#funnily enough there were never gender reasons for it

[velvetvexations]

the thing about socialization + the idea that testosterone/passing/coming out or whatever else people have decided trans men should stop doing is "the thing that makes them an Evil Man becuase the Evil Man Rays are seeping into their unsuspecting heads, but they're even worse because they 'got to' grow up afab and that gives them 'female privilege'" reminds me of something ive seen some people do.

ive met quite a few people who consider themselves academic types and are, on paper, anti-racist. they can and will state that one's race has no bearing on their mental and moral capacities, and they find all the racist scientology things bs. however, when confronted with the 'problem' of actually interacting with nonwhite people (especially in contexts of trust, relationships, and gauging skill) they spew textbook racist rhetoric and then cover it up with "well, ii don't think their skin color has anything to do with it, but im sure that growing up in a Certain Disadvantaged Environment does things to you that makes you less trustworthy/stupider."

and it's a whole shitload of baggage when it comes to nature vs nurture arguments, and i guess i can't prove nor disprove the existence of the invisble force begotten from a specific upbringing that creates all those Evil People we love talking about, but actually my point is this: i don't think it matters to the people they're talking about. if someone flings stereotypes at me but tries to undercut it with "well i'm not saying that because of your'e [ethnicity im not sharing], that's silly. i just think that about you because if the way i think Society has treated you" funnily enough, im not going to care that much. they're not getting extra credit for that

and that's why in all this im like OF COURSE 'tmes' (by which both they and i mean afab trans people and sometimes intersex people) are upset! youre telling me that this group of people, whom we can reasonably assume were not comfortably out from a young age, have dealt with this society's bullshit when it comes to being percieved as a woman...and they're mad about being called basic, whiny, overreactive, stupider on average, soft, and liars about their oppression? man, i'd think so! i'd hope so! i wonder where they might have heard that before!

that's where all the insistence about reading theory (which by the way, a lot of us have!) falls flat on its face. anyone, 'tme' or 'tma' repeating their transphobic arguments have encountered a fundamental failure in how to interact with a group of people with baggage. this is necessary context and i feel insane becuase it's almost never acknowledged, we're just supposed to pretend that transmasc people were never trans? and those who bring it up are 'cligning onto femininity?'

i feel like that's also why we've had so many people say "they sound like terfs." i myself am not really comfortable with the comparison, but to tell someone that they have terf-ish talking points is, i think, not the end of the world. because i thought we determined a long time ago that the problem is the people, the terfs, it's that bs that they believe. and to spout the exact same things while claiming that "well, but im saying it for a different reason! im not arguing that all people i think do gender wrong should die because im a terf, i do it for Enlightened reasons!" again, no extra credit.

yeah but other people read "trans people AFAB have dealt with misogyny all their lives and continue to deal with it" as "trans women have a lesser relationship to misogyny" like bitch dat's a whole new sentence! DAT'S A WHOLE NEW SENTENCE!

[heebsjeebs]

i wanna crochet something for someone as a gift. the only problem is that i was like seventeen the last time i crocheted anything. i think i remember how to hold the thing...?

[kingorqueenofnarnia]

Narnia Headcanons

King Edmund the Just

Had several casual relationships and hook-ups with people of all genders, but he neither fell in love with someone nor did he think that someone was politically beneficial enough to marry. He prefers not to label his sexuality.

Narnians gave him many titles. The Fair Judge, the Swordmaster of Narnia, King Edmund the Benevolent, Representative of the People and so on. He was greatly admired in the supreme court of Narnia for his kindness and unbiased treatment of everyone. Beyond Narnian borders he was called the Cunning Fox of Narnia, King Edmund Swordstorm, Edmund the Serpent-Tongued King, the Hurricane of Narnia, etc.

He was the chief diplomat of Narnia, and frequently journeyed to foreign nations to deal with international matters. He was renowned for his art of conversation and would weave such elaborate traps with his words that his prey did not realise they were in danger until they had no way of getting out.

He was a deadly swordfighter— he carried two swords, and despite the lack of a shield, preferred to wear leather armour instead of chainmail. The unconventional armour sent the message that he was lethal enough to not need any real protection.

In one-on-one duels, Peter was better, but Edmund was known as Swordstorm and the Hurricane of Narnia for a reason. His dual swords carved through dozens of enemy soldiers within moments, cutting swathes through the battlefield like a storm. He was brutal, swift and never left a foe alive, and was probably more feared that Peter.

His hair went down to the middle of his back, and was always in braids just like Peter's. He would let Lucy braid flowers into his hair whenever both of them needed to relax or had time. It wasn't uncommon to see the Just King walking around Paravel with roses or violets or jasmines in his hair. When they fell out of Narnia, he had thirty-two braids.

His war paint was deceptively mild looking— two dark green lines running over his left eye down to his chin, and three large dots on the underside of his right eye. It did not look very terrifying, but anybody who ever made the mistake of taking him to be harmless met their death at his sword a second later.

Enjoyed both studying and sports— he often took part in wrestling competitions and mock skirmishes, and just as often could be found debating with Susan, or metaphorically destroying some poor soul that had fallen for his charm and agreed to play chess with him, or in the library with his head buried in a book.

He and Peter refused to duel each other after a certain point in time. They knew each other's fighting styles too well— the duel would always end in a draw, no matter how brutal and deadly Edmund was or how fast and strong Peter was.

Just as good a war strategist as the other Pevensies. He usually left the strategising to Peter and Lucy, but when he did put in his two words, his plans were always crucial in winning wars.

His favourite subjects were Politics, History and funnily enough, cooking. He would often sneak into the kitchens during his free time and ask the chefs to teach him how to cook. Within a year of sitting in on meal prep, he was excellent at cooking, and at least every two months the Pevensies gathered for a family dinner prepared by Edmund.

Piercings. His right ear had four piercings and left had two. He had one in his belly-button and another on his tongue, and then a vertical piercing at his right eyebrow that exacerbated the action of him raising an eyebrow.

The King of Pranks™. Permanent and semi-permanent residents of the castle were frequent targets for his pranks, and the stories of his mischief-making were so outrageous and unbelievable that if anyone who had never been on the wrong end of his metaphorical sword would never even entertain the idea of them being true.

[leporellian]

How are we meant to look at operas, anyway? (and what are they?)

Operas are my favorite art form of them all. This is because I think they are "just really neato" and "the most interesting to study". However, if you were to go around and ask what Defines an opera? Nobody would have a concrete and true answer to the question. They aren’t ‘sung through stage works’ because many operas aren’t sung through and non-operas that are. They have no specific orchestra or singing requirements. Even determining them on a cultural basis doesn’t entirely fit. I actually think ‘art’ is too loose and philosophical a term for what they are either. (I mean, yes, they are art. But how are they so?)  

I think that while there’s no concrete definition for what an opera actually is, there ARE certain sets of… rules (for lack of a better word) that dictate how operas Are and what we should do when Seeing them. Funnily enough, the most complete rules I’ve seen for operas I found in an essay that has nothing to do with operas at all- “Monster Culture: Seven Theses” by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. My rules for How To Look At Operas are heavily derived from that essay, interpreted in ways to best fit the art form. 

My Rules of Opera (with apologies to Mr. Cohen):

1. The Opera’s Body is a Cultural Body.

Operas are sociological and anthropological records that entail a gap in time between their composition and their performance. They contain as many perspectives as there are people aware of them. Every time you watch an opera, you are negotiating with something or someone else. And these records are always being added onto- no opera is ever truly ‘complete’. 

Operas cannot truly be escapist entertainment because they directly reflect societal problems in both the composer’s time and ours. La Traviata’s main conflict- the way sex workers are demonized and unsupported among ‘polite society’ and how societal expectations and the pressure to conform destroys lives- is something that existed in Verdi’s time, and our own. La Traviata is about the sex workers of today who can’t find work anywhere. It is also about how Giuseppe Verdi’s wife was poorly-treated by the people around her for having been sexually active before their marriage. It is also about the gap between these two events, and how one thing became (or still is) another. 

An opera production is not a recreation. No matter how ‘original production accurate’ they claim to be, they are always a negotiation. There is no such thing as accuracy, as civic law. Once one is freed of the expectation of ‘canon’ or ‘what ought to be’ in an opera, one can deal with these creatures more handily. 

2. The Opera Always Escapes.

No matter how many times Don Giovanni is dragged off to hell at the end of Mozart’s opera of the same name, he always reappears again in a fresh new staging. He never stays down there. Maybe the gates to Hell are looser than we imagine- or, more likely, this is because he represents something that cannot be defeated. What does the character represent? Abuse, sexual violence, power (with class, with gender, with religion); grief, loss, death. None of these things will go away in our lifetimes or the next, and so Don Giovanni as an opera remains relevant. 

In fact, there are no ‘irrelevant’ operas in the standard canon as we know them. Any irrelevant operas that did exist are long gone because there would be no reason to revive them. Even operas that have ‘aged poorly’, like Turandot, confront us with why they’ve poorly aged and force us to reckon with some part of our current world. We react to them in some way and therefore they are worth further looking into.

I call this the “All Dogs go to Heaven” theorem because it doesn’t argue that all operas adhere to the same standard of quality, or are even written with good intentions in mind- but it does argue that they all are worth studying and experiencing. And any opera, as long as a copy of its score and libretto exists, can come back from the dead. So just like the movie, not all of them stay there.

3. The Opera is the Harbinger of Category Crisis.

One of the most common ways to explain away what an opera is, against a musical or a straight play, is to claim that operas are sung through while musicals feature spoken dialogue. Respectfully, this is wrong and insane. Two of the most famous operas of all- Carmen and The Magic Flute- feature extensive spoken dialogue, while Hamilton and Cats (both sung through) are musicals. The notion of operas having specific orchestral or voice requirements isn’t quite true, either- each era of opera, and each opera, is a separate animal.

Is Porgy and Bess an opera, or is it a musical? It features many musical qualities with the latter, and was written by musical-writers - yet it is referred to as an opera. Sometimes it is both. Maybe at some point it could also be neither. Operas do not participate in the general categorization of their Western theatrical siblings. Musical, straight play, ballet- these art forms are immediately distinguishable as themselves. (Note that musicals, despite having a lot of variety, do not have as wild a diversity as operas do owing to their relative youth as an artform.) But an opera can be all three of these and still be an opera. Not only that but there’s so many ways for operas to be- chamber opera, verismo, singspiel, music drama, opera-in-jazz. The opera may borrow from any art, at any time. Its incorporeal form grants it the ability to shift. This is both opera’s great weakness and its greatest boon of all, maybe its most defining operative feature of them all- it can be anything you want it to be.

4. The Opera Dwells at the Gates of Difference.

With their characteristic exaggeration and other oddities, operas are immediately recognized as depicting a world that isn’t quite our own. It’s a world rooted in our own (see point 1) but it isn’t our world. We don’t sing, or gesticulate to that degree, or stab people at the drop of a hat to solve a problem. As much as opera tries to be ‘like us’, it never is entirely so, in a sort of Frankenstein way. 

In this way it is no wonder that all operas focus around difference- from each other, from society, from ourselves. Sometimes this difference is explicit- the ‘othered’, shunned main characters characteristic of the Verdi operas, as in Rigoletto and La Forza del Destino- and sometimes it is more implicit (Tamino and Calaf being strangers to the people around them, Figaro’s position of a lowly barber among Counts and Dons, even Orpheus out of place in the Underworld). The opera seeks to represent the Other. Oftentimes the opera itself is the other. We are all made to learn a new set of social rules when we come to the opera- this equalizes us as an audience, and paradoxically renders us the Other. Opera is about othering and being othered. This is not necessarily good, or bad- it is just a neutral feature. 

5. The Opera Polices the Borders of the Possible.

Every opera begins with- and then revolves around- some kind of transgression. Moral (Don Giovanni slays the Commendatore), cultural (Pinkerton marries Cio-Cio San), societal (Alfredo falls for the courtesan Violetta). The way the opera’s narrative body reacts to this transgression is what will come to define that opera’s theme and what it stands for. Even in the most comic operas, the inciting incident is always a transgression; it is up to the interpreter to detect what the transgression actually is, and from this point the opera emerges all at once like a cracked egg.

Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg is an interesting case study in transgression. The initial transgression may be seen as Walther joining the Meistersinger contest to win the hand of Eva- he is, after all, not initially a singer, and an intruder on the world of the (educated, cliquey) Meistersingers. But this is not true. Walther initially disrupts status quo when he boldly joins them but he doesn’t stay that way- he is a literal knight in shining armor; masculine and chivalrous, the exact image of how men ‘ought’ to be. Beckmesser, the clerk of the Meistersingers, is consistently depicted as an Other, the nitwit among geniuses; he is effeminate and overconfident, we laugh at his attempts at music making. It is Beckmesser entering the contest himself as a competitor to Walther that is the true transgression in the opera, and the opera surmises this as a bad thing that must be punished through public humiliation and further exclusion. While there is no proof that Wagner wrote Beckmesser to be explicitly antisemitic, the character appears to subconsciously reflect many of Wagner’s antisemitic talking points, adding a particularly cruel underbelly to the way the opera sees the transgression of Beckmesser’s inclusion.

6. Fear of the Opera is Really a Kind of Desire.

Operas are marked by multiple features: Their otherness, their transgressions, their propensity to shift. These all give operas a certain other quality: They are a vehicle for catharsis. The fact that opera is so physically demanding adds to this- an opera is a workout in which emotions about a certain endless topic can be expressed. Salome is terrifying, but through her we can express rage and pure obsession that otherwise would have no place in society. This is also where the falsehood of opera as escapism takes root: When the opera is not given the space to threaten, its catharsis is cauterized into fantasy.

Opera is a space where we can play- already something rare in adulthood- and through the opera we are allowed to play with terror (something even rarer). It is an abstract liminal location only maybe rivaled by a rollercoaster, a playroom, or a shrink’s couch. This sheer radical expression of emotion makes it also easily-mocked by a popular culture unfamiliar with it. I suspect this is because, really deep down, operas are envied. They are so upfront, so passionate, so heartbreakingly sincere that they make those who laugh at art seem small, laughable. But the art form carries on, being unapologetically itself because it cannot be anything else. 

7. The Opera Stands At The Threshold… of Becoming.

What Cohen writes here in the original essay is maybe my favorite paragraph about literary analysis ever written so I’m just going to leave it here in its entirety:

Why do we love opera? What are we meant to do with them, and why are they the way they are? We come to the opera to find ourselves. The rest is just postscript.

[hulhudhonado]

So I Heard A Rumor...

Synopsis: You promised Kaeya drinks, he promised to be your wingman so you can finally ask his brother, Diluc, on a date. However your plan comes crashing when rumor comes out that you would be buying drinks for all the knights. You also just can't seem to get rid of this bard who keeps singing songs to you. Will you achieve your chance to ask your dream man out? Let's find out.

CW: ALCOHOL, OTHER THAN DILUC NO ONE IS GOING TO BE SOBER, minor swearing, Venti is a bit clingy too

HC: Reader is gender-neutral, Reader does not have a vision, Reader works as a knight, Reader is very clearly in love with Diluc (lol)

Characters: Diluc, Kaeya, Venti, Jean, Mentions of Favonious knights and Traveller (Honorary Knight)

Note: Going to apologise in advance because I have no idea how alcohol works as I am not a drinker and don't plan to. I clown on Diluc a lot because my friend is obsessed with him however funnily enough he is the character I have the most ideas with. I'm talking angst, fluff, comfort, everything. Anyway enjoy this cringe fest! Please make sure to like, comment or reblog the post. It helps it reach a wider audience and motivates me to write more silly stuff like this. Enjoy!

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

The current situation was far from ideal. Tonight was supposed to be the night you finally dared to ask Diluc out on a date. However, right now you were surrounded by drunken knights who wouldn’t stop singing along with an even more drunk bard who had his whole body wrapped around you. You could see Diluc seething at the bar, his fist clenched on the glass so tight you were certain it would break any minute now.

Backtracking to how you have ended up in this situation, it all started because of a rumour. Whispers among the crowd saying Donna was going to make her move soon. You couldn’t allow this, you had loved Diluc since his days as a knight! Sure you never dared to confess this entire time but Donna barely had any history with this man compared to you! She had a long way to go to get to your level. However, it didn’t help that Diluc was a bachelor and a perfect one at that. Even if Donna did or didn’t make her move, someone else might snatch him up sooner or later. It didn’t help that the honorary knight seemed to have become close to him as well. You need to act fast.

So you made a deal with Kaeya, if anyone was going to help you it had to be him. When you first told him about your crush he burst out laughing, before realising you were serious.

“Wait shit for real?” He asked, dumbfounded. You nod, trying not to be embarrassed. He stared at you like you had just said the most unbelievable thing. In Kaeya’s defence, you did say the most outrageous thing imaginable. He knew Diluc was considered a hot target in the single’s market, but for you to also fall for his charms? A shocking revelation.

“Are you going to help me or not?” You ask, now impatient. You didn’t have time to let him make fun of you for liking his brother, someone could be seducing him right now! Kaeya blinked at you in disbelief. However, his face soon shifted to a shit-eating grin. You groaned, instantly regretting your decision. “If you’re not then I’m going to ask someone else ok?!” You exclaim, annoyed and try your best not to give him more reason to make fun of you.

“Nah nah! You came to the right place! I’ll help, I'm an amazing wingman!” He laughed. You shushed him, you didn’t want anyone else to know about this and Kaeya tried his best to hold in his laughter but chuckles and giggles could not stop escaping this man. “Just buy me a couple of drinks and I’ll make sure you both end up in bed together by the end of the night!” He teased, which only made you groan.

That was the plan, you buy him drinks and he would help you look good enough for Diluc to swoon over you. However, for some reason, word got out and suddenly the whole knight team was out and about ready to get drinks from you.

“Wow, aren't you generous? Paying for the knights to drink as much as they want!” Swan chuckled. You didn’t know how it ended up like this, even Kaeya shrugged at you confused. Somehow word got out that you would be paying for ALL the knights to drink until they passed out. It had gotten so big that even Jean decided to join in.

“Well, the knights barely have time to come together and have fun, so I couldn’t miss this.” She smiled at you and that stopped you from calling the whole thing off because there was no way you could say no to Jean.

So now here you were, at Angel Share, drunk knights singing and playing games at the bar. You chugged down on a bottle of wine, feeling like absolute shit. Not only were you going to have to pay for all this but right now you were the worst offender in Diluc’s eyes. Dragging all the knights here and ruining his shift. All you wanted to do was confess but instead, you ended up creating the worst environment for any love to happen.

Finally the damn bard on your lap. You don’t know how he got into this but he was drinking off your tab as well. He was so grateful for your generosity that he decided the best way to show it was by singing tunes dedicated to you while sitting on your lap. He had one arm wrapped over your neck, which strummed the lyre in his hands. He was wrapped around you like spaghetti on a fork. It didn’t help that Diluc could see this man sit on your lap while singing tunes about how wonderful you were.

So right now in Diluc’s eyes, you were, a drunk who wastes their money on alcohol, loves to bring chaos to environments, and also a flirt who has no shame in doing PDA with strangers.  The least ideal person to date. You avoided any eye contact with Diluc, you could not face him at this point. You turned to look at Kaeya who was completely out of it. He had drunk so much that he was pretty much passed out just a couple of minutes ago.

‘So much for being a wingman…’ you thought, but honestly speaking in this situation, if Kaeya spoke up it would have probably ended up worse. You looked at the time, seeing how it was almost 12. The bar was set to close soon and Diluc would begin to kick out the knights. Finally, this terror would end and you could go back to your house to cry yourself to sleep. You were smart enough to call the next day off. you hoped whoever spread the rumour had a terrible hangover tomorrow while working the next day. They deserved it.

As you continued to curse the people who spread these twisted rumours, the bard decided to speak up after chugging down another glass. “You seem down my friend! Another song will cheer you up!” He laughed, stringing his lyre once more ready for another song. Cheers of knights could be heard across the bar, hyping him up for another. You sighed, placing a hand on the lyre and putting it down. “No no, I think we had enough songs for tonight. Let’s end the night guys.” You say, trying to stand up while carrying the bard bridal style.

As you tried to stand up, the bard whined trying to shake you off. You underestimating how drunk you were couldn’t carry his weight anymore, especially when he was moving around. You tried to steady yourself but the bard would not stop squirming leading you to slip and fall down. Making sure the bard didn’t hit the floor, and get hurt you shifted your body so you would land on the ground instead, your back hitting flat on the floor while the bard fell on top of you to soften his fall.

The bard whined, resting his head on your chest while you had your grip him to make sure he didn’t get hurt during the fall. The crack of glass could be heard in an instance. Everyone turned towards the sound to see that Diluc had in fact, shattered the glass he was cleaning the entire night.

“Out.” He said. The aura in the tavern immediately turned grim. Knights anxiously made their way out the door, saying their goodbyes to you. Jean carried Kaeya on her back, giving you a weak drunk smile before heading out as well. The bard clearly didn't get the clue as he had passed out on top of you.

Diluc was mad and it was all your fault. You could feel the tears come out. It especially didn’t help that you were drunk out of your mind, unable to hold back your emotions. You gently pushed the bard off you, trying to stand up. At this point, the only people left were you, Diluc, and the passed-out bard. 

You mumble sorry, trying to get up while tears continue to flow down your face. Unable to see clearly made it a bit of a struggle to get up, it also prevented you from noticing Diluc who had somehow made his way to you. You jolted up, almost falling over once more, but he caught you before another slip occurred. His arm wrapped your waist gently, steadying you up. You could feel yourself heat up.

“You have to be careful. Here.” He mumbled, guiding you to sit down. You were shocked he had not kicked you out honestly. You looked at him teary-eyed as he pulled out a handkerchief from his apron, dapping your tears away.

“You can sit here and wait until I close. I’ll drop you off afterward. “ He exclaimed, placing the cloth in your hands. “Oh no you don’t have to, I need to drop off the bard home first.” You say, your hands gripping on the cloth ever so tightly. You didn’t dare to stay with Diluc, especially after how terrible the night went. You wanted to leave as soon as possible but the minute you mentioned the bard you could see Diluc halt.

His gaze turned cold as he glared at the unconscious bard on the floor. He walked towards him, picking the bard up from the scruff of his clothes and heading towards the door. He tossed the bard out like trash before dusting his hands off. “Venti can figure out his way to get home. You're unsteady and drunk, so I’m taking you home myself.” You had no escape now. Muttering an ok, you put your head down trying to feel as small as you could.

Were you such a mess that Diluc didn’t think you were capable enough to get home? You were still a knight! Sure you weren’t an honorary knight but you were one, and a decent one at that. You could feel your thoughts spiral but it always leads to the same conclusion. Diluc would never like you back and probably felt pity for you.

You didn’t know how long you were lost in your thoughts, before Diluc spoke up. “I’m done, let’s get going.” He said. You try to answer but the alcohol finally seems to be in your system because you couldn't force yourself to say coherent words. You groan which only made Diluc sigh.

He lifted you from your seat, making you wrap your arm around his neck. He wrapped his arm around your waist once more and held onto your arm with his hand. You immediately could feel the heat from his body. You were already sweating because of the alcohol but now with his heat on your side, you could almost feel your skin burn. You whine, trying to push him away a bit but his grip on you was firm. You look him directly in the eyes. Big mistake.

He had the same poker face he usually had but for some reason, stars were dancing in his eyes tonight. Was he always this beautiful? You weren’t sure if the alcohol was playing tricks on your mind because you couldn’t believe how stunning this man looked. Looking carefully at his face you could see light scars scattered around his jaw. His cheeks were decorated with slight freckles. You couldn't believe how close you were to even notice them.

You weren’t sure what came over you but it was too late to stop the words from spilling out of your mouth. “I’m in love with you.” You stared at him before suddenly realising what you had just said. You can’t believe you had just said that. You wanted to take it back, your brain was wrecking up on excuses to say to him.

‘It’s a joke’ or ‘I didn’t mean to say that’ or even an ‘I meant it for someone else’. Your brain kept thinking of various things you could say but nothing would spill out. So here you were mouth gaping open, begging yourself to say something.

Diluc sighed, and you could feel your heart shatter. “Let’s take you home.” You didn’t argue, letting him drag you back to your house. You could feel yourself fall asleep on the way. You gave up in defeat. At least you were off the next day, you would be able to drown in your sorrows tomorrow.

As you tried to comfort yourself, you felt yourself drift off asleep. You could hear Diluc speak but the words wouldn’t register, you needed to escape from him for a bit.

—

You woke up on your bed, you turned to look out the window to see that it was still clearly night. You groan, sitting up on your bed. Your room was dark but you could see a light peeking under the door of your room, the living room light was still on. You groggily walk out of the room to turn it off, only to see Diluc outside. He was in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets.

You look at him in disbelief while he turns to face you. “You ok? It’s too late to buy hangover medicine so I wanted to see if you had any stocked up.” You try to speak, only to be stopped by a cough. Your throat felt so dry, you couldn’t say a word. “Oh, drink this.” Diluc handed you a glass of water, which you chugged down in an instant.

“I was going to hand it to you with the medicine but never mind. You should go rest, I’ll leave soon.” He said, continuing his search in your cupboard. You shook your head. “You can just leave, it’s fine, I can take care of myself.” You wanted him gone as soon as possible. As domestic as it felt having him in your house taking care of you, this man rejected your confession and you didn’t have the strength to handle it at this moment.

You had a splitting headache and a broken heart and Diluc being here was not going to fix that. Diluc halted, stopping his search, you could see a frown on his face as he closed the drawers before turning to you. “Can I ask you something?” He asked, ever so quietly. He was always a silent type of guy, but even this time you could hear how vulnerable he was. The way he asked you in such a soft way made you instantly answer him without a second thought. “Go ahead.” You wanted to hit yourself, you wish you didn’t have such a soft spot for him.

“I heard a rumour, going around…” he continued. He played with his hands, fiddling them about as if he was feeling shy. You cringed at the thought, why would Diluc of all people feel shy? You were just being delusional at this point. As you contemplated your thoughts he continued. “People were saying you invited the knights out for drinks because you got engaged, is that true?” 

The cup you had in your hands dropped to the ground. You were glad it wasn’t glass because it would have shattered in an instant, and you had seen enough things shatter today. However, you honestly could not believe the words that had just come out of Diluc’s mouth. “Wait what? Are you serious?” You ask, completely thinking this was a prank. “Why would you think that? Who would even say that?” Who was spreading these rumours around? You were going to kill them.

“So it’s false?” “Of course it’s false! I’m not even dating anyone!” You exclaim, now wondering whether your confession was rejected because Diluc thought you were cheating on your nonexistent partner. 

“So you aren’t dating Venti?” “I don’t even know who that is!” You say, frustrated. You put your hands on your face, feeling annoyed. You groan into them in anger. All these stupid rumours were the reason you were here with a horrible headache and Diluc looking at you like you were scum on Earth. You wanted to crawl up into a ball and disappear right now.

“Then can you do me a favour?” Diluc spoke up, disturbing your grovelling session. You look up from your hands and stare at him sadly. “What?” You weakly ask.

“Can you confess to me again when you aren’t drunk?” You blink, unsure of what you just heard. “What?” You say, still unable to process what he had just asked you to do.

“Your confession. Say it to me when you aren’t drunk.” He said once more, looking at you with his unchanged expression. He was being deadly serious. He was asking you to confess again. “Wait wait, so you don’t hate me?” Diluc tilted his head, eyebrow raised. He seemed shocked you even said that. “Why would I ever hate you? Were people saying that?” He asked, crossing his arms, his face turned dark when he said it but you shook your head. “No no, but, does that mean you like me?” You ask, feeling sheepish.

And for the first time this entire night, you could see a small smile fall on his lips. His face softened, no longer a glare in his eyes. His cheeks rose a bit when he smiled and you were certain this smile was for you. “Ask again when you aren’t reeking of alcohol.” He retorted back playfully. “Now, off to bed, I’ll head out now. I heard that you won’t be at work tomorrow so I better hear from you soon.”

With that, he left you, alone in your house, with your thoughts full of him. You knew for a fact you were not going to be able to sleep the entire night, nor was your headache going to be fixed by any type of medicine. 

Sorry Mondstadt, but your favourite bachelor is finally going to be off the market!

—

The slight sounds of a lyre could be heard in the distance on the streets of Mondstadt. A drunk bard still singing a tune.

“Did you hear about this rumour? There is going to be love in the air soon~”

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

[redditreceipts]

I'm a paid sociologist. The thing that passes me off a lot (and peaked me) is transpeople saying they didn't undergo gender socialisation. It doesn't matter how much they believe they deviate from the gender they were socialised as, gender canalisation, e.g. boys toys and girls toys, is inherent throughout all levels of culture, media and interpersonal relations. Just because that bloke cosplayed as a tween girl for a few years doesn't mean he skipped out on gender socialisation. Gender socialisation is very much something that happens to you due to the perception of gender. It's why we can tell who underwent male socialisation when they threaten to rape/sexually degrade women so casually. Love your stuff, up the union.

Thank you so much!

and yes, gendered socialisation is not something you can opt out of. I guess that if a person socially transitions at like three or something, that would be different, but 99,9% of the trans women and men we're talking about have lived the largest part of their youth as the sex they are born as. And I funnily enough never hear ftms say that they are "male socialised" or something.

Also, I really think that by denying gendered socialisation, they are doing their own cause a huge disservice. I think that the biggest reason for the violent behaviour of men is their gendered socialisation (which doesn't stop when childhood ends btw). And if socialisation didn't have a big impact for a person's later behaviour, we'd have to look at biology - a biology that trans women share 100% of with men (because they are men lmao). So I mean you can start on that route if you want to and argue that men are biologically predisposed to violence, but that would be an even stronger argument to deny transwomen access to women's spaces.

If their argument was that men are more violent due to socialisation, they could at least argue that after doing things to deconstruct their male socialisation, they could be allowed into some spaces traditionally reserved for females. If they say that socialisation is irrelevant, then there would be no way to re-integrate as a man.

(not to say that I am necessarily in favour of that policy, but I think that from a TRA perspective, it would be more productive to emphasise the importance of socialisation because people can unlearn parts of their socialisation, while the same thing is not true for biological sex)

[starlostlix]

MTP - Sherlock and William as foils (similarities and differences)

Aka Something interesting I found on a reread of volume 5 (at least that's what it was originally it's developed a little)

So I was drawn to these pages in Volume 5 in particular because they're surprisingly key to Sherlock's character, and a key reason why that he doesn't necessarily completely disagree with William's points (mostly disagreeing with his methods).

So the reason Sherlock's methods are based on scientific observation is because science is fair to everyone and doesn't need any social context of class or gender or anything like that. And this is because of his own experiences - going to a university 'beyond his status' and seeing many criminal cases where the lower class individual is immediately blamed with inadequate proof. Much as William has also seen such injustice in his life at the orphanage/on the streets, and continues to see from the surrounding noblemen.

He values tradition but still sees it as partially hampering growth and change in the investigative profession. The fact that his brother, Mycroft, is a representative of the monarchy (and so is a representative of tradition) probably only adds to this concept (but what he doesn't know until later is that his brother isn't as against change as he might seem, due to his general 'blind eye' towards and sometimes clear support of the Moriarty plan). Brotherly disagreement on a cultural level and an interesting part of their dynamic, but that's for another post (if i ever finish it).

Sherlock has a motivation (as much as it isn't the main focus of his desire to solve mysteries) to change detective work to be fairer using science. As much as it's on a much smaller scale, he's generally trying to bring change to a system that is unfair and classist. Sound familiar? This sounds similar to William's idea of changing society to make it fairer and less classist.

The fact that Sherlock and Liam, both of whom come from a lower class status/background, strive to make a change and remove class-based prejudices is no accident - it's just more proof that they were never actually enemies. In fact, their motivations only differ by scale, forcefulness and the lengths they are willing to go to achieve them.

The main way that they disagree is the methods of trying to change their target population is the lengths they go. Sherlock, for the most part, doesn't enforce much change - he just proves that his way of solving mysteries is more effecient and more accurate than Scotland Yard and other detectives. Funnily enough, in that field, the only one who can match (or sometimes outdo him) is William, but only because William is willing to go further. In the Two Detectives arc, William strategically places samples of blood on all of the train staff in order to act as more objective proof of the murder accusations. In doing this, he's not fully truthful, but it ensures a fast solution to the case that saves Watson and captures the culprit in time. In essence, William is more calculated and willing to manipulate variables to make the outcome more accurate, whilst Sherlock trusts all the available evidence and utilises that to achieve an accurate outcome.

They both are also not immune to k!lling on behalf of the safety of others. Sherlock murdering Milverton to save Watson's marriage and to get rid of a guy of 'evil incarnate' like Milverton (who has investigated numerous cases relating to) is proof that Sherlock can be pushed into crime to protect others. William takes up crime as a 'means to an end' - partly revenge for the mistreated working class, partly to dismantle the unfair class system. William makes the choice to act as an executioner, but also is willing to suffer to achieve his goal. Sherlock is also willing to suffer misjudgement in using scientific deduction, but he's mainly willing to suffer for the people he cares about most - specifically Watson and William (the man was willing to literally jump off a bridge for William).

Anyways, the point being is that William and Sherlock were never supposed to be opposites or enemies, rather they are more like foils - differing in some key traits to better highlight those parts of their respective characters. And the conversation I pulled from volume 6 helps in directly presenting the similarities between their characters, which also draws further attention to their differing traits and is key for establishing them as foils of each other. I honestly think this is partly what makes their dynamic so interesting - they are similar in enough ways to relate to each other and become friends, but their differences add ways for their characters to clash in the story to make the plot more interesting.

[Anyways I just love how the characters are written in MTP especially Sherlock and William. I've currently got only 2 alevel exams left to do before I've finished college though, and my last exams are on tuesday! I haven't had much time to be online or write about stuff that I want to post so hopefully in about a week or so I can write more/post more. This post was mostly drafted last week when I had a bit of time off, so I might have missed some stuff in rereading before I post lol.]

[widgenstain]

@morathicain @traumschwinge

Lol, there is an interesting shift when you look at old settlement structures like Çatalhöyük and the places close by (there's a reason why so many of them are in southern modern day Turkey and the Levant, but that's it's own chapter), and the places that often are named as the first cities, like Ur or Jericho (although the term "city" is a highly disputed one, especially in this context), and it includes a thing that Jericho is very famous for: the walls.

The earlier places weren't fortified, the later ones are and to cut it short: at some point people started to perfection defense systems. One of the easier ways to do that were grid systems, the Roman definitely weren't the first or the best at it, there are example for very succesful grid structures in early major settlements all over the world (see India or China), but the Romans used them for their military bases, which they spread very VERY quickly over every piece of conquered land. And even if they lost the areas again to us unwashed, smelly barbarians (not really, but you know, woot woot), the barbarians didn't erase them, but started to use them for themselves. You wouldn't believe how many modern day European cities still have a Roman fort grid system at their heart.

So these systems immensely shaped our ideas of accesibiity and efficiency, but also of course of grandeur and power (also it's own chapter, but any form of totalitarian architecture just LOOOOOVES their Imperium Romanum references!).

Friedrich Engels was one of the thinkers who tried to uproot this and he referred to a 19th century scientist, I should say "nerd" instead of scientist, because that's what he was, who proposed the "Mutterrecht" theory, aka, before we became militarised, humans were living happily and peacefully under matriarchy (this is simplified, both dudes wrote like 6000 pages on it).

They based this theory on newly found statues of fat happy ladies in Çatalhöyük f.ex. and in the 50s (40s?) some scientists picked that up and delivered the archeological artefacts to prove the theories.

The problem with that is, that those scientists were lying. They faked evidence for a good story (also its own chapter, archeological sciences are difficult and shouldn't immediately mixed up with sociology, something that's still very true today) and as much as it pains me, there never truly has been something in this world, that would count as a true matriarchy.

There were/are matrilineal societies and societies where there's some gender equality, but that's unfortunately about it. Doesn't change the fact that those findings hit BIG in the 60s (the archeologists weren't proven to be frauds until the noughties, I think) and via Engels (since men prefer to listen to men than to mean feminists) these theories reached many forward thinking young architects and planners, aka the old men in power of today.

So a lot of modern approaches, smart ones too, are based on very specific readings of ancient history. Fallible ones, but the effects are real.

I won't provide any sources since a lot of them are in German (the people digging in the… let's call them "disputed" areas, as not to call them "seriously fucked up by wars in the past decades if not centuries", are funnily enough Austrians and Brits sponored by Austrians) and you'll be able to buy the book in two years, unless my boss dies in the meantime, or he gets too consumed by the project that brings in money, or I get fired, but yeah, this has taught me once again how history is not a quaint little narrative that aligns neatly with what we wish it aligned with (aka modern ideals), but a complicated process with tons of different interpretations and hiccups.

[writteninlunarlight-years]

Hey I saw you were doing matchups and I've never done one so I was curious :) plus you seem nice

This is mainly for bg3 but I'm super into Hazbin as well if you feel like doing both 🫶

Gender- woman

Pronouns- she/her

Sexuality- pansexual

Appearance

Basically the best I could get without just putting a picture of myself. Keep my hair short, I love dyeing it, I've had it tons of colors but pink is my favorite. (having it up in two buns is my favorite style) I'm 5'2, curvy, my eyes are kinda downturned and brown. I have a freckle (mole? Kinda? Beauty mark?) above my lips on the left.

Mbti- INTJ

Personality- So I'm autistic, have trouble with certain social queues and expressing emotions. It actually caused a lot of problems growing up but I've gotten better about it now. I'm still really blunt at times and have been told my resting face looks really sad/upset 😅. I'm an optimistic realist, and generally difficult to upset. I cry when I get mad because I never learned to express being angry in a healthy way. I try to be sweet with people I'm familiar with, like making jokes and complimenting people, but I can be pretty mean/cold to people I don't like. I'm a writer, and an auditory learner, so I've always been told I'm an amazing listener. Which I do love listening to people, but I hate interrupting so I usually go entire conversations without saying much even if I have something to say- because I won't interject and by the time I get a word in the subject has changed. I'm a fast learner academically and like to think I'm open minded. Arguments annoy me, but I'm not above admitting I'm wrong. I am very passionate about the things I like, as well as morality based subjects. I also go somewhat nonverbal when I get overstimulated which happens mostly when I'm around a lot of people.

Likes:

-Storms are my favorite weather

-Rabbits are my favorite animals, I grew up with a bunch of them they're super misunderstood from what I know and make amazing pets

-Word association games for some reason? Also puzzles. They're just fun

Dislikes:

-Meat. I have trouble eating certain foods and most meat is in that. I'm not vegetarian but anything with bones or skin or chewy bits I just can't do 🥲

-Yelling. It just makes me upset even if it's not directed at me.

-When people don't think animals have feelings or make jokes about killing pets cause they think it's funny :(

Fun fact: I have photic sneeze reflex which means when my pupils dilate really fast due to a light change (usually going from inside to outside) it makes me sneeze!

Race: I'm a human obviously but I think I'd be a half elf (maybe a drow half elf even, just cause I don't prefer sunshine) in faerun just cause my ears are kinda pointy. I have connected earlobes so it makes them look somewhat more elfy.

Class: Probably an abjuration or conjuration wizard. Sorcerer would be cool but they're charisma based and I'm not very charismatic

Alignment: Lawful good? Or maybe just chaotic good I'm not sure, cause the law isn't always right funnily enough

Thanks, even if you don't get to this. I started posting on Tumblr recently and I know how difficult it is to get to a bunch of asks so no worries if you can't get to it.

You are so sweet, I am sorry it took so long to get to your request, but it is finally time to get your match out!

~~~~~ MATCHUPS ~~~~~

BG3

Halsin

~~~~~ HEADCANONS ~~~~~

Halsin is one with nature, so he enjoys all animals and people no matter what.

He finds your reserved nature interesting. As you are the leader of your misfits, your timidity doesn't quite match your fearless leadership of lives.

He realizes how sweet you are once he joins you in the hunt for the ones behind the illithids.

He struggled to determine if you were sad or if your face was just reading sad.

Halsin is just as awkward himself. Though he has lived for hundreds of years, it is hard to keep up with all the changes that come with that.

When he started developing feelings for you, he was very timid about expressing them. Though love is natural and part of nature, he didn't want to frighten you.

When he found you crying one day because a villager upset you, he was as wild as a bear at that moment.

He stayed back to comfort you but gave a piece of his mind to spare you the argument when you were elsewhere.

Halsin tries hard to help keep the peace among the others, especially after seeing you get overwhelmed by a fight that broke out between La'zel and Shadowheart.

When he confesses to you, he rambles. Because you don't say anything, he thinks you now hate him, so he rambles more. Once he lets you get a say-in and you confess back, he's the happiest ever.

~~~~~ BLURB ~~~~~

You had been tending to the animals near the camp. Though you were soon to leave this area and venture further through Faerun, you wanted to make sure the little friends you made would be okay. You heard giant footsteps approaching behind you as you doled out nuts, berries, and some dried meats for the creatures. Turning gently so as not to frighten away the creatures, you find Halsin also helping tend to the animals.

His love and care for the world around him was so sweet to you. He was a fantastic man who flawlessly met your and the group's needs. Sometimes, you wondered about letting him lead as the new group's leader. Halsin had already turned that notion down since you were more than capable in his eyes.

Once the creatures were tended, Halsin walked up to you. He gently placed some fallen hair back in its intended spot before gently cupping your face. He was always so warm and protective, which helped put you at ease through this whole ordeal with the mind flayers. Nuzzling into his hand and smiling up at him, Halsin gently placed a kiss on your forehead. You two embraced this soft moment before the next battle took place.

~~~~~ EXTRA ~~~~~

(You had just finished a battle; only Gale came out scathed because he didn't listen to a call out from you or Shadowheart.)

Halsin: My Gale, how did you get so beat up?

Shadowheart: Maybe because he's a lunatic who doesn't listen to instructions.

Gale: Hold on, I don't know how this is my fault when you could have simply healed me on the field.

Shadowheart: Why would I heal you when you blatantly didn't listen?

Halsin: Everyone, you don't need to worry about fighting. It's okay. I will tend to the wounds.

Y/N: I also called out to him to move from the spot where he got shot.

Halsin: Never mind, Gale, figure it out on your own.

HAZBIN HOTEL

Charlie Morningstar

~~~~~ HEADCANONS ~~~~~

Charlie is the embodiment of chaotic goodness. She just wants to help everyone and make the world a better place.

She loves animals, people, and really everything. If she could express her happiness and love any better, she would.

She was taken aback by how reserved you were when you came to the hotel. Usually, people in hell were brazen.

As she got to know you, she enjoyed the wisdom you offered.

She did everything to put a smile on your face, mostly because she enjoyed your happiness and because she couldn't tell when you were sad or just thinking.

She goes full momma demon mode when someone upsets you, with no hesitation the claws are barred.

She tries really hard to be a listener for you instead of you listening to her. Though Charlie tends to ramble, especially about her ideas, she always wants to hear your input.

When there is violence or issues in the hotel, she makes sure you are first safe and far away. Once things have calmed down, she will come and get you.

She didn't really confess to you. One day, you two were friends, and the next, she was talking to you about being in a relationship.

~~~~~ BLURB ~~~~~

Charlie had been diligently working at her desk on her next big plan to rehabilitate sinners. While she was working away, you had taken refuge on her bed, writing in your journal. You enjoyed the monotony of your growing relationship, where even if you two weren't actively doing the same thing, you still chose each other. As you got to the climax of your story, a frustrated groan was heard next to you.

Turning your attention to the princess, you noticed she had scrapped another idea of hers. Sitting up, you slowly made your way over to her to see what seemed to be causing the hiccup in her mental process. Charlie was full of amazing ideas; just some were far harder to attain than others, and you both knew that. So sometimes, just offering your own insights helped her reimagine an idea she was having.

Taking your spot next to her, you noticed that instead of working on sinners like you thought, she was working on your next birthday. You laughed gently at her, causing her to snap to her senses and look over at you. Knowing she had been caught, she gave up and let you look at what she had been working on. You smiled and gently took Charleis's hand in yours, "You know I would be happy with just spending the day lounging around with you, right?" This was enough to spread a giant smile across the princess of Hell's face.

~~~~~ EXTRA ~~~~~

(The new hotel had been built, and Charlie was eager to welcome new sinners. However, no one showed up the first day, making her sad.)

Y/N: Charlie, it's okay. I am sure there will be some tomorrow or the next day.

Charlie: But how will we beat heaven if no one gets rehabilitated.

Y/N: We can't force people to stay; we need them to come on their own.

Charlie: but I made cupcakes.

Y/N: How about I eat one with you?

Charlie: ( sniffles ) Okay.

[rorykeanersactualgf]

request where Benny uses a love potion on the reader but it doesn't work cause she already loves him

A/N: i have seen a few other people do this and i have liked their ideas, i don't mean to copy any ideas, only take inspiration. should i create a masterlist so its all in one place or wait a bit? xx

side note, on posts where its not specified for gender, i do gender neutral so everyone can read it, if you want specified gender or different versions where it has specified genders, please let me know so i can do that for you, the reason i say this is because there is the use of she in the request but i am more than willing to do other versions :)) sorry it took longer than usual to upload but i had a few things to do today but i will compensate by doing 2 today :))

CW: Fem! Reader version, Benny and reader being cute and oblivious, Benny being nervous, Grandma Weir being amazing as always :)))

@regalisonata for the GIF of Benny :))

The Potion Of Love

Over the years of being friends with Benny, he developed a little big crush on me, which somehow managed to go undetected by me seeing how obvious he can be when he wants to be. But seeing as he has been my friend for ages and his advances towards me just seemed friendly, I never noticed and thought he was being nice... That was until middle school when I started developing feelings for him too.

This crush however was not very well hidden from Ethan and Rory since they had figured it out within the first few weeks, which is why they get told and documented on pretty much interaction or small look from across a place or slight touch, which they quickly grew interested/tired of. Rory was always the one to be happy to talk about what it could mean while Ethan was the more rational and realistic one.

As Benny and I grew closer as friends, our feelings for each other only grew and made Ethan more indifferent and Rory more invested. As we talked more, I fell more in love with every and anything about him, like his smile, style in clothes, his little gestures that he had for me, his ability to make me laugh no matter where we could be, etc.

"Man, she's so pretty, I can't not look at her," Benny said, Ethan trying to regain his attention but ultimately failing when he realised why he couldn't get it back, he noticed that Benny was looking at me from across the lunchroom, while me Sarah and Erica were getting our food. "Dude, she's looking at you... she just smiled," Rory whisper-yelled into his ear, feeding into his feelings for me. He sat there and waved, almost as if he was in a trance, with lovey-dovey eyes like he was under a sirens call and finally broke contact when he saw me approaching.

Benny realised he couldn't wait much longer to tell me his feelings, scared he would be rejected and have to try to move on from his first and only real crush he's had. He was looking through his old spell book when I sat down opposite from him, not questioning what he was looking at since he had a serious face, which usually meant he was trying to concentrate.

What he was concentrating over wasn't something like memorising incantations or spells that could be useful in a fight, it was love potions, their benefits and drawbacks, the things that could go very wrong and very good, but funnily enough it had nothing on if the other person already had a crush on the person giving the potion, interesting.

Throughout the day, Benny became increasingly more nervous and but excited, hopefully with this potion, I could be his girlfriend and he could give Ethan and Rory a break from being all lovey-dovey, or would it make it worse. He knew that Rory wouldn't leave it alone, wanting to know what its like to have a girlfriend and helping Benny on dates and such, but for Ethan, hopefully it would quieten him down at least a bit.

When Benny got home, he almost flew to his room and started on the potion making, getting all of the ingredients he would need and putting them together in a frantic manner like his life depended on it. A flurry of swirls and sparks flew around him, making various shapes until finally it made a pink heart, to which he had to say one final incantation and my name and then it would be done.

As he did so, a realisation befell him, what if it doesn't work, nothing in the book said what would happen if it didn't work, what if she hates me, what if it DOES work, what then? A mix of excitement and nerves coursed through his veins, wondering all the possibilities, meanwhile I was on the phone to Sarah and Erica, on the same old spiel as always, talking about Benny and how cute he was etc. In this case, Erica was like Ethan, not too bothered about it and just wanting me to say something because it was obvious he liked me. Sarah was similar to Rory, very willing to dissect what had happened and give educated guesses about what it could mean.

The next day, Benny came into school with the potion in his bag, cradled around a jacket so it couldn't break in the vial it was in. When he reached Ethan and Rory, he had a feeling of anticipation and apprehension crawl up his spine as he waited for their reactions after pulling out the potion. Rightly, both of them were confused even with the pink slurry of liquid and the vaguely heart-shaped container. After explaining to them that it was a love potion for me, there were polar opposite reactions, Rory was ecstatic because it was fool proof, it had to work and he would finally have a girlfriend. Ethan on the other hand, was uneasy to say the least, relighting all the past worries Benny had.

I, on the other hand, was ignorant to any strange behaviour Benny was exhibiting. When I did walk up to the group, I saw that Benny was almost unable to look at me, Rory having a big smile on his face and Ethan looking almost disappointed at the other two.

I wasn't able to talk to them much before the bell rang signalling us to go to our first class, to which I didn't share with anyone which was a bit upsetting but it was over soon enough. After a few more lessons, it finally became lunch. Almost a full repeat of yesterday but this time (Reader) was sat in between Benny and Rory, talking about my lessons and any recent news about assignments or projects that would need to be done. After Erica and Sarah came to the table with their trays of food, I stood up and went to the bathroom.

As I was getting up to leave, I had a sip of my water and placed it back down where it was and I turned towards Benny so I could get my legs out and get up, Benny go up with me while sneakily taking m water bottle and taking it with him. I didn't think anything of it, but when I came back Benny had an eye on me at all times, which was odd but I brushed it off thinking he was being a little bit weird. What I didn't know is that Benny had taken my bottle and poured all the potion in and said a small incantation so the pink slurry it was creating turned back into a clear mixture so I wouldn't suspect anything.

"Hopefully she loves me now," Benny said with a sad but hopeful tone.

The only thing that he didn't account for was the fact it tasted different. When I had a sip of the water, my face scrunched up slightly and confused me, wondering what that unfamiliar taste was. It made me feel weird but it was probably because I hadn't eaten anything. As lunch went on and our table got to chatting, Benny and Rory had a closer eye on me than normal and I decided to bring it up.

"What's going on? Do I have food on my face or something?" I said with a light-hearted tone, not wanting to seem annoyed but more confused than anything.

Since it had been a few seconds, Rory decided to say something so it didn't weird me out. "Uh, yeah, you've got some food right there," he said, pointing to a part of my cheek and slightly kicking Benny under the table to snap him out of this trance.

"Oh, thanks Rory," I said, less confused now and getting back to talking with my friends.

As the day went on, Benny kept looking for any sorts or behavioural changes and when he couldn't see any he gave up and went back home at the end of the day. When he got in, he flopped onto the couch face first and heard his grandma shout a greeting, to which he replied in a lack-luster way to. That was when his grandma walked in and sat next to him, rubbing his back and asking what's wrong since Benny never usually acts like this.

"Okay, promise not to be mad?" He rolled onto his side as her eyebrow quirked up at this and she let him continue.

"So I gave (Reader), yknow the girl I'm crushing on," his grandma nodded, urging him to continue, "well I gave her a love potion..."

"Benny..." she said, warning laced in her tone.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't get mad at me," he said rolling onto his back and going to sit normally, "and it didn't work anyway."

She looked back at him, a small smile stretching her face as she realised something. "Don't you know what this means?" She asked with a small laugh hiding behind her voice.

"That she doesn't like me?" he said more like a question, "The book didn't have anything on if it didn't work..." he trailed to a stop.

"Or if the person given the potion was already in love with the potion maker." She said with a knowing smile, waiting for Benny to understand what she was getting at.

"Wait... she likes me?" He said with hope rising in his voice.

All she did was nod and he took off out of the door running to confess to me.

After a few minutes of running and panting on my porch, Benny rang the doorbell, waiting for me or my parents to answer the door. Luckily it was me that answered the door and as soon as he did, he looked up at me and said all in one breath,

"Look(Reader)IreallylikeyouandIcametoaskyouifyou'dliketobemygirlfriendofvourseyoucansaynobu-" He was cut off by my hand covering his mouth.

"Okay, I think I caught about 3 words in that whole sentence but I like you too Benny, I was literally getting ready to go to your house to tell you." I gestured down to my feet and he saw I had my shoes on.

After a moment, I pulled my hand away from his mouth and placed it behind his head, over the small hairs on the back of his neck and pulled him down gently and as soon as he was at the same level as me, I leant in and kissed him. After a moment, we pulled away and I spoke up again,

"I've always liked you Benny, since we were kids but I was always too shy to tell you so I always told Sarah and Erica about it. I'm surprised that they didn't tell you."

"Me too, I've liked you since we were kids, and I always told Ethan and Rory, I was for sure certain that Rory would have told you by now." I looked at him again and realised we were just two dumb kids, not realising our feelings for each other until we almost burst. We had a sleep over that night and caught up on lost time together, falling asleep in each others arms with content smiles on our faces and a bit story to tell our friends next week.

[dandunn]

Yeah the "his or her" thing really is sexist by design unfortunately. It was funnily enough an attempt to be less sexist because the rule before "his or her" came into popularity was to simply use "his" unless the subject was specifically a woman or women. (ex. "everybody will take his seat" for a gender-neutral group of people but "everybody will take her seat" for a group of only women.) So the intentions behind it were initially good, but it never really got away from male-defaulting (you're still supposed to list the masculine first and there's no reason why)

It's also funny when people argue "bad grammar" about singular they cause like I said "he or she" wasn't even originally grammatically correct lmao. We have changed it before and we'll do it again

Lmao that's interesting. It sure feels telling when resistance to gender-neutral terminology ends up backsliding into dated horseshit right out of the 50s huh

[addysfandomdump]

Finally, a Faye Moreau questionaire for the @sonic-oc-showdown!

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

At first, it was just "Faye the Fox," because she was an independent character. Then I thought of giving her a family, so I wanted to have a family name, so I chose "Moreau*," a surname meaning "black-haired" in French. I chose "Faye" because it was a very soft-sounding name and I liked it.

[*I looked it up again to double-check and it actually means dark-skinned. Now that doesn't make any sense! Faye's family is very very white. One of the very few times I actively make the choice to white-code my OCs. There are reasons for this.]

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

Faye is 8 years old, same as Tails.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

No.

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Grandma's meatloaf!

💼 - What do they do for a living?

She is a child and does not work, but she does help Mother with chores in the basement sometimes.

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Faye loves dollmaking and taxidermy. She also loves to play pretend and make up stories, as any child does.

🎯 -What do they do best?

She has a genuine talent for dollmaking and sewing in general. She has a nack for the tiniest of details, probably in half thanks to her abnormally small hands.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Faye loves playing in the garden and collecting materials for her dolls. She doesn't like doing chores for the house, though. Or fighting 1-on-1.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

The first time she ever had to help with dinner.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The first time she ever had to help with dinner.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Nope! This clay figure of her is her oldest design--

She still retains most of her features, but this "Beta Faye" has an oversized bow instead of a tiny hat, a ribbonless black bow on a white bib, and no purple trimming on her black dress at all! She also has black ear furnishings and is missing her heart-shaped ear tips.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Sonic Forces and Little Nightmares. One of my first fangame ideas was a horror game inspired by LN. I still have a game in mind for Faye, but it looks very different compared to how it used to be then.

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

Psychological horror.

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Unlabeled. She's a little girl and hasn't been thinking about those things yet. Also, with the way her family reproduces, she never needs to worry about boys.

🙌 - How many siblings does your OC have?

Quite a few, it's hard to keep track. She's the youngest, though.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Mother can be quite strict and a little mean, but she's nice to her. Mostly.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

She's a weird little freak and has a nice and simple design that's easy to draw.

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Pretty much never, which is a shame. This is the most I've talked about Faye in a while.

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

Not really.

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

I suppose a fear of the unknown, funnily enough. Her family is incredibly xenophobic and paranoid about the outside world, unfortunately.

🍩 - Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Tails, I guess, with the current storyline I have for her.

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

A few months at least, maybe even a whole year. She was one of my first Sonic OCs.

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

Around 15. I'm 16 now, will be 17 in a few months.

[nyctohyloph0bia]

⟢ : «❀» Re-coining of Astylic «❀» «❀»A-styl-ic❀»

Originally coined by @/transolar on Sep 23, 2022 after it was requested by me as 🐈🌺 anon.

↳ Definition.

"A gender that is or is connected to a particular art-style, process of drawing and/or the outcome. The gender can be expressed by the lines, rendering, color and shading of the art. One may feel dysphoria if the outcome isn't expressed in the exact artstyle. One's art style could change, be fluid, have multiple they either change in-between of or just are, etc."

↳ Why would one be astylic?

-They feel as if their neurodivergency affects the way in which they view and understand their gender. One of the ways they can visualize or put down in paper what their feelings are is through art, particularly a specific art-style. -One associates their gender with a particular art-style.

I imagine there could be a million reasons as to why one would be astylic, but in the end, one needs to have their gender connected to art-style or the gender itself being the art-style.

↳ My experience.

When I originally requested Astylic, I hadn't fully put down in a clean cut way how it felt in text, I could only explain it through long, weirdly metaphorical sentences. Since very early on, the only way I could truly express myself was through art; it was the tool that I used to how I understood the world, the lens through which I viewed it. Which funnily enough, is because of my autism and especially affected by my synaesthesia. In my mind, everyone has a designated art-style of their own, it can change and be affected by the own persons artstyle because after all, it is their art-style that they made for themselves. And I've had one designated to myself since a long time ago, but I could never truly grasp it, sometimes it'd change slighty or a lot. At first I thought it was just my perfectionism, but after a while, I realized that not everyone feels as if their entire body is wrong because when you look at your art-style the first thought is "That's not me, that's not how I'm supposed to look like, that is not who I am". As if my art-style were my body, one that doesn't fit until I finally achieved the one that is who I was, my gender. I remember the first time I had gender euphoria, it was lovely, such peace, I felt so right. What I was looking at was finally me.

↳ Who can use this?

This was made for people who are autistic and/or have synesthesia that's like this or similar, but generally anyone who feels it fits them or resonates with the label and the experiences tied to this gender.

I would prefer people who fall under my DNI not interact directly, though.

DNI basic criteria, radqueers, anti-anti/proship, rad anti-profic (pro-censorship, pro-harassment and/or anti-nuance), anti-endo, anti-sfw agere/petre, zionists.

↳ This is just almost describes what I feel! Does it fall under it if ___?

The answer is most likely yes, if you feel this in any way describes what you feel, then you can snatch it for yourself. But you are always welcomed to make microlabels about it!

Originally posted: 06/05/2024 | Last edited: 20/08/2024

[ikaishere]

📌💕🏳️‍🌈 :D

oh my lord. thats going to be an essay

📌

so, big shout out to my brother here. when we were younger, he wpuld make sure im into all of the stuff he liked (he was an intelligent little fucker). and, we would watch gameplays of a link between worlds together for hours. funnily enough, the only content in my native language about it was a short review. we watched them in english. i didnt understand shit back then, fun times LMAOO so yeah, its all thanks to him!

as to LU, stumbled upon it on ao3 first

💕

*taps the mic* i would like to tell the whole world about RULIE MY BOY MY BELOVED MY EVERYTHING

he means so much to me. everytime i try to tell anyone why it comes off as something amongt the lines of "hes so silly. look at him. hes so babygirl and i want him in my pocket. in a jar. on mu desk doing a funky pose. i want him eberywbere" and that would be it. i do have a lot of reasons why i like him (hes also awfully simillar to me with some aspects-) but i can nevrr voixe them. or type them out, for that matter. i get too excited.

so yeah EXCITED FERAL NOISES

🏳️‍🌈

oh boy do i. do i. of course i do. here goes nothing PLEASE dont eat me. just lgbt headcanons though, i think if i were to taok neurodivergency i would start screaming unaudiably.

four - when formed four, they preffer they/them, also not sure about gender, somewhere on the aro spectrum

(just pronouns for the colours)

red - she/them

blue - he/them

green - any

vio - they/them and xenopronouns (xe/xem)

twilight - he/them, never really thougj of gender so if you ask him hes a cis guy, maybe gets mroe educated thanks to wild; helplessly bisexual, though not over midna like, ever

time - he/him, but fucks with any tbh, he doesnt fully grasp the concept of gender norms, also never thought about prefferences, he does think guys are pretty but he just loves malon, really

warriors - he/them, sometimes preffers explicitly they/them, panromantic asexual

legend - any pronouns, though will tear up /pos if reffered to with she/her. heals some sort of an inner child in her really. also biromantic greysexual

hyrule - he/him, they/them in fairy form, aro/ace king absolutly till the day i die

wind - he/them, didnt have the gender thought train yet at all, also doesnt really specify their sexuality, they justcsometimes have crushes on people and dont want to put a label on themselves

wild - any pronouns, give her new ones and they will take it, genderfluid, either panromatnic asexual or cupioromantic asexual

sky - he/him, transmale (i love t4t sun/sky so dearly), biromantic greysexual

[dentiststoothfairy]

Greetings!! Might I request an Identity V matchup?? Forgive me if I don’t provide enough or too much information this is my second time doing one of these.

I don’t really have a preference gender wise or faction wise. I’m the kind of person who’s most interested in someone who tends to share similarities with me whether that be interests, personality or similar life experiences.

A majority of the time, I’m on the quiet side. I’m not one for talk as I struggle to piece together a sentence I’m proud with or generally lack anything to say. However, I’m a rambling machine if one wishes (or accidentally) brings up anything I’m interested in. Any discussions on art or bugs and I’ll be happy to tell what I like and know. (or show any drawings I’ve made) Even music would be a pleasure to talk about (or hear) despite my lack of knowledge.

If I had to list some negative traits I’d probably say I’m prone to shutdowns even if the cause if something small like a loud noise or peer pressure.

I’d just be happy if one could understand my struggles, give me time and some comfort so I know that they truly care.

~Frost Anon ❄️

𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡...

⚰️ 𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 ⚰️

Two introverts who just ask for understanding.

You're both sort of quiet. Not exactly.. Anti social? But just sort of... Minding your own business. Not much to say in the middle of a conversation. To be honest he's pretty similar. If he does speak up, it's usually shot back at him by Freddy or someone. He's-.. Not the best with talking. So he sort of keeps quiet. Not that he ever has anything important to say. Unless it's something grim.

Funnily enough, I see him as quite artistic in his own sense. Embalming is the art of preservation, albeit it's very.. Non traditional?

He probably didn't mean to get you started on bugs. He probably just said something and you just-. Started. And you didn't show any sign of stopping anytime soon

But, this isn't.. Exactly what you expected from the other. He sat there and just listened to you. Perfectly silent, but staring. His eyes fixated on you and his neutral expression a little difficult to read because of the mask but-. You were pretty sure he was listening anyways.

After you gave a small apology for rambling a bit, he probably finally realised he was staring and didn't know whether to look away or commit to the bit-. He ended up looking away and muttering out his own apology of some kind. For what? Dunno.

And similarly, when he gets started on death... He's pretty surprised when you were listening to him too. Most people are.. Creeped out, disgusted or frankly disturbed. He usually doesn't like the living because of how loud they are, they're so critical. The dead never judge.. You don't.

It was like breathing fresh air after being smothered in smog for so long...

After realising that you two are little more... Alike than he originally thought, he makes efforts to be around you. Albeit- it's a little stiff and awkward. He's not the best. But uh... So... You must like art considering you draw a bit.

Oh-. You're off again.

For some reason.. Gosh he just loves hearing the way you talk. Which is.

Very weird for him.

And.. Wow. You draw really.. Really good.

He can't draw. He's not.. Really good at anything? Other than embalming people.. And taking care of yellow roses.

... Did you wanna hear about yellow roses?

And- now he's off.

Aesop is pretty picky about music. Too loud can hurt his ears. But.. He's willing to hear what you've got. If it's overwhelming, he probably wouldn't say anything but, if you're similar to him. Maybe he likes the same music type as him?

And don't worry, he's jumpy when it comes to loudness too. He much rathers the quiet. So, if you were to shut down? He's either

A) shut down besides you

B) knowingly guiding you out of it because he's very, very similar.

To be entirely honest, I imagine he'd also need space. Other people, no matter how special they are to him, are overwhelming. So... The fact you two can both take time from each other and not be affected? Kind of perfect.

[wrrdbrrd]

4 - Divine

“-aaaarge!”

Sir Roderic came to a sudden and unsteady stop. He was fairly certain he had been somewhere else just now. Somewhere with a lot more noise, and people, and bloodthirsty energy.

The sky was no longer blood-red with smoke and fire. It was a clear, uniform blue from horizon to horizon, and the flat plane on which he stood was no longer made of grass and mud. It was in fact very white and fluffy. Sir Roderic looked down at his armoured boots and shifted his weight experimentally. It was soft, and some of it actually drifted over the tops of his feet like mist.

There was someone seated at a desk in front of him. Had they always been there? Sir Roderic blinked hard. They didn’t seem to be going away again. In fact, they were looking directly at him with a polite, neutral, slightly curious expression on their face.

They looked more or less human, if humans had huge feathery wings on their back and glowed with an internal golden light. They were beautiful in a way that defied gender and made Sir Roderic feel uncomfortable for reasons he couldn’t quite place.

It was, all in all, the kind of tableau that rendered questions like “where am I?” and “who are you?” rather unnecessary.

“Ah,” he said, instead.

“Yes,” said the angel. “Sir Roderic, is it? Of the Holy Order of Our Lady’s Mercy?”

Sir Roderic realised he was pointing his sword directly at the figure. He lowered it somewhat sheepishly. “’Tis I.”

“Right on time,” the angel said. From a drawer in the desk, they produced a large, heavy-looking book and began leafing through it.

“How did I…?” Sir Roderic found he couldn’t quite finish the question.

“Cannonball,” the angel said, quite gently. “Directly to the torso, I believe. It was quite instantaneous and you didn’t feel any pain.”

Sir Roderic thought about that for a moment. “That’s a relief,” he managed.

“I’m sure.” The angel licked their index finger and turned one more page. “Now, we do have a judgement to get through before we can let you in.”

“In?”

The angel jerked their head at a large double door off to the right. It wasn’t obviously attached to any walls or other structure. “In there. It’s a very simple process, we’re just going to check your record against the Commandments to see how you did. It’s a formality, really.”

This was suddenly much more reassuring. Sir Roderic knew exactly how devout he had been. He puffed out his chest and awaited the angel’s judgement.

“Let’s see here,” the angel said, studying the book carefully. “Have no other gods, no problem there.” They gave Sir Roderic a reassuring little smile before returning their attention to the page. “Graven images, you never were much of an artist, good for you. Thou shalt not… mm-hmm, check, check, check, so far looking very good indeed, Sir Roderick.”

The knight smiled behind his waxed moustache.

“Ah. Now. Killing,” the angel said. “There is the matter of these thirty-seven enemy soldiers. Anything to say for yourself on that point?”

This was a cunning test, Sir Roderic realised. He fixed his gaze somewhere over the angel’s head and declared, “They were enemies of God!”

“Funnily enough,” the angel said, “every single one of them made the exact same allegation about you.”

For the first time in many years, the cold spectre of Uncertainty placed its clammy hand on Sir Roderic’s shoulder.

“But it was… commanded…”

“Was it?” The angel manifested a small pair of spectacles on their face and peered closer at the page. “‘Thou shalt not kill…’ hm-hm-hm… Ah, yes, sub-paragraph b(iii). ‘Unless you think they are enemies of God. Then, by all means, go for it.’”

A puzzled little frown crept onto Sir Roderic’s face. He said nothing.

The angel looked up over their spectacles at him. “That’s not actually in there, to be clear. Bit of a messy business, this. We’ll have to run it up the chain, see what the boss has to say about it. As for the rest of record, thou hast not… good, good, good. Ah. Coveting thy neighbour’s ass. Anything to say there?”

Killing was one thing, but Sir Roderic was quite sure about his obedience to the rest of the rules. He managed to find some reserve of indignation that hadn’t been frozen solid by existential terror yet. He scoffed. “I’ve never done such a thing!”

“No? What about Sir Edmond of your company? Ring any bells?”

“He doesn’t even have a donkey!”

The angel quirked a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “I wasn’t talking about the animal.”

Sir Roderic’s bottom lip trembled. His eyes began to water.

The angel chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, we don’t actually care about that one. Just a little something to keep you on your toes. That killing business, though, that is quite serious. I’m afraid it’s going to disqualify you from direct entry.”

A low moan escaped Sir Roderic’s lips. He dropped to his knees, shaking with terror, and reached out towards the angel as he finally looked them directly in the eyes. “No! Please! I repent! I’ve been a faithful servant! I don’t deserve eternal torture!”

“Oh, for the love of – no, obviously, nobody deserves that. We’ll – there, there, please don’t cry. Oh, dear. We’ll put you through some remedial – oh, I say.” The angel patted the sobbing Sir Roderic awkwardly on the head. “Please don’t pull on the robes. If they tear, it will be literal hell to get them mended. I’m sure you’ll be allowed in soon enough, give it just a few hundred years or so. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of people to get through today, lots of people on both sides to process. Yes. Just down those stairs, there. Take your time. Good man. Well, not that good, but we’ll get you there. Have a nice day.”