#i am saying this as someone who has been considering switching back to any pronouns for a while now.

[lesbiangiratina]

Testament doesnt use all/any pronouns……… dont do that………………

[tumbleweedtech]

twenty questions for fic writers

Thanks @losersimonriley <3

how many works do you have on ao3? 69 (heh)

what's your total ao3 word count? 397,040

what fandoms do you write for? Right now? CoD. Previously? Critical Role and the Witcher (mostly Games)

top five fics by kudos Standing on the Precipice - Lambert/Jaskier, unfinished. (Sorry. I'll get back to it sometime.) The Viscount - Lambert/Jaskier (my first published fanfic omg be nice to it) Treasure - Jaskier, hints of Lambert/Jaskier. Lettenhove - Eskel/Jaskier and Lambert/Aiden Epilogue fic Bones - Ugh, Eskel/Jaskier ish, I don't even really like this one.

do you respond to comments? I... try to? I do respond to many of them. My inbox is very, very full because the nicest comments I leave in there to cheer me up on bad days. I appreciate all of them.

what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? You were Spring , probably. I'm not sure. I do tend to love a good deep ache. The pain makes the softness feel deserved.

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The Viscount , probably. Happy ending, everybody lives.

do you get hate on fics? Nah. Every now and then there's someone who borders on rude on my witcher fics, but I just delete them. So far I've been lucky and my CoD and CR fics have met with kindness.

do you write smut? Sometimes, largely when goaded or doing so to harass a friend.

craziest crossover: I don't know if it counts as a crossover, but I did There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury from the point of view of Kaer Morhen.

have you ever had a fic stolen? No?

have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, Three.

have you ever co-written a fic before? Yep. And while they aren't usually listed as authors, largely because they argued with me about it, @hungarianbee and @piranhaincaps are often major, massive, absolutely essential to some of the fics I've written because they somehow manage to poke the braincells into trundling along in the correct direction. There's a few lovelies in my discord server who are excellent at coaxing my ridiculously skittish muse back to the page.

all time favorite ship? Truly, no idea. There's so many ships (romantic and platonic) that just fill me with joy. I love, love stories and I love to break apart a character and see how they'd react under different circumstances, with different motivations. It's fun. I will say the only ship art I have on my walls (so far) is pacrimau!ghoap, and johnlock.

what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? There was a Scheherazade fic I had wanted to write but it ... well. Sometimes when you spin stories with other people, the story ends up reminding you too much of that person and you don't wanna write it anymore.

what are your writing strengths? I have no idea. I think I'm most pleased with when I succeed in showing you the emotion in a moment without saying "He was sad." Oh! I am also quite proud of how practiced I have become in writing characters without using any pronouns (or epithets, thank you) for them. I have two characters (one OC, one ... rare char that's basically an OC) that prefer their name, and it's given me a lot of practice. It makes me happy. I prefer my name, too.

what are your writing weaknesses? Tenses.

thoughts on dialogue in another language? Get over it, nearly every browser has translate abilities, no matter how remedial they may be. If it makes sense, if the character does and would switch, do it. Especially if that language is important to the story or the character itself. However - uerhg. Sometimes it's really, really jarring when people use the language in ways that bilingual people just don't.

first fandom you wrote in? Witcher. My first fic was this one: The Viscount . I've considered going back to fix it up but.... tbh? Nah. Let it live as it was birthed. I wrote that 70k monster in ... 12? days. There's bound to be errors.

favorite fic you've written? Essea Eate, probably.

Now for tagging... @jayofolympus-writes, @major-trouble, @frenchkey, @on-a-lucky-tide, and my beloved @hungarianbee. (Only tagging 5 to give the rest of you people to tag lololol

[clarawatson]

It Only Takes a Taste

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [Fem]!Reader (GN pronouns, fem coded stuff, but I’m not sure where this is going as a larger work so we’ll say Fem!reader to be safe) Summary: You work at a diner. Aaron Hotchner falls in love with you. We’re not kidding around trying to make us all sound like profilers, just accept the diner life, we love it here. W/C: 1498 Warnings: none yet!  A/N:  First chapter of that diner!au i was talking about here! AO3 ps. I forgot to tag people, so: @willowrose99 & @genevievedarcygranger my beloveds. If you want to get added to the tag list jump in my inbox and i’ll try to remember to add tags every time i post. Where am I in this series?  01 | 02 | 03 | 04 |

~

When you first meet him it’s 5am and raining. You’re switching over shifts for your friend, Rita, because she’s been doing night shifts at the diner. This late into her pregnancy she shouldn’t be working, not technically, but she needs the money and she’s got insomnia because of the baby, so she works nights now. There’s always someone working with her, be it Joe (who’s got far too much muscle for a chef) or Lola (who can beat anyone to a pulp with a pie tray). In the early hours of the morning a bunch of tatt’ed bikies come and sit and talk about their extracurricular activities (definitely not legal) because one time there was an armed hold up and the police didn’t turn up until two hours after it had happened. People don’t like holding up a diner full of men who eat their own motorbikes for breakfast.

But when he comes in, he’s not any of them. He’s not even one of Lola’s nightly hook-ups (she needs the money, you don’t ask). He’s too well dressed in a grey suit (or is it black? Maybe it’s black), trying desperately to shove his I.D. badge in his pocket. He has a look about him that says ‘I’m part of one of the alphabet soup agencies’. A smile on his face, dead in the eyes, and the weight of the world on his shoulders. He fumbles with his wallet as he squints to read the menu behind the counter. The rain’s stopped dripping from his hair, instead he’s got droplets like his woken with the morning dew upon him.

“Hi love,” Rita coos as she hangs her apron up. She has a look about her that says she’ll eat this man for her breakfast. It’s an effort not to curse those pregnancy hormones some days.

“Go home,” you tell her, swatting her arm. “Put your feet up, rest, sleep while the baby does or some shit.” Rita sticks her bottom lip out and pouts, but she’s making grabby hands for her purse, which is stored where the tea towels used to be. Far too high to reach even when one’s not pregnant. You grab it down for her, ignoring the showering of thank-yous.

The new guy (who is getting more and more handsome by the second) is still looking at the menu. He doesn’t look like he’s going to stop looking and order any time soon.

“Are you sure you’re fine to take the metro in this weather?” you check. She’s rubbing her swollen belly and looking longingly at the booths that haven’t had anyone sit in them for hours now. 

“Wait forty-five minutes and I’ll take you!” Joe yells. He’s slaving over something in the kitchen even though it looks like no one’s ordered in hours. “Wife gave me the car ‘cause of the storm!”

“Forty-five,” you repeat and point her towards the seat that she’s been eyeing off. Rita sighs, nods, then goes out to the seat. “What can I get you?” Usually when addressing the customer you’d add something gentle like ���sweetheart’ or ‘love’ or ‘dear’ because the customers like it and they come back because they think you’re treating them like a long lost friend.

He bats his dark eyelashes and rubs at his forehead.

“I don’t know.” He sounds tired, balancing on the very edge of exhaustion. He might just fall off into a pit of sleep that he won’t wake up from. Been there, done that. “Do you guys do coffee?”

You laugh and point to the brewed pot beside you. There’s one for each table, free refills with a pie purchase. It’s written in decorative lettering right above you on the blackboard.

“We can put it in a take-away cup. It’s before six so it’s free anyway,” you offer. The last bits a lie, but Joe doesn’t care about a cup or two of coffee going missing. He’ll catch it up later when he flirts with all of the mom’s coming through after school drop off. The new guy nods and pulls out a ten dollar note and shoves it in the tip jar. You raise an eyebrow at him, but he nods anyway. He’s like a broken bobblehead.

“I know.” He goes to the sweets display and searches through it like he’s looking for something specific. Maybe he is. You’ve not seen him in the diner before, and neither has Rita, but maybe he’s one of Lola’s regulars. Maybe you’d judged him wrong. 

“Anything caught your eye?” you ask, leaning over the counter as if you could see it from his angle too. Maybe you do it to show off just that little bit of cleavage. He notices, then looks like he’s done entirely the wrong thing as he licks his lips and blinks like a school boy.

“S-sorry,” he stammers, and Rita giggles. You point at her and give her a stern look, but she just puts her hand over her mouth and lies down on the seat. She’s still silently giggling because her belly keeps bobbing above the table. 

“I just…” he has that exhausted look on his face again.

“Long day at work?” The answer is always yes for the people who work at the alphabet agencies. He nods. “Take a seat, grab some coffee, take a minute. It’s only just gone five, you’ve got time.” 

He nods. He looks like he’s gotten his words all mixed up and they’re just sitting in his mouth, refusing to leave. Tongue tied doesn’t exactly encapsulate what looks like is going on inside his head. He sits at one of the chairs in front on the counter, and takes the coffee cup gratefully as you pass it to him.

He’s definitely an alphabet soup man. He sits in this weird stance like he’s countering his weight against a gun. His shoulders are hunched forward as if he spends hours a day doing paperwork. He’s got a nervous twitch in his hands like sitting still is only going to bring the next case.

You think about making a joke about turning on the cellphone jammer, but last time Joe made that joke the whole place ended up swarming with cops. Absolute disaster. No one’s going to do that one again. 

“Cherry, berry or apple?” you ask, grabbing a plate.

“Sorry?”

“Cherry, berry or apple?” Rita repeats from her booth. “For the pie, sweetheart.”

“Uh, I didn’t—“

“Eat it,” Rita growled. You pull a face at her even though she can’t see you. The guy smiles.

“Apple, please.” Well mannered. Sweet. He looks elated as you slide the apple pie to him and hand him the canned cream.

“Not as good as fresh, but it’s better than nothing.” 

He puts a generous amount on his plate. You half think he might like it more than proper cream. Rita leans up just enough to look at him as he digs in, fanning herself playfully before sighing and collapsing back down.

Joe brings out his tray of caramel salted cookies. They’re thick enough to look like cakes with a gooey caramel center, and they usually sell out pretty quickly. The new guy watches them intently.

“How much trouble am I going to get into if I give those to my son?” 

“How old is he?”

“Ten.”

You smile. That’s a good age. “How much do you hate his teacher?” 

He considers this with a gentle tilt of his head. “Not a lot. I’ll give it to him after school.” He pulls out his wallet again and Joe looks like he’s just hit the mother lode as he grabs one of the cardboard boxes. 

“If you really want to spoil your kid, y/n here can write really pretty on top.” You glare at Joe. He shrugs. He’s covered in cake batter and cookie dough, and smells like pancake batter. He’s always smelling sickly sweet, and like a well lived in home, despite looking like the living embodiment of Gaston. “She does it for my wife all the time.”

The handsome man’s phone buzzes. He checks it, then shovels the rest of his pie in his mouth like a starved man. 

“I have to go,” he says. He gives Joe another ten and tells him to keep the change. Joe looks like he’s about to break into a song and dance. You pour a fresh cup of coffee into a take-away cup and slide it across the counter to him. He thanks you a thousand times over then goes. With his cookie.

“Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?” Rita screeches the moment the door shut with it’s little jingle. “I’ll-show-him-my-cleavage-but-I-won’t-ask-his-name?? No wonder you can’t get a date!”

“I’ll do it next time.” Not that there’s ever a ‘next time’ for these alphabet soup agents. They’re always looking for the next place to go to so they don’t have a ‘regular place’ that can be ambushed. 

But in a perfect world... you’d see him every day.

[girl-with-cat-eyes]

Paperwork

 Part 3 of the Reba au. Pat one and part two.

Summary: The weekend comes and Janus deals with paperwork, one-night stands, and meeting his ex-husband's new boyfriend. 

A/N: So I went on a vacation to see @forever-forgotten-angel and took a break from writing. But I'm back and writing! Special thanks as always to @amazon-me-bitches and my qpp @forever-forgotten-angel for beta reading this fic! And now, without further ado, my fic.

~

When Janus woke up on Friday things seemed almost normal. He dropped Emile and Remy off at school, Patton agreed to pick them up. Virgil had ridden with Thomas, which meant that Janus didn’t have to worry about any pickups today. That was good, considering he was working late. He had a trial coming up in two weeks, a factory worker who’d been injured on the job due to company negligence of machinery. Janus had been happy to take the case. 

 Of course, it meant that he wasn’t leaving the office until 8 PM. Janus yawned as he left the office, ready to get home and sleep. It would be lovely. A full night’s worth of sleep and then the weekend. Not that he wouldn’t be working of course. But his home office was far superior to the one he had at work. Maybe he’d take the boys out for a picnic if he had time. That would be nice. Emile had been wanting to go to the park and see the ducks before it got too cold. They could feed the ducks.

Janus was interrupted from his thoughts by a loud clang. He reached for his pepper spray, better safe than sorry. There were clangs, seeming to come from a dumpster next to the parking lot. It was most likely a raccoon but Janus wasn’t taking any chances. He began quickly walking to his car, eyes trained on the dumpster the whole time. He was halfway to his car when the source of the noises showed itself.

 Janus prided himself on his eloquent speech but all he could find it in himself to say was, “What?”. Brilliant Janus, just brilliant. 

 It was a person, taller than Janus. They had dark curly hair from what Janus could see, and a mustache as well. They held a possum in their arms. Janus blinked, “What did I tell you about running off Tallulah? You’re not going to find any tasty treats in a law office’s dumpster. We have to go to taco bell for that. The only thing you’ll find in there is paper, office supplies, and-”, they looked up and made eye contact with Janus, “And the sexiest man alive.”

They’d ran up to Janus before he had a chance to react, “Hello sexy. Are you a lawyer? Because it’s illegal for someone to be as sexy as you are.”

 “Sorry about that. I tend to get over-excited.”, they offered a hand out to shake, “I’m Remus. He/him pronouns.”

“Janus.”, he found himself saying, “He/him pronouns. What exactly were you doing in the dumpster?”

“How dare you insinuate that Tallulah is merely a pet. She is my baby.” 

 “Oh! Tallulah here thought she could get snacks in that dumpster over there so I had to get her out.”, he held up the possum in his arms.

“Right. And Tallulah is your pet?”

 “Well, it appears your baby wants to eat office supplies.”, Janus reached out to pet the possum in question,  scritching her ears. He smiled as she leaned into the touch. He smiled at the sight.

 “Believe me she doesn’t want that. I’ll take her to taco bell. She enjoys their burritos. You’re more than welcome to join if you want?”, it was a stupid idea. They’d just met, Remus was a total stranger. He could be a serial killer for all Jan knew.

 Message sent to Patton at 8:23 PM.

 “Hey Pat, don’t wait up for me. I’m gonna get take out on the way home. Make sure Remy’s homework is done before he plays on the Switch.”

 ~

Taco Bell, Janus thought, was best enjoyed at night. They’d gotten fast food and now sat out in the parking lot, a feast of fast food laid out before them. He watched as Tallulah happily ate her promised bean burrito. It was nice, relaxing even. Janus smiled as he watched, “So how does one end up with a pet possum?”

Remus grinned, “I birthed her from my womb.”, seeing Janus’ unamused expression he turned serious, “I rescue animals. She was rescued from an exotic pet dealer. She can’t be rehabilitated into the wild, unfortunately.”

“I see. She’s very sweet.”, Janus continued petting the possum in question, “So what do you do with your time? Besides rescue possums and climb into dumpsters of course." 

 “I’m a midwife actually.”, Remus grinned. Janus looked over to where he had unhinged his jaw to deepthroat his burrito like a snake. He waited for Remus to finish before speaking. 

 “A midwife?”

 Remus nodded, “Yeah. I make bank. Which is nice cause it means I can foster lots of animals.”, he continued deepthroating the burrito.

 Well, that was unexpected. Janus stared at the man in front of him delivering babies and truthfully he couldn’t picture it. Remus seemed more like the type of person to go into a job that didn’t involve babies. He seemed more likely to own a demolition derby, “You don’t seem like the type. Can I ask a dumb question?”

 “Sure.”

 “Well, it’s not a question. I just didn’t know men could be midwives.”

 “It shocks a lot of people actually. Most people don’t think women would be comfortable working with me.”

“I’m guessing that’s not true.”

 “I work with trans men mostly. Having a trans midwife is reassuring. I know what they’re going through. And sometimes cis midwives can be judgy.”

“You’re trans?”

 “Is he?”

 “Yep.”

“Well then.”, Janus took a bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully, “My son’s pregnant.”

 “Yeah. It’s been super stressful because he’s 17.”, Janus sighed, “How much would it cost for you to work with us? Any resources would be helpful.”

 “For you? I’ll do it for free. I know all too well what it’s like to be a pregnant teen. And I think you’re cute.”, he winked and Janus felt his face warm in a way he hadn’t felt in years. 

 “You- you got pregnant as a teen?”, he forced himself to get out. Remus nodded and for a brief second Janus thought he saw a tear in his eye. 

 “Yeah but I miscarried. Lack of resources and all. So now I make sure that no one else has to go through what I went through.”

 Message sent to Patton at 11 PM

 “That’s amazing. You have to let me pay you though.”

“I told you, helping a cutie like you out is payment enough.”, he leaned forward, “I wouldn’t mind a kiss though. That is, if you’re agreeable?”, Remus leaned forward and Janus could smell his cologne. The warm, spicy, citrus scent drove him wild. It was like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring at the abyss below. And Janus was happy to fall.

 Don’t wait up for me. I’ll be back late.

 ~

Patton Picani-Hart had never been a morning person. Sure, he wanted to be; but late nights at the restaurant and his sleep schedule meant that he had trouble pulling himself out of bed in the morning. It also meant he could barely function without at least three cups of coffee. He was currently standing in front of the coffee maker, staring at it as if he could will the coffee to brew faster. 

 It had been a long night. Janus had to work late, which meant it was up to Patton to pick up Emile and Remy from school and drive them home. Luckily Virgil and Thomas had agreed to watch them because then he had to rush back to the restaurant for the dinner shift. He got back by 11 to all of the kids asleep and leftover greek food waiting for him. He’d been so tired that he’d eaten the food and fallen asleep immediately, never seeing the message he had from Janus.

 He hadn’t seen it until the morning when he awoke to Emile sitting on his chest asking for food. A quick check of his phone revealed it was 9 am and Janus had stayed out all night. So Patton did the only thing he could do; he got dressed and went downstairs to make breakfast.  Six breakfast burritos later, and he was beginning to wonder where Janus was. Clearly, he’d had a good night if he was gone for this long. At least he hoped it was good. Regardless, it was good for Janus to start exploring romance again if he was ready. Hopefully, the relationship would be good for him. He couldn’t wait to hear the details. 

 Patton was considering calling him when there was a jingle of keys at the front door. Janus walked through the door. His hair stuck out in multiple directions, his suit was unkempt, and Patton could see multiple hickeys on his chest. It had been a good night after all. He handed him a cup of coffee, “Good morning. Looks like you had a good night.”

 Janus blushed and Patton knew exactly how good of a night he’d had. He grinned as he watched the man in question try to come up with an excuse, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”, his ex may have had a silver tongue, but that all went away when he was flustered. 

 “I’m not mad. You seem to forget that we’re separated, soon to be divorced. Going out is healthy.”, Patton handed him a plate of food with a smile, “So who is he?”

 “His name is Remus and we met last night. He’s nice. I invited him over for dinner Tuesday night.”, Patton frowned. Having a one-night stand was one thing, heck dating was fine. But bringing this guy around the kids after one date didn’t seem like the best idea. 

 “I support you dating Jan, but don’t think you should date a little bit longer before bringing him home. Virgil won’t mind but it might confuse Emile and Remy.”, it was the truth. The boys would be confused if Janus introduced them to a new boyfriend and then it didn’t work out. Best to wait until it was serious. That was what Patton had done.

 Janus blinked as if it was a new idea to him. “Pat, I’m not introducing him as my boyfriend. He’s a midwife. I invited him over to meet Virge. I thought it might be a good idea to have a midwife as well as an OBGYN.” 

 Patton sighed in relief; he didn’t want to sound like a jealous ex, especially when he’d been the one to ask for the divorce. This Remus coming over as a midwife was different though. And it meant that he wouldn’t have to worry if the kids would be confused. Speaking of the kids, Emile ran in at that moment, practically bouncing in his shoes, “Is breakfast ready yet?”

 ~

 Janus smiled at their youngest, picking him up and balancing him on his hip, “Yep. How about you go get your brothers and then we can eat.”, Emile nodded and ran off as fast as he could. Janus nodded and went to leave the kitchen, “I should go change.”

Pat nodded, a thought coming to him, “Virgil wanted to come to help me prep for lunch rush today at the restaurant. Could you pick him up before the dinner rush? I don’t want to stress him.”, Janus nodded before leaving, leaving Patton alone to wonder what this Remus was like.

Janus hummed as he drove to Pat’s. He’d spent most of the day in the office today, getting caught up on his paperwork. He’d promised to take the boys to the park tomorrow for a picnic, which meant he had to get it all done today. Thomas had luckily agreed to watch Remy and Emile once Pat and Virgil left to prep for the day, giving Janus ample time to work. 

 Soon 5 o’clock came around and Janus was leaving to go pick up Virgil. He was sure that Virgil would be ready to go home. Janus had seen just how busy the restaurant could get during the dinner rush. Virgil may have wanted to be a chef, but he wasn’t ready for that. Especially right now.

 He pulled up behind the restaurant, parking in the employee parking lot. Inside he could see the kitchen was a flurry of work, prepping as much as possible before it got truly busy. Waving to the kitchen staff, Janus headed to the back office where he knew Patton would be finishing paperwork before he went to go work in the kitchen. Virgil would most likely be in there with him. Only he didn’t see Virgil when he entered the office. 

 Patton stood in front of his desk, kissing an unfamiliar man as if his life depended on it. Janus blinked before realizing this must be the Logan he’d heard about. He quickly realized he was staring and, unsure of what to do, coughed to announce his presence. Patton jumped and turned around, Logan blushing and looking down. 

 “Janus, hey, what are you doing here?”, Patton looked flustered, like they weren’t divorced, “This is Logan, I told you about him.”, behind him, Logan nodded, still blushing too much to properly speak.

 “Nice to meet you, I’m here to pick up Virgil. I said I’d be here at 5, remember?”

 Pat’s eyes went wide, “Is it 5 already? I need to go get started in the kitchen.”, he moved away from Logan and ran to put on his chef’s coat, “Virgil was taking inventory in the fridge. Janus nodded and left the office, hearing Logan saying he should get going as he left.

 He did in fact find Virgil in the freezer, stocking ingredients and taking note of what was low. Upon seeing his dad he handed the list to a cook before standing up to leave. They got to the car, Virgil getting in, and Janus was about to when he heard someone call his name.

 Logan stood in front of him, looking made together and not at all how he looked when Janus had seen him earlier, “Yes?” 

 Logan took a deep breath before speaking, “I just wanted to apologize that we had to meet like that. I wanted to meet you and the kids properly, not having you walk in on me kissing Patton goodbye.”, Janus nodded in understanding.

 “It’s fine. Patton and I were separated before you two started dating. Just treat him right. We may not be together anymore, but I still care about him. He has a good heart and I don’t want to see that heart broken.”

 “I never want to hurt him.”

 “Then we’ll have no issue. Goodbye then.”, Janus got in the car, giving the man a wave before driving off. He turned to Virgil, who was listening to music next to him, giving him a tap on the shoulder.

 Virgil looked up at him, taking off his headphones before speaking, “What’s up?”

 “How does Indian sound for dinner?”, Virgil nodded and Janus set off to get take out. There was a few moments of silence before he spoke again, “Virgil, you don’t mind if your father and I date again, right? I mean date people that aren’t each other.”

 Virgil shrugged, “It doesn’t bother me. You two are getting a divorce, dating seems to make sense. And I know you’ll both always be here for me and Remy and Emile.”, Janus nodded, comfortable in the fact that he knew at least one of his kids was ok with him dating.

~

A/N: We finally meet Remus and Logan. All that's left is Roman, who will be in the next part.

 Disclaimer: Possums are not pets, they are wild animals. Furthermore, I do not know their diet but I'm taco bell isn't part of it. Tallulah is a magical possum and real-life rules do not apply to her. Do not inbox me saying possums don't eat bean burritos. 

Besides that, I'm taking prompts for this verse, so if you have prompts send them in! I'd love to see your hcs for this au. And as always, if you like this fic, leave a comment. Thank you for reading!

[roxzania]

My Wisdom

So, I get asked quite frequently on my LGBTQ+ Roblox Community about a lot of LGBTQ+ stuff. It's kind of awesome to help people out on that platform, but also a bit risky since you can (and most likely will) get banned for saying positive things about the LGBTQ+ community. People who tend to say bad things are less likely to get in trouble compared to the people who are sending positivity, making avatar accessories, LGBTQ+ friendly "experiences", and so on. Overall, the outcome of the staff being really anti-LGBTQ+ (and I still have the emails telling me I cannot upload LGBTQ+ flag decals and accessories) has put a damper on my mood for the past few months. And in spite, I turned my old avatar accessory stuff into IRL merch. So they can suck it! | My DNI List | (mobile version)| With that said, I have quite a lot of questions from the group which is about 600+ people now. Still growing and lots of questions almost weekly, and really good questions that I wish I could explain more about. So... this is kinda what I'm going to do here. This is a butt load of Q&A;

I get this question quite a few times: What spectrum or umbrella is genderfluid classified as? Genderfluid can fit under many umbrellas and spectrums because of how fluid it is. The majority of the time, it's mostly labeled under the Transgender, Nonbinary, and Multigender umbrellas and spectrum. But it can include various other umbrellas/spectrums, including Agender, Xenogender, and Demigender (possibly even more) depending on how an individual feels about their gender identity. Of course, since it's a part of so many it can be considered on its own in a way. Again, it's all up to the individual, since everyone experiences it differently.

"If I went from demiromantic to akoiromantic in the span of a few weeks, and I sometimes feel less romantic than other times, would that be Aroflux?" Aroflux is when someone fluctuates across the aromantic spectrum and sometimes even into the alloromantic spectrum too. So, if someone were to feel their romantic attraction fluctuates mostly on the aromantic spectrum, Aroflux would be a term to describe that feeling. And it never has to be the entire aromantic spectrum, it can be specific terms or feelings instead. But I wholeheartedly recommend doing research on your own to figure out if you really identify with Aroflux or any other term. Sometimes reading through the aromantic spectrum list helps people.

"Is it normal to have multiple orientations?" Yes! And it's very valid! When most people think of multiple orientations, they think of the different attractions. For example, someone being Biromantic and Asexual. Or Demisexual and Lesbian. But you can also have multiple terms for the same kind of attraction! You can be mspec lesbian or mspec gay, those are valid (don't believe anyone who says otherwise)! People generally use multiple orientations to fill in the gaps one term may leave for them, as not everyone has the same definition or feeling for a term. The difference should be respected because it's important for some people and that matters the most!

"do you have any tips on coming out?" I've only come out to my closest family and all my friends pretty much know beforehand. But I know it depends on who you're trying to come out to. And age sometimes matters (like if your young and under guardianship still), because it's not very safe for youth to come out when their guardians are hostile towards LGBTQ+ members. Even though, I dislike letting people have to hide or feel fear of the idea... I do want to look out for people's safety. I don't want people to get hurt in any way. And sometimes waiting to come out is a better option. If you know your family is conservative, be a little cautious. Think about your plan of coming out. Maybe ask questions to get an idea of what they think about LGBTQ+. For example; "Do you know what Pride Month is?". Sometimes that sounds like your seeking answers to curiosity without outing yourself before you know their thoughts. I know a bit from experience, cause I'm still waiting to come out and some of my family is conservative. This is sort of my plan to work up the courage and know it's safe to come out to them. And as someone older and still hearing what family says, it sounds a lot different once you understand what they're talking about.

"I have been in the Nonbinary umbrella a while and I kinda think I am still a girl but I am not sure since I don't like the girl title on me..." It's up to the individual in the end. But also, pronouns do not equal gender. And gender does not equal physical appearance. So, if that's your main concern you are still valid no matter what gender identity you identify with. Dress how you want and use the pronouns that make you comfortable! But if you still concerned, I do again recommend some research. But there are many types of non-binary genders out there. You can even use multiple to define yourself! If it's an intensity fluctuation where you feel like a girl strongly at one moment but then not at all another moment, it could be similar to a Demigender. There's also Paragender, similar to Demigender which is to describe more of someone who feels more like one gender but there is still a small part of them that feels like another or a combination of others. But those are only two of the many many options out there! There are tons of genders that are feminine/female/girl-aligned, close but not quite feminine/female/girl, or even just a tiny bit feminine/female/girl-aligned, while also still being nonbinary in some way. Nonbinary is a rather large umbrella, so there is a big list to research and choose from!

This is a two-part question and I had a little help answering it with @orlan-the-sapphic on my group's wall. It was an awesome question and really interesting! "Can Demigirlfluidflux be a thing? Or am I just really indecisive? I'm really confused on which I am it's all mixed up for me" Orlan's reply: "I'm pretty sure it's possible. I mean there's already a term for Demifluidflux but without the girl or something female part. I mean you could probably make the term of the identity yourself if someone hasn't already if that's what you find for who you are or for others too". (I love Orlan's reply, couldn't have said it better myself). I definitely believe Demigirlfluidflux is a thing. I'd imagine it's probably a combination of Demifluidflux and Girlflux, or maybe Demifluidflux and Demigirl (possibly even all three?). I'm unable to find a definition for it, but it's probably similar to Demifluidflux but with female being static (stationary or main, not meant to mean strictly binary) gender alongside possible other genders and intensities. It would make sense since demigirl is a label based off of demigender but defines more of the female-aligned experience. But coming back to what Orlan said, if someone wants to they can make their own term. This might including making your own flag (whether it's a combination or completely new)! "I have another question... does Agenderfluix mean both fluid and flux with any gender? And if not is there a Agender term for being fluidflux with only demigirl and demiboy?" Agenderfluix, from my understanding, is mostly considered Agender however similar to how Fluidflux fluctuates in between different genders and different intensities. There are many ways for it to fluctuate and can experience many genders as it's a mixed term of Genderfluid, Genderflux, and Agender based off of the wiki page I linked. As for another term for Fluidflux, I couldn't find one with just demigirl and demiboy. I would imagine it's probably a mixed term like Agenderfluix. Maybe named something like Demibifluidflux? A mixture of Demigender, Bigender, and Fluidflux. It would be something I recommend searching up. If nothing pops up, again people can make their own terms to help identify themselves the way they want.

And last but not least; "Is it possible to just not identify as a gender? I find it annoying finding it out and I identify as Agender now, but I don't know if that will stick. My gender switches between most genders and then sometimes I don't identify as one..." That is a possibility and it's really up to the individual on how they want to identify or not identify. As someone who is Genderfluid, I often feel like this. Either I; switch between many genders, don't know what I am, only switch between certain ones most of the time, just don't want to deal with the hassle of figuring it out, or feel like nothing at all. There have been so many feelings about gender I've experienced over the past 4ish years of knowing I was Genderfluid, plus more before knowing (which was really confusing at first). And the thing about Genderfluid is that it's not always a broad spectrum. You can be specific genders throughout your entire experience, either fluctuate regularly or in the past. It happens to some people and that's okay! Sometimes it is just a hassle to call it something, so it's okay if you don't use a term. You don't need a label to be valid! Genderfluid is probably one of the broader terms to use when someone experiences a fluctuating gender. But there are of course many other types of fluctuating terms, including ones that describe intensity on top of fluctuation. Again (probably gonna say this a million times), something to look up on for yourself.

I found those questions rather neat to answer, plus I enjoy helping people out when I can. Remember; no matter if your identity or orientation changes over time, you're still valid! And you are the sole person in control of deciding who you are and how you want to label yourself (or even not at all)- Roxzania💙

[addictedtostorytelling]

What are your thoughts about 5x08 Ch Ch Changes episode? I was rewatching it recently and holy shit! I thought it was phenomenally written for an early 2000s TV show, especially when growing up and that just wasn’t a popular topic yet on the TV-scape. I really liked the ending scene that Grissom had in his office with a person from the transgender community about male oysters and how humans could’ve switched genders originally like nature and being one sex could be a mutation of evolution.

hi, anon!

thoughts after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

__

for what it's worth, my personal take is that while i feel like there are some things that episode 05x08 "ch-ch-changes" does very, very nicely (and particularly considering that it first aired back in 2004), there are also some parts that, in retrospect, have not aged well at all.

in general, i'm happy that the episode advocates for the humanity and dignity of the victims and adopts a largely sympathetic view toward the trans community. that it seeks to provide some education on trans issues (such as, for example, the vicissitudes of the medical transition process) is likewise a positive thing.

like you, i am very much a fan of grissom's speech at the end, as well as of the respect for the trans community and its members that he displays throughout the episode. i'm also very pleased that sara insists on using the correct pronouns for everyone involved in the case and even corrects others whenever they misgender someone.

that said, i am also disappointed that the episode still subscribes to some harmful stereotypes and tropes re: trans people.

while of course many of these ideas have only been broadly recognized as pernicious more recently, some of them should have been evident just in terms of “writing sense”—i.e., even if the writers weren't educated on trans rep and certain notions about writing trans characters hadn't yet been articulated or at least were not widely known outside of the trans community, they still should have been able to look at the story elements (the same as they would any other component of a script) and go, “oh, hey, by framing things in this particular way, i'm sending a negative message. is that something i really want to do here? no.”

in particular, i don't like that the episode, whether intentionally or not, seems to set up a dichotomy where trans characters who have fully medically transitioned and are able to “pass” are presented as being morally superior to those who are either unwilling and/or unable to do so.

for example, wendy and mimosa, both of whom present as highly femme, have medically transitioned, and are played by cis actresses, are presented as being “good” and even heroic, while mercedes and pink, who are portrayed as being more androgynous/masculine, have either not medically transitioned or have only done so partially (“above the belt”), and are played by trans actresses, are presented as being if not outright “bad” then at least morally ambiguous and somewhat untrustworthy.

meanwhile, mona lavalle, who has not undergone any kind of gender affirmation surgery, is cast in the role of the villain (and despite being played by a cis actress, has her supposed “masculinity” highlighted time and time again throughout the episode).

another thing i don't like is that the episode seems to take a very “biological essentialist” view on gender overall. while grissom, sara, and a few of the minor characters featured throughout the episode individually demonstrate some understanding that there's more to a person's gender identity than just their chromosomes and genitals, beyond them, most of the other characters (including many of the csis, techs, and cops) seem pretty set on the idea that “dna = identity.”

of course, particularly given the temporal setting of the episode, that even many of the “good guys” would be ignorant on this topic and say some really backward-ass things about it isn't necessarily unrealistic, so those parts of the episode, while disappointing in the sense that we'd all like our favorite characters to be more enlightened, do (unfortunately) track in terms of veritas.

however, what is much more glaring is the fact that the episode itself largely seems to espouse the view that trans women are actually men, underneath it all—which is a point it reinforces time and time again by its insistence on referring to trans characters by their dead names once their “former identities” become known to the protagonists, by perseverating on the pre-transition identities of the two trans victims (as trans critic eleven groothuis of the review site unstrung nerves points out, “the sequence in which investigators use a computer to de-transition wendy's image... mark(s) wendy's identity as artifice”), by emphasizing the supposed masculinity of “unsavory” trans women, etc.

it's not just that certain characters seem to disbelieve the identities of the trans characters but that the narrative itself does.

while the episode does get some points for casting trans people in certain of the featured trans roles, that most of the prominent trans characters are played by cis actors speaks poorly of the underlying sensibilities of the storytelling.

so does the fact that the ultimate “bad guys” in the episode—mona and her husband francis—turn out to be members of the trans community themselves.

that's the easiest way to tell this story: by keeping the violence “self-contained” and not making it a comment on society at large; just on the “subculture” in question.

ditto for how the episode sometimes succumbs to its baser impulses and “monsterifies” the very people it’s supposedly advocating for.

that scene in the storage unit presents some of the most gratuitously and disturbingly graphic images in the entire history of the series, which is really saying something, given that this is csi; it's an absolute horror show, much more so than is necessary to advance the plot or elicit sympathy from the audience.

still.

despite these flaws (and some of the others i haven't touched on here), i think that while this story is one that may not always keep its eyes on the ball, its heart is generally in the right place.

it counts for a lot that wendy is portrayed sympathetically and that the audience is made to empathize with her and mimosa.

it counts for a lot that the episode includes not just one but many different trans people and trans experiences.

it counts for a lot that even if not all of the characters behave as we'd like them to, the main protagonist of the show, known for being a wise and exceptionally reasonable person, closes out the episode looking straight into the camera and saying what amounts to, “trans people are people. their identities are valid.”

back in 2004, there wasn't a lot of trans rep on primetime television period, let alone (mostly) sympathetic trans rep, so to have this kind of story told on what at the time was the biggest show airing was no small thing.

looking back, the story is outdated in some ways, but as a historical piece, it's still significant—and it's frankly rather remarkable how forward-thinking some parts of this episode were.

that's my take, anyway.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[depths-of-hope-and-despair]

Inception

Aditi dragged her feet back to her room, flipping the light switch off and practically collapsing onto her bed. Typically, the dark haired girl would drown herself in alcohol until sleep found her, but after the emotionally exhausted rescue and reunited with those she considered family, she needed no help at all with falling to sleep. She could only hope for pleasant dreams and not one of her dreaded night terrors.

When her eyes opened, Aditi was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. An office room, complete with an expensive wooden desk, dark teal walls, motivational pictures and childish drawings adorning the scene, and a hollow empty window to her left. A therapist’s office, not that she was familiar with that setting whatsoever. 

In front of her, with legs propped up on the office desk, was an usual man, staring straight through her. He smirked like a beast eyeing its prey, two fangs poking out from his upper lip. An unnatural luminescent pair of pink eyes met an equal rival in Aditi’s own bright lime green.

“Oh, what a surprise. I didn’t expect a new patient at this time.” He claimed, his voice reassuring while his predatory gaze switched to an apologetic expression instead. “Certainly I can squeeze you in, I’ll take my break a moment or two later is all.” Swiftly, he wrote down a note in a small notepad nearby only to slam it shut eagerly a second later. Leaning forward with interest, his gaze met hers once again. “May I ask who you are, my child?”

Aditi stared back, blinking slowly at the aura of this new character. She rarely saw new faces in her own dreams. This was out of the ordinary to say the least. “... Aditi.” She answered after a brief pause, her eyes scanning the room and moving back to him. “Why am I here?” She asked bluntly, trying to keep her anxiety at bay. The things she didn’t understand immediately were the most unnerving.

The man dotted down the information in his notepad once more, his hand moving at a breakneck pace. “Can you tell me your age and preferred pronouns?” Aditi looked down, noticing he seemed to be drawing a small sketch of her face on the information sheet. Strange.

“Twenty. She/Her.” She informed, her impatience already taking hold and shining through her tone. Her foot tapped on the hard floor, hand gripping the arm of the chair she sat in adjacent to the man. “Are you studying me?”

“Do not be afraid, Aditi.” He glanced up at her, his fangs on plain display while smiling, noticing how tense she had become. “I am under oath. All the information you give to me shall never leave this office.” He assured, tossing the notebook aside after the information was filled in completely. “You must be confused. Usually my patients come here for our patented dream therapy. It’s quite the genius invention. People more than often cannot afford or barely have the time to seek out someone that can help them with their mental health, sometimes they are too young and their parents don’t allow it. This is where I come in.” Though his explanation was vague at best, he flailed his arms in such a flamboyant nature that Aditi would have almost been fooled that she learned something new. Almost.

“So...” Aditi began, folding her arms together, closing herself off with narrowed unimpressed eyes. “You are a dream demon then? One that offers... therapy?”

“You wound me with such a barbaric title like that, Aditi.” The man chuckled at her change in posture, gaze softening to become more sincere and reassuring. “I can assure you, there is no need to fear me. I am an educated professional. I even have a degree.” He nodded towards the wall where, surely enough, a college degree was laminated and hung proudly on the wall. 

The ravenette squinted at the paper hung on the wall. Albert, that was his name. “.... That is a degree in marine biology.” She informed him, flatly.

“Unfortunately-“ He continued with an easy smile upon his face, electing to completely ignore her comment. “I did not have time to prepare for your arrival, so we will have to make due with a shorter session today.” Aditi could hear the sound of a drawer roll open, the man in front of her now holding up a deck of cards. “How about we play a little game to break the ice? Draw a card, there are pictures on the cards, and tell me something out of your life that reminds you of the picture. I will even play along with you, so we both learn about one another.”

Aditi steeled herself, frowning. There was no use fighting this, it was a dream. A fantasy. Nothing here could hurt her. It could end quicker and painlessly if she played along. With that in mind, her hand reached out and picked one of the cards from the deck. Looking over the splotches of ink and the shape they made, an answer fell out automatically. “A syringe.”

Aditi pushed the card back towards him delicately, ushering him to take his turn. “The point of this game is to get to know one another? I don’t see how image association will help with that.” She commented cynically.

“Oh contraire. Image association games reveal a lot about one's character and psyche.” He corrected her, tracing the ink on the card with his finger. “One sees a bunny in a blot, another may see a terrible monster. It’s the most basic way to determine thought disorders and reveal the mindset of a person. It has been used since 1921.” He chuckled, putting the card at the bottom of the deck and pulling one himself, looking at the image was the first time he broke eye contact with Aditi, intense gaze now roaming over the ink while talking: “Thoughts. Memories. All of it are pictures projected in the human mind. And the same memory could look very different in another person's head. It’s all just.... a matter of perspective....”

“You talk quite a lot, don’t you?” Aditi remarked, blinking at him, seemingly almost amused by his bountiful amount of information on this topic.

“It is my job to talk a lot, Aditi.” He commented in return, finally giving his answer: “I see hands.” 

Aditi hummed, reaching forward and grabbing the next card on her own. Scanning over the ink sketch, only one answer came to mind. The lines of black ink could only register as the cold iron bars. “I see a cage.” 

He dotted down another sentence at her words, not commenting in the slightest, instead looking at the ink splotch she saw, a crooked smirk spreading on his face. A lot of the younger patients saw a hashtag in it. He couldn’t say he was tech savvy, he didn’t even have a computer in his office, but the thing he always saw was....

“.....I see a cage too. How fascinating.” His smirk softened, becoming a bit more genuine as he then wondered: “I’m sorry, but can I ask you a...personal question? You are free to stay silent of course, but you don‘t like doctors and hospitals, do you?”

Aditi watched as he sat down the card, noticing the slight softening in expression from him. It didn’t mean much, but it was a start. A small sign, if any at all. When he asked his question, her neutral glance faltered into a harder and closed off expression. “... hatred.” She corrected. “I do not dislike them. I despise them.” She stated matter of factly, with crossed arms, solidifying her mental barrier.

He merely chuckled at her response, putting a simple check mark by his earlier assumption written down. He put the card back on the used pile and drew a card of his own, his expression changing to a manic one as he stared back at the red eyes on the paper, informing her: “I see......dismemberment.....” He slid the card towards her, pressing: “It’s weird that a card like this would be in the deck, isn’t it? Not that there's anything wrong with it, it’s just....unique.”

While the design was unnerving, her eyes only narrowed in confusion. The piercing red eyes struck her, and reminded her of only one person. What did that one person represent to her though? It didn’t take long to give her answer. “Obsession.” She answered, sliding it back to him, and flattening her lip. “Strange? Perhaps for a typical therapist, but you are not that, now are you?” She retorted.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, my child.“ he responded, not deterred or caught off guard in any way at Aditi‘s question, but also not going to answer it. He put the card back in the deck, holding eye contact with Aditi. He had a general idea of what happened to her, but saying it would only agitate her, so he held his tongue. “But you aren’t quite the ordinary girl either, are you?“ he began, gaze sharp.

“I can see it in your eyes. You look like you‘re ready to rip me apart with monstrous extremities should I make one wrong movement.“ he laughed in an amused fashion, unfazed by the idea of potential death. “You are a very fascinating young woman, Aditi.“ The girl across from him fought back the urge to pout at his intrigue and not fear. 

He shook his head. “Unfortunately we will have to cut the session short for today, but I promise you that we will meet each other again. My prescription for this time....“ he slowly wrote a note, making sure it was readable, his pen leaving little red ink splotches. “Is to open up to a person you care about. Nothing severe, of course, only with what you are comfortable with. Like admitting you stole a book from their nightstand. Do you think you can do that?“ he offered her the note.

Looking down at the card held out, Aditi huffs. Her hand reached out, accepting the note. “.... Tch. I’ll open up as I please, Doctor.” She hissed back defiantly, not eager to accept his advice right away. See her again? What did that even mean? This was only a dream, and she rarely had recurring dreams. It is only a cryptic message, ignore it. 

Despite the dream ending, and continuing with her day in the living, she couldn’t stop going back to the advice. To open up to someone else more. That she would see him again. It drove her nearly mad. But... curiously, she ended up following it. In the process of her late night drinking session before bed, Aditi admitted to Iyabo about how she began drinking by force. Celia fed her alcohol to observe the effects on her body with a lack of the usual organs needed to digest it. To make her dependent on Celia in one more way, as a supply for her alcohol addiction. Of course, Iyabo didn’t know how to respond, and only tried to awkwardly comfort her before scurrying off to her room. Not much progress, but... the first step could be made from this, perhaps?

Not that Aditi remembered that step forward after passing out on the couch anyways..

[keiscait]

Hi! I just wanted to say from the match-ups I have seen that you are such a great writer! If it’s not too much I was wondering if I could get a living room and bedroom matchup for a male character. If both are too much, feel free to do one whichever one you feel like you can write better. I wanna do this anon so the emoji you can use for me is: <33

Info:

Pronouns: She/Hers

Personality: I am a very goal orientated person and I can become very hard on myself sometimes if I don’t achieve things as well as I wanted to. I tend to be quiet but not shy per say. I do not have trouble talking to people and making friends and I can become very outgoing but in the friend group itself I usually keep to myself. If I am comfortable with you I will make witty remarks and make fun of you in a playful friend banter kinda way but I would like to say I am a good listener so I can get serious real quick. I am really big on trust and I used to trust too easily and now I am a bit more closed off where it is a bit harder for me to trust others.

Relationships: When it comes to relationships, I believe in communication and I haven’t had a big problem with it in the past. I wouldn’t mind a small pda such as hand holding or a small kiss here and there but nothing over the top because you gotta keep the important stuff private ya know. My love language is quality time because I tend to be really busy once school starts and so making effort to see each other even through our busy schedules is really important to keep the relationship healthy.

Hobbies: I believe that you need a good balance between work and play though so some other hobbies I have are painting (acrylic and watercolor), baking, and skateboarding. I also listen to music everyday and watch like an episode before I go to sleep if I have school but binge watch on break. I also try to game a bit too like league, minecraft, and my switch. I also like hiking and runs in the mornings before class because it really clears my head and I used to be on the swim team but I don’t competitively do it anymore.

Bedroom: I believe I would be a switch that leans more submissive. However, I am really cautious to do anything because I need to trust them to be submissive. I would consider myself very open to different kinks and what not and aftercare is a must. I’m not super into degrading because I’m sensitive af. I just would want someone who is observant with me and my body as well as someone who helps me with my insecurities. Once I’m comfortable though I definitely become a brat. Just want someone who would manhandle but still tell me i’m the prettiest girl they’ve ever met hahaha.

Zodiac: Pisces (sun), Cancer (rising), and Leo (moon)

Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw

Future Plans/ Dreams: I am working to become a biomedical engineer one day to help make medical devices to help people. Right now I am leaning towards possibly doing physical therapy and making prosthetics.

Looks: I’m 5’6/5’7 and have a medium build. I am tan kinda like a honey color with black wavy/slightly curly hair that is about at my breast length. My eyes are hazel but mainly light brown and I have pretty big doe like eyes.

Sorry if it’s too much or too little but thank you so much! and I have such respect for writers so keep being you :) HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND STAY SAFE

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

Hello and welcome, my darling! So sorry for the long wait, and thank you SO MUCH for your kind words! (⌒‿⌒)❤️ Let’s get right to it then! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

I was reading your description, and I think the person I had in mind for you also fits your bedroom matchup!

Our lovely guest keeping us company in both rooms is...

(Runner up: Ushijima Wakatoshi)

Kageyama is a very complex character. He’s one of the few characters ever who we actually see slips back into his old bad habits every now and then, but is immediately remorseful and shows signs of him knowing better. He’s always striving for progress, and he understands more than others what it’s like to dislike your past self.

- Tobio here is somehow both incredibly observant yet so fricking DENSE

- I imagine that however it is that you two meet, he’ll be super formal at first. It’ll take a little while for a romance to build because he’s not used to opening up, and he’ll need to really trust the person for him to let his walls down

- however, as soon as you guys establish a friendship, he’d be drawn to you and how goal-oriented you are, especially since he is, too

- He’d take interest in you, notice all your little quirks, and would even find himself blushing whenever you playfully tease him

- Problem is, he has no fucking clue why HAHAH

- I love him sm but boy doesn’t know what it is to like someone

- Hinata would try to explain it to him and he’d just be like cr- cru--... c-CRUSH?? ...what is that?

- Man is in desperate need of wingman someone help him

- Anyway, once his friends get Operation: Get Tobio A Girlfriend in motion, he just turns into his pouty blushy self whenever he sees you

- The other boys will probably go overboard that he’ll be forced to take matters into his own hands

- The confession would be a damn mess but in an adorable way

- He’d 100% yell his feelings at you while pouting/blushing

- You’d have to shush him TBH 

- shush him with a kiss maybe? that’s a great way to shut him up ( 　･ิω･ิ)

- Kageyama_Tobio.exe stopped responding

- anyway I think he’d just be such a soft, protective boyfriend, especially since you’re kind of quiet

- You two would understand each other so well. He’d protect you and your quiet side, while you would help him be more relatable in order to make friends. It’s also perfect that you two are both goal-oriented, because then you’d be on the same page when it comes to co-dependence/independence. One would understand the other when it comes to pressure, deadlines, and hard work, and you’d just be super supportive of each other all the time

- I think you’re better at communicating than he is, so you may have to inform him a bit on how it should work between the two of you. He’d pick up on this really fast tho so no need to worry! Kags has got you ;)

- Dates would be really productive ones. Study dates, work dates, workout dates; anything that would be beneficial to your improvement

- Early morning hikes with Kags :’( beautiful

- He really appreciates that you’re not big on PDA because that puts a lot less pressure on himself to be someone he’s not. PLUS I imagine he’s the same as you, who really treasures the private moments between the two of you because you’re both so busy

- Once you guys have some private time, he’d take it as an opportunity to release all his pent up energy and emotions. He’d be so needy and clingy when he knows others can’t see

- ( 　･ิω･ิ) ( 　･ิω･ิ) ( 　･ิω･ิ) also u kno whassup when you guys finally get some private time ( 　･ิω･ิ) ( 　･ิω･ิ)( 　･ิω･ิ)

- I don’t think Kags is the very kinky type. He’d be a dom, but I don’t think the freaky stuff would really appeal to him, especially if it’s degradation, since the man worships you?? He’s just like... why tho 

- He may get into some stuff that emphasizes his strength, mostly how he grabs you and handles your body

- Picks up on your sweet spots really quick, and I imagine he can even deduce which parts are sensitive without you having to tell him

- Apologizes if he ever makes you uncomfortable :’( he’d just be SO tender and protective

- I don’t think he knows what aftercare is, or like the specifics of it, but I think despite that, he’d just naturally want to take care of you and check in on you afterwards. He’d ask if you’re okay, if you need anything, if you’re feeling any kind of pain, if there’s anything he can improve on. And he’d definitely scan your body for any bruises.

~

You were walking home from an exhausting day at work. 

There were more than a few setbacks today - an annoying coworker took credit for your hard work, your precisely detailed schedule wasn’t honored by others, and because of this, you weren’t able to have lunch. It was now 6:30PM. The rain poured as you waited at the bus stop. You were famished, soaked, and, quite frankly, so done with this day. 

You sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. You were so out of it today that you haven’t had the chance to check on your unread messages. Your boyfriend, Tobio, had left a few missed calls over the past hour, causing some worry. He didn’t usually call, given how busy he was all the time. You texted him first to check in.

You: Everything okay, bub?

K: Yes. Sorry about all the missed calls. Where are you right now?

Y: At the bus stop near my building. Why?

K: Which one?

K: Never mind. I see you

What? You whipped your head left and right, then saw your boyfriend’s figure standing a few meters away, umbrella in hand. He was truly a sight for sore eyes right now - he wasn’t wearing anything special, juts his usual tracksuit, but he was wrapped in a scarf and held a soft expression on his face. It was just the warmth you needed right now. He jogged over to you, closing the umbrella as he made it under the roof. 

“Hi love,” you started, “what on earth are you doing here?” A huge weight seems to have been lifted off of you.

He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around you, rubbing your body to give extra warmth. Pulling back, he took off his scarf so that he could wrap it around your neck. 

“It’s been raining all day but I noticed you left your umbrella at home. I was hoping to catch you before you left work so that you don’t have to walk in the rain.” You couldn’t help the smile that was erupting through the exhaustion. This felt like an all new Tobio. “I guess I was a little too late, I’m sorry.”

You shook your head. “No, don’t worry about it. Thank you for thinking of me, bub.” You allowed yourself to slump onto him, wrapping your arms around his waist. You felt him loosen up, strong arms making their way around your form. You looked up at him without pulling away. Your big doe eyes stared into his blue ones, totally sinking into each other’s gaze. He planted a small kiss onto your nose. It wasn’t normal for you to be so affectionate outdoors, but right now, it seemed apt. You scrunched up your nose in response.

Had it not been for the honking of the bus, the two of you could’ve cuddled in the rain for much longer, ridding each other of the lousiness of the day.

~

I hope that was alright with you, darling! Thank you so much for trusting me with your matchup. Hope you’re having a wonderful new year so far!! Please don’t hesitate to sit and have a chat with me anytime ❤️

Thanks for stopping by! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

[phantom-of-nrc]

Hello, I would like a Twst matchup (I am open to both student and/or staff) please. I’ll go by as 🌺 and my pronouns are she/them. Also I would like to remain anonymous.

I am an INFJ, Gryffindor with the DND moral alignment of True Neutral. My chinese zodiac is the Snake while my astrological zodiac is Gemini. My favourite colours are subdued pastels and neutral tones. My love language is quality time.

Appearance wise, I am 5'4 light-skinned filipino with a softened hourglass figure. I have a button nose and soft brown almond-shaped eyes. I have straight black hair that goes half-way down my back, but usually is tied up in a messy bun. I wear thin gold framed glasses. I tend to wear lose sweaters, black leggings and runners. Outfit wise, I go for the cozy academic look.

Personality wise, I am pretty reserved with strangers but with people who I am close to (which is pretty hard since I am quite closed off), I am more outgoing. I am quite witty with my responses and playfully tease those who I really trust. Even then, I am overall softer and gentler in mannerisms. Due to closed off nature I tend to listen more in a conversation, but I sometimes am quite chatty. Funnily enough, I have been described as ‘baby’ and 'grandma’ at the same time. At times I can be child-like because of how easily excited and happy I can get over the little things, but at the same time quite old because of the advice I give. I am quite tactile with people who I am close to. I am described as being super imaginative and creative. I am known to be very honest and willing to communicate with others. I also live by the saying “do no harm but take no shit”. I have also been known for grey morals because how I don’t judge or assume things about others. My energy level from day to day can switch from super productive to lethargic.

By nature, I am quite calculating and observant of people and my surroundings. I have a knack for reading people and acting accordingly. Sometimes I become manipulative if I am genuinely mad, which is rare. People usually approach me for advice, comfort or just as someone to talk to. Also, I have been known to be quite philosophical and super chaotic. On the other hand, I can easily get anxious, and become skittish as a result. Quite surprisingly I have a quite a realistic and borderline pessimistic world view. To note, I do struggle with my mental health because of my past, and as a result I deal with moderate depression and have scars.

My hobbies usually consist of reading, writing, sleeping, playing videogames (either story-based or strategy-based games) or just trying out new recipes. When its winter I love to go skating. Overall, I tend to want to learn about things in general, so I also tend to watch art vlogs or educational videos (Science-centric). Currently I am working on learning German in my free time. When I am alone, I tend to sing to myself. (my voice is suited for lullabies and soft jazz) (funfact: people have been trying to get me to join choir because of my voice)

I like softer things such as pastels, flowers, and nature. But I always have a love for the macabre. In the future, I am looking to invest in getting a large dog as a companion/emotional support animal. Currently I am working towards learning Environmental Studies. My favourite drink is Bubble Tea.

Thank you in advance !

ℌ𝔬𝔴 ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔢?

🗝 Is this an unlikely result? Who knows? The Snake zodiac and INFJ MBTI combination, you’re the woman that Dire Crowley needs. While you may have days where you tend to be lethargic, the productivity that comes to you on the other days is something that our ever-so gracious and hard-working headmaster needs. Of course he pays no mind to the days where you tend to be lethargic, the two of you could have some fun while the poor Ramshackle residents would have to deal with overblots— 

🗝 With your relationship, I do believe that it would be a slow burn, but once the two of you have finally gotten together, expect to be one of the quirkiest couples in NRC. Dire Crowley is someone who tends to be excited over certain things like vacations and events that would polish his and his school’s reputation. With you who’s also someone who’s easily excited, the two of you are basically the sunshine couple of NRC. How unusual considering Dire Crowley’s dark style, right? But alas, love works in mysterious ways, and not even Dire Crowley is immune to the spell that you have put him under.

🗝 In all honesty, I kind of see you and Dire Crowley as the couple who runs the campus together. He does need some help, after all. The fact that you’re observant and calculating is also a benefit if you don’t mind with helping Dire Crowley run the campus. If Dire Crowley ever dumps his work on you, do tell me and I’ll bonk him for you! Don’t worry though. There’s always Yuu and Grim for him to dump some duties to💖

🗝 Please tease him, his reactions would certainly be adorable! He’d be very flustered whenever you tease him, the students are basically standing there, watching like children having to watch their parents share a lovey-dovey moment. It’s inevitable for one of the students to say “Get a room.”

🗝 I envy this man’s ego confidence. Are you feeling anxious? Nervous? Don’t worry, your beloved Dire Crowley is here to save the day and give words of encouragement as the gracious lover he is! Isn’t he just the ideal boyfriend?

🗝 One word: Simp. He’s a simp for you. He’s simps for your voice, he might’ve cried over how peaceful you looked while you’re asleep, he cries while he simps for you.

🗝 Do you have any ideas on events that you’d like to take place in NRC? Just ideas in general? If you do, don’t hesitate sharing them with him! Oh? Are you writing? Curiosity comes and hits Dire Crowley! Would you like to come and spend some quality time with him? Would you like to go to a vacation with him?? Every experience is twice as fun with you! 

🗝 On the other hand, he treasures you dearly. Learning of your depression and scars, he’s going to make sure to find ways to help you, to bring a smile to your face and chase the memories of your past away with a relationship full of fluff and years of enjoyable NRC.

🗝 Even if Dire Crowley wears dark colors and you like pastels, it doesn’t get in the way of your relationship. In fact, it makes the two of you an even cuter couple!

𝔐𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤:

  Dire Crowley is a man who may have a knack for travelling. Currently, he was taking a vacation from handling his school as its headmaster. 

  Ice skating has always been something that the headmaster was curious to try. Considering that he, being the gracious headmaster he is, has been busy with his prestigious school. With the chance provided for him by the vacation, he could finally try ice skating. 

If only he wasn’t too excited to skate for the first time. 

  As soon as he attempted to glide across the icy rink, the oh-so graceful headmaster body flopped. It seems like this was the last thing that you have expected. Hastily trying to stop yourself from tripping over the headmaster’s body flopped body, gravity seemed to be feeling a little mischievous as you stumbled and landed on the headmaster. 

It seems that Dire Crowley’s eagerness to try ice skating have led to the discovery of a new chapter of your lives.

[leavetwn]

* KAYLEE BRYANT, CISWOMAN + SHE/HER  | you know SUZIE TANAKA, right? they’re TWENTY-ONE, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, EIGHTEEN YEARS? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to VALENTINE BY HOPE TALA like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole ROLLERSKATES SCUFFED FROM YEARS OF USE, STARTING A JOURNAL ENTRY TWO YEARS SINCE THE LAST ONE, A SIGH OF RELIEF ONCE YOU'RE FINALLY ALONE thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is NOVEMBER 28TH, so they’re a SAGGITARIUS, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( claire, 22, est, she/her )

it’s me again ! bringing a character who i’ve played for a while now, just switched up & such for every rp, and now , i’m bringin her here. :^) i hope you enjoy her as much as i do! tw: mentions of mental illness (anxiety)

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 .

full name: suzie tanaka. nickname(s): su, anything your muse wants to call her tbh. age: twenty-one. date of birth: november 28th. zodiac sign: saggitarius. gender/pronouns: ciswoman, she/her. sexual orientation: bisexual. romantic orientation: biromantic. hometown: san francisco, californio. current residence: irving, north carolina. occupation: part time waitress at cutie pie’s thanks to her skills on skates. full time student at the local college in her junior year as a creative writing major. she minors in film pro eye color: brown. hair color/style: dark brown, upper-mid back length & she usually just wears it in a simple ponytail. it’s more manageable when she’s out. however, when she’s at home, she’ll leave it down. height : 5′3″. clothing style: you can’t really put suzie’s style into one category. it’s inspired by several different eras & many times she pieces it together. some might call it a bit tacky at times, but she thinks it looks cute. to her, that’s all that matters. tattoos: none. probably could never attempt to get one cause she’s seriously afraid of needles lol. piercings: her ears and that’s when she was fairly young. reference the tattoos portion for reasoning.

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 .

when you were around six years old  , you first realized that you were lonely. it wasn’t like you weren’t around other people. it was just that those people were mostly your mom and dad. occasionally your cousins would come over sometimes, but they were all older than you by at least four years. your parents were kind of eccentric, and for that, they experienced how harsh other kids could be very early on. they decided they didn’t want you to experience the same things, so since both were felt they were prepared enough to do so, they homeschooled you to keep you sheltered from those types of things. 

you’re sure they had good intentions. that’s not something you questioned, but you wished they’d at least find another kid you could be friends with or have another kid. you found yourself bored by yourself, so you immersed yourself in things like books or whatever movies they had around the house. this is where your love of fairytales began, and you’d fantasize about living in one while you read or watched the stories unfold.

you lived in your head, and you still pretty much do. you’re an idealist, even though you haven’t seen much of the world. perhaps it’s the fact that you haven’t ventured very far from your home that makes you so, and while life could still be boring, you always had another book or movie to keep you company. you grew content being on your own, and the more that you were, the more you began to enjoy your own company.

that didn’t change the fact that you longed for friends. in all the stories you read or watched, the protagonist had one other person along with them for much of their journey. sure, you had people that you were friendly with, but it was never to the extent that you wanted. it was never a best friend or a close group  —  just someone you saw on few occasions. it also didn’t help how you felt when you were around others. the way you monitored every step you took, the way you crossed your legs, or going over the way you would speak to someone in your head over and over. you figured for the longest time it was because you were shy, but a diagnosis of anxiety gave you a lot more clarity and almost a sense of relief. those things started to make more sense.

being alone helped a lot when it came to academics. you spent a lot of your time studying or looking up random ass facts on the internet, and because of this, you’d call yourself fairly smart. you know your shit. it also helped a lot when getting into colleges. you didn’t aim too high though, not yet comfortable being all the way on your own. so, you chose the nearby university to attend. 

you move out. you’re excited, and your parents are nervous but prepared. they’re not oblivious to the fact that this day would come. you’re ready to go out and face the world, but most of all, you’re ready to make friends. you’re ready to go out and experience the world, every small step at a time. you’re convinced at college you’ll become a brand new person, find yourself, and make plenty of friends. 

it doesn’t go like that at first. of course it doesn’t. it’s a new environment, and it takes getting used to. but soon, people loosen up and warm up to you. you’re quick to make a couple of friends. it isn’t at all like the stories you’d read or watched when you were younger. it is happy and fun and joyous, but you realize that friendships take work. it’s a bit exhausting, as someone who had become such an introvert, but you manage and form close bonds. 

as of now, you are working on your degree and managing life one step at a time. you’re doing pretty well, and things are looking up. you keep your head in the clouds still to this day, imagining what the future will be like. you’re still idealistic and optimistic, not that that’s a bad thing.  

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 .

i was being exaggerative with the ‘being at home’ stuff rip. i mean, she did spend a lot of time at home, but she wasn’t always there. her dad would take her out to rockin’ and rollin’, and i mean, she fuckin rocks when it comes to skating. it was kind of freeing to her as a child. she def got a pair of rollerblades as a christmas present, and she probably was the kid skating down her neighborhood road and shit from sunrise until her mom told her to take her ass inside. 

maybe seems like she’s ditzy and she’s probably somewhat naive, but she’s definitely not stupid. she’s also a fast learner. she is, however, too nice for her own good. she’ll learn eventually, but she’s hopeful and an optimist at heart 💔

loves her dad but tells her mom everything. she doesn’t recognize it, but her mom was probably her first best friend lmaoo. they have a really good relationship. she has a good relationship with her dad too. he’s a bit more closed off than her mom, and she recognizes that but understands.

has an irrational fear that everyone’s like,,, staring at her & thinking she’s weird. really wants everyone to like her but she’s not sure how to make that happen (news flash, it won’t)

her fam is actually from san francisco but when she was 3, her dad got a better offer in irving so that’s how they ended up here. she knows this & she wonders what life woulda been like if she stayed back in san fran. probably wouldn’t have changed but she literally lives in her head and imagines shit like that’s her job at this point so yehhh 

dreams of being a screenwriter and maybe even a director one day. she saw how film and books influenced her life as a kid & she wants to have the same impact, yk? v cute to me i love that. maybe she’ll write a book one day too who knows

i’m feelin like she has a ton of online friends cause she was seeking connection /w people so it makes sense. shout out to all her online pals who kept her sane & shit, but it wasn’t enough for her cause she really wanted those kinds of things irl.

is a hopeless romantic rip to her. just wants someone to sweep her up off her feet and give her butterflies but this aint no damn fairytale so let’s make it chaotic

character parallels: lily (dash & lily, 2020) , amélie poulain (amélie, 2001) , belle in some ways lmao (beauty and the beast, 1991) more to be added.

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 .

*  friends, best friends, etc.  — literally any friends at all. this is the connection she craves the most tbh. platonic over romantic periodt ! she just wants people to braid her hair and have deep, personal convos with about literally anything while legally blonde is on the television. 

* a bad influence  —  i mean, she stayed inside mostly & is kind of an introvert. didn’t have tons of friends either, so she didn’t really have time to go to parties, etc. BE A BAD INFLUENCE SHE NEEDS TO LET LOOSE LMAOO. it’ll prolly take a lot to get her out but hey 

* good influence  — someone she’s a good influence on & who she helps in some way. i could see it happenin’. if you see it happening, i mean... hmu you know where i am mwah 💖

* crush  — someone she’s head over heels with. i mean, it probably wouldn’t take a lot. in my head she be catching feelings way too fast. it’s just a thing, but yeah, it could go either way. maybe your character is into her too or she’ll end up getting her heart broken which is lmao bound to happen one day. could also be someone who’s crushing on her but she’s way to busy focusing all her romantic attention on someone else to notice? idk i’m just here for all the plots.

* annoyance  — someone who finds her ass annoying/does not like her. she wants everyone to like her so it would be so confusing and upsetting and she would be like wtf did i do but i want it cause i love angst. sorry to all my muses out there luv yall but i’m just bein real

* again, anything at all  — if you have an idea that you love, pls don’t hesitate to hmu and lemme know. i promise i will 99.9% of the time be down. the same goes for any wanted connection doodads that i reblog like if u see it and ur like omg i luv that... PLEASE hmu i luv u all already & just wanna have plots and write with you srsly

[bruisedbell]

Hungry for the rush ( aching to be thrown in the ring ). 

 bio. || insp. || closet. || face. 

Character name: Katherine “Katie” Emery Bell

Age / Birthday: Beltane Babe—01 May, 1979.

Gender: cisfemale

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Katie is bisexual. She was taught to see the beauty of a person within as a child and has since applied that to all aspects of her life. She has no preference—instead she weighs on the depth and value of the person on the inside.

Occupation: Hit Witch within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. ** ( I love that all hit-wizards have their own assigned beds at St. Mungo’s. How ridiculously appropriate for Katie. )

Affiliation: Katie exudes positivity and always stands up for what she believes is right, so it is really no surprise she considers herself a beacon for the light.

3 Positive Traits:

Adventurous. Daring. Makes up her own rules as she goes. She neither asks permission nor for forgiveness, unless caught red handed. Life is a game and there are no rules, only victories. Katie is competitive in nature and intends to seize as many victories as she can. Carpe rebus.

Kindhearted: Generous. She loves to give—not receive. Katie would give the shirt off her back to someone in need and never expect a favor in return. There is nothing she wouldn’t do for the people she loves. She would travel to the depths of the earth if asked of her.

Resilient: Tough as nails. Like titanium, she does not break easily. She rolls with the punches and rides on waves of fury. Katie is mentally very strong. Quidditch has vastly helped her develop this fortitude. She is a lover above all else, but there is no denying the fighter that reels inside her. It goes hand in hand with her desire to always be winning, or achieving success in any way she can.

3 Negative Traits:

Distracted. Head in the clouds. Plucking shapes and painting stars the way she thinks they should twinkle. Dream on little dreamer, unmoved by the falling reality and fragility that comes from this life. Katie is detached and a bit impersonal at times, especially when she has no skin in the game. It’s hard to hide the vacant look in her eyes when her mind has journeyed into a far world of its own.

Overzealous: Dangerous enthusiasm. Questionable optimism. Lethal tools in the wrong hands. Katie often needs to be reminded to slow down her pace and release her death grip so they don’t become just that when in her possession. Her heart is usually in the right place, but she has the tendency to get in way over her depth without realizing it. Her high energy can be all-consuming and, if she isn’t careful, may drowned whoever gets in her path. It also doesn’t hurt to mention that too much positivity can be toxic, and Katie certainly teeters between dangerous boundaries.

Detached: Katie frequently finds herself separated from reality like she is just a fly on the wall, or a stranger peering through someone else’s eyes. Reality can be a tricky concept to grasp at times. She finds it easier to throw herself into perilous situations with that made-up wall built between her and whatever unknown obstacle the day holds. Originally a coping mechanism she established to help aid with the daily traumas of working in the DMLE, it has since become an increasingly alarming problem slowly tainting other aspects of her life too.

Headcanons.

Katie is often underestimated by those around her. Many say she is too soft; teased and called a princess by others. Her kindness is usually misinterpreted as weakness, but she weaponizes this misjudgment turning it into one of her greatest assets. She isn’t mad at anyone for calling her a princess because they aren’t necessarily wrong; her crown is simply set with daggers and claws versus jewels, and she intends to have it on display for all to see.

Olivia Bell nee Fraiser, Katie’s mum, is muggle-born witch. She married a muggle man named Rhys Bell shortly after graduating. She then began her career at HM Treasury just like her father did before her. HM Treasury is the UK Government’s economical and financial ministry maintaining control over public spending, budgeting, and other fiscal aspects. Public service has always played a vital role in Olivia’s life, and subsequently Katie’s life as well. She witnessed how important it was to her mother and eventually was inspired to lead into her own career within the Ministry of Magic for this exact reason.

Katie is an expert dueler. This is illustrated in Prisoner of Azkaban when she teaches Harry Potter the full body-bind curse (switching that to Neville feels very applicable in this setting though? ). She was in the dueling club for the majority of her Hogwarts career, which is where she first established a solid foundation to nurture her skills. She later joined Dumbledore’s Army during her sixth year when Umbridge briefly reigned over Hogwarts. Having an older brother who loved to torment her as a child also helped play a key role. Once they were at Hogwarts together, there was no stopping her from getting retribution. In fact, she started making an abundance of friends which came with unexpected connections in the form of unique pranks and other jokes to help further her crafty and scheming nature.

Katie is currently working on her ability to cast both wordless and wandless magic. She favors wordless magic. It comes much more natural and is far easier than wandless magic in her opinion, however, both are thoroughly trained and implemented throughout a hit-wix’s career as it aids in the secrecy of capturing their suspects. She is also currently studying occlumency and legillimency with her mentor and fellow hit-wix.

Katie is an expert baker. Strudels. Pies. Puddings. Cakes. Croissants. Macaroons. Alfajores. You name it, she can whip it up in a heartbeat. Baking is her comfort. The alluring aromas of brown sugar and vanilla wafting across her kitchen remind her of a quaint and happy childhood. Present-day, she consumes an irrational amount of sweets, but nothing in comparison to the heaps she has to throw away at the end of the week due to the fact that she simply cannot eat them all. She makes cute little burlap wrapped packages tied with colorful ribbons, which her senile owl Blazer delivers to all her friends… but there still always manages to be more dessert left on the countertop.

Katie is quick, not just on her feet but a broomstick as well. She is known for making fast getaways. A skill she takes great pride in.

The looming war and undeniable political tensions have been anything but pleasant for Katie, and the entire Bell family. Bellatrix Lestrange’s rise to political power was alarming from the beginning for the lot. Katie’s mum maintained a position within the muggle division of government. The muggle-born witch immediately feared for a worst case scenario for someone like herself, or her muggle husband and two half-blood children. One needn’t be overly creative to fill in those lines. Katie had held a position within the DMLE ever since graduating from Hogwarts. Her older brother worked with various quidditch teams across Europe. It’s in a mother’s nature to worry, but perhaps she had more reason and experience in doing so when all their lives were so intricately designed with such chaos. 

Plot ideas: Same plot ideas from the previous group. I want Katie to be confronted with unlikely challenges. I want to see her get involved with those she wouldn’t normally do so. She is everything radiant and positive, so her leaning toward the Order is too obvious in my opinion. I want to see her manipulated and forced into doing things she would have never thought only because there is the risk of losing something greater. Katie would do anything to protect her family and friends. Especially Fred. She has a savior complex. It goes hand-in-hand with her desire to fix people and things, even if a good handful of them turn out to be unfixable. I want to see the closest of friends push each other away and have incomprehensible falling outs because of the unspeakable circumstances and lingering tensions they’re affected by. War changes people and I am anxious to see how it sinks its claws into the vibrant and kindhearted girl we all know—and how maybe just perhaps it transforms her into someone entirely unrecognizable.

Bonus Material: Gryffindor quidditch power team dynamic, angsty!angst, darker threads with purpose and tangibility, lighthearted threads, friends comforting friends, rogue punches, and other comedic content.

[dear-hikikomari]

[READ ME; ASK RULES]

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Unless otherwise specified, all icons, promo images, sidebar images, and other artwork utilized in asks or the blog itself were drawn by the mun. Please do not repost it elsewhere or use it off the blog without asking me first. If you’d like to use it for roleplay icons or something I might be okay with that, but let me know and make sure to credit me somewhere. I do reserve the right to say no, though.

Please don’t reblog roleplay threads you’re not a part of.

Most of my content is a-okay for anybody to reblog, but I ask that ‘threads,’ (written interactions between two or more roleplay blogs) are NOT reblogged by people outside of them. This can mess with thread trackers and often is considered really rude to roleplayers, so be respectful of this boundary! If I see this happen, I will be coming to ask you to take it down. That said, liking a thread to show your support is 100% okay!

Crossovers with other ask blogs won’t be canon.

I’m open to doing little cameos and stuff like that with other ask blogs, but bear in mind that they very likely will not be canon to the blogs themselves; they’re just for fun and shenanigans. If you’d like to discuss trying something like that feel free to drop by and ask, I promise I don’t bite! I’m sure we can come up with something.

Some additional notes to keep in mind:

Remember that this Mari is specific to the Hikiko AU.

For reference, the Hikiko AU is an AU of my own design; it’s loosely based on Omari, but with some pretty significant tweaks and story changes. As such, these are the basics you should know; Mari is still alive here, 19 years old, and attending a Junior College a few hours away from Faraway Town. If you’d like to know more, feel free to check out the about and AU pages for everything that’s been revealed thus far! And if there’s anything missing there that you’d like to know… Well, you can always try asking Mari. Just keep in mind that this AU is quite a bit different from the canon timeline or classic Omari, and Mari won’t have knowledge of any of the events that didn’t happen in her world. Likewise, this blog is not affiliated with the Hikki or Omari projects in any way; honestly I can't even keep track of who it is that's actually making them, let alone be in contact with the creators.

This blog is not spoiler free!

If you haven’t played the game or know the story, I highly recommend doing so before interacting with this blog or reading any further. While there’s plenty of divergences, the blog also contains some parallels to pretty significant spoilers and will definitely give away some big twists. Omori is a pretty intense emotional roller coaster of a game so I definitely would suggest experiencing it for yourself if you can handle the content it entails. It isn’t necessarily mandatory to interact here, but will probably add to your experience.

Guest characters may pop up from time to time.

On occasion I might let other characters from the AU participate in an ask or pop up in art. That isn’t to say it’ll happen every time, but I figure that’s a fun way to switch things up– and possibly provide some details Mari herself might not be as keen on discussing. That said, I can’t guarantee that an ask addressing them will always make it to the intended recipient– that depends on how likely they are to be able to find it. But do feel free to try if you’d like! You might just learn something interesting in the process.

Mari is an unreliable narrator.

Much like Sunny in Omori, she’s not always going to be honest about what really happened or how she’s actually feeling. Her experiences aren’t always true to reality, often laced with hallucinations, delusions, and dissociation. After all, Mari is someone who strains herself very hard to maintain an image of perfection and stability– and that’s one thing which has remained a constant here. It’s going to take quite a bit of effort to peel back that mask of smiles.

Check here for the dedicated tags!

I have a handful of dedicated tags for different content; feel free to blacklist anything you don’t want to see. I also track the tag #dear hikikomari, so feel free to use that if there’s something you’d like me to see!

#asks - the answered ask catch-all. #threads - the roleplay thread catch-all. #main; dreaming of you - the tag for main ask blog content. #side; pure imagination - the tag for non-canon side content. #my art; through her eyes - mun art tag (posted or reblogged) #reblog; strange reflections - others’ art tag (promos and etc) #mun post; the music stops - ooc posts from the mun.

And now, meet the mun!

Hey, thanks for reading this far! Feel free to call me Timey. I’m 25, and use she/her pronouns. I’ve been roleplaying across various platforms since 2010, so this is just the latest in a long series of experiments; I’ve had this AU in the works for quite a while, so an ask blog felt like a fun and interactive way to share it with folks. Here’s hoping you’ll all enjoy it as much as I do!

[inventors-fair]

Lessons Unlearned: Short Story Commentary and Reflection

Well. 21 entries isn’t exactly a 50+ commander extravaganza, but that’s where we’re at. This contest made a lot of sense to me, in my own head, and I think I got lost in the concept without considering the full execution, or that Other People Might Not Think Quite Exactly Like Me. 

Still, I would say that almost all the entries created their own unique worlds, some plane-based, some personal, and it made for great and creative reading. I feel that something more concrete would help a contest like this in the future, like... Well, I’ll have to save that for another time.

Onto the commentary!

@abzanhero — Captain Morgan the Vengeful

The Card: It’s interesting design space you’re playing with here, and I’m actually a fan. You could pump him up to a 2/2 for a little battlefield presence, but it’s not out of the question. The fact that there’s not consistent graveyard tutelage means that he’s not as overpowered as he could be, and it’s only one counter, which... Admittedly, it’s powerful, but there are a few moving parts to make this less than incredibly overpowered. I’d rather the trigger happen at the end step for that “final fate” feel, personally. Minor templating: “shuffle it into your library” (only planeswalkers get personal pronouns), and I think contemporary design supports “when you do” as a trigger to respond to instead of “if you do.” 

The Story: Ha, it rhymes! ... And yeah, it doesn’t precisely explain the ins and outs of the curse, but it’s swashbuckling as hell. It’s one degree off-kilter to have a rhyme that isn’t part of a meta-tale, but I like it, so. I can imagine younger players doing their best pirate voice as they shuffle him (the character, not the card, I know, pedantry) into their library. Arr.

@dimestoretajic — Eternal Bond

The Card: I had to go through the Zendikar image gallery to make sure, but yeah, “party members” isn’t a term. I believe this card would read “Exile two target creatures in a party. (reminder text)” And it would be “combined” toughness, right? Either way, this is a hyperspecific and expensive removal spell, at rare, with a modest amount of lifegain. That simply doesn’t feel good, and I’m not getting a feeling of a “bond” out of, well, a removal spell. Let’s move on.

The Story: So, a kind of love story, framed around a removal spell? That already doesn’t make a lot of sense. I don’t have anything positive to say about the writing itself, so for Magic critique, I’ll say that it doesn’t feel like a Magic card or part of a Magic world, absolutely not Zendikar. There’s a time and place for those kinds of cards, such as Cathartic Reunion and Planewide Celebration. But Magic doesn’t need single-card love stories, unless they’re remarkably well-written.

@fractured-infinity — Baddon, Rivstalt’s End

The Card: Okay, that IS a real town in Innistrad. Had to check that. Anyway, man, someone would love to make a commander out of this bad boy. Kinda eh that he doesn’t do anything specific on his own, but the death effect is cool as-is, I suppose. The only issue is that HOO BOY you are going to have a LOT of memory issues with all your Zombie tokens capital Z. It’s flavorful and I think it would be worth doing, but the second part... Nah, keep it simple. 3UB, no protection, just Zombies, and you’re golden.

The Story: I’m having a really hard time parsing your writing. It took a couple reads to understand that he’s talking about... Well, actually, I don’t know. What do emotional bonds have to do with taking the town, or damaging the bodies? How does that work? Do we get that anywhere else in the story? Hate to say it, but this little snippet doesn’t really make much sense in or out of context, without heavy inference about the world that we don’t really get.

@gollumni — Tempest Serpent

The Card: I love the idea of off-color emerge! Emerge was a fantastic mechanic and I feel that it could come back again. It creates some really neat draft ideas that unfortunately may bend a lot of the pie rules. But also. A three mana 3/3 flying hexproof? That’s OP at uncommon, no question, good lord. Small templating note: Flying comes before hexproof, and the second should be lowercase.

The Story: I can just see the art of a guy on a boat cowering as the ship snaps in half and a massive stormy elemental electric snake monster BLOWS UP outta the ocean ready to eat him. It’s cool how it’s not about the serpent itself, but rather the human/NPC interacting with the serpent. It’s not Hemingway, but you conveyed something great! I liked this story.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Gravedigger of the Order

The Card: I don’t get how all these parts come together. Pro zombies, sure, she’s a zombie caller. The blocking/blocked trigger, uh, I don’t see that coming up a lot considering that she’s only a 2/2 with no significant combat-oriented keywords. And the last ability implies a strong return mechanic that I’ll admit makes a lot of cool sense with your flavor but doesn’t translate to perfect gameplay. I don’t know, maybe I just don’t grok this card, but it feels like there was cohesion sacrificed in favor of flavor.

The Story: Well, this sure as heck ain’t Innistrad. I’m curious about where this would take place, and what kind of world you’re going for here. Let’s try looking at it from an isolated perspective. It’s an alright macabre story, so I’ll give you that. But the name. What is the “Order?” Is she part of it? Do all members of the order whisper to bones like her? I don’t understand her goals and motivations, what “kindness” she whispers, why the dead are coming back at all.

@ignorantturtlegaming — Demonic Mentor

The Card: It feels unplayable and yet extremely playable at the same time. It’s expensive and creates some really crazy shenanigans in Commander with surplus life. Oh my goodness, Oloro would LOVE this card, good GOD. It’s unfortunate that it does have to be costed this way and that it makes sense for a tutor. I believe the wording could be adjusted to one chunk of text: (using Covetous Urge and Thief of Sanity as references)

“Search target player’s library for up to X cards and exile them, then that player shuffles their library and you lose X life. You may cast those cards for as long as they remain exiled and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast those spells.”

The Story: I don’t get it. What does having  a demonic mentor have to do with brother rescue? I assume this is part of a larger story, but we don’t have that story for context, and mentorship doesn’t have to do with rescue. This is a card about tutelage and power and losing life, not losing a mind. The library is so often represented as the mind, and you’re not losing that, you’re saving part of it. Really iffy on this one, despite the coolness of the card. Also, watch out - you switched tenses in the second sentence. 

@macaroni-and-squeez — The Iroan Race

The Card: RRR for haste, sure, whatever, that’s fine in this day and age, if a little color-heavy. But this card isn’t meant for limited. This is a build-around-me if I ever saw one. “Four instances of haste”?? I don’t want to call that brilliant because it frustrates my sensibilities, but dammitall, it’s...it works. For those of you doubting me, the Zendikar Rising release notes for Attended Healer states “Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.” So, if that is to be believed, this card is designed for some combo player to go nuts with haste nonsense. Or maybe I’m just reading it wrong. Either way, I like this card. But I would make it win the game for you, not anyone else.

The Story: Sure, I’m into it. A guy running a race for Iroas checks out. I would have condensed it a little, but in general, yeah, it fits the world and makes a neat little story. I’m really hung up on the name “Kris.” That...doesn’t feel like a fantasy name as much. I mean, we have things like Gideon, and Judith, etc. but Kris? I can’t help but feel that it’s a smidge too out of touch with Theros worldbuilding. Yay, nitpicks.

@milkandraspberry — Burn Down the Library

The Card: Conceptually, this card is pretty cool. Very strange. It’s a different take on anti-blueness in red, and I can go for it. Sorry about MSE and fonts. Reinstallation is a pain but it’s possible. Anyway. I wouldn’t call this card a breakout all-star, but it would be...fun, I suppose. A good combat trick enchantment thing. Shame it doesn’t do much if you have an empty hand. With wording: Use “can’t” instead of “cannot cannot.” Use “cast blue spells” instead of “play;” that’s been phased out for a while. You also can’t discard spells, but you can discard blue CARDS. Question: what if you couldn’t cast blue spells from your hand? Eh? Eh? Flashback and madness? Ehhhhhh?

The Story: This time, I’ll give an example of how this could be shortened. “After years of fruitless study, the young scholar found a better use for her teacher’s wisdom.” Maybe “frustrated young scholar,” or something to give her motivation. Why is she burning down the library? That’s the most important question to ask. “Because she felt like it” is the obvious answer, but that’s not motivation, that’s not intrigue. We have to ask “why,” always. Your story makes sense, but it’s just on the brink of great characterization.

@nine-effing-hells — Arch-Evoker’s Capstone

The Card: I want to like it, and I probably do. I don’t know what kind of deck would play it, as it feels like a Commander card for sure, but yeah, I think I do like it. It’s got powerful stuff attached to it with very red sensibilities. The land destruction is pretty wild, but it’s expensive as hell. Or is it? Five mana to destroy two lands... That’s actually, hm. That’s actually really, really, super strong if this were to see any limited play. You may even have to make it XXRR to get around that if you want to keep that effect. Land destruction is unfun. (I <3 Ponza though, so)

The Story: With this specific card, I wouldn’t have recommended also adding three lines of flavor text on top of four paragraphs of rules text. Additionally, um, I don’t get that last line. “It wasn’t every day the horizon was on fire for a week straight”? It’s exerting too much effort without a strong effect on the reader. Edit and save for a card without as much rules text.

@partlycloudy-partlyfuckoff — Spiraling Depression

The Card: Buries? What opponent? Is this targeting? Is this an edict effect? Least power among creature they control, I assume? I legitimately don’t know what you’re trying to do with this card. Wretched Banquet-esque?

The Story: Instead of attempting to give this flavor text legitimate critique, I would instead advise you that referencing real-world conditions such as “spiraling depression” without a critical lens might appear as insensitive to individuals legitimately suffering from those conditions.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Blazing Sacrifice

The Card: I really love this card, actually. The choice to do CMC over power I would argue requires playtesting, and I would prefer power to compare to other cards in the family such as the lovely Fling, but I can see the argument against it. Yeah, not much to critique or add onto that front. You made a really great card mechanically.

The Story: And then the story lost me entirely. “monsters that would surely go on to destroy everything he loved” is clunky to say the least. “Surrounded by monsters” is fine, it’s decent, it gets the job done. Monsters are monsters, that’s that. But that last line. That’s...a D&D reference, right? I can’t take that seriously, I just can’t. It’s verging on cliche, and it makes sense on a rudimentary level but adds nothing to the Magic world. I’ll be the first to say that yes, it’s personal bias and that some players would appreciate the memetic qualities, but it simply doesn’t do it for me.

@scavenger98 — Walking Stick

The Card: It...is a stick. You know, I think I like this one, and frankly I would consider it for constructed play. I’m a Krenko guy, what can I say. But yeah, it’s fun, it’s fragile, it’s got good equip synergy, and I might actually be underestimating its power. I don’t know, is there some crazy combo that you could do with it? This stick is made for walking, not fighting. Heh. Good flavor tie.

The Story: And there it is, right? It’s kinda funny how it’s implied that the whole story about this thing is that this piece of equipment is breaking. And that’s kinda what makes me on the fence about it. Like, if you had a creature, and the text was about the creature dying, that wouldn’t make a lot of sense, right? Maybe if the text was about Bredik fearing the day when he WOULD face a sword? Eh, I’m just being picky here. I think that it’s still pretty good. I like Bredik. He’s not a fighter, but he walks very fast.

@tmstage — Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies

The Card: Yeah, once again, looking at Zendy Risey, I think the wording would be different than “full party.” I’ve been sitting here and I can’t come up with a better way to word it, but it still doesn’t mesh well even if it groks. And it’s a situational card that’s either going to do literally nothing or it’s going to destroy four creatures for one mana. That’s...not great. Hey. I understand if you don’t like a specific mechanic, but I’ve seen some really great ideas from your neck of the woods. Let’s keep going.

The Story: Technically, uh, this does not fit the criteria. Who was praying to the vengeful god? Was it the creatures in the other party? Is there a god of making rocks fall down? What’s up with the name, anyway? There’s a strong sense of disconnect and many questions that go unanswered. But considering all the factors that are going into this card, I have a feeling they aren’t really asking to be answered anyway.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path​ — Marathon of Mogis

The Card: Wow, I wasn’t expecting two Theros-themed God-themed enchantments that gave a number of creatures haste. Great minds and all. So, this card. I don’t think you need to reference the active player. The whole thing can be toned down a little. “At the beginning of each player’s combat (or end?) step, that player sacrifices all creatures they control that didn’t deal combat damage to a player this turn.” Keeping it simple. Honestly, though, I...am not sure I like it for four mana. It feels like a game-ender kind of card. Frankly, I would make it six. And I know that’s a lot and I know that it might be too much, but to be honest, this would be an unfun card otherwise, in my opinion. It’s really, REALLY powerful for a clock.

The story: Is that Mogis’ deal? Does he make people run? I checked the wiki and read through it all and I don’t understand why Mogis would get pleasure out of people not dying. The point of the stampedes and the destruction is to invoke slaughter and sacrifice, not to run humans to the bone. The ferocity of minotaurs is not sadistic. This feels like a Rakdos card — the cult, not the color combo. I feel that there was a misunderstanding.

@wolkemesser​ — Otherskin Scarecrow

The Card: I’ll go out on a limb and say that you could make this a little more Horizons-y and give this card Changeling instead of just saying it has all creature types. Could that make it a shapeshifter? Hm, what if, because it wears clothing from characters in the past, it also has the creature types of all creatures in graveyards? But I digress. Anyway, this card. It’s not bad! It’s not making me super excited, but it’s not bad. You meant for this to have a Reaper King vibe, right? Or at least to work well with it? I think you succeeded. 

The Story: Love the first sentence, don’t quite understand the second one. My interpretation is that it’s taking skin from others, right? Well! Um! That’s actually scary and makes me miss the world of Lorwynmoor even moor. Er, more. It’s unfortunate that the mechanics of the card don’t necessarily depict “skinning intruders alive and taking their identity in a grotesque fashion” as much as I’d personally like. Still, that’s a risk, and you know what, the implications aren’t super strong but it’s enough for me to grok.

Once again, thank y’all for your entries. New contest tomorrow. Be prepared. Be scared. Be....ard. 

-@abelzumi

[nerdygaymormon]

what do you think about the new handbook?

In January 2016 I received a calling that gave me access to the Church’s Handbooks and I was surprised at the amount of specific things in there on which I had never considered the Church having an official position. I imagine a lot of people are having that experience this week.

I’m glad the Church made the Handbook available to everyone, it’s a move towards transparency. Before this, people were being held to standards or facing processes that only their leaders could access.

I appreciate that in some areas there’s better framework and clarity, but am sad that it often came in the form of being more restrictive or not in line with modern science.

I’m going to outline the changes and add a few comments. ’ll put my opinion about all of this at the end, so if that’s what you want to see, scroll to the bottom.

————————————————————— 

Miscellaneous

The Handbook covers a lot of information, so I’m certain in the days and weeks ahead more new things will be discovered. But for now, here’s some assorted policies.

Sacrament

We’re supposed to take the Sacrament with our right hands

The wording that young men are encouraged, but not required, to wear a white shirt and tie is gone. All males who pass the Sacrament are asked to be clean and well groomed.

For a long time, which hand to use has been considered a personal choice, and some associated special meaning by using their right hand.

In February 2019, Elder Oaks saw some youth take the Sacrament with the left hand and he gave a short lecture that went viral telling these kids they were wrong, and now it’s official policy in the Handbook.

Dress Standards

The Relief Society Presidency is to teach dress standards to the sisters so their appearance and clothing show reverence and respect at Church and at the temple.

These are adult women!!! They can’t figure this out for themselves? It mentions ostentatious jewelry and casual clothes without any examples of what this means. I’m afraid some leaders will enforce their personal opinions, such as pants are verboten.

Also this section included a comment about ostentatious jewelry. What is that? Having 2 earrings in 1 ear?

—————————————————————

Discipline

Disciplinary councils have been renamed “Membership Councils”

People no longer are disfellowshipped or excommunicated. They have “formal membership restrictions” or “withdrawal of membership”

Does away with the unequal disciplinary structure for adult men vs adult women.

Before, men who were endowed had a disciplinary council at the stake level. Everyone else had a disciplinary council held by their bishopric.

Now anyone who is endowed and likely to have their Church membership withdrawn will have a stake membership council. Everyone else has a ward membership council for serious sins & actions

At the ward level, membership councils still function the same (the bishopric holds a council with the person whose membership is at risk).

At the stake level, the council now is similar to the way it works at the ward level (the stake presidency meets, without the high council also being involved).

The individual’s bishops can sit in on the council. The individual can also choose for the Elders Quorum or Relief Society President to sit in on the council.

Same-sex marriage is no longer apostasy

Apostasy has been removed from a list of reasons to hold a membership council. Instead it is on a case-by-case basis.

The stake president can place informal membership restrictions on the person and the stake president counsels with the Area Presidency (which are Seventy) about anything more than that, such as a membership council

The language is softer but the results are the same.

I like that men & women are treated equally in this new system. It always struck me wrong that most men in the church automatically had a council of 15 men and women had 3 men.

The reversal of the 2015 Policy of Exclusion finally made it to the Handbook. 

————————————————————— 

Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Same-Sex Attracted

Families & members should be sensitive, love and respectful of people who are gay, lesbian & bi

Sexual activity with someone of the same gender is on the same level as an unmarried sex.

Membership councils are optional in these cases, based on the leader’s discretion.

As long as an LGBTQ member is “striving” to live the law of chastity, they’re allowed to hold a calling and temple recommend

“Sexual cohabitation” used to be forbidden, now it’s “cohabitation”. So I guess gay people living together is a problem regardless of whether they have sex. I do know of a few couples who live together, but have given up sex in order to be temple worthy. I guess that’s no longer an option.

The mormonandgay website was done away with and some of the items moved to a new page titled “Same-Sex Attraction.”

Most of the links on this new page don’t work. I’m sure this will get fixed

Most of the “resources” from the old page aren’t on the new page.

The last 4 video stories of members from the former site are on the new site.

Credit for finally making this page available in languages other than English.

I wonder if it will still say it’s okay to identify using the terms gay, bi or lesbian.I know President Oaks prefers the phrase “same-sex attraction” and a lot of his influence is seen in the new Handbook changes. 

The best section of the previous site was a collection of 17 members who are gay, bi and lesbian (well, 2 of them are parents of gay kids). Hearing them tell their story in their own words was powerful. Most of them have asked for their video to be removed.

The only stories remaining are 2 people in a mixed-orientation marriage and 2 parents who have a gay son. Each of those 4 members now has multiple videos (Laurie, Laurie’s husband, Laurie’s bishop, Laurie’s friend). 

The experience of most LGB people in the Church is now absent from this page, which again confirms for me that this has been a site for leaders & family, not actual members who are bisexual, lesbian or gay.

—————————————————————

Transgender

Preferred names can be noted in your membership record and Church leaders are encouraged to use them.

People can also to ask others to use their chosen pronouns

Elective surgical or medical intervention (which I believe means hormone treatment) for the purpose of transitioning, and social transitioning will result in membership restrictions.

These restrictions include not getting to exercise the priesthood, receiving or using a temple recommend, and receiving some Church callings

Even if the hormone therapy is prescribed by a medical professional to ease gender dysphoria or reduce suicidal thoughts, membership restrictions will result

Transgender people who don’t transition can have Church callings & temple recommends

Gender is defined as “biological sex at birth.”

This is recorded on Church records and determines whether someone can receive the priesthood and how they experience the temple ordinances

Transgender people & their family are welcome to attend Sunday church meetings and social events

There is now a page for transgender people, just as there has been for LGB people

This whole section of the Handbook makes me sad because it reduces these members to being a mistake and they need to choose a side. Nevermind they were born this way and have complex lives, they need to look and act like a cishet member.

I’d love if the church leaders could show scriptural backing & the words of the Savior to justify their views on trans folks other than the Family Proclamation.

Credit to the Church for switching from “transsexual” to “transgender

While trans people are welcome to attend the 2nd hour of church, no guidance was given about if they can choose either Relief Society or Elders Quorum

It’s problematic to define gender being as your biological sex at birth. If gender is eternal, why is “at birth” needed? A doctor or nurse assigns a biological sex at birth by taking a look at the newborn’s external genitals. This is only 1 of 5 markers of gender. A doctor or a nurse is not God.

5 components of biological sex

external genitalia

inner reproductive anatomy

sex hormones

chromosomes

gonad differentiation (gonad secretions cause sex-specific patterns in many other tissues & the brain)

This section of the Handbook still speaks of gender as binary–you’re either male or female and trans. Genderfluid, nonbinary, or any acknowledgement of a spectrum doesn’t exist.

To say a trans person will face consequences for social transitioning is really troubling. What does “social transitioning” mean? Do pronouns count as “social transitioning?” Long or short hair? If people must dress according to gender stereotypes, then it seems like leadership is more concerned about the feelings of the 99 and not the health & well being of the 1.

Why is it only transgender members who have a ban on these surgeries? Lots of breast enhancements, reductions and mastectomies take place every month with not a whiff of interest by church leaders, but if it’s done to affirm one’s gender identity, then it’s forbidden, even if it’s life saving.

It did make me feel queasy to read that even if medical or surgical intervention is prescribed by medical professionals to deal with gender dysphoria or suicidal thoughts, too bad, we’re still going to punish you. What kind of monsters came up with this?

————————————————————— 

Intersex, aka People Whose Sex isn’t Clear at Birth

The Handbook says the incident rate of intersex is extremely rare

Questions about membership records, priesthood ordination and temple ordinances for youth or adults who were born with sexual ambiguity should be directed to the Office of the First Presidency.

This is the first I’ve seen Intersex given their own section in the Handbook.

While policies about LGBT people are listed as “moral issues”, the section on intersex people is under “medical and health policies.” That’s a good sign, it means that the medical profession determines what is best, not a church leader.

I appreciate that church takes this out of the hands of local leadership. It’s a complex issue that untrained people shouldn’t get to have say over.

The Church assumes that surgical & medical intervention is needed for this group of people. Unfortunately it implies the default is to do so in infancy or early childhood when current best practices would be delaying, if possible, until the individual can weigh in on their body & identity. 

The idea that intersex is rare, well that depends on what they consider rare.

The rate could be as high as 2% of the population or as low as 1 in 2000.

If we think of that in terms of Church congregations, it suddenly seems not so rare.

In North America, a ward must have 300 members. If 1%-2% are intersex, that’s a couple people in each congregation.

If we go with the lowest rate of 1 in 2000, consider that in the US & Canada a stake requires a minimum of 3000 members. So 1 or 2 members per stake would be intersex.

—————————————————————

I think these changes show that the Church is willing to include queer people up to a point. We can feel & be the person we believe ourselves to be as long as we don’t actually act in a way that affirms who we are.

We are to be loved, respected and welcomed, however these homophobic and transphobic policies remain in place. Love & respect is more than smiling & being nice to someone.

The policies of the Church regarding queer people is out of line with science. As science continues to advance and confirm that gender identities and sexual orientations are real and biological and not changeable by will, the tension for the Church on these topics will continue to grow.

“The only clear line I draw these days is this: when my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor. Jesus never commanded me to love my religion.” -Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor

Considering Jesus admonishes us again and again to love each other and that we are all alike to God, I can only guess that Jesus wept. Again.

[wcamino-confessions]

Ok so here’s a long sumbission with my experience with echo. I want to talk about her because I don’t believe she’s an evil person, but she’s done bad things, and I want to share my experience. Quick warning that this is really long and I don’t know the limit to submissions, sorry ack- but just scroll past this eyesore if a post if you don’t wanna read it because it’s really long

So, one day she pmed me on warriors amino some time in late September or October. She had been there for around 100 days and she was level 11. I always answer any “will you be my friend” pm’s anyone invites me to, but her conversation with me definitely stuck and she would approach me in all of my spare time. We talked for a while and she asked me out. Stuff happening irl recently atm I was vulnerable, and ended up dating her within a few hours of her pming me ig. We voice chatted a couple times with a user named dawn (not the mod) who was her friend. Scrolling down through their posts I saw a comment with echo saying ily and such, I asked her if she dated them and she said “yeah” and moved on to another topic.

I was pmed by a group of people about echo, they all said she was out for my art. She dated people in the past (atm so far it had been someone named koi and then dawn /not the mod/. She was uncomfortable with the age gap in her and koi’s relationship and then broke up with dawn because she thought they were ignoring her but they were just off of amino for a while. This made a lot of sense to me that we were together partially because of art.

I ended up breaking up with her after about a month of dating. Of course she was upset by this, but within 24 hours she had immediately rebounded to another person. This was pretty much the start or near the start of the chain of dating people without breaks. Some relationship lasted days, others lasted weeks or nearly a month, rarely. At this point I can’t remember all of the people she’s dated but it’s not a small amount for that amount of time. For me, I ended up dating someone I had known irl for a year or rather than an hour, a few weeks after me and echo dated. Me and this person recently broke up a few weeks ago and she talked to me saying she still had feelings for me, and something about liking me when I was dating him but not doing anything to get us broken up. This was really a wtf moment

She usually sells ocs with a lot mainly gift art, but I thought she cared about catra more than a roblox toy. Her original design was a gift and her gallery was mostly filled with gifts by people (/I think/ suki, creeky, minnow, ottot, me, and more.). I wouldn’t have minded, but catra’s art had gifts from people who cared about her and made an effort. This is why I gave her 10k ac. I didn’t want her to sell catra. Apparently someone else was selling another roblox toy for 12k ac and she tried to sell catra again. Her friend gave her another 12k to get her to not sell catra. I believe I heard she sold catra and went against my wishes a 3rd time,,,

I actually gave her 6k ac and she replied with “ no no I need 10k “ which makes me feel pretty used. I don’t wanna spent 10k ac for that,, she went to me because she knew I had it and knew I could give it to her and the whole thing just hurts. We never spoke for 5 days and she comes by saying she needs 10k ac from me.

I told her to pay me back the coins because apparently I heard she sold catra. Echo, if you’re reading this please pay me back as soon as you can.

She also was in a dm where she said “you don’t care how I am, you’re just here because I hurt miss perfect’s feelings.” Seems surprising but it’s really something she would do.

I know what echo has dated a lot of people, I know someone that she basically tried to manipulate into dating her. She brought up beforehand that she couldn’t take rejection and when this person was able to reject her, she ghosted them because they wouldn’t date her. That’s horrible. Thats really manipulative.

I feel like she ranks her friends or treats them differently. I know she had a wiki listing her friends all ranked out, which didn’t bother me that much, but when you think you’re close with her or that she considers you a good friend she unfollows you and only refollows her favorites at the time that she wants to interact with. I remember trying to talk to her and she just ignored me (I knew because she was online atm.) I feel like sometimes she treats people like toys that she can put away when she’s bored of them and only interact with her favorite ones, but then she switches out her favorites and just ignores the other ones.

When she’s asking someone out she’ll always tell them they make her feel special or something. I don’t believe she’s after relationships for art, but I believe she has a preference for artistic or popular users. She has a pattern of meeting someone, getting close with them, they date her for a short while, and then they break up because the relationship isn’t what she thought it was.

She makes hangout chats with whoever she ships herself with, and ship art contests. When people donate prizes to her and make entries she just deletes the post (I don’t think that’s okay, people actually made an effort to make you art.)

I heard from one of the people she had a crush on at some point (super cool and valid person btw) that she was pestering people for contest prizes for a ship art contest of them she made without asking. This person is someone that she made really uncomfortable; she got mad at THEM when she found out she did.

The claim that she is homophobic is something I don’t believe personally. Without a doubt she’s done homophobic things- she talked to me about one submission here that accused her of being homophobic. She said her ftm trans friend had a personality change when they came out, but in a voice not she constantly misgendered her friend/used dead name and made no effort to ever correct herself on his pronouns/name. The whole time she never addressed them correctly and didn’t care to try. I have a trans friend who she’s completely fine with, she calls him by the correct names and pronouns all the time and isn’t homophobic to all trans people. Ig she was different in that situation, but I still think purposely misgendering is never okay.

I don’t want to make this super long (bruh it already is) but that’s just the basics of my experiences with her, I know many people she dated can relate to some of these, and I’m so sorry to anyone she’s treated badly. You and your feelings are valid and I hope you had okay experiences with her,, Again, I’m so sorry to anyone she has hurt.

[imbellarosa]

1989 things that keep me up at night

Or, that one Taylor Swift album that I ADORE while it confuses the fuck out of me. I’m doing the thing that I listen to the album as I write this, because I have so much to say and want to get it all right. This isn’t a cold read, I’ve heard it before, and I love it, but I did want to do a deeper analysis. If you want to read the last one that I did, it’s here. It’s about an accidental love song and it was tons of fun to do. The rest of this analysis is under the cut, because it might be the longest one yet. I’m a big fan of hers. 

As always, I’m going to go back to posting more political content in the morning, but I am very happy that all four officers in the murder of George Floyd have been charged with murder, and that Derek Chauvin in particular is being charged with second degree murder. If you’re looking for next steps: consider participating in activism on Breonna Taylor’s birthday (June 5th) or donating to Tony McDade’s memorial fund. 

So, on to the album! There are a few stand out songs, for me, in the album, including “I Wish You Would”, “Clean”, “This Love”, “Out of the Woods”, and “You Are In Love”. I don’t know if any of these were singles - the album is older at this point and I could go check but, eh. I don’t really think it matters anymore? I think if I stretch my memory to 2014, it was “Bad Blood”, “Blank Space”, “Style”, “Out of the Woods”, and “Shake it Off” that were singles. I don’t know if there were more, but I do remember those. Something that I find interesting is that the only crossover between the singles (that I remember) and my favorites is “Out of the Woods”, but that’s a phenomenal song. 

I think the first question I have to address is why this album confuses me. And the more I think of it, the more I realize that this album more sounds like two albums, telling two stories. The first story is that of a whirlwind romance in the public eye, filled with late night hook ups, seeing other people (publicly), and a superficial connection that will invariably go down in flames. This story features dramatic fall outs with contemporary artists, wild parties, and whispering voices. The second story is about a harder love, and a deeper one: it’s a story of fighting and fixing things, and letting go and coming together. It’s sweet, and beautiful, and tragic, and worth it. And these stories are fundamentally incompatible, at first glance. Your relationship is not simultaneously ephemeral and ethereal, and if you think it is, it’s time to reevaluate how honest you are being with yourself and what you want in your partner. (Spoiler alert: the song “Style” isn’t it. And neither is “Wildest Dreams”. No offense to either song or the people they were written about.)

The more I thought about it, the more this bugged me - until I dug deeper into her discography, and I noticed something interesting: Taylor Swift is a storyteller. She primarily tells her own stories, especially in Lover and Reputation, but that wasn’t always the case: “Mary’s Song” is sung in first person, and is about her neighbors’ love story. “Starlight” was written about someone in the Kennedy family's relationship with her husband Bobby (Bobby’s name is in the song). It is also sung in first person. “Ronan” is a song she wrote for charity, about a little boy who lost his battle to cancer, from the perspective of his mother. I always cry when I hear it, but it is, also, written in first person. I think those are enough for now, but I definitely can keep going.

Anyways, my point is this - I realized very quickly there were two ways I could read the album. The first is completely autobiographically: she is publicly one person and privately another. Her public persona is (at the time of 1989′s release) someone who parties, dates many people on and off, and fights with artists loudly. The private story she is offering is of someone who is deeply in love with one person, who wants to be successful, who wants to be themselves and safe with themselves and their partner, and is afraid of showing this side of themselves to the industry and the world. “Out of the Woods” highlights that anxiety well, as does “I Know Places”, and so does the line “you two are in a snow globe spinning round and round” (in “You Are In Love”), but that’s because I always imagine a snow globe like a sort of transparent show that is being obscured by the flurries, you know? Like everyone is watching, but if you move, the truth gets harder to see. 

The second way to read this - and I think the way I’m leaning - is that these are two different stories. The first one is still about that media image, and she’s playing off of her media image - one that has been proven to be demonstrably false at this point, and that she has admitted was almost forced on her at a really young age (and we’re gonna have a whole ass conversation about how the media treats children one of these days, you just watch). And the second story is still a love story: it’s just not hers. To me, this makes the most sense because of her switch between first and second person pronouns in these softer, gentler songs, as she gently steps in and out of the role of narrator. The other thing is that I don’t know a whole lot of her dating history? I never really cared. But I don’t remember her being in a really serious long term relationship at this point. I remember a lot of stories of short relationships with famous people, but nothing concrete or long lasting, in the way the song “I Wish You Would” or “This Love” or “You’re In Love” suggests. 

This perspective is fortified by “I Know Places”, in which she is literally talking about a secret relationship. She’s describing something that is hiding in plain sight, but can’t be honest, because “something happens when everybody finds out/ love’s a fragile little flame/it can burn out...”. So they (the people involved) go hide in these secret places (look, let’s be real. every celebrity has a secret place). What I think is interesting is that this isn’t the first time in the album that she talks about sneaking around and hiding. The first time this comes up is in “Style”, where she mentions that the dude comes searching for her with “no headlights”. She is clearly referencing herself in that song, as she describes her “red lips” and her “good girl thing/in a tight little skirt”. But the context is super different. She describes “Style” as a song that calls out trends - how people never get tired of listening about this kind of relationship. It’s always in style, so to speak. When she talks about “I Know Places”, she says its “about...everybody’s like trying to get in to it and ruin a love or whatever and it’s like...whatever. You know....” and then she goes on to keep talking about what she wants it to sound like. I got this from her voice memo in the preliminary conversation with her producer. 

She also describes I know places as “dark”, and she wanted that to carry over into the bridge, and it definitely does. However, I can definitively tell you that this story (and relationship) is different than the one in “Style”, because of the end. By the end of the song, she says: “They take their shots, but we're bulletproof (I know places)/And you know for me, it's always you (I know places)/In the dead of night, your eyes so green (I know places)/And I know for you, it's always me (I know places)”.  (Look I usually remove the hyperlinks for the lyrics but I really need y’all to click that because it freaked me out when I saw it. Very uncomfy). In Style, her bridge says “Take me home”, or some variation of that, and she doesn’t have an outro for the song, she repeats her chorus again, which reads: “Oh, you got that James Dean daydream look in your eye/And I got that red lip classic thing that you like/And when we go crashing down (And when we go)/We come back every time/'Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style”. So rather than being something private, this is something that everyone will be talking about for a while. 

SIDE NOTE: If you like “Style”, I think you’d really like the song “Sun Queen” by Gerry Cinnamon . It’s also about the expectation of the industry and how the art affects the artist. The difference in this song is that the relationship is the real part of his life, and his art is what he feels is fake. 

ANYWAYS. I think she did a really clever thing by playing on her image. She kind of “became” the person they wanted her to be, while making it very clear that there was something else she wanted: the kind of love - the kind of life - she’s singing about. My favorite song on the album is “I Wish You Would”, which is about “remembering what we’re fighting for” in a relationship, and it’s also a song which she mentions is written about “two people”, and not herself (voice memo, delux album). I think that’s probably true. I think it is probably the case that she was not in the middle of a Great Love Story at this point in her life, and so she was borrowing material. The same thing happens in “You are in Love” - there, she can’t be any clearer - that it’s about someone that is not her. (It’s actually about her co-producer and writer Jack Antonoff’s relationship. Btw, he is a brilliant lyricist in his own right and his music is *chef’s kiss*).

The song that I think happens to be the crossover song between the real story and the carefully presented narrative is “Out Of The Woods”. She’s said that this song was about a relationship she had where the primary feeling was anxiety, and it makes sense (at least with the lyrics)! But at the end of the song, the relationship is stronger than ever: “...I walked out, I said, ‘I’m setting you free’/ But the monsters turned out to be just trees/ And when the sun came up/ You were looking at me”. And then she repeats her chorus again, where she seems to be relieved to finally be “out of the woods”. 

So here’s where I get stuck: I stand by my theory that her gentle love songs on this album aren’t about her own romances. But I don’t think she’s lying. I think this song is about something that was anxiety inducing to her. However, I don’t think that this means that she is the narrator of the song. And I know that the question then is: what is her role in the situation? I don’t know. A close friendship with someone who’s going through it, maybe? That can be really rough, and I know that I’ve gotten sucked into people’s drama. But I think that it’s someone else’s perspective, especially because this fits into the “hard, worth fighting for, intense and long term” category, rather than something like “Blank Space”, in which she literally does not know who she is talking about ( “I’ve got a blank space/ And I’ll write your name”). 

And there is SO MUCH MORE I can say, but that was really my main point: I think she’s telling two different stories, and that it creates an environment that you don’t really know what’s going on or where to turn to understand the story. I listened to the full album a bunch of times before I came up with this read of it. Do I know who the other people I think she’s talking about are? Nope. And I don’t super think it matters. The songs and words are hers, and they’re gorgeous. Do I know what people think this album is about? Yup. Does it change my read of it? Not at all. I think my analysis stands, even - and especially - in context. 

So I still love this album. And I’m beyond thrilled that she has the kind of love she’s always been singing about. And I really hope that the other people she was hanging out with/dating/writing about are all doing amazing as well, particularly the human(s) in “I Know Places” and “I Wish You Would”.  I hope that they are still fighting for each other, and that they still feel like it’s “Always You” (/Always me but that sounds more narcissistic haha). If they are different relationships (like, if rather than her just focusing on one couple, she’s talking about many), I hope that they are all happy, successful, and in love. I hope that they don’t hang out in “Wonderland” anymore (although I think that song’s about a fake relationship, I’m just saying). I hope that they have long nights with fairy lights and soft songs. I hope she does, too.