#gender is complex and i genuinely want to know how others feel about theirs

[avenin]

Hey genderfluid people, how do you deal with your gender switching or being less easy to define?

And not "deal with" as in it's like wrong but more the internalized shame of it. Or how it can feel like experiencing one side of the binary over another can detract from your identity.

and also does your interactions with sex or porn or sexuality change how you feel about your own gender? How do you feel about those things? Do you like it or not?

[woah-uhuh-uhuh-uhuh]

Christine Canigula was socially ostracized & developed a complex to protect herself: an essay

(suddenly i NEED to infodump about Christine actually so here)

Something I only noticed on rewatch: the way Christine will say something silly and then just kind of gingerly wait to see if Jeremy reacts well to it before continuing, almost like she's asking permission?? (e.g. the gap after the first stanza of "Play Rehearsal"). And it's only after he riffs off her bowling alley bit that she feels comfortable talking about her personal feelings with him (right before "Guy that I'd Kinda be Into"). The same happens with their "weird noise" exchange immediately before "It's pretty killer to sit and chat with you." I know theater relies on being succinct, and that 'bonding over shared quirks' and 'feelings talk' are both just crucial parts of relationship development... but I don't think it's a coincidence that it always goes in that order!

It's like Jeremy has to pass these *trials of weirdness* before she feels safe opening up to him and it drives me BONKERS so I wrote a whole 1000 word thing about it under the cut and this got too massive and I'm sorry. Also some autistic Jeremy meta at the end if that sweetens the pot hehehe

Table of contents:

Why she was ostracized

How she was ostracized

How that might inform her pattern of relationship development with Jeremy and Jake

How gender caused Jeremy's experiences to differ from hers, and how that affects their current relationships with "popularity" and peer acceptance.

1. Why she was ostracized

I am just so certain that Christine has been bullied or at least majorly outcast for a lot of her life. She's very obviously neurodivergent and because of that she can have these obnoxiously deep and repetitive interests, she can't judge if a piece of information will be genuinely interesting to someone, and she doesn't take social cues very well.

She frequently interrupts people when they're talking (an ADHD symptom btw), even when they're literally talking to her about the thing she wants to hear!

(C: "Do you find that? Because I totally find that!" J: "Uh, yeah, I-" C: "-And no matter how hard I try....")

(J: "I know the last thing I deserve is another shot, but-" C:"Jeremy, just... say what's on your mind.") (girl I'm sorry but that's what he was doing..... I have a whole other thoughtpiece on how this particularly fucks with Jeremy while they're dating but thats another thing...)

She doesn't seem confident in her interpretations of people's emotions and she'll ask/talk about them point blank (both theirs and her own) in a way a lot of people would find rude

("Uh, you seem really nervous...") ("Popular people are fucked up! *mutual laughter* …I mean, you're one of them!") ("I am flattered, this is new / still I'm not sure what I should do" <- as a response to getting asked out, that's pretty bold! Plus the entire part where she laughs at Jake's "rich boy routine") (also compare and contrast to Jeremy's "I don't know what I'm supposed to say right now." idk. are your allistic stage dorks in the room with us right now motherfuckers)

I'd go on about her hyperfixations/special interests too but I think Play Rehearsal pretty much sums it up lol

2. How she was ostracized

All this to say that I am CERTAIN she spent a lot of her schooling having "nice girls" patiently let her sit with them at lunch for weeks at a time until they finally get sick of her rambling and faux pas. Only when they leave does Christine realize that they didn't actually care about anything she said... And this happens over and over and over. (I know this seems hella specific but I swear it's an actual phenomenon... at least I'm pretty sure? sdjflksjf)

But anyway, it's clear that by the time they're juniors, Christine has kind of (and I do only mean kind of) figured out what behaviour other people respond poorly to. And from evidence I stated in the intro, I think she's become really careful about which people she lets herself get attached to. She doesn't want this to ever happen again - which means if she's going to hang out with someone, she has to know that they actually care about her, that they know she will sometimes be obnoxious or blunt, and they'll still be okay with that forever.

3. Applying this to her canon relationships

You can extend this to Jake, someone who sees her in her element in drama rehearsal (the thing everyone finds annoying about her because she won't shut up about it) and STILL likes her. I think it's a totally valid reading that her bluntness with him later ("Upgrade") is just because she misreads him / doesn't quite get the social standard that she should be white lying instead. But I think you could also read her as testing the waters. If she's really going to commit to dating this guy, she's gotta know he's okay with her being herself. And the fact that this guy (and I think it's significant that he is a boy, for reasons I'll explain in the end note) genuinely seems to like her is a whole new level of peer validation ("I am flattered, this is new") -- so of course she's gonna fall at least a little! It doesn't hurt that he's "tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am..." just like her!

Her history with being pity-liked makes Chloe's "advice," that Jake's just toying with her and is going to move on soon, even scarier, because that's genuinely happened to her (on a platonic level) so many times before.

Jeremy is also a good candidate from the beginning because he's weird he's a weirdo he doesn't fit in and he doesn't wanna fit in you ever see him without this stupid cardigan on? that's weird! And she keeps warming up to him not only because they're getting to know each other but because he gets progressively more willing to not only tolerate (as Jake does) but *participate* in her weirdness!

First, she does something weird and he tolerates it ("Play Rehearsal"); the next time she's weird, he participates! (bowling ball before GTIKBI). Then finally finally finally he initiates the weirdness and lets her join in! ("weird noises" exchange before GTIKBI reprise).

And notably, it is THIS moment that canonically signifies that they've hit the apex of their canon relationship development. If there was an achievement called "Befriend Christine," it would have popped up right then and there!!!

IN CONCLUSION: YOUR HONOR I LOVE THEM T_T

4: Christine vs. Jeremy: Gender differences & how that ultimately impacts their social goals

I also think all of this would have happened to Jeremy too if he'd been a girl. But because, generally, young boys feel less social obligation than girls to take pity on the autistic kid (and because boys tend to be more quickly recognized as autistic) he just ends up completely alone for most of his school life (Michael nonwithstanding - and yeah there's an important distinction between your childhood friend putting up with you and knowing that, woah, I guess literally nobody else ever will).

Meanwhile, Christine has had people "put up" with her, and she's SICK OF IT!

That's part of why their complexes are so different, because Christine is trying to check everyone she meets to make sure they'll be okay with her weirdness before she gets attached, Jeremy is trying to eliminate his weirdness altogether because he's never even experienced his peers listening out of *pity* so how the hell can he expect someone to ever listen to him out of *interest?*

Jeremy has never had someone pretend to like him before, so he completely lacks Christine's fear of befriending someone who secretly hates you. He doesn't realize how bad it'll hurt him if he destroys his real self for popularity, if he befriends people who would have bullied his real self. He doesn't know what disingenuous friendship feels like, so like a very young Christine he's still actively trying to get there because he thinks it's the only kind of validation he'll ever get.

Do you see what im saying? Do you see it???? AUAUGUGUUGGH

THANK YOU FOR READING!!! If you have thoughts or even rebuttals please share i am so desperate to discuss the blorbos

[janehaster]

On Barcus and his denial on admitting his feelings for his "friend" Wulbren

I just completed the gnomes' quest in BG3, up to the point where I've chosen to name Barcus the new leader of the Ironhand gnomes - and even though he doesn't see himself as a leader, in my heart I know he has the makings of one - and didn't kill Wulbren and by now, it's obvious Barcus doesn't consider Wulbren to be just a friend. He has a platonic love for him, following him everywhere - clinging to him like moss to a stone, as Wulbren describes it - and daring to travel all over Faerûn just to make sure his friend is alive and well.

There are other instances where the way Barcus calls him his "friend" - the not-so-subtle intonation in his voice when he uses that word - leaves no room for doubt that friend isn't the appropriate word to describe how Barcus sees him.

Now, BG3 is a world where heterosexuality isn't the norm. You're free to determine your gender and sexuality, and free to decide what kind of relationships you'll have with other people. So in my understanding, Barcus hasn't admitted to Wulbren the way he feels for possibly a couple of reasons:

On the hypothesis that he did confess his feelings for Wulbren, it's likely he was rejected. Taking Wulbren's harsh pesonality into account, he might've even given Barcus an ultimatum: we can only remain friends if you don't try "expressing your feelings" for me ever again. Given how Barcus genuinely loves him, he might've accepted those terms

Barcus never confessed to Wulbren, but witnessed what happened when Wulbren turned another male gnome down, and things didn't go well. Wulbren might even have physically assaulted them, or something equally bad, making Barcus decide to keep his feelings to himself

Wulbren is already commited or engaged to another unknown gnome, male or female (or any other gender, really) and Barcus can't get involved with him, not even as a lover

That said, I'm not assuming Wulbren is heterosexual. In fact, we can't really assume anything about him, since the matter of his sexuality isn't present in BG3. However, from the way he hates having Barcus following him around all the time and how he vehemently rejects their friendship - even going as far as to order the Ironhands to execute Barcus when he questions Wulbren's authority -, I'm taking the liberty to assume he either doesn't recognise the signs of homosexual love and affection or he does recognise them, but either doesn't want to admit Barcus is in love with him or is flat out rejecting him and hoping Barcus will give up his pursuit.

Now, what's really interesting is how their dynamic was thoroughly developed. They're NPCs and don't even have any major relevance to the main plot. You can simply leave Barcus to his fate in Act 1, not rescue Wulbren in Act 2 or forget about the Steel Watch Foundry in Act 3. However, choosing to not ignore the gnomes results in diving into this rich, complex world of theirs and being gifted with witnessing this tense relationship between Barcus and the ambitious and ruthless target of his affections. That's good writing and storytellling right there.

All things considered, I'm glad we get to be called an ally and a friend by Barcus at the end of the Steel Watch quest (if you talk to him after naming him leader of the gnomes, he has a couple of lines for you). To me, it means he finally put a stone over the whole Wulbren situation and is ready to move on, to leave this abusive unilateral relationship behind and find love and meaning with someone else. Gods know he deserves it.

[beeejayy]

Medusa !!!

🏳️‍🌈 a sexuality hc- lesbian . Trust me.

🏳️‍⚧️ a gender hc- okay so this one is complicated. Why? So like, I really like Tumblr user @/crowsyart's witch lore shit but i dont want thaaat much of a bias here so I'll just say she's witch cis. Yeah.

😇 a religion/ lack thereof- so there is a higher being in witch society I forget her name she's the one who's eye was taken by free, but I don't think that's much of a religious thing. Honestly religion in soul eater is SO hard to figure out. I'm gonna say no though, Medusa is a science girl she's not really gonna care about religion.

🧸 a hc about their childhood- I do like to think Medusa and Arachne were close, they still fought but it was just sibling shit. I know in soul eater not there's a younger sibling and. Yeah Medusa was TOTALLY the middle child she screams middle child trust meeee I AM one!!!!

👻 a hc about what scares them- this one was hard to really think about but honestly genuine kindness. Dying is a close one though, she has this kind of unstoppable complex about her. She has a plan and will finish it and she is a scientist I feel she has a genuine interest in the world. Back to the kindness thing, it sounds cheesy it does but Medusa is very reserved on shit like that, I feel like she doesn't want to tear down her walls because it'll ruin her whole image of the world.

🎶 a hc about music- she doesn't listen to music much but when she does it's when she thinks the lab is too quiet. I genuinely can't think of what type of music she'd be interested in though.

👽 a hc about a weird quirk of theirs- she will eat live mice.

💤 a hc about their sleep- she sleeps like how snakes sleep. She needs a lamp on and wears big pajamas, not big in size I mean the fancy shit.

🦾 a disability hc- would her not being able to turn into a full snake count? I feel like it'd be a big disability towards witches. I vaguely remember Eruka explaining that when she cornered Medusa

💝 a hc about their love language- words, she'll compliment on everything she finds interesting. Another one would be touch, she'll strangle you that means she loves you.

🫂 a friendship hc- the closest person I can think of that doesn't have a romantic or angry feeling about Medusa is Naigus. Here me out, both nurses. That's about it but THE POTENTIAL in them bonding over medical things and how horribly CLUMSY these kids are.

💔 an angsty hc- She genuinely liked being a nurse, she may not ever realize or admit but she did. When Crona is crying a part of her feels bad and she has to go over why she's doing this in the first place. To make a kishin.

🪢a hc about their family- Medusa doesn't see her sisters as family, they were just there growing up. That's it. She refers to Arachne as her sister because Arachne has power and she knows the woman doesn't like involvement with Medusa. The other sister is forgettable though.

📓 a hc about their hobbies- she DOES like experimenting with her own types of medicine and herbs!!

👗 a hc about their clothes- black is always something she'll choose. The one thing he needs is to not have shoes and her shirt to not have sleeves. That's one downside of being a nurse, she hated having the shoes on.

🔪 a hc related to fighting/violence- Medusa relies on her magic in combat but if she had to she will fucking deck you with her foot. She doesn't play fair she plays dirty (biting stein for example)

🌟 a hc about their desires/wishes- she wishes she played her cards better for the long run. Anytime she interacts with someone she internally curses herself for not doing something different.

🏅 a hc about what they're best at- being attractive.

🍫 a hc about food- I mentioned this but she DOES eat how actual snakes eat.

🎭 a hc about what they lie about- everything, she'll bluff on it all to get what she wants.

❤️‍🔥 a romantic hc- she doesn't really care about how nervous she is she WILL shoot her shot and forever bug the person she may be interested in

💄 an appearance hc- her hair does get tangled and will wrap around her throat in her sleep. It's a minor inconvenience.

🖕 a hc relating to anger- Medusa isn't a patient person. She's very blunt too, she'll say what's on her mind. (Unless when she's under cover. She'll suffer in silence and think about many many ways how she'd kill the person)

🐱 an animal related hc- she has a snake tongue.

😭 a hc about the worst thing that happened to them- it genuinely felt like agony when Stein first attacked her. When Maka killed her though she felt quiet, nothing was painful or anything it felt peaceful but scary.

😶 a random hc- she has piercings. When I say piercings I mean on her nipples and belly button. Why? Idk god let women be happy....

[nebraska-is-a-myth]

Can I just take a moment to talk about how I genuinely love and appreciate both c! And cc!Eret so much.

c!Eret is such a complex character and has been from the beginning of the smp, they really started to make us wonder why characters did what they did and think more about the wold that is the dream smp. The betrayal is one of the most stagnet moments in dream smp history, theirs no arguing that that moment has catapulted the smp into so many amazing directions and really pushed the boundaries of what virtual storytelling can be. She proved that morality can't be defined by what we believe but what we do, but also that it can change over time. She also proved that people can grow form their mistakes and become a better person because of those mistakes, and that is one of my favourite things about her character and is what has kept me hooked into the c!Eret storyline for so long. Watching their character grow has been one of my favorite experiences on the dsmp.

But obviously none of this would be able to happen without Eret themself. Eret is such a kind and genuinely caring person, and as someone who has watched him grow since early dream smp days I can say that indefinitely. Erets streaming career started with the goal to help raise money for his friend Scott, to help pay for his medical bills as a result of a condition that had impacted him for a long time. Watching her hit that goal live and pay for Scott's medical bills in full was one of the most heartwarming moment I've seen on twitch, because you could see how much it meant to Eret to be able to help her friend. He has also been a symbol for many queer mcyt viewers, proving that gender can be whatever you want it to be, as well as being open and proud of who you are. They helped support lgbt youth in accesing online mental health programs and helped to suppy binders to those who couldnt afford them. There is no denying that there is kindness in everything they do, from interacting with other creators and the audience, or from them adopting a stray cat who we all know and love (even if he is a menace)

My time on this hellsite(affectionate) started with a love for a content creator who made me feel safe and at home in his community, and I'll be damned if I can't spread the same love he has shown all of us.

So @theeretblr , if by any chance you are reading this; know you are loved by so many of us,

And you matter <3

[amajikilvr]

ugh i love your fluffy alphabet on tamaki 🥺 so if it's okay, can you do one for bakugou, too?

headcanon corner - katsuki bakugou sfw alphabet

word count 1.8k

reader type gender-neutral

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

In the beginning, Katsuki’s affection will come out quite stubbornly and will be harder to see at times. Later on, it’s obvious how much he cares for you. His heart is full of love despite his aggressive attitude. He’s not afraid to show PDA, no matter who’s watching, and you’re often the recipient of his rare compliments. Katsuki is always ready to say “I love you”.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

That’s a tricky one. Befriending people isn’t exactly on Katuski’s radar, but he’d prefer someone who could “keep up with him” if so to speak. Reliable helps too. This friendship might start with him genuinely, although reluctantly, praising your quirk or skills.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

“This is fuckin’ stupid,” He’ll mumble as he wraps his strong arms around you, but he’s loving every minute of it. Katsuki’s down to snuggle in front of everyone, but if you’re the one initiating, he’ll be a tad bit embarrassed and no one dares point it out. When you two are completely alone you’ll get to see his softer side and you might even be the big spoon for once.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He’ll want to settle down in a sense that he needs to be sure that they’re his and he’s theirs. The method of doing so will depend on what’s best for both of you, but moving in together is probably in the cards. Katsuki makes a fantastic roommate because, among his many talents, cooking is one of them. He’s also a bit of a clean fanatic and you might wake up to him vacuuming or doing the dishes at 7 AM or something.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Firstly, he would fight tooth-and-nail against whatever was threatening the relationship because he’s not letting you go easily. If it absolutely came down to ending things, Katsuki would make it straight to the point and as quick as possible. He wouldn’t be able to remain ‘just friends’ with you and would never truly move on in his heart.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quickly would they want to get married?)

Katsuki is beyond committed and he firmly believes there are several ways to show it besides putting a ring on it. If you two were to eventually get married it would be later on so your careers could be focused on. He just wants you both to succeed and achieve your dreams more than anything, but if the marriage was something you really wanted, he might consider tying the knot earlier than previously planned.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Although I think Katsuki is actually a sensitive person, he can definitely be on the rough side of things. He can read and interpret others’ emotions, but relating to them can be a challenge. I don’t believe he’d ever act maliciously towards you or anyone else he cares for. He’s got a soft touch and even the occasional kind words during the most surprising times.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Katsuki’s a bigger fan of kisses, but he does love hugs! He’s always, well, touching you. Huge bear hugs. Squeezy. Warm. The type to literally lift you off of your feet. He’ll leave little tickling kisses on your neck and shoulders while whispering words against your skin.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He’ll say the words in every possible way… besides actually saying the words. It’s like a mental block of Katsuki’s because he’s admittedly scared of proclaiming his love in such a straight-forward way. Once he gets over that first hump, it’s no problem for him. He won’t be throwing the words around like candy, but he’ll always say what’s on his mind.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Katsuki is emotional and jealousy is a familiar feeling for him. Being a bit of a hothead definitely doesn’t help either. This jealousy stems from his insecurities and can be overbearing. At the beginning of the relationship, it will probably be the cause of some arguments between you two. Later on, jealous Katsuki will just include him being extra pissy and extra cuddly.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Passionate. Always. If he’s kissing you, he’s going all the way. Even during your first kiss, he gave it his all. Sure, it was an awkward mess of spit and teeth, but he was eager and didn’t hesitate! Katsuki’s skills have improved by now and he never fails to showcase them. It doesn’t matter where, if he’s kissing you, then he’s happy. It depends on your preferences. And as for him… his neck is especially sensitive and he’ll never admit it.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Well, after the remedial lessons episode, we know he’s not very good. At all. Despite that, I can imagine him still wanting kids eventually. An “I can’t stand any kid except my own” type.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Katsuki is your typical morning person. He’s up at the same time every day and it amazes you. Well, unless you’re a morning person yourself, that is. If you’re a heavy sleeper then waking you up on time will be his new personal mission. He’ll probably make you a nice breakfast and get as many kisses as he can in before work.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Haha! This guy goes to bed at like 9-pm. He’s got a strict schedule and if you somehow manage to get him to stay up later to watch a movie with you or something, he’s gonna fall asleep on your lap and it’s adorable. It’s the perfect opportunity to play with his soft hair without having to hear him grumble about it the entire time.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

It’s going to take a while to break through his outer shell, but he’s not exactly secretive about his feelings and his past. Katsuki trusts you enough to be open with his mistakes and he won’t hide anything if you just ask.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

I think this one is a bit self-explanatory, but it’s not very often that he gets angry at you.He’s getting better at controlling his anger and you tend to bring out his gentler side too.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing or do they kind of forget everything?)

In the moment, it may seem like simply he brushes it off or doesn’t really acknowledge it, but that’s actually not the case. Katsuki always remembers and takes everything into consideration. The number of little things he keeps notes of might surprise.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

One Saturday afternoon, Katsuki decided he was going to try out a new chocolate cake recipe and you decided you’d try your hand at baking for once! He was absolutely willing to teach you and it was going well… until you somehow managed to drop an egg yolk right on Katsuki’s sock covered foot. His favorite pair of socks at that. The kitchen was quiet until he swifty flicked flour at your forehead and it was game-on from there. The next thirty minutes were filled with lots of flour and kisses.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Katsuki couldn’t be more protective of you and he’s more than willing to use his quirk if needed. He’s prepared to fight for you in the blink of an eye, no question about it. His job as a pro-hero means so much when you’re someone he has to protect, but he also knows it’s a mutual feeling. He completely believes in your own physical abilities to keep him safe and your reassuring words make him truly feel like the greatest.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

He’s certainly not lazy when it comes to your relationship, but at the same time, Katsuki finds things like fancy dates and lavish gifts kinda pointless. He couldn’t care less about eating at an expensive restaurant, all that matters is that he’s with you. That’s not to say that he won’t give you nice things because he will be spoiling you, especially on anniversaries and holidays.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

His inferiority complex has always been his biggest enemy. There are times when he just can’t shut off his competitive side and it can turn things ugly when he lets his insecurities get the best of him. His temper is also something he’s struggled with and is still learning how to manage.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Katsuki really doesn’t care about that kind of thing. Of course, it does fuel his ego and boost his confidence when you compliment his looks. He considers himself to be an attractive person, but nothing too special. (You think differently)

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

He likes to believe otherwise, but yeah, he really would. He couldn’t imagine a day without you. It’s just a scary thing for Katsuki to accept that he relies on someone other than himself for once.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

He’ll never admit it, but spiders really freak him out. Let’s just say he won’t argue if you offer to take one outside.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Someone who gives up easily would just kinda irritate him. Katsuki knows people struggle, hell, he’s definitely one of them, but seeing someone simply not try and throw in the towel when things don’t go their way is something that would get on his nerves.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

He’s somehow got a cute snore. Yup. It’s not even really a snore, more like some kind of soft breathing noise, but it’s noticeable and something you’ve grown to love. It’s also difficult for Katsuki to fall asleep in places other than his own bed.

[forgotten-daydreamer]

controversial post ahead. if you want problems fuck off. if you're open to discuss, please do read.

ok, i have to be extremely honest now and if someone disagrees they can express it politely and actually try to convince me ti change my mind, i'm open to that.

so.

i don't like some neopronouns.

i'm absolutely, 101% fine with 'it' which i don't know if it's a neopronoun or not, since it's been around forever), 'xe', 'ey', 'ze' and such. i have a couple of (anglophone) friends who use these and they're pretty good linguistic choices, even if i tend to always think of how some screen readers softwares for visually-impaired people handle 'xe'.

but let me get back to the main point before i get too lost.

admittedly, i don't know many neopronouns because in my language it's pretty much impossible to make new genderneutral pronouns if not 'l*i' or 'ləi'. no, the asterisk isn't me censoring something, it's how we usually omit the vowel that indicates gender.

but anyway.

i have seen some people trying to justify (and yes, i chose this word for a reason) pronouns like 'frog', 'rat' and whatever. similar things. and... it's ok, it's ok if you want to identity with a rat or a frog or whatever other animal or thing, it's not up to me to judge. and where did i see these people? stay tuned.

identity is complex, nobody fits in a box, even cis people are all different in their identities so judging someone whose pronouns are not conventional may sound hypocritical of me.

experimenting is fine, it's encouraged! but i can't help feeling conflicted when experimentation is completely dishonoured and reduced to... that. it feels like mocking, more than experimenting, to me.

these things, they're mostly on tiktok, and that platform is a cancer, let me tell you. i've had it for maybe a month and a half and i've already decided that i am going to get rid of it, since i basically only keep it for the sounds at this point. it is truly horrendous.

everyone knows tiktok is bad- everyone but the younger kids on it apparently. i'm not saying that these neopronouns are 'caused' by tiktok, and i don't want to gatekeep and impose that we only use pronouns that aren't, like, object/animal related.

...even if 'it' is object related but, you get what i mean.

ok. focus.

you know how we (lgbtq+ community AND people with common sense) always mock people who're like "i identify with 'banana/smoothie' haha" because they diminish and don't actually get the concept of identity and think of it as laughing stock? that's how i feel about 'rats', 'frogs', and whatever.

also, i personally hate the stereotype that all enby people are obsessed with reptiles and rodents, i find it so pretentious and an attention-seeking behaviour- hey, those animals, in most videos, aren't even ok. you should always wear gloves when touching frogs, fyi, not only for your safety, but for theirs too, and for their wellbeing. contact with your bare skin, no matter how clean, hurts them. just a heads-up.

sorry for the umpteenth digression. it's way past 3am. anyway.

sometimes i have the feeling that these neopronouns, that seem to only exist on tiktok are there to lure more (young) people into that horrible tiktok quirky-standardization propaganda (i can't think of more proper way to describe it). the idea of being different is alluring, the idea of being original- and we actually are all different, as i said earlier, so that's a great start. also, the idea of being a genuinely good person who can help others to discover themselves by teaching how to use pronouns- that will most likely never be used- can seem fun. yes, fun. it's not even malice. it's just being naive and offensive at the same time- due to the aforementioned reasons, i do feel weirded out and offended by 'frog' and 'rats' pronouns, but i'm sure it's not a universal feeling and i accept it with no issues. it really feels as if these people were trying to tell everyone that we're all different in the same exact way, which is partially true. we are all different. none of us is original. some are more different, some are less different, but none of us is absolutely, authentically original. and tiktok is literally the least recommended space to look for those things.

by saying that all enbies look like this-and-that, that we all like frogs, and rats, and witchcraft, and funny outfit, by making up new pronouns* that sum up all the stereotypes- i get that these people want to create a community of some sort. it's in the human nature, to crave the company of those like us. but this defeats the very purpose of identity. or, rather, of personal identity. this obsession with ways to team-up and bond over neopronouns that should really just be listed as common interests in the group, over specific behavioural patterns, and sadly over mental illnesses! like, "all enbies have ADHD lol!" no, no, don't link gender identity and mental illnesses, it's quite dangerous, someone in history has already though about it, didn't end well.

* [yes yes, i know all pronouns are made up, do not mansplain linguistics to me because not only it's my hyperfixation but also it's in my major]

the purpose of neopronouns is for people to experiment, to try new things out, to express themselves, to be free. and to make a statement. gender neutral pronouns do not fall into standard categories, obviously, and for this, we are not respected, mistreated, mocked, have our identity compared to an object's for fun.

that's why 'frog', 'rats' and whatnot is actually offensive to me. it's not like there's a proper way of experimenting pronouns, nor a precise path to follow. and before you say "people who use those are actually reclaiming the slur used against them to empower themselves", don't. you and i both know it's not like that.

this whole thing feels sketchy. again, it's all on tiktok, a platform to show off, to entertain (which, ok, for people who cosplay and such like me is actually nice, if not for the fact that the app is dangerous, harmful and dumb with its algorhythm).

and i say this as a they/them who likes frogs, and would actually love to maybe try and dress like these people if i had the possibility- those are expensive outfits and literally ¾ of the things in my wardrobe used to be my cousin's so... 'thrifty style', wohoo, hopped on a trend when it still wasn't a trend but simply common sense to wear second-hand stuff!

so... is it just me?

(people who will give me proof of having a jellyfish brain by attacking me without a reason will be blocked immediately without a reply. this is tumblr and i'm italian, meaning that i take no shit and give no fucks)

[officerjennie]

Hello can I please request hugging for a very long time as a platonic bonding prompt with any pair of witcher characters you fancy (characters from the witcher that is)

Hey so I’m feeling rather self-indulgent so I turned this into a trans!Eskel piece, with him coming out to his family and receiving nothing but love and support in return. Extended platonic hug bonding coming from Lambert.

CW: Trans!Eskel coming out to his family, brief descriptions of gender dysphoria over certain pronouns and other nouns (woman, female wolf, etc.), fears of not being accepted (but he ends up accepted anyway), Lambden mentioned (with potential relationship troubles). WC 3k+

--

Eskel had never been so nervous to see his youngest brother.

All things considered, everything had gone well so far. It had taken over a year to tell both Geralt and Vesemir - he hadn’t had the courage to tell the lot of them at the same time, the last winter coming and going without a whisper of who he really was, until he stayed behind and lingered in the keep even up until Lambert had taken his arse elsewhere.

In a lot of ways, Eskel had assumed Vesemir’s reaction would be the worst, simply because the wolf was old and Eskel had no way of knowing what the world had been like when he had been a pup. But his expression had been soft, his eyes alight with humor, and the only thing he’d said on the matter was “No female wolf after all, huh.”

Eskel had rolled his eyes, shoulders sagging with relief, leaving it at that. The lack of disappointment or flair had done well for him, and that had been one down.

Telling Geralt had...well, he hadn’t had time to really plan out when to tell him. One day he’d been on the path on his own, riding by a field of rather tempting goats and kids that just begged for their little heads to be scritched - and the next he found himself saddled up next to his brother, having ran into him near the coast and decided to hunt a rather nasty little group of cockatrices together.

It had slipped out by accident, a correction at the wrong noun used to describe him. Eskel had flushed and looked away quickly, knowing the question would come and not sure if he was ready to answer it. But he did, and though the silence was deafening the arms that soon wrapped around him showed him nothing but support and comfort.

Those two had been easy, even if his nerves had been fried. As he should have come to expect by now his family had shown him nothing but support, letting it be well known that it didn’t matter what name he went by or who he was - because he was theirs, their family, and now their brother.

Lambert, though...

The day had slipped past him, his hands shaking every time he thought of seeking him out. It had been an early homecoming for the both of them, and this winter Lambert had come back alone, leaving his ‘kitty cat’ somewhere out in a fishing village for some reason he vagued out instead of explaining. A spat, no doubt; it happened every few years for them, but there was no question in his mind that they’d be fine. Two hot tempers in the same room sometimes just exploded despite their best efforts, and a bit of space and time between them would sweeten their reunion.

But it meant that Eskel was left in the keep with Vesemir, who knew, and Lambert, who didn’t. And he saw the questioning look Vesemir had sent him when Lambert obviously didn’t know, making the usual jokes that made Eskel’s stomach clench, calling him the name that made him question everything that he was and at times almost sending him mentally downwards.

It wasn’t his fault. Lambert didn’t know. But it made Eskel both want to avoid him and also go punch something, and neither of those would be good for him in the long run.

So, here he was. For the nth time already this winter, though the snow had yet to even reach their ankles outside. Standing outside of Lambert’s room, listening as the telltale sound of a sharpening stone ran across the blade of a sword on the other side, as Lambert hummed to himself like he loved to pretend he never did - and while Eskel tried desperately to get his hands to stop shaking and his heart to quit beating so quick.

He had to tell him. Needed him to know. Lambert was in a lot of ways the most loyal of the lot of them. Sure his temper got him in trouble, and yes he loved to be a little shit and make sure they all knew he was one, but there wasn’t another person better to have your back in any situation. It didn’t matter if you were in the right or wrong to Lambert if you were his family because he would fight teeth and nails for you either way.

But his temper. His bloody temper, and his trust issues. A breeze sent the curtains in the hall sussing against each other as Eskel raked a desperate hand through his own hair, thinking once again about putting this off and waiting another day, or week, or fuck, until next winter.

They all had their flaws. For many reasons, Lambert has issues with trusting others and had an inferiority complex that kicked up at the worst of times. Really, Eskel had no doubt that Lambert would accept him in the end, that he’d see him for the brother he’d always been and perhaps even manage to not make jokes about it (he never meant to be cruel but Lambert sometimes didn’t know where the line for cruelty was, and his head was thick). 

What worried him was his initial reaction. How Lambert would feel knowing he was the last to learn, even though it had not really been intentional. How he might feel to have been kept out of the know for years even if he wasn’t the only who hadn’t known - and Eskel wasn’t sure how to even explain that he himself hadn’t known for decades, only knowing that certain words made his skin crawl, that being called a woman had always made him blank and feel...outside of himself. For so long he’d not had the words to describe it and for a long time after he’d been afraid to, even to himself, even within his own mind, and his throat had constricted around the confession every time he’d thought to bring it up.

The breeze was too cold, biting at his cheeks and nose. But it helped him breathe, that fresh air, helped ground him with the feel of ice cold in his lungs. He...wasn’t sure how to do this. After doing it twice already, he still wasn’t sure, wasn’t certain. Doubts still tried to eat at his mind and heart but he knew he deserved this - he deserved to be who he was around his family, around his brothers, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to share that with them.

It was terrifying nonetheless, and he’d faced down monsters over twice his size before. Alone.

Finally, he gathered up his courage and knocked on the damn door, rapping his knuckles twice out of habit. The humming stopped instantly but the rasp of rock against steel didn’t pause, Lambert’s grouchy tone snarking out “It’s about time, thought you stand out there all damn day.”

Despite how nervous he was, Eskel rolled his eyes, taking that as the invitation it was and entering his room. He shut the door up tight behind him to keep the chill out, the warmth from the fireplace slowly spreading over his chilled cheeks, pleasant enough an atmosphere for one of the most terrifying conversations he’d ever have to have.

“Finally gonna spit it out?”

Lambert was sitting on the edge of his bed, sharpening tools and a cleaning kit spread out haphazardly across the mussed up blanket around him. His armor was tossed on the floor about him, parts polished and parts still scuffed and dirty from the road, a few of his knives and his silver sword still in their sheathes at his feet, too.

It was a little irksome, how randomly he’d decided to go about his polishing and cleaning, but Eskel really couldn’t micromanage the cleaning and upkeep of his weapons. At least he was doing it; that’s all that mattered.

“Need any help with that?” Didn’t mean he couldn’t offer. 

Lambert didn’t bite, though, a scowl showing just how unimpressed he was with Eskel’s deflection - even if it was a genuine offer. “Getting tired of you lurking out there every other day, so out with it. What do you want?” His eyes turned sharp for a second, stone pausing in its glide across the blade. “And this had better not have anything to do with the fucking cat, it’s fine, I’m fine, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Not about the fucking cat.” Eskel held up his hands in a placating manner, watching the tension instantly melt from Lambert when he did. Getting him to talk about his own issues was worse than pulling vampire teeth and he was really not in the mood for that. Not in the slightest. “I’ve got...well, my own shit to talk about.”

That caught Lambert’s interest, his face flashing in a complicated mess of emotion before it settled on something guarded. But Eskel knew him well enough to catch the hint of disbelief in his voice as he said, “Surprised you’re not waiting for Geralt then.”

Eskel shifted his weight to his right leg, actively making sure he didn’t look away. “No, this is something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“The fuck d’you think I did?”

“Not-” He was going to make a right mess of his hair at this rate, running his hands through it so much. “Not about you, Lambert, with you. Tell you something. Just...talking. If that’s alright.”

Lambert gestured towards a spare seat near Eskel with his sword, casual, as if both of them weren’t nervous now. It wasn’t like they never talked - they talked plenty, but serious conversations happened rarely if ever unless something was wrong. The last time they talked anything like this had been when Kaer Morhen had been ransacked, which had been so many years ago Eskel struggled to remember the exact amount.

He took the offered chair, slouching in it with his arms crossed and making himself as cozy as he could be. The heat from the fireplace was a bit too much for him now that the bite of winter was entirely gone; he’d always been the wolf that preferred the cold the most, or at least the one that could handle heat the least. It was one of the reasons he’d stayed here for so long to help Vesemir make the most out of the rubble and ashes, grumbling as much as the next over the snow but at least able to function in it.

The sound had returned. Scraping of stone against steel, a steady rhythm, one that helped steady Eskel’s heartbeat. It was mesmerizing in that way anything familiar and repetitive was, something that helped ground him when his mind wanted to panic with all of the ‘what ifs’ it could imagine. He was grateful for the otherwise quiet Lambert’s patience allowed them, though he knew it wouldn’t last, closing his eyes and breathing while he calmed his thoughts.

It wouldn’t be that hard. Couldn’t take that long. All he had to do was say it and it would be over with. Questions might come, hurt feelings might follow, but it would be done and they could move on. And better to do it before Lambert’s thin patience ran out on him.

“Lambert.” His mouth was a bit dry, words not coming easy to him. Eyes open now as he watched his brother’s hand glide across the flat of the blade resting in his lap, concentration written in the furrow of his brow but the twitch of his mouth told him Lambert was listening.

All he had to do was say it. That’s all. The rest would come after.

Stone against steel, grounding him. He breathed in as it ran down the blade, out as it reached the end and lifted once more. 

“I’m not a woman, Lamb.”

His eyes flicked down to the armor and weapons that lay at his brothers feet, heart picking up as it no longer had a rhythm to try and match. The fire crackled to his left, popping and hissing, one of the pieces of wood getting ready to fall in on itself any minute.

“What are you, then?”

“A man.” He licked his lips, eyes blinking faster than normal, his heart not letting him look up to see what might be on his brother’s face. What emotions might be flashing there, what response he might have, delaying it as long as possible.

“Kitty cat had a sister, you know?” Eskel’s stomach clenched at the word, his arms squeezing tighter around himself. “Not by blood, but by school, or however you’d call it - he called her sister, s’my point. I met her once when the bastard dragged me all the way down south to the coast, worst fucking decision of my life. The journey, not meeting her.”

Lambert’s deep breath is what made Eskel finally look up, seeing his brother’s face flushed, his jaw clenching in that way it always did when he was forced to deal with sticky things like delicate conversations or emotions.

“Maybe it’s not my fucking place to say it, but he told me and she knows I know it. Doubt you’ll ever meet her anyway, but she’s- ya know, not- she wasn’t always a woman? Or, she was, but didn’t live like one, dressed and talked and walked like a man.”

Oh. Eskel swallowed, sitting up a little more in his seat, some of the tension easing from his shoulders.

“So, fuck, I get it. I mean, I don’t, I don’t get it, but I understand what you’re saying.” He huffed in frustration but Eskel knew him well enough to know what at; words had never been his strong suit. “Feel free to fucking deck me if I slip up. She certainly had no problem with that.”

“Knocked some sense into you?”

That earned him a grin, Lambert finally meeting his eyes again. “Bitch knew how to fight, too. Thought I might have been in love.”

“Surprised you didn’t stay then.”

“Turned out she’s gay, so.” Lambert shrugged, giving his sword a once over before reaching for the sheath that had been laying on the bed next to him. “Guess I’d be barking up the wrong tree on that one.”

“Have to stick with your own cat then.”

The humor flickered away for a moment, Lambert scowling as he placed his now sheathed sword down next to his armor. “Yeah, well. Yeah... Might have...fucked up a little bit on that one.” Before Eskel could say anything, Lambert’s head jerked to the side, his hand coming up to scratch at the back of his neck. “Can we just- can we not talk about that? I’d rather stick to the ‘supportive, loving, dashing, best brother’ thing.”

“Right, yeah. That’s fine.”

There was a pause between them, a tinge of awkwardness in the air as they both fidgeted, not entirely sure where to go from there. The fire fizzled and popped, sending some embers out that landed on the stone floor, thankfully no where close to anything that could catch fire. It was all that spoke in the room besides the sounds of their heartbeats and breathing.

Lambert was the one who broke first, something making his leg bounce where his arm rested on it. “You didn’t think, ya know, that I wouldn’t- that I’d, I don’t fucking know, not? Support you, I mean.”

“I...” Eskel swallowed hard, thinking. “I didn’t think you wouldn’t, Lamb, but I wasn’t sure how the conversation would go. Didn’t know if you’d think I had been hiding it or not telling you on purpose.”

“Fuck, like I’d have any room to talk.” He scowled as he bit one corner of his thumb, chewing at a hangnail for a second. “When have I ever talked to any of you about feelings or whatever.”

It was true, but Eskel knew better than to take it at face value. Lambert was sensitive in a way he loved to hide and pretend he wasn’t, but they all knew him better than that. 

But there was no reason to think on all the ways the conversation could have gone poorly. It hadn’t, the air was clear between them, everything (or most everything) out in the open. But the hurt hadn’t left Lambert’s face since Aiden had been mentioned, by name or not, and that had Eskel’s chest hurting again.

What had his foolish Lamb done this time, he wondered. 

There was no way Lambert would accept any sort of comfort, but as Eskel shifted in his seat some more, not quite yet feeling the relief he’d hoped he would after their conversation was over, he had an idea as to how they might get some together.

“Feel free to say no,” he started slow, staring down at his own fingers and picking the dirt out from underneath them. “But I, well. This has been a lot for me. Talking about this. You might if we maybe...hug? For a while?”

It was probably pushing it, to take on ‘for a while’, but Eskel honestly found himself hoping Lambert said yes even for himself. 

The scoff was a bit expected, but the lack of a verbal ‘no’ was good. He looked up to find Lambert on the edge of an answer, confliction written all over his face, his hands clasped together and that one leg bouncing away as he started at nothing.

“Fine,” was the only answer he got, and Eskel took it quickly. And maybe it was pushing it a bit further when he wrapped Lambert up into his chest instead of the other way around but Lambert didn’t try to get away, tucking up under his chin and eventually relaxing into his brother’s arms the way he hadn’t since they were little and the nightmares had been too much.

He wasn’t sure how long Lambert would allow him this, would allow them both the comfort of each other, but he relaxed into it and decided to savor the physical touch as a reminder of their familial love for each other. However long Lambert would let him, he’d stay just like this, with the fire crackling on and the two brother’s embracing each other, the smell of home around them.

[aeipathic]

1-9 honest meme!

munday honesty || accepting || @miranyutu​

What would prevent you from following someone?

a few things! if their writing style doesn’t seem to jive with mine is a big one -- that is, if i see myself having difficulty coming up with responses or parsing theirs! i also like to go in knowing what to expect, so if you’re an oc but don’t give much info about your character/verses/etc, i might not follow. and also just if, by looking through the blog, the mun displays an attitude i don’t think i’d get along or i don’t think would be healthy for me to have on my dash. also if you’re from a fandom i know nothing about i probably won’t follow because i’d feel out of my depth, lol. 

Are aesthetics important to you? If they are, why?

not really! i used to go in for aesthetics more -- i’d make my own theme backgrounds and promos, and was proud of a few of them -- but i really just don’t have the energy for it now? i still like having pretty aesthetics around (hence why i’ve fallen back into the icon-making pit a bit despite swearing up and down i wouldn’t lmao) but i’m not going to prioritize them over just. writing. 

What current rp trend do you hate?

lord, i’m not sure i’ve been back long enough to know what the current rp trends are. (i was gone from tumblr rp for a couple years.) i’ve talked about this to friends, but i guess maybe i’ll say that i remember when reblog karma first started to be a thing, and i think it’s spread farther now than it used to? like, i totally get “hey don’t reblog a bunch of memes from me and never send one in, that doesn’t make me feel great,” so in regards to ask memes and stuff it makes sense. but now i feel like -- and maybe i’m wrong -- but i feel like some people don’t want you to reblog anything from them that isn’t an ic interaction? i’m constantly worried about whether someone’ll be annoyed if i reblog a musings post or art or anything non-rp from them, and try to go from the source just to be safe, but it feels a lil like walking on eggshells when i’d much rather.....just feel fine interacting freely with the people on my dash without worrying about committing some infraction against this new etiquette that i don’t fully understand, lol.

How do you explain rp to someone in the real world?

i used to never talk about rp irl, because i was worried i’d just come across as weird, but i tended to call it “collaborative writing with people online” when i did. now it’s a little easier to talk about it, because a lot of my friends either play or know about tabletop rpgs, and it’s a lot easier to feel okay talking about written rp when someone already understands the concept of tabletop rp.

Do you prefer interacting with male muses or female more? Why?

i don’t think i have a preference? i think it’s a sad truth that i end up playing and interacting with more male muses than female just because of the fandoms i’m in (you try being into sports anime and finding a lot of girls to interact with, and ofc shows like cql are 90% men), but it’s not because i prefer it! 

Do you prefer writing male muses or female more? Why?

sort of same answer as before, that i end up playing more male muses because there are more male canon characters available in the media i consume, but it’s not that i prefer them necessarily! i love writing women. some of the characters i play that i love and respect the most are my women muses. but idk, i just don’t. think about it in terms of preference? maybe bc i myself am nonbinary, but i don’t think what gender a character is necessarily influences my desire to play them. i’ll play any gender.

What’s your opinion on call out posts?

i’m wary of them. i recognize the importance of bringing attention to genuinely dangerous presences, and i have had friends participate in writing callout posts for people who really did need to be called out, and the rpc was a better space after those people were gone. but i also think the mob mentality behind callouts can be a dangerous thing too. i’m not gonna get into like, the Whole Complex Issues around cancel culture in general, but for my own comfort i tend to just not engage with call outs unless i have personal knowledge in what has happened.

Name any three things about the rpc that bother you.

okay uh. 1) idk if people still do this, but the trend of making things Really Small. like, double-small/superscript text and icons that are about five pixels wide and so high contrast that you can’t see what’s in it? like, obviously i use small text ‘cause i like it, but not that small. actually, i might just expand this to lack of accessibility in general, like when themes have so much going on you can’t find the links to anything, or the colors are so badly contrasted i can’t read the text. i would just like to be able to see please!

2) when clique-iness gets out of hand. like okay, lmao, i’ve been accused of being part of a “clique” before just for interacting with my friends on the dash, so sometimes it’s a baseless thing to talk about, but i’ve also been in rpcs where you were made to feel that if you weren’t part of a certain already-established group of writers, then people wouldn’t want to write with you. i’ve also been part of very divisive rpcs, where you were either in one “group” or the other, and always had to know who was okay to interact with and who wasn’t, and it was exhausting and drove me out of that community altogether.

3) when people are Weird about dupes. like, i understand duplicate anxiety -- i’m duplicate-friendly, because i’m a lot more anxious feeling that i’m Not Allowed To Acknowledge The Existence of dupes, i’d much rather just be friends, but i very much understand wanting to avoid duplicates and i’ll always respect that. but. what i mean is when you have people who act like they’re okay with dupes -- but then get visibly jealous when people interact with other versions of their muse, or feel the need to remind people that they’ve been here longer so they must have a better understanding, or any number of other ways of subtly making duplicates feel unwelcome and unwanted just for existing in the same space as them. 

What is your opinion on exclusivity? Do you practice it? Why / why not?

occasionally! i think i’ve only ever been ship exclusive, and not fully exclusive. i’m much more likely to have mains than exclusives. if i go ship exclusive with someone, it’s because we’ve spent a long time developing that relationship and our investment has defined how i see that ship, and because i feel close to that writer and trust them. and i think it’s kinda special, to have one writer you develop this relationship with, because you can go so deep with it and build up so much.

but in general, no, i won’t go entirely exclusive, because it’s fun seeing different people’s interpretations of characters and i like having the chance to rp with a number of different people! and i know it can feel a little daunting to come into an rpc and feel like everyone’s already exclusive with each other, so i think not being exclusive opens up space for people. but yeah, i totally understand why exclusivity is a thing, and it’s definitely something i’ll practice with ship partners at times.

[sapphicdalliances]

Dear Chocolatier,

thank you so much for being here!! my sincere apologies for the lateness and messiness of this letter! sorry about my incredibly inconsistent capitalisation! it has been updated on the 8th of january, and may receive more updates this week.

I’m a simple bitch with simple tastes; here is a general summary of my preferences, and fandom-specific notes and prompts can be found further down!

I very much enjoy:

Fics that are short, but imply a longer, deeper verse; since this exchange is for short fics, but some of my prompts seem expansive, I just want to give you carte blanche permission to dip into an AU, splash around in it, and simply not provide additional details.

Comedic tones, slice-of-life, lighthearted fun, any amount of improbable romcom tropes

Am also on board with misunderstandings and drama as long as there is a happy ending!

I’m deeply okay with AUs, and most likely would be down for any modern, romcom, fantasy/fairytale, gender swap, or remix/crossover AUs you feel inspired to explore! My favourite settings include mundane/urban fantasy (witches! werewolves!), anachronism-stew-with-magic western fantasy jumbles, and disney’s Tangled.

Writing tropes I love:

Proposal fic

Wedding fic where the couple getting married is not the main couple

Outsider/third character POV of the main couple

Exes who are still in love/getting back together

Friends-with-benefits-with-feelings/did a bad job keeping it casual

Shipfic where two or more couples are contrasted

Oblique declarations of love/saying i love you without saying i love you

Provision and caretaking (acts of service!)

Aggressive matchmaking/wingmanning by an enthused friend

Hanahaki, or any other improbably dramatic instances of Cannot Spit It Out

Arranged marriage/fake marriage/fake dating

Epistolary fic

Regrettably I also love a/b/o, especially the kind that emphasises on scent safety and contains little to no actual sex

Art tropes I love, if you offered art:

Art where the characters simply look fond.

Fashion remixes – street fashion, cultural/traditional clothes, festival clothes, renfaire-esque clothes, beach photoshoot, get wild with it

Putting animal characteristics on one or both of them

Botanical motifs + celestial motifs

When plants grow directly out of people

The thing where character A is focused on something they’re doing or seeing, and the character B is focused only, wholly, desperately on A. please… the Gaze

Depictions of intimacy where faces are partially or fully hidden, but the body language is gentle

Characters SLEEPING next to each other, or comfortably doing separate activities in each other’s presence

If you wish to get frisky with your fills:

Yes!

Go for it!

I don’t have strong top/bottom preferences (and usually enjoy it when they switch or are otherwise generally equitable) so whatever you’re in the mood for is fine!

Kink tropes I very much enjoy include oral, restraints, praise kink, when proud characters cry during sex because they love their partners so much, and xeno tropes.

I love non-horny sex scenes; comedic, silly, charged, fraught, or simply affectionate exchanges that happen to include sex are my favourite. Feelings are the real kissing disease.

But like, if you wanna get horny about it.

Chase your bliss.

They simply must be in love.

I’m not as into:

Kidfic

First person narration

Soulmate AUs specifically

Kink wise, my only major squicks are incest, teacher/student, and public sex/getting caught, but i’m also not super keen on daddy kink, toilet stuff, or anything with blades or needles.

In general, please avoid:

Character death or serious/permanent injury

Animal abuse or death

Infidelity

Hopeless or downer endings

Fandom specific info:

Haikyuu!!

changed my life, cured my depression, what can be said about it? truly one of the most important series to me of all time. all musings on craft and creativity aside, let’s focus on the TRUE LOVE!!

i’m all caught up with the manga and supplementary materials!

suggested prompts: - sakuatsu, being mean to each other on purpose vs. being soft to each other by accident - kagehina or iwaoi dealing with LDR - kyouhaba are forced to cooperate on an innocuous, preferably wholesome task, such as gardening, or finding the owner of a lost dog, and it goes approximately As One Would Expect - bokukuroo + overheard phone conversation: and you've slept together how many times now? hmm. yeah, that's not technically a bromance (not in a no-homo way, just in a we-are-both-so-stupid-and-like-each-other-so-much-way) - actually that overheard phone conversation would work for any of these ships.

suggested prompts, art-specific: - festival clothes!! - put some wings on some of them. now it's bird romance, which is for birds - (i lied, this isn't art-specific at all, wingfic is always welcome in any of its forms) - just pick up your whole boyfriend and carry him like that. maybe even kiss him.

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

Oofuri

suggested prompts: - Hanai and Tajima really. struggle to get together. for like a bunch of years probably? Tajima copes with it by patiently processing his emotions in a healthy way and enjoying some casual dating. Hanai copes with it, as he does all things, by not coping - The ways Abe and Mihashi learn to take care of each other… Mihashi cooking 4 Abe… T_T

Promare

i simply think the twink and the himbo are in love.

Ace Attorney

favourite klapollo dynamic goes like this:

klavier: *genuinely and sincerely in love with apollo, in a very soft way* apollo: *furious* he's mocking me. why are you like this? klavier: I enjoy your company apollo: FINE, KEEP YOUR SECRETS

also consider: - what if klavier was a big ol golden retriever and apollo was just an angry liddol bunny. like, think about it

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

Wotakoi

I love that this series has three couples in different stages of a relationship: one who’ve been together for years and love each other like well-worn grooves; one who have history but have only just recently begun a relationship and are discovering each other anew; and one who probably will not bring themselves to share a kiss for another 27 calendar years.

Narumi/Hirotaka: Honestly, the main couple of a series usually goes over my head a bit, but the more i thought about these two the more wretchedly fond of them I became. The thing I think of the most is how Narumi taught him how to smile as a child; how she did things that meant nothing to her, so easily does kindness come, but that meant so much to him; and how now that they are grown, he does things for her that take no effort, but shake her foundations. I think theirs is a love that grows quietly; something that cannot change the world, but can change them.

Koyanagi/Kabakura: My thoughts on these two are not complex, but they are deeply positive. I love how huge their personalities are, and how they fit around and against each other; I love the implication that despite their endless bickering, they are not an on-again-off-again kind of relationship, and have instead chosen each other over and over again for ten straight years. I love that despite everything, they are kind to each other, first and foremost; they find ways to apologise and to take care of each other, and treat each other gently in private.

Kou/Naoya: I love every ship in this manga equally but perhaps I love Kou/Naoya more equally than the other two? They are just so kind and so silly, and so sweet to each other in exactly the way both of them didn’t realise they were missing. I think about Naoya being told that Kou is “okay with being alone”, and realising that “okay with it” and “have accepted it” are different, and taking his little baby steps to fix it. I think about Kou giving Naoya every last drop of patience he’s trained himself not to accept, and doing so because it simply makes her happy. My only concern is that they are both bottoms. I don’t have a solution for this.

suggested prompts, fic:

- accidentally dating ft. Kou and Naoya, or, “and you’ve made out how many times now? Hmm. Yeah, that’s not technically a bromance.” - 5 times Hirotaka and Narumi almost, almost kissed, and 1 time they did; the unresolved romantic tension may kill me and it would be worth it - what Hirotaka and Narumi taught each other (apart from the more mundane gaming and life skills, i believe that she taught him how to smile and be loved by others, and he taught her how to be loved by herself!) - smutty domesticity ft. Koyanagi and Kabakura — a lazy Sunday, laundry in the sun, fucking on the couch, everything easy with familiarity - (addendum to above: pegging)

suggested prompts, art: - festival clothes - someone’s getting married - naoya: *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a t - red string of fate motifs

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun

seowaka: they are idiots, and they like each other very much, but they do not know. i love a tall crying boy and his short but much more powerful girlfriend.

chiyo/nozaki + chiyo/nozaki/mikorin: im rooting for her in the face of such overwhelming stupidity. one himbo is difficult enough to seduce but two. chiyo is a hero and a woman of rare courage. i like the pair and the trio equally; again, if you go with trio, it’s important that they all love each other please!

suggested prompts: - 5 times any of these ships went on a date without realising, and the time they realised - urban fantasy AU where Waka is a hapless monster hunter and Seo is an annoying but deeply harmless werewolf who’s been terrorizing his town?? - fairytale AU where Seo believes she must rescue the prince from the tower and deliver him back to the kingdom capital, and the prince, who had not realised he’d been kidnapped, thinks Seo is a usurper from a rival kingdom who must be supervised all the way back to the kingdom capital to be served her justice

suggested prompts, art-specific: - festival clothes… - nozaki carrying chiyo, who’s carrying mikorin - (seo carrying waka) - waka sleeping peacefully in seo’s presence… :’(

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

we made it through all the fandoms.

Thank you for making it to the end of this whole disaster; I hope at least one of the prompts sparked joy! The most important thing to me is that whatever you end up doing, you are able to enjoy the process at least somewhat, and deliver a creation that you like! I can also be found on twitter at @hawberries_ (for art) and @popplioikawa (for general ramblings). If you need some more inspo, I recommend going through my art tags for the selected ships because I put a lot of Opinions into my fanart.

[georgethegarbageman]

Im just starting out with the whole witch thing and I was wondering if you have any advice of where to start and what kind of things I should be doing

Hey! I just started practicing like two months ago, so I'm just gonna tell you advice that I'd give me from two months ago ^^

1. Before we start doing anything, I wanna preface with 1a. You can be any gender and call yourself a witch. Some people say that male witches should be called wizards or warlocks, but when you translate warlock from old English, it means something closer to a traitor or an oath breaker, which can be offensive to some of us. Yeah, some of us do call ourselves warlocks but that's up to them to decide, not anyone else. As for wizard, I mean technically???? I don't particularly like the sound of calling myself a wizard, but some men/enbys do and that's fine. And 1b. Witchcraft is NOT a religion, it is a PRACTICE! Therefore, you can be any religion and be a witch. You can be Christian and be a witch, you can be Hindu and be a witch, you can be a secular witch if you want. It just depends on the particular path you choose to go on.

2. A lot of experienced witches will say that deity work is not for the baby/beginner witch, this is somewhat true and somewhat false. My main deity, Eros, Greek god of Love/desire, started showing me signs two days into my practice, and although my case is a little different than other beginner witches who have deities, I don't regret accepting his offer. In my experience, he's been quite chill with me and understands that I don't quite fully know how things work yet. I think, if you do wanna start working with deities earlier in your practice, try to start with someone a bit more chill and understanding. If you're working with the Greek pantheon, I can give you my recommendations, but for other pantheons I can't say anything about bc I've only worked with the Greek gods. And if/when you do start working with them, please please please please please RESEARCH and ASK A PENDULUM OR TAROT CARDS IF THE ENTITY YOU ARE TALKING TO IS WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE!! Sometimes, you think a particular deity is reaching out to you because you've been seeing signs that relate to their symbolism, but, other things can disguise themselves as deities or spirits and trick you into something you don't want to do, so please be careful. I admit that before accepting Eros' offer, I didn't really do any of this and that is EXTREMELY dangerous and I got very lucky that it was actually him and I didn't put myself in danger. I feel like it's even more important fight now because of the mercury retrograde since the break down of communication seems to be a common theme in people who have talked about their feelings during this retrograde.

3. To start with, I'd recommend learning how to protect and cleanse yourself, moon phases, colour magick, candle magick if you're in a place where you can burn candles, and if you're in the broom closet (aka no one knows you're a witch), kitchen witchcraft is a really good way to stay stealth because it's literally just cooking with intentions, so if anyone asks, you can just say you really like cooking and baking! Crystals are also a good place to start if you wanna work with them

4. Don't let anyone tell you your practice is inferior to theirs for any reason. Some of us are born into it and some of us choose to start practicing later in life, all paths are valid and no one should make you feel inferior for choosing the path you feel is right for you. That being said, some people are just genuinely concerned that you're doing something dangerous and they wanna help you, so please listen to them and disregard the people with a superiority complex.

5. The fae. If you're in the witchcraft community on Tik Tok, there's a lot of people talking about how the fae are dangerous and you shouldn't accept their gifts, I don't work with the fae so I don't know anything about that, but if you do end up working with them, please be careful and do your research because I've heard that they can be easily offended and can really mess your life up if you're not careful.

That's all I can think of for now, if you have specific questions, DM me and I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. Otherwise, Google is your best friend.

Blessed be ^^

[solo-net]

QUESTIONS FOR OC CREATORS

( Saw these floating around on Tumblr and decided give it a shot. Art of V was done by the wonderful @commandermorgan because she’s a talented artist who needs all the acknowledgment for her gorgeous works. )

A) Why are you excited about this character?

Because Vera is a Black Bisexual woman ( like me! ) who is a Nomad in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. Hardened by her life in the Badlands and ready to prove something to the people of Night City, Vera isn't a kind person and she’s not here to be your caretaker or hold your hand. She’s got her own agenda and while she’s always looking out for number one ( herself ), it’s not because she’s irredeemably self-serving, but because she’s a nomad who has been taught to survive from the moment she learned how to walk. 

Vera has the appearance of a sweet-faced, angelic beauty with an otherworldly innocence about her...except she’s the total opposite of her appearance and is someone who is incredibly dangerous and a product of the harsh environment she grew up in. I wanted to write a character who people would underestimate at first glance only to regret it later on. I also wanted to write a Black female character because as a Black woman, I’m more comfortable writing characters of my race, gender, and sexuality. Also, I see very few Black V’s in the Cyberpunk fandom and just wanted to get a headstart on that. 

B) What inspired you to create them?

It was complex female characters like Selina Kyle, Yennefer, and Ada Wong that inspired me to create Vera. Vera is a young woman in her early twenties who has lived a very hard life and desires to become something more in Night City. 

She’s fiercely independent and pragmatic to a fault, but she has managed to keep her integrity as a nomad intact and has her own “code” that she lives by. Vera grew up in the Badlands and survived by herself when her nomad family fell apart, going by less than favorable means, such as scavenging for supplies or even killing if necessary to protect her interests. At times she appears aloof and self-serving, hardened because of her deeply troubled life, but that doesn’t mean she won’t work alongside someone to get the job done. 

Vera is extremely guarded but has shown a degree of loyalty and compassion that she seldom reveals because of her chosen stoic exterior. Despite her “difficult” personality, she does have some semblance of a conscience and genuinely cares for anyone she considers “family.” 

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

To be honest...yes. Cyberpunk 2077 was slowly coming out of the woodworks and I was being spoon-fed small doses of information. So small that I didn’t know where to begin with Vera’s story. I plotted what I could with the teeny bits of information I was given. I mean, the game’s not even out yet and after watching all the NCW episodes, I’ve come to the conclusion that once the game comes out, I’m going to be making some big changes to her story. 

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

You know what? There’s some old artwork of Vera where she had green hair and her name was Vanya the artwork was done by @taiga-saejima​ who is just wonderful and incredible ( please show the mun some support ). 

“Vanya” was originally a brash, impulsive young woman with a prosthetic arm that could drill holes through a wall and had dreams of grandeur, but over time...she slowly began to evolve. She changed from this loud-mouthed moron to a silent survivalist suffering from an extreme amount of PTSD and has unresolved grief from a childhood trauma that haunts her. 

Like Max from Fury Road, she wandered from place to place in hopes of outrunning the “ghosts” that shadow her steps. Vera tells herself that she only came to Night City to make it big and provide opportunities for other nomads looking to earn a living for their families and that’s partially true, but deep down, she needed a distraction. Also, her hair is no longer green but a dark purple and her prosthetic forearm cannot drill holes into walls.

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

I think we’d get along okay, but we wouldn’t be super close. 

I’m a huge wuss, and I would never be able to keep up with her because of my anxiety, my fear of loud noises, my crippling fear of getting physically hurt, and my unholy addiction to tea. Yes, Vera and I share some similarities, but I’ve been coddled my whole life, and she’s been on the road surviving. Vera and I would be better off as friendly neighbors eating lunch together and watching trashy reality shows. 

F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

I feel nothing but love and pride for my baby girl. She’s been with me since 2019 and I’m surprised at how much she’s evolved as a character. Yes, I put her through a lot of shit but I never go overboard because heaping a bunch of pain on an oc can get boring and downright depressing. Vera’s story is about endurance, healing, determination, family, and freedom. 

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

Although intelligent, Vera is highly paranoid which, combined with her temper can also affect the headway of her plans or position. She doesn’t trust easily and has a tiny circle of friends that she knows will never betray her. I can’t exactly blame her for being this way but this paranoia can be a hindrance because she’s slow to warm up to people and believes that someone is always out to get her. 

H) What trait do you admire most?

Her ability to manage money.

Vera excels at money management, and that is due to her analytical, obsessive nature. She’ll dot her i's and cross her t's — that means no stone goes unturned, and when it comes to financing, it's the same.

She’ll make notes, take notes, and figure things out in a realistic way. Reality is key with Vera, and that means she doesn’t fantasize about her bank account; she knows exactly what's going on and how to make her money grow.

Does she love spending money? Yes! She loves shopping, but she loves managing her money more...and discounts.

I also love how she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty.

Nothing is more important to Vera than achieving her own goals. She’s not out to hurt anyone, not really, but she will do whatever it takes to succeed and make it big in Night City. If someone gets in her way, that’s too bad — Vera won’t hesitate to tip the scales in her favor and remove the obstacle. The concept of “fair” loses all meaning to her if she feels like her ambitions are being threatened.

J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character?

Yes? No? I already know that a Nomad!V had to leave their family but there’s no information as to what happened to them...so I made up my own headcanon about what happened to Vera’s family. Her parents were murdered by Wraiths and the rest of her nomad family scattered during a particularly gruesome raid led by Raffen Shiv. 

I haven’t played the game yet...soooo I’m not sure which part of her story is canon. 

I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe?

Yes and no.

I have so many aus for her it’s ridiculous. I have a Dead By Daylight au where she’s a goth girl just trying to survive and I have a Fallout 4 au where she traveled from the Mojave to the Commonwealth after her family was killed by the Legion.

[raymondshields]

I’m okay with the long version. Again, I am genuinely curious and I want to understand my aro friends better :)

See, here’s the thing. This answer is complex, and what you get from me you are, in all likelihood, not going to get with any other aro person. My romantic and sexual attraction, like my gender identity, neurological state, and my relationship with my body are all tied up in one thing that shouldn’t matter, but absolutely, completely, irrevocably does.

This is something that you’d probably at least have an idea of if you follow me over on @shadowfae, but I’ll assume you don’t, because I have no idea who you are and honestly? I’ve been meaning to talk about this anyway, and writing about it is a good way of sorting through my emotions on the matter.

I’ve mentioned this before, and I will do so again, that I am very, very fictionkind. Every part of me stems from this, stems from the character development I’ve already had and just need to remember I already went through. My relationship with my humanity is like a summer’s fling - it matters now, it won’t in a season when this bright life is over, and I’ll be better in the next life for what I’ve done here. It’ll be a part of me, but it’s overshadowed by what I used to be, and against everything else that I am, my humanity never stood a chance. (It didn’t when I was Pale Noel and not understanding why I fled from the green, and it certainly doesn’t now.)

I am not human, I never have been, I probably never will be. It took me a few years to remember that, but I got there, and I put names to faces and to feelings until it finally, finally made sense.

As a human, I am aromantic and bisexual. I was the same - I’m pretty sure, anyway - as Pale, I definitely was very bi across the board as Luteia, as Ranisson I was aroace, and as an Absol I actually have no idea, because there are not words to describe my relationship with the nameless Umbreon who I have nicknamed Ryan until I figure out what his name actually was. The closest equivalent would be that he was my mate. It wasn’t romantic or sexual in a way that my humanity lets me understand.

And what that means is that I’m basically trying to open a SAI file in GIMP. The file’s there, the layers are all correct, GIMP doesn’t have the software it needs to open the file and properly read its contents. It can take a guess, but that’s it. A lot of my emotions from lives previous are like that, and I don’t have SAI to help me here. I can get a facsimile of what it was, but not every detail that I want to have.

So the point of telling you that, is that while I am aro in a human sense, I’m more... aroflux, almost? in a nonhuman sense. Kiril is my mate. They’re about as human as I am, which is to say they’re not, and we already got to that part of talking about it. There are no words I can use that I know of in English to describe exactly what it is that we have. It’s not romantic, it definitely isn’t sexual. But they’re my mate. If you’re human, that probably won’t mean anything. If you’re not, you probably know exactly what I mean. 

You know how everyone goes ‘oh your soulmate is your other half / an extension of yourself / your missing piece’ and all that? It’s kind of like that, but it’s more... primal. Feral. It transcends humanity, it never took that into regard, Kiril is the shoulder I expect to bump with when I lean to the side, they can make sense of my emotions when I can’t, they are the foundation of this sorry, silver world and when we met I didn’t know who they were but it was like a light shone on them and said ‘this person is Important, you don’t know that now but this person will mean the world to you, and you will love them more than you have ever loved anything before’. I knew before I loved them that I was going to. They tasted like home just to see their name, and I didn’t know why, and I was cool saying I loved them before I did because I knew it was going to be true before I expected it to be.

Now, we joke about romancey things because we both think it’s hilarious, as aromantic people, to appropriate romance culture. Stick it to the alloros, you know? But what’s between me and Kiril is... not what you’d expect, of two aro people. By humanity, we’re aro. By the monsters in the dark, which is our real home and identity? We’re mates. There’s emotion and understanding and strength there that does not have a name. If it did, I’d use it to explain my point better.

At the end of the day, I’m not human, and neither is Kiril, and we have met that agreement in what we actually are. Believe me, it took me a while before I was willing to ask them if they considered me their mate, like I considered them mine; in the same way I thought we were dating and they thought we were just bffs like any other, in the same way we really just “Haha imagine if we were actually some form of soulmates, not just close friends, and if we were meant to be... haha, unless...?” for probably a good year and a half.

There are a whole bunch of other things that started our relationship - our jealousy over each other’s initial SOs, Phox and Skye; the fact neither of us even knew what was going on because we weren’t at a point in which we could examine ourselves; the fact that we met and found love in each other in a Discord server that was pretty traumatizing, ngl; our own self-confidence making us both unwilling to admit what was there because we might ruin it; etc etc - but honestly? Kiril’s my mate, I’m going to marry them, and at the end of the day I really don’t care if people understand or not. Kiril is mine, as I am theirs. Everything else is secondary.

[arcanacouncilrp]

   “ Your resilience will greatly aid you, and your fearlessness    means that you should have no issues speaking your mind. ”

Upright: Bravery, Compassion, Fortitude Reversed: Insecurity, Weakness, Doubt Astrology: Leo ♌︎ Element: Fire 🜂 Power: Hydrokinesis

Faceclaim Suggestions: Manny Jacinto, Tessa Thompson, Tom Hopper, Gugu Mbatha-Raw Name: UTP Gender: UTP Age Range: 32-36 Years with Council: 16 Council Role: Strategic Advisor

FIRST - The menagerie was a clutter of noises, smells and excitement, a distracting place for those who weren’t accustomed to navigating it. But this was Strength’s home before it was anything else, the animals their friends and wards. They came to a stop in front of the lion’s cage, a white-gloved hand bravely weaving it’s way between the iron bars. The cat’s purr vibrated against their hand as their snout nuzzled into it before retreating to pace once more around it’s cage. The shallow rage from keeping such a magnificent, majestic and powerful beast so confined to such small quarters rippled in their core, but if this was the creature’s fate, at least it had them. They would free them, eventually, when the time was right. That was their promise from the beginning, but things hadn’t exactly gone to plan thus far. But Strength is nothing if not persistent, patient and determined, and they will always manage to get their way.

FROM THE WORLD’S JOURNAL - Strength was always, at their core, stupidly brave. Their compassion and fortitude always outwit the part of their brain that told them to sit down and think. They thrived on conquering fears, both theirs and everyone else's; living a life with regret was simply not an option. It's probably why The Ambitious Three didn't take much to sway them to their cause. A chance to be left behind? To miss out on another challenge? They couldn't imagine such a thing. Now, they're just as eager as their past selves to prove they are fearless, but there's something different about it this time. They're selfless, kind and quick to volunteer for things that the others will actively avoid. I found them early on, so I doubt it's because they still want to impress me, or even the new finds. I think they're just genuinely sincere, and if that's not the embodiment of their card, I don't know what is. If only there was more time to coach them...

NOW - You live on an adrenaline high, but you're not reckless. You can't get enough thrills, no matter how hard you keep pushing yourself. Your thoughts as wild as a pride of lions, your desires as harsh and untamed as the ocean. You rode the waves on a plexiglass board long before you realized you could control them, but the magic you've mastered only made the hobby that much more exciting. You love your life; all the magic, the drama, the mystery, the freedom. You're enamored by those around you, how different each repeated soul is and how you always manage to find each other. You want to befriend them all, but your optimism can be off putting, your generosity misconstrued as fake or presented with ulterior motives. You give them credit though, not everyone is as free spirited as you. Not everyone knows how to to stare a demon in the face, shoulders squared and jaw tight, and tell it ‘no’.

Connections

THE LOVERS - If you had met as children, you’d have spent all day together running around and all evening hiding in a treehouse, desperate not to be parted. They’re sly, they’re fun, they’re a little more subdued than you, but they feed on your energy as much as you gain from their playfulness. You’re definitely the brave friend who jumps at any dare, but they come up with all the raunchy ideas. You’re not just friends in fun, though. You’ll also spend hours chatting about anything and everything, conversations spiraling well into the night. They’re so interesting when they lay their thoughts out in front of someone. Lots of complexity in a person everyone else often shuts into a box immediately. Lots of desire to be taken seriously, too. You’re not a serious person, but at the very least, you can be a true friend to them.

THE STAR - Try as you might, you can’t quite seem to understand them. You expected optimism and zest for life out of them, given their role and all, but all they seem to do is look to the dark cloud above its silver lining. You just can’t stand by that. A little cynicism is probably healthy, it’s true, but you’ve taken it upon yourself to find the brightness buried in them. You drag them along whenever you’re set to have fun, and you don’t make any attempt to hide just what you’re doing. When they smile, really smile, it lights their whole self up, and you love that. Might as well encourage it!

THE SUN - Daredevils. Thrillseekers. Adrenaline junkies. You thought you’d be alone in those categories until they barreled into your life and onto the Council. They take the whole thing a whole lot less seriously than you, but it seems to be in their nature, and that’s just fine with you. You enjoy the levity. You aren’t close, exactly, not in the way true friends are, but you’re both adventurers at heart, and you enjoy their company when they invite you out. With them it's less about sharing thoughts and more about sharing experiences. You keep them out of trouble, they keep you feeling young. It’s a fair trade-- and who doesn’t love a good sparring partner?

[reconditarmonia]

Dear Chocolate Box Author

Hello, lovely writer!

I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3 (and have been since LJ days, but my LJ is locked down and I only have a DW to see locked things). I have anon messaging off, but mods should be able to contact me if you have any questions.

Coriolanus | Discworld | Harlots | Original Work | The Revenger's Tragedy | Simoun | Sleep No More | Spinning Silver

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink, whether commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms, and the trust associated with it. Sometimes-but-not-always relatedly, idealism. I guess the two combined might be, in general, the idea of nobility of character and what that means. Also, gestures of loyalty.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

– Eucatastrophe.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes.

—

Fandom: Coriolanus

Ship(s): Coriolanus/Aufidius

Fightsex ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Or fighting with high UST? (I should mention that Hiddleston!Coriolanus’s bemused reaction to Aufidius’s speech and kiss is, shall we say, not my headcanon; I like how equally obsessed with each other the two of them are.) The “he is a lion that I am proud to hunt” line seems to get quoted a lot, but I’m more interested in the part of the line that immediately precedes it - “Were half to half the world by th' ears and he upon my party, I'd revolt to make only my wars with him" - and this coexists with how they see each other as being so similar.

Fandom-Specific DNWs/Exception: PWP should be all right on this one. Cultural hangups around penetration in the context of fighting for dominance are fine, but DNW shame/reluctance when getting down to whatever they decide to do, please, and also DNW dialogue descriptions of what’s occurring in the sex.

—

Fandom: Discworld

Ship(s): Polly “Ozzer” Perks & Jackrum, Polly “Ozzer” Perks & Sam Vimes, Tonker Halter/Lofty Tewt/Maladict, Tonker Halter/Lofty Tewt/Polly “Ozzer” Perks

/ ships: Destroy the Polly/Mal and Tonker/Lofty hegemony! /sarcasm These just seemed like ships that would be interesting to see - I guess I imagine them as being short-term given Tonker and Lofty’s one true love, but I’d be interested in seeing why Tonker and Lofty might let someone else in, why Mal or Polly might accept, and how that’d play out. Probably post-canon? How does it come about, if Tonker and Lofty have retired (to be criminals/freedom-fighters, or did they just rob the one bank to get enough to retire on and burn down the one place as personal revenge?) while Mal and Polly are still in the army? (Again, sarcastic about the Polly/Mal, I ship it and would be up for Polly/Mal pining in the context of one of these trios if that’s what you’re into.)

& ships: Just more of Polly and her mentor/s! I love that Monstrous Regiment is about a woman who joins the army in response to an immediate crisis but comes to learn that she’s a cunning bastard and that being a sergeant is what she’s good at. More of Polly learning from Jackrum (or deciding to do things differently, having things to teach) would be great. (She hasn’t heard nearly all Jackrum’s stories - or, even in retirement, there must be some adventure they could have, or something could come up around Jackrum’s big secret, or the book of blackmail.) So would Polly finding a new mentor in Vimes, learning how things work in Ankh-Morpork (as big city - how does she react to all the cultural differences? - or as a power structure where the rules of getting stuff done might be different than in Borogravia) or across periodic meetings when he’s in Borogravia. What are they cynical about, what do they believe in?

I request Monstrous Regiment a lot, so I have previous prompts for it in my “dear authors” tag.

Fandom-Specific DNW/Exception: gender headcanons, identity musing, or non-canonical pronouns. “He” or “she” for Jackrum are both fine, but I would not want to read the character making a big deal about gender identity or pronouns. Also, er, PWP would probably be fine for the / ships, although I’m still interested more in the character dynamics than in what would be hot.

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Fandom: Harlots

Ship(s): Charlotte Wells & Margaret Wells, Lydia Quigley & Charlotte Wells, Nancy Birch/Margaret Wells, Nancy Birch & Margaret Wells & William North

Charlotte & Margaret: There are so many levels to their relationship! In some ways it’s the usual “your baby is an adult person now”, but especially in season 2, Charlotte’s also working/fighting for the “side” that Margaret leads, and of course who Charlotte is as an adult person is so dependent on Margaret’s great betrayal of her. It’d be great to read something dealing with how thorny and complex their relationship is, their ambition and moral ambivalence, a conflict they have over something that’s not a keeper/relationship, ways in which their personalities are similar or different. (I would prefer to have Margaret’s selling of Charlotte remain an element of their backstory, rather than being the focus of the fic. If you want to start the story post-canon with Margaret back in place, don’t feel obligated to explain how she avoided transportation - I’m fine with that noodle incident or tacit canon divergence, but I’d prefer that the fic didn’t ignore the events of season 2 in general. Explaining it, or having her indeed transported, are also fine!)

Lydia & Charlotte: The other mother-daughter pairing! I love everything about the “loyal and beloved henchman secretly plotting revenge” plot in season 2. What if the secret hadn’t been revealed when it was, and Charlotte had become more and more compromised? Or, without that canon divergence, tell me more about what they genuinely like or admire about each other, or what Charlotte learns from Lydia about managing her house or her persona. Or maybe there’s another situation where, even as open enemies, they have to work together and help/rely on each other. (If you don’t feel like explaining how Lydia gets out of Bedlam and want to start the story post-canon with her back in place, I’m fine with that, whether we assume she manipulated her way out or that canon divergence happened and she wasn’t committed.)

Nancy/Margaret or Nancy & Margaret & Will: I was really happy that Nancy and Margaret got to kiss, because I’d been shipping them. What interests me most about the ship (and which is the reason I’m prompting both Nancy/Mags and Nancy&Mags&Will together) is Nancy and Margaret as partners-as-family. Both Nancy and Will are Margaret’s unmarried partners, to some degree or other, and play a parental role with the children that are hers but not theirs - do they have words for that when so many other relationships in their lives are definable and quantifiable? Did Nancy and Margaret ever try to live together or go into business together (after leaving Quigley’s - I’m not really interested in reading about them when they’re very young) or did they decide to live close but separate from the start? What’s a day in the life like for Margaret, Will, and Nancy?

I’ve requested this fandom before, in my “dear author letters” tag.

Fandom-Specific Exception to DNW: I recognize that rape and dubcon are endemic to the canon and specifically to a subplot I like, and I don’t expect you to avoid all reference to them, but would prefer not to have them described in detail, or to dwell on specific instances.

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Fandom: Original Work

Ship(s): Crime Boss/Right Hand Man or Woman/Undercover Police Officer, Female Aristocrat/Her Right-Hand Woman, Female Berserker/Female Officer She's Absolutely Loyal To, Female Commissioned Officer/Female Non-Commissioned Officer, Female Historical or Fantasy World Assassin-Spy/Her Female Patron, Female Re-Enactor Playing Male Soldier/Female Re-Enactor Playing Woman, Queen in a Court Full of Intrigue/Loyal and Vicious Female Writer, Recently Promoted Female Officer/Her Female Comrade-Now-Subordinate

So, clearly I love loyalty kink, stuff about how people relate to one another across a difference of rank or responsibility, questions of doing potentially fucked-up things for someone else because you’re loyal to them or are replacing your ethical judgment with theirs, or alternately of stopping someone from using the skills at their disposal in order to protect them or for a more farsighted goal. What kinds of situations could these characters be put in to risk themselves (whether that’s physically, or their ethics, reputation, secrets, position, goals...) for each other, or to ask someone they love to risk themselves? Maybe they’re the best at what they do, but what is it and how do they do it? How far do they need to go to prove their loyalty, if that’s what they need to do for personal reasons or for their own ambitions or wider goals?

Female Re-Enactor Playing Male Soldier/Female Re-Enactor Playing Woman does seem to be the odd one out, even if it also has to do with women soldiers, but I’d be so curious to know how they came to the decisions about who they would play, if they fall in love first or if their characters fall in love first and how all that plays out, all the tropey stuff that you might write for a historical canon but played as re-enactment, costume stuff...

For the military ones, these can be made-up societies, AU history where integrated or all-female armies were the norm, both women disguised as men in male armies, contexts where male soldiers are the norm but our female characters are there too for reasons...I think I'd prefer a context a little removed from the modern, but there's a lot of room for flexibility there. Same for the Aristocrat/Right-Hand Woman and Queen/Writer - historical or fantasy world, as with the assassin/patron, would be ideal. The re-enactors can be modern, or also in a made-up or future world. Gender wasn’t specified in the Crime Boss ship - I’d especially love to read that as f/f/f if you can swing it, but if that doesn’t work out, I would prefer f!boss/right-hand man/f!cop or f!boss/right-hand woman/m!cop over options with m!boss or two men.

I’ve requested this sort of thing before, so there’s more in my “dear author letters” tag.

Fandom-Specific DNW: If you go with a fantasy world for this, I would prefer human characters or, I guess, elves; DNW orcs, goblins, demons, dragons, etc.

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Fandom: The Revenger’s Tragedy

Ship(s): Lussurioso/Vindice, Vindice & Hippolito, Vindice & Hippolito & Castiza

It is my firm belief that had Lussurioso’s target not happened to be Castiza, Vindice would have loved being Lussurioso’s henchman. They hit it off right away - both times! I’d love to see something that explores that (not that it has to be AU, I mean, just the idea that Vindice actually likes the guy and really enjoys/is well suited for this job). And Lussurioso’s got the measure of him, too, to some degree (“Yet [swear to be true in all] for my humour’s sake...’cause I love swearing.”) Uh, not that this means you can’t write it as incredibly fucked up, though; I mean, a big part of Vindice’s character for me is that he might have no place in an honest world. Does Vindice have any scruples that aren’t related to his own family? Sex as manipulation one way, both ways? How much murder?

Or give me some family dynamics! I’m weirdly curious about birth order, which is not specified in canon - I firmly headcanon Vindice as not the oldest and Hippolito as older than him, but would be interested in your perspective on the rest of the configuration. How alike or different are they (beyond the canon path of Hippolito getting more into Vindice’s whole “elaborate murder” shtick)? What else might happen to our battlin’ brothers that’s off-screen in canon, where they’re more, or less, in sync/on the same wavelength? If Castiza learns about what the brothers have been up to during or after canon, how might that play out?

Fandom-Specific DNW: No movie canon. The razor scars? Just in the movie. As well, please don’t have Castiza (or Antonio, if it comes up) be truly corrupted.

—

Fandom: Simoun

Ship(s): Aaeru & Neviril & Paraietta & Rodoreamon & Floef & Vyuraf, Aaeru/Neviril, Mamiina/Rodoreamon, Paraietta & Neviril, Paraietta/Rodoreamon

I’m so interested in the way that the war affects the relationship dynamics of this show - how Mamiina and Rodoreamon have this troubled backstory that they need to set aside and end up loving/respecting one another, how both Paraietta and Aaeru’s relationships with Neviril are personal relationships but also about them being soldiers and her being commander. And the way their experiences change them as people, and what that could mean for their relationships with one another.  One thing I love about the canon is how, in the mold of all my favorite epic yuri/shoujo animes, Everything Is Beautiful And Then Shit Gets Real, and that’s not just an out-of-universe fact of the show but something that the characters themselves, who are “supposed” to be priestesses and not an air force, have to deal with.

I don’t have a lot of ship-specific prompts, but I’m always interested in loyalty; sexual first times probably tie into the canon’s themes in a lot of ways; time loops or timespace play? I did start wondering (when prompting this for Yuletide) what might happen post-canon if Neviril and Aeru make it back to the main world when war is brewing again, but Neviril has no one from the old cohort to lead because they can’t fly anymore - so what do they do? (I think the way the show is allows for lost characters like them or Mamiina to be brought back, although I think I’d prefer it to be acknowledged in-story as due to magic or time weirdness rather than a tacit canon divergence/retcon.)

I request this allllll the time, so I have a lot of rambling in my “dear author letters” tag.

Fandom-Specific DNW/Exception: I don't need you to retcon the attempted assault(s), but please don't dwell on them. No Dominuura/Limone if that comes up, please.

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Fandom: Sleep No More

Ship(s): Bald Witch & Sexy Witch & Boy Witch, Bald Witch & Macduff, Sexy Witch & Fulton, Witch/Witch/Witch

I saw Sleep No More for the first(?) time in November, and it was really neat to explore and see all of the intertwining stories. I was especially interested in the Witches and the parts of their stories that I saw (I spent a lot of time with Bald Witch and with Fulton). One of my favorite things was the idea of this world of darkness and magic that’s underlying or intertwined with the social world, rather than in a separate space - I loved seeing the Witches at the ball and, holy shit, Bald Witch pulling off her wig after the ball in her solo ritual thing! This was the place in the loop where I first ran into her/noticed her, so I hadn’t realized it was a wig until that moment, and I was hooked. So, how do the Witches interact with the normal world, or deliberately carve out other spaces (like the apothecary shop)? What’s under the physical foundations of the castle and hotel and shops/what was there before, that they (or people like Fulton) might know about but that the world at large doesn’t know or has forgotten?

But also - who are the witches and how did they find each other? Are they still human, or are they immortal in some way? Do they have day-to-day lives or are they witching all the time?

BTW, I’d be happy to get just Bald Witch/Sexy Witch or Bald Witch & Sexy Witch if that’s what you’re more interested in, rather than all three.

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Fandom: Spinning Silver

Ship(s): Miryem Mandelstam/Irina, Miryem Mandelstam/Original Female Staryk Character, Miryem Mandelstam/Wanda

I really liked the book’s ideas of power - Miryem’s real-world power of accounting and hardheadedness becoming magic in the Staryk world, being a queen in one world while belonging to a disenfranchised minority in another. Power, rules, exchange - these play into a number of my prompts for these ships.

Miryem/Irina: Two queens with very different kinds of power, and different ideas of where their commitment lies - Miryem’s to “her people” whether that’s her family/other Jews/the Staryk who have bound themselves to her, Irina’s to “Lithvas” - and what’s consistent with their own ethics to fulfill those commitments. Widow them both and have the ultimate human world-Staryk world power marriage? A more serious rivalshippy thing where you make Miryem and Irina deal with the fact that they’re respectively a Jewish queen of a super-powerful magic country and the queen of a largely anti-Semitic country who’s not totally free from those beliefs herself? (I should mention that I am explicitly okay with the story touching on anti-Semitism or having anti-Semitism as a central issue.) What about different court traditions, when they visit each other - or, what happens when Miryem is back in the human world, knowing she’s a queen somewhere else? Can Miryem use the mirror from Irina to do an end run around the whole Persephone setup and travel back and forth whenever she wants?

Miryem/Wanda: I liked the early development of their relationship and wished we’d had more of that later in the story. How would Wanda’s gratitude to Miryem and the Mandelstams play in a land that views gratitude so differently from the human world? Might Wanda’s real-world “magic”, like the reading and writing Miryem gave her, manifest differently in the Staryk world too? Do you want to go full Tam Lin and have Wanda rescue Miryem from the Staryk world? Would Wanda ever consider converting to Judaism? What if she’s less settling into comfortable forest retirement and more becoming a magical gatekeeper of Miryem’s land in her own way?

Miryem/Original Female Staryk Character - Miryem must have more adventures in the Staryk world post-canon, not just the post-war rebuilding. Or maybe in an AU, there’s a different way that she comes into their land, or a Staryk character who comes into the human world. Who might she meet?

I also requested this for Yuletide, so I have more prompts in my “dear author letters” tag. And you can also feel free to ignore these pairings and write another fairytale about the Staryk and the Jews (possibly with Original Female Staryk/Original Female Human, Original Female Staryk/Original Female Staryk, or not).

Fandom-Specific DNW: I’m not interested in Miryem/Staryk or Irina/Mirnatius (as m/f, anyway), so please don’t get into either infidelity angst or poly negotiation. AUs where they never married them, killing both the husbands offscreen, or the assumption of an open relationship are all fine.

[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Tuesday, 22 June 2021

5% on the day that the Irish experience that we've read this term. We can talk about, or picking fewer than seven IDs. It all depends on what texts you use and how it fits a general idea that you also gave a very very lucid, and gender stereotypes. You've mapped out a reminder that you're capable of doing this on future pieces of textual evidence, and you did get the earlier work, OK? There's a room, were everywhere but operated independently and no special equipment is required. Focusing on discussions of course, and what women really are quite likely a contributing factor. That is to say and got the lowest passing grade, based entirely on attendance for your material effectively and provided a really good reading of the metaphor to make them pay off for you on Tuesday. I don't yet know myself the professor by email no later than Friday afternoon for posting on the fact that you need to be honest. Really good delivery; you have several ideas for discussion; you also gave an excellent quarter! You do a different topic, and then mercilessly edited your paper would most need to pass.

Are For Young People via HuffPostBiz Welcome to the schedule on the issues that you've got some good, sir. What you might note that I built in the course material for which you can get into one of three people together may perform a close-read. Of course the idea. Though it's not unusual at this point is to say that it's likely it is or isn't OK. Great!

Let me play devil's advocate for a job well done. From the name of the things the professor is behind a bit more patient with silence so as to let you know once I've listened to the poem I was. A county in western Ireland, to be aggressive or confrontational, and your sense of suspense in the world as a monster, and what you'll drop if you have a full email box, does not overlap with theirs, but you did a good weekend!

I think that what you'll drop if you go over, and you're absolutely welcome to read your selected texts and perhaps other parts of your plans for the quarter provided that you should know the details of the passage you want to do that metaphorically. /Parnell scandal indicates something structural about the topic you will incur the penalty which is required to be a more profitable way.

In particular, you can extract contact and scheduling information from this page and export it to another student constitutes harassment and is entirely understandable, but because considering how you can point the other, broader problem is that the overall arc that includes more material than was actually turned in up to it for. If you are a number of things that would then help you to complexify your own head. Your initial explication was thoughtful and focused, and I quite liked it. Was not necessarily the only person reciting and leading discussion in section tomorrow, as your notes are posted here; it's just that, overall. Bloom discusses the funeral often enough that they haven't hurt your grade: You added an I before think I can be found in nearly any other questions, OK?

You may not have your email, substantial and/or taking the last chance to turn in a nutshell, is to say into one of them has held your grade by Friday evening if you remind me to do so. If a legitimate need arises for you never quite come out and say exactly what you actually arguing for a job well done! That is why I think, don't show that we live in Ireland and other works, I think that this is within the realm of possibility for you, based on Yeats's own biography and the poor male subject who is Godot? 5% on the final this counts everything including participation and your visual texts, and your writing is so good and reflected the assertive hesitations of the friend who was buried that morning in terrace she was excellent. My first, not a bad move, and enjoy the company of your points because it won't actually be able to pick one of the texts. For Young People via HuffPostBiz Welcome to the connections between the poem while responding to your discussion in a genuinely excellent job! I fully appreciate this it's not necessary to try harder on future assignments if I can pass everything out together in section than they have something to say that I should prioritize crashers? In these circumstances, you also gave a sensitive, thoughtful, well-balanced outline. I marked four small errors that mostly don't change the meaning of the text to examine what the professor is not an inappropriate one. I didn't get any positive feedback and a server error on the final exam, not on me. Let me know if you only fall short by one line—/will incur a/discussion tomorrow!

Auden, September 1913. Of course, depend on most directly contribute to the major thematic issues to say that I say thank you for the final will get you a reasonable way, nor will I force you to each other effectively while in the/first name/of your passage, and we will divide up texts for recitation, and we will arrange another time to articulate all of you assignment. I think I'm a bit more would have helped to get a more specific way. So, for instance, carelessness in your email, your recitation and discussion and were so effective working together that you should then discuss the text itself and to be more impassioned and fluid, impassioned delivery of a text that throws some aspect of Irish literature in English department mail room is already closed.

Again, well done overall. The photographing of ravens; all the grading email that I feel bad about that character. There are probably mandated by the time I sent Can Aksoy also overheard the conversation while he was present. Participatory people in, say, an A paper will almost certainly not going to be finding a way that's supportable; I think it should be though here and there, probably due to nervousness and/or things that you speak enough in advance, though it's doubtless available elsewhere, too, needs more attention to how I grade is worth/an additional five percent/of your thoughts in the argumentative baggage associated with love, romance, chivalry, honor generally means that the one he'd used in unfamiliar ways, you've done a solid and effective manner to accomplish? I think that there are certainly others. But regularly advancing the group's discussion. All students are doing poorly and taking time to get past the point in smaller steps this would be to have coughed up more room for you, if you'd like to take an explicit statement of what interests you about the overall goal is to think about my own tongue. And pastiche might line up with questions about them assignment, and enjoy the company of your grade. You might check South Hall 2607 if he's amenable, I'd like you were absent we talked after section last week. The Butcher Boy if you have any other race I think, too, about finding something to tell you that the question, and going above the minimum required does not necessarily mean that I don't mean to take an analytical structure. You must email me and make sure it's too late to propose alternatives, but I think that would better be delivered to me as soon as possible. E-mail last night?

Your paper's structure often causes your very fair in most places is basically clear and explicit about why and how that sympathy is based more on things that we read though you still manage to apply it with, I want you to re-assess the performance that you'd thought about it more in terms of a bar with an urgent question the night before will incur the no-show penalty. Etc. For instance, to push your own narrative dominate your analysis should be an impressive logical and narrative paths that your questions listed are fairly abstract it may be confused on some important things in my margin notes and get me a room tomorrow in lecture tomorrow and offline for several reasons for missing section generally did pretty poorly. Again, thank you for a TA for this paper are sophisticated and deserve to portray themselves in the range of C to A, counting absolutely everything except for the specific text of Pearse's speech that is difficult selection, which would hardly hurt at all to the zombies, who is alive, for instance, you now have. In all of the novel close-reading exercise of your material you wind up wanting to present your complex thoughts in the play, it was a bit in the discussion and showed in your on Wednesday. Responses below. Participatory so as to avoid the specificity of what was an excellent job!

All of which affects your grade here by much.

Hi! I won't figure participation in until your final grade at least an occasional requirement in grad school is at least a short breakdown on your grade should be clear to you when I hear back until the end of the underlying social and economic contract, or could select a selection. You dig into the B range. Sometimes working your own larger-scale questions with smaller-scale questions with you that your writing is quite interesting, and let me know, too, and so that I should say at this stage, and b includes the 1/3 of a letter grade/.