#at least which general age range i am

[im14andivebeen14foramonth]

the utter joy I just felt at remembering I have a whole bag of candy from trick or treating oh my god

genuine question tho that this just made me think of, do any of you still go trick or treating?

[gurorori]

um

[olderthannetfic]

There is something confusing to me about older queer people (which is to say, older than I am, at a relatively young 24 years old) who get mad at original fiction whose worldbuilding involves neopronouns. I'm hoping maybe, ONTF, since you've been in queer spaces a lot longer than I have, you can explain why people have such a negative reaction to the idea.

Basically, I'm working on a novel based that takes white-throated sparrow biology and uses it for building blocks in the same way A/B/O takes (now debunked) wolf science and used it for building blocks. This means there are essentially four genders, the two viewed as more intelligent (brown-haired men and women) and the two viewed as more physical (white-haired men and women). Those two groups then get further divided along the lines of 'women are better at making smart decisions under pressure' and 'men are better at staying home and defending the children, as God intended'.

So it seemed natural to me that this worldwide quaternary system would result in at least some languages having pronoun sets for each of the four options. Some languages in real life have more complicated pronoun systems than that, particularly ones where there's a bunch of formal and informal pronouns. It'd also help the reader keep track of who was a part of what group without my having to turn around and state people's coloration constantly. Yes, these people are human, just as humans in A/B/O are, but society is fundamentally very different. I'm not throwing this in to just complicate things or sound smart or something. It's here because my minoring in Anthropology and majoring in Linguistics taught me language usage reflects the needs and values of a people.

The writing group I'm a part of IRL is mostly queer, mostly 40+, with some cishet women who are also present and active writers. The writing group I'm a part of on DW is mostly DWRPers, in their 30's and up, though no older than 50, and entirely queer. I did not expect these to be groups that were uncomfortable with the idea of "different world, different pronouns".

Instead the reception has ranged from suggestions it's pretentious or overthinking things to requests I reconsider doing it. I've been informed this could be seen as mocking the real life queer people who go by pronouns other than she, he, or they. One person asked if this was went to be me "artificially justifying" nonbinary pronouns and implying I didn't find them valid in the real world. That was an awkward conversation, to say the least.

In reality I wasn't really thinking about real life people who use nonbinary pronouns when I was writing. I was just asking, "Logically, wouldn't it make sense for things to work very differently under a quarternary than it does under a modern European binary?" and following my brain along to its' conclusions as it processed that.

I have gotten zero negative feedback from my queer friends my age regarding this. So obviously, generation and the experiences informing a generational context are key, here. I'm just... still lost on how anyone finds this objectionable.

Help?

--

Ahaha. Oh god.

Well, as a reader of sff in the 90s, the first reaction I have to such things is "IS THERE A CONLANG AND A MAP?" Because, man, the conlang people were some of the most tedious motherfuckers I ever had to deal with in sff spaces.

But broadly... I think the reasons queer people get annoyed about this stuff boil down to a couple of big factors:

Disrespectful children who don't know history

Idiot old people harrumphing about "history" they clearly failed to pay attention to while it was going on in the first place

I personally hate being asked to use new words most of the time. A few bits of fandom slang I'll pick up at once, but I'm usually like "Why would I call it 'spirk'? We already have 'K/S'!" *shakes cane*

If you're American, they're your "roommate", not your "flatmate". No, I don't care how much more precise this foreign term is, you pretentious wanker. (But then I'll use 'wanker' because fandom adopted that years ago...)

So my reaction to being asked to say aloud any pronoun not in very frequent circulation in my offline life is "Urrrgh. Do I have to?"

However, the reality is that people have been messing around with pronouns in English since forever. Do you see 'heo' in Modern English? No, you do not! (Not that it was gender neutral, but the point is that even words as ancient as pronouns have changed quite a bit.) The early internet was full of pronoun stuff in MUDs and the like. You had a choice of a lot more than just three in a bunch of these. People besides men and women have always been in queer communities.

So some people like to cry about neopronouns being actually neo, and they're just wrong.

As for the why do you care part...

There is a nasty habit in contemporary queer spaces to act like gay rights issues are solved. Bisexuality? Passe! etc. Gays and lesbians finally got a little mainstream acceptance only to suddenly be treated like the worst of the establishment by the queer youth. How dare?!?! It's even more egregious with bisexuality where the focus of a bunch of queer activism finally swung that way in the 90s... only to be sharply cut off in the 00s.

There's a real "You already got yours. Where's mine?" vibe to some queer discourse today, and it's directed at people who never got theirs. It shows up in demands for mentorship by people who've barely had a chance to escape a rocky start and figure out who they are themselves. It shows up in yowling about this or that bit of queer media we finally got not being progressive because it's the wrong letter of the acronym.

None of which has a damn thing to do with what pronouns you use in your novel, obviously, but I think some unresolved embattled feelings are why some older queer people are very weird about pronouns.

Some of them are also doing the old person version of throwing the weirdos under the bus to placate the normies. Respectability politics became a term long before the behavior was rife on tumblr.

--

If someone really does find it pretentious, though, and not just as a cover for crying about nonbinary identities being fake, I suspect they just remember how 1970s SFF was full of privileged anthropology students misunderstanding kinship systems from elsewhere in the world and then trying to tell everyone how ~deep~ their extremely contrived novels based on them were.

I'm not saying your writing is like this or that every one of these old sff novels was either, but when I hear "anthropology student", I groan internally. It's an instinctive reaction. It's less about the real fields and more about the bevvy of dilettantes I've run into over the years who'll say they study those things but really want to talk my ear off about Joseph fucking Campbell or the strong form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or something.

--

Those birds are a really cool source of inspiration. Like with A/B/O, the first thing I wonder is how queerness works in that context and how much people like to defy their designated roles.

Omegaverse started on porn logic, so "The one I say tops always tops!" makes sense. When it gets expanded to try to make it make logical sense as a whole world, I often enjoy it, but it can break down quickly if treated as biology is law. I don't know how often the birds veer off of their set patterns, but humans certainly would.

One place where I get a strong "Oh god, this again" feeling from people's plotbunnies is when they're trying to make up a sff society that strikes me as too rigid in a way that real humans aren't. I'll see people using fake wolf biology (not just for horny reasons) but never looking at what's going on with gender in contemporary Thailand or whatever. Like... Le Guin may have made sedoretus feel plausible, but nobody I've ever seen stanning the concept as something fandom should play with has. That's probably because Le Guin was using over-complicated social norms as a thing that breaks down and causes trouble, and "This should be the next A/B/O!" posts are treating it as something that actually works and is a good way to get the pair you don't ship separated while shipping poly.

"It'd also help the reader keep track of who was a part of what group without my having to turn around and state people's coloration constantly."

This, in particular, gives me that cold shudder of recognition from when Homestuck fandom was everywhere and everyone wanted to over-explain those stupid playing card suits and why I should care.

Your concept sounds neat, and I think a set of four pronouns could easily make sense there...

But I also think that if people need the pronouns to keep track of coloration, you haven't set up a system that feels organic enough or haven't given enough cues about how characters are treating each other or why. Use the pronouns too, but just keep that in mind. It's like the "m/m is hard because the pronouns don't tell me whose hand is where" problem. It's almost never actually a pronoun problem.

--

Anyone else have thoughts here?

[parachutingkitten]

Just so everyone is aware, ayathefly, the account who claims to be a temp voice actress for Dragons Rising, is almost certainly my cyber stalker from last month.

She has almost the exact same story as one of the stalker accounts used to try and befriend me. Back then she was a 23yo temp voice actress named Maya who had a comedically whimsical story about her not knowing information about the ducktales reboot she was hired for. This time she's a 23yo temp voice actress named Aya who has a comedically whimsical story about not knowing information about the Ninjago reboot she was hired for. Both the accounts used generic profile pics from classic cartoons, reblogged posts of mine shortly after creating their account, and had this manner of speaking in their posts which immediately set off alarm bells in my head.

In case you are not privy to the saga, this person made a bunch of false accusations about me on one account while defending me on another in order to, I guess, try and win my favor. This after harassing, threatening, and otherwise pestering me on a number of spam accounts. This includes the full range of pretending to be a fan with a tragic story about a dead brother, to weird sex foot fetish fantasies. Since then I have received emails claiming to be showrunners interested in my feedback which I'm also certain are her.

I have also linked them back to the zanenindroid account, and the parachutingkitfanpage, both abandoned at this point, presumably because they didn't get traction.

I need you to understand I was on the fence about sharing this information. Even if they're making my life annoying, this person has at times claimed to be 16 in messages to me in the past (I figure it's possible that the 23yo thing might just be her pretending to be my same age) and I don't want to be the guy who calls out a kid who lied on the internet to try and get friends- even if what they're doing is ABSOLUTELY inexcusable, it's only really affecting me. I know how to use the block button. Turning off non-follow messaging and anon asks is annoying, but not that huge a deal if it means cutting off avenues for them to contact me.

But recently my MOTHER informed me that she got some strange messages from someone claiming to be a 23yo voice actress, and tried gaslighting her into believing she knew her mom from a writing group like 10 years ago (which is not possible btw), and should TOTALY introduce her to me, because we're the same age, and both interested in animation.

I can't not talk about this anymore. When you bring my family into this, you lose any attempt at mercy from me.

Especially given we have quite a few minors in the fandom, I feel obligated to say something. I would not feel comfortable with anyone I know or care about interacting with this person, regardless of how harmless this person thinks their intentions are. They have proved themselves to be a manipulative, lying, unhinged, and obsessive personality willing to put someone they presumably like through some of the scariest scenarios you can find yourself in on the internet- and then drag your family into it. I would ask that you do not interact, do not give them the time of day, do not try to reason with them, and try your best not to be fooled by new accounts that pop up a week from now with suspiciously similar behavior, because I'm almost certain that will happen if Aya goes silent.

Maybe you think I'm paranoid, and over blowing things, and that's your call to make, but I would not be making this post if I did not feel strongly about this.

Even if somehow this is not the same person, and I am falsely linking these two nearly identical identities, at the very least Aya is not who she proports to be. She claims to have provided temp voices for season 3 just this month (temp voices being temporary voice work done before the actual actors are able to record their lines), but Devon Mack (voice actor for Arin) has confirmed that he was in the middle of recording the official dialogue for season 3 back in January of this year. The idea that the production team would only just now be recording TEMP dialogue for animation that's going to release in just a few months is an absolutely WILD claim. I can not convey to you what an insanely truncated timeline that would be. I don't even think that Dragons Rising is a the kind of show to use temp dialogue, none the less have the budget and time to hire out if they did need temp voices, rather than just using production members like most temp work.

Please, be careful out there everyone.

I'm praying I never have to address this again.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

So I’ve been on T for like 2-3 years, my face is full of facial hair yet i still sound incredibly feminine, the vocal pitch barely went down and I don’t know if it’s from me not being on it long enough but I’m beginning to get a little worried that I’m never going to sound like a guy ever :’) what should I do?

Heya, Anon. Sorry it took a bit to get back to you.

I'm sure you are aware that cis men have vocal ranges all over the place, and many would be misgendered on the phone. But I don't really find this very comforting, because dysphoria doesn't play nice. (So, I'd prefer if folks leaving notes don't bring up this obvious fact.)

Voice is definitely one of those uncertain factors with transition. Your speaking voice is probably close to settled, but your singing voice will still likely continue to change a few more years.

When your voice doesn't change enough on T to your liking, your main options are vocal training or surgery.

Vocal training can do a lot for a more masculine sound if you currently speak more with a "head" voice, have vocal fry, or have speech patterns generally thought of as "feminine" (like upspeak). It takes practice to change your vocal patterns, but is also obviously the least destructive to your vocal chords.

Surgery is another option, but I don't have any recommendations here, as I have just barely started research, myself. (I am very dysphoric about my voice.) There are procedures to relax vocal chords, which make them vibrate at a lower frequency. Downsides are that you lose speaking volume and your singing voice might be shot. I also haven't seen much research on how the surgery ages over time, other than the fact that, if you ever require intubation (like for general surgery), you need to let the surgical team know, as I guess there is some risk for damage. It also seems like the procedure is unpredictable in how much your voice changes, and it can even completely wreck your voice.

In my experience, resonance (which T tends to gift) and speech patterns are more important than actual pitch. So, I'd suggest finding a vocal coach to see what you have control over.

Good luck!

[yukirayu]

Slow Damage Timeline

After countless edits and reviews, I wish to share with you a project of mine: the Slow Damage timeline, which pinpoints (or approximates) how old a character is when a certain event in their life occurred.

Note: The link is in the image description (though I'll also share the direct link here, to be safe). 😉

The remarks below are also found in the spreadsheet, but I'll go ahead and share them here, just in case.

Remarks:

Some of the characters’ ages are confirmed, while others are left for us to guess. The latter half has their final ages (deceased or alive) colored red as a distinguisher, and I did the same for the latest year that the visual novel is likely to currently take place in.

The general age ranges of the characters when they'd attend school, regardless of the level of education, are merely an approximation, especially at university-level and onwards. I did some research on the education system in Japan (and China, for one case), but the answers vary from source to source, especially when I try to narrow it down to a specific course, so I'm just going with what seems most probable depending on each character's history (as well as personality).

What I've said in #2 also applies to the years in which each event is likely to have taken place. I can't guarantee that it's 100% accurate, but what I can at least say is that it's a close guess (in other words, it may have even happened 5 years earlier or later).

Try as I might, I couldn't include every single character because even as I gleaned through the VN and the artbook over and over, there's too little that we know about them. A few examples are Inada and the unnamed vampire.

As much as I wish I could, I never got around to playing Clean Dishes (the fact that it's a mobile game restricted to Japan being the primary reason). Anything I know of it is from the summaries and (currently ongoing) translations given about the story. but it is at least certain that the entire plot of the spinoff (including its epilogue and its own sequel drama CD) happen before the events of the main game, since a certain trio is still working for the Takasato Group, and Towa is still living in the clinic (as well as working there).

I have to stress that about 70% of the timeline's contents consists of educated guesses. The education aside (especially for some characters), the events in each person's timeline is confirmed to have occurred; the hard part is pinpointing the when for at least half of those events, given that the VN left only hints or even none at all.

I've updated this spreadsheet with all the information I could gather (and will still update it in the future whenever needed), but I am only one person so there still might be something that I missed. If you know anything that has yet to be here or requires some revisiting, DM me about it. Of course, please be civilized in your approach.

Extra: Also found in the spreadsheet is the status of each character per route, whether they're dead, alive, or if their fate is uncertain, especially when taking what happens in each route into account.

[written-with-blue-ink]

Good morning, Blue. Since Gaming requests are on hold until the poll ends, how about I start with a Cyno request? Please kindly consider this Cyno request: Based on Cyno's 'Least Favorite Food' voiceline about his desert rations. The other Matras start noticing Cyno eating a pinkish jelly from a jar after mealtimes. Upon inquiry, they find out it was a jar of Zaytun Peach jelly you, the General's wife, made after he made a comment on how tasteless the rations were.

Please also kindly take as long as you need with this request; I have no qualms in waiting. Furthermore, by no means feel obligated to prioritize this request over your other requests.

Hey hon! Finally got to one of your requests! I hope you enjoy it!

Cyno X GN/Fem Reader

Sweet as Sugar

“Have you seen the General Mahamatra,” one of the newer guards asked, hands still reached out to absorb the warmth of the fire.

“No, he left sometime after dinner, he’s been doing that a lot more lately than normal,” the other responded. “He didn’t use to do this, I think something might be up? I mean, this person we’re hunting was in the same Darshan and similar year as the General��� Maybe they were friends and this is upsetting him?”

The newer member nodded, looking at the direction General Cyno went before pulling himself up. “I’m gonna go looking for him. Feel free to stay here and tend the fire.”

The other nodded, watching the other walk off towards the nearby stones before turning his attention back to feeding the flames.

“General Mahamatra Cyno,” he called out, turning the corner as he let his fingers run against the aged stone. “Are you al…”

The new scout wasn’t really sure what to expect, he most certainly wasn’t expecting to find sitting in a corner General Mahamatra Cyno, one of the most terrifying men in Sumeru, huddled around a jar and mid-putting a spoonful of pinkish preservatives in his mouth. Their eyes met, catching them both off guard before the newbie said, “Yeah… I’m just gonna go now…”

- A few days prior - 

“What’s wrong?” The voice rang in his ears and a warm hand reached across the dining room table and placed on his. Her hands were warm and just the placement on his made him melt. 

“Nothing really,” he looked into your eyes as he grasped your hand and rubbed his thumb over your knuckles. “I’m just gonna miss you and your cooking on this upcoming mission.”

He looked into your eyes as he watched them narrow in the way you did as you thought, shining as gears turned in your head. “It’s not that big of a deal,” he continued, squeezing your hand before returning to the meal. 

- - -

Cyno didn’t normally sleep in but he would the day before he had to go on another mission. Rest was needed for these long journeys and his back felt better on your shared bed than on the sleeping mats they used, plus the extra time with you was exactly what he wanted. 

He felt the sun rest on his skin as he reached out but felt nothing there. He opened his eyes, the world partially blurry, to see no one next to him, an empty half of the bed. He pulled himself out of the covers, feet placed on the floor, and walked up to the door. As he pulled the food open, the smell of sweetened and stewed fruits hit his nose. 

He walked down the hall, eyes looking to the kitchen as he watched you stirring a pot and humming to yourself. Hips swaying side to side in rhythm to the spoon’s movements. He didn’t say anything, walking past you and starting the water to do the dishes. 

“What are you doing out of bed,” you question, not even looking towards him as you stir the concoction in the pot, “go rest and enjoy your day off.”

“I am enjoying myself; I’m with you,” he says, scrubbing the few dirty dishes in the sink. “What about you? Why aren’t you in bed?”

You hum, lifting up the spoon and inspecting the pink mixture. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said last night, about missing my food. I decided I would make something for you.”

Walking over, you lift the spoon towards his lips which he happily takes. The sugary fruits were stewed and dissolved in his mouth with minimal effort; releasing all the tension from his shoulders as he melted. “Zaytun peach preserves. I’ll make something to accompany them, I’m just not sure what yet…”

His eyes watched you in admiration. Stepping closer, he stretched upwards and placed his lips on yours. The taste of sugar was still in his mouth as he placed his hand on your forearm. As the two of you released, you couldn’t help but quip, “Well, at least I know I added enough sugar!”

[starryblueeyesandstarryblueskies]

Catch Basin | J.M.

Pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

Summary: Crawling through the sewer to find a murder weapon should be pretty straightforward right? Definitely not life threatening.

A/N: This is kinda short but I hope you enjoy! I couldn’t find a good gif of this scene which I’m sad about

As I am an adult, all characters I write for are written as adults. Any minor characters will be aged up to the general range of their actor’s age.

Warnings: near drowning, dead animal?, very gross sewer

Word Count: 1.1k

-

“If it's not in the trash, then it's gotta be somewhere in the storm drain,” Pope says glumly.

“Of course it is.” You shake your head, wiping some sweat off your brow. “Half an hour cleaning up trash with you two hooligans for nothing.”

JJ feigns an offended expression next to you, reaching around the drain to his backpack. “Hey, at least this hooligan thought to bring the crow bar.”

“So how are we doing this?” you ask, “Like rock paper scissors? Or alphabetically?”

“Nah.” “No.” The two boys grunt as they pull the grate loose.

“Or, like, the oldest goes?” JJ and Pope just turn to stare at you. “Really? Neither of you are gonna take the fall? You're really gonna make me do this.”

Pope just shrugs while JJ nods in agreement with your statement, gesturing toward the open pipe.

“Oh, I get it.” You nod to yourself. “You guys are scared. It’s kinda cute.”

“I’m not scared, Y/N,” JJ protests indignantly, but neither boy makes a move toward the sewer.

You give them both an incredulous look. “You should’ve just led with that. You don’t have to be scared. I'll do it.”

“Okay, just, you know, be careful,” JJ adds as you're already halfway in the sewer.

“I’ll be so careful,” you respond sarcastically.

“Yeah, just yell if you need anything.” Pope chimes in.

“Great, yeah, I’ll do that. You’re both so helpful.” Your voice echoes as you yell back to the idiots you call friends.

You should've known you’d be the one stuck crawling through the sewer. If you were smart you would’ve sent JJ and Pope to complete this task on their own, but then who knows what problems they would’ve gotten themselves into without you.

“Shit.” You flinch as your hand hits something slippery on your crawl through the pipe. “Ew, ew, ew, ew.”

“Y/N, do you see the gun?” JJ’s voice echoes through the sewer.

“Nothing yet.”

“It’s probably at the bottom of the catch basin,” Pope informs you.

You're panting hard by the time you reach the end of the tunnel. You pull yourself into the foot of water at the bottom of the basin, feeling around for the gun and trying hard not to think about the things you could be touching.

“Oh my god, this is disgusting.”

It takes a few minutes, but finally you feel something that seems like it could be the same size as the gun.

You yell back in the direction of Pope and JJ. “Guys, I think I found something.”

As you lean down to reach for the object, something foul smelling and distinctly hairy floats toward your face.

“Oh, oh my god!” You push the creature away, scrambling. “You guys, there’s something dead in here!”

Pope calls back, “What, like a person?”

Something else touches you back making you scream.

“Y/N, don't touch it! That's how you get worms!” JJ yells, making you scream and yell even more.

“You guys owe me for life!”

“Just find the gun. Find the gun and get out.” Pope cuts over the noise, trying to get you back on track. He smacks JJ’s arm. “Dude, stop freaking her out.”

“Okay, okay.” you mutter to yourself, taking a deep breath. You turn back toward the water, continuing your search, but a noise makes you stop in your tracks.

“Oh, shit. Guys, the water! The water’s rising!” You turn frantically looking for a way out.

“Y/N! Get out of there now!” JJ’s panicked voice carries through the tunnel.

The water rises quickly, blocking off the way you came, making it impossible to crawl back out of the sewer.

“I don’t have time! Guys!” You hear them call back, yelling your name, but it all sounds muffled over the rushing of the water.

Turning to your only other option, you start climbing the ladder to the manhole. Panic courses through your body, fueling you to move faster and faster. The water chases you, rising just as fast as you can climb.

Your hands reach the top, straining against the hard metal of the cover, but it doesn't move. “Please! JJ! Guys!” You scream for your friends, pushing as hard as you can to free yourself. “Help, I’m over here!”

“Y/N!” You hear JJ’s voice moving closer. “Y/N, we’re coming!”

You stick your hands through the grate, gesturing frantically with your fingers, trying to show your friends where you are. “Please!” Your voice comes out in a broken sob. “The water’s coming up!”

“We’re here!” The boys grunt as they pull against the stubborn metal. You push up, providing any bit of help you can, but the water is overtaking you.

“JJ, JJ please,” You plead as the water rises to your chin.

“We’ll get you out of there. I promise!” JJ pulls out his knife, cutting around the edge of the cover as Pope pulls.

You slam your hands against the grate once more, panic coursing through your veins. “JJ-” The water covers your face. You feel his fingers on yours and all you can do is pray that he gets you out of here.

It feels like an eternity that you stay stuck in that position, your lungs burning, but finally, the cover pulls away with a clang. You pull yourself out of the hole, retching and coughing. The boys move back giving you a minute to recover. You pull yourself onto your knees, sucking in the clean air as fast as you can.

“Y/N?” JJ’s soft voice comes from beside you. He tentatively places a gentle hand between your shoulder blades. “You okay?”

You give him a weak thumbs up. “Never better,” you rasp out, making both boys chuckle.

Taking a steadying breath, you sit back on your heels and reach toward the small of your back. “This wasn’t what we were looking for, right?” You pull a gun out from your waistband. Handing it towards JJ with a small smirk.

“Holy shit,” Pope breathes.

“Oh my god.” JJ laughs, taking the gun from your hand wrapping it in a bandanna. He reaches his other hand out to you, helping you to your feet. “You did it, Y/N. You did it!” He scoops you up in a tight hug, nearly knocking you off your feet. “That’s my girl.”

“Okay, a little tight. I almost just drowned, remember?”

“Right, sorry!” He pulls back quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I, uh, just thought we lost you there for a second. You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” You smile softly at him before pulling both boys into another quick hug. “Now let’s get this bad boy to Shoupe, so I can go shower.”

“Deal,” Pope agrees, “Good job.”

“Yeah, you definitely need a shower. You smell like shit.” JJ jokes, earning himself a hard shove from you. Pope nods solemnly beside him.

“Okay, assholes. Next time, you guys get to crawl through the sewer.”

[offshore-brinicle]

Little personal Limbus theory that I've been working on for some time is that the Limbus Sinners' inciting indicents that led them down the path of joining the company, being the moment when their wish was born, all happened at the same time 3 years before the current story.

Thanks to some old leaks where people managed to dig up three of the Sinners' unobstructed profiles, we know Yi Sang and Sinclair's official ages are 29 and 20 respectively. Remove 3 years from that:

Yi Sang would have been 26, which is the age the narrator of The Wings claims to be, after leaving his wife behind once and for all and pressumably commiting suicide by jumping off the rooftop of a department store. 26 is the real Yi Sang's age at the time of his death as well, after his tuberculosis worsened imprisioned by the Japanese forces, so this means most likely he's left N Corp behind 3 years prior, avoiding such a fate, be it either death by his own hands in despair or torment at the hands of Hermann since she seems to threaten him with torture.

Sinclair on the other hand would have been 17 which aligns with him still being in high school when the incident with Kromer happened and also mentions in his observation log for Kromer that she has grown slightly taller since the last time they met, however what was of him and how he had survived for so long taking in count he woke up in the Backstreets after his family's murder is still a mystery.

Now recently, not only the Pequod crew speculate that they have been trapped inside The Whale for 3 years, but we get direct confirmation that Limbus!Heathcliff is from the Wuthering Heights timeskip thanks to his Queequeg ID.

The first one is pretty self-explenatory, they say it themselves, though it's dubious how true this is since they have no way of tell the passage of time inside the whale and even the woman who says this sounds somewhat unsure, and Pip who was a young child in Ishmael's memory still looks the same when we see him again in the present and it's difficult to say if this is a side effect of the Pallidfication. (on the other hand I am impressed at the growth rate of Ishmael's hair for being only 3 years)

On the other hand, Heathcliff's Queequeg ID mentions the event that led him to run away from Wuthering Heights in the original novel; he overhears Catherine saying to Nelly that marrying him would be "a disgrace to her", so driven by his anger and heartbreak he ran away, making his own fortune elsewhere so that he would return to the state seeking vengeance and to become someone who Catherine would be willing to marry. This had been implied before through his general behavior and his mugshot showing him still shabby and bruised as well as his N Corp story, but this leaves no room for questioning.

All of this means that if we go by the book, at least 3 years have passed since he left Wuthering Heights and Canto VI which is next and dedicated to him would correspond with Heathcliff's return to Wuthering Heights both in Limbus' story and in the book, meaning Catherine is most likely still alive, yet Heathcliff as a Sinner in Limbus Company is a far cry from the newly powerful version of Heatchliff that returns to the state in the book, so it's likely things will play out not quite the same.

Faust's line in the Walpurgisnacht cutscene says that the standard extraction timeline range is limited to 3 years between the past and future.

In this cutscene she also says that the extractions are powered by possibility itself, and the IDs that become available are also influenced by the Sinners' experiences at the company and how they come to reconsider themselves and each other, that's how for example we get N Corp. Sinclair and Spicebush Yi Sang after being faced with Kromer digging at Sinclair and telling him about the world where they work together, and then Yi Sang being so strongly affected internally by Dongbaek's death and ultimate fate, which would be the most intense story-focused examples so far, and if we eventually get a Captain Ahab ID for Ishmael, they had already established she was down the path of becoming another Ahab, and she herself did not realize this until they met again.

If all of the Sinners' great choices that led them down the path they are currently all happened 3 years ago and the initial extraction range is 3 years, it would make sense, since these would be the moments that weight on their mind most strongly, though there's also the case of Outis who has been on her own journey for at least 10 years going by the original Odyssey and how long ago The Smoke War was, same case for Gregor who's specific motives for joining are still unknown.

[scientia-rex]

I really appreciate your breakdown on all of this, it’s both enlightening and vindicating.

I am about 50kg (110lb) above my “recommended” weight and am still getting over my general upbringing that told me I am at fault for being so much bigger than my peers. I still get surprised every time I talk to professionals about it and they just shoot down my assumptions.

My GP told me my extra weight gain after changing my medication is not a concern because I am fit and healthy. My endocrinologist diagnosed my various hormonal conditions that I’ve had since puberty and made it clear that I wouldn’t be able to lose weight without actually starving myself, which of course he did not recommend. My psychiatrist responded to my anxiety about my weight by telling me about HAES paradigm- Healthy At Every Size - and that I should not chastise myself for something both beyond my control, and also not a concern. My first physical trainer, when I talked about wanting to lose weight, made it very clear that regular exercise would not help me lose weight. I saw a dietician and they made it clear that they would not feel comfortable trying to bring me down to a “normal” weight range but would be very happy to help me balance my nutritional needs and make sure I’m getting enough vitamins.

All of these certified professionals agreed - being big is not inherently a problem. And yet every time I see my parents they make at least one comment about how I need to be losing weight. And I know it’s because they care but it’s really disheartening. It’s also really exhausting trying to respond to them with what I’ve learned because even if I could cite my sources right then and there, they would still think I’m making excuses. Sometimes they believe my doctors but very often they respond with “okay but” and still insist I’m just not trying.

So yes I really really appreciate you standing your ground and trying to educate people despite all the naysayers. I’m sure your determination has helped people learn that maybe they can be happy with their bodies as they are.

I’m glad your professionals are getting it right. I’m sorry your parents aren’t. You might consider asking them to read Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture, or You Just Need to Lose Weight (and 19 Other Myths About Fat People), but you may also want to set a firm boundary: don’t talk about my weight or I will hang up/leave the house and go back to the hotel.

[whoiwanttoday]

I finally got around to seeing Anora, a thing I have wanted to do since it started getting festival praise. Multiple times I was set to go see it (indie releases have a tough time in my town, they get maybe one week of decent showings and after that it's in one theater where it either plays at 10 AM or 11 PM as it's only showing and like only on Tuesdays. So I missed both chances for reasons that range from being a little bitch to being a giant bitch depending on the time. Either way, I didn't make it until now when I finally managed to nail a 9:55 showing last night. Anyway, I always knew I was going to post Mikey Madison after seeing it because I know she is the star of the show and I know from past experiences that I find her extremely attractive. I did not know just how naked she was in this movie. I know that might sound strange given what it's about and I knew the character she played but like… I guess I am just used to nudity being a no go these days. Which is a shame in a lot of ways. My least favorite internet discourse is if there should be nudity in movies because the answer is yes, movies are art and art represents life and the fact that younger generations have developed a streak of Puritanism is distressing. In part because I know how much porn people consume and I think porn is really pretty toxic for the culture but we now have multiple generations whose brains have been fucked by seeing porn not as a sometime thing but an always thing from a young age and I absolutely think it has lead to a real discomfort with actual sexuality and intimacy which leads people to couch their discomfort in moralistic terms.

It actually leads me to a memory from a decade ago on tumblr where some tubmlr types had declared it's rape actually if you masturbate thinking about someone without their permission. This was a wild take but not surprising because people would take the language of progressiveness all the time here and use it to create Puritanism. Seeing people create and endorse the idea of thought crimes real time was wild but it was also very apparent what was actually going on is they had lead themselves to believe the world should cater to their comfort and the idea that a thing might happen was enough to take action against it, even if they would never know if that thing happened and it in no way impacted them. As a matter of fact, the implied end of that, which is strangers asking people for consent to masturbate to them is a much more horrifying world with actual real impact on people who wouldn't not want to be involved in any of this. But that's what i think about with the nudity debate because besides the fact you are an absolute philistine and maybe the dullest person on the planet if you think all nudity is porn you also are free to not consume art that has elements you don't enjoy. But it's never really about that, it's always about control so you can feel comfortable.

Anyway, so Mikey Madison. She's great in this and I won't go too much into details because I think people should watch this. It's like a much rawer Pretty Woman I guess. I love the layers of she is absolutely playing this dude in some ways but also she seems to have genuine feelings and the guys seems lonely and he does see her as something he can buy from the word go so… look, there is a lot to unpack and I liked both lead performances. I recommend it. Also, if I am being honest, she looked better naked than I would have guessed. It's not a thing I had put much thought into but it worked for her, so that was nice. Today I want to fuck Mikey Madison.

[haphazardlyannotated]

Sometimes I think about an AU where Harrow's birth didn't require 200 child murders.

Gideon and Harrow probably wouldn't have grown up in each other's pockets the way they did in canon, with 200 other kids around. Still, having only about a hundred kids in their approximate age range (I'm assuming continued births with a similar frequency here) would mean that they'd know each other at least in passing.

Harrow without the crushing guilt of 200 lives on her shoulders would not attempt to open the Locked Tomb, and even if she wanted to, she would be much less likely to happen to have Gideon's blood conveniently on her hands in her attempt, plus Gideon would probably not be following her around to catch her in the act. Though somebody else might, to be fair.

Bottom line is, Harrow's parents are probably still alive. While I'm not sure about the psychological consequences of this, one change that does seem likely is that they might arrange a betrothal for Harrow. We already know from GtN that the only reason Harrow didn't end up engaged to Ortus is that they didn't want to mix up the Reverend Family's and their cavalier's bloodline. So this AU's Harrow is probably engaged to a man (or trans woman), since the Ninth doesn't seem to have the resources for whichever technological advancement on artificial insemnation gave Camilla two dads.

So considering that, in this AU Harrow might be the one with eighty-seven escape attempts.

As for Gideon, even with more potential friends around, chances are good she still wants to join the Cohort. She would probably not experience the same level of alienation and downright hatred as in canon, since Harrow's parents have no reason to freak out about her, but the general culture of the Ninth just isn't a good fit for her. Since Harrow wouldn't be as desperate to keep Gideon specifically on the Ninth, I expect she could just make her intentions to pay off her indentured servitude in the Cohort known, and that would be considered a perfectly fine choice for her career. I expect she'd still train under Aiglamene, but as part of a regular program for Ninth House children with stabby ambitions this time.

Which would be how she and Harrow end up stuck together this time.

When the summon for he house heirs arrives, everyone takes a look at Ortus and goes "...yeah, that won't do." So Aiglamene suggests replacing him with her star pupil, Gideon Nav, who was about to go join the Cohort, but could probably be persuaded to step in as Harrow's cavalier if you offered her a little improvement on the terms of her indentured servitude.

As expected, Gideon receives the offer and goes "Sure, I can swing around a toothpick while Harrow takes her employment test, sounds like a good gig to me. And besides, 'Cavalier Primary' would look good on my resumée for the Cohort."

When they reach Canaan House, Harrow still hopes to restore the Ninth House to its former glory, but more importantly, she is desperate to escape her arranged marriage, especially since her eighteenth birthday is alarmingly close and Ortus just stopped being her cavalier.

Gideon meanwhile enjoys sword fighting, actual flavour in her food, and looking at hot women.

Harrow: Are you taking this seriously?

Gideon: Of course I am! I get five years off my contract for this! I'm just saying, what's the harm in having some fun while we're here?

Harrow: If I fail to become a Lyctor, I will have to marry Ortus.

Gideon: *shudders* Fair enough.

Overall, the setting is more of a romantic comedy with the projected ending of the Reverend Daughter scandalously eloping with her cavalier- until the first murders, that is.

Due to Griddlehark not having seventeen years worth of reasons to go for the worst faith interpretation of each other's actions, and Harrow being at least a little less paranoid, they're able to work together with less conflict. However, Harrow doesn't have convenient puppet parents at home to help her realise that the Seventh cavalier is a beguiling corpse, so the net result could easily be the same. The biggest potential difference I can think of is that Harrow wouldn't try to send Gideon away with Jeannemary and Isaac. Since I like the Fourth House babies, I'm going to declare two murders less here.

Overall though, I don't see any clear options here that don't end with Gideon dead on a fence again.

The big difference would be her perception of HtN.

In this AU, Gideon's relationship with Harrow isn't tainted with obsessive hate-love masked as indifference on Harrow's side. This AU's Gideon sees her relationship with Harrow as a spicy forbidden romance, and therefore ironically interprets Harrow's lobotomy much more accurately than canon Gideon, who has been joined at the hip to her Harrow for as long as she can remember, and I'd love to see how that would change her character in HtN and NtN.

Canon Gideon gives us the beautiful, heartbreaking "I gave you my whole life and you didn't even want it" combined with "She can be in hell for all I care, I just need to know where" for the two hit kill.

This Gideon on the other hand knows that Harrow would have married her given the chance and 'only' has to think about how Harrow might have died to save her.

Which raises the question of where Harrow's soul ends up in a world where she never entered the Locked Tomb. My personal theory is that, with no link to Alecto's body, Harrow is pulled back into her own body after Gideon's soul leaves it. Then we get Harrow stuck on New Rho with Pyrrha, Camilla and Palamedes, and Gideon with Jod and Ianthe, both of them desperately trying to find each other.

When Harrow sees the broadcast, she immediately marches to the Compound, blasts open the door and demands to see her girlfriend.

A few days later, the Ninth House receives another letter from the First, informing them that their Reverend Daughter is not a Lyctor anymore, but will wed the Emperor's daughter as soon as he can stay sober through the ceremony.

The End.

[absolutebl]

Given the wide range of BL you've consumed and analyzed. I am curious at your perspective when comparing BLs made/written by men and those that were written by women, in a different direction, comparing BLs directed by men in comparison to women.

If you could have the time and give your perspective in this two sources of BL , that would be great.

Hum, I'm not sure how to answer this. Except in a kind of avoidance way because I question the premise.

I think, in general, in most of the film industry, the original writing has very little to do with the final result, because so many new voices and povs are imposed on it the moment it begins to be adapted. After a BL leaves its author (predominantly female) it goes to script, a writers room, and eventually into the hands of director and team. All those people are different genders (predominantly male). And all of them have a significant impact on the end result.

Sometimes the author has unprecedented influence (mame for example) but that's pretty unusual.

Statistically speaking, the origin IP (whether novel or graphic) is most likely written by a female and the resulting BL most likely directed by a male.

There are always exceptions, of course.

Even putting aside all the other people, mostly script writers, in between the two primaries (which I just don't think you can) it would be statistically challenging to draw any commonalities amongst female directors (since there are so few) or amongst male writers (for the same reason). In other words, we have many many examples of really only 1 of the 4 possible combinations, and all those examples are muddied by the nature of the filming process (not to mention the nature of gender).

In other words, it would be challenging for me to say things are generally preferable in any one version of the pairings.

I have liked BLs written and directed by women, written by a woman directed by a man, written by a man directed by a woman, or written and directed by men (although those last two I would struggle to name any BLs).

However, I have also liked and then disliked BLs from the same general team and combination of genders behind the creatives.

For me, at least, there doesn't seem to be a reliable team or a reliable writer or a reliable director whose BL product I will reliably love.

I would hesitate to place a predictor on my BL taste (or anyone else's) based on the gender of any part of the team behind a BL. That seems..... weird. Especially when queers and 3rd gender etc are involved (and we have always been involved in artistic spaces for as long as humans have existed, I suspect).

But then I feel that way about most entertainment, from music to books to plays to comedy to fashion. I can be a fan of a director's style but not like some of their shows, just as I can be a fan of an actor's performance but not the character they're playing, or a fan of a pair's chemistry but not in those roles, and so forth.

I think what youth and influencers and the internet age has forgotten is that it's okay to admire a creative individual and not slavishly adore everything that they produce. (For fuck's sake though, don't tell them that, you absolute troll.)

Creatives and creative teams also have their own taste, and that may conflict with yours. Especially with newer IP where you might want the same old same old and they need to evolved. Consumers of entertainment are remarkably resistant to creativity, innovation, and change (so oxymoronic) .

It's okay, maybe you'll like their next BL, song, book, painting, performance......

I have no idea how I got here but:

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

I do have some stuff on a queer lens here:

[vaspider]

Reposting because I absolutely cannot and will not reblog a post made by someone who tags things 'q slur.' For fuck's sake, grow up.

And since I'm reposting, let's made the post better by including a source link to the entire article.

Kanegson, Jared. (1998, June.) After the Butch/FTM Conference, Why Not to Give Up on Butch/FTM/Trannyboy Coalition Building. FTM International, 5.

After the Butch/FTM Conference Why Not to Give Up on Butch/FTM/Trannyboy Coalition Building by Jaron Kanegson

I'm a transgendered person who identifies as both Butch and FTM. A faggy "Butch" who typically dates Butches/boy-dykes/FTMs, an FTM cross-dresser who responds to a range of pronouns, a bio-female who frequently passes, and partially identifies, as male, I can't squeeze my gender iden-tity into one category. As such. I felt excited, even relieved, when I first heard about the Butch/FTM Conference. Finally, I thought. a forum that would logically include genders which, like mine, incorporate elements from both the categories of Butch and FTM. And, I was happy that a spectrum of people from communities that sometimes overlap—more, I think, than many would like to admit--would be coming together to work towards change. I figured we'd have a lot to talk about regarding discrimination from the larger society, identity questions, health care, employment, sexuality, racism, etc. I am saddened to report that while some bridges were built, others were broken, particularly during the "Betrayal—What Makes It Hard To Trust Each Other" workshop. I believe that structural aspects of the conference contributed to the conflict in that workshop, and detracted from the progress that might otherwise have been made that day. Though I had briefly worked on planning the conference, I quit because I was convinced that the conference was not being planned in a constructive way. During the six-week period that I was involved in planning the conference, I attended both a general meeting and panel-planning subcommittee meetings. I also took part in conversations with various conference organizers, potential panelists, curious friends, etc. In my circle of friends, Butch and FTM describe not only categories that at times blur, but also groups that, along with femmes, MTFs, bio-fags and others, often relate as friends, lovers, roommates and members of a larger community. So, I expected the Butch/FTM Conference to build on the base of shared community that already exists, to a certain extent, in San Francisco. Instead, I found that some of the other organizers seemed to see Butch and FTM as two inherently separate, distinct, and perhaps even naturally hostile identities. One area where I saw this mindset demonstrated was in the planning of the morning panel. I thought that, of the five or six panelists, at least one should be a person with an identity specifically incorporating aspects of both Butchness and FTMhood. I suggested a number of boy-dykes and dyke-fags, all of whom identified as transgender. In response, one organizer, a Butch woman, expressed her frustration that I was "muddying" things. She stated that I was "Not respecting that the conference (was) supposed to be about Butches and FTMs." That conversation marked the end of my involvement. Ultimately, although some gender ambiguity certainly crept into the panel, no panelists with the type of gender identity I had lobbied for was included. Transfags and people younger than their mid-thirties were also absent as panelists, and all of the FTMs seemed to be former Butches. That unfortunately reinforced the idea that every FTM "gained" is a Butch "lost" and the misconception that all FTMs are straight. As well, though I know gender-flexible people of all ages, my personal experience is that younger queers are more used to the idea of alliances between dykes, fags, trannies, etc. There were other aspects of the conference that did not seem to be designed to bring people together. One example was the wording of the Harvey Milk Institute catalog course description. Originally, it described Butches and FTMs as

Butch and FTM describe not only categories that at times blur, but also groups that (along with femmes, MTFs, bio-fags and others) often relate as friends, lovers, roommates and members of a larger community. "competing for dwindling resources!" While this and other potentially inflammatory language was ultimately removed, other revisions aimed at making the language more inclusive did not stick. For example, I suggested at the general planning meeting, along with others, that we list a wider range of relevant gender identities—including a more culturally diverse range—in the course description. That way, people who identified only with certain aspects of "Butch" and/or "FTM" would know that the conference was about them, too. Five of us spent half an hour at that meeting's end rewriting the course description to specify that the conference was not strictly about "Butches" and "FTMs," but also about boy-dykes, transfags, bull-daggers, cross-dressers, anabes, marimachas, etc. While the line "All genders are welcome" stayed in the course description, the idea that the focus of the conference was about a range of gender identities was excised. Finally, while the course description set the tone for the conference, as well as drawing a particular audience, the workshop topics themselves were not conducive to alliance building. In particular, the smallest of the three after-noon discussion groups,

"Betrayal: What Makes It Hard To Trust Each Other?," ended in an emotional explosion that I fear may have left many hurt, bitter, and, worst of all. convinced that conflict between Butches and FTM is inevitable. Unfortunately, the title of the workshop alone virtually guaranteed it would be painful. The focus was negative, and on difference. I am not suggesting that there arc no under-lying tensions, nor that these tensions should not be talked about. However, I think a more positive context—such as a workshop focusing on the oppression Butches and FTMs face from larger society, including some discussion of the pain we cause each other—would have been more likely to lead to a sense of a community. Obviously I have a difference of opinion with many of the conference organizers about just who should be included in the categories of Butch and VIM, and how the conference should have been structured and focused. I do not want, however, to discount the hard work they did, nor do I want to gloss over the fact that I have heard hateful remarks about FTMs from dykes, and sexist remarks about dykes from FTMs. However, I believe that as people our society labels queer, and as people (usually) born in "female" bodies expressing masculinity, maleness and/or gender non-conformity, we have a lot in common. We also have a lot of work to do togeth-er and a lot of fun to have together. Despite my critiques, the Butch/FTM conference was an historic first effort towards community building. As someone with a foot—and friends—in each community, I hope that process will keep going.

[basilknell]

Vasily's Literacy

I’ve been asked a couple times about Vasily’s literacy, so here’s a quick overview of stats and pertinent information laid out regarding that idea. I’ll make my statement on my own opinion towards his literacy at the end, but for now I’ll focus on exact numbers and stats without interjecting opinion.

While this post primarily pulls specific stats from When Russia Learned to Read by Jeffery Brooks, I’ve read a couple papers and other books regarding these subjects I pull general statements from as well. Please note, though, that there were no large scale official census in Russia until 1897 so some of these stats from previous years could potentially be skewed.

Source Material

First and foremost: do we ever see Vasily read or write in the series?

No. However, this can be explained quickly away. Until running into Tsukishima, Vasily was likely (incorrectly) assuming that not only did none of the Japanese characters speak Russian, but they did not use the same writing system either. It would have been a waste of resources (paper) to attempt a conversation where a drawing could suffice. Additionally, there is no other scene in the series involving him and Tsukishima that would have warranted him writing to Tsukishima either. At least, none that we see. So, him never being seen writing does not necessarily prove he is illiterate.

Vasily’s Age

With that out of the way, there’s another important piece of information we need to pin about Vasily before we continue: Vasily’s age. While Noda specified he’s the same age as Ogata, Ogata is unfortunately given no age range. But, unlike these two, Usami does have a canon age: 26. We can use Usami as a frame of reference because Noda stated Usami is, in fact, older than Ogata. Thus, this means Ogata is 25 and so Vasily is also 25.

Now, I personally tend to make these two older, but for a frame of reference we are going to pin Vasily at 25 years old. The reason this is significant is to pin down exactly when Vasily went to school. If in 1907 he was 25, then the age he was deemed ‘school age’ (8 - 11) would be around 1890 - 1893. Of course, he always could have attended school at an earlier or later age, but for conjecture’s sake, we will use the average age such as these.

As I said previously, an official census was not published in Russia until 1897, but any previous information before that typically begins around the 1870s. So it would benefit us to default to 1897 statistics, but keep in mind that the stats are skewed a tad higher than they would have been.

Rural Literacy

Literacy in the late 19th century was not nearly as bad as people make it out to be (at a rate of around 21% in 1897), but only because rural numbers brought it down. For example, in industrialized cities such as Moscow, 70% of men were regarded as being literate. There were also a plethora of schools dotting the country, from Zemstvo-funded schools, to church schools, to state schools. It was often not the lack of schooling availability that caused a decrease in rural literacy compared to urban children, but rather social aspects.

I am unable to find exact stats for rural literacy rates around the year 1890, but literacy rose from 6% in rural populations in the 1860s to 25% in 1910. It’s also best to keep in mind, however, men were far more likely to be literate than women, and the young more likely than older populations as well. So, if we were to take an increased decade raise (rounding up to about 4% every 10 years), and exclude the population numbers from including women which will be about half the population, we get around a 36%* base chance Vasily is literate when he is from a rural population (of which he is – he is from Yeleninka, a rural town in the Orenburg voisko), still not excluding elderly populations.

This is still not a very high chance, but there’s some other factors to discuss. Firstly, would have to be involving his background. The reason literacy was so low in rural areas was because, although parents did place value on literacy because it allowed for social movement and potentially higher wages, parents simply could not afford the lost labor of their children attending school. If a family had several children and could afford the loss of labor, then a child was much more likely to attend school. So, even if Vasily’s family had been described as being poor by Noda, this had no bearing on Vasily’s likeness to attend school. Given Vasily is almost entirely assured to be in the military through conscription, he very likely had brothers. And if he had brothers – he was very likely to attend school compared to single children families.

Another factor involves his family’s occupation. Families dependent on agricultural work were less likely to send their children to school because it was expected for them to work on that same farm when they were older, thus limiting their need for literacy. But, if Vasily’s family were artisans or practiced some kind of craft alongside agriculture, parents highly valued literacy in comparison, and were more willing to spare the labor loss for schooling.

Religion also played a role. Specifically, those of the Old Believer faith tended to be more literate and push to educate their children regardless of their occupational status compared to regular Russian Orthodox peasants. Aside from a general cultural insistence on preferring literacy, there is no other reason why this occurred, as the only major difference between Old Believers and Russian Orthodox peasants was a matter of ceremony (excluding some fringe Old Believer cults). If Vasily came from an Old Believer family, they'd push for him to be literate regardless of the labor loss they'd experience.

Finally, some parents preferred to send their sons to school to lower their military conscription length. While university students conscripted only had to serve 1.5 years of the required 5 year length, those who completed at least 3 years of any schooling had that length lowered to 4 years. If a family had several sons, which meant their sons were eligible to be drafted by the lotto, they would be more partial to educating said sons.

For some stats: unfortunately I could only find the rate of attendance of boys in school for 1911. Please examine these stats with a critical eye that they should be lower. 88% of boys in rural areas attended school for at least 1 year, but by year 3 this percentage dropped to about 38.5%.

*My math numbers will be off because there were a decent amount of women who were literate, just at a noticeably lower rate compared to men. For ease of math’s sake, I removed them from the population entirely, though the original percentage statistic did include them. They originally were likely less than 1% of the literate population in the 1860s statistic I used as a base.

Soldier Literacy

While it is useful to look at literacy stats of Vasily’s background (being a rural resident), what’s more useful is the literacy rates of the army for when Vasily was serving.

By the 19th century, Russia realized the value in literate soldiers – but unfortunately for Vasily, schooling for soldiers that the government had originally created in 1855 was abolished across the 1890s. But this did not mean literacy still did not rise in the military, as certain soldier ‘uncles’ brought it upon themselves to educate other soldiers. In fact, literacy in the army rose from about 21% in 1874 to about 68% in 1913 – rounded up to about a 6% increase in literacy every 5 years. Vasily would’ve been conscripted into the army by 1902, and applying the rate of increase, there was about a 51% literacy of the army in 1899, and 57% literacy in 1904. A higher than half chance for Vasily, who we see actively still in the army by 1907.

There are other factors to consider as well: Vasily’s rank and station. While the illiterate often went to the infantry units, specialized units had much higher rates of literacy. As I’ve discussed in the past, Vasily might have been in a specialized unit – an RIA unit continually supporting the Cossack border guards, or the Special Border Guard Corps. His literacy chance rises higher due to this factor, as literacy was especially preferred because of the ability to read topographic maps and telegrams.

It is not Vasily’s presence in a specialized unit that also increased his likelihood of being literate – it was his rank as well. While Noda removed most telling marks from Vasily of his rank, such as shoulder straps, there’s two glaring tells. Firstly, are his and Ilya’s binoculars. Ilya appears to be to be a Feldwebel (equivalent to an American First-Sergeant, British Sergeant-Major) given his position of ordering the other soldiers, and that he has binoculars which were only used by officers. He is, like Tsukishima, a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). Vasily himself also has binoculars, though one could argue this does not inherently make him an NCO because Ilya has at least two traits marking him as an NCO. After all, Vasily could have stolen his binoculars and his overcoat is one that a private would wear (Ilya does wear a private’s coat as well. Though, I have addressed before that the uniforms of the border guards gang are completely incorrect regardless of rank, so I am unsure of how much weight this should be given).

That second tell is actually Vasily’s cockade. The cockade worn on the hats of soldiers denoted generally their rank and status. So, while Vasily lacks any other visual clothing tells, his cockade can give a general idea if he is of a lower or higher rank, which does indeed change his literacy statistics.

[Pictured are 3 cockades. The far left is the cockade of a lower rank soldier, while the cockades in the middle and far right are cockades of officers. Thank you to @rdstrpv for this image!]

This information is important because NCOs were almost demanded to be literate. It was essential for their occupation, as being able to read maps was one of the most important skills for an NCO to have. If Vasily was an NCO, which his cockade would indicate, he almost assuredly would be literate, or at the very least incredibly good at faking it.

[Pictured are the 3 different ways Vasily’s cockade is drawn.]

While in the anime Vasily’s cockade is given the appearance of the average lower-rank soldier, and typically this is how people place him. However in the manga, Vasily’s cockade is more ambiguous. When referencing it to the cockades above, it could pass as both a lower-rank or an officer’s cockade. The final example is of Noda’s detailed Vasily illustration that was not outsourced by an animation studio, nor constrained by swift time spent on manga panels. In this, Vasily clearly has on the cockade of an officer.

Obviously, given the anime drawing Vasily with a lower-ranking cockade and the manga is ambiguous, you could still make the argument he’s a low ranking soldier. Nonetheless, one should also consider that the government likely would’ve preferred to send a group of officers to apprehend a Tsar’s killer over, perhaps, privates, giving more credence to him being an NCO. That, and because Vasily was an experienced sniper in the war, it'd be especially strange he'd not received some promotions at the end of the war. And thus, Vasily’s literacy likeness goes up to almost-guaranteed. There were occasional examples of NCOs not being literate, but there were few and far in-between, making it unusual that a young NCO was illiterate in 1907.

Cossack Literacy

Of course, Vasily was not necessarily in the RIA. He could have instead been a Cossack. While the idea of an NCO and cockade still apply to Cossacks, I will still discuss Cossack literacy in the case you find Vasily to be of a lower rank.

Unfortunately exact statistical information regarding Cossack literacy has almost never been tracked before the Soviet period. Still, by the 19th century the Imperial Russian government had a special vested interest in educating their Cossacks, more so than their peasantry. There were many Cossack schools that taught everything from literacy to combat that children were almost required to attend. In fact, once entering the military at 21, Cossacks were required by the military to be literate unlike other soldiers, and if they were not literate they were mandated to pursue education while they were deployed.

This is not to say there were not illiterate Cossacks – one could finish their entire service as a Cossack without properly pursuing their literacy if they were crafty about it, similar to illiterate NCOs. But, again, this was unlikely. In comparison, Cossacks were far more likely to be able to read than that of the ordinary peasant in the army.

Final Thoughts

I’m of the opinion Vasily actually is literate, regardless of him being in the RIA as an NCO or a Cossack. He’s a very prideful character, and it slowly became a limiting stigma that one was illiterate in Russia, even in 1907. This is not to say Vasily can’t be illiterate – many of the stats I gave showed that there was a decent chance for illiteracy, especially if he was a first-born son to a farming family and only low-ranked. But in my opinion of all the facts culminating, I find I prefer the idea of him being literate. Have fun with this information regardless, and may it help you in whatever you intend to write or draw in the future!

A big thank you to @rdstrpv for her help in answering a couple of my questions to make sure I wasn’t misrepresenting information, and for her images. She's always a big help.

[itspbandjellytime]

The Assistant [Hailee Steinfeld x Fem!Reader] - Chapter 3

Plot: Y/N Waldorf is fresh out of college and her first job is being Hailee Steinfeld's personal assistant, but what Y/N doesn't know is that Hailee is hiding a huge secret from the general public and from her, as her assistant.

Notes: This is a multi-chapter fic, you can also read this on wattpad under the same username "itspbandjellytime". This fanfic is also going to contain NSFW themes in the near future, so if you're under the age of 18 please don't read this. Thank you!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Word count: 1.4k words

[Y/N's POV]

The next day arrived, today is the day I move in with Hailee. I already packed my bags earlier this morning again, I looked at Jackie with a smile on her face and gave her a tight hug "Girl, don't be sad, at least we live in the same state now." I reassured her as she fake cries. Jackie pulls away from her and laughs "I know, I am just being very dramatic and besides, West Hollywood and Malibu is a 40 minute drive. You can visit anytime you want." Jackie told me "Hailee isnt expecting you to show up, that quick right?" Jackie asks me as I reached for the door. I respond with a shrug "Eh, better to be early.", Jackie grabs my wrist all of a sudden which made my eyes widen. "You good?" I ask her with a confused tone, Jackie told me to sit down on the couch with her for a bit.

"Yeah, It's just that I've been hearing something online about Hailee... you know... Keeping a secret from the general public?" Jackie said, as much as I love Jackie, she's my best friend, I will jump off a tall building and sell my organs for that woman... There are times that she relies on random and odd stuff on the internet, especially engaging in blind item pages like Deuxmoi. I furrow my brows, oblivious on what Jackie was telling me "What do you mean? Also what did I tell you interacting with those pages?" I said in a very motherly tone despite the fact that Jackie is two years older than me. 

"Heard it from Deuxmoi before you got here, someone said that Hailee Steinfeld is hiding a secret from the public and only her manager knows about it." Jackie says, and then gasps "Do you think she's pregnant?" 

"GIRL WHAT THE FUCK?!?" I yelled "You've been on Deuxmoi way too much! We both know that site is like the fifth? or lower circle in hell, you know what Tree Paine did when Deuxmoi went after Taylor Swift, right? Also we don't know these people personally!" I said, I let out a sigh and rubbed my temples, going silent for a while. "Look, whatever that is... I won't believe it." I said standing up, putting my hands up with a smile on my face.

Jackie smiles back, understanding what I just told her "Alright, but you know I am just one call away and we can meet up like once or twice a week." Jackie said, standing up again and giving me a hug. I hug Jackie back and nodded "Yeah, just message me if ever." I said, grabbing my bags and finally leaving the apartment.

Forty minutes later, I finally arrived at Hailee's lavish looking house located in Malibu. The house looked amazing from the outside and made me think what's in store inside as well, I parked my car somewhere and grabbed my bags from the trunk. I walked up to the front porch and rang the doorbell, waiting for her to open the door. 

Seconds later, she opens the door for me. Hailee is wearing a pair of black yoga pants, a pair of sneakers and a black sports bra that shows off those toned abs of hers that makes me weak on my knees. She looks so hot, my heart starts racing and a lot of thoughts run through my mind seeing her like that. But I still kept my normal posture in tact to be a little bit professional "Hey, you're here! Come on in." Hailee says, inviting me to enter the house. 

I enter the house with my bags and I look around the place in awe, I knew that her house would look this good even though I've never seen the whole thing. "I'm sorry if I look like this, I just finished working out." Hailee says, leading me to her living room "Make yourself comfortable, Y/N." Hailee says again, I nod with a smile on my face and I sat down on her couch. I just stare at her walk to her kitchen as she grabs a bottle of cold water from her freezer, the way I look at her is filled with admiration and adoration. My little moment was broken when all of a sudden I heard two high pitched barks, I look down to see her yorkies Brando and Martini looking at me, their tails wagging in sync. 

"Oh my goodness, are these Brando and Martini?" I say, smiling at the dogs having some second thoughts if I should pet them both, I am a huge dog person but I have a huge fear of dogs biting me. "Yep, in the flesh! Don't worry they don't bite, they're super friendly." Hailee says, heading to the couch to sit next to me. Hailee puts Brando on my lap and he starts to lick my fingers, which caused me to chuckle and gently pet his head "He's starting to like you, are you a dog person?" Hailee asks. I nod in response as I kept petting Brando while Martini is lying down on my shoe "I have a German Shepard in Washington, his name is... Well... It's a ridiculous name." I said, trying to keep up with an actual conversation with Hailee. 

"Well, what's the name of your dog then?" Hailee asks, her hazel eyes looking into mine. I swear, I get lost in those eyes every time.

"His name is... Sir Tenderloin McAvish the Second... We call him Tendy for short." I answered, Hailee starts to burst out laughing once I told her the name of my family's dog. Her laugh is so contagious, it made me laugh as well "I am dead serious, that's his name." I said, pulling my phone out and showing a photo of Tendy to Hailee. "He's a rescue dog, we got him back in 2003. He's like a big baby." I said, showing her a photo of me and carrying Tendy like a baby. Hailee laughs and smiles at the photo of me and my dog, zooming in the photo to see him up close.

"Well you're not wrong Y/N, I treat these two like they're my own children. Oh wait, that reminds me... Come, I'll show you your room." Hailee says, standing up from the couch. I gently put Brando down on the floor again and watch him run around the living room with Martini, I picked my bags up and followed Hailee upstairs. I continued to admire the interior design of Hailee's house, it looks cozy and comfortable. "Alright, we're here." Hailee says, opening the door of my room for me. I entered the room and looked around, I have a comfortable bed and my own bathroom and TV. 

I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her "Thanks, your place is cool. Who's your interior designer?" I asked, Hailee leans against the door frame, crossing her toned arms. "My mom, she's the best." Hailee chuckles and looks at me, "Well I gotta say, your mom is cool. Quick question, have you ever done this before with your past assistants?" I ask, Hailee shook her head in response "Nope, most of my old personal assistants are people older than me cause you know I started this whole acting and music thing at a young age..." Hailee answers, taking a sip of water from her water bottle.

"So I am the first assistant to stay in your place then?" I asks, with a little hint of casualness.

"Yeah, I feel like you're going to be an assistant that will last long." Hailee responds, winking at me with a smirk on her face "Anyway, if you need anything else. Just let me know, this is your home now... Well once you get a place of your own." Hailee says, closing the door of my room.

I flopped down on the bed, lying on my back as I stare at the ceiling, letting out a sigh. Everything is happening all at once, it feels overwhelming but in a very positive manner to say the least. I furrow my brows a bit, looking back as I was looking around the place before heading to my room earlier. 

There was this room at the end of the hallway and it was dark, I didn't ask Hailee about it because it might come off as invasive and I might lose my job. So I just quickly assumed it was a storage room, or a room that has her awards, or a room that has one single box that has her scrapped music or that damn album everyone in the fandom is waiting for. Whatever lies in that room, I'll just ignore it and focus on one thing and one thing only. My job as Hailee's assistant.