#but I'm also fine with questions about this!

[sparrowlucero]

Saw your post about aliens making out and I'm here for it but question, do you have an issue with the harkness test?

Personally I feel like being able to consent, communicate (to withdraw), and being of reasonable intelligence are perfectly fine requirements for is something is fine to sexualize

no because it's largely a joke test/debate about the ethics of thinking the willem dafoe fish in finding nemo is sexy/explaining that aliens in sci fi can still be consenting adults even if they have 6 legs and mandibles, so, like, you know, who cares about the nuances of it lol. If at some point a lot of people started treating it as a genuine hard litmus for the morality of books and movies in the way they did with the bechdel test, i would have problems with it since "can it express itself with language or, in the most dire cases, very clear body language indicating sapience?" is something that assumes a baseline of anthropomorphism that isn't gonna map onto a lot of fiction (The Shape of Water, for instance, would conventionally fail). but i haven't really seen that happen yet.

also i don't remember saying anything about that, i just joked that it's kind of funny that 1) the character who originates the term never clearly illustrates it (outside of a single line about a very obviously sapient/humanoid alien lady, all of his alien love interests - the doctor, alonzo - look entirely human) and 2) that show's main inhuman alien (the tardis) has often been presented as romanceable but doesn't pass the test.

[omnisvirlupussicfiatdraco]

this always terrifies me a little bit because I love all fans who aren't out and out assholes.

Due to leftover bad childhood experience embarrassment however, I like to check the level of fan I'm interacting with so I can match the vibe.

I've friends who are casual fans of NuWho to people who literally knows enough about the Extended Universe that I would bet money on them in any quiz/trivia competition.

All of the people along this spectrum are valid, all of them are awesome.

The problem I found is that I dabble in a lot of the fandom and I get gremlin-finding-a-shiny excited about anything related to the show; a prop, a location, cosplay, actors or story trivia, "I've heard X audio", I've met Y companion. Genuinely I danced on the spot visiting a filming location for Classic Who when I realised where I was, in a public place hopping about like the floor was lava. And some people, just sort of don't. Which is absolutely fine!

But I've had many experiences where I do get super excited, but the people I'm with (also fans/or not) don't. It used to hurt because I thought I'd fucked up, now I'm an adult and I just don't care if I misread the vibe and get overexcited when other's don't. but the checking is still there. What Doctors do you like? Have you read the books? Checked out Big Finish blah blah.

But I found something out a few months back that genuinely made me sick.

Context; I was talking to a woman (I'm a man) my age and asked stuff like this to kind of gauge the vibe as I say.

I learn some info which directly indicates flat out that there is no damn way I'm out nerding this lady on Doctor Who. I am suitably impressed and internally go "Right, you can get full gremlin now, these peeps are safe." because they're 100% going gremlin mode with me and it's awesome.

I found out later that the tone shift from me was so distinct that it seemed like I became interested in the conversation after I found it out, because it meant who I was talking to passed some arbitrary test I'd set for being a proper fan.

And now the bit that makes me sick typing it; that's not new.

Men in the fandom gatekeeping everyone else for not being a real fan of the show particularly women.

I'll be clear, I'm not upset that this was thought of me. It's not what I'm about, fuck gatekeeping, you love the thing I love so we can love it together, but it made sense, given context.

We cleared it up when this was explained to me so it's all good but... holy fuck if it's that ubiquitous a problem being encountered that it seems like the default? What the fuck kind of nonsense is that? In a show as diversely crewed, cast and storied as Doctor Who is. With values as obvious from day one in 1963 and a runtime as long as Doctor Who has. Why the fuck is fake fan/real fan a question? Especially what the fuck are we (men) doing gatekeeping it from everyone else? Sorry this one got away from me @the-worms-in-your-bones. Please feel free tell me to get this off your post if you like.

The thing about doctor who is that there’s so much of it that you can never truly know what someone mean when they say they’re a doctor who fan, like you could meet someone who’s favorite doctor is 11 and they’ve only watched new who or you could meet someone who hasn’t watched anything with the doctor in it in a year and who’s favorite character is someone you’ve never even heard of

[certifiedsexed]

this might be a bit of a weird and oversharey question for me to explain so sorry if the wording is weird 😭 but i have a massive crush on this character and he is physically disabled. for part of the show he wears braces on his disabled leg and his back, and there's some scenes where he's basically just in his underwear and his braces. and for some reason i find his braces really hot - they have super aesthetically pleasing designs but i also just think he looks really sexy wearing them. and i wanted to ask, as an able bodied person, if this is fetishizing disability? i have no negative intentions of course, but i'm still worried 😭

No worries, I don't mind weird questions!

It's okay to think people's mobility aids are hot. For a lot of disabled people, that's part of us, it's part of our look, so it makes sense if you think they're hot, especially if you already think he's hot. There's nothing wrong with that, in of itself.

As long as you're keeping in mind disabled people are all different and you're not making unconsensual sexual remarks towards us because of our mobility aids, or saying ableist things about this character you like, you're fine.

Just, as a tip, if you want it, in this sort of context, don't ask yourself "oh am I a fetishist ect ect", ask yourself: are you being respectful towards disabled people, are you hurting anyone, are you saying ableist things to people, ect.

If the answer is "no", you're fine.

Hope this helps, Anon! This is a good question and thank you for letting me answer it! Let me know if you have anymore. <3

[colossrat]

So, Billy is actually Bruce's biological son.

Marylyn married CC when she was already pregnant, CC knew and was okay with it, they really love each other and Bruce was just an accident? I don't know.

A few years later, Ebezener tries to sell this information, someone from the Waynes or Kanes, I don't know about that side of the lore… Are the Kanes still alive? Sorry, I'm ignorant in that area. SOMEONE is going to pay him to shut up. So they sell Billy again to a bunch of bad guys who are going to sell him AGAIN to somewhere, I don't know, far away from Gotham.

Well, but Billy is kind of like "oh my Gods, why this is my life", so he uses his powers, leaves the place as Cap and, as a bonus, he even gets Ebezener's money, the one the Kanes give him to shut up.

Kate, Batwoman, finds out, tells Bruce about this whole crap situation and now Batman is opening an operation to find this secret biological son, who was apparently sold to someone, but a mysterious magical person came there and saved him and the other children who were also being trafficked, but who??? This is a very secret operation, of course, only Wonder Woman, Superman and the Batfam are there to really know the details.

Well, but one day, like, YEARS after all this suffering, because Bruce never managed to locate this secret child that he now thinks is DEAD, boom, a child shows up on a mission, 15, 16 years old maybe, the age his secret son would be… blue eyes, dark hair, pale as paper, skinny, but yeah, it's pretty obvious. It's something immediate, but before he can say anything, someone else shows up, hugging the kid and saying that he was really worried.

Yeah, guys, Cap and Billy got separate cliche, but well, the JL, needed help, so they went to help them like this.

Billy is Billy, 16 year old Billy, and Marvel doesn't look like CC Batson, but rather like an adult version of Billy. Bodytpe less like Superman and more like Nightwing.

And then they introduce themselves as CAPTAIN MARVEL'S ADOPTED CHILDREN. Yes, we have Recruit (Billy) and Lightning (Thavma).

And so yes, they are helping the League, guiding them out of that evil, magical cave, and the League keeps asking questions.

Recruit, sitting on Lightning's shoulder: Uh… yeah, so, actually I… was going to… get taken by a metahuman taffricking ring, Lightning saved me and after that we really didn't want to be apart, he convinces Cap to adopt me too, and now he helps me with my magic training and everything. But I'm Lightning's… sidekick. Not Marvel's, that's why you guys and I have never really met.

Flash: Yeah, but like, even if we never met you since your hero job its not Marvel related, how come we never met Lightning? It feels like he's been a hero for a few years or more.

Lightning: I don't really like being seen. Im more of an underground hero? I want to help, but I honestly don't know how to deal with the public like Cap does. So I help in the shadows. I help, and then I'm gone. Maybe I'm more of a vigilante..? Not a hero.

And Batman's like, "I want to adopt you two now," but he's also like, "My baby found a good, powerful family, what right do I have to tell him about our kinship? What if this ruins everything for him? He's fine. He doesn't need me," but it destroys him.

He sees the way Recruit fights, remembers him of little Dick, jumping around and doing silly stunts. And his smile, so bright, so hopeful, so happy.

He hears his laugh and it calms something inside him.

"He's fine. He's happy, that's enough for me."

Billy and Cap actually take a long time to undo the magic spell that separated them, so they end up covering Marvel for other missions, and one day, Billy kind of spills the beans.

Kon: So, about your birth parents… Are they dead? Didn't they come after you were rescued from trafficking? Recruit: Uh, so… My parents are dead, but my dad was not my biological father, or something… My shitty uncle sold that information to my bio "family", I guess, and they're super rich, so they probably didn't want me to ruin their image in high society as some bastard orphan, so they were the ones who cut me out of that circle from the start. From what I heard when I was in the ring, my... Progenitor, has a lot of bastards already, and the family was happy to be able to stop another one from coming to steal their fortune or something. assholes, I never wanted to meet them in the first place, even if my uncle had dropped me with them, I wouldn't stay, I'd rather live on the streets again.

And some of the batfam, who know all about this "he's the one" thing, are there, listening, and they already know that these words are breaking Bruce from the inside out.

Lightning: You're being mean. We don't even know if they sold you out. The… Big guy seems to like adopting and doesn't care about their background. I believe it was a decision by the old conservative family heads.

Recruit: Don't sugarcoat it for the rich, they already pay people to do it. yeah, i know, maybe this is that "no he wouldn't do that" thing, but i wanted to write a sadder au with angst and misunderstandings and a sentimental bruce who longs to be a present father with a bonus of thavma and billy being brothers :D

[ax-louise]

HISTORY

yan!romantic royal damian wayne × royal male reader × yan!platonic royal batfamily

NOTE: i never actually thought someone is waiting for this series and i'm a bit nervous if anyone would even like it :p, so this is for that one anon who asked for this, im very sorry! here's a short (very) part of chapter 2. stuck on chapter 2 since this chapter would be long, currently on 7k+ word count and still planning on continuing. reader is Caelum's prince, for context. also, reader is 9 years old in this part and planning on continuing the series until 16-20+ years old :p

“I heard that Caelum finally has a royal attending the Academy after years!” Stephanie Brown exclaimed, her eyes shining in excitement and enthusiasm. “Isn’t that interesting?”

“What are you even getting excited for?” Timothy asked, closing the door of his own chamber. His eyes traveled from Stephanie to Duke and Cassandra standing before him, with Duke lowering his own royal mantle, and leaning down in front of a chimney for warmth. “This is… insane. We’re not even a week in yet for this year, and you’re here?”

Although the three of them would actually prefer to stay back in Gotham than to live for months in the Academy, the news that Caelum finally has a prince to represent their kingdom after these years, has been the reason for them to come back to the Academy earlier than expected. New things have arrived, and they're not one to miss.

Plus, Timothy's report containing how Caelum's heir acts differently from how they expected him to be pushed them into forcing Bruce to send them to the Academy immediately, to witness you themselves, to see you for themselves. From the image of you being aggressive towards Gotham, holding a grudge against them and taking the Academy as your chance to avenge your kingdom from history, to them realizing that your intentions are surprisingly pure.

But what do they actually know? Timothy only met you yesterday, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know you from the hours of watching you, right? Of course he does. You were a potential threat for his kingdom, and it is only his job to assure everyone they're safe.

“How about the kingdom?” Timothy asked once again. Stephanie let out an air through her nostrils before plopping down on Timothy's bed.

“Everything is fine. Bruce can handle it.”

The doors Timothy had once shut close were opened, the loud footsteps prior alerted them of a person, and they watched the doorknob be twisted from the other side before Damian came into view, his usual scowl evident on his face, and slamming the door shut behind him. The sound bounced on the walls, and echoed inside the silent chamber.

“What has become your reason to attend earlier from what we had discussed?” Damian started, and walked towards one of Timothy's chairs placed on a corner.

“The report,” Duke answered this time, his back facing the rest of his siblings. “I guess none of us believed that the kingdom we attacked years ago, the same kingdom that has been making us suffering by their silence, is surprisingly not a threat at all.”

"Why are you already coming to conclusions when it has only been two days with Caelum's heir?” Damian questioned, leaning backwards on the chair and letting himself relax, releasing all tensions resting on his shoulders from today’s events. “What made you think that they'll immediately attack us? He could be manipulating us into thinking he knows nothing.”

“But what do you think?” Timothy spoke. “He came alone with one royal knight, and we're here with hundreds of ours, standing behind our backs and ready to unleash their swords if any of the neighboring kingdoms attack us. But we're talking about Caelum here, we didn't give the rest of them a reason to be a threat to us, we're sending hundreds of men against one knight and his nine years old prince who doesn't even know anything at all.”

“And what are you trying to insinuate, Drake?”

“That we're pathetic and obsessed?” Stephanie answered for Timothy, eyes sticking on the ceiling, and a soft laugh that left her lips after her words. “I mean, it's better to be sure than not at all, Caelum didn't even do anything after our ancestors killed their former queen, isn't it already a proof that they are never going to answer our call for war, even after all these years?”

“We had a reason to start a war,” Duke stated. “But after all these years, truths are always uncovered. I don't think we had the right to execute their queen because of an accusation we never had an evidence with… and being alert, cautious, around Caelum for so many years, even until this moment, just to receive nothing really proves how pathetic we've become. We tried to start everything, and we’ve been waiting for too long. This is our way to make an alliance and fix everything with Caelum to stop putting ourselves on edge.”

“Who are we to say that? We're not the one seating on a throne to decide,” Damian argued.

“But you will,” Timothy pointed his finger at Damian. “And that is one thing both you and [Name] had in common.”

[ms-demeanor]

So these computers will be mostly be used for CAD but also video editing. The time we are looking for is in the next few months. It will be running autodesk fusion which at minimum needs 2 cores, recommends 8 for cpu, needs 8gb of ram recommends 32gb, and needs aleast some sort of gpu and something like a nvidia quadro is recommended though I am mostly sure we would do fine with a 40s or 50s series GPU.

This is very funny to me because this is actually quite similar to the conundrum I had buying computers earlier today. Workstations are currently a bitch to get (and also that means that $1500 per device is somewhat unrealistic in the opposite direction of what I was initially thinking, especially given the graphics card)

------------------------------------

Hi Anon!

Thanks for the details! We're beginning to see some stock availability issues with hardware so I'm not finding anything that's a perfect match out-of-box for your needs but I believe I've found a solution that should be comfortably within budget as long as you've got in-house IT or an affordable contractor to help with the build.

What I've found is a Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny that comes with a 20-Core, 14th gen i7 processor, 16GB DDR5 5600 MHz RAM (SoDIMM), and an Nvidia T400 4GB graphics card. The workstation includes an upgraded Lenovo Premiere warranty with next-day onsite service. The ThinkStation has one RAM module soldered to the motherboard but two free slots and can handle a max of 96GB, so I'd recommend purchasing this device and adding 16GB Crucial modules.

Just to be sure, I did verify that the graphics card with this device is on the list of compatible cards from Autodesk.

I'm finding the workstation available from a number of vendors at about $1200, and the RAM is available for around $50. With tax, that brings your per-unit cost to around $1400, leaving just under $100 per machine to account for the labor cost of installing the RAM.

Let me know if this sounds like a solution that works for you, or if you have any further questions.

Given your timeline, you could choose to place orders from vendors who are not carrying the full 30 machines right now, but considering the possibility of scarcity I'd recommend making a decision sooner rather than later.

Thanks! Ms-D

--------------------------------

Part of what I was struggling with on my quote today is that my employer doesn't want our techs mucking around with desktop hardware; we're not supposed to be ordering and upgrading before we send things out the door but that is not a limitation that an end purchaser has to live with so you (reader or anon) have more options and more flexibility when looking for computers than I do *IF* you make sure to check that you can do upgrades. It's not hard to add RAM to a desktop unless the RAM is soldered to the motherboard with no free slots, in which case it's impossible.

You can save a ridiculous amount of money on buying machines and have a LOT of options for dealing with scarcity if you know what kind of hardware is easy to fuck with.

In this instance, I wouldn't upgrade the GPU or by a card separate from the workstation (this computer has a 300W power supply and the computer itself is the size of most power supplies, so I wouldn't want to try to find something teeny tiny to work together), especially because there's a budget-friendly option that will allow the necessary programs to run available pre-built, but literally it would cost like five hundred dollars more to get something with more RAM. So save yourself a few hundred dollars by getting a fifty dollar RAM module and paying someone to install that in the machine or doing it yourself.

I don't think we're going to get to a point of completely empty shelves, but I do think we're likely to see fewer options that exactly match what we're looking for without doing some extra work. Large Bastard has been vaguely making noises about getting a new computer for the last two or three years and he's still on the fence and my comment to him was that I'm sure there's always going to be something available at a high enough cost, but there are going to be fewer choices if he has to replace a computer quickly (which, given the age of his desktop, he might have to at some point).

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hey. I want to say Thanks for all the work you do here. My question is nothing biological, it's just something that spawned from a memory about my high school sex ed.

For some context, I went to a private evangelist high school in a semi-well off neighborhood in Buenos Aires. I had scholarship and some subsides that allowed me to go there as a middle class kid. So I did get Sex Ed that I can say honestly was fine.

Like, they didn't tell us to just don't have sex. we had one talk every two months from 3rd year onwards taught by a biology teacher and maybe some TA that got called in as aide if something needed to be demonstrated.

But every now and then we also has a "social sex Ed" class. Usually taught by one of the counselors. The gist was the guy coming in and telling us about interpersonal relantionships. We had a unit on like domestic violence and one on abusive relantionships from what I recall.

So my question is if that's something that exists in the Sex Ed space? Like, I'm on board with teaching teens those stuff a 100%. It's undeniable a good resource. But Idk if that's something that's standard practice or my school was just doing that

hi, thank you for sharing! I'm glad to hear that you had access to so much information :)

what's typical of sex ed varies enormously from place to place; in some places, you're lucky if the teachers are allowed to acknowledge that protected sex exists at all instead of insisting on abstinence until marriage. personally I think that sex education absolutely should include discussions about safely navigating intimate relationships, because leaving that out makes sex seem like something that happens in a void, like it has nothing to do with any other kinds of human interactions, which doesn't improve anyone's communication. a lot of people come away from sex ed with the impression that they're supposed to just Know What To Do instinctively if and when the opportunity to have partnered sex arises, which couldn't be further from the truth and can make early sexual experiences much more stressful and scary than they need to be.

most of the in-person teaching I do is with younger folks, around the aged of 10-12. and we absolutely talk about consent and boundary-setting in addition to basic mechanics of puberty and pregnancy, because that's a really important part of the equation. teaching the kids how a sperm meets an egg is useless if we don't also teach them how to decide if they personally feel ready for sexual intimacy and how to talk that through with a potential partner, as well as how to say no if they find themselves in situations where they're being pressure to do something that they don't want.

I had a conversation once with the father of one of my students - nice guy, really excited for his kiddo to receive a thorough sex education - who told me with very real regret that his high school offered very thorough details on the physical mechanics of sex and contraception but didn't offer students any guidance on how to actually navigate consent with partners. while he never experienced any pregnancy scares of STIs as a teen, he said he was sure that he was nevertheless "not a very good partner" because while he knew about using condoms, he never learned how to actually talk through his feelings with the girls he dated. it seemed really obvious, to me that, having learned a lot since his teen years, he was carrying a lot of remorse for the ways he might have unintentionally hurt his teenage girlfriends, and was eager for his own child to learn the tools to avoid falling into the same behavior.

part of the curriculum is learning to spot inappropriate behavior and potential predation and how to seek help in those scenarios. when learning about sex, especially for young people, I do think it's genuinely really important to model positive, consensual interactions so that there's a clear point of comparison against situations that are unsafe. but in my class also talk about situations where there are questions of consent but no one clearly in the wrong. what if you friend wants to try kissing and you don't know what to say? what if someone you like is getting too touchy and you want them to stop? if you have a crush on a friend but they don't reciprocate, how should you act towards them after that? all of those are important scenarios to talk about, and help the kids build their skills of conflict resolution and communication in all areas of their lives.

so, the short answer is that it's absolutely not a universal practice, but I really wish it was because it would do a tremendous amount of good.

[sheeezu]

Just a thought: Have you ever thought why we even wake up in this reality? What could lead us to wake up in some other reality?

Another thought: does a reality stop existing if we don't give it attention? Does it really work that way? Then why doesn't our homework disappear if we stop thinking about it?

I'm really new to all this. I don't get it. Sorry if I seem rude :(

According to my own personal research, I think we wake up here because when we were in the void state our consciousness emerged with the idea of life. Now we find ourselves in this reality. Then our whole life has been patterned to specific beliefs, mechanics, by which reality is structured. This why time exists (doesn't, but, its an illusion that appears to be there) and our morning clock is for now set here.

Second question's answer:

You've finally put my own thoughts into words!!! That is exactly how I consider reality to work!!! Yes, this is the concept of switching or shifting realities. This is according to the consciousness theory, though. And if someone follows it, that how everything around them works.

To forget a reality where you have homework, you need to stop the conscious thoughts, relax subconscious beliefs, emotions regarding that homework.

Also, this is the most chill, well-written and polite ask I could get, what are you apologising for!?!? You're totally fine!! 🍯

[horrorshow]

asking in good faith, but to me it seemed like dean was obsessed with hypermasculinity not bc of his clothing/music choices, but bc of how he treated women in particular & his sort of, trying to play it cool attitude towards his own feelings & even jensons decision to play dean with a deeper voice. also him teasing sam did play a role for me in that interpretation bc he teases him for doing "girly" things specifically. could you explain a little bit more your perspective on this? im genuinely curious

it's selective reading. for every one of these examples you could also find an example that contradicts it: he's a caretaker, he cooks, he reads mommy blogs, he likes watching soap operas, he wears jewelry, even with one night stands he likes holding hands and the woman in charge, he didn’t chicken out of trying on woman’s underwear. if a guy is truly obsessed with looking as masculine as possible he wouldnt do these things.

the way i see it: dean, like most people, displays both stereotypically masculine and feminine behavior, making him a standard regular guy. and discussion about this is only interesting if you look at the full scope and context without cherry picking.

what we do know is that dean is usually bad at hiding his emotions, he feels very intensely. given the life he had, it makes sense he tried to look a bit older and tougher than he actually was to protect himself. that has more to do with being smart and adapting to his (masculine-rewarding) surroundings, rather than an obsession with masculinity itself. you gotta look through that facade.

and sorry but… how he treats women?? it's true he doesn’t always talk about women with the utmost respect but i do NOT see a pattern of mistreated women. his one night stands seem happy and well treated the morning after. and he gets along fine with other women as well. i know a lot of people mention his comment on underage girls but whenever you see him interact with any of those girls you dont see that kind of behavior at all, there are even examples where he seems to relate to the vulnerable position they're in, so it seems to be nothing more than a misplaced joke.

a lot of people forget that this show started 20 years ago, and was written by a bunch of mostly white men. jokes about women and men being girly and gay were very common back then. you got called gay and girly when you drank milk in your coffee, so to speak. my dad got called gay for getting an earring (he thought it was rock 'n' roll) lots of people talked like that, and it didn’t necessarily mean those people were misogynistic homophobes in all areas of their lives. most of the time they were just an average dude who got used to using this kind of language bc it was used everywhere and never really stopped to question it and think about it.

which is also the blind spot spn has, and critique of that is valuable. the writers seem to have put that in because they saw it as funny relatable guy talk and brotherly banter. but nothing shows me it was their intention to make dean look like someone who looks down on women or gay people, and other scenes confirm that. dean is teasing sam in jest, he isn’t trying to seriously demean or hurt him.

i mean, i'm all for finding flaws in a story and twisting them into something that makes sense, but there’s a reason dean feels like he needs to act like more of a careless tough guy: its because he's not. and it leaves him vulnerable. dean is much softer and emotionally open than you give him credit for.

and if that makes you think he’s obsessed with masculinity, you haven't paid enough attention to him. jensen doesnt play dean as a very masculine guy, even with the lower voice. it's a lot more nuanced than that.

[liondrakes]

Experiencing Transspecies Identity Through Philosophy

by Sivaan of Candlekeep

No blurb. This is a short, self-explanatory one.

Estimated reading time: around five to six minutes

This morning, I decided to chat a bit about being transspecies and why my experience is mostly approached from an ontological angle. Although I’m interested in options that’ll physically align with my identity, I’m not looking to immediately hit these goals. I’ll consider those pursuits when I have the time and money for them, but I’m not in an environment where I can.

Furthermore, that’s not why I label myself as transspecies. When I first considered it, I started out by reading “Transspecies: Two Flags & An FAQ” at the Sundragon’s Roost.

Initially, I was skeptical over whether or not I’d fit the label. It was the first option I considered outside of the alterhuman community. Although plenty of alterhumans use the label (such as myself), I also knew the term took root decades prior to and outside of alterhumanity as we know it today. I wanted to get a basic understanding of the label and its community first.

While reading, this particular passage caught my interest:

“People who choose this label also often have political reasons for doing so– making a statement of refusal of the social construct of humanity, and deliberately drawing comparisons with the transgender experience in order to make people think about how we construct these categories.”

This follows after information regarding physical and/or social transition within the transspecies community. This perspective wouldn’t be the only one I’d find. It came up again in other transspecies readings such as Aster’s “Why I Call Myself Transspecies”:

“What I'm trying to get across is that the status of "human" is socially constructed. It's been granted and taken away based on things like race, ethnicity, disability, orientation, gender, and far more throughout history into the modern day. "Human" and what that means has been looked at in myriad ways by different peoples since homo sapiens could first question our own being. "Human" is not the same as Homo sapiens. And I feel neither.”

“Part of "transspecies" for me is criticizing the mixed messages I'm sent by society as a queer, Mad, crippled, plural, nonbinary alterhuman that I must be human -- but I'm not human and don't deserve to be treated like one. It's saying "fine, I'm not human, and I refuse to be." With the "dehumanization" I've faced, I'm choosing to embrace it. To say "no" to every effort to make me conform to the idea of "human" that is constantly shoved down our throats. To some degree, it's Voidpunk. But that's a very recent stance I've taken on it, and it's far deeper and older than that for me, too.”

“So, "transspecies" comes from two places for me: both a place of "human" as a social/political construct that I reject entirely, as well as an innate and literal part of myself. One rooted in lifelong dysphoria and a deep desire to change my body to resemble inhuman beings that's tied firm to my sense of gender and body.”

For the rest of the essay, Aster goes into detail about faer experiences with dysphoria (species- and gender-wise), how faer gender identity and species identity intertwine, the steps fae wants to take or already has taken to transition, and faer personal thoughts on the pursuit and struggle of attaining body modifications.

This includes seeing a therapist who supports faer identity, gaining tattoos to ease paw dysphoria, and estimating the financial requirements for faer transition ($4,800 upwards for ear-pointing surgery, digileg prosthetics, and other attributes). Although I’m not sure how old this essay is, I still resonate with it to this day.

Similar to Aster, my relationships with species and gender overlap. Each journey began with the realization that I didn’t need to confine myself to the standards of my surroundings. The society in which I live in is culturally Christian, increasingly cisheteronormative, and anthropocentric to its core. Time and time again, it’s been shown that this society doesn’t want any space for individuals like me and my communities. However, not once has that stopped us from embracing our personal autonomy.

Of course, I have my own reasons for using transspecies as a label:

1. My journey with my species identity parallels my gender identity.

Neither were known from the beginning, as much as I try to find signs in my childhood. Regardless, both resulted in my detachment from my society’s ontological “norms”.

2. Much like gender, I believe not only humanity but species as a whole is a construct.

I hold the right to express and interpret my species how I see fit. If I say I am a shapeshifter, then I am a shapeshifter. That should be acknowledged.

3. I resonate with the following definition: “crossing the cultural boundaries of species”. In my case, I am crossing the cultural boundaries of both species and reality.

I am transfictional. I am a fictional character and a member of several fictional species while existing in this world. Typically, your average person won’t believe my existence. After all, fiction is known for containing imaginary events, people, and worlds within its medium. Therefore, fiction isn’t regarded as a part of our reality.

What we define as “reality” can be split into two categories: shared reality and personal reality. The former is something we all exist within and engage in, but what we share doesn’t determine the finer details of one’s personal reality. At the same time, no one is obligated to adopt another’s personal reality but they’re still obligated to respect and coexist with it as long as it isn’t harmful.

Let’s use spiritual belief as an outside example. I am an agnostic animist. I don’t follow a religion, but I do believe that all things contain a spirit of sorts— that includes plants, theriform animals, elements of nature, and inanimate objects. I don’t expect others to adopt my beliefs in order to respect me.

Conversely, do I believe this world was made by a single, all-powerful God? I used to. It’s not my cup of tea anymore. Do I believe in pantheons? I think they make more sense than a single god controlling everything, but nope, still not my cup of tea. My reasoning? I believe we have no set way of proving nor disproving the creation of this world through divinity.

That said, I do believe this world has a supernatural quality to it. In other words, I believe in spirits. Although our beliefs don’t align, I’m not clashing with a devout follower or an atheist. That’s a part of their personal reality. It’s not a part of mine, but I respect it at a distance. No one’s required to add the existence of fictional worlds to their list of beliefs around me. But, basic respect is required if we’re going to interact.

Being a part of this world and in this body doesn’t define me as an individual. I involve myself in the social and political climate of my surroundings, because it will ultimately affect my experiences here. That said, I don’t need to adopt every concept of being as my own in the process— that includes how I’m perceived in this society and the world at large.

4. I challenge the notion that personhood is exclusive to human beings.

Gender and sexuality, for example, are steadily deconstructed in our societies, not only on the basis of personal experience but how these concepts are perceived in our cultures and their social mores. If we’re capable of deconstructing these concepts on such a level, then the same case should be made with the concepts of species and personhood.

Consider those who entirely reject humanity. Now, consider those who experience humanity and nonhumanity as a spectrum, or are already nonhuman and developing their own connection to humanity. What of those who created their species or have no species of their own? Where do those of us belonging to multiple species, with fluctuating species, or experiencing all species at once fall? Personhood is an open concept. Anyone and anything can exist as a person in our societies.

Personhood shouldn’t have to involve human identity unless an individual feels that it is applicable to themselves. Anthropocentism has governed the concept of being for as long as Earth’s been spinning. By being transspecies, and transfictional no less, my existence contradicts the notion that only humans of this planet and reality can be people.

As mentioned in Aster’s essay, this same demographic has continuously stripped personhood from their own kind on the basis of race, ethnicity, disability, gender and sexuality, and many more concepts. What grounds does humankind have in claiming that only they can be people? Some of humankind’s worst actors don’t recognize more than half of the planet’s population as people because they don’t fit their image of supremacy. This is also touched on in Akhila’s argumentative essay, “On the appropriation of trans narratives by therianthropes”, but under the context of humanity:

“We should also keep in mind that in the past the humanity of some people was denied and some groups were considered closer to nonhuman animals than humans. What constitutes “humanity” has been subject of centuries of philosophical debates, and the boundaries defining “human” has always been rather blurry and shifting depending not only on scientific progress but also on cultural and historical contexts.”

And that’s only covering humanity as a concept, given that it’s treated as synonymous with all things “just” and “civilized”. Never mind the fact that human (species) and person (concept) are also treated as synonymous. Yet, if a human being is denied personhood for the constructs they fall into, where does that leave us?

What makes someone a ‘person’? When personhood can be revoked and redefined so easily by a ruling class, that begs the question of whether or not personhood is truly based in humanity. If humanity is no longer the defining factor, then what is?

Humans can’t argue on the basis of general intelligence, that’s for certain. I’ve discussed in a separate post that plenty of non-sapient animals, such as dolphins and octopi, are incredibly intelligent on their own. As are humankind’s closest living relatives, chimpanzees and other primates. If we were to use intelligence as a metric, not specifically sapience, then that would open up thousands of doors. Anthropocentric thought often ignores the fact that all animals are intelligent, with or without sapience.

Topics such as these are why I consider my transspecies experience to be largely philosophical. We should continue to push the boundaries of species, especially regarding who our societies choose to recognize as people and who they don’t.

[princessofghosts-posts]

I'm going to put here half of one of the best scenes of HoO.

This is page 262 of HoH from XLVIII Percy's pov,basically a few seconds before Percy start to choke Akhlys to death because he couldn't take it anymore (we love him for that).

I'm not going to focus on the whole scene,because I already talked about that,but on a specific line:

He concentrated so hard that something inside of him cracked–as if a crystal ball had shattered in his stomach.

Now,on the surface it's just a phrase that make you understand how Percy is going against his limits to accomplish what he did next,straining himself in the maintime. And that's normal,after all he is going against a primordial,you can't win against someone older than the Earth itself if you don't put a great amount of efforts (even if realistically Akhlys would have their heads in not even a second).

But I think there is something more to it, especially in the "as if a crystal ball had shattered in his stomach" part. I think it's a symbolic way to make the readers understand that Percy is loosing it. The "crystal ball" in question is his moral code that got totally destroyed once they feel into Tartarus. So it rappresent,in a way,his sanity,and how he decided to ignore the logical part of himself and to go against those same morals he has,because he had enough. He was slowly going insane in this scene,and now that it got shattered? He is never going to recover from it,ever. Because Tartarus was too deep and left too much pain,he can't recover from it entirely but he has to learn to live and cope with it.

Another interpretation I also had about this,is the fact that the crystal ball could also rappresent his humanity. I already said that Percy is able to manipulate poison because there is still a bit of water in it,right? That's fine. But the Underworld's rivers? The jump he did from Nyx's maison that was too long to do even for a demigod? I think that is also a way to symbolize how Percy is slowly loosing the mortal part of himself,and is embracing more the godly side. And the boost of powers he has can be totally explained in this way in the narrative since he is slowly becoming more godly (we all know that Riordan favor him and make him do insane things but that's from a writing prospective,not from the plot).

Am I suggesting that with this he could probably ascend to godhood? Probably,but Percy refused that already. It's more of the fact that he is starting to disconnect more from the mortal world than before. Ever since HoO started he got totally cut off from his life,at least in PJO he had moments where he still went to school,stayed with his mom and Paul and actually lived his life like a normal teenager. In HoO we don't have those moments because they are fully immersed in the mythological part of their nature.

And only Percy had this type of reaction in Tartarus. Annabeth didn't felt something inside of her shattering,and I don't know for Nico (hopefully it happened to him too-) or even Will. It's only Percy that had this,and the chapter later we see him using his abilities (especially when they were going away from Nyx's territory) with a boost that wasn't never there before,since he was struggling at the start of HoH when they feel into the first river. I think it's connected to that. (Also,Nico had a boost of powers too,so,he probably had the same happening to him-).

You can totally say it's a narrative choice and I'm overanalyzing two lines that are there just to flavor the narrative more,but Riordan made sure to wrote that to make us understand how broken Percy was starting to be. Both power-wise and mentally. There is just something in that line that caught my attention and,to this days,is still one of my favorites too.

[rcbertsugden]

Roll list of characters who were on the show in 2019:

- Nate's dead, killed by John

- Amy's dead in a limo crash and has left Matty a widow

- Leyla also died in the limo crash

- Vanessa is still around but her girlfriend died in the limo crash after kissing Rhona's mum

- Rhona and Marlon are married, Rhona acquired a baby just over a year ago and April ran away over Christmas while pregnant. The baby died and April is still struggling.

- Graham got killed a long time ago by Pierce.

- Ellis was recast and then disappeared again eventually, I can't remember why.

- Billy is now married to Dawn, but they've recently split up because Dawn wasn't in love with him anymore (aka she's been sleeping with Joe). They have a couple of adopted children and one biological child, Evan, who's been really ill for a while.

- Nicola and Jimmy are still married and happy.

- Brenda just left with Cathy on a cruise, Cathy's coming back but Brenda isn't.

- Heath died last year in a car crash caused by Angel, Cathy was accused of being behind the wheel and it was all very sad because Bob blamed her and she couldn't grieve properly while Angel stayed silent.

- Priya left a couple of years ago to be with Amba in London. Rishi died not long after, being killed by Jai's secret dad who he later ran out of town.

- Jai and Laurel split up last year. It was messy.

- Kim was widowed at christmas after Dawn's dad died of a heart attack while trying to screw her over. Joe watched, king behaviour.

- Sam and Lydia are still happy.

- Gabby has recently got with Mandy's son, Vinny, and has a child with Jamie Tate who was causing some friction, but they're now engaged I guess.

- Tracy has a child with Nate and is currently questioning why he fucked off to Scotland and hasn't been giving her child support.

- Eric is fine, he was with Brenda for a bit but then he ruined it by being Eric. He does have Parkinsons though.

- Faith died a few years ago, it was very sad and very Faith.

- Talking of, she had a secret son! Caleb, with Frank Tate. He's an absolute joy and sometimes fights with Cain but mostly has the best failmarriage in the show with Ruby, who he has two kids with. Steph will be relevant as she's on the show and is currently struggling with the revelation that her biological father is actually her grandad, as he abused Ruby and got her pregnant as a teen. Ruby killed him about it, and it's currently a big cover-up involving Caleb, Cain, John, Aaron, and Moira. Jai and Joe also know.

- Cain and Moira are still married, somehow. They've been their usual dramatic selves but I'd be here all day. Worth noting that Moira had a brain tumour over winter but is fine now.

- I'm sure everyone knows, but Liv died in a storm after being crushed by a caravan in 2022.

- Harriet also died in said storm.

- Charity and Vanessa are no longer together, she's now married to Moira's brother, Mackenzie. He and Aaron are really close and have a fab bond.

- Jacob is training to be a doctor and is a will they won't they with Sarah.

- Belle recently took over Take a Vow, she's not long out of an abusive marriage with Tom King.

- David left after Jacob got with Victoria, who David had previously been engaged to. They split up 5 minutes later so that strange storyline was pointless.

- Ross is back! He's with Steph for now, and mostly cracks jokes and fights with Joe.

- Ross revealed soon after he returned that Rebecca had died after complications following a routine surgery, and Seb ended up with an auntie in Liverpool. Robert knows, Ross visited him offscreen and told him. He gave his approval for the aunt to take Seb.

- Joe is also back, he's been very shady and has split up Dawn and Joe. Charity is suspicious of him, rightly. He needed a kidney transplant and his first one failed, so he returned to the village so he could take one from his family. He tried to get Noah's, but he was incompatible and Noah ended up drugged and stumbling onto a road which a limo swerved to avoid, hence the limo crash. He then decided to have Caleb stabbed and took his kidney, which was successful, God bless. Caleb now knows and it's chill.

- Chas is currently engaged to Dr Cavanagh (Liam), her marriage to Paddy broke down after he discovered she was sleeping with Billy and Ellis' dad (Al) and was planning to run away with him and Eve (Chas and Paddy's kid).

- Paddy is married to Mandy.

- Arthur is gay! But we never see him so.

- Manpreet split up with Charles a while ago. She had a lucky escape from Charles' awful mother, Claudette, really.

- Zak died last year, in a really heartbreaking week of episodes. Would recommend watching.

- Wendy only left the village a couple of months ago. Those two haven't watched since Robert left are. So. Lucky.

- Dan is in jail for manslaughter over punching a guy that was being creepy to Amelia

- Amelia is somewhere with Daz and her child she had with Samson

- Samson is also in jail! He was meant to be killed off but people somehow cared enough that the decision was reversed, and he just went down for perverting the course of justice instead.

- Kerry is still on the show. She had a secret daughter appear a few years ago, but thankfully, that didn't last long. She just kind of exists, really.

[cottoncandytrafficcones]

You have awakened me. So. Have fun with the consequences I guess.

Yalta, who is among the few women named in the Talmud and the second most mentioned woman, was an awesome woman who broke four hundred jugs of wine after a guest insulted women.

Serakh bat Asher, who shared the news with Yaakov that Yosef was alive (potentially through song or poetry), is probably immortal, or a the very least lived a very long life, as she was mentioned several times throughout Tanakh (and is apparently the only woman to be listed in the genealogical lists!)

Ildiko Rejto is a Jewish Hungarian two time Olympic and five time world champion foil fencer, who participated while having scoliosis and being deaf.

It is traditional during Birkat Kohanim, a blessing of the Kohens, to put your tallit over the head of one's child/children. This translated in my shul as all of the children came under one giant tallit.

We have a holiday for plants! It's called Tu Bishvat, and is considered the new year of the trees: in a song it's also called "Chag Hailanot," or holiday of the trees.

Golems. Are. Not. Just. Alchemical men made of clay to be used in any fantasy book. They are defenders of the Jewish people, and typically cannot speak.

Jews are as diverse as everyone else! We live/lived everywhere, and have even been to space (see: Judith Resnik, Jeffrey Hoffman, Garrett Reisman, etc.) There are Jews on almost every continent and from almost every country. Including places that you may not have thought Jews would be! Especially places where you didn't think Jews would be. There are historical communities and more modern ones, but in the end, Jews are diverse and different, again, just like everyone else.

At least, as far as I've been told, the whole "denomination" thing is really an Ashkenazi creation. Though it's been catching on in Sephardi and Mizrahi circles, it's really mainly an Ashkenazi thing.

Jews don't proselytize. There have been very few mass conversions, and I'm pretty sure none of them were forced. In fact, when a potential convert asks to join the religion, we're supposed to turn them away a few times to make sure that they're serious.

CONVERTS. ARE. HALACHICALLY. JEWISH. And we're not supposed to/ALLOWED TO distinguish them or bring up their lives before conversion. As the daughter of two baalei teshuva (returnees to religion) I personally feel like asking people about their journey is fine, but you have to be respectful. You can't imply they're not Jewish/religious just because of their past.

KAIFENG JEWS. HAVE STELES. AND A MEMORIAL BOOK. RECORDING STUFF. NICE.

LONG ONE INCOMING. From an essay I'm writing: The first written evidence there is of Jews in China dates back to the Tang dynasty. A merchant’s letter in Judeo-Persian, a term which refers to the many Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jews throughout the former Persian Empire, came from Dandan Uiliq, a site on the Silk Road. Additionally, dating back to the eighth century, there is a written selichah, or a penitential prayer, that was left in the Library Cave in Dunhuang, another one of the many stops on the Silk Road. There are mentions of Jews in China by medieval writers such as Ibn Khordadbeh (who describes Radhanite merchants in China), Abu Zayd al-Sirafi (who writes about a mass slaughter in Canton in which Jews, in addition to Muslims and Christians, were victims), and even Marco Polo, the famous Venetian explorer who resided in Kublai Khan’s court. However, it is often debated when Jews came together and settled as a community - additionally, it is questionable where they came from. Irene Eber, a leading Israeli sinologist and professor of East Asian Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem who passed away in 2019, claims that the Jews of Kaifeng “came probably from India and from Persia before 1120 as groups of merchants, travelling overland and by sea.” According to the Kaifeng Jews themselves, the community’s founders came from either Tianzhu (which one scholar argues could have designated the area of Judea) or Xiyu (which could mean any country from Central Asia to the Near East). Records of Judeo-Persian, included in the Kaifeng community’s Memorial Book, and the residual pattern of vowels used by the Kaifeng Jews rules out India as a place of origin, as neither is used in India. The Persian used by the Kaifeng Jewish community was written in the Bukharian dialect - it is possible that the founders or their ancestors lived in Bukhara or Central Asia on the routes of the Silk Road. Additionally, some Jews may have come from Yemen or lands influenced by Maimonides and settled in China as some of the Kaifeng Jews held similar daily, Shabbat, and festival prayers to those communities. According to Xin Xu, this may have occurred in waves of either Jewish slaves kidnapped by the Mongols or traders. Since at least the Han dynasty (206 BCE - ca. 220 CE), there has been a Jewish presence in China. According to N.M. Adler, in his Chinese Jews, there was the existence of a Jewish colony around the year 34 CE - historian Heinrich Graetz, however, maintains that Jews arrived in 231 CE as a result of persecution in Persia, a date confirmed by Father Gaubil, a French Jesuit who reported in the eighteenth century that the Jews of China had told him their ancestors had entered one thousand six hundred and fifty years beforehand from Xiyu, or from Tianzhu (with Tianzhu meaning India in modern Chinese and China’s western region in historical Chinese, and Xiyu referring to the region beyond Tianzhu). The Jews of Kaifeng themselves have, however conflicting, historical inscriptions that date their arrival to China during either the Song, Han, or Zhou dynasties. However, “scholars and historians agree almost unanimously that it was during the Song dynasty (960-1279) that the Jews came to Kaifeng and founded a community there.” Chinese Judaic scholar Xin Xu postulates that it was during the early Song that they arrived, and scholar Gao Wangzhi dates their arrival between “the end of the tenth century or the beginning of the eleventh century,” with Donald Leslie dating their arrival “during the early part of the dynasty between 960 and 1126 [when the Tatar army invaded Kaifeng].”

The Inquisition wasn't just in Spain. It followed Anusim to Latin America and other places they fled like Rome, Goa, and Portugal.

And though Jews were officially banned in 1492 with the Alhambra Decree, they had been fleeing for over a century before that due to pogroms and mistreatment.

Jews living under Muslim rule didn't "have it better" than those under Christian rule. The only fair places to say that Jews weren't, for the most part (with few exceptions) targeted for their Jewishness is India and China. Jews in Muslim lands faced pogroms, slaughter, kidnapping, rape, and mass conversions as well. It's true, in Al Andalus there was a Jewish golden age and several Jews held high positions in the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. But that shouldn't outweigh all the other stuff that happened.

Zionism wasn't founded with Herzl. In fact, the longing to return home has existed ever since the diaspora became a thing - and Jews have continuously lived in/returned to the land of Israel throughout the millennia. Dona Gracia Mendes, a badass Jewish lady in the sixteenth century, actually got a lease on Teveriah and encouraged Jewish refugees to settle there.

The first woman active as a printer was Estellina Conat. The first woman to run her own printing house was Gracia Mendes Nasi's daughter Dona Reyna Mendes, which was run in Constantinople. Some of the first printing presses in Ottoman Palestine were established by Nessim Beyk and Israel Bak (who established the first printing house in Jerusalem), both Jews. And the first printing press in Ottoman Palestine was established by Eliezer ben Isaac (from Prague) and Abraham B. Isaac, though it only published a few books.

Jews often adapt customs and practices of the places they've been. For example, Indian Jews were sarees for their weddings, often in the color green or red.

QUEER. RELIGIOUS. PEOPLE. EXIST. Just because we're Queer doesn't mean we aren't Shomer Mitzvot. The two aspects can and do simultaneously exist.

Just because some things in religion seem "outdated" or "unscientific" doesn't make it okay to make fun of them. And the two, like being Queer and religious, don't have to go against east other. There are religious scientists and doctors and mathematicians. Jews who use smartphones and Jews who work in computer science and tech.

(There are also Jewish atheists and agnostics. They exist and deserve respect.)

Jewish representation in media is often either of a funny, non religious Ashkenazi or a member of an ultra religious and toxic community and honestly Jews are kind of sick of it. Do these people exist? Yes. And I'm not saying their stories shouldn't be represented. But as Modern Orthodox woman who is quite happy with her religion, I'm a little tired of seeing the same thing over and over.

Nearly half the number of Jews worldwide live in Israel.

Antisemitism is still a thing, and Jews face it everyday in different places.

Jewish children are raised with the idea that we represent our communities. So when we'd go on field trips, we'd be told we'd have to act well, because we represent Klal Yisrael. This happened in multiple schools I was in, though I don't know how common it is for other schools.

Jewish women aren't oppressed. Are there cases where they are? Yes. But covering your hair, lighting Shabbat candles, dunking in the mikvah - these are all religious observances that we do by choice. Many of us love it. Many of us are on journeys to figuring out how/if we want to do it. But us choosing to do mitzvot isn't oppression. Respect our choice.

Henna is also a Jewish thing! Many holidays and weddings were celebrated with it, and it was also used in everyday female adornment. Though it's dyed out (haha) in many Ashkenazi communities, it still exists in Sephardi, Maghrebi, Mizrahi, Desi, and other Jewish communities. (Let's bring henna back to Ashkenazim y'all. It's a beautiful historical practice.)

Hebrew is a gendered language. But like ever gendered language, there are exceptions (looking at you plural tables.) (Ex: singular table is shulchan, which is male, but multiple is shulchanot, which is female.)

Jewish poetry is beautiful. Seriously. Even if you need to read the translation, it's well worth it.

The Belmonte mountain Jews. Just. Their whole situation.

There are plenty of Jewish fantasy books out there, though most of them contain tropes that can be dangerous. Some that are really good: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo, The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (love this one.)

Anyway there are some Jewish facts for you. Sorry that some of them turned into rants.

No one:

Absolutely no one:

Me: Would you like to hear about the Jews? Can I share some fun facts about Jews?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I know that Malleus is a sensitive topic here. Even though, he has his weaknesses (which is made very apparent in the canon material); he also has his strengths. One of the things I could immediately think of revolves around his familial attitude towards his family (Lilia, Silver, Sebek). Malleus cherishes his family very much. After all, his fears of losing Lilia was so immense that it ultimately lead him to the overblot. At the core of his character, I see him as someone who is fundamentally familial at heart. Most of his actions in Book 7 are rooted in this aspect of his character. This contrasts his tendency towards self-isolation and enriches his story.

Hey, I want to clarify that Malleus is only a sensitive topic if an ask's tone is aggressive or pushy to begin with. For example, I've previously been spammed with demands to explain why I dislike him + reasons why I should change my mind, told I was "hate criming" him (gross misuse of the term, by the way) for expressing those opinions (I would link to the post, but I actually never publicly responded to this ask or really talked about this publicly), and accused of "[wanting and expecting]" the worst out of him". It's a loud minority that has made me wary when Malleus is brought up. I can't help it, it's sort of gut reflex at this point/j But I'm generally fine with people wanting to discuss him, gush about him, critique him, whatever, so long as things stay civil and open-minded.

I also want to make it clear that even if someone personally dislikes a character, that is not the same as them disregarding the character's positive traits or claiming that the character has no positive traits to begin with. Malleus is certainly no exception to this. (I have a post going over some of the things I enjoy about him, although please keep in mind that it's not meant to be an exhaustive list of his good points.) Personally disliking a character also doesn't mean that you're automatically flagging a character as flat or poorly written. A character could be the best written thing in the entire world or the most complex character ever and people could still dislike them for any reason. Design, vibes, whatever.

That being said, I don't think "familial" is an adjective I've ever personally associated with Malleus? I definitely get those vibes when I browse romantic Malleus fandom works (it's very common to see him being portrayed as a loving, protective father and husband), but not that much with canon content. That's not me claiming Malleus feels nothing toward his Diasomnia members (he definitely DOES care for them), but I don't get the sense that he views them as family or that he’s overtly warm towards them??? At best, I see him perhaps viewing Lilia as a guardian or father figure, especially since it was the fear of losing Lilia that kicked off the major conflict in book 7 + his grandmother seemed too busy with royal duties to raise him. Furthermore, we see that Malleus hatched because of Lilia's magic and how excited he is to see Lilia in multiple flashbacks to Malleus's childhood. He clearly respects Lilia a lot and associates him with the few genuinely happy parts of his childhood. However, I don't see him breaching professional boundaries with Sebek and Silver and skirting into familial territory. (I discuss this more in detail in an older post, so I'd suggest taking a look if you're interested!) Lilia does refer Diasomnia as “not related by blood [but] we are still family", and I believe even their VAs referred to Lilia as a father and Malleus and Silver as brothers. Problem is, I don’t see this reflected in Malleus himself and how he behaves.

It's obvious that Malleus seeks companionship, but that he doesn't realize this about himself without outside help (he couldn't even identify that he was lonely until Yuu pointed it out to him early in book 7). He's so enabled he has become used to the isolation that comes with being at the top and never really thought to question it. This comes through in many of his behaviors: he becomes upset at being left out or uninvited to ceremonies and meetings, when his grandmother (his only living relative) fails to spend time with him despite promising to, and constantly faces struggles connecting with his peers (he tries to, but usually fails in these attempts). And because he fears being left behind, he tries to stop everyone from leaving him. Malleus is also pretty emotionally stunted and awkward due to his growing up alone. This could be a matter of our individual POVs differing, but I think Malleus's loneliness and longing to be with others--despite being raised in relative isolation--is being conflated with being familial?? I genuinely do not recall any standout moments in which Malleus acts familial towards Silver or Sebek, or even towards other peers (though if you can think of any, please share). The only thing that comes to my mind is when Malleus helped Lilia with raising baby!Silver... but even then, I sort of wonder how much of that was intentionally arranged by Lilia to expose Malleus to humans + combat the bigoted worldview he might otherwise develop. Their current day relationship dynamics just don't read as familial to me.

But also 💦 “familial” is a pretty vague term and could mean different things to different people. I think it assumes that families have amicable dynamics within themselves, and I don’t think that’s always the case. Maybe our definitions are entirely different and that’s also contributing to our conclusions looking nothing alike.

[the-fiction-witch]

Adorable

Media - The Maze Runner Series Characters - Newt Couple - Newt X Reader Reader - Y/n Rating - 17 (Smutty discussion) Word Count -996

Newt sat quietly in the back of the ageing jeep, the vehicle bouncing over the uneven terrain as they traversed the vast, deserted landscape toward the last city. He gazed out the window, taking in the expansive horizon where the endless, sun-bleached sand stretched like a golden ocean, punctuated only by the rusted remains of old cars, skeletal buildings, and other relics of a civilization that had long since faded into memory. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm, amber glow over everything, giving the desolation a haunting beauty.

Y/n, blissfully unaware of the world outside, lay sprawled comfortably across the backseat, her head resting against Newt’s shoulder. She was nestled beneath the warmth of his jacket, which he draped over her like a protective blanket. Exhausted from driving throughout the night, she was finally able to steal some well-deserved rest.

Newt smiled softly at the sight of her serene face. He gently pulled her a bit closer, relishing the moment, and pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head.

Up front, Thomas sat in the passenger seat, his eyes shifting between the rearview mirror and the endless road ahead. Fry gripped the steering wheel with determination, his focus set firmly on the path that lay before them. After a moment of silence, Thomas turned slightly to glance at Newt, "Hey … Can I ask a weird question?"

Newt raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what was to come from his friend's mouth, "Hm? Yeah, What is it?"

"How uhh how long have you two?"

He chuckled, shaking his head as he lightly ran his fingers through Y/n’s hair. "Three years now. Surprised none of you knew before."

"I had suspicions."

"Oh really? What kind of suspicions?"

"… I was curious where you were sneaking off to all those nights after lights out,"

"Yeah, yeah. Though we were getting away with it just fine."

"Do you two …"

Newt raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to finish that sentence, or just leave me in suspense?"

"You know… Do. It?"

"Do what exactly? You're gonna have to be more specific."

"Fuck." Fry spoke up,

Newt laughed out loud, "Yeah."

"… Kinda a dick move. What if she'd gotten pregnant in the glade? None of us knew how to deliver a baby and no one was ready for a small tiny thing!” Thomas complained,

"That's a valid point. We were definitely stupid to risk it." Newt agreed,

"You could have just… Not fucked." Fry suggested,

"Yeah, right. You try telling me that when you're alone with the person you love, in a stressful situation. Not that easy to just ignore the temptation."

"Translation. Newts was a horny teenager and Y/n got tired wrists." Fry joked,

"Hey, shut up. You try being stuck in a dangerous glade with a beautiful girl."

"Adorable. But what about now? No glade anymore…" Thomas suggested

he shrugged, "Not as easy to find a moment of privacy. But we're not stuck in a giant maze anymore, so it's not like we have to worry about getting caught as much. Plus, I think she's still making up for lost time." he teased.

"Also you know, given the whole… Dramatically decreased population and all… I mean you are kinda continuing humanity?" Thomas laughed,

"Great, humanity continues through Newt and Y/n." Fry sighed,

"We're doing our part to repopulate the planet," Newt smirked,

"Ughh I swear to god I'm gonna come back from a scouting trip and they'll just be like seven little blonde British kids running around," Fry groaned,

"Hey, don't knock my future seven little blonde British kids! They'll be adorable."

Y/n shifted in her sleep on Newt's shoulder nuzzling close, "ummmm babies…"

"Awww Looks like someone's dreaming about babies." Newt cooed,

"If you start making babies in that backseat I'm kicking you out Newt," Fry warned,

"Relax, we're not gonna start making babies in the backseat. I'm not that desperate."

So… Does Y/n let you … You know?" Thomas asked,

"Let me do what, exactly?"

"Touch her… You know?" Thomas asked, making a vaguely chest-grabbing gesture.

Newt rolled his eyes, but still couldn't help but smirk a little at the question. "Yeah, I do. A lot."

"how do they feel?"

"Amazing. They're…big, soft and sensitive."

"Sensitive?"

he nodded, a smug smile still on his face. "Yeah, very sensitive. She reacts just from a gentle touch on her skin. And trust me, I know just the right places to touch to make her go crazy."

"Gross." Fry sighed,

"He asked. Don't get upset just because you got an honest answer."

"But like … What does it feel like having someone else… Touch you?" Thomas asked curiosity,

He pondered for a moment, trying to find the right words to describe it. "It's… amazing. Like a whole new kind of pleasure. Having someone else touch you, knowing that they're enjoying it just as much as you are. There's nothing else that compares to it."

"Winston used to say blow jobs were like the best feeling known to man… Not sure how he knew…" Fry spoke up,

“He probably made it up." Newt laughed,

"But does it?" Thomas asked,

"Does what?"

"Does a blow job feel like the most amazing thing on earth?"

"Yeah, it does. But not the whole act itself, it's the way she… It's like… heaven." He thought for another moment, still running his fingers through her hair, smiling softly at the memory. "Especially when she's on her knees in front of me. Or if she lets me pull her hair."

"Impressive you trust someone enough to willingly put your dick between their teeth." Fry laughed

He shrugged, "Hey, I trust and love my girlfriend. I know she would never hurt me."

"hummm Newtie…." Y/n grumbled,

He softened, glancing down at her with a fond smile. "Shhh, go back to sleep, love."

She mumbled something incoherent, shifting on his shoulder and snuggling closer. He gently kissed the top of her head.

"You guys are adorable." Thomas laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, says the guy who's still single."

"We had one girl in the glade and you got her, what was I supposed to do!"

"Not my fault I got to her first. You snooze, you lose." Newt smirked, planting a kiss on Y/n’s nose.

[all-pacas]

HOWEVER. HOWEVER. whenever people use that scene in lockdown as proof that cameron never loved chase, an angel loses its wings, because. let's look at this fucking scene.

Chase has been avoiding signing the divorce papers, saying he wants to have a conversation about it first. This is fair enough (and it is Telling that Cameron doesn't want to talk about it), although when Cameron agrees, Chase launches right into it:

CHASE: Did you ever love me? CAMERON: How can you even ask that? CHASE: The first time you slept with me was because you were on crystal meth. CAMERON: I was on the drugs because I was emotional. It was the emotions that led to the sex, not the drugs. CHASE: Not true. After that, you refused to let it go further than just sex. CAMERON: Because I knew I was falling for you and I didn't want to. CHASE: And that never changed. You broke off our vacation because I bought you a ring. CAMERON: I got cold feet. I'm not proud. CHASE: And then you almost called off our wedding because — CAMERON: Don’t — CHASE: And then you almost called off our wedding because — CAMERON: Don’t — CHASE: — you couldn't give up the idea — CAMERON: Don’t! CHASE: — of having your dead husband's baby. CAMERON: [angry] Don't bring him up!

The interrogation starts with them across the room from one another, but as Chase keeps making demands, he moves closer. He is visibly and obviously angry, and he has his arguments ready — but they're pretty fucking biased, he is cherry picking to make Cameron look bad:

He never had a problem about the meth hookup at any point before now. In fact, in Hunting, Chase was the one telling her this should be a one-off. Using it as proof of anything is inaccurate.

Chase referencing the S3 FWB era is true, but so is Cameron's counterpoint. In fact, during S3, Chase himself makes this argument: it was obvious to him that she liked him, that's the whole reason he continued to pursue her. He is also leaving off the fact that she did leave her job in part for him, to be with him.

Chase is fine referencing Saviors here, that is the one moment of Cameron's that is hard to justify. But at the time time: she did come to her senses and beg for him to take her back.

Finally, he brings up the sperm. And guess what! Chase is lying again! He is the one who called off the wedding, because he was worried she "wasn't sure." It's true that Cameron wavered here, but Chase is also the one who told her don't worry about it, understanding (at the time) that it wasn't actually about the sperm, it was about her difficulty letting things go.

At each point, Cameron denies his points. Not only that, she actually goes further than what we saw in canon: she basically implies that during the Meth Hookup she already had feelings for him, which is a total retcon!

But Chase continues to yell. He is in her face, they are both yelling, they are both angry. But he's the one getting closer to her, and he continues to berate her:

CHASE: Because even then, you weren't sure about me. Maybe if I was dying when you married me, it would have been a bit different. CAMERON: That's not fair. CHASE: It's not only fair, it's exactly the point. He was dying when you met him, and he was gone just a year into the marriage. So it was all a honeymoon with him. And I could never match up to that. The first time reality intruded — CAMERON: Stop this. CHASE: Just tell me the truth. CAMERON: About what? CHASE: Did you ever love me? CAMERON: [in tears] I don't know!

Chase probably has a point about the honeymoon thing, although he is very much avoiding that "reality" was "my mental breakdown after a murder," or that Cameron's reaction in Teamwork was actually to try and work things out together; these are hardly normal circumstances for a couple. He wasn't unexpectedly fired from his career, you know?

But he keeps getting in her face and demanding she tell her what he wants to here. These are deeply leading questions: he is telling her, over and over, you never loved me, here's my proof, say it. It is the definition of coersion: Chase already has an answer. He makes her cry. And only then, after minutes of being yelled at and given a biased take of their relationship, does Cameron admit —

Oh, wait. Actually, she doesn't admit it. She says I don't know, a pretty understandable response to all this. And Chase, having gotten the answer he wanted (even if it obviously hurts him to hear), backs off as she starts sobbing.

He has literally bullied and berated and coersed her into saying she doesn't love him, and she still didn't actually say it. In fact, in the next scene of them, what does Cameron do?

CAMERON: [still crying] How do you look so okay? CHASE: I spent months wondering how I made it go bad. If you never loved me, then – then I didn't do anything wrong. [She resumes crying. He goes to her.] Hey. Allison, come on. It's all right. CAMERON: I still don't know why I said that. It's not even true. I did love you. Just… not in a way that would have ever worked. CHASE: Why not? CAMERON: Because everything you said is true. I'm a mess. I married a man I knew was dying. So God knows how screwed up I already was. Him dying messed me up even more. I pushed you out of my life. And I-I'm unfixable. Not you. CHASE: I'm sorry. CAMERON: I'm sorry too.

Here Chase admits his motives. He wanted to blame her, because then he doesn't have to blame himself. So he let himself forget all the times that Cameron was a loving partner and reframed their entire relationship in his head. He made it her fault. This is actually a really shitty thing to do to someone! Let's be clear! This divorce is literally Chase's fault! He murdered a guy, he refused to leave with Cameron, picking House over Chicago. Would they still have split up if they'd followed her plan? Probably! But that's not their current reality.

But Chase wants to feel better about himself. So he blamed her. And, worst of all? It works. Cameron immediately clarifies that she did love him and she did not mean what she just said (funny, how not being yelled at…), but then goes ahead and takes the blame anyway. She is a broken, unlovable, unfixable person. It is her fault they are not together. Chase was right: she is the villain.

Cameron does hit on a couple small grains of truth here. She is a messed up person and always has been, her husband really did do a number on her. She is so afraid of loss that she makes her entire life about never losing anyone, never getting hurt again: she fled to Chicago and refused to even have a conversation with Chase about it, because that would be too painful. But for her to come away with the takeaway that she is broken and permanently damaged, that she doesn't deserve love, that this breakup is her fault? That's fucked up, and that's wrong. And it's incredibly fucked up of Chase to throw that in her lap, too.