#and it shouldn’t be concise either

[secretly-an-automaton]

at some point in my life I need to have someone record me walking around blindfolded while they shout navigations at me, just so I know how impressed I should be with Arthur’s faring as well as he has and looking even mildly normal about it

[writingforstraykids]

I love you - I doubt it

Pairing: Chan x gn!reader

Word Count: 1571

Summary: Chan gets a message that would've made him the happiest man on earth only a while ago. Now, he doesn't know what to believe anymore.

Warnings/Tags: angst, chan centered

A/N: This is for you, pretty @zehina, my fellow angst lover🤭 Hope you like it🖤🖤

do not repost, translate, or plagiarize my works in any way here or on other platforms. ©️writingforstraykids 2024 -

Chan sat on his bed, staring at the glowing screen of his phone. His room was dimly lit, the soft hum of the air conditioner the only sound filling the silence. He had just finished scrolling through the usual notifications, his mind dulled by the routine of checking emails, missed calls, and scattered messages. But then, amidst the noise of daily communication, one message stood out, its simplicity pulling him out of the monotony of his scrolling.

I love you.

It was from you. He blinked, momentarily frozen. The words, clear and concise, hung there in the quiet air, reverberating in his mind. There was a time when those words would have lit up his world. He could still remember the first time you’d said them—how his heart had leaped, how his breath had caught in his throat. The flood of warmth, the feeling of being seen, of being valued. But now, as he stared at those three words on the screen, something had shifted.

He didn’t feel the familiar rush of emotion. Instead, his first thought was cold, dispassionate, and bitterly practical.

I doubt it.

He immediately regretted thinking it, but it was the truth. He couldn’t escape the gnawing doubt that had been creeping into his mind for months now. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to believe you still loved him. It wasn’t that he wanted to give up on the idea of you and him. It was just that, over time, something had changed. And he wasn’t sure if either of you had noticed it, or maybe you were just better at pretending it hadn’t.

He sat back against the headboard, his fingers grazing the side of the phone absentmindedly. The message stayed on the screen, taunting him with its simplicity. I love you. Those words should be enough, shouldn’t they? They should fix whatever invisible distance had begun to stretch between you. They should have the power to pull him back into that feeling, that intoxicating sense of connection. But they didn’t.

Instead, they felt like a promise he wasn’t sure you could keep anymore. Or maybe it was a promise neither of you had the energy to uphold.

It wasn’t like this before. There was a time when you two were inseparable, emotionally intertwined in a way that had felt so natural, so effortless. You had shared everything, from the smallest, most insignificant details of your day to the deep, raw vulnerabilities that you hid from everyone else. He had loved you for that – how you trusted him, how you opened yourself to him completely. And he had given you the same in return, never hesitating to share his fears, his dreams, his uncertainties.

But life has a way of complicating things. Chan found himself thinking back over the last year, the slow, almost imperceptible drift that had started to happen. It wasn’t a single moment, not a dramatic argument or a hurtful betrayal. It was more like the erosion of a coastline, gradual and unnoticed until one day you look up, and the shore is so far from where it once was. That’s how it felt between you two now. The connection that had once felt so solid, so unshakeable, now felt fragile, like it could break with a single careless touch.

It was little things at first. The missed calls, the forgotten details, the way you had started to prioritize other aspects of your life over time spent together. He had noticed it but hadn’t wanted to make a big deal out of it. Everyone grows and changes, right? People have different needs at different times in their lives. He had convinced himself that it was just a phase, that soon things would go back to the way they were.

But they hadn’t.

The silences between you had grown longer. The once easy, flowing conversations had started to falter, punctuated by awkward pauses where neither of you seemed to know what to say. You both tried to fill the gaps with reassurances, gestures of affection, but they felt forced, like you were trying to recapture something that had already slipped away.

And now, here was this message. I love you. The words felt like they came from a different time, a different version of you. The version of you that still shared everything with him, that still looked at him with that unguarded expression of trust. But that version had faded, hadn’t it? Replaced by someone more distant, more distracted. And maybe, just maybe, he had changed too. Maybe he wasn’t as attentive as he used to be, wasn’t as present.

Chan sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. He wished he could just respond the way he once would have—I love you too. It had been automatic, instinctive before. But now, it felt like a lie. Not because he didn’t care about you, not because he didn’t want to love you. But because there was something hollow about those words now, something that didn’t ring true.

He wondered if you felt it too. Did you send that message out of habit? Was it a routine? Or did you still mean it, deeply, truly, the way you had when you first said it? He couldn’t be sure. And that’s what scared him. The doubt, the uncertainty. How had it come to this? How did something that once felt so right now feel so wrong?

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in love anymore. He did. But he wasn’t sure if what you two had was still love, at least not in the way it had once been. Maybe it had transformed into something else—something more complicated, less romantic. Something more like mutual obligation, or familiarity, or a kind of quiet companionship. But love? That passionate, all-consuming feeling that had once defined your relationship? He wasn’t sure if that was still there.

He put the phone down on the bed beside him, leaving the message unanswered for now. He needed time to think, to sort through his feelings. He wasn’t ready to respond until he could figure out what he truly felt and what he wanted. Maybe you two were just going through a rough patch. Maybe this was something you could work through if you both put in the effort. But then again, maybe this was the beginning of the end.

The thought made his chest tighten with a strange mix of fear and resignation. The idea of losing you was painful, but there was also a part of him that wondered if letting go would be a relief. The constant questioning, the persistent doubt, the weight of a love that no longer felt easy—it was exhausting. Could you two really go on like this? Or was it time to face the truth that something fundamental had changed between you, something that might never be the same again?

Chan leaned his head back against the headboard, closing his eyes. He replayed your relationship in his mind, the early days when everything was new and exciting, the middle years when you had settled into a comfortable rhythm, and now, this period of uncertainty. He realized that love wasn’t just a feeling. It was work. It was commitment. It was choosing each other, every day, even when things got hard. Lately, he wasn’t sure if either of you were still choosing each other the way you once did.

He didn’t want to admit it, but part of him was angry. Angry that you had let things slip, that you hadn’t fought harder to keep the connection alive. But then again, he knew it wasn’t fair to blame you entirely. He was just as responsible for the distance that had grown between you. Maybe he hadn’t been paying attention. Maybe he had let himself get too caught up in his own world, in his own doubts.

Still, the message lingered. I love you. It was such a simple phrase, but it carried so much weight. He wanted to believe it. He wanted to trust that it was still true. But the doubt remained, like a shadow he couldn’t shake.

“I doubt it,” he whispered to himself again, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He hated feeling this way. He hated that he couldn’t just accept your love at face value anymore, that he had to question it, analyze it, pick it apart. He missed the days when love felt simple, when it was just you and him against the world.

But those days were gone, weren’t they? Now, it felt like it was just him, sitting alone in his room, staring at a message that should have meant everything, but instead, left him feeling empty.

Chan wasn’t sure what the future held for you two. Maybe you could work through this, find a way back to each other. Or maybe this was the beginning of a slow, inevitable drift apart. Either way, he knew one thing for sure—something had changed. And once change happens, there’s no going back to the way things were. Not really.

For now, all he could do was sit with the uncertainty, with the doubt. And as he lay back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, he couldn’t help but wonder if love, a relationship, friendship, was supposed to feel this complicated, this fragile. Or if maybe, just maybe, it was time to let go.

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[whumpinggrounds]

Overused Disability Tropes

Woohoo here we go. I expect this one to be a bit more controversial because I am using specific media as examples. I would really prefer if, when critiquing this post, you avoid defending specific media, and focus instead on what’s actually being said/represented about disabled communities. If you feel I’ve done a really grave injustice, you can come into my askbox/DMs/replies to talk to me about it, but I might not answer.

One more time: I am not interested in getting into a debate about whether something is a good show/movie/book/whatever. I’m not telling you it’s bad, or that you shouldn’t enjoy it! People can like whatever they want; I am only here to critique messaging. Do not yell at me about this.

Newest caveat aside, let’s get into it!

Inspiration Porn

Without a doubt, our biggest category! Term coined in 2012 by badass activist Stella Young, but the trope has been around for literal centuries. There are a few different kinds that I will talk about.

Disabled character/person is automatically noble/good because of their disability. A very early example would be A Christmas Carol’s Tiny Tim, or, arguably, Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Real life examples include the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon, or children’s hospital ads that exploit sad-eyed kids with visible illness or disability.

Having a disability does not automatically make you a kind/angelic/noble person. This many not seem harmful, and may even seem positive, but in reality, it is condescending, inaccurate, and sets bizarre standards for how disabled people should behave.

This portrayal is often intended to elicit pity from abled audiences, which is also problematic.

In these portrayals, disability is not something to be proud of or identify with, only something to be suffered through.

Disabled character person does something relatively mundane and we all need to celebrate that. This is less common in writing, but happens in the real world when people do things like post pictures of disabled people at the gym captioned “What’s your excuse?”

This is condescending, and implies that anything disabled people are capable of, abled people are automatically capable of.

Makes it seem like it’s an incredible feat for a disabled person to accomplish tasks.

Uses people’s actual lives and actual disabilities as a reminder of “how good abled life is.”

The “Supercrip” stereotype is a specific kind of inspiration porn in which disabled people are shown to be capable of amazing things, “in spite of” their disability.

The Paralympics have been criticized for this, with people saying that advertisements and understandings of the Paralympics frame the athletes as inspiring not because they are talented or accomplished, but because their talents and accomplishments are seen as “so unlikely.”

Other examples include the way we discuss famous figures like Stephen Hawking, Alan Turing, or even Beethoven. Movies like The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game frame the subjects’ diagnoses, whether actual or posited, as limitations that they had to miraculously break through in order to accomplish what they did. Discussions of Beethoven’s deafness focus on how incredible it was that he was able to overcome it and be a musician despite what is framed as a tragic acquisition of deafness.

The pity/heroism trap is a concise way of defining inspiration porn. If the media you’re creating or consuming inspires these emotions, and only these emotions, around disability, that is a representation that is centered on the feelings and perceptions of abled people. It’s reductive, it’s ableist, and it’s massively overdone.

Disabled Villains

To be clear, disabled people can and should be villains in fiction. The problem comes when disabled people are either objects of pity/saintly heroes, or villains, and there is no complexity to those representations. When there is so little disabled rep out there (less than 3.5% of characters in current media), having a disabled villain contributes to the othering of disability, as well as the idea that disability can make someone evil. There are also a few circumstances in which particular disabilities are used to represent evil, and I’ll talk about how that’s problematic. 

Mentally ill villains are colossally overdone, particularly given that mentally ill people are more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators of it.  This is true of all mental illness, including “””scary””” things like personality disorders or disorders on the schizoaffective spectrum. Mental illness is stigmatized enough without media framing mentally ill people as inherently bad or more suspectible to evil. This prejudice is known as sanism.

Explicit fictional examples of this include the Joker, or Kevin Wendell Crumb in Split.

People can also be coded as mentally ill without it being explicitly stated, and that’s also problematic and sanist. In the Marvel movie Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda’s appearance and behavior are coded as mentally ill. This is used to make her “creepy.” Horror movies do this a lot - mental illness does not render someone creepy, and should not be used as a tool in this way.

Visible disability or difference to indicate evil is another common, incredibly offensive, and way overdone trope. This is mostly commonly done through facial difference, and the examples are endless. These portrayals equate disability or disfigurement with ugliness, and that ugliness with evil. It renders the disabled villain in question an outcast, undesirable, and uses their disability or difference to dehumanize these characters and separate them from others. This is incredibly prevalent and incredibly painful for people with visible disability or facial difference.

An example of visible disability indicating evil is Darth Vader’s prosthetics and vastly changed physical appearance that happen exactly in time with his switch to the dark side. In contrast, when Luke needs a prosthetic, it is lifelike and does not visually separate him from the rest of humanity/the light.

Dr. Who’s John Lumic is another example of the “Evil Cripple” trope.

Examples of facial difference indicating evil range from just about every James Bond movie, to Scar in the Lion King, Dr. Isabel Maru in Wonder Woman, Taskmaster in Black Widow, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and even Doofenschmirtz-2 in Phineas and Ferb the Movie. Just because some of the portrayals are silly (looking at you, Phineas and Ferb) doesn’t make the coding of facially scarred villains any less hurtful.  

A slightly different, but related phenomenon I’ll include here is the idea of the disability con. This is when a character fakes a disability for personal gain. This represents disabled people as potential fakers, and advances the idea that disabled people get special privileges that abled people can and should co-opt for their own reasons. 

In The Usual Suspects, criminal mastermind Verbal Clint fakes disability to avoid suspicion and take advantage of others. In Arrested Development, a lawyer fakes blindness in order to gain the sympathy and pity of the jury.

In much more complex examples such as Sharp Objects, a mother with Munchausen by proxy fakes her daughter’s illness in order to receive attention and pity. Portrayals like this make Munchausen or MBP seem more common than it is, and introduce the idea that parents may be lying or coaching their children to lie about necessary medical treatment.

Disability as Morality

Sometimes, the disabled character themselves is a moral lesson, like Auggie in Wonder. Sheerly through existing, Auggie “teaches” his classmates about kindness, the evils of bullying, and not judging a book by its cover. This also fits well under inspiration porn. This is problematic, because the disabled character is defined in terms of how they advance the other characters’ morality and depth.

In the “Disabled for a Day” trope, an otherwise abled character experiences a temporary disability, learns a moral lesson, and is restored to full ability by the end of the episode/book/movie. Once again, disability is used as a plot device, rather than a complex experience, along with more permanent disability being rejected as impossible for heroes or main characters.

Examples include an episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye is temporarily blinded, an episode of Law and Order: SVU where Elliott Stabler is temporarily blinded, and an episode of Criminal Minds where Agent Hotchner experiences temporary hearing loss.

Real life examples include sensitivity trainings where participants are asked to wear a blindfold, headphones, or use a wheelchair for a given amount of time. This does not impart the lived experience of disability. It should not be used as a teaching tool. 

Disabled people as inherently pure. This is related to inspiration porn and disabled people as noble, but is different in that it is usually appears in combination with developmental, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities. These characters are framed as sweet, “simple,” and a reminder to other characters to be cheerful, happy, or grateful.

Examples include Forrest Gump, Rain Man, I Am Sam, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

No matter what the stereotypes of a given diagnosis are (yes, I’m thinking of the automatic cheerfulness associated with Down Syndrome), disabled people have personalities. They are capable of being sad, angry, sarcastic, irritable, annoying - any number of things beyond good/sweet/pure. It is reductive to act otherwise.

Disability as Surreal

Less common than some of the others, but still worth thinking about!

Disabled characters are framed as mystical, magical, or other than human, a condition that is either created by or indicated through their disability status. This is especially common with little people.

“Disability superpower” is when a character compensates for, or is uniquely able to have a superpower because of, their disability. Common tropes include the Blind Seer, Blind Weapon Master, Genius Cripple and Super Wheel Chair.

Examples include Pam from Supernatural, Charles Xavier from X-Men, or the grandpa in Spy Kids.

Disability as Undesirable

Last and least favorite category here. Let’s go.

Disabled people as asexual or not sexually desirable. Disabled people can be asexual, obviously. When every portrayal is asexual, that’s a big problem. It frames disabled people as sexually undesirable or implies that it is impossible for people with disabilities to have rewarding, mutually satisfying sexual relationships.

Examples include The Fault in Our Stars or Artie in Glee.

Abandoned due to disability. Hate this trope. Often equates disability with weakness. Don’t want to talk about it. It’s all right there in the title. Don’t do it.

Examples: Quasimodo in Hunchback of Notre Dame, several kittens in the Warrior Cat series, several episodes of Law and Order: SVU, Bojack Horseman, and Vikings.

Discussed in 300 and Wolf of Wall Street.

Ancient cultures and animal nature are often cited as reasoning for this trope/practice. This is not founded in fact. Many ancient civilizations, including Sparta, cared for disabled people. Many animals care for disabled young. These examples should not be used to justify modern human society.

Disabled characters are ostracized for disability. Whether they act “““normal”““ or odd, characters with visible or merely detectable disabilities are treated differently.

Examples include pretty much every piece of media I’ve said so far. This is particularly prevalent for people with visible physical disabilities or neurodivergence. Also particularly prevalent for characters with albinism.

This is not necessarily an inaccurate portrayal - disabled people face a lot of discrimination and ableism. It is, however, very, very common.

Bury your disabled. What it says on the label.

Examples: Animorphs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, American Horror Story, Criminal Minds, Dr. Who, Star Trek, The Wire.

Mercy killing is a subtrope of the above but disgusting enough that it deserves its own aside. I may make a separate post about this at some point because this post is kind of exhausting and depressing me.

Examples: Me Before You, Killing Eve, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Of Mice and Men, and Million Dollar Baby.

Disability-negating superpowers imply that disability is undesirable by solving it supernaturally instead of actually portraying it, and giving their character powers instead.

Examples include (arguably) Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Legend of Korra, Dr. Strange, and Daredevil.

Overcoming disability portrays disability as a hindrance and something that can be defeated through technology and/or willpower.

Fictional examples include WALL-E, Kill Bill, The Goonies, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Heidi, The Secret Garden, The Inheritance Cycle, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Strangelove, Sherlock, The Witcher.

Real life examples include videos of wheelchair users standing from their chair to walk down the aisle at a wedding, or d/Deaf children “hearing” for the first time through cochlear implants.

What Does This Mean for Your Writing?

First of all, congratulations for making it this far!

Now, as I have said again and again, I’m not going to tell you what to write. I’ll ask some questions to hopefully help guide your process.

What tropes might you be playing into when writing disabled characters? Why do you find these tropes compelling, or worth writing about? How prevalent are these tropes? How harmful are they? What messages do they send to actual disabled people?

Just because they are common tropes does not mean they are universally awful. Cool fantasy or futuristic workarounds are not necessarily bad rep. Showing the ugly realities of ableism is not necessarily bad rep. It’s just a very, very common representation of disability, and it’s worth thinking about why it’s so common, and why you’re writing it.

As always, conduct your own research, know your own characters and story, and make your own decisions. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please hit me up! Add your own information! This is not monolithic whatsoever.

Happy writing!

[signanothername]

firstly: AAA YOUR ART AND COMICS AND STUFF ARE SO AMAZING!!!!

secondly: do you have any advice on how to come up with comics and then get them out of your head and onto paper?

BZHXHXHD THANK YOU SM!!!

And ooh that’s a good question

I usually come up with comics in one of two ways, either seeing something (whether another artwork, a text, something irl, etc) that inspires an idea for a comic, or via artworks I made that I expand on

Other times, it can actually be both

For example, the “A little life update” comic was actually inspired by this beautiful artwork, I saw it, and I immediately thought of Killer, idk something something about the despair of being stuck between a rock and a hard place etcetera etcetera (yes the comic that shows Killer to be in such a better place in life and show the hope he has, was inspired by crushing despair in actuality)

It made me wanna do something with Killer trying to call someone on a public phone, and so the first page came to be

Here’s the twist tho, I originally was gonna just make it into an artwork (yes, one single decision could’ve meant that comic wouldn’t have ever been made)

But a lil habit of mine is ask myself a shit ton of questions when it comes to my own artworks (it actually helps me turn what’s supposed to be artworks into comics), and that’s another way of how you can come up with comics, ask yourself questions, why is the character doing this? What are they doing? What if character did this? Etc

so I saw what was originally gonna be an artwork, and asked myself, who would Killer be calling if he ever did and why?

And the answer to those two questions that made sense to me most was Nightmare, but that led me to two more questions, when would Killer be calling Nightmare and for what?

And that led me to have a basic idea of how I wanted the comic to go

So it was basically like

Who would Killer be calling? Nightmare

Why would Killer be calling Nightmare if he ever did? That actually had different answers, to taunt him, to inform him of something, cause he misses Nightmare in his own fucked up way, etc

When would Killer be calling Nightmare? After he’s saved, or while still under him? After he’s saved makes more sense

What would Killer call Nightmare for? To give him an update about his life with Color

How would Killer be calling Nightmare? Through a public phone

Where would Killer be calling from? Somewhere in an AU in the surface

These six questions, what, why, when, who, where, how, are important to think of, they give you a basis to work on when it comes to comics in general

You don’t need to have a very clear answer to each of them to be able to work on a comic, but if you can at least answer 3 of them, that would give you enough information to work with in a comic

Now that I have a tiny bit of a clear idea about what I wanted to do (it doesn’t have to be perfect or completely concise) let’s talk about how you take these ideas out of your head and into paper

You can do that by imagining the dialogue in your head and then immediately putting it into paper, as I mentioned here, I actually struggle a lot with dialogue, art? No problem, I can easily imagine the art, but dialogue? It’s hell (please take the time to read the linked post, I talk in depth about how I handle dialogue)

That’s why you shouldn’t worry about perfection at this stage, just put every little piece of dialogue you imagine into paper, even if it feels like it makes no sense or is out of character, that’s something you can worry about later

Put in the dialogue, every little bit of it, and draw the panels that feels right for the dialogue

Here’s a little bit of example about what I mean when I say put the dialogue in then draw panels that make sense for it

This is a comic I plan on making, I actually drew that first panel as a stand alone artwork, then that inspired the dialogue, I wrote the dialogue down immediately, it’s a rough version of it, maybe I’ll keep it the same, maybe I’ll change it up as I work through the comic, but so far, I’m drawing the panels based on the dialogue so far, see what I mean by write the dialogue down? It helps IMMENSELY

It doesn’t have to be perfect and it certainly doesn’t have to be the final version, but writing it down will help you imagine the art that comes with it

Does that mean you can never start with the art then think of the dialogue? NO

You absolutely can start with the art for the comic first, in fact, sometimes, doing that actually helps you imagine the dialogue better, other times you can’t really think of a dialogue but have a very clear image in your head about certain character interactions, draw that it’s ok, silent comics focusing on character interaction, is a thing that you can do without worrying about dialogue

Now when it comes to the actual making of a comic, first tip is find your own footing when it comes to comic making

Like listen, people are gonna tell you that the correct thing to do is that you have to make thumbnails for the comic before you make the actual comic to make sure the flow is good and you have room for speech bubbles and what not

Here’s the thing, making thumbnails for your comic is a life saver, it’s great, if you can do that go for it! But for a person like me with little to no energy, I can’t do that without losing interest and immediately abandoning my comic, I can’t do that without becoming frustrated and hate art for it

That’s why I say find your footing, if making thumbnails before working on the actual pages works for you go for it! or you can immediately just work on the actual comic itself like I do, it’s all about what you’re comfortable with and what makes more sense to you

That being said, when it comes to the panels themselves, always aim for less panels and more pages than the other way around

Sometimes, emphasis on certain emotions or aspects of the comic can only be done with fewer panels

That’s why my own comics would sometimes have pages that are either one or two panels max

The less panels you have in a page, the more concise, clear, and easy to follow your comic is, one of the biggest mistakes I made as a beginner artist, is that I focused on cramping the story in as few pages as possible rather than focus on the clarity of the comic

Here’s an example

Good luck reading that dggxgdgdh

This is a very old comic I made back in 2018? 2019?, I wanted the comic to be one page so bad I cramped everything into it without thinking about the fact people are gonna have a very hard time reading it, like this easily could’ve been 3-5 pages but old me couldn’t imagine doing that many pages (if she could see me now with 15 pages comics dhhdhdg) not only that, but the panels’ arrangement makes 0 sense

So when you make your panels there are 2 things to keep in mind:

1- less panels and more pages = clear easy to follow comic, as well as a better emotional impact

2- panel arrangement has to make sense and should be easy to follow, you can make sure it’s easy to follow by reading your own comic over and over as you’re making it, if you find difficulty following the dialogue or art, then it’s best to refine, change or edit your panel or dialogue arrangement

Another thing to keep in mind when making the comic is the flow, the best way to go about making sure that the flow makes sense is by thinking of the comic as you would an animation, how did the character go from point A to point B?

For example this page

Killer clearly has a bit of a distance from Nightmare in the second panel, so how did Killer go from being at a distance (point A), to right in front of Nightmare in the last panel (point B)? That’s what the two panels in between the these two points are for, is to show you that 1- Nightmare is using his tentacle, and 2- that tentacle wrapped around Killer’s arm, the rest would easily be filled in by your brain that Nightmare basically pulled him closer

Now for the ending of a comic, not every comic has to have a clear ending where it marks the end of a story, but rather, you can go for whatever satisfies you as an ending, or keep an ending ambiguous or open, to expand on a comic later

I say that the perfect ending for a comic is what gets the point of a comic across, if the point is made, then it’s a good panel to end the comic with

Don’t be afraid to scarp any page or panels if they make the comic awkward or if they don’t make sense or if it seems out of character don’t hesitate to change, edit or completely delete it

An example is the “choice” comic, it actually originally was 4 pages, I just decided to scrap the last page cause of two reasons

1- it added nothing to the comic

2- it was out of character for Stage 2 Killer

My last advice is don’t force the process, sometimes, the best way to go about making comics is to make them on your own time and slowly, sometimes, you get stuck with certain things in the comic, other times, you need a bit to figure out how to proceed with the comic, completely normal in the process, that’s why it’s important to work on comics in a way that suits you, but you can’t find what suits you without trial and error, so go and test the waters, you can never learn until you practice it yourself

Good luck, hope this helps, lemme know if you need more clarification or help, i’d be happy to help where I can <333

[dallasgallant]

I talked before about potential reasons behind fighting and the difference in the ways they ‘Stay cool’, which will be linked here. But there’s something else I’ve noticed and I’m wondering if anyone else picked up on this…

The two who don’t like and want put an end to the fighting are socs.

Now one could argue that the greasers don’t want to fight all their lives either but that’s getting into semantics and a whole other topic. I’ll be touching on soon.

I am not saying either Cherry or Randy are wrong for having this opinion or invalid, both have very personal reasoning. Cherry knowing how her boyfriend was and just not understanding violence and Randy seeing the outcome of it being his best friend’s death. But there’s such a clear distinction to it, a luxury in being able step away and see the pain it’s caused and stop.

Soc’s can afford to stop fighting, for them life just goes on as usual. There was never a real reason for them to fight besides asserting power or some bid to feel something (something can be said about being rich and having everything, feeling little leads to ramping up and ramping up- danger, violence, wild stuff etc.)

Soc’s fighting is like everything they do, clout, power, and being part of a whole… except there’s no closeness. There’s no bond and loyalty like what the Greasers have— friendships are thin and if you don’t go along with the pack you might as well… well, leave.

On the other side of the tracks you don’t get that choice; even if you don’t like to fight you will all your life. The bank, the cops, the soc’s, other greasers— whoever, whatever. Theres no easy exit, what money? Where would you go- would you even be welcome?

“Years of living on the east side teaches you how to shut off your emotions if you didn’t, you would explode. You learn to cool it.” (122)

Both groups learn to shut themselves off. Greasers are more selective; they tend to blow more often. Soc’s shut down almost completely and if they do break— it’s not around anyone they know (how Cherry and Randy let the mask slip to Pony).

Now, the struggles soc’s face shouldn’t be directly compared to Greasers — fake friends and social expectations vs the effects of poverty aren’t exactly the same level or a comparable thing. But the point isn’t comparison! It’s humanizing the “other side”. Realizing that how it may not look like it, Greasers and soc’s suffer under the same systems.

“Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.” (118)

Both sides tend to be individualistic, Greasers tend to look at it more on a personal level fight between gangs or groups- where as Soc’s will see things personally in a “all about me” manner. Focus on the self rather than the group, how you hurt, you feel— upset you can’t talk to anyone but never trying etc.

Cherry and Randy actively see and hate the system, explaining as much to pony. They want out rather than stopping cycles — which, is human and understandable as in all likelihood they couldn’t do a thing to stop in. Nobody can as much as they wish, that’s part of the point.

This is more a mini exploration of the broader, underlying reasons and not necessarily a concise, surface level thing. For individuals it all depends- everyone has their own reasons.

It is interesting to notice how traits are both shared but then come through in completely different forms (being ‘cool’, individualistic, etc.) how at the end of the day people aren’t too dissimilar, things are rough — you heard it a thousand times by now.

[sepublic]

Vee has the parallels with Luz that make her reconsider the choices she made, while also foreshadowing for the Day of Unity, and so forth. And I think Vee has the additional narrative function of complicating the idea of Camila just moving to the Boiling Isles, too; As uncomfortable as she still is four years later, Camila’s a supportive mother so fans naturally figured she’d make the sacrifice of moving to the Demon Realm for Luz’s sake, so Luz wouldn’t have to worry about leaving her mom behind. But with Vee’s introduction, it’s not that simple; Because Vee is someone who really wants to stay in the human world and even has her own friends there. And Vee is family, she’s Camila’s other daughter so she can’t just leave her either.

In a way, Vee is like the extended family Camila and Luz would have in the human world, that would deepen the ties they still have with it. Though I would’ve loved to explore their Dominican heritage via their biological relatives and other aspects, to emphasize what’s connecting them to the human world… That said, with Yesterday’s Lie being written after the crew learned of the shortening, I can see how the writers settled for Vee serving that purpose, because she already pulls off the other functions I mentioned before; It keeps things concise when the show’s runtime led to established setup like the Bat Queen’s owner or half of the coven heads being left unexplored. ‘Creepy Luz’ had already been introduced in S1, so there was a prior obligation to explain something already connected to the Nocedas.

And I can see the ties to Vee adding to Luz’s guilt, because in addition to Vee’s existence suggesting to Luz that she never needed to leave in the first place (which is of course a logical fallacy, but her trauma-riddled brain understandably isn’t being rational), it also makes her feel obligated to stay in the human world. Because Camila obviously wants to look after Vee too, and Luz wants stay with her mom, which means all three Nocedas might have to stay in the human world to make that work, since they aren’t certain about there being a new, permanent portal to normalize travel.

There’s now a new layer to her conflict; Luz wouldn’t want to force Vee to lose her own family again (first her fellow basilisks, then Masha and co. when Luz reclaimed her identity), because she doesn’t feel right making that decision for somebody else who she’d tell herself has had it worse. As for Vee, I wonder if she felt obligated to find her fellow basilisks back in the Boiling Isles, and hoped to invite them to the human realm to stay together… At which point, at least Vee can have it both ways, to Luz’s relief. And after her guilt in helping Belos, for Luz her sister would’ve been almost an excuse not to go back to enjoying the Demon Realm.

Because doing so means allowing herself to try being happy, it means letting herself pursue her dreams again, whilst forgiving herself. And in her repentant state of mind, that would’ve been difficult for Luz to accept; That it’s okay for her to keep trying to be happy and consider what she wants. It means facing her guilt by moving on, and taking risks by allowing the possibility of mistakes again; She’s allowed to make mistakes, and Luz shouldn’t have to fear them because of repentance for whatever harm she might cause.

And in the end, the Collector helped to create a new portal; And because of that, everyone could be happy. Vee didn’t have to abandon her new friends and home, but she didn’t have to lose her new mom and sister either; Similarly, Luz and Camila wouldn’t have to forsake a fellow Noceda, as well as everything else about the human world they still held dear, such as their culture.

On Vee’s end, she can also be reunited with her Basilisk family, who now live at the University of Wild Magic! So Vee could still have her own ties to the Demon Realm that she’s allowed to keep, and not be the only Noceda sister interested in maintaining contact; Her siblings still seem fond of the isles, so they too have it both ways with family and their home. In that case, the entire Noceda family —Manny, Camila, Luz, Vee— really is a family of immigrants navigating two worlds at once! Luz might not have been so alone in her dilemma after all, which is another thing for her and Vee to bond over, and a reassurance for her wish because Luz is understood not just by her mother, but her sister as well… It was always available for Luz to work with Vee about what they wanted once the situation had settled.

And finally, Luz can still explore the Demon Realm and hang out with her friends there, while studying its magic; Her quincenera having both families of both worlds, mixing in aspects of her Dominican heritage with the Boiling Isles’ take on things, perfectly encapsulates all of this. None of this would’ve happened if Luz hadn’t let herself go to the Boiling Isles again to help, because she was needed to speak to the Collector, after all, and they helped reconnect the worlds. And she wouldn’t have kept visiting after returning to the human world had Camila not helped Luz forgive herself for loving the Demon Realm.

[gothbass]

(Images mostly from Pinterest)

One Of Us (Pt. 3)

★ Rhea Ripley x [afab] Reader

Warnings: 18+ [vamp!rhea x vamp!reader], immediate smut, silicone strap-on, continued odaxelagnia, bloody makeout sesh, praise, lyric reference [On Accident — Nico Collins], [sadist!rhea x masochist!reader], choking (kink), mention of aftercare (cliffhanger).

Word count: 845.

As she eyes you up and down, you carefully lower yourself onto the silicone—almost choking on the hitch in your throat as you do so. Rhea, dominating as she is, takes the lead through bucking her hips upward to push into you.

Within merely a few minutes, her force increases, causing you to cover your mouth—as to not be too loud. Though, this attempt is short-lived. Rhea forces your hand away from your mouth (and holds it in hers against the headrest of the swivel chair). As a replacement, she covers your mouth with her own—muffling any moans either of you release. In other, more blissful words, she aids in muffling your pleasure with another source of pleasure (a very lengthy kiss, that is).

Slowly bucking your hips forward, while Rhea speedily thrusts in and out of you, you ride out your high point with heavy, shallow breath. As your release takes place, Rhea pulls her mouth away from yours. While she catches her breath, you sink your fangs into her neck—causing her to let out a moan (which, in turn, causes your bite pressure to increase).

Blood seeps down her neck, like a dark red wine. You absorb the blood into your mouth before engaging with Rhea in a blood-filled makeout session.

“Any other plans for tonight?” Rhea asks, just in-case.

“You’re the only subject listed on my to-do list, don't you worry—Mami,” you respond with a wink.

“Good.”

You raise a brow. “Is that so?”

“Is it not?”

“I believe it may be.”

“Then it is so.”

“Good.”

Rhea uses a free hand to cup your throat. “Don’t steal my lines,” she enforces, in a rather dominating tone.

“Make me,” you rebel. Your cheek twitches as the words come out with little forethought.

Rhea’s face barely flushes. “Oh, trust me,” she starts; “I will,” she whispers into your ear—sending a hard shiver down your spine and almost forcing you to moan. By now, your own face is flushed. “Aww, you like that?”

“Y-yes, Mami,” you mutter, trying not to let your face get any redder than it already is.

“What was that, darling? I couldn't hear you.”

“Yes, Mami,” you speak a little louder and more concisely.

“Good girl,” she licks her lips, scanning your body from bottom to top.

“Now, I could add in a little treat for you…but it's hard to tell if you deserve it…”

You look into her eyes, almost pleadingly. “What do I have to do? What's it gonna take?”

“So eager and needy, aren't you?”

“Only for you.”

“In that case—all you'll have to do, in order to receive this little treat, is (continue to) be a good girl for me. It shouldn’t be that hard,” she smirks. She cups your jaw with one hand and forcefully pulls you in for a kiss.

As the kiss persists, Rhea grips you by the ass and lifts you onto the desk. Her arms are positioned in a plank-like manner, as if to keep you pinned down. Even so, she takes the time to reposition your legs so that they're resting over her shoulders. She pulls away from the kiss and smirks before thrusting into you for a second round, adjusting ever so slightly just to hit the right spots.

With a rush in your body and a torrent of color flooding within you (lyrics reference), you swiftly buck your hips upward to increase the knot in your stomach by around tenfold. While doing this, you pull Rhea in by the choker and bite into her neck. She lets out a moan that sounds like it's been held in for an eternity; the oxytocin from merely hearing it sends a flash flood of heat through your body.

“Shh,” you whisper to her, “not so loud.”

She responds by striking a slap across your face, but it doesn't bother you.

“Do it again, I dare you,” you threaten, but she doesn't dare—purely because you're tempting her to.

“Maybe if you beg, sweetheart,” Rhea teases, coyly. Both her accent and her low tone of voice cause a wave of heat to flush your face and slightly furrow your brows. You lean your head back out of supposed heat, your back arching as well.

“Maybe if you make me, Mami,” you tease in return, also coyly. Yet, without needing to beg, Rhea strikes a slap across your face.

“Behave,” she scolds, forcing a hand to your throat. You gasp for air and struggle to breathe, though you just barely manage.

As the sound of your struggled breathing floods Rhea’s sense of hearing, she drives into you hard enough to force a small amount of blood to secrete from within you. You wince in pain as you ride out your high while simultaneously being choked out just hard enough to obstruct your airway so that any vocal bliss would not be released.

“Good girl,” you hear Rhea praise, though it sounds muffled.

She releases her grasp on you, clothes the both of you, then walks you into the women’s restroom to clean you up.

[Series Masterlist]

Part 4

[fickleminder]

First Fight

A domestic fight fic probably isn’t the best way to start off the new year but this is pure self-indulgence so... Happy 2023 everyone!!

Inspired by my husband and I stabbing our fingers repeatedly on New Year’s Day while felting a sheep/cat brooch respectively :(

“Simeon,” came Raphael’s voice from the front door, unnaturally subdued. “We have a guest. Please prepare an extra plate, if you will.”

Luke poked his head out of the kitchen and gasped in horror, and that was all Simeon needed to drop everything and follow the little angel out. Raphael had returned from grocery shopping with Kirana in tow, and all eyes immediately zeroed in on the darkening bruises on the human’s wrists and left cheek.

Kirana’s head was lowered, her fists clenched and shaking slightly. She seemed more angry than frightened, but there was a thinly veiled layer of shame that prevented her from looking any of them in the eye.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Luke fretted over her, his hands instinctively reaching out yet halting at the last second, not wanting to risk hurting her more. Who knew where else she’d been injured?

“Did Satan do this to you?” Simeon had to ask. Because he knew the two of them were supposed to be out on a date in town today. There was no way Satan would ever leave Kirana alone to fend for herself, unless...

“No,” Kirana mumbled, still frowning deeply. She pursed her lips, not wanting to elaborate further on the matter.

“Kirana, I know you love him, but this is serious. If he laid a finger on you—”

“Wasn’t him,” she insisted with a shake of her head. “It’s my fault. We had a fight and went separate ways. Some demons decided to take advantage of that. Raphael was nearby and helped out.”

A concise summary of what happened, albeit somewhat watered down. Raphael didn’t feel the need to clarify that Kirana had more or less handled her assailants on her own. He only stepped in to take care of the ones who had tried to sneak up on her. Getting physical wasn’t the best way to deal with negative emotions, but at least there was a good reason for it this time.

Simeon sat Kirana down on the couch while Luke fetched some water and freshly baked treats from the kitchen. Raphael went to put away the groceries before retreating upstairs to collect some things.

“It’s not like you and Satan to argue, let alone this badly,” Simeon said as he applied some light healing magic to her bruises, gently coaxing her fists to unfurl. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“...It’s my fault,” Kirana repeated, slowly relaxing into the cushions as the pain receded. Now that the fight was over and the adrenaline had worn off, she was finally feeling every hit she’d dealt and taken. “I wasn’t honest with him about my needs and wants. He got mad about it, said that if I wanted some time alone that badly, he’d give it to me. And then he walked away.”

“Oh, lamb...” Simeon stroked Kirana’s back as she began to tremble again, this time from the tears threatening to spill. “You’ve always been overly accommodating with everyone. I can understand why Satan is upset, but he shouldn’t have left you the way he did either.”

Kirana remained silent, still trying to process the tangle of feelings in her chest. She was pissed at both herself and Satan, sad that they fought, overwhelmingly relieved she got out of that alley in one piece. All she wanted to do was sweep this entire incident under the rug and not think about it anymore, just apologize and take the blame and make up with her boyfriend, but deep down she knew that wasn’t the way to go.

Luke watched sadly as she accepted his cookies but ate them without comment, numbly going through the motions. He exchanged worried looks with Simeon, and both of them silently agreed that they would be convincing her to stay for dinner, or at least until they were sure she was stable enough to return to the HoL.

“This might help.” Raphael reappeared behind them with an assortment of colored wool, needles, scissors, and other crafting materials. “Have you ever done felting before?”

If anything, all the stabbing involved in the process would be a productive outlet for any lingering anger, and the final product could also be used as an apology gift.

Kirana nodded after a while, and Raphael smiled.

.

.

.

“Let me get this straight,” Lucifer seethed. “You had an argument with Kirana, in public, in front of countless other demons, and then you just left her there?!”

Satan flinched guiltily. “She can take care of herself,” he argued back, though not as confidently as he’d liked. After all, if he was making Kirana miserable by always monopolizing her time, surely she would be glad for the space he’d given her all day. So what if he hadn’t heard from her since they parted ways this afternoon? So what if he had sensed a surge of wrath from her end of the pact? She was fine. She had to be.

“Regardless, you know how dangerous the Devildom can be for a human. Do you even know where she is right now?”

Satan huffed and looked away, unable to answer.

“She didn’t even show up for dinner. The last time she was radio-silent for so long, we almost lost—”

“Shut up! I get it!” Satan whirled around with a snarl. “I fucked up, okay? I shouldn’t have—”

Asmo’s high-pitched shriek echoed from the foyer. “Honey, what happened to you?!”

Satan froze, and then he nearly tore the door to Lucifer’s office off its hinges before sprinting out.

Lucifer sighed and checked his phone, seeing a message from Simeon informing him that Solomon had walked Kirana back to the house. The angel’s text about her whereabouts earlier in the day was the only reason Lucifer hadn’t been harsher with Satan. He, at least, knew she was safe at Purgatory Hall.

Now, it was all up to Satan.

.

.

.

“I want names,” Mammon all but demanded as he pushed his way past a hysterical Asmo, who was shaking a dizzy Solomon back and forth inconsolably. “Who did this to ya?”

“You should see the other guys,” Kirana joked weakly, allowing herself to be fussed over by her protective first man.

“There were more than one of those assholes?! Fuck, why didn’t ya summon The Great Mammon for help? And where the hell was Satan—”

“Kirana!” Said demon practically skidded into the foyer, nearly running smack into a wall in his haste to reach her. He took one look at her poorly-hidden bruises and growled. “I want names. Now.”

“Calm down,” she sighed before turning to Mammon. “Can you give us a moment? Please?”

Mammon only agreed to clear Asmo and Solomon out with the promise that she would stop by his room later. After he wrangled them away, she took a deep breath and faced Satan.

“This is for you,” she began, holding out a small felt cat plush towards him, her fingers covered with cartoon print band-aids. “I’m sorry about earlier. I should have been more upfront with you instead of keeping everything to myself.”

“I’m sorry too.” Satan’s entire posture sagged at her earnest apology and handmade gift, all anger drained out of him. “I ditched you in town, and you got attacked as a result.”

“We should talk. Can we go to your room?”

“Of course. I’ll prepare some tea for us.”

“Satan...” Kirana looked down as Satan took her hand in his. “I still love you.”

The demon’s gaze softened with regret and affection as he kissed her chafed knuckles gently. “I love you too.”

[winterpinetrees]

Council Minutes (The Gap Years part 9)

June 18th 2019

The Elven Capital / Interstate 82

zooming the third person narration out a bit. I have ground to cover and no need for consistency.

……

Though the dual desertion may seem like it would allow for a higher chance of survival, we belive that both monitors were lost to the void soon after they abandoned their posts. 

While the High Council searches for three missing heirs, the rest of the elven world keeps turning. They have ceremonies to attend, disputes to resolve, children to parent, and as the report explains, huge breakdowns of infrastructure to handle. The report is clinical, concise, and catastrophic. Two of the monitors responsible for maintaining the very existence of the Nile Delta Voidport abandoned their posts and pushed off into the void, where, based on previous incidents, they almost certainly ceased to exist within a few hours and cannot be recovered. A Volunteer Watch has been assembled until new monitors can be brought in, but until they are, a centuries old hub of trade and travel is in a very precarious situation. 

Apex Ishtar Mercuralis, the most important woman in the world, puts her head in her large hands. She has a plan. It’s both extremely good and extremely bad. Ishtar knows why monitors have such a high rate of desertion. Ishtar also knows that this is a supply and demand problem, and that her plan to increase supply is, well…

Councillor Gullin Eburos, Plaguekeeper, Lord of Gens Eburos, clenches one hand into a fist. “I still dissent. For thousands of years, the positions of monitor and arbiter have been at least somewhat voluntary. We are making enemies of the same group that even Lazarus dared not anger”.

Ryn shoots him a glare. “Do you have a better plan? We are dragging this planet out of a stagnant period that has lasted since the north star was in Hercules. We need better infrastructure”.

“I cannot condone our soldiers going into settlements that have provided sanctuary since the north star was in Hercules and conscripting children! They’ve already been Betrayed!”

“So kidnapping and coercion are only a problem for you when elves are the victims? Without a stable void, humans outperform us at trade and production. Either we start preparing now, or we’ll end up scrambling once we’ve been unveiled”. 

There are five human seneschals on the edges of the room. In their indigo and gray uniforms, they almost look like part of the room itself. They vary in age from twenty-one to over sixty and have little in common other than their purpose and their intelligence. All five look at Ryn, then at Gullin, and then at each other. They will gossip about this later. 

The Plaguekeeper composes himself. “A spark like you cannot understand that the void, and the Betrayed, are not things to treat lightly”.

Ishtar’s eyes flare indigo. “Enough. We agreed on a plan and we will see it through. Besides, we’re already pissing off every other enclave by conquering the human world. We’re not doing this for popularity. We’re doing it to save the worlds,”

The council falls silent. The Apex has spoken, and this is not a democracy. They will stay the course. 

With too much to do, the council does not break for lunch. Their seneschals bring in food, (and coffee for Ryn, an uncouth commoner habit that Amedi has started to adopt). Discussion continues. 

“Shouldn’t this issue have been resolved by the Harbormasters?”

“Have someone from the undercouncils pay her a visit”.

“That’s a serious violation of section four of the Lazarus Reforms”. 

“I always hated Lachlan, but it is still a bit strange to know that he’s dead”.

“If the situation gets any worse, then our job in the human world will get a lot easier”.

And then the ever present topic of the missing heirs. Councillor Devana Marolak, traitor to her bloodline, representative of the Hunters, somewhat recently divorced (she got to keep the pet hawk) brings them back to it.

“The older Adust heir legitimately does not know where his sister is. That line is skilled in telepathy, but even they have limits”.

Ishtar had ordered that there would be no torturing of their noble prisoners. She seems to have been ignored. “Unfortunate. And we lost your niece's trail somewhere in the Great Plains?” The subtle insult is more effective than telling Devana off directly. 

“...Yes. I typically avoid human turns of phrase, but we’re trying to find a needle in the human world’s largest collection of haystacks”.

Ryn smiles in spite of himself. “Noble culture is built on deception and survival. It shouldn’t be surprising that we can’t catch anyone. They’ve been raised for this”. 

The four nobleborn councilors grumble and shift the arms that bear their vambraces. Ryn’s statement would make more sense if they were chasing nobility-by-merit, but the three lost heirs are all children. Children from the high nobility, yes, but none of them had ever really been tested. That makes it even more insulting how Kova and Marin escaped capture. Marin and his band of humans even killed a nobleman. His name was Kiper Chrysos and he fell to one human boy with a makeshift club and another with a concussion rifle set to kill. It’s not just a death, but a disgrace. 

The nobility are tied together by a great web of violence. They all know that the elven world prospers when the fit survive and the strong conquer. The names of those killed by another are announced with great ceremony, and kills are marked on vambraces as trophies and burdens. All five of the high council have new marks from the coup a few weeks ago. However, the rules are very clear. Names are only declared for the elven dead, and only long-lived elves can suitably carry the weight of killing an equal. Legally speaking, Kiper was killed by no one. He might as well have been mauled by a bear. One of the other soldiers, a young Gens Tiercel elf with an undercut and a very promising future, was also shot. The impact crushed his spine, an injury that would paralyze without magical treatment and will still take him months to recover from. Speed and movement are everything to the Tiercel. The injury is a more devastating blow than the human responsible will ever understand. Marin’s survival is impressive. He’s clearly very fit, and worthy of his noble birth and Lazarus’s bloodline. That doesn’t mean anyone is happy about it. 

“We’ve secured the town of Vya, at least. And our troops are being subtle about it. If Marin comes back, he shouldn’t notice anything is off until it’s too late, '' Councillor Amedi Kebero, only here because every good council needs a scrappy upstart, explains. They all know that Marin was in the suspicious car now. The analysts did some great work and confirmed the car as belonging to one Sierra Bracken, a billionaire’s daughter that matches the description of the girl from the fight. Where would the High Council be without humans to handle the data!

 “Amedi, your time at the Conservatory proves you have a skill for killcraft.” Ishtar adds. The young elf turns to her excitedly (their ears literally perk up). Six small marks on their vambrace catch the light. 

“The nobility won’t admit it, but they're frightened of Marin’s band. We need to prove our own bravery before asking them to risk their lives against the human world. Will you join the strike team?”

“I’d be honored to, Apex”.

“Good. You’ve been overseeing the operation, so you should already know the team. Esther will stay here and keep your affairs in order, but you should be back soon”. The human girl nods. Amedi smiles at her, the sort of smile you give a dog that’s been very good, and Esther smiles back.

“Should I use Mercuralis colors?” they ask. “Marin may recognize me. My signature is…well it’s from a regional, lower genus, and I did win my year”.

“That was quite the way to brag, Amedi,” Devana says.

Ryn is more serious. “Use whatever colors are your strongest. We cannot truly begin until the heirs have been captured”.

“And try your best to bring him in alive. We’ve already killed enough elves,” This is Ishtar’s penance. She is many things, but at least she isn’t killing children. In that small way, she is better than the Sondaicas who killed her parents and her brother and left her with nothing but a legacy and a betrothal.

In her name, if not by her direct actions, tens of thousands of Betrayed will be conscripted and three billion humans will die. But of Sondaica and its allies, only a single elven child has been killed. Marin’s death wouldn’t be a catastrophe. There are other heirs to Gens Sondaica safely imprisoned, and Marin is already old enough to be in those strange gap years between the thresholds of legal adulthood, but Ishtar just doesn’t want to. He seems like a good kid.

Never mind that Ishtar killed her first elf during those same gap years, that Amedi killed three, or that the old Apex murdered her own star-crossed love in a coup when she was about the same age as Marin. Never mind that her brothers never got a chance to grow older than her children are now. Never mind that the nobility prosper when the fit survive and the strong conquer, and that there really isn’t any room for good kids.

What’s the point of taking over the world if you can’t even try? Ishtar is trying. She has a plan that is both extremely good and extremely bad. Things are going to be different this time.

…………

In the human world a few hundred miles away, Sierra receives a call from an unknown number. She ignores it, but then the caller leaves a voicemail, and curiosity gets the best of her. The message is not in any language she can understand. Sierra puts it on speakerphone once they are back in the car.

“Is this your girlfriend!” 

Marin takes the phone from her hands so quickly that she barely even registers the movement. 

“Yes! That’s her!”

Clay leans back over his seat. “Are you sure it’s her and not a trick? What if she was captured? What’s she saying?”

“This is real. I left some codes in my message. Little things only she’d know. If Zerada had been captured she’d have found some way to tell me”.

“Well what’s she saying?”

“When we were kids, we sometimes climbed this really big statue on Mid-Year's Night. It’s of my oldest ancestor, Lazarus Sondaica. He took over the world a long time ago. We’d sit on his shoulders and watch the fireworks”.

Sierra interejects. “So it’s like the Statue of Liberty, but for the opposite of liberty?” 

Marin takes a moment to understand the question. “Yes. Anyway, she says to meet her in Las Vegas on that same night, by a different Lazarus”. 

“When is Mid-Year’s Night? Is that the solstice?” Brian asks.

“Actually yes! Well, the night before. This year that is the night of the 20th, or two days from now.”

Sierra tries to take her phone back. “That’s a huge drive from here. How does she know we’ll be able to make it?” 

“It’ll be rough,” Brian explains. He’s gotten a feel for driving distances. "Fifteen hours, at least."

Marin sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what she means by a different Lazarus”.

“Is there a big statue in Las Vegas?” She has cell service for once, and types that exact question into the search bar. (using a VPN of course. They don’t want to be tracked.)

“Not that I remember. There’s a lot of little ones,” Clay says. 

“Google’s telling me about the Statue of Liberty replica? Does that work?”

Brian pulls the car around and starts driving south, “Emma Lazarus!” 

Marin looks at him. He seems to recognize the name. “Who?”

Brian looks over at Clay and Sierra, who both seem confused. “No one? Emma Lazarus wrote the poem on the Statue of Liberty! ‘Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame /With conquering limbs astride from land to land; /Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand’?”

Marin blinks like he’s been awakened from a dream. He looks down at his feet. “‘A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame /Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name’”

Sierra looks at them, “What the hell guys”. 

Brian and Marin meet each other's eyes. “‘Mother of Exiles’”.

He accelerates the car. That 15-hour time assumed that they sped a bit. “We need to get to the Statue of Liberty replica”.

The elf has one more thing to add. “Vya is about half way. We could stay the night there, if it’s safe”. 

Clay looks skeptical. "If that's half the drive, we'll get there in seven hours. It'll be getting dark by then. Are we sure we should risk a potentially hostile ghost town at night?"

"Then we'll visit first thing tomorrow"

"Fine."

………

The poem in question is "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. I am so close to plot events I’ve been imagining for years! It’s so fun. Unfortunately, I am also doing the writing equivalent of hacking through underbrush to figure out how everything else fits in.

[awetistic-things]

Hello! I’m awfully sorry if this is going to be quite long however being concise is not one of my skills (too much classic literature I’m afraid, and I need to make my point exactly clear). I never thought about the possibility of being autistic, however my friends have recently started telling me they think that I might be. Now that I’ve thought about it, it makes a fair amount of sense because of behaviors that I do (such as repeatedly flapping my hands and snapping my fingers, and noticing strings of numbers and needing to see if they fit together in any way). I also get quite overwhelmed when a place is too loud or busy or bright. My friends told me to take the RAADS-R test and I got a 174, and I got a 39 on the ASQ. I really relate to a lot of the things that I’ve seen online from people who are autistic, and so now I’m starting to question whether or not I might be.

I talked to my mom and my therapist, and both of them said that they didn’t think that I was. A lot of the things that I wrote down on my list of possible evidence for being neurodivergent are things I don’t really talk about with either of them, so that might be a contributing factor, or I might just be being silly (which is what I’m worried about). For context I am AFAB and a teenager, and I also have an anxiety disorder which may have been what made my score so high.

One thing that I have been doing since thinking about this is spending less time suppressing things like the urge to rock back and forth and flap my hands, which has made me really happy - I usually try to minimize how much I do those, and if I was in fact autistic I would feel less guilty doing those things (of course I shouldn’t feel guilt anyways, but oh well that’s just how my brain is). I was wondering what your thoughts are and if you think there’s a chance I might be autistic. If i’m incorrect, it would be helpful to know and I’m sorry for wasting so much of your time if that’s the case!

Thank you!

hi!

i can actually relate to a lot of the traits you listed, heavy on the fidgeting and sensitivity. but, what you said about how your mom and counselor may not be able to see the more autistic traits because you purposely (or accidentally) don’t show them is definitely plausible (which would be known as “masking”)

also may i just say you listening to your body about stimming (fidgeting) more is really good for you! stimming helps relieve all the pent-up energy inside of you and can be really healthy as well :)

i can’t say 100% whether you have autism or not, but based on my own research and personal experiences it definitely seems like a very strong possibility

i would suggest doing some more research on autism (and consequently yourself), continue to indulge your body on stimming and un-masking, and talk to some other autistic people about your experiences

overall, just don’t be ashamed to advocate for yourself throughout this new journey 😊

[eskilofleaves]

I’ve been seeing some really weird discourse surrounding FFXVI specifically but I think it applies to every story, video game or not.

There’s this idea that every side character needs incredible depth on par with the main characters. I think that’s silly. Plots need to be clear and concise. Depth for a side character would be adding minor background and some parallel to the overarching plot, which I am in favor of. But we shouldn’t be expecting to know every bit of their history as it would cause the story to meander in a negative way.

Stories are microcosms of our world. As we go about our lives, we will meet thousands of people. We will only ever know the full histories of maybe .1% of them. It’s impossible to know everyone’s story despite every single one of them having a rich history. Why should we expect main characters to learn everything about the guard they passed or the barista who served them coffee once? Do you even know the name of the last person who served you? Do you know what their childhood was like? Of course you don’t. Why would you even need to?

These kind of criticisms just feel really silly to me and feel like an exercise in pessimism. But I’m also of the opinion that gamers are constantly shooting themselves in the foot because they insist on building things up to either extreme in their heads.

Just…accept the role a character has in the plot. Just because they’re history is small doesn’t mean they didn’t truly affect the plot. This is true to life.

When I first moved to NYC, I was looking for an apartment and had some bad luck. I called a number off Craigslist and ended up with a random drag queen who had no idea what I was talking about. I ended up crying while on the phone with her and she gave me the best pep talk of my life then we parted ways. I don’t even know her name, let alone her history, but she was an important part of my life. We have to allow stories to have characters just like that: the nameless ones who help further the plot.

[the-trans-dragon]

I am working on: advocating for myself, especially my autistic needs

Content: strategies to defend myself and my needs, specifically when talking to allistic people who do not realize that their experiences aren’t universal

Strategy rating: 10/10, successful always. Has not made situations worse. Has improved situations, either by effectively communicating my experiences, or by effectively communicating “you aren’t understanding my experiences, but you can respect them anyways”

Previous Experience: 0

Starting Skill Level: 0

Specific Difficulties:

When is it okay to ask for accommodation?

How to prioritize my needs versus an allistic person’s expectations of me to not have those needs?

How to communicate the need? How to respond to “You shouldn’t struggle with that,” and other dismissive comments?

Building stamina to keep defending myself

Boss Battle: Accommodation From Mom

Boss Attacks:

- “It isn’t that hard.”

- “Just do it.”

- “Do the next one. Hurry up.”

- “You need to figure it out; you can’t struggle with this your whole life.”

- “You aren’t autistic.”

Strategies:

-quick and efficient: you don’t owe explanations for your needs. “I need a break,” is perfect. You don’t need to come up with a speech worthy of an A+ in a debate class. You can say the minimal amount. Especially if it’s easier for you.

-bravery: be willing to try out new strategies, even if you haven’t put careful thought into them, and be willing to abandon a strategy if it proves ineffective

-defense: defend against common attacks, such as the attack “It isn’t that hard.” You can rely on offense for defense. Example: attempt a counterattack, such as “Then why am I struggling?” or “It makes me feel overwhelmed.” Alternatively, build resistance by gaining knowledge of the attack and learning how it works. It can be hard to comprehend the reason a person is being dismissive or insulting, but sometimes knowing the reason allows you me to realize “the reason is wrong, and thus irrelevant” or “the reason is valid, but this is an incorrect conclusion and thus irrelevant.”

-dodging: use neurotypical-approved activities to pause. If you need a break, remember which exits are available. Common exits: feign needed to use the bathroom, or get a drink, or a snack, or checking on a pet/food. You could experiment with planning some Time-Specfic Events that will allow you a special exit. They can be real or false. Examples: starting dinner, calling a bank/job/maintenance, starting laundry, going to a pharmacy for meds.

Guiding boss attacks to make them weaker: sometimes people don’t understand why their words hurt, or why they aren’t allowed to lash out at you. You can provide Scripts for them, either subtly or bluntly. For example, the attack “So, you’re just going to live your whole life without ever doing X? How do you think that’ll work? You have to figure this out. It’s not an option,” could be replaced with “I want you to figure this out because I love you, and I want you to enjoy life without these kinds of struggles.” This strategy is advanced and requires very specific tactics that vary from person to person. For the sake of being somewhat concise, I will not elaborate at the time.

Super Effective Attacks: hard to discover, but permanent advantage once obtained. Can change overtime.

Current Super Effective Attacks:

-“I know you want me to think this is easy, but it isn’t easy for me. Telling me it should be easy just makes me feel inadequate.”

-“I try to figure it out, but I get overwhelmed by it, and mad at myself for not understanding, and by that point I need a break so I can try again from the beginning.”

-“I can’t do it because I don’t understand this specific step. I know most people don’t struggle with that, but I do, and I need to figure it out.”

[regular-lord-reckoner]

so seriously one of the hardest things for me right now is like...i completely understand that if i ever hope to have any sort of positive connection with another human being that i need to be able to clearly and concisely communicate what my needs are because that just makes sense and that’s what i expect from others because i’m not a mind reader and neither is anyone else

however !!!

i really cannot emphasize enough how much i have no idea what i’m doing here

and how this isn’t something i’m going to just figure out overnight

or in a couple of therapy sessions

or even after a few good nights of sleep

i’ve had a lifetime of running up against and all over what my actual boundaries and limits were so i have no clue

and i keep trying to just start at zero and work my way up and set the pace for myself, but it feels like that’s not good enough

i feel like if i can’t be the same person i used to be then i’m not going to stop being poked, prodded and prompted to do so until i give in

like already when i go non-verbal nobody can just...let me have that

i’ve said over and over and over again it happens because i get overstimulated

meaning i am being inundated with too much stimuli

i don’t need positive stimuli to counteract that

i need none

zip, zero, cero, zilch, nada, nothing

and then, in my own time, when i’ve had a second to calm down i can maybe be more like my old self

or my new self, whichever is the one people will be least annoyed by, i guess

but that’s the other part of it too where it’s like...the more i go through this process the more i realize the real me is just not someone anyone is going to like or want to be around

i’m way too sensitive, i’m too emotional, i don’t process things quickly enough, i don’t have any hobbies or special interests or really anything interesting at all to ever talk about and the one thing i was good at, being a clown, is just not something i have the energy for anymore

i cannot smile and laugh and rant and rave or whatever it was i used to do all the time

i’m just a big stupid baby who cries every day and feels like every single social interaction i have is akin psychological warfare because i like i don’t know anything anymore and i don’t want to put the burden on anyone else of having to constantly reassure me that everything’s fine because i know how annoying that is, so i try to just sit and process and work through everything on my own but it feels non-stop and like i never get to fully catch my breath

everything is either being overwhelmed or recovering from being overwhelmed and it doesn’t feel like there’s ever any room for me to just....be

i have nothing to offer anyone and i know that shouldn’t really feel like some big loss because it’s not like i really did before anyway, but just...fuck, i’m so tired

i’m trying so hard to get through this process as quickly as i possibly can so that i can give everyone an exact detailed itinerary of how to handle me, but i realize i’m not moving fast enough and i don’t know what else to do about that except just try harder, i guess

i’m going to try to sleep and hopefully feel better tomorrow

[seetsamag]

Public Apology Statement

Dear Viewers.

I am writing this statement to address my actions of talking down on women in a distasteful manner, exploiting the African American culture without fully understanding it and not giving anything worth value in return. I would also like to address my actions of sharing information/ images that I have done little to none due diligence on the people/ organisations mentioned in my posts which could be misleading and false, as well as putting culture, and Africans to disrepute and to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology. My actions were wrong, and I take full responsibility for the hurt, frustration, and confusion they have caused.

I realize now the magnitude of my actions and that I was in no position to contextualise matters on women, African American culture, politics and culture I wanted to address the concerns that I had about issues that I had regarding, over sexualised content and the kind of content that may have a good purpose however were either lacking or had too much stimulus however I ended up talking about my insecurities of which resulted in me in insulting them, then stating my ideas on changing the situation in a definitive tone. I was too embarrassed to mention that I was insecure when I attempted to rectify my mistake. I’m so ashamed of myself knowing the old saying that wathint’abafazi wathint imbokodo and utterly revolted by the fact that I didn’t make it a priority to recheck my written work and to keep the work that I made there for so long, it was stupid of me but I was selfish and was desperate to have some content and focused my attention on how the blog looked rather than addressing the problems about that post. I wanted to make a presence/ take a role on a foreign culture because I felt that we had a cross connection on social matters between African Americans and South Africans regarding topics such as drugs, murder, gambling, Africans using their wealth to develop African dominated communities and wanted to share my opinion on them. I realise that I wasn’t being vigilant to the line that I shouldn’t have crossed when addressing the topic and not having a thorough thought process where I check my “T’s” and dot my “I’s” as well as being patient with myself to articulate correctly when addressing the subject matter. I spoke of Africans as a monolith when I attempted to address the topic concerning the development of African dominated communities and creating wealth for all. I now realise that I had no place to speak about the African American culture in the manner that I did when I have no experience in living their reality. I also noticed that my tone was belittling and disrespectful. I’m utterly disgusted for not considering the people it may hurt, I was obsessed with how the blog looked instead how my blog looked without considering my reputation. I want to address the matter where I shared information that wasn’t credible and should of made an effort to verify the information as well as commenting on a topic based from a source without doing due diligence to check the authenticity of the work that the source made. I found the information about Kenya interesting and was worth sharing but now I realized that I was in no place to share such information without making a concise research. I’m interested in learning about film/automation industry as someone who writes fiction and wanted to speak to a demographic of people who want to work with investors to help develop and promote their work, however I spoke of the aforementioned industry in a myopic sense where you could live a normal life doing something that you’re not passionate about or working with an investor without considering that you can also work to invest in your own establishment. I’m disappointed that I published such work without considering the repercussions of my actions and that I shouldn’t have changed the purpose of this blog. I also want to address the matters on culture where going home was about learning/ getting in touch with your fundamental background if you’ve lost your ways and learning about the standards that are set by the my family/community however going home has been dangerous and not such a unpleasant place for a person who wants to reconnect to their roots. I understand the impact my opinion has on women, the African American culture, health organisation and YouTubers and artists mentioned. It was never my intention to cause harm/offend anyone, but I fully acknowledge that my words and actions did just that.

Moving forward, I am committed to never speak about women without resolving my insecurities, I would like to refrain from speaking about the African American culture or any other culture with a definitive voice and speaking without full understanding the dynamics of the culture. I would like to use this mishap as an opportunity to learn about society, what to do and what not to do and to educate myself about writing fiction through reputable sources. I have to reevaluate my beliefs by reading information that can help me in the areas which need development and will only use this platform once I feel that I’m fit enough to utilise, I want to address the many problems with my character by making a disciplined effort to practice what I read and to reconnect with my religion. I need to monitor and rectify my ADHD accordingly with the right actions and guidance. I am also open to listening to and learning from those affected in order to grow from this experience.

Once again, I offer my sincerest apologies to everyone involved and promise to do better in the future. I utterly ashamed by behaviors and believe that this no way a man should carry themselves. It’s just so embarrassing that I cannot bare being me. I was in my feelings when was trying to be involved all that’s happening today and I blew it and tarnished the brand that I intended to build has gone horribly wrong.

Sincerely,

Lux

[piercethewon]

Option C: —Thank you so much, I promise to wake up earlier tomorrow—

↺ Undo selection || ⌂ Back to masterlist

wc: 600

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—Thank you so much— you glanced down at the food once more, too ashamed to face your friends —I promise to wake up earlier tomorrow— everyone in the room knew it was a complete lie, but Gaeul was just too nice and understanding to comment on it, and Lily… Well, she was not exactly a woman of much words, and her eyes were not easy to read either, sometimes it made you wonder wether she was even capable of feeling emotions other than sleepiness; does that even count as an emotion?

—Huh?— the variety of sounds you were making while eating were interrupted by Gaeul’s phone ringing. The confusion in her expression vanished instantly after seeing who the dialer was —Of course Sunghoon would be the only person lucid enough to make a phone call this early— she placed the phone on the small table at the centre of the room after putting the call on speaker —What is it?—.

—Is Y/N with you?— your friends voice sounded rather muffled and distant.

—You shouldn’t use your phone while driving, that’s dangerous— Lily meddled, no one had a clue how did she guess that, but no comments were made since all of you were already used to her sharp intuition.

—Y/N is having breakfast, that’s why I put you on speaker— continued Gaeul, sharing a look of curiosity with you.

—Of course she is…— your friend sighed, and you could feel his heavy look of disapproval fall on you regardless of him not being in the room —She was not answering, so I called you instead—.

—Yeah, I figured— the black haired girl retorted —Why else would you call me, if not because of Y/N?— she looked at you with a smug smirk plastered on her face as those words left her mouth. On your part, all you could do was choke on the toast; you tried to fix it taking a sip of your coffee, but you burnt your tongue, nice way to play it cool.

—...Anyways— Sunghoon continued, clearing his voice to wash away his embarrassment as it was one of his little habits; you could imagine him with his tensed shoulders and eyes fixed straight on the road, not even sparing a glance at his phone —I just wanted to let you guys know that first period is cancelled, you have like two hours before physics starts, see ya!— and just like that, the call was abruptly interrupted; that was the major advantage of phone calls, avoiding undesirable situations.

—See what you did?— you said, your voice a tad sore from struggling so much with you deadly breakfast —He was trying to be nice and you scared him!—.

—I liked this interaction— Lily meddled again, helping you clean your mess —Short and concise, very practical—. You were starting to think that your pink haired friend and Sunghoon were polar opposites, just like Gaeul, who could keep her life together and still have plenty of energy to help others, and you, who was just defeated by a bite of toast.

—Well, it seems like luck is on our side today— the eldest girl said, the kind of words that you tended to avoid as they usually preceded unfortunate events, but you were not the one to talk, since the whole “being late to class” issue had started because of you. —Let’s meet here later… and Y/N?— she called, making you meet her warm eyes —You got this, okay?— she smiled at you and softly patted your shoulder, and at that very moment all that you could think was how lucky you were to have your friends by your side.

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► Next

[salsa-and-light]

“if people are writing laws to protect the rights of identities, it should be real identities that people actually have.”

Ideally laws should protect everyone. Most prejudices harm more than just their intended victims.

But in any case, this doesn’t make sense.

People shouldn’t ask to have their rights respected because they don’t exist?

What are you actually trying to say?

Because it sounds like you're endorsing a legal philosophy where discrimination is only invalid if it's a matter of identity.

Which isn't true and doesn't make any sense either.

“If a normie ever hears the word “femboy catgirl” they’re gonna turn right the fuck around and vote in the other direction. “

Maybe, heck- even probably.

But as much as I sympathize with that concern..

I think that we’re past the point where we should be worrying about the opinions of people whose bigotry is only held back by three strings of dental floss.

Think about the practical applications of this idea,

To a bigot, the most chaste kiss is going to be too much. Any deviation, any act of Queerness is going to be too far.

So, pragmatically.. if there's no benefit to restricting ourselves then we might as well do what we want anyways.

And on a social level you can't compromise with people who are fundamentally unwilling to compromise.

But you can force them to adjust their perspective.

If someone is too hot in a room and they refuse to agree to any compromise, then the solution is to make it hotter.

If someone doesn't like a room temperature that's above 68°, maybe you can't make them like that, but if you force them to be in a room that's 80° they'll probably shut up about the rooms that are in the seventies and things that are only a degree or two off probably won't even register by comparison.

So if we are to change our personal habits for the furtherment of Queer liberation then what we should be doing is "turning up the heat", as it were.

Because who is going to give a damn about a woman with a pixie cut when there's a tattooed bald woman next door.

Who's going to freak out about a man with painted nails and a sissy walk when there there's drag queens on the television

Wos going to care about binary trans people when their are nonbinary genderfucks.

Obviously, these contextual comparisons don't solve bigotry and abuse, but if you're not in a safe enough position to be however you want, it's vastly preferable to be a little fruity then it is to be the most radically Queer person that someone has ever seen.

And you can't have that, if the most radical expression of Queerness are cis gender-conforming gay people who dress like Mormons.(No shade to them of course, it's just not pushing any boundaries).

Visibility has its downsides, absolutely, but it's a bit late to do anything about most of those, so we might as well go ham to get the benefits.

"Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Trans People can all be explained in a concise logical matter and can convey a sense of normalcy to the average person."

This entirely irrelevant to me.

Really, the fact that you consider explainability to be a relevant factor is entirely mind-boggling to me.

Because everything I've said already about the effect of context on bigotry, but also because I seem to have a different philosophical axis here.

I do not want to live in a world where people have full human and rights and dignity, so long as they live in a way that everyone can understand.

I want to live in a world where people have full rights and dignity regardless of the understanding of their neighbors.

The freedom to be weird and incomprehensible is what separates us from Salem.

And just for the record, there's still a lot of people who don't even understand gay people and even for those who do there are still plenty of cis gay people who have other things going on that will befuddle "The Straights™".

"There is no way you could say the words “femboy catgirl” without a sit down and a three hour explanation to someone who wasnt terminally online."

A Femboy-catgirl is a boy who enjoys dressing like a girl and like a cat, probably at the same time, for sexual or nonsexual reasons.

Easy-peasy, thirty seconds maximum.

I don't think it should be relevant, but it's also not that hard.

If you need three hours, go off, but the problem is not that it's too complicated, the problem is that people refuse to learn or engage with Queerness.

I can't tell you how many people who still think that drag queens and transwomen are the same thing.

And that's a pretty basic distinction.

You say that it's hard to explain to anyone who's not "terminally online", but these people definitely have internet access.

They aren't just conveniently-mysteriously out of the loop; to live in the English-speaking world today, you have to be constantly and actively avoiding Queer people and Queer topics if you want to remain ignorant about them.

"Making these weirdo identities known to the general public will, unironically make them go “eh, maybe these people dont really need these rights"

Yeah, I'm going to repeat myself and say that we shouldn't be worried about the opinions of people who are one step away from being unapologetic bigots; because their "tolerance" isn't worth anything. It would be easier and more effective to force them to be nice than to try to appease them. I don't think that we should force them to be nice to be clear, but politeness at gunpoint is far more reliable than politeness in exchange for compliance

Saying that our rights are dependent on the good will of our betters is a blatant admission that we do not have rights, because rights essentially exist to stop the people who say that we shouldn't have them.

A mouse living in walls does not have equal right rights to the tenants, it simply hasn't been intrusive enough to inspire lethal force.

That is a clear and obvious difference.

People who see you as a pest are not going to grant you equality out of the goodness of their hearts, that is something you have to enforce, by hook, by crook or by legally concealed firearm.

Visibility may be a double edge sword, but it's vastly preferable to living in the walls and waiting hoping that the shoe doesn't drop onto you.

Note the assumption that all LGBT people automatically support each other.

Even though many TERFs/“Gender-critical feminists” are lesbians.

Also, many people specifically say that their issue is not with LGBT people, it’s with “degenerates” hiding behind a minority label.

Including some LGBT people who don’t want to get dragged down with the pervs.

Most of the people who talk about “degeneracy” will apply that label to straight, non-trans people too.