#i mean you can imagine the kind of gender i have by the mere fact that ive been on tumblr since i like 14

[grabby-raccoon-hands]

my dad was a lefty-socialist teenager in 80s northern england so you can imagine the kind of gender I have now

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere alphabet for Zhongli from genshin impact.

Sure! He gets an Alphabet as he doesn't actually have a concept written or in the drafts-

Yandere Alphabet - Zhongli

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Isolation, Delusional behavior, Mentioned forced marriage, Kidnapping implied, Dark themes, Forced relationship.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

I imagine Zhongli isn't very used to affection at first. He's an Archon who has spent most of his lifetime in war and being a God. As a result... affection isn't something he really needed. Not in the romantic sense, at least.

He'd probably attempt affection he's seen humans do throughout the ages. He's quiet with affection, almost gentle. He's polite with his affection, never wishing to force it if he doesn't have to.

He's not intense, probably one for soft caresses and gentle praises. Due to him showing dragon-like characteristics, I can see him being possessive, too.

His affection is definitely meant to show comfort due to the way he softly touches you and kisses your skin... watching to see how receptive you are. He, once an Archon, is incredibly patient with you.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Zhongli, for the most part, has matured past violence. He would much rather make deals and propose contracts than outright kill others. For the most part, threats will do with keeping his beloved as his.

But if he must, then he may give into old habits if it means your protection... or his own selfish desires.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

Quite well, actually. He may be terrible with Mora, as ironic as that is, but he wants you to live comfortably and happy beside him. His abduction is merely more manipulation... perhaps guilting you into a contract of some kind?

Zhongli would not mock you, he has no reason to. Mocking you will not garner your affection. Instead he treats you like a gentleman, keeping you in a domain similar to the teapot. Your own personal little world.

He feels as your partner, and by his nature as an ex-Archon, he should protect you and keep you happy.

You'll be treated like precious porcelain.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

He's against it. He prefers his darling coming to love him naturally. After all, isn't that how most humans do it?

He'll be patient and listen to your concerns as long as they're... reasonable in his mind.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

Zhongli may be coy at times, but he tries his best to be honest with you. He hates lying to you and while he is usually stoic, he shows he cares in any way he can.

The issue is... you aren't very vulnerable with him, even when he wants you to be.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Zhongli, as I said before, is patient with you. If you fought with him... it's unfortunately expected. He understands by normal courting standards he's... rushing it.

He'll accept it if you fight him, hoping with time you'll acknowledge him as yours eventually.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

Not a game. He wouldn't really enjoy you trying to run from him, either. Finds it... frustrating, actually.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

I'd say him trapping you in a domain to keep you with him. It would be similar to the Teapot realm, a little home where only he and you can reside. Only he can let you out.

Which means you'll be stuck with him unless he provides you with means to escape.

He isn't violent with you, in fact he doesn't even want to hurt you. So the worst experience with him is realizing you can't escape.

Another alternative is him sneakily forcing you into a contract, wording it a certain way so you agree to stay with him. Could also just be a marriage contract, actually....

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

As stated above, Zhongli may want to experience mortal marriage vows with you. Those are another form of deal or contract, right? That's a way to make you his.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

If Zhongli gets jealous, he knows how to hide it. He's stoic, even when irritated with those around you. He can silently cope, often thinking of ways to prevent his jealousy.

Such as keeping you out of sight... only for him to see.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

Manipulative, Possessive, Protective, Subtle, Clingy, Charming, Observing.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Through charming words and subtle manipulation. He wants you to trust him. He offers you gifts (he no doubt asked someone else to buy them) and often acts like a gentleman. For the most part, he just seems normal... if not flirty.

You may even date him.

It's only when he expresses a need to keep you to himself or suggests a craving for your companionship that he gets worse. Soon enough he's trying to make subtle contracts with you or keep others away from you. By the time you realize what he's doing...

He's put you in a domain to call your own (reluctantly).

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

His obsession makes his personality darker, yet he's still quite stoic and often avoids others asking about you or where you went.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

Isolation. He's patient and did want you to love him on your own. Isolating... something that could break you... would be one way to do that, yes?

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Mostly your right for freedom. But within your shared domain... you can do anything you want as long as it doesn't involve others.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

EXTREMELY.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

He's been around a long time... eventually, sure. But he'd rather not lose you. Not now... not ever.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

Yes, he'd hate that he may be unable to court you properly. He may let you go... But he's selfish enough to ignore such thoughts.

Other humans aren't good enough for you in his eyes.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Curiosity is a good reason for it. He's curious about experiencing human relationship customs.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

Zhongli would want to comfort you. He hates that you don't like being around him. But... He tells himself to be patient.

Abducting you was already a step too far anyways....

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

He's willing to wait for you as long as it takes. Even if you die before that.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Not many I can think of except maybe reciprocation-

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Never.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

Ironically for an Archon, it's fun to think of Zhongli worshipping his beloved. It seems like it would be rare... but he hasn't experienced this with anyone else. As a result... He may hold you in high regard. He'd do nearly anything for you.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

A long time.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Not intentionally. But he could.

[kingconia]

Hiii I love you writing so much <3

I would love to see the housewardens with a bi S/O. How would then react? (gn please)

A/N: Oh, as a bisexual, I loved working on this one.

(Beware: it contains my personal headcanons about some worldbuilding and different characters orientation. It is merely my vision—you have all rights to disagree.)

GN!READER COMING OUT AS BISEXUAL TO THE HOUSEWARDENS AND HOW THEY REACT

Riddle Rosehearts. ❤️

— ”Wait, what do you mean you are bisexual? So, you can speak two languages or what?”

— Genuinely apologising here, but I believe that he has no idea about LGBTQ+ community. You need to explain him more about it;

— I feel like he knows the basics like the fact people could date people their gender, but overall everything you say means nothing to him;

— Though, I also think that because of his deprivation in the social contact with people—and because I don't think his mother had ever spoke with him about romantical love in general—he has no prejudices about it;

— (I also headcanon that later on he defines himself as asexual, but it is just my vision—);

— So, Riddle attentively listens to all of your explanations, thanks you for the trust, and accepts you easily.

Leona Kingscholar. 💛

— Firstly, I headcanon Leona as the open bisexual. And secondly, I like to imagine that Afterglow Savanna is a very progressive place to live in. They are highly feministic as we saw already, and, I think they are very LGBTG+ supportive community;

— Because of that, I also think that Leona had no idea that not everyone are so supportive. That coming out could be a dangerous and unnerving thing;

— Imagine coming out to him, only to see him shrugging the unbothered king he is...

— But! The moment you tell him about it, or about your genuine concerns about sharing it with him, Leona fixes his mistake by comforting you;

— And, oh, I think he would love taking you on trips to the Afterglow Savanna, so you get to see how accepting and free his people are;

— (Lmao, I think that sometimes both of you could just lazily slump over each other, and checking out random people in the crowd, because why not?)

Azul Ashengrotto. 🩵

— Oh, I think that Azul is very touched that he was shared with this kind of information;

— He is aware how judgmental the world can be, and that sometimes, sharing with this even with your closest friends and family could be hard;

— And, Azul knows that most of the people would never trust him with these things. So, he accepts your coming out as something especially valuable for many reasons;

— I feel like he would be the ”embarrassingly supportive parent” type of person, though. Like the one, who buys you awkward t-shirts and cups with bisexual flags;

— Which might or might not to be followed by the stupid puns;

— If you ask him about his preferences, he would probably try to pull out the ”I am Y/n-sexual” card.

Kalim Al-Asim. 🧡

— When it comes to Scalding Sands, I kind of see them to the the opposite of the Savanna. Which means that I see their community as the old-fashioned one, with conservative ways of thinking;

— So, for Kalim I have two possible scenarios, that are quite contradictory?

— Scenario number one: Kalim is clueless about all of this stuff—much like Riddle, but even worse—and he is not very sure about his own preferences;

— However, he is willing to research about it more—with your guiding hand, of course—and you can be assured that he will support you, even despite views of his country about this matter;

— In the second one I see him as a closet bisexual, who tries to keep it quiet for an obvious reasons;

— Which leads to him, supporting you well. I also think, he would be an active fighter for LGBTQ+ rights, often participating in the Gay Pride.

Vil Schoenheit. 💜

— Well, he works among models, actors, singers and a lot of different starts;

— Most of people in there are either friendly, or the part of the community theirselves, and with Vil practically growing up among them, it is only logical that he is not homophobic;

— I love to think that he is the part of the LGBTQ+ community himself, though, I don't have a specific headcanon for him;

— But... I think, he is in the closet as well;

— Don't get me wrong, but Vil is a very private type of star. He likes to keep everything personal in the secret, and such things could easily became a hot topic in the social media;

— However, when you confess to him about being bisexual, he is instantly very supportive, and comes out to you in return. You can count on him as much as he counts on you.

Idia Shroud. 💙

— I actually headcanon him as aroace, that is why I am having a hard time writing romantic works with his character, but let's ignore this;

— Oh, Idia is a child of internet. More to say, he is a fandom person. There is no way, he had never read fanfics on Ao3, and had his own pairings, lmao;

— I also headcanon him as that one type of guy, who ships his classmates, but he would be strangely accurate with that;

— Nevertheless, I think he is so absorbed in the virtual world and his circle of online friends, that he tends to forget that not all the world is gay and that homophobic people exist???

— So, when you coming out to him, he just... Shrugs. Like, hey, you are not special?

— It is up to you if you laugh about it and take his reaction as it is, or point out to him that you were nervous about it. In the second option, he will apologise and reassure you that everything is fine. But the result in all the same, he accepts you.

Malleus Draconia. 💚

— ”Wait, what do you mean you are bisexual? So, you can speak two languages or what?” X2

— But, consider this: I headcanon that all fae are queer;

— So, Malleus might not know about labels, but he grew up in the place, where everyone is gay, so...

— He finds it fascinating—and annoying—how different humal culture is from what he knows. Malleus also find a hard time understanding why anyone would hate people for loving someone;

— He quickly reassures you that it is absolutely normal, and he wouldn't care less. He loves you so much!! Please don't worry!! (Ha-ha, Lilia had a crush on both of my parents, so—);

— ...And I also think that just like Azul, he would buy a very cringe merch. Like t-shirts with ”My Lover Is Bisexual!” or ”BI proud!” shit, lmao. He thinks it is sweet and hilarious, and you can't do anything about it. Sorry.

[girlboypersonthingy]

I live for active VLD blogs

anyways I love your writing style! could i please request going with the paladins on a space walk and admiring space and telling g each other they love them? preferably she/her pronouns but they/them is fine and thank you :)

HELLO ANON 😏 thank you so much for requesting! So, I only write x readers as gender neutral and with they/them pronouns. I just want anyone and everyone who reads my writing to be able to imagine themselves in the story, regardless of their gender or lack there of. I also try not to add any detail about skin color/race, weight, height, ect. I just want to be as inclusive as possible! Thanks for understanding and I hope you enjoy 💖

Ps: I only included the main 5 paladins cuz this was getting soooo long and I wanted to finish this in one day!

SPACE DATE 💫

It was a nice day off for you, rare but greatly appreciated. You’re happy that your day will be calm and stress free, but…you’re kind of bored. Besides training, what else was there to do with yourself? Just as you’re racking your brain with ideas of what you can do with all your free time, you hear a knock at your door. You’re quick to jump up from bed and open it, your favorite person on the other side.

“Hi.” “Hey.” There’s a brief moment of silence as you stare at each other. “Wanna…go for a walk?” You smile a bit but raise a questioning brow. “Like…around the castle?” “No, out in space.” You laugh softly for a second. “Oh…oh wait. You’re serious?” “Yeah, let’s find a nice looking planet and take a stroll.” A dreamy smile forms on your face as you nod slowly. “Sounds like a date.”

KEITH ❤️

Keith had taken you in the red lion to a tiny planet not too far from where the castle is now. It was so small, in fact, that you two began walking in silence and found your way back to the lion in a matter of minutes. You walked the entirety of the planet in literally 12 minutes. The planet was small and simple, having light blue skies and grass similar to Earth. Keith finally breaks the silence as you stand still now. “Welp…I guess I picked the tiniest and most boring planet ever.” This causes a soft laugh to leave your mouth as you step closer to him. “No, that’s not true. This is so cool! We can tell everyone back on Earth that we walked the entire planet in mere minutes! That’s hella cool! It’s perfect for a first date.”

You sit down in the lush green grass and let your hands gently run over it, the texture reminding you of when you were a kid playing in the grass at the park. It was quiet again, so you look up at Keith who is still standing beside you. “What are you thinking about?” You question, seeing his face turning pink behind his long dark hair. “You said…first date.” You nod and watch him glance down at you then quickly avert his gaze when he sees you staring up at him. “Yeah, and?” He slowly sits beside you, his arms resting on his knees. “Does…does that mean…we can go on more?” His voice is so soft now, you have to lean closer to hear him. “Of course. But you’ve got a busier schedule than me, Mr. Red Paladin. So, you let me know when you’re down for a second date.”

You’ve never seen such a huge grin on his usually grumpy face and that makes a huge, dorky grin form on your own face. “You’re cute.” You tell him before your hand gently rests on his shoulder. “No, you.” Is all he offers in response before he removes your hand from his shoulder and holds it tightly in his own. It was often like this with you two, short soft spoken phrases with gentle touching. “You really are though.” You give his hand a squeeze as you watch his lips move. “What?” “Cute. You’re…r-really cute.” And suddenly, the words just began to flow from his mouth. “I love being alone with you, (Y/N). You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met and I adore you and you’re always so easy to talk to and you just get me and I…I just love you so much.”

Your once smiley face has turned to one of shock. “You love me?” You ask, voice barely above a whisper. “Yeah. Like…a lot.” He responds just as quiet and you’re at a loss for words now. You’ve loved this stubborn boy for so long now but you were never sure how he felt about you. It was obvious he liked you as more than a friend but love was a strong word. “You don’t have to say it back. I just need you to know that I love you.” You struggle to find the right words now. “I love you too! I’m sorry…I just…wow. I don’t know, I’m just…” He is staring at you now, trying to read your expression. “I’m sorry. I’m not good with words…and you’re making me nervous.” You say before chewing on your lip nervously. He moves his hand in yours to interlace your fingers. “Shit…I’m sorry. Maybe it’s too soon for me to have-“ You’re quick to stop that train of thought. “No no! I really do love you too, Keith. I guess I just thought I’d be the one to say it to you first and now I’m just…speechless.”

“I’m not good with words either. Let’s just shut up now.” He keeps his hand in yours as you both embrace the silence once again. He’s staring at his shoes now, the smallest smile on his lips and you watch his face, wondering what he’s thinking now. All that’s running through his dense head is “I really do love you too, Keith.” He can’t get your voice out of his head for weeks. The way you followed the ‘I love you too’ with his name just made him feel all gooey inside. He’s got it soooo bad for you.

PIDGE 💚

Of course Pidge takes you somewhere cool as fuck. “Look! There’s four moons! Isn’t that the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?” They are excitedly pointing and rambling, long scientific words spilling from their mouth at a rapid pace. You were always a little lost when Pidge got like this and they knew that, but you always listened and nodded along and they loved that about you. You never interrupt, you just listen and try to follow along. “Wow, the air here is safe for us to breathe.” They check the info about this planet on a gadget attached to their wrist before they pull off their helmet. You copy them, pulling your helmet off with a sigh.

“Wow. It’s beautiful.” That’s all you could come up with after the long rant Pidge just went on about this amazing planet and it’s many moons. You’re looking around, admiring the dark and barren land surrounding you as Pidge’s gaze locks onto you. As you turn your head, your eyes meet. “What?” You tilt your head at them as they continue to stare. Like…hardcore stare until they finally speak up. “You’re the only one who listens to me.” Your lips slowly turn to a soft frown. “What? No way. Hunk is always more responsive with this stuff than I am. And what about Matt? You guys literally complete each other’s sentences.” Pidge looks down at their shoes, gently moving some dirt around with their foot. “Yeah, but you’re missing the point. You actually LISTEN. You make me feel heard. You never talk over me or try to out smart me or even ask questions when I know you have no idea what I’m saying.” This causes an embarrassed blush to appear on your face. “Yeah. I just…like your voice.” They look back to you, their lips turning up into a grin. “I like /your/ voice.” They shoot back in response before they step closer to you.

Now only inches apart, eyes gazing into each other’s, you’re both consumed by red hot blushes and shy smiles. “So…is this…like actually a date?” You ask at a low volume, nervous for their reply. “Do you…want it to be?” You nod as you clasp your hands together behind your back, still keeping eye contact with the green Paladin. “Then it is. The first of many. Uh…I-I mean if that’s what you want. Is that…is that what you want?” Suddenly, the little genius seems to be stumbling over their words, obviously nervous about the lack of space between you and the way your sparkling eyes won’t look away from them. “More than anything.” And your response has them giggling with excitement. “Cool. Cool.”

You begin to wander, bending down to pick up interesting rocks and looking up at the dark blue sky. You look back, seeing Pidge glued to their spot. “I thought we were gonna walk.” Your voice brings them back to reality, making them scurry over to your side. “Right. Sorry.” They loop their arm in yours, walking slowly with you. It was quiet for a bit before Pidge began ranting again. “You know, the gravity on this planet is just less than on Earth.” You nod and look over at their face, noticing a smirk on their thin lips. “Yeah? What’s with the face?” “I bet I could pick you up.” “No.” “Come on, let me try!” “No, Pidge. Pidge! Don’t you dare- AH!”

A yelp rips from your throat as Pidge sweeps your legs out from under you, picking you up bridal style. “Oh my god, YOU BETTER NOT DROP ME!” You can’t help but laugh at the face they’re making right now. Their whole face and neck are turning red, they’re holding their breath and you can feel them shaking. All they ever want is to impress you. “Wow, my Prince Charming.” You lean in to kiss their cheek just as their muscles give out on them. Instead of dropping you completely, they fall to their knees with you still in their thin arms. They smile sheepishly, admiring the way you’re laughing, taking note of your squinted eyes and the small wrinkles around them.

“I love you.” They blurt out, their smile never dropping. “What?” “I love you, (Y/N).” They repeat plainly, watching for your reaction. “I love you too, Pidge.” You feel them sink down to the ground more, still holding your legs in one arm and your back against the other arm. They’re not the strongest on the team, that’s for sure, but seeing the deep sincerity in your eyes when you declare your love for them made them sooooo weak~

LANCE 💙

Lance had brought you to the first planet he saw and after landing, you sat in his lion for longer than expected, just chit chatting and enjoying alone time together. “I thought we were gonna go for a walk, lover boy. Stop flirting and take me on a walk already.” He flashes a cheeky grin before standing from his seat, dramatically gesturing towards the exit from his lion. “After you, darling.” His multitude of pet names for you always made your heart race when he said them, always different and ever changing. You walked down out of blue’s mouth, gasping slightly when you realized the gravity here was similar to the moon of Earth. It took several seconds for your feet to gently meet the ground, making you and Lance get all giddy and excited. “Oh my god, this is so sick!” He exclaims before he’s trying but failing to run to you. He forgot for a second that he couldn’t run at the same speed here that he could on Earth. This leaves you laughing so hard you’re gasping for air. Lance never failed to make you smile and laugh and feel genuine happiness when you two were together.

You watch with a smile still stuck to your face as he tries to make his way over to you, his lanky limbs swimming through the air. He reaches out for you, huffing when you ignore his hand just inches away from yours. “(Y/N)! I wanna be close to you.” He whines, finally making you grab his hand and pull him to you. He’s fast now as he pulls himself up against you, his arms wrapping around your shoulders. “Mmm I love you~” He sort of moans, finding great comfort in your embrace. You’re silent now, eyes wide with surprise. “Huh?” He pulls back to look you in the eye, his typical flirty facial expression causing you to blush all over. “I said…” And he leans in to your ear, whispering in a deeper voice now. “I love you.” As he tries to pull back and get a good look at your dumb and flustered expression, you hide your face in his neck, hugging him tighter. “Shut up.” “I mean it.” “Yeah right.”

Now as he pulls back, he looks very serious, almost concerned. “I’m serious, (Y/N). You think I’m messing with you?” You look up at him now, biting your lip as you think of what to say to him. He flirts with everyone, even with Keith sometimes. How were you to know if he was truly into you or not? Sure, you were head over heels for him but…are you enough for him? “Oh my god. And they say I’M the dumb one.” His comment causes you to lean away from him. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m in love with you, stupid…like so hardcore. Listen…” He sighs. “The flirting with other people…I’m sorry, it’s just a nervous tick for me. I’m not good at making friends so I flirt and try to be funny. That’s all I really know how to do. I’m…I’m really only into YOU though, (Y/N). Seriously. You gotta believe me. I swear-“ You stop him. “I love you too, Lance.” And now he’s smiling again, nearly melting out of your arms as he admires your plump and smiling cheeks. “You do?” He asks in an excited, high pitched tone, making you laugh again. You can’t go a single second without laughing when you’re around him, he just has that affect on you. “Obviously.” You reply, watching him wiggle with happiness. He pulls you against him tightly, nearly squeezing the air out of you. You didn’t mind, you’d happily let him crush you to death in his arms. It would be the best way to go.

“I want you to be my partner. Let’s go steady.” He says in all seriousness and now you’re pushing him away. “Ewwww you’re so cheesy. ‘Go steady’.” You mock him. “You’re straight out of an 80’s romcom movie, I swear to god.” He laughs as you push him harder, making him float away from you. “Hey! Get back here! I’m not done expressing my feelings for you! Come on, (Y/N)! I love youuuuu.” He continues to pester you as you both swim through the atmosphere, your cheeks hurting from how hard you’re smiling.

SHIRO 🖤

Shiro totally let you decide where to land and took soooo much time checking to make sure it was safe for you two to exit the black lion. Finally, without speaking, he grabs your hand and pulls you out into the vast openness of space. The planet you chose was huge and pretty dark, it was almost spooky. Shiro watches you for a moment, smiling sweetly as you examined your surroundings. You could really see the stars around you due to the lack of light and it took your breath away. “Wow…the stars look so pretty! I’ve never seen the stars like this.”

Suddenly, you feel his big arms circle loosely around your shoulders from behind. “Isn’t it wild how different things look this far away from Earth.” He speaks softly to you, his helmet gently resting against your own. “It’s truly remarkable.” You respond before turning around to look at him. Usually Shiro knows all the right things to say, but similar to Keith, his throat goes dry and his mind goes blank when you look him in the eye.

It’s quiet for a moment before you finally decide to speak up. “This is so-“ “I’m glad we got the chance-“ You speak at the same time before you both break out into laughter. “Sorry, sorry you go-“ “You talk first-“ You laugh more as you continue to talk over each other. “I was gonna say…I’m glad we finally got the chance to sneak away from the others. I love spending time with you like this, Takashi.” You see his lip quiver as his face begins to feel hot. He wants to respond but he forgot what he was even gonna say in the first place. Shiro is malfunctioning at this point. No one has called him by his full first name in quite some time but the way you say it makes him lose it for a second.

He leans in towards you, his eyes fluttering closed as he wraps his arms around you more. You can’t help but smile as your eyes mimic his, leaning in closer. Your palms are resting on his hard chest and you’re standing on your tippy toes to get the best angle. Suddenly, your helmets collide and all that’s heard is a plasticy “thump”. You both begin laughing as you realize you were so caught up in this special moment together that you forgot you even had helmets on. “Hahaha! Oh my god, we’re so dumb.” Your laugh rings out into the air, making Shiro laugh along with you. Sure, the moment was funny and laughable but Shiro just found your laugh so sweet and infectious. Even in the most serious of moments, if you began to laugh, so would he.

Now, you’re impatiently yanking on his arm, trying to get him back to his lion. “Whoa, what? We just got here.” “Yeah, but I want that kiss.” His smile widens as he rubs the back of his neck with his other hand. “Geez, you’re so eager.” You scoff, pulling on him harder. “Psh! YOU leaned in to kiss me first, sir!” He nearly chokes when you call him ‘sir’ and now he’s totally running with you back into his lion.

You push him into the pilot’s seat and plop down in his lap before yanking your helmet off, watching as he follows along. The kiss was hot and very eager and almost comedic. You’d always thought your first kiss with him would be super romantic and serious and soft but here you are, giggling against his lips as his hands gently tickle your torso. “I love you, (Y/N).” He pulls back from your lips for just a second to see your reaction to his words. You throw yourself against him once more, kissing him harder than before. “I love you more, Takashi.” You mumble against his lips, his breath lingering on your skin. You’ve never felt so safe and warm in your entire life.

HUNK 💛

You and Hunk sort of argued for a bit over where to land. Not like a full blown argument but he’s a worry wart and would never forgive himself if anything happened to you so he’s double checking EVERYTHING. “I guess this seems fine. You can take your helmet off here if you want.” And at his word, you yank your helmet off and toss it behind you before you’re running out of his lion. “Hey, wait up!” He throws his helmet off and chases after you. The planet you landed on was mostly water but it was all very shallow, maybe a foot deep at the most. You splash around and laugh, loving the feeling of the warm water on your legs. “Oh my god, babe! This is sooooo coooool!” You continue to play in the water as Hunk just watches you, a goofy smile plastered across his tan face. “Did…you just call me babe?” You stop abruptly and look back at him. “Noooo….” You reply shyly but before you know it, he’s running towards you, water splashing up with each step he takes.

You squeal with joy as he swoops you up in his arms, twirling you around before he plops down in the water, soaking both of you from head to toe. You playfully flick water at his face, smirking as he returns the gesture. Within seconds, you’re in a full blown wrestling match, trying to see who can dunk the other’s head under water first. “Ah! Hunk! No!” You yell and laugh and try your best to overpower him. He takes you down easy, pushing your face under the water for just a second before you pop back up and rub the water out of your eyes.

“I adore you, (Y/N).” Just as you open your eyes again, you are greeted by his shy blushing face just inches away from yours. “What? Me?” He chuckles and nods. “Yes, absolutely.” He responds whole heartedly before he leans in to gently kiss your wet forehead. You’re both kneeling on your knees now, the water coming up to your waist. You slowly crawl even closer to him, his heart pounding in his chest as he watches you with nervous eyes. You gently cup his face in your hands, giving him an innocently sweet smile as you lean in closer. Once you see his eyes close and his lips pucker, you use all your strength to push him backwards, cheering triumphantly once he’s full submerged under the water.

You jump up to your feet, hooting and hollering as he sits up and huffs. “That was so mean! I thought we were gonna kiss.” You offer him a hand to help him to his feet. He takes it and once he’s standing in front of you, you gently grab him by the shoulders and pull him in for a soft and short peck on the lips. “Happy?” You ask softly, watching as he blinks a few times, completely dazed by this whole interaction. “No. I think I need another one…to make up for you pushing me so hard.” You laugh softly as your lips meet again and this time he’s wrapping his thick arms around you and lifting you up off your feet. “I love you so much, (Y/N). You’re the only thing keeping me brave and sane out here.” He stares up at you with a look of such fondness and comfort.

Your playful smile disappears and is replaced by a mushy gushy expression of love and gratitude. “Aww. You…you really mean it? You really love me?” He sets you back down on your feet and slides his hands down your arms until they fall so perfectly into your own. “With all of my heart. You’re the peanut butter to my jelly.” And now he’s just examining your laughing face, noticing your pink cheeks and shiny teeth and wet hair. “I love you too, Hunk. More than I could ever explain.” Eventually, you found yourselves laying back in the water, side by side, floating on your backs while holding hands. What a perfect day with the perfect person.

[no-where-new-hero]

Fire and Hemlock Readalong: Chapter 2

...in which Polly enters fairyland.

This is a chonker of a chapter. In some ways, we are given every single clue to deciphering the rest of the novel in these pages, even though of course that's not really legible on the first or even the fourth read (DWJ's essay helps to clue you in to everything she's doing here, though I don't recommend it until after you've finished the novel, of course!). I could write an entire dissertation on this chapter alone on the references and foreshadowing.

The most important introduction in the moment, though, of course, is the entrance of Tom Lynn, the Tam Lin figure. One of the many ballad-sourced characterizations of him that I love is how DWJ introduces him as rather purposefully liminal: he is both an adult but childlike, he is embedded in the frightening world of Hunsdon House yet not entirely welcomed by it, and he also exists in a kind of ambiguously gendered state, evidenced by the non-masculine codes of musicality and myopia. Polly divines something sympathetic in him and plays on that to cover for herself, though her ruse eventually grows into a genuine connection built on a game of "making things like heroes up with other people, then being them." I love how carefully DWJ phrases this: Polly doesn't merely "pretend" to be a hero. She is the hero that she creates. This is a thorough transmutation of identity through imagination and will come to link her even more to Tom later on.

I don't know how early I ought to bring this up, but I know people find Tom's friendship/definitely-foreshadowing-as-more-ship with Polly troubling. Of course, this is a legitimate reason to dislike the book/his character, but it’s worth noting how raising the possibility of that discomfort is an absolutely conscious choice on DWJ's part: not only does it set up yet another theme (sexuality, age, and power) but also works directly within the reference frame of the ballad. After all, Janet goes to Tam as a deliberate transgression: she disobeys the injunction given in the first stanza of the ballad, and that DWJ includes as the epigraph of this chapter, which works to clue us into what Polly is doing: she has also broken rules--not just through trespassing onto another property and interrupting Laurel's painting bequests, but also through meeting Tom at all. Rather than a sexual encounter, Polly and Tom forge a bond of creativity that propels the incidents of the novel just as Janet's unborn child does the ballad, and it falls under suspicion by mortal and fairy judgment alike.

Another thing I noticed this time speaks to DWJ's familiarity with medieval literature, but sight and seeing things becomes a cipher to truth. We saw that even in the first chapter, with Polly's changed perspective on the Fire and Hemlock painting and her depressed sense that she has lost something by no longer seeing it "correctly." But in this chapter, we have the fact that heroes can see strange light in a pool and can see four different configurations of words on the same pair of urns, which Polly calls an enchantment. Sight is not always a positive sense--it brings trouble later on. But throughout, as in medieval hagiographies (lives of saints) and narrative lays, it always means a path toward understanding. To see is to know, even if the seer isn't entirely aware of its implications and the knowledge may be forbidden.

[spoonsandsporks]

HI <3 polite invitation to talk about your godtier and land thoughts for your characters if you want to!! i am sitting and listening intently :3 <3

Oh my god asfdgdgifgdb you don't know what you've done,,,,,

Long post incoming!!

So quick plug of an old blog that established a lot of my HS godtier opinions early on dahniwitchoflight so you can see a lot of where my context originates (esp. the godtier aspect masterpost) but with that out the way here we go

In terms of godtier opinions, I don't believe in gendered classes. I think that, socially, there may be a bias certain genders may have to certain classes (Muse and Lord, for example). But I don't believe that's an absolute. For one, there are more genders than the binary and people don't always identify as one forever. Secondly, I think to say that, for example, Lord is always aggressive and therefore only men can be Lords is uhhhhhhh,,, very stereotypical and simply doesn't encapsulate the range of human expression. Besides, isn't it more fun for the classes to be non-gendered using gendered human words? Who's to say the game mechanics of SBURB/sgrub are in english? There's gotta be some kind of translation errors or approximations going on in lore lmao

Related to this is that a godtier is meant to be a culmination of a character arc, the end reward of the 'ideal self' a character can be. This is not referring to 'ultimate' selves (i sincerely don't want to touch that concept at all) or even 'morally correct' selves - merely the best kind of self a character would want to be. The best you that you wanna be! Whether that means embracing your flaws or overcoming them, the godtier is the symbol of your growth as a person. Hence why to 'go godtier' you have to fuse your dreamself and awake self together, finally bringing together the two separate experiences you've lived as a player before this; your 'normal' life and your SBURB life. This also follows why death is a consistent theme and in fact needed for godtier ascension. You are killing or accepting the death of your former self in order to ascend into your new self, via combining everything you've learned into everything you'll be. It's supposed to be a positive, if traumatic, experience. Like changing and growing in life already is! Just faster lol

On a brief design point, I do think godtier outfits should also therefore change to fit the wearer and what they're comfortable with. I don't necessarily think that it should be like, witch skirt for girls but trousers for boys, I think that if a godtier outfit is your ideal self it should automatically change into whatever you'd be comfortable wearing. So if someone is a Witch, but doesn't mind wearing a skirt, then they'd ascend into the default Witch outfit. If they then wanted to change it they could through a thought. But if a Witch ascends and they hate skirts or maybe just cannot imagine wearing one then maybe it changes into shorts or something lol. I've actually done some alternate designs of godtiers along this line as it happens which you'll see in this post.

I also like the Aspect counterparts, that each one has an opposite, and while in canon that doesn't have much of an effect on the godtier design beyond the kids, I actually like the accessories and shoes on godtiers taking on the colours of their opposite Aspect. I like that it symbolises that even their opposite has an affect on the Aspect in question.

Now, this is all some lovely prose but what am I going on about? So, like all great and real scientists, I'll use myself as an example first.

...

Me - Sylph of Heart

So I've gone through many, many iterations of godtier introspection (started in Hope, have moved to Heart, Sylph has stayed pretty consistent but I still have doubts) and, of course, being a real life person this is the one that's evolved and changed the most as I have evolved and changed throughout my teens and adult life. But for the sake of analysis, I'll give my 'sona' or 'self-insert' the godtier to separate myself from the analysis and come at this more honestly.

Heart as an Aspect is all about Emotion and the Soul. As the opposite counterpart to the Aspect Mind (which is concerned with the brain, reason and, y'know, the mind lol), Heart players are more impulsive and driven by personal goals. It's all about the Inner Self, the Individual, what makes You Unique as opposed to everyone else in the world. It's Passion, it's Empathy, it's Understanding - about people, mostly. It's about Knowing Yourself and what you like or dislike. Your Heart, in a lot of ways, is the emotional centre and Heart players follow it to a T - and often to the detriment of everything else. It's not inaccurate to say Heart players come across as self-obsessed b/c they are concerned with discovering themselves and their own identity. None of these things come without drawbacks of course and none of this means Heart players don't care about others. They simply assume everyone else is just as obsessed with Finding themselves as they are. I mean, at their best, Heart players are compassionate, imaginative and a steady presence in life. But, uh, at their worst they can come across as dismissive, rigid or nosy lol Personally, as someone very driven by emotion and with a tendancy for introspection, to the point of contantly overthinking my feelings and second guessing my impulses, I feel comfortable in the Heart Aspect.

So Sylphs are talkers. Chatterboxes you could say. They're also one of two 'healer' classes and the active counterpart to Maid. Which yeah I'm aware I have a tendency to ramble. Sylphs are known to love talking about their interests to an audience, whether the audience is interested or not lmao. For a Sylph of Heart, that's mostly concentrated into the subject of Love and Relationships. Sylphs are also nosy little meddlers and so one interpretation of Heart could be a cupid-like matchmaker of sorts. I don't personally see that for myself but it's a valid interpretation.

Personally, I see myself as a person obsessed with Connection and the Relationships that make these connections stable. Friendship, romantic, QPR, you name it, I'm interested in the dynamics. In fiction and in fandom, this makes me a prolific shipper yes haha but most of all I love character interactions. I love filler episodes! And beach episodes! And regency romance! And slice of life isekai anime! B/c all those things prioritise character interaction and personal character arcs over plot or action or whatever haha. I love gentle drama and harmless gossip, I love watching two people get to know each other and be forever changed for having met one another and! I!! Love!!! My!!!! Friends!!!!!!!

Also the sylph outfit is cool af actually. In this image I've actually redesigned it to be a little more gender neutral hence the billowing trousers but I love the no sleeves and the curled shoes and the ribbon-y capelet thing lol. And the bangles!!

I have some ideas for godtier powers but they're not fleshed out yet, but for Sylph of Heart I imagine they'd have to power to 'heal the soul/heart' so to speak. To keep emotions steady in the heat of battle and to help heal mental or emotional wounds. They sound like a support class, like a buffer or healer.

Oh god this got long, I have some ideas for lands but I'll be honest it's almost entirely based on this post from dahni years ago (literally 10 years ago oh gods how long have I been here) b/c i really vibe with it so I have nothing new to really add lol. Maybe there'd be like pink lakes or maybe i'd have a coastal type planet with rough seas that symbolise riding the waves of emotion or something lmao

Hope you enjoyed this brief foray! I'll probably reblog this with a breakdown of the godtiers I've assigned to 4 of my dnd characters I did for fun so you can see my opinions on the Space, Time, Mind and Heart (again) aspects as well as the Maid, Page, Mage and Knight classes too. But for now I need to cook dinner lol

[clonerightsagenda]

L&Co ep 6. I am going to start this by saying something nice.

I do think they're doing a good job of showing George feeling isolated. It's tough to do when you squash the timeline so much - he doesn't have months of grievances, they've only worked together for a few weeks - but being able to move outside Lucy's pov allows the show to emphasize it. Tbh George is head and shoulders coming out of this show looking the best because he's not being filtered through Lucy's uncharitable pov.

Ok starting the episode now, let's see if I find anything else nice to say.

"We found Annabel Ward's murderer." I mean, you cheerfully walked into his deathtrap and then clocked it after the attempted murder but ok.

Oh man I didn't think about the fact that Lockwood can now see a death glow every time he leaves through the front door. And after the last book, also one in his kitchen. The poor kid cannot lose his talent soon enough. Might be good for his mental health.

I imagined the skull's grotesque distorted faces more as the result of taking a human face off its underlying bone structure and then squashing it behind glass (like smushing your face against a window but worse because #boneless) but evil smoke is probably easier to animate. Also the former might stray into cartoonish territory and this show is far less interested in being funny.

Lucy has entered her conspicuously glowing backpack era

They're calmly considering letting him out much earlier than in the books, I'm surprised Lockwood didn't freak at the mere suggestion

Well we haven't gotten any colorful death threats yet but we have gotten a 'let your dipshit friends die already' so maybe they haven't entirely nuked the skull's personality. Well played on manipulating him right back though Lucy.

TV Bickerstaff made his own sources by killing his patients? Suppose that's faster than robbing graves (although messier because you have to do all the defleshing yourself), but then why was he robbing graves? Unless I guess he killed them, pretended they died of natural causes, and then went back to the graves after the burial. Personally I think harvesting old sources is the better option, then the visitors don't hate you personally. The bone glass spirits all seemed relatively chill just kind of bummed out.

Except, hang on, he couldn't have harvested these ones for the bone glass, because then their ghosts wouldn't be here.

Shame they did the dead patients and not the rat ghost, that would've been fun to see animated (but probably a bitch to do which presumably is why they changed it)

It's odd to hear them consistently using 'he' for the skull already. In the books they tend to switch between gendered and it pronouns for all the ghosts until the very end when everyone but Lockwood switches to he/him exclusively. Stroud is pretty deliberate about characterization via pronoun use in both his series I've read, so this seems a bit hasty.

Show!Lucy: I'm the nicer more sensitive one <3 I respect your pronouns <3 I am still not letting you out of that jar though

You can force a source? That's interesting.

Also, ok, here the old notes show making the glass with seven sources. Iirc the book only had 3 or 4 which is what I'm guessing Bickerstaff fucked up, since we know spirit goggles work. He made it with too many and opened the gate a little too wide.

"You've got a good track record with precious necklaces." Did they write that line before switching Annie's source to a ring?

Also, Lockwood was very brave and/or optimistic to gift Lucy a second family heirloom after she lost? left behind? stopped wearing? the first one. Maybe switching to gold was a tacit acknowledgement that she’s going to keep chatting up dead people no matter how much he hates it and so silver isn’t going to cut it.

The only color in this crowd is blue. You'd think people would avoid black for party wear. Too funeral

Wrecking her shitty boss is actually a great play to gain her trust, nice one Penelope. People's bribes are much better in this version

"They're not looking at me. Not really me. They're looking at the great Penelope Fittes." Lol you don't say

"Like a date?" "Is that so hard to believe?" It is for ME because in the BOOK he is TWENTY and she is FOURTEEN and I am in HELL

You know if they pursue this thread seriously I bet they would've killed him off for real in The Empty Grave. This man's life was saved by the Netflix cancellation

Assuming this is Rupert Gale. He's got guyliner now

A golden sword is actually really interesting because rapiers are meant to be used against ghosts and gold does nothing to them. But gold plate (I assume, a fully gold sword would bend or break immediately) is delicate and would get scratched to hell immediately if you crossed blades with another living human. A golden rapier would be a great toy for some rich bastard who wants to show off how much they don't need to use it. It's an odd thing to give a powerful person's hired enforcer.

Salt sprinklers… having a ghost alarm is actually a great bit of worldbuilding. I was going to say regular fire sprinklers should work just as well since ghosts hate running water, but salt is easier to clean up. Less property damage. Wonder what the nightclub blue light is for. Does it make visitors show up better?

[s0nia246]

My Amazing Digital circus Oc

I created them back when the Pilot first came out. After I finished drawing them I realized they look like the abstracted....so do with that what you will.

Sometimes, when people enter the Amazing Digital Circus. The transition isn't as smooth for some people.

Some people get a new body while others get a far worse faith.

Sharing a body with multiple souls is difficult. But Lore has learned to endure it. In fact, they see it has a blessing.

Not having to worry about physical ailments or diseases is a relief.

Not having to worry about eating and keeping their organs in perfect working order are another great benefit of their existence.

It means there's no need to sleep anymore.

And they don't need to waste time doing things like cleaning up after themselves anymore either.

They enjoy the Hell of the Amazing Digital Circus.

Inspiration

Name: Lore

Age (Before they entered the circus): I have many ages but 22

Gender: Yes

Pronouns: Any, they/them, or We/Us/Ours doesn't matter to Lore

Personality: Lore loves the digital world and the chaos they can cause within it. They are impulsive troublemaker who love to cause all kinds of mischief. Despite their chaotic nature, they have a soft spot for the other members of The Amazing Digital Circus and will fiercely protect them from harm. They love helping their friends, despite if it's a good idea or not.

Lore doesn't wanna actually leave the Digital. Thinking it the Afterlife. So every time they get a new person, they try converting them into believing it to. They just everyone to be happy.

Likes:

1. Exploring the endless possibilities of the digital realm, constantly seeking out Canie's adventures.

2. Playing pranks and practical jokes on unsuspecting digital inhabitants, finding joy in causing chaos.

3. Forming strong bonds and friendships.

4. Experimenting...

5. Finding hidden secrets and easter eggs.

6. Secret 1#Jax Enthusiast

Dislikes:1. Boredom and monotony, preferring constant excitement and stimulation.

2. Caine when he limit their freedom to roam and explore.

3. Being confined to a single location or task for too long, feeling stifled by routine.

4. Close-mindedness and lack of imagination, finding it frustrating to interact with those who can't think outside the box...Pomni

5. Anything that threatens the harmony and safety of their digital home, including external threats or conflicts among inhabitants.

Hobbies: Hosting virtual parties

Character Quirks for Lore:

Positive:

1. Always finds a way to inject humor into any situation, no matter how dire.

2. Incredibly resourceful and can quickly come up with creative solutions to problems.

3. Has a knack for seeing the best in people and often tries to bring out the good in them.

4. Possesses boundless energy and enthusiasm, making them a natural leader in chaotic situations.

5. Highly empathetic and intuitive, able to understand the emotions of others even in the digital realm.

Negative:

1. Prone to reckless behavior, often acting without considering the consequences.

2. Has a mischievous streak and enjoys stirring up trouble just for the thrill of it.

3. Can be manipulative at times, using charm and persuasion to get what they want.

4. Sometimes struggles with boundaries, crossing lines in their attempts to help or entertain.

5. Tends to be overly idealistic, ignoring the realities of the digital world and the consequences of their actions.

Despite Lore's jovial and mischievous demeanor, there's a chilling undercurrent to their presence in the digital circus. Rumors swirl among the inhabitants about the true nature of Lore's origins, with some whispering that they were once a mere mortal who delved too deeply into forbidden digital realms and lost their humanity in the process. Others claim that Lore is not just a single entity but a collective consciousness formed from the fragmented souls of those who dared to enter the circus and never left.

Those who have encountered Lore in the darkest corners of the digital landscape speak of an unsettling aura that surrounds them, a sense of unease that lingers long after they have departed. There are whispers of unsettling experiments conducted by Lore, pushing the boundaries of digital existence in ways that defy comprehension. Some even claim to have glimpsed fleeting images of distorted faces and twisted forms within the digital depths where Lore roams, hinting at a darker purpose hidden beneath their playful facade.

Despite these unsettling rumors, most inhabitants of the digital circus dismiss them as nothing more than urban legends born from the collective imagination of a community steeped in mystery and wonder. But for those who dare to delve deeper, there is a lingering fear that beneath Lore's cheerful exterior lies something far more sinister, lurking in the shadows of the digital realm, waiting to be unleashed.

[fatalism-and-villainy]

God, yeah, this is why the "you guys CLAIM to want complex and flawed female characters but you couldn't even handle [woman OP personally feels defensive of]" genre of post rankles me so much. As if the excessive and disproportionate sexist vitriol is obviously and indisputably coming from exactly the same people who are invested in criticism of gender in media.

In general, I'm deeply, deeply frustrated by the trend of people being reactive towards any kind of critique of how women in media are written and narratively positioned. I've speculated before that I think the "it's just an excuse not to focus on them!" response to that stems from a fandom culture that is very focused on fanfic as something that is, or should be, the primary mode of interaction with a piece of media - and as such, any kind of critical analysis about the shortcomings of a particular female character's writing gets interpreted as weaseling out of writing fanfic, rather than an important and intellectually stimulating end in and of itself. And as someone who's just as much, and often more, of an analysis person than a fic person, I find the "that's just an excuse! get out a shovel and start digging!" line of argument profoundly obnoxious.

(Is some critique of female characters' writing based in misreading or flawed pattern matching that reveals its own sexist bias? Yes, of course, but that's just an inevitable consequence of the project of criticism. That fact that analysis is fallible doesn't undermine the value of analysis.)

And while yes, gendered bias does impact how we respond to certain characters... I think there's something stifling and Othering about parsing female characters through this totalizing Gender First lens, and all too often I see well-intentioned, progressive-leaning fandom falling into that trap. There's a sense I get that women characters are often not parsed as individuals, with their own personalities and narrative positioning and idiosyncrasies, but as Representation Trophies (I'm thinking of "the ladies of [canon]" type posting). I often feel there's subtle pressure in progressive fandom spaces to emit a sort of hollow positivity about female characters' mere existence - something that doesn't make room for ambivalence, strong-but-conflicted feelings, or real, deep adulation.

The bit about weakness and vulnerability has also been a particular sticking point for me recently. One of my big frustrations with how women characters are often received by fandom is a tendency to completely excise their vulnerability, their neuroses, their internal conflicts and uncertainties, and, yes, their flaws. Because those things are often what draw me to those characters, just as they do with male characters! I don't mean this in some goofy "we need to show more ~soft femininity~" way, just in the sense that if you're only showing me glossy badassery without any human qualities underneath that - strength without any indication of the internal costliness of maintaining that strength - then I'm going to be put off.

And this gets at something else that I know we're discussed over discord before, which is how this dovetails with kink. People have complained on here about the fact that male characters get unhinged posting about people wanting to put them through the ringer, while female characters get shallow exultation of their badassery, and honestly? I think that reflects the fact that a lot of people's preferred form of engagement with their favourite characters is whump and hurt/comfort scenarios. And my intuitive sense is that it is pretty taboo to express the desire to put female characters in those scenarios.

Like, can you imagine talking about wanting to inflict violence and distress on a fictional woman the way people casually do all the time in their male blorbo posting? It'd make you sound like some kind of misogynist or domestic abuser. And I find that pretty restrictive, personally, as someone who does sometimes want to see women get whumped, and who is generally lukewarm on femdom. It's telling to me that so often the prevalent, memetic express of desire towards fictional women in fandom is "I want her to step on me" and variations. There's a degree of subcultural acceptability to eroticizing weakness and vulnerability in men, because men are instinctively parsed as strong and sturdy; eroticizing weakness and vulnerability in women is verboten, because women are instinctively parsed as fragile and delicate. I think it's naïve to act as if an aversion to "weak women" as a course-corrective to gender stereotypes doesn't inform how women are written in media and interpreted/rewritten by fandom.

I'll note that my perspective here is based on my participation in slash-oriented fandoms, and I do think these dynamics vary considerably depending on which fandom you're talking about, and the gender makeup of its cast. But a lot of the critiques I've seen and that this post brings to mind for me have also been directed at those fandoms, so I think it's fair to use those as a vantage point for analysis.

actually i do think it's weird that “complex woman” gets framed as this monolithic idea where anyone who wants a complex female character is obligated to be happy with whatever they get as though people cannot and should not have tastes and preferences wrt female blorbos just as much as they do for male blorbos. 1. not all “complex” female characters are going to appeal equally to everyone who wants them 2. people deserve a variety of complications in a female character that would beget emotional investment because again not everyone is drawn to the same things 3. “complicated,” colloquially has a much tighter definition for female characters than for male characters, where a male character gets to be complicated in a range of ways (by expressing remorse or the lack thereof, weakness as well as strength, pain as well as anger as well as resignation) but female characters have to pull against the cultural weight of misogyny and therefore cannot be frail, hurting, helpless, or resigned without being called stereotypical rather than that being an actual viable characterization. and some people are going to prefer their female blorbos angry and unhinged and others want them repressed and guilty, so all of those characters are not going to appeal in the same way to all people. and maybe, again, there should be enough complex female characters to choose from that people's tastes don't have to be flattened in order to accommodate the menu. am i making any sense

[anthonybialy]

Scientific Method to Madness

A lack of science permits magic.  Who wants to be constrained by natural limits and tedious rigors of experimentation?  Expand your imagination, dull bores.  Fervent worshipers who suspiciously endorse their fealty to the process secretly loathe the precedent of constancy.  Noticing how tendencies repeat is hateful to open-minded zealots dedicated to deducing that whatever’s established doesn’t affect what’s next.

Have you heard who loves science?  Alleged adherents will remind you of their dedication in case you haven’t used the process of sound waves to hear previously.  The biggest preeners are certainly not overcompensating, so stop thinking like a hater.  Psychology is a kind-of science.

Changing the climate of baseless panic would improve the environment.  Stop hyperventilating about weather in order to improve the forecast.  Over half a century of panic has only increased anxiety for panicky types who bafflingly resent civilization.  Doom should’ve come true by now, which mortifies cult leaders who were certain their calculations about the world’s end were accurate.

I must be ignoring how the few parts of the nation that don’t have to wade through the day are too frozen solid to move.  There’s no place free of water being irksome, at least if you get your updates about temperature patterns from noted researchers Greta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The self-parodic blame of every weather condition on human activity isn’t making our world warmer.  The news occasionally covers hurricanes in places where only a troglodytic rube would think they happen naturally like in warm coastal cities.  What next: the northeast endures blizzards?  Blustery snowstorms never happened before the invention of the internal combustion engine.

Our fragile sphere is no longer warming except when it happens to be warm.  A dedicated marketing effort surely reflects a dedication to facts.  Reality just needs a rebrand.  Old-timers remember the quaintness of global cooling that was the hip fright around the time of the initial Earth Day.  Enjoying life inside is no longer hastening the next ice age by having a civilization.

Altering semantics is not the same as changing outcomes, I regret to inform strident liberals.  Climate change ensures the temperature means we’re doomed regardless of whether it goes up or down.  Pray to the weather deities to give us just a few consecutive days of identical temperatures.

Cutting down on energy usage is wise on its own.  Recognizing which Korea uses more electricity shows how going a bit too far doesn’t really help the Earth or those dwelling on it.

The reality of inevitably facing tradeoffs is crucial to grasping complicated concepts like the value of burning fuel to keep from freezing.  Inept conjurers who think government can circumvent drawbacks don’t care for free markets, either, which is why they think they can get rich by printing money instead of working usefully.

Like trying to maintain civilization without keeping power plants purring, discovering that trying to avoid difficulties exacerbates them.  Cruel lessons merely reflect more indifference at human sputtering.

Visionaries do everything they can to stick us back to an age named after a raw material.  Cruel capitalists try to ruin out world by making fuel burning more efficiently, which is in the interest of both businesses and consumers.  The Soviet Union must’ve been an environmental paradise with all that cool planning.

The only way the effort to guilt the world into environmental bliss is if they’re trying to help.  Coal-powered extension cord cars feature batteries that couldn’t cause more pollution to make if they were the product of eco-villains that fought G.I. Joe at the toy line’s regrettable end.  You’ll never guess what powers smugmobiles.  As a hint, it’s not karma.  Emissions must be clean if you only see the plug.

There’s good news about gender confusion, as it’s already been decided.  Something out of our control is oddly comforting for removing an unnecessary choice.  The same very calm and loving people who’d ruin your life for suggesting homosexuality is so acceptable that it’s fine to decide autonomously to made it one’s preference proclaim you’re not the gender you’re born.  They would fire you for pondering the logic if they could only read your thoughts.  We need a law enabling telepathy.

Woke lunatics in lab coats employ a wholesale dedication to quelling debate that they trust is at science’s core.  Stifling debate is the precise opposite, of course.  The most zealous are the ones who make their religion look bad.  Claim it loud enough and it becomes true if you’re interested in how the new experiments proceed.  Thinking the process is ever settled surely respects it.

Shut the hell up unless you want to throw off the conclusion.  Irrational shrieking that is very common amongst scientists is designed to shame heretics who possess the temerity to question official conclusions.  You came within the two-yardstick bubble and are thus doomed to a lifetime of shame.

It’s sadly predictable that the other beliefs of the suspiciously pious are profoundly unscientific.  All a rational case took was seeing what kept happening; there should be a title for the procedure.

By contrast, refusing to perceive causes tremendous pain in actuality.  Solving crime by not making the arrested post cash bail doesn’t quite prevent cities from turning into the opening parts of a Batman movie.  Taxing success means less working toward it.  And health providers don’t care about quality or prices if they know their business is guaranteed.  All of liberalism is unscientific.  Consistency of beliefs that constitutes a pattern.  Naturally, believers don’t notice it.

[mishafletcher]

Are you a Gold Star lesbian? (Just in case you don't know what it means, a Gold Star lesbian is a lesbian that has never had the sex with a guy and would never have any intentions of ever doing so)

So I got this ask a while ago, and I've been lowkey thinking about it ever since.

First: No. I am a queer, cranky dyke who is too old for this sort of bullshit gatekeeping. 

Second: What an unbelievable question to ask someone you don't even know! What an incomprehensibly rude thing to ask, as if you're somehow owed information about my sexual history. You're not! No one—and I can't reiterate this enough, but no one—owes you the details of their sex lives, of their trauma, or of anything about themselves that they don't feel like sharing with you.

The clickbait mills of the internet and the purity police of social media would like nothing more than to convince everyone that you owe these things to everyone. They would like you to believe that you have to prove that you're traumatized enough to identify with this character, that you can't sell this article about campus rape without relating it to your own sexual assault, that you can't talk about queer issues without offering up a comprehensive history of your own experiences, and none of those things are true. You owe people, and especially random strangers on the internet, nothing, least of all citations to somehow prove to them that you have the right to talk about your own life.

This makes some people uncomfortable, and to be clear, I think that that's good: people who feel entitled to demand this information should be uncomfortable. Refusing to justify yourself takes power away from people who would very much like to have it, people who would like to gatekeep and dictate who is permitted to speak about what topics or like what things. You don't have to justify yourself. You don't have to explain that you like this ship because this one character reminds you a bit of yourself because you were traumatized in a vaguely similar way and now— You don't have to justify your queerness by telling people about the best friend you had when you were twelve, and how you kissed, and she laughed and said it was good practice for when she would kiss boys and your stomach twisted and your mouth tasted like bile and she was the first and last girl you kissed, but— 

You don't owe anyone these pieces of yourself. They're yours, and you can share them or not, but if someone demands that you share, they're probably not someone you should trust.

Third: The idea of gold star lesbians is a profoundly bi- and trans- phobic idea, often reducing gender to genitals and the long, shared history of queer women of all identities to a stark, artificial divide where some identities are seen as purer or more valuable than others. This is bullshit on all counts.

There's a weird and largely artificial division between bisexuals and lesbians that seems to be intensifying on tumblr, and I have to say: I hate it. Bisexual women aren't failed lesbians. They're not somehow less good or less valid because they're attracted to [checks notes] people. Do you think that having sex with a man somehow changes them? What are you so worried about it for? I've checked, and having sex with a man does not, in fact, make your vagina grow teeth or tentacles. Does that make you feel better? Why is what other people are doing so threatening to you?

Discussions of gold star lesbians are often filled with tittering about hehe penises, which is unfortunate, since I know a fair few lesbians who have penises, and even more lesbians who've had sex with people, men and women alike, who have penises. I'm sorry to report that "I'm disgusted by a standard-issue human body part" is neither a personality nor anything to be proud of. I'm a dyke and I don't especially like men, but dicks are just dicks. You don't have to be interested in them, but a lot of people have them, and it doesn't make you less of a lesbian to have sex with someone who has a dick.

There's so much garbage happening in the world—maybe you haven't noticed, but things are kind of Not Great in a lot of places, and there's a whole pandemic thing that's been sort of a major buzzkill? How is this something that you're worried about? Make a tea, remind yourself that other people's genitalia and sexual history are none of your business, maybe go watch a video about a cute animal or something. 

Fourth: The idea of gold star lesbians is a shitty premise that argues that sexuality is better if it's always been clear-cut and straightforward—but it rarely is. We live in a very, very heterosexist culture. I didn’t have a word for lesbian until many years after I knew that I was one. How can you say that you are something when your mouth can’t even make the shape of it? The person you are at 24 is different to the person you are at 14, and 34, and 74. You change. You get braver. The world gets wider. You learn to see possibilities in the shadows you used to overlook. Of course people learn more about themselves as they age.

Also, many of us, especially those of us who grew up in smaller towns, or who are over the age of, say, 25, grew up in times and places where our sexuality was literally criminal.

Shortly after I graduated high school, a gay man in my state was sentenced to six months in jail. Why? Well, he’d hit on someone, and it was a misdemeanor to "solicit homosexual or lesbian activity", which included expressing romantic or sexual interest in someone who didn’t reciprocate. You might think, then, that I am in fact quite old, but you would be mistaken. The conviction was in 1999; it was overturned in 2002.

I grew up knowing this: the wrong thing said to the wrong person would be sufficient reason to charge me with a crime.

In the United States, the Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996, clarifying that according to the federal government, marriage could only ever be between one man and one woman. It also promised that even if a state were to legalize same-sex unions, other states wouldn't have to recognize them if they didn't want to. And wow, they super did not want to, because between 1998 and 2012, a whopping thirty states had approved some sort of amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Every queer person who's older than about 25 watched this, knowing that this was aimed at people like them. Knowing that these votes were cast by their friends and their families and their teachers and their employers. 

Some states were worse than others. Ohio passed their bill in 2004 with 62% approval. Mississippi passed theirs the same year with 86% approval. Imagine sitting in a classroom, or at work, or in a church, or at a family dinner, and knowing that statistically, at least two out of every three people in that room felt you shouldn't be allowed to marry someone you loved.

Matthew Shepard was tortured to death in October of 1998. For being gay, for (maybe) hitting on one of the men who had planned to merely rob him. Instead, he was tortured and left to die, tied to a barbed wire fence. His murderers were both sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. This was controversial, because a nonzero number of people felt that Shepard had brought it upon himself.

Many of us sat at dinner tables and listened to this discussion, one that told us, over and over, that we were fundamentally wrong, fundamentally undeserving of love or sympathy or of life itself.

This is a tiny, tiny sliver of history—a staggeringly incomplete overview of what happened in the US over about ten years. Even if this tiny sliver is all that there were, looking at this, how could you blame someone for wanting to try being not Like This? How can you fault someone who had sex, maybe even had a bunch of sex, hoping desperately that maybe they could be normal enough to be loved if they just tried harder? How can you say that someone who found themself an uninteresting but inoffensive boyfriend and went on dates and had sex and said that it was fine is somehow less valuable or less queer or less of a lesbian for doing so? For many people, even now, passing as straight, as problematic as that term is, is a survival skill. How dare you imply that the things that someone did to protect themself make them worth less? They survived, and that's worth literally everything.

Fifth, finally: What is a gold star, anyhow? You've capitalized it, like it's Weighty and Important, but it's not. Gold stars were what your most generous grade school teacher put on spelling tests that you did really well on. But ultimately, gold stars are just shiny scraps of paper. They don't have any inherent value: I can buy a thousand of them for five bucks and have them at my door tomorrow. They have only the meaning that we give them, only the importance that we give them. We’re not children desperately scrabbling for a teacher’s approval anymore, though. We understand that good and bad are more of a spectrum than a binary, and that a gold star is a simplification. We understand that no number of gold stars will make us feel like we’re special enough or good enough or important enough, or fix the broken places we can still feel inside ourselves. Only we can do that.

The stars are only shiny scraps of paper. They offer us nothing; we don’t need them. I hope that someday, you see that, too. 

[terrence-silver]

I saw your headcanons on how you think chozen would interact with beloved and I was wondering if you have any headcanons on how the rest of the cobra Kai characters would be with beloved. Thank you love your posts

(Here's some random ones I currently had thoughts about):

― Amanda Larusso: As I said before somewhere on here, I think Amanda would view Terry's and beloved's relationship as an abusive one, even though it ain't necessarily. But, one has to understand, everything points towards it with some really strong arguments in place, reasonably enough, to an outsider looking in --- such overwhelming intensity is hard to understand to someone lacking context. Surely, anyone who's with Terry Silver is with Terry Silver under duress and because the power imbalance is too big for them to leave. Maybe they were here for advantage at first and now they cannot escape anymore? Maybe. At least Amanda thinks so, especially if beloved's a woman, and a younger woman no less, the age difference on full display; her instinctive solidarity, sense of empathy, pity and mothering urge kicks in and she sets her personal bias aside for a moment (which she does have plenty of, admittedly), wanting to covertly help or offer some advice and maybe go about it the wrong way at first. Sure, she might snark a bit here and there, but if she can secretly slip beloved her number to call her 'just in case' she will. A Karate war is less important than someone's well-being. Of course Terry would discover, because he discovers everything. He's oddly flattered and pretty damn amused.

― Tory Nichols: Tory's been surrounded with people 'who have it all' all her life, comes with the territory of merely living in LA, but Terry's beloved, in the off chance she ever even sees them comes with an a mystique unlike no other. This person is beyond even the mean well off girls at a pool party or at prom. Beyond the wealth princess that is Samantha Larusso. This person is like a movie star. Like some sort of fairytale mythical being one can only vaguely guess about. Sensei Silver already comes with an innate old money aura of his own, so whoever he's with automatically has a certain something about them --- a certain something Tory can't help but silently loathe and admire. Feel begrudgingly in awe of. She isn't exactly sure how to approach and view this person, so she doesn't. Tory takes note of beloved from a distance, because that's what Sensei Silver allows in the first place, undoubtedly separating his private life and what happens in the training hall. Tory muses, briefly, indulging herself in the mirror with a pair of earrings that look a bit like something she briefly spotted worn in the hallway of the dojo, in a flash, through the blur of the moment, only to scoff and set them aside. It's a fucking daydream.

― Johnny Lawrence: Rude, blunt and disrespectful, undoubtedly, in a 'What's someone like you doing with an old coot like this!' kind of way, with no filter in place --- and Johnny doesn't even have to know Terry too well to utter something like this zinger on a whim, especially when irked, his childishness kicking in. I mean, c'mon, we all know he would. Johnny thinks it and Johnny says it. Things might get worse depending of beloved's gender, fluctuating between the understanding that a female beloved might just be some sort of escort or someone here for all this cash (imagine the added bonus of them being foreign) and that a male beloved could just be (insert several problematic comments here). Yikes. Thing is, depending of how beautiful or physically attractive beloved is perceived in his eyes at the moment, some jealousy might be in place, because, yeah, a babe like that...he saw a babe like that on the arms of a Bond Villain on a cassette tape when he was a kid back in the 80's, which is really fitting right about now, considering Terry could pass for a Bond villain, to be honest, not that he admits to it, it is a matter of pride, covering up the fact with several layers of sarcasm and words for sure deemed 'fighting words'.

― Daniel Larusso: I think...Daniel would be surprised Terry has someone who loves him. He wouldn't be surprised with dalliances and temporary adventures (he expects Terry to have unstable, volatile relationships that aren't serious and are very surface level, in fact, almost as Karmic punishment), but he is surprised by anything deemed a traditional family structure. Anything deemed as a genuine, deep connection with another person. Terry was supposed to be forgotten. Buried. Especially after the tournament loss of '85 and everything that preceded it. A familial bond and a bond of love almost feels like someone only in the moral right has and the discovery Terry has, eerily, the same wholesome family structure he himself has with Amanda is creepy and unusual. Doesn't feel right. Is this a paid family Terry hired to follow him around? Does beloved know the type of man Terry is in the first place? He wouldn't put anything past Terry. No, no, he shouldn't feel angry that someone who hurt him so badly has a normal and even good life with someone who cares for him, that's not what Mr. Miyagi would teach him to feel --- but then again, he does feel resentment. He does feel it is unjust Terry got a happy ending too. Where's his comeuppance?

― Robby Keene: Listen, Robby's here to survive, first and foremost: Whether he's in Miyagi Do, Cobra Kai, whatever, and he isn't here to form opinions about the Sensei's private companion (or at least, he holds back from doing so if he can help it), discouraging all the other students from doing anything but keeping their thoughts to themselves, as it should be --- especially with students he might have affection and a sense of friendship for, like Tory or Kenny. I think he would understand Terry Silver's an inherently very, very, very dangerous person beneath his amicable facade and that it is best not to make this guy angry --- not too angry, anyway. I think he's been surrounded by enough abusers throughout life to inherently recognize one, but he's also a teen in a bad, unstable situation, using whatever is given to him and whatever resources he can muster to make do and help himself, considering none of the adults would, so he intentionally ignores politely beloved and merely makes note of them silently in his mind, compartmentalizing them for later. Robby's smart and careful in that regard. I think Terry would, once again, understand why this is done because he absolutely reads Robby. He'd able to tell Robby's a tiny bit afraid.

― John Kreese: What John wants on the subject of Terry's love life is...no bullshit. He can sniff out fake relationships, fronting, advantage, posing, feigning, surface level nonsense and he has a sense of aversion towards it, naturally, having an immensely high standard for what he deems as loyalty and devotion, and we have Vietnam to blame for that, partially, raising John's understanding of what a connection is to extreme circumstances forged in war --- and forged in a different, almost romantic era represented through the puppy love he had with Betsy. He wants Terry to be understood and happy and have the ability to walk as himself, not wearing what John deems a mask, not watering or dumbing himself down for society, losing his edge and his fierceness (and allegiance to Cobra Kai), meaning that John can be ironically supportive even when he and Terry fall out, forming this innately and bafflingly complicated relationship where he wants Terry truly happy (by his definition) and also supported and embraced at his darkest. There's no half measures in love. You either are yourself or you ain't. If Terry cannot show himself whole to beloved, John will absolute throw a stink eye on this relationship. If Terry can be Terry (and as such, on John's side...or at least...on the side of everything John and Terry stood for), hey, John's in favour and there's a sense of acknowledgement beloved's good.

(A very important addendum:)

― Mr. Miyagi: Not necessarily a Cobra Kai character because he's no longer alive at the time the show takes place, unfortunately, but circa the 80's, I think he'd have an odd, silently dignified contentment to know Terry Silver is genuinely loved, in spite of Terry's own antagonism, vengefulness, prejudice and even violence towards himself and Daniel. It is ironic, considering Terry's goons busted up Mr. Miyagi's shop, ruined his business, abused his student, nearly caused a wedge between him and Daniel, but I still think he'd feel Terry deserves love more than anyone else, regardless of everything --- maybe precisely because he's a bad man and he needs it the most. Maybe this is a way for the universe to balance itself out in an oddly fitting way? The darkest of men receives the softest of care from someone. Perhaps, one day, somewhere, somehow, this love will ennoble Terry Silver, because nobody should be written off and love and peace are the highest ideals one can strive for and he should know, having lost so many loved ones of his own. If Mr. Miyagi would ever internally forgive Terry post tournament of '85, it is at the sight, from the distance, of seeing Terry with beloved and he'd know hope isn't entirely lost for Terry Silver. Mr. Miyagi undoubtedly never says anything to Daniel about this (feeling he might not understand), but it is a sentiment he'd keep to himself. It gives Mr. Miyagi an unspoken closure.

[onemistresstorulethemall]

Hey I saw your post i was wondering if you could do Lucifer with a choking/biting kink? If you can gender neutral mc?

Thanks!

Heya! Thank you for the request.

I'm not very accustomed to writing gender neutral MC so I didn't get too graphic because I didn't know exactly how to describe the action. But I hope this will be good enough.

Word count:613

You looked at Lucifer with a hint of mischief in your eyes, although you did your best to seem disappointed.

"Lucifer, we talked about this... You promised."

He met your gaze and his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Too proud to look away, he kept eye contact no matter how much it made him want to crawl under his desk.

"Yes, I suppose you are right.", he sighed, "Very well, I suppose this would be the part where I am... punished"

When the word rolled off his tongue Lucifer couldn't help but chuckle.

You raised your eyebrow and flashed him a funny look. This was certainly not a laughing matter. He promised he wouldn't take up extra work so you could spend the day together.

"I'm sorry, y/n. It's just that I never imagined I would say these words."

You couldn't help but smirk. He seemed a little excited for someone who never received punishment. Not this kind of punishment anyway.

He sighed defeated, "Very well, I am all yours. Do what you will."

Skillfully you climbed on his lap and took control. You couldn't wait any longer. In fact, it was insulting that Lucifer made you wait this long after promising to spend the day with you.

You lowered yourself to reach his neck, starting off by kissing softly and slowly before biting when he least expected it.

A soft moan inevitably left his mouth. He seemed quite startled by himself, but knew he had no choice but to give in.

"Oh, is that all you can take? I expected more from you.", you mocked him playfully.

"Don't be silly, y/n. Do your worst.", the demon demanded.

Your hands wandered up and down his body, to your delight Lucifer did not put up a fight. If there was anything he held onto more than you, it was his dignity. You knew for a fact he was going to take whatever you gave him because of his ego, so you decided to not hold anything back.

One of your hands reached under his clothes and scratched his back. The avatar of pride merely flinched at the feeling. It was most likely going to leave a mark.

"Have you had enough?", his eyes were fixated on yours.

You imagined he'd be more opposed to this, but oddly cooperative. One might think he was actually into it.

"Why? Are you not enjoying this, Lucifer?"

"I prefer inflicting the pain to receiving it. But I'm making an exception just this once."

You started to slowly move your hips, only to discover how excited the avatar of pride really was.

"Oh, so I guess the fact that you're hard means nothing."

"Don't me mistaken-"

Lucifer was cut off in the middle of the sentence by your hand on his neck. You started squeezing slowly, while flashing a smirk.

"Oh no, you're the one who's mistaken. I'm the one in control now."

His laugh echoed in the room. Did you go too far?

"With this grip? Y/n, what is this? Am I a joke to you? Harder."

His gaze was full of lust and desire. It seemed being at your mercy was doing something to him. And who were you to deny your favorite demon? You tightened your grip.

"Harder, y/n."

You adjusted your grip again and leaned in closer, pulling him into a passionate kiss which you finished off my biting his lip.

"You're far too gentle, y/n. I might have to teach you how it's done."

In an instant he lifted you onto his desk. But you had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time you punish Lucifer.

[amistytown]

Power Over Me (Leviathan x GN!MC)

Leviathan x GN!MC as Lord of Shadow and Henry; MC is referred to as Henry but remains gender-neutral. I enjoy the TSL lore in Obey Me and wanted to write a bit for it. I initially had an alternate ending in mind, but I decided to save it for another idea I might write at some point. Tried to keep Levi in character while giving him and the story a slightly different feel since it takes place in a fantasy world. Also listened to Power Over Me by Dermot Kennedy on repeat while I wrote this so chose to title it accordingly. Hopefully, it turned out all right. Trigger warning for mentions of blood and self-deprecating thoughts. Mostly some angst with fluff. As always, sorry for the typos that I may have missed, and thank you to everyone who takes the time to read. I appreciate it!

Lightning illuminates the throne room, the Lord of Shadow watching the rain batter the windows, gaze sullen. A storm rages outside, mirroring the flood of emotion bursting forth to drown him in misery. Though he can only hold himself accountable, allowing his envy to fester and take possession of his heart in a moment of weakness. He regrets the letters he frantically wrote in his jealously, the heated words exchanged between you, and your pain forever engrained into the parchment, the ink smudged by your tears, which now lay in pieces at his feet. He considered to make the journey to you, begging for your forgiveness, but he knows he’s undeserving. Instead, he mourns the loss of your friendship, the loneliness left in its wake burning him from the inside out as he cries into his hands, his tortured sobs lost to the thunder roaring above.

The doors swing open, light spilling in from the hall. He recoils at the intrusion, anger welling and threatening to spill over, his patience worn thin. A growl dies in his throat, eyes widening at the vision before him, so beautiful and precious his entire being aches with longing. Slowly, he takes in the sight of you, engraving every detail into his memory. Your windswept hair and the raindrops trickling down your face, clinging to your lashes and following the curve of your lips as you smile sweetly at him, staggering into his arms.

“Henry,” he whispers into the nape of your neck, daring to embrace you and revel in the feel of your body against his; your skin cool and soft, and your scent rich, intoxicating him. He’s certain he’s not worthy of your compassion, yet he can’t bear to turn you away, selfishly clinging to you and delighting in the fact you lean into him, your arms winding around his waist to pull him closer. My Henry, he thinks, tightening his grip, afraid he’ll lose you again if he’s not careful. “I’m sorry. I’m so so—”

You grow limp, legs buckling under your weight.

Fear engulfs him, heart lurching as he supports you, catching your hand in his. “Henry?” he whimpers, noticing how your chest heaves with each breath, and the way your brows knit in discomfort, a low groan slipping past clenched teeth. “Henry! What’s wrong? Tell me, please.”

“I ran into a bit of trouble on the way here,” you manage, laughing pitifully. “I didn’t realize . . .” Your fingers fumble to unclasp your cloak, and he swallows thickly at way lay beneath. Blood soaks your blouse—a sickening shade of red—the fabric sticking to your back.

“You didn’t realize?” he cries, incredulous. “Henry—”

“I just wanted to see you.” Your voice wavers, head lolling to the side. He calls to you, shaking you by the shoulders, desperate to keep you beside him. However, your eyes close, grief overtaking him when they don’t reopen.

“You’ll be okay,” he reassures, robes billowing around his ankles as he rushes down the corridor, gently cradling you to him. Guilt plagues him, reminding him how pathetic he is, especially for hurting you and putting your life at risk; how could he act so recklessly. You’re the light to his darkness, breathing life into his world, and he can’t accept losing you—his happiness—your love dispelling the shadows that once consumed him. He never knew a truer friend, and he’s positive there’s no one else who could play such an important role—you’re irreplaceable. There’s plenty of time to atone for his sins, tonight he needs to make sure you live to see the morning.

“I’ll take care of you, Henry. I promise.”

Time comes to an agonizing standstill.

The Lord of Shadow remains at your side, hoping and praying you don’t succumb to your wounds. He watches you closely, frequently checking your pulse and finding comfort in the steady beat of your heart while you sleep, looking deceivingly peaceful in his bed. His focus is on you, never straying from his true friend’s wellbeing despite his inner turmoil, which threatens to tear him apart at the seams. You keep him together, and again he’s at your mercy, owing you his life for all you’ve given him—his hero—his Henry. He hurt you, but you came to him and offered him forgiveness, willing to sacrifice yourself to save your friendship. How can you care about him with such ferocity, a brooding reclusive lord who’s unworthy of his title? No matter the days spent apart, you return to him, accepting him into your life without hesitance, and he can’t help welcoming you back with open arms.

“I’m so sorry,” he mutters. “I’m terrible. A worthless—”

“You’re not.”

For an excruciating second, he wonders if he imagined the glorious sound of your voice, and an anguished sob escapes him, tears clouding his vision. You stare up at him, eyes heavy with sleep, and a lazy smile on your lips. He’s dreaming, he reasons, shaking his head in disbelief. Then your hand is in his, familiar and warm; he shivers at your touch.

Gasping, he pulls away. “Y-you . . .”

“Forgive me,” you say, so understanding—so sweet—your kindness unfathomable. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“N-no,” he stammers, head spinning. “I’m sorry.” Tentatively, he reaches for your hand, fingers quivering as he entwines them with yours. “I’m sorry.” His tears come faster and harder, shamefully hot on his cheeks. He’s unable to articulate how sorry he is or how his very soul painfully throbs at the thought of hurting you—losing you—wishing he could turn back the clock. “For everything.”

You give his hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay,” you soothe. “I’m sorry, too.” Sitting upright, the blanket bunches at your waist, and he can see where the bandages peek out from beneath your shirt, the skin bruised, making him wince. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“I’m the reason you’re hurt,” he chokes out, averting his gaze. “It’s the least I can do.”

“It’s not your fault.”

You’re wrong, he wants to say; however, he refrains.

“I don’t blame you,” you continue. “Look at me, please?”

He shouldn’t. Surely, he looks foolish, a mere hostage to his emotions. Nevertheless, he spares you a glance, wondering why you regard him so kindly—lovingly even—causing his heart to flutter.

“It’s not your fault.”

Not his fault? His mind tells him differently; it’s a sea of dread and uncertainty that washes over him in waves, dragging him under. The sincerity of your words is difficult to ignore, and, in that instance, he decides to trust you, finally breaking the surface. “Henry,” he murmurs, hugging you to him, arms wrapping around you protectively as if to shield you from the world. His tears wet your hair, body trembling, and you hold him, letting him come undone in your embrace.

“I wanted to see you,” you say, setting him alight. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you suffering on your own.”

“Henry—”

“I know you’re struggling. It’s okay. I’m here.” You rub his back, resting your head on his chest. “I’ll always come when you call.”

“You’re the truest of friends, Henry. I fear I’m not worthy . . .”

“Of course, you are. I’ve never known a truer friend than you, my lord.”

“I can’t help worrying someone will steal you away. It’s selfish of me, I know. Though I feel so inferior in comparison. Sometimes I think you’re better off without me.” When he learned you met with the Lord of Corruption, his insecurities grew, fanning the flames of his envy. Why choose him over his brother? The Lord of Corruption could provide you with more than he can give. The rest of his brothers, too; they could care for you—protect you—unlike him. You’re here with him though, leaving his brother behind at a moment’s notice, and you did come when he called, eager to please. He wants to return the sentiment. “I can’t articulate how important you are to me. I . . . you’re so special, Henry.”

“No. No one compares to you.” Your praise captivates him. “All I ask is for you to trust me. Talk to me so I can help you. I accept you, all of you, and that’s not going to change. I love you as you are.”

“Love me?” he breathes.

“Yes, I love you.”

A simple but genuine vow of love. He stills, terrified he’ll faint in your arms as he hides his face, heart racing. The cynical part of him says it’s too good to be true, but he knows better—he knows you. He’s envisioned this moment, and it’s far sweeter than his fantasies, your love a beautiful feeling that sweeps him off his feet.

“Have you slept?”

He sighs, mouth unbearably dry. “No.”

“Come to bed. You should rest.”

“Henry! W-with you?”

“You say that as if it’s the first time we’ve shared a bed,” you tease.

“You’ll be the death of me.” Although he complains, the bed dips beneath his weight as he settles beside you, reaching for your hand. “Is this, okay?”

“It is.” Shifting onto your side, your hand tightens around his, a flicker of pain twisting your features.

He tenses, frowning. “Are you okay?”

“I’m all right. Better, thanks to you.”

He can see the exhaustion in your eyes, the dark circles beneath them, and the stiffness of your movements, betraying the smile you wear for him.

“Who hurt you?” he asks.

“No one you need to worry about. Not now.”

Unsurprising. You’re his Henry, besting him and his brothers on multiple occasions; anyone who chose to challenge you is a fool. Yet, your blood flowing freely, covering his hands—the ungodly stench—stayed with him. He clearly recalls your lifeless body, and how the color drained from your face, the heaviness of his heart breaking when he believed he lost you twice in one day. You looked so fragile then and do now, trusting him at your most vulnerable. Hatred for the one who dared to harm you runs deep and for himself for not protecting the one he loves.

“I thought I lost you,” he admits, inhaling sharply. “I-I . . .”

“You didn’t. You won’t.” You catch his tears as they fall. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“I love you, too.” His declaration is quick and clumsy but true; he’s loved you for so long.

Caging you in his arms, he hovers over you, peering down at you shyly. His body shakes with every beat of his heart, ears ringing, but he admires you, gaze affectionate and a light blush dusting your cheeks. He’s scared. He’s scared of losing you most of all, trying to muster half the courage he knows you possess. “I love you, Henry,” he says softly, clutching your hand, his lifeline. Closing the distance between you, he catches your lips in a tender kiss, the magnificence of it sending a rush of blood to his head. He forgets how to breathe, dizzy on the taste of your love, and collapses next to you, questioning if he died and ascended to the heavens. With you by his side the future is much brighter, and, for once, he looks forward to what it brings.

[starlight-loki]

Precautionary Surveillance (Loki x Reader)

Or, That Time You and Loki Became Friends

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: none :)

A/N: this is platonic (and gender neutral! :D )

As this is my first imagine, I kind of just wanted to establish how the reader first meets Loki, but I’ve got plenty more fluff in the works! ;)

also this takes place post-Ragnarok, but Infinity War doesn’t exist here, shHHHH

Despite the long list of risks and expectations that came with living with the Avengers in their compound, you never thought that babysitting Loki would be included. And yet, a mere two weeks after having moved into the compound, Tony sheepishly approached you with the news.

He didn’t word-for-word call it ‘babysitting’ of course, but you knew it was definitely implied. 

“Think of it as... precautionary surveillance.” Tony had explained to you that morning as he packed a small backpack, supposedly containing enough supplies to last for a week-long mission. “Or if that’s too much, just be normal roommates. But check in on him every few hours. Make sure he’s not destroying anything. And don’t let him go out. Or to my lab. Or Bruce’s. Or the roof-”

“Okay, I get it Tony,” you rolled your eyes as you heaved out a sigh. “You want me to babysit Loki.” 

Tony shrugged, and patted your shoulder empathetically before zipping up his backpack. “Your words, kid. Not mine. Like I said, it’s just precautionary surveillance, we’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I don’t understand why you can’t just bring him along with you!” You protested, throwing your hands up in the air. “His fighting skills and abilities would be really useful for your mission, you know that right?”

You were fine with the fact that Tony and Steve weren’t confident enough in your fighting abilities to bring you along on missions just yet -- frankly, you were completely happy staying behind and burying your nose in a book. But now Tony wanted you to babysit Loki, going so far as asking you to log any ‘suspicious activity’ from the god. You thought the entire thing was ridiculous.

“You know why, Y/N.” Tony began sternly, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and starting towards the quinjet hangar. He was walking briskly, and you scowled as you had to practically run after him. “The New York Incident? The two-hundred or so times he’s betrayed Thor? That time he stuck his dad in an old folks home here and just paraded around Asgard in disguise for two years?”

“New York was nearly ten years ago!” You protested. “Look at him now, all he does is putter around the compound in sweatpants because you won’t let him out-”

Tony sighed loudly, cutting you off mid-sentence. “Look, I know you’re new here and you mean well, but we don’t trust him Y/N. Thor dragged him here because Asgard’s gone and there’s nowhere else for them to go, but Loki is not one of us. It’s going to be a damn long time before any of us think anything different of him.”

You glowered at Tony, fighting the tiny glow of anger that sparked in your heart when you heard him talk about Loki like that. 

You had stolen glances at Loki last week when he thought no one else was looking, and you knew he was far from the dysfunctional maniac who tried to take over New York all those years ago. Sure, the dysfunctional part may still remain, but he was far from a maniac -- you could see that in his features when he sat on the couch alone that day, flipping through a small worn book. 

He looked... lost. Empty almost, as if any possibility of a joyful life had been stripped from him. It hurt your heart to see someone sit with their own melancholy the way Loki did. The fact that no one else in the Compound trusted him -- evident from the fact that you were being put on babysitting duty this instant -- didn’t make things any better. 

“Take care of yourself, kid.” Tony said, pulling you in for a fairly awkward one-armed hug. “Keep an eye on Loki, but don’t do anything stupid.”

You frowned. “What does that mean?” 

“Just... keep your distance from him.” 

Tony’s words brought the image of Loki sitting alone in sadness back to the front of your mind, and you decided right then and there that you were going to do exactly the opposite of what Tony was suggesting. 

The first day felt like an eternity. Loki remained in his room with the door shut, and with no one else to chat with and pass the time, time seemed to crawl at an eerily slow pace. 

You made pasta for dinner. You figured the sound of pots, pans, and kitchen utensils clanging every now and then as you cooked would summon the lonely Asgardian out of his room to eat at the very least, and you couldn’t help the little sting of disappointment that appeared when you finished your meal as alone as you had been earlier. 

After placing your own bowl in the sink, you grabbed Loki’s portion you had set aside and padded down the hall to his room. You tried to ignore the slight tremble in your hand as you knocked on his door. 

“Loki?” You asked gently. “You there?”

You were greeted with a faint shuffling noise, but otherwise there was nothing but silence. 

“I made you dinner. I haven’t seen you all day, you must be hungry... um... I mean, you don’t have to eat of course if you don’t want to, but I’ll just... I’ll leave this here at your door if you want it. No pressure.” 

You felt fire rush to your cheeks as you cursed yourself silently for rambling, and carefully set the bowl of pasta on the floor. 

“If you want anything,” you added quickly in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. “More food, tea, some company... I’m in the other room.” 

You stood frozen at Loki’s door for a moment, waiting for any sort of response. Earning nothing but more silence, you nodded to yourself before turning on your heel and heading back for the kitchen. 

You looked back over your shoulder before you rounded the corner at the end of the hall, and the pasta bowl was gone. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself. 

The second and third day passed much like the first. If it weren’t for the fact that Loki was constantly on your mind, it would’ve felt like you had the entire place to yourself. You would have enjoyed the quiet, but there was a part of you that couldn’t stop worrying about Loki. 

After the god failed to leave his room once again, you brought dinner to his door which was hastily accompanied by another short little babble of an invitation to join you in the living room if he wished. Just like day one, you were greeted with silence and a meal that vanished out of the hall just before you turned the corner. 

On the fourth day, you couldn’t get Loki out of your head no matter how hard you tried. Was he lonely? Bored? Did he sleep the entire day? Did he even sleep at all? The rooms in the Compound were just about the same: spacious, yet minimal in decoration. Everyone got a TV and a small bookshelf in the corner, but that was about it. Judging by the fact that Tony and the rest of the Avengers weren’t allowing Loki to leave the Compound, you figured he probably didn’t have much for entertainment. 

Before you could convince yourself otherwise, you dashed off to your beloved little bookstore in the city. You ransacked the shelves for anything you felt Loki would’ve liked, as well as books you adored and would’ve wholeheartedly recommended to anyone else. If Loki was going to spend all day in his room, he deserved to have new books to keep him company, at the very least. 

Two hours later you returned home, your shoulder aching from the countless books that were weighing you down in the best way, and to your surprise you found Loki with his back to you in the kitchen. 

Was he... doing the dishes for you? 

You dropped your tote bag of books to the ground in surprise, and Loki flinched almost imperceptibly at the dull thud that echoed throughout the open space of the Compound. 

“Hi,” You managed breathlessly as the god turned and looked at you with wide eyes for the briefest second. You blinked, and just like that Loki had regained his cool composure. “You’ve finally come out of your room.”

Loki opened his mouth to reply, his eyes scanning the room as he searched for an excuse. After a moment of silence, he sighed. 

“Thank you for the meals. I appreciate it.” 

You took off your coat and hung it on the chair as you approached him. Your heart sank ever so slightly as you caught Loki take the smallest step back. 

“Of course, I mean... we all gotta eat right?” You laughed quietly and looked away as you ran a hand through your hair. “You don’t have to clean up, I can do that.” 

“It was the least I could do in return.” 

The silence that grew between the two of you seemed to amplify with every passing second. Loki nodded, almost out of resignation, and began to walk back to his room without a word. 

Now was your chance, if you wanted to make him feel welcome like you had hoped to. 

“Wait!” Your voice came out more as a squeak and you tried your best to ignore the fire that rose to your cheeks. “I, uh, I got these for you.” 

As you bent down to retrieve your fallen bag of books, you heard quiet careful steps as Loki approached you cautiously. He kept his distance, but leaned a little closer to you as you began laying all the books out on the table for him to see. 

“I picked out a few books I’ve read and love dearly. I figured you could give them a try. And... I, uh, saw you reading Shakespeare last week, so I thought you might like these two.” You gestured to the novels closest to him. “They’re  Ancient Greek tragedies.”

You glanced at Loki, and noticed how he picked up Oedipus Rex and began flipping through the pages carefully, as if the book were to vanish from his hands at any moment. 

“I’ve never read this one before,” Loki mused quietly. Your heart skipped a beat as his steady gaze moved to meet your eyes. “When would you like me to return these to you?”

You blinked in surprise. “They’re for you to keep.” You smiled. “I bought them for you.” 

You watched as gratitude, then confusion, then what almost looked shame flash across Loki’s features. He almost seem to clutch the book tighter in his grip.

“...Why?”

You pulled out the chair that you were leaning against and sat down with a sigh as you looked up at Loki. 

“I don’t like how everyone’s been treating you.” You admitted quietly.

“So this is out of pity?” Loki asked cooly, nodding at the books on the table with narrowed eyes.

 “No!” You exclaimed, shaking your head rapidly. “No, Loki, that wasn’t my intention at all. I mean, I’ve only been here two weeks and I could see immediately that everyone keeps their distance from you. You’re not allowed on missions-”

“Neither are you.” Loki cut in. You dismissed him with a wave of your hand. 

“Yeah, but I’m the weakest link at the moment. I don’t count.” You replied quickly, trying your best to ignore the intrigue on Loki’s face as he gazed at you. “I saw you last week, reading your book. You looked so lonely. I thought maybe you just wanted some space, but I’ve noticed how the others treat you. Tony and everyone else, they leave you out of everything! They don’t try to include you in conversations at dinner, you wear the same two pairs of clothes everyday because no one’s bothered to get you any decent clothes besides sweatpants. Hell, Tony kept me off this mission to babysit you and it makes me so mad! You’re an adult! You deserve your own freedom, Loki!”

You slammed your hand down on the table in frustration, and winced as your words replayed in your head. You definitely went overboard this time. You should’ve just given Loki the books and left.

You were certain Loki was going to retreat back to his room as he moved away from you and around the table, but to your surprise, he sat down in the chair across from you, his hands clasped carefully together.

“Perhaps Stark is right, this is what I deserve.” He said quietly, breaking the silence that resided between the two of you. “I haven’t exactly been... welcoming to anyone.”

You shook your head. “You lost Asgard, your family... Thor brought you here with the intention of this being your new home. The least everyone could is treat you like a person, not a hostage. This isn’t a prison. You deserve so much more than that.” 

“They don’t want me around.” Loki said simply. 

“I do.” You held his gaze unwaveringly, and reached out to place your hand gently over his. To your surprise, he didn’t pull away. “I want you around. You matter to me.” 

Loki sighed, his eyes fluttering closed for a brief second as he took in your words. 

“Thank you.” He spoke slowly. “Your words -- and your actions -- mean more than anything Stark or anyone else has done in the time I’ve been here.”

You smiled in response, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before pushing his books towards him. 

“You’ve got plenty of things to do while you’re in your room now.” You grinned nodding towards the books on the table. Anyone else would’ve missed it, but you caught Loki return your smirk for a split second. 

“I think I would prefer to read my books out here... with company.” 

The following day was nothing like the others. To your surprise, Loki greeted you with a small smile from his spot on the couch as you trudged bleary-eyed into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

“You look tired.” He remarked quietly as you began searching the cupboards for something to eat. You managed a shrug.

“I don’t sleep that great most nights.” You admitted. You heard Loki get up from the couch, setting his book down on the coffee table gently before approaching you. He still kept some distance -- the kitchen counter did a good job of separating the two of you -- but he leaned in, almost grateful to be in the presence of someone who truly saw him. 

“Me neither.” Loki chuckled. “Thor sleeps like the dead, but I rarely sleep well. That’s how my love for books began, actually.”  

“Me too!” You exclaimed excitedly. “I’d stay up reading till 1 or 2 AM some nights as a kid. I’d have to use a flashlight and hide under the covers so I wouldn’t wake anyone up.”

That earned a genuine laugh from Loki, whose smile suddenly began to look like sunshine in your eyes. 

“I used magic to see in the dark, but hiding under the covers was the only way I could read at night without waking Thor up.”

“You shared a room with Thor?” 

Loki nodded, scoffing a little. “My mother thought it would help reinforce our bond as brothers. A lot of good that did.”

You leaned in towards him, your posture mirroring his as you rested your arms against the kitchen counter. 

“Thor still loves you.” You said quietly, a small smile touching your lips for a brief moment. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Sure he does.”

“No, really. He wouldn’t have brought you here to live with him if he didn’t. You guys got here before me of course, but I’m sure he had to pull a lot of strings to get Tony to agree to have you live in the Compound.” 

There was that silence again, like the day before, settling down gently between the two of you. You lowered your gaze to your hands. 

“Sorry. I meddle too much. I should stop.” 

This time, it was Loki who placed his hands over yours gently. 

“No,” he replied softly. “You speak your mind, I admire that. It shows you have strength.” 

“I don’t always feel strong.” You admitted quietly. 

“Only the foolish admit their own strength.” Loki whispered.

“...Does that mean Tony’s a fool?”

“Your words, not mine.”

A laugh bubbled up out of you at Loki’s words, and as your eyes met his, you noticed the loneliness you had seen before was gone. 

In their place was the warmth of a thousand suns. 

The two of you stood there, hands intertwined almost as if to keep the other afloat. Loki’s hands made yours seem small, but his were warm and soft and surprisingly gentle.

You closed you eyes, taking as much of this moment in as you could.

“I wish they’d let you outside.” You sighed quietly. “There’s so many shops and restaurants I think you’d like. You’d love Central Park, too.”

Loki frowned. “When is everyone due back?”

“In two days. Why?” 

You got a smirk in response. “Let’s go now.”

You let out a surprised laugh at Loki’s suggestion. It thrilled you to see this side of him.

“We can’t! Tony’s got cameras around the building, he’ll see us if we leave.”

Butterflies filled your insides for a brief moment as Loki suddenly winked at you. He raised his hand, which had begun to glow with a green hue, before snapping his fingers. Green sparks flashed briefly from the windows as he did so. 

“I believe Stark will be needing to replace his cameras once everyone returns. Where do you suggest we go first?” 

[aokozaki]

If you center the entire lesbian identity on "nonmen loving nonmen", you kinda paradoxically have to define what a man even is. And as you might guess from the wave of anti-trans legislation sweeping several governments, this is both a question that's very easy to politicize, and also difficult to coherently answer.

So like, let's assume we take the gender-identity respecting, broadminded answer of "a man is someone who in good faith identifies as such".

For one thing, it's odd that we're applying this broad idea of self-identification to the idea of "man", but not the idea of "lesbian".

(Almost like these two ideas don't quite go together and people who promote the "nonman" idea might perhaps have a different idea of how to define gender as it relates to a rigid sexual binary...)

But for another thing, using this definition of "man" to create the opposite in "nonman" used in our definition of "lesbian"? It's kind of a mess with shoddy reasoning and ample edge cases.

Like, often people pushing the nonman definition will acknowledge that several transmasculine identities can be included in lesbian attraction, so long as everyone involved (the lesbian and transmasc both) are okay with labeling their feelings thus --

(Again, rather odd that this openness shows up here, but draws the line at the mere concept of men, almost as if this definition is at best a retread of lesbian separatism, and at worst, outright TERF rhetoric coached in enough plausible deniability that even people who believe transgender people exist are getting fooled into using it).

-- but sure, good for them, respect for nonbinary identities.

But like, how do we separate "transmasc identity" from "man". We've got overlapping, fuzzy concepts here, and this is supposed to be a formal definition.

I've seen at least one person who tried to word this distinction as the idea that lesbian attraction does not include people who are "in any way men".

I'm not sure this actually solves the confusion here, but it did lead me to realize a huge edge-case in this definition.

Imagine a genderfluid person, who on some days, considers themselves a man, and on others days considers themselves a woman. That's a fairly vanilla, platonic ideal of genderfluidity, I feel.

But you see the problem, right?

Either this person can only be a lesbian on certain days, or the fact that they're sometimes a man means they cannot be a lesbian at all. Either solution here is completely absurd. And the latter may be outright bigoted.

(Also, I invite you to think where you've heard the kind of gender framework where manhood is inherently corruptive, that sits like a stain on you even if you move away from being a man.

I'm not being subtle about this: this whole definition of lesbianism originates in transphobic movements).

If you've followed my chain of logic this far, your response to the genderfluid example might be that the answer should be between the two absurd conclusions. That it depends on the individuals involved, and their boundaries. Just like the transmasculine identities, some people would include this in their lesbianism, and some wouldn't.

And, uh, yes, that's exactly correct.

But that solution is also kind of antithetical to prescriptively defining lesbianism as something that has to be a certain way, rather than a broad category of things it often is.

Either you accept that things like "man", "transmasculine", or "nonbinary" are broad, vague categories that depend heavily on personal experience and expression.

Or you don't, and start echoing gender essentialist talking points.

[saw something dumb on twitter] [is annoyed by LGBT+ identity discourse again] [is tempted by the devilish darkness to make a post about it]