#discussion of having children

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Unknown Glimpse Into The Future

This is for Day 28 of Supercorptober

Fandom: Supergirl

Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Characters: Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor, J'onn J'onzz, Alex Danvers, Mxyzptlk

Summary: Kara is finally moving in with Lena. However, an unknown box on their doorstep leads to an unexpected surprise.

Word Count: 4,010

Lena wasn’t particularly fond of the winter season. Everything usually came to an end during that time. She always hated Christmas and New Year's the most because she was usually alone. However, ever since Lena met Kara, her whole world has changed. She was surrounded by friends and family who genuinely cared about her and a lover who thought the world of her. 

This winter season, she was taking a big step she never thought possible. Kara was moving in with her today. She beamed when she thought about it. Technically, Kara spent the night most nights at Lena’s anyway, but after six months of dating, they decided to make it official. She couldn’t wait to begin making the penthouse their penthouse. Kara already told her about the decorating that she wanted to do which Lena was all for. 

Currently, Lena went around the penthouse trying to make sure everything looked perfect. She felt a little foolish for doing so. However, this was a big milestone for them, and she believed that deserved to be celebrated. She hand-made dinner and rented the movie that Kara had been so eagerly wanting to see. As she put the finishing touches on the special dinner she made for tonight, she heard the doorbell ring. Lena practically floated to the door. She beamed when she saw Kara at the door holding boxes. 

“You realize that you can use your keys instead of the doorbell,” smirked Lena. 

Kara chuckled and said, “It is hard to open the door while carrying several boxes.”

“Oh, really. I thought that you could do anything?” said Lena coyly while moving aside to let the blonde through the door.

Lena saw a blur go past her. She blinked and saw that Kara was no longer in front of her. She turned around and saw Kara beaming right behind her. 

Kara caressed her face and said, “I can do anything when my hands are free.”

She kissed Lena gently down her neck which caused her to moan. 

“What about the rest of your stuff?” murmured Lena. 

Kara smirked and said, “All ready unpacked and boxes thrown away. Now, I can give my undivided attention to you.”

Lena smiled and said, “I love that idea.”

Lena went to close the door but noticed something was still outside. It was a box that had a red blanket over it. 

Lena frowned and said, “Kara, it looks like you may have dropped something on your way in.”

Kara frowned and said, “No, I went through everything and nothing was missing.”

Kara went around her and narrowed her eyes at the box. 

“That isn’t mine and it wasn’t there when I got here.”

“Are you sure? If not, that means someone must have dropped it within the last couple of minutes which can’t be possible, right?”

“It would be unnerving because I didn’t hear anyone up here other than us,” said Kara hesitantly. 

She scanned the box with her X-ray vision and was startled at what she saw. She quickly picked up the box and brought it into the penthouse. 

Lena followed hesitantly behind her. 

“Are you sure we should bring it inside? It could be something deadly.”

Kara chuckled and said, “I am doubtful that this will be deadly.”

She put the box on the table in the living room and pulled the blanket from the box. Lena gradually approached and peeked inside. She was startled to see two babies inside the box. One had brown hair and green eyes and the other had blonde hair and blue eyes. If she had to guess, the babies couldn’t be any more than a couple of weeks old. 

“Who would leave babies on our doorstep?” murmured Kara.

Lena went to the bedroom and grabbed her laptop. She returned back to the living room to sit down. 

Kara frowned and sat down next to Lena. 

“What are you doing?”

“I have multiple security cameras outside the door. It should show us what happened.”

After a minute, Lena found the footage that she was looking for. She played back the last fifteen minutes. Kara leaned over and watched the footage. Lena narrowed her eyes at a particular part. There was a man carrying a box and dropped it quickly once Kara zoomed into the house. There was a flash of light and he quickly disappeared. Lena didn’t recognize the man. She looked up at Kara and saw her look just as puzzled.

“I have never seen this person around. Have you?” asked Lena. 

Kara frowned and said, “That is Mxy.”

“Is it his m.o. to give children randomly to people.”

“No. There is something off about him since the last time I saw him though.”

“You can tell that for the minute that he was on screen?” asked Lena quizzically.

Kara sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Can you rewind the video to the 7:28 mark and stop it when I say so?” asked Kara. 

“Sure.”

Lena rewinded the video and then pressed play. After two minutes, Kara asked her to stop. Kara looked at the video intensely and shook her head. Lena stared at the image and it looked like Mxy had briefly looked over his shoulder before disappearing. However, nothing stood out in the image. 

Read the rest on AO3

[monoidea]

[uncanny-tranny]

The whole "breasts shouldn't be politicized because the primary purpose of breasts is to feed babies!" can be a fine jumping-off point, but I really wish people thought deeper than that when we talk about the ways in which bodies are politicized and restricted.

Like, why's it that when we talk about breasts, they must have some Higher Purpose? It's true that breasts aren't inherently sexual, but they aren't valuable solely because they can potentially feed a baby. A human body doesn't have to serve a Higher Purpose in order for it to not be legislated against or policed, and I just wish people would remember it isn't always about babies, about other people, about anything else other than the people who have that body.

[bixels]

The idea that uni protesters are "elitist ivy-league rich kids larping as revolutionaries" on Twitter and Reddit and even here is so fucking funny to me if you actually know anything about the student bodies at these unis. Take it from someone who's going to one of the biggest private unis in the US, 80% of the peers I know are either from the suburbs or an apartment somewhere in America, children of immigrants, or here on a student visa. I've heard about one-percenter students, but I've never met one in person. Like, don't get me wrong, the institution as a whole is still very privileged and white. I've talked with friends and classmates about feeling weird or dissonant being here and coming from such a different background. But in my art program, I see BIPOC, disabled, queer, lower-income students and faculty trying to deconstruct and tear that down and make space every day. So to take a cursory glance at a crowd of student protesters in coalitions that are led by BIPOC & 1st/2nd-gen immigrant students and HQ'd in ethnic housings and student organizations and say, "ah. children of the elite." Get real.

[willow-p012]

Haha. Guess what?

The Beginning Of Hinako And Kazui's Relationship

(I do believe in the broad strokes of this - Hinako's abnormality, in specific - but a few other more minor ideas are ones I don't particularly believe in or am struggling to make heads or tails of,, some of this is just interesting ideas or random things I thought of part way through typing this.)

First of all, we see Kazui and Hinako on a blue, green, and yellow path.

These colours, especially when paired together, in Cat often represent abnormality.

(They're there when Kazui is admitting his secret to Hinako)

So it's interesting to note Hinako is also on that path. If you believe Hinako is represented by the yellow, and we also have Kazui being represented by blue, they're literally making up the bath of abnormality. If you believe Hinako is represented by the pink, it's also very interesting, because.... Well, she's still on the path. To the point that her colour flashes across the screen and intersect with the path, Hinako is intertwined with it. And, well, there's also the interpretation that blue is indicating masculinity and pink femininity and how they're both being paired with colours that indicate abnormality (even if the pink is being paired with it in a smaller way). She's on that path - until Kazui removes her from the path.

We know Kazui is probably already looking for a lie at this point. He's being represented by green and blue in the first part of the scene (masculinity + abnormality), and then we have blue and pink (masculinity + femininity) representing Hinako. Also, abnormality colours + femininity, probably indicating Kazui's relationship with it (not being attracted to women). Kazui takes the opportunity and takes them off of the original path they were on, and brings them to

The blue and pink path, i.e the path of normality. An interesting thing: Kazui is leading her away from the path of abnormality, she shows no initiative to leave that path herself. Even if she liked him, she was happy on that path. Also, if you decide to take green as specifically Kazui's abnormality and yellow as Hinako's, it's indicating that their abnormalities are still there. They're literally on the correct persons side too. Oh and about yellow being representative of Hinako's abnormality let's not think about all the times yellow is paired with Hinako in Half.

Don't ask me what Hinako's "abnormality" is in specific because I genuinely don't know. I just think the way the beginning of their relationship is presented (Kazui leading them both away from that abnormal path and towards the normal one) is very interesting and could indicate some interesting things.

[petrichorium]

pluvi begging you to expand on gojo not wanting what happened to his mother to happen to you 🙏

warnings: it’s all a dream so nothing is real aside from the flashback stuff but pregnancy as horror, (sewing) needles, implied gore/eye trauma, implied child harm, gojo is messed up yo!!! and its bc of his mama!!!

he dreams about her.

it’s an odd thing, really. gojo isn’t much of a dreamer—not much of a sleeper, all things considered, but it’s difficult not to give in when you drag him to bed and curl up in his arms. the soft rise and fall of your chest, the steady thump of your heart, the sound of your breath; it soothes him into slumber.

and he dreams about her. she was always young. he’s older now than she ever got to be. frail, thin; borderline skeletal, robes hanging from her body like webbing. she sits in a chair facing a window, swathed in moonlight, the silver of her embroidery needle glinting with each stab. her face is veiled. her stomach is swollen with child.

she doesn’t turn to him, but she beckons without noise. his feet take him easily to her, and he kneels at her side as she sets aside the embroidery hoop to let him place his head on her knees.

her hand is cold as it threads through his hair. it’s gentle, at first. then harsher a moment later. she grips firm, tugs him up by those electric white threads, stares down at him through all that elaborate lace.

he imagines she’s weeping beneath it. his mother never wept before him, but she was pretty in the aftermath, eyes puffy and pink and shining. they were a cold kind of loving when they regarded him. she must have been beautiful once, elegant and lithe and willowy, cruel like the heartless sea and sharp like a brilliant diamond, but whatever was there is long gone. he thinks all sons must empty their mothers, bleed them dry from within, because his was always a shell.

she trails her hand down the side of his face, and he turns into the palm and closes his eyes, and she is silent as she sets down her embroidery to lift her veil. she is silent and hollow and eidolic as her fingers brush down his jaw and tilt his head up to look at her.

but it’s your face that he sees when he opens his eyes.

it’s your hand against his cheek, your eyes pink and puffy and pretty, your stomach bulging by his own doing. it’s your fingers that pluck up the needle, still attached to a thread of brilliant cerulean, and raise it to his eye.

his mother never was able to pierce him with that needle. she stopped herself, each and every time, dropping it and tugging him close in shame. she never doted, never was kind, but she never did manage to harm him.

you do. he lets you. it’s only fair. whatever thing is in your stomach can’t be human—whether god or demon what does it matter, at the end of the day—and didn’t he put it in you himself? if his mother never got the satisfaction of spilling his blood, shouldn’t you?

but he wakes just as the tip pierces his iris, and you hold him in your lap, eyes wide with concern and not puffy from weeping, and you hold no child within you. your hands thread through his hair and they’re warm, your lips plush when you bend to press a kiss to his brow.

he turns inward to press his face into your (empty, blissfully vacant) abdomen. the wetness he leaves there, falling from his so very coveted eyes, is colorless.

he thinks it ought to be brilliant crimson.

[fauvester]

can you imagine cardassians being introduced to kotatsus.. keiko invites garak over to use it and he refuses to leave. that's HIS cozybox now

[sasukeless]

[creativesplat]

Growing up together: A very quick doodle!

[hexjulia]

fandom discourse often reminds me of some of the worst medieval theological debates. not in content but in spirit and vibe.

[lichtbrenger]

charlie and empathy

I’ve seen some thoughts about Charlie floating around (always love to read them, everyone has unique thoughts, namaste 🙏) and there seems to be a lot of discussion about Charlie having little actual empathy for the people around her and I don’t know if that is a fair assessment based on what we’ve been shown so far.

Long one so I’m putting it in the read more <3

The idea that Charlie has strong feelings of sympathy without feeling empathy kind of befuddles me, because the jury's still out on what sympathy actually is when compared to empathy. The most intuitive answer would be to separate them by saying sympathy is feeling for someone and empathy is feeling with someone. I wrote out a whole thing about this (that empathy does not directly motivate helping behavior like sympathy does and that empathy can lead to personal distress (a self-oriented reaction of distress to another’s suffering)) BUT I don’t think that’s the point I want to make here 😸 hihi. So I’m solely going to focus on the thought that Charlie has low empathy.

If we look at Charlie and the way she expresses empathy (which, if psychometrically sound is seen as multifaceted in nature; usually cognitive, affective and somatic (sliding scales referred to as CASES)) the only thing she seems to be lacking is cognitive empathy.

Cognitive empathy allows us to understand and interpret emotions more analytically. This is sometimes also called empathic accuracy.

Cognitive empathy is more like a skill, a skill Charlie never got to work on. Charlie has lived her whole life in uhm, hell, where people don’t respond well to genuine feelings of empathy/sympathy from others. Charlie has tried and failed again and again in reaching out to people, and these experiences haven’t provided her with a reason why. A lot of people point to the Angel Dust Situation as a moment where Charlie shows that she’s not empathetic, but I don’t actually think that’s what’s going on there. Charlie seems to have a lot of empathy for Angel is this episode, she is however completely unequipped. Everything takes her by surprise, her emotions are intense and she doesn’t understand the stakes of Angel’s situation when she first tries to help. This doesn’t means she’s unempathetic, this means she’s in over her head. She doesn’t have a lot of experience with people actually wanting/ needing her help and she hasn’t had any experience in Angel’s scene. She fumbles, but a lack of empathy isn’t the issue. Her feelings aren’t wrong in these very complicated moments.  

I’ve also seen people discuss Charlie's relationship with Vaggie and with that I feel like people forget that Charlie knew nothing about Vaggie’s life before her until the meeting in heaven. We don’t know what Vaggie told her, but I doubt she told Charlie about her trauma or hangups surrounding coming down every year to slaughter her people. Charlie has no real reason to think Vaggie isn’t her equal, her partner, capable of handling the same things she does especially since that’s probably exactly what Vaggie wants her to think. Charlie trusts her and doesn’t have a reason to think she’s not being forthcoming. Again, naivete, maybe; a lack of empathy, I don’t think so. I also think that, while we as the viewer may recover quite quickly from the shock of Vaggie being an ex-exorcist, Charlie is allowed to give it a little more time. She’s been lied to (in quite a big way) by the one person who has stood by her and she trusted unconditionally. She’s known her for years (I assume) and there are certain patterns of thought and behavior that just wear into a relationship, and you can’t expect someone to snap out of that all of the sudden. Charlie realizing Vaggie has her own specific demons and what that entails for their relationship is going to take time, I think it would take time for anyone.

Tldr; I don’t think Charlie suffers from a lack of empathy, she suffers from a lack of practice and positive experiences, mostly. She’s ill equipped in some instances, and purposefully left in the dark in others.

[uncanny-tranny]

I think this topic is underdiscussed in the trans community, so I'd like to talk about it.

It's okay for trans people to mourn that some of us don't have the option to have children the way we'd like to. It is okay if a trans woman mourns that she is unable to become pregnant, for example, and there is no reason to shame her for how she feels. Equally, I think it can be inappropriate to tell us that there are other options besides "traditional" means of conception, like adoption. We know that there are other options, and that isn't the point.

I go back and forth on if I even want to be a father, and in both mindsets, I mourn that I don't have all the options I want to have children. It sucks. It really, really sucks. And it's hard to accept that this isn't my fault or my body's fault. That's the hardest part for me. But whether or not it's hard to accept, it isn't my fault - it isn't your fault, either, if you feel the same ways I do. Our bodies and our selves aren't the problem. We are not broken because we don't have all the options we'd like.

No matter how you feel about this topic, just know... you aren't a problem or a burden. No matter what your journey looks like, happiness and fulfillment can be found, eventually.

[diwatakirsten]

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Thank you for your generosity and kindness.

hi tumblr! 🍉

Please excuse some odd tags -- I am only adding such, so it can reach other audiences.

[swordsandarms]

There's nothing more self-inserting in this fandom than the people who actually hate Rhaegar Targaryen (and sometimes by extension Lyanna and Daenerys and other Targaryens).

But with Rhaegar it's very peculiar. With either Rhaegar positive or neutral fans, you can discuss things like connections he has with characters in actual canon, by actually canon references, that give him some depth whatsoever in turn. Love RxL shippers with all the actually newer clues highlighted compared to your typical "Jon's parentage" checklists because it gives more character interiority. Love the Jon and Dany fans who've given more attention to the connections clearly drawn on purpose by the author that are also doing that.

But people who outright hate this tertiary character? The emotionally driven rants as if this man was their own boyfriend or father and wronged them specifically and that's all the focus of it? Only ever writing in "depth" about him in scenarios that are clearly made up and can only be explained as projection from some baggage none of us trying to read some book are interested in? Very odd behaviour.

[yuridovewing]

i understand the frustration with “i made this gay pairing cis x trans so they can still have biological babies” with no thought to other methods and how ppl assume thats the case when it comes to mothpool aus where mothwing is also the mother of the three, but also…. idk i kinda dont give a shit if someone wants to do that and i dont really think its inherently transphobic as long as its handled with care and respect.

what really concerns me about this debate is how some people are adamant that you cannot portray trans people having biological children in media or youre being disrespectful. and im gonna say as a nonbinary person who doesnt want children for themself- thats kinda fucking weird? like i understand that for some people, theyre trans themselves and theyre speaking from a place of dysphoria, and i absolutely get that, which is why i think the topic should be handled with nuance and diversity in trans characters, but like…. guys. pregnant trans men exist irl. trans women get people pregnant irl. trans ppl’s ability and right to parent and have biological children are being debated irl. we get denied the opportunity to adopt as well.

in a climate like this, are we SURE we want the stance on rewrites and headcanons in the silly cat books to be “if you portray trans characters having children, especially with a gay couple, youre a transphobic freak no matter what!” does it really matter? especially if its being done by a trans person handling the topic with nuance who has a lot of trans characters with varying perspectives?

obviously yes, remember that thats not the only way certain gay couples can have kids, remember that not every trans person is fully comfortable with it and keep that in mind, remember that surrogacy and adoption are also perfectly valid ways to give fan babies- but remember that there are OPTIONS. not that you need to condemn the idea of transgender parents in the first place unless they fit the very specific criteria of “proper transgender representation” and anything that dares deviate from that is proof the op is a transphobic monster (bonus points if theyre a trans creator bc i mostly see trans people getting shit for this and it kinda pisses me off. although idm if cis people do it either as long as theyre handling it with respect)

[lgbtlunaverse]

My baby sister has heard of bnha and apparently watched some clips but only some tidbits from the 6th season (mainly the fight with Nagant, who is her favorite) And she very confidently told me that she knows all about keigo, who is hawks. I asked if he knew who dabi has, and she rolled her eyes and told me that yes, she knows he's touya, and that he used to be friends with keigo as kids!

She was very confused when I told her that... no, they weren't. They didn't know each other until adulthood. She insisted that she'd seen a video of them as kids together. I told her it was probably a fan animation, because a lot of people thought Dabi and Hawks knew each other as kids, since Dabi was the only one who knew hawks' real name. But it turned out he just tracked his mom down in secret. She insists that this is stupid, once again confirming that the "dabihawks secret childhood friends/rivals" theory is the only time fanon has ever been better than canon.