgy-4-U bullshit," that is super-important context for you to know in considering taking this choice out into the larger world.

Now, I have made the effort of educating myself, and I understand that many people who make this choice have substantive reasons that go beyond edgy teen bullshit. However, you have to allow for the fact that the majority of people will not move past their first impression regarding this choice.

Being gender-nonconforming is already a strike against you in a lot of contexts--even in reasonably liberal settings, unconscious bias is a thing. Is being it/its important enough to you to add another strike against yourself?

Second: People are going to be uncomfortable calling you "it," even if you've thoroughly explained why you want them to.

This is different from people not wanting to call you by your chosen name, or wanting to call your by the pronouns for your gender assigned at birth, because these people will be coming from a place of wanting to respect you.

Yes, you can argue with them that calling you as you want to be called is the most respectful option, but they will still be uncomfortable. You can't reason them out of feeling uncomfortable, because they didn't reason themselves into it. It's a feeling. They may get over it in time.

But.

If those people do not already have some prexisting love, loyalty, or commitment toward you, that motivates them to sit with that discomfort and work through it, the easiest way out will be to simply decide that--for some totally unrelated reason, that their conscious mind will be fully convinced is true--you and they just didn't click! You don't seem like a good fit for the job, team, walking tour of the Lake District, whatever it is.

Because people don't like being uncomfortable, and if mentioning your existence puts them in an ethical dilemma, a lot of them will just nope right out of it.

And again, these will be people who are motivated in part by their desire to respect you and your autonomy. They will feel, consciously or not, that you have put them in a shitty position where no matter what they say, they'll feel like they're doing something wrong--

And they, dear nibling, will feel that way because you have. You didn't intend to, but you did.

I love you, and if that is your choice I will get used to it, but I am writing this in the second person for a reason.

Story time: I was trans/nonbinary in nine-teen-fucking-ninety-six. The LGB* organization on my college campus didn't know what the fuck to do with me. When I said in "let's go around the room and introduce yourself" time on the first day of class, that despite what the roster said, I was actually a boy called Alex, people got nervous and looked away, and kind of avoided talking about me for the rest of the semester.

(*By the time I left, it was the LGBT organization.)

And then when I was ready to go to grad school, I had professors tell me that they weren't sure how to write me a letter of recommendation, because they knew I didn't want to be called "she," but if they put "he," the recipient might be confused, and if they put "they" they'd look bad because we were in the English department and "they" is plural.

When I got to grad school, I kept "Alex," but skipped saying anything about my gender identity. It didn't help all that much. I got along well enough with my classmates, but all of the professors seemed to be waiting for me to cause trouble, and as a teaching assistant my student evaluation comments made frequent reference to my gender presentation and how they found my name "confusing." (Another grad student, whose name was James or something like that, went by Kip, and nobody gave him shit about it.) I got an anonymous rape threat in my campus email about my "indoctrinating students with my radical agenda," and the campus cop who responded to the complaint said maybe I should, "Tone it down a bit." (Tone what down? I was dressing and acting pretty much the same as the male half of my class cohort.) I ended up dropping out after the Masters, even though the plan all along had been to do the PhD and have an academic career.

Throughout all this, I was a bit more oblivious than I should have been about the underlying pattern behind all this--blame the autism, I guess.

I don't know, if I'd realized it all, whether i would have made different choices regarding my identity and presentation--since my choices were pretty much limited to "present as my gender assigned at birth, or suffer the consequences."

You, today, nibling, in 2024, have the option of being a "they/them," and if you choose your company right, it won't be a big deal--it'll close some doors, but mainly ones you don't want to go through anyway.

Or you can be an it/its, and watch doors slam in your face.

I will love you and support you either way, dear nibling, but I can't make the world love you.

I--we, my generation--changed the world enough that there's a space in it for people like us. I hope you make that space bigger, better, and brighter, but it hurts to think about you dragging yourself through the same shit we went through. We built a path behind us, so you wouldn't have to.

(P.S., For the love of god, please don't get a nonbinary gender marker on your driver's license; the last thing we need is you getting shot at a routine traffic stop.)

[pianocat939]

I'm kinda not feeling any creativity going through, so have this instead. Also, disclaimer, both parties are undefined in both name and gender so if the pronouns get confusing, I apologize.

Have some Blind Yan because I have no creative juice

Tw: murder (not super descriptive), entrapment, implications of abandonment or disowning of (not MC),

Additional disclaimer: This is an accurate depiction of a certain type of blindness, specifically someone who retains a small amount of their vision. (And I can say accurate because one of my parents is blind so aha- you can't tell me it's wrong.)

Imagine MC being like a fugitive, literally running away for some kind of crime.

And of course, they encounter some terrible weather on their never ending journey. So their miserable selves end up trying to look for a shelter. (It’s giving “food for the poor”)

They find a fairly-sized mansion on the outskirts of a town. It’s so dead and silent, they assume it was abandoned. Even if the mansion seemed so exquisite.

It’s quite dim. They notice the mansion is spotless, with not a single problem in the building at all. Until they notice a lit room down the hall.

Usually they would never approach any possible humans, but in that moment, the curiosity was too much.

In that said lit room, is a person sitting in a chair. Seemingly a library full of…odd books. Books without a proper cover, and held together by rings.

They notice the person is reading…with their fingers. Sliding their fingertips across each line.

MC realizes that the person is blind. Of course, given their current state, they’re going to take advantage of that. Just as they were stepping away from the door frame, a sudden thunder crackles, causing them to flinch and lightly bump into the wall.

Well shit.

“Hello? Is someone here?”

MC is frozen. The person stands up, their arms stretched outwards as they guided themselves through the doorway. A bit faster than MC would have liked.

MC is quick to speed walk away, until the person speaks once more.

“You’ll get sick if you go back out there. You should stay while you’re here…Even just for a few hours.”

MC paused. Does this person not fear the possible dangers? They don’t even know a fugitive is within their home.

.

.

.

And so MC finds themselves drinking tea with this blind one. Oddly not minding their little rambles.

It doesn’t surprise MC that the mansion was bought by their parents. No wonder there were so many expensive braille books. But they found it odd not a single helper was around.

"Oh I only have a cleaner come around twice a week. Everything else is managed by me."

After a few hours, the rain didn't stop at all. If anything, it got worse. MC was deciding whether or not to just suffer through the shivering wetness. Just as they were about to excuse themselves, the blind one stops them, standing up from their chair to face them...Well, trying to.

"Don't leave, just stay. You could get terribly sick from the cold.'

MC just books it. They have nowhere better to go anyway. They reveal a bit about themselves, who they were really. Except saying "wanderer" instead of fugitive. The government can't catch this fucker yet-

In the morning, the rain has stopped. MC was not only woken up by the blind one, but served a plate of food as well. Surprisingly not burnt or too much salt. It looked like a typical dish that anybody could make.

Before MC could even repack their things to leave, the blind one asks, almost begging for them to stay. It seems the loneliness bothers this person. MC is hesitant, but decides to stay.

Over the days, MC notices something. The blind one always seems to be shuffling close by, every spoken word from them making the blind one to smile and hesitantly approach in the direction of sound. It seems the person is a lot more clingy than one would assume.

They are a little amazed the blind one is able to live mostly on their own, even recognizing the light or dark spaces. Even if their movements are hesitant.

.

.

.

Ah but inevitably, the government comes knocking on the mansion door. They're quick to panic, packing up everything they could and about to bolt- until they hear a strangled scream.

They know they should run, but curiosity and maybe even worry for the blind one is too overpowering. They glance down the stairs, and witness something all too shocking.

There's three bloody bodies, their black suits tainted with a slight red. Stab wounds and ripped shirts accompanying the already horrifying scene. In the middle, stands the blind one, huffing a little. They held a kitchen knife in hand. The blind one looks around, outstretching their arms in front of them, stepping forward slowly.

"Dearie? Where are you? No need to run off now, those intruders are gone."

MC, horrified and literally so confused, tries to open the door- but it’s completely locked. Someone hugs them so tight from behind, the bloodied knife still in their hands. MC is more terrified than the time they committed crime all those months ago.

"Don't go. Don't leave me. I made sure they'll never find you. I'm useful, right?" The blind one's voice is desperate, as if they were about to cry. They drop the knife, pinging against the marble floor. "I know I can't see- but I can still do most things just fine. Don't throw me away like everyone else, don't coup me up in this cage like they did. You can stay, and I can pardon your crime."

Tears started to flow from their eyes, as they clutch MC's clothes tightly, their nails digging into the fabric. "Just stay with me. I don't want to be alone and broken anymore. I'm not helpless."

The blind one can cook, cook well it seemed.

-

(I felt like doing a bit of angst and a tiny sprinkle of violence. Bro having both parties with undefined gender or names is HARD to write. But then again this was like last minute scramble typing)

- Celina

[tumblweeds-omegaverse]

assorted thoughts on omegaverses and identity

tl;dr - if queerness is what's outside of the norm, then who and what gets to be queer in omegaverse? that depends! on what? the universe itself. but also the wishes of the person writing it.

also, omegaverse as a trope has vague norms, things that are associated with it in general. (not rules but markers?) if the thing you're thinking of would surprise you if treated as "standard" in a random a/b/o fic or book, you can probably queer code it!

very long version below! seriously, this is long for what it is, and I probably could have written more if the original didn't get eaten by my phone last night. (thoughts may be jumbled or repeat, sorry)

◇

One of the most fun things about omegaverse, for me, has become how it throws things in a box and shakes em around.

What's it mean to be straight or gay in our world? Which group is someone referring to when they say, "I'm attracted to women" or "I'm primarily into men romantically?"

Yeah, I know what it means in general, but what does that specific person intend with those words? I do think there can be a difference.

Omegaverse can help with questioning my real assumptions by nudging me to ask, "What does this mean in this context?" For characters, for societies, and for worlds.

What happens when the signals of who "belongs" in each group change? What shifts when there are more variables?

What even is straight or gay in omegaverse? Depends.

◇

First up: what does it mean to be attracted to a dynamic within a certain verse? Before that can be get answered, there's another question: how do people know what dynamic someone else is?

Is it based on visuals? The body type or shape? What they wear? How they move? Coloration? Height or weight? Are these seen as generalities or treated like requirements? Could a character tell someone else was an alpha while they're blindfolded?

Is it based on olfactory info? Are there scents that signal it? Does it work within arm reach, inside a comfortable conversation range, from across a room, from the other side of a busy street? Is it the same as someone's scent? Are there pheromones involved? Could a character figure it out even through a bad head cold?

Is it based on sound? Are there noises that only one dynamic makes? Is there something about a voice that serves as a tell? Has the society set things up where certain phrasings or pronouns are associated with a dynamic? Would a person wearing headphones know despite the blockage?

Is it all of those things? None of them? A combo?

And then, which ones are associated with sexes instead of dynamics? Are the two similar or separated some way?

Why's it even matter?

◇

(disclaimer: this next bit is about people labeling themselves straight, gay, queer, etc. its identity markers, not behavior, that i'm talking about. i have thoughts about society labeling people in response to perceptions, too!)

Because, when people in our world say "I'm attracted to women," it's not like they mean every woman. But there's still a loose bundle of associated traits they're referring to. A capacity to maybe like some people out of a deeply diverse group. Things that, if they're missing or on another scale, the spark of attraction is less likely, maybe nearly impossible.

Before they can be attracted to a woman, they have a concept of which attractive people ping to them as women in the first place. Not in a demanding "you can't be a woman without this and this!" way, but in a "the traits I find attractive are things usually associated with people who are women" way. What are those traits, to that person?

(am I over analyzing this? yup! 🎊 i'm weird so it's fun!)

More importantly: if a person identifies as a specific thing, it's because it means something to them. There's some purpose it serves - either it adds to how they interact with others, or it helps clarify something about the self. In our world it's (hopefully!) impolite at best to tell somebody that they aren't who they say they are. Our labels hold meaning to us, and help us find commonality with others, and communicate which things we have words for.

(personal example: I haven't always used aroace as a term for myself. But my lived experience is definitely a closer fit to the aroace umbrella than the normative one. There could be someone very similar to me who puts a different word to their experiences, and that's fine. We would be focusing on different parts of our stories.)

◇

When it comes to labels as identity, within omegaverse, I think there's a number of directions it could go:

Attraction to sexes - male, female, etc

Attraction to dynamics - alpha, beta, omega, etc

Are there attractions present in the first place?

In general, I figure that the "main" labels say something about the attractions towards other dynamics. Just because of how important dynamics are treated in most things containing a/b/o tropes. Additional info comes in the form of labels within that umbrella.

◇

Looking at works tagged as omegaverse or a/b/o, there's some patterns, right?

Many relationships are alpha/omega, and the sexes of the people involved don't seem to change that.

In other words, it's less common to see a story where a male alpha is looked down on for pairing with a male omega. It's more common for there to be issues from other people if a male alpha is partnered with another alpha.

So, dynamic-based queerness is more impactful to the characters and/or the story. Queerness based on assigned sex may exist but might not be touched on. Things can vary based on verse, but it's what I've seen most.

That means that an alpha attracted to other alphas might identify as gay in order to signal that difference from the norm. Being into omegas as an alpha is normative, closer to what we see as straight, so anything that's not that? It's queer coded - if you want it to be.

Whether a male alpha who is interested in male omegas would identify as straight or not, is harder to put a finger on for me. It's part of why I think identity labels would say something about what the character finds meaningful.

This alpha could say they're straight if most of their attraction is toward traits connected to omegas. Or they could use gay if most attractions are towards masculine traits. Or it could be something else entirely!

(and this is all assuming that everybody is cis! adding trans characters, gender non conformity, identities outside of or beyond the binary? going into intersections between genders and dynamic and race and assigned sexes? shake that box even more! take nothing for granted! wheeee /excited)

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About umbrella labels and microlabels:

As a real world comparison, somebody can decide to say, "I'm asexual." That could be their one and only label - no talk on gender or sexes, no romantic attraction markers, just ace. There can also be somebody who says "I'm asexual" in one situation, but in another, they get specific. Demisexual homoromantic still isn't normative, and it's still ace, so they belong under that umbrella. So does someone who says "I'm aegosexual" and doesn't use the asexual label often. Each one is communicating something different, perhaps to various people at different times.

There's no reason why this couldn't be present in omegaverse, especially if there are six "common" options known to everyone.

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Where it gets really fun to roll this ball around in my head -

What if m/m and f/f are queer too but not in the same way?

Where do betas fall in all this?

Are there particular intersections that get specific types of stories told about them? How does that change the character's relation to their labels, both chosen ones and ones given to them?

For example: Do male alphas with male omega partners have a different experience than female alphas with female omega partners? What about m/m omega pairs versus m/m alpha pairs versus m/m beta pairs?

Is it possible in the verse to see two people and identify them wrong? If a character sees a masculine looking alpha with a masculine looking beta, are they going to act differently on finding out that one of the two is female? Which option gets the most backlash, if any, and what does that say about the view of masculine females of that dynamic and who they partner with?

Does a female omega who is attracted to betas and alphas identify as straight? Does that change based on the preferred sexes? Would this person identify based on interest or on what they're not attracted to?

Is it less normative for a beta to be attracted to other betas, or to alphas, or to omegas? Would a beta who only is interested in betas be gay or straight? Would they use straight and gay similarly to our world, or in some other way?

If a female beta is self-labeled as a lesbian, for her personally, who does that include? Female alphas? Male omegas? Only other female betas? Are female omegas included? What is she communicating through her label? What does that say about how people in her world view "same" and "different" attractions?

Do people label their sexual or romantic or other attractions the way we would at all? Or is it so different within their society that the terms don't map, and the info shared is about something else?

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So, that was a lot, with no answer besides "depends! lol". But because there's no ultimate rules of what makes a setting an omegaverse setting, that means you can design it however you like, and then create or borrow terms to fit!

I'm pretty sure I've seen posts of crafted terms for things like "attraction to alphas" or "omega attracted to omegas" so those could help. I think it's also possible to use some of the same logic behind queer microlabels and create your own!

For example, isoeidyllic could label "a person who is romantically attracted to the same dynamic." I literally just stole the "iso-" prefix from Greek and added it to the word for romance. An alternative could be equiromantic? With equiro as a shorthand. (not sure if that's a word in another language but probably good to check!)

Or you could keep it simple and do a4a, b4o, and similar for people without multi attractions. I don't see anything wrong with using pan, omni, poly, and other existing prefixes for people with multiple attractions either.

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I haven't made terms yet, but I'd like to. The issue for me is that they'd all be unique to their settings. I keep making each one juuuust different enough where the definitions wouldn't fit neatly...if "what or who is an alpha?" changes, then the labels used to describe attraction to an alpha would also be different, or at least, organized around different ideals, right?

Quick examples:

setting 1: alphas can be any sex or gender, dynamic is signified by scent cues and pheromones, attraction labels are used to signal what one isn't attracted to due to the number of combos. (12 in total)

setting 2: alphas are masculine coded but can be any gender, dynamic cues are scent oriented with build secondary, so attraction labels are used to signal what scent families one is attracted to.

setting 3: alphas are considered male no matter their gender expression because dynamic has taken the "role" of assigned sex at birth, dynamic cues are linked to visuals and scent about equally, labeling is based on behavior rather than on identity.

Whyyyy do I keep making it impossible to reuse my own work? Though that probably explains why I'm researching the speed of wagon travel and technology levels by century and various biomes and what scent families are and animal symbolism, instead of actually writing...or outlining...or finishing character notes...hahaha.

I mean, I'm having fun, but setting 1 has been going through various changes since October of 2023 and I certainly can't write my scenes where the cast bond at a festival if I haven't figured out how people celebrate yet, or what clothes they wear during which seasons, or what foods they eat on special occasions, right? I should at least know in a vague sense...right?

Right??? 😭

(help i am trapped in worldbuilder limbo /affectionate??)

also: all of this was sparked by somebody else's post that showed up on my dash with no notes and I didn't reblog because I was at work with too many thoughts and now I can't find it 🫠

[aidansloth]

{Toilet Stalls - Gareth Emerson X Reader}

Summary: Reader gets their period at a rather unconventional time and Gareth helps.

Warnings: the readers gender isn't specified but they have their period and go in the girls' toilets, period stuff, swearing, they/them and you/you pronouns used.

Words: 1.8k

Taglist: @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles @manyfandomsfanvergent

a/n: in this one-shot you and Gareth aren't together yet. I tried making it longer than usual, not sure it turned out okay (feedback is very appreciated). this took me less than a day to write??? ohmygodhow???

"Hey! It's not my fault the bartender stabbed you!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have flirted with him, how's that?" Jeff and Grant were arguing again about the last DnD session while everyone else was either enjoying the drama or having their own little chat at the Hellfire table.

You and Gareth were laughing at their dramatics as Eddie restrained from throwing his pretzels at them, affectionately of course. You had been feelinga bit off today, a bit more irritable than usual but their theatrics did make you feel better at least. Gareth also did, just by being there honestly. You didn't tell anyone about the headache you had, but Gareth sort of knew something was up with you. He even offered you half of the roasted potatoes on his plate, which meant a lot since they're the only edible thing the school cafeteria offered. The others were too invested in the arguement to notice the little gesture.

"I told you, I didn't know she was a changeling!"

"That's 'cause your rolls are shit!"

You tried to suffocate a laugh at the last comment (at which Eddie lost his temper and hit Jeff in the eye with the tiny pretzel), Gareth instead didn't even try to contain himself as he burst into laughter. God his laugh was so pretty.

You winced at the strong pain in your head and then it hit you. Fuck. You felt the glob of blood leave your insides, and your face grimaced. You didn't even have a pad on you, you just had to forget to refill your bag with them. You were truly fucked. You stood up in a rushed manner and told everyone you needed the bathroom. They all nodded apart from Jeff and Grant were truly too wound up in their little bickering to notice you. Gareth looked at you leaving, partly worried at your sudden leave. He knew you refused to go to the toilet during lunch (even when the teachers told you off for going during class) because 'Lunch time is for eating, not pissing. Otherwise they would've called it piss break'. You did get detention when you said that to the supply teacher, but his face was totally worth it, or so you said. Either way, he can't just run after you, can he?

You ran across the semi-empty halls not caring about the weird looks you got, it's not like you weren't used to them by now. As soon as you reached the toilet you flung yourself inside the furthest of the stalls and locked yourself in it. Turning around you remembered that the school's budget was indeed shit, as the toilets were without toilet seats. Quickly, you pulled down your pants and saw a dark red stain on them. Sighing, you leaned on the wall near you and slid down it. Probably shouldn't since these walls haven't been washed in God knows how long.

I'm so fucked. What am I going to do now? I'll probably just stay in here until school is over and rush out after everyone is gone.

Were you being a tad bit dramatic? Maybe, but it's not like toilet paper is going to contain your heavy flow. The guys surely didn't have any pads or tampons with them, and it's not like you can ask the other girls in your classes; apart from not liking you very much, they also didn't have the whole 'supporting eachother' thing down.

You tried to steady your breath when you felt your eyes fill themselves with tears, which began staining your cheeks. You bit down onto your lip and tried to blink the tears away uselessly.

★★★

Minutes had gone by, he didn't know how many precisely, but way too many for a quick piss. Gareth kept eyeing the cafeteria entrance but nothing, you were nowhere to be seen. Sure, you didn't specify that you had to pee, but it's not like you were taking a shit in there, you weren't that brave. Maybe you felt sick. Maybe you had been sick. You looked sick from this morning, he knew you weren't going admit that though, so he offered help from the sidelines. I mean, at least they accepted the roasted potatoes, meaning they aren't that ill.

Anxiety crept up in him, he began bouncing his leg and tapping his fingers on the table. What if you fainted or something? What if you were throwing up by yourself? And he wasn't there to help you.

"What's wrong Gare?" his head shot up at his name being mentioned.

"What?"

"Something wrong, you're fidgeting." Eddie stared at him curiously. Gareth gulped, then spoke.

"They've been gone a bit too long, don't you think?"

"They're probably taking a shit." said Grant.

"At school?" they all looked at eachother and collectively agreed that no one in the right mind would do that in the school toilets. Gareth stood up and passed his Dr. Pepper to Jeff, who had been eyeing it all lunch.

"I'm going to check on them." the others nodded at him and Jeff gave him a pat on the back and a knowing look. He sighed at his best friend and left. He made his way through the corridors and when he arrived to the toilets he froze. He could hear sniffling and heavy breathing; he checked if the hallways were empty before cautiously stepping into the toilets. He wasn't fond of entering the girl's toilets like this but he was sure it was you in that stall, and no way in hell was he going to leave you like that.

"Hey, sugar?" he flinched at his own words, realising the pet name that slipped up. The sniffling and the breathing stopped for a second.

"Gareth?"

"That's me." He could hear your voice muffled and hiccup-y; it made his heart clench.

"What are you doing here?" you sat up unconsciously and tried to dry your own tears, as if he could see you. Gareth let out a surprised sigh at your question.

"You've been gone for like, ten minutes you know. And don't say you've been peeing, because it does not take you that long to pee. It doesn't take anyone that long to pee." Gareth sat down in front of your stall cross-legged. You smiled softly, glad that he was here with you. Before you could get a word in you hear some ruffling and then a hand appears under the stall's door. Gareth just gave you a tissue.

"Thank you." you said chuckling.

"So, you going to tell me why you're crying in the school toilets like this is a teenage drama?" he tried to soften the mood, earning another chuckle from you. You stared fondly at the tissue before wiping your tears away.

"I, ehm-" you gulped and steadied you breathing, "I got my period." There was a moment of silence.

"Can I come in?" you were shocked at first, that he wanted to see you now, at all times. You agreed and unlocked the door for him; he got in and sat next to you, giving you a smile.

"Does it hurt really bad? Or is it like, a heavy flow?" you were happily surprised at his words, that he even knew those words honestly. Thank you Mrs. Emerson.

"No- well yes, but that's not the reason I'm crying."

"Why are you crying then?" He looked even more worried than before. You looked down at the dirty toilet floor and started fidgeting with your hands.

"I don't have any pads. Or tampons, for that matter. Toilet paper around my underwear is not going to be enough for the rest of the day and my pants are already stained. It's not like I can just ask the other girls for pads you know," you were starting to ramble and the tears were building up again, "and- and I'm just going to... stay here. For the rest of the day you- you know, 'cause what can I do? I should have remembered to bring pads, fuck! I'm so, so stupid-"

"Hey! You're not stupid, alright? You forgetting something does not mean you're stupid." He turned to you and cupped your face as if you were going to break apart any minute. His thumbs caressed your cheeks, wiping the last tears away. You just stared at him, unable to speak; suddenly Gareth's eyes lit up.

"I think I have a solution to your problem, I just need to go and get it, okay sugar? I'll be gone for just a minute." He quickly stood up giving you a kiss on the top of your head and left running, while you pretended that your heart didn't just skip a beat at the pet name.

As he promised, he came back running and got in your stall rushing.

"Here." You looked at what he had just handed you, it was a pad. You kept your gaze on it, blinking with your mouth agape, unable to form words. Now that you stared at it a bit more, you noticed it was a heavy flow pad, and one of the top brands too. Where did he find a pad?

"Where- who- how, how do you have this? Who did you ask?" your gaze switched between him and the pad.

"No one. I had it in my bag."

"You- you carry pads? In your- your bag? With you?" He chuckled and nodded.

"I usually have them with me in case my sister gets her period and doesn't have any on her, but I thought it was better to carry them all the time, if anyone was ever in need of one." He smiled proudly, happy that his good thinking managed to help someone, especially because you were that someone.

"God, remember me to thank your mom next time I see her." This got a laugh out of him, a sweet, warm laugh that made you all tingling inside.

"Well, I'll let you get changed." He stood up, dusting off his knees and as he was about to open the door you stopped him.

"Wait, what about my pants? They're already stained."

"Right, forgot about that. Here," he took off the sweater he was wearing and handed it to you, "tie it around your waist." You nodded and as you followed his words he noticed how cute you looked with his sweater around you, his cheeks began to darken. God, they're not even wearing it and you're this flustered? You're so whipped.

"Thank you so much. I'll give it back to you tomorrow, okay?" You can keep it if you want. Gareth refrained from saying those words, instead he just nodded. The two of you exited the toilets and stopped in the corridors. You thanked him again and hugged him real tight, his arms around you felt right. Like they were meant to be there, to protect you. His lips turned into a tiny smile and he kissed your cheek. Then the hug broke.

"Well, see you later sugar." You said as you started walking backwards in the opposite direction. You smirked to yourself as you noticed his cheeks getting more red than ever. God, you're whipped.

[anameistoohard]

Do most systems use we/us?

We can't speak for most systems, only our experience and what we've seen.

Our use of plural pronouns are context specific. We're rather open about being a system online, so tend to use them here. Irl is a very different case however. Only three people know we're plural and we still tend to mask around them. Of those three people we've used plural pronouns around just one, and only a handful of times.

We've seen a lot of systems share similar sentiments of only telling people in specific situations. A lot don't let anyone know unless it's fully anonymous, like with a throwaway account. We've seen some talk about slipping plural pronouns into their speech subtly without explaining it. And we've seen a handful who are completely open about being a system in all aspects of their life. Some even have little badges, name tags, or other indicators to let people know who's fronting. Which is.. cute af in my opinion c: I'd love to feel safe enough to be that open.

Some systems have a personal philosophy on systemhood where they adamantly deny any language that would even allude to them being "more than one person". They don't like being called "plural" and are more like "These are all just parts of me. Different aspects of one person." They way more emphasize the parts of a whole aspect over the individuality of each alter.

I bring this up because the more you get into this stuff, the wider the range of experiences you start to see. There really is no one way to be a system. Or... fuckin', a human being for that matter.

Oh and I should mention, systemhood is still a heavily stigmatized thing. A lot of systems don't want to bring unwanted attention to themselves by using plural pronouns.

Not sure who wrote this one. I think we might've switched a few times throughout.