#it didn't even really feel like she was trying to feel sexually liberated. she just needed a break from capitalism.

[soldierandawar]

Another thing about Baby Girl is that Harris Dickinson's character is a blank slate. He very easily could be just the hot intern, and in a lot of ways, he is. We don't learn much about him or his motivations, but there's a part in the film where he (Samuel) tells Romy (NK) that sometimes he scares himself, and Romy tells him she's not scared of him, and all I could think was...well, I am!

He's so deliciously mysterious and almost unhinged? I was lowkey like Romy maybe you should run away from this man. Fuck the fact that he's half your age and your subordinate, this man is volatile lmao.

But I think part of what makes me feel better about the lack of communication between the two (about kink, safewords, or what tf they're doing sexually in general) is that neither of these people knows what the fuck they're doing. They understand each other in ways their other partners don't, but Samuel is flying by the seat of his pants, and Romy is as confused as hell. Bless her heart.

[blightbright]

mythal nuance

look, i love some yikes women characters!!! have i mentioned how much i fucking adore knight-commander meredith? yeah, that genocidal zealot? sympathetic lawful evil ftw. one of my ALL-TIME FAVE CHARACTERS is mariah dillard from the luke cage TV show. she is ABUSIVE, including to her daughter, she is devastating and so well-portrayed, and she is such a terrible person AND i just adore her in her harmful flawed tragic selfhood!

flemythal? fucking love her, she's awful, she's hilarious, she's compelling, i think it's a travesty that devs didn't get kate mulgrew's voice and the flemeth appearance back in some timey-wimey fade magic way. i love how she feels at odds with herself, sometimes vengeful, sometimes regretful. i love her sweetness toward merrill and her funny interactions with purple!hawke, i love her confusion that morrigan is upset with her, i even love the YIKES ambiguous, semi-motherly, semi-loverly, intimate owner-pet vibes head stroking and nuzzling between her and solas in the DA:I end credits. OUCH.

veilguard!mythal IMO feels more like a mediocre narcissist who wants to maintain the status quo, and of course is faux "loving" AKA guilt-tripping and strings-attaching her "care." that's not badly written since it's a real thing, but she's not for me. the fact that elgar'nan presumably abused her is not super compelling to me because IMO it gives the flavor of a confederate slave-owning white woman whose husband is a piece of shit AND ALSO she still thinks slavery is fine and actively upholds and abuses her power over other people. this is not an analogy: mythal literally owns people as slaves. in my fic i try to give her some fairy queen style, wouldn't-it-feel-so-good-to-die-for-me vibes where she's liberal with her magically-hypnotic praise if you please her, to make her more inhuman and therefore interesting to me, but anyway.

i'm seeing accusations of misogyny if people love solas and hate mythal, and while we can and should critique how women characters are written and discussed, given the canon content, it's NOT an inherently misogynistic reaction to hate the character who abused a character you love. i saw a thing insisting "solas is always defined by mythal" and to respect mythal and... really? critique the writers as much as you want for setting this up, but do people really want to say we should always identify a person by their abuser's influence, or offer respect to that abuser??

are you also gonna say "morrigan is always defined by flemythal, acknowledge and respect her when talking about morri" after we know for a fact that flemythal repeatedly exposed morrigan as a child to sexual situations that resulted in violent death, encouraged her to push down her own sensitivity and feelings and focus only on power and manipulation, and morrigan tells the spirit in DA:O that she's still acting too gentle to be the real flemeth, even after smacking morrigan hard across the face and demanding morrigan show some respect? she had an influence on morrigan's life, but holy fuck does morri deserve to define her life by her own desires and her own choices and accomplishments now

if people are aware that solas was given mythal's slave markings, since she was a slaver like the other evanuris, then he burned them magically off his face when he led a slave rebellion against slavers, and hear all the clips in veilguard where she is clearly in a position of power over him, and still claim there was no abuse, idk what to tell you. you are incorrect. please consider if you have some cognitive dissonance about how much you love to hate solas (tho you can still do that even if a character has experienced abuse) and/or how much you want to enjoy mythal (tho you can still appreciate an abusive character).

[rapifessor]

Varesa and Genshin Impact's Identity Crisis

I'd heard things about Varesa's animations, but now that I've seen the leaks myself, it's even more ridiculous than I could have imagined.

Look, I have a pretty high tolerance for this kind of thing. My attitude towards sex and sexuality is more liberal than most. I think censorship is bullshit and I hate how much Puritanism is ingrained in our culture, especially American culture. But even I think HoYo might have gone too far with this one.

I say that somewhat jokingly, because I still like Varesa a lot in spite of what I've seen. It's just that I'm finally starting to feel the complete tonal whiplash of Genshin Impact over the past year. How did we go from characters like Navia, Furina, Arlecchino, and Chiori to... a girl in a crop top and miniskirt clumsily running about, smashing enemies with her ass?

I'd just like to point out as well that this is what Iansan meant when she said the situation at the Collective of Plenty was under control during the Abyss invasion... dear god.

The most charitable way you could interpret Varesa is as a "crouching moron, hidden badass" type of character; someone who deliberately acts stupid and clumsy but is actually really strong. That's not all bad. But previous characters were mostly cool and badass with silly/cute quirks here and there, or they had really interesting/compelling stories that got you to empathize with them and like them even more. Even Mualani is a really cool person in spite of how goofy she can be. She's a combat veteran and an "older sister" to a lot of people, with a bit of a mischievous streak.

Varesa on the other hand is 100% meme. There's always a chance that could change with the Tribal Chronicle or if she has a role in an upcoming Archon Quest. But in this case I'm not at all confident that will happen. She seems very much like a one-off gag character designed to sell exclusively on sex appeal. She's not just gooner bait, she's straight up coomer bait.

Natlan now very much seems like it's being used as an excuse for HoYoverse to try out a bunch of experimental character designs that didn't fit anywhere else, which I don't explicitly hate, but it's clear that they're pushing the boat out as far as they can with Varesa here. It kinda feels like they just wanted to design characters that don't fit in with Genshin's usual style, but still with Genshin gameplay.

As long as this kind of thing stays in Natlan, it's probably fine in the long run. Snezhnaya needs to be a return to form, though, because Genshin sometimes doesn't feel like Genshin anymore when it comes to Natlan. Especially since we've been building up to it for nearly five years. If the conclusion to the Fatui arc and the reveal of why the Tsaritsa needs the seven Gnoses is anything short of spectacular, this game is cooked.

I'm still probably going for Varesa, because honestly she looks fun as hell and like I said, I have a high tolerance for this kind of thing. I still think it's super funny how blatant they were with this character, it just feels like she belongs in a Senran Kagura game or some shit. And to HoYo's credit, they did make her considerably bigger than other characters of her model type, although her hip-to-waist ratio is still outrageous.

[flowerandblood]

Sweet kiss, sweet blood (8)

[ dark vampire! • Aemond x female ]

[ warnings: sex content, angst, smut, masturbation, fluff ]

[description: A centuries-old vampire lives in Victorian England, bored and discouraged. His old friend sends him a letter, inviting him to his new country house. Aemond arrives there to rest. Next to the property, there is a small chapel, visited by the faithful. It turns out that at night, a young lady prays in it. Slow burn, sexual tension, profanation, murder, blood drinking.]

I owe the idea for this wonderful series to: @qyburnsghost

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next chapters: Masterlist

_____

After two days of traveling they were in London. She pretended not to notice him taking a few sips once in a while from the bottle that he had hidden inside his coat. She knew it wasn't alcohol.

As they entered the city she couldn't believe it was really happening. She ran away, abandoned her family, started a new life. From hour to hour she experienced a nervous breakdown, then felt joy again.

She even cried into his shoulder a few times, but he sat beside her, calm, his arm around her, kissing her hair, wiping away her tears with his leather-gloved hands.

"I will not hurt you. I promise." He repeated it like a mantra, and for some reason she believed him.

She decided it was pointless to bring someone from so far away and hide them for the sake of blood. He could find plenty of women like her in London where it was easier to disappear in a crowd.

He told her on the way about how he saw it. He said he'd help her find a job. He wanted her to live in his townhouse where he'd give her a room of her own, at least until she got used to the situation and earned enough money to rent. He immediately proposed that she just live with him, but she refused to agree.

That was not the deal.

They arrived at his house late in the evening. His townhouse was beautiful, brick, all white with blue details, large windows with many quarters and a navy blue door with a knocker.

He opened the door and let her in first, taking off his top hat. The coachman helped them carry their luggage inside, then left them alone, closing the door behind him.

They undressed slowly and looked at each other, an awkward silence between them. Aemond knew she was still afraid of him, and he decided that he shouldn't touch her just yet to try to regain some of her trust.

He motioned for her to come upstairs with him and lead her to the room that he thought would be most suitable for her. It was light and airy, with a wonderful view of the busy street and huge windows.

It was the main bedroom in the house, but he didn't sleep in it because too much light came in through the windows. He thought it would be perfect place for her. He said he would order a dressing table for her in the coming days, and until then she had been able to use the mirror that was in the bathroom. He told her to make herself comfortable and leave her alone, wanting to let her get used to the situation.

Miss Whaterfield closed the door behind him, sighing heavily. She sat on her bed and lay on her back.

She did it.

She ran away.

She was with him at his townhouse.

With a vampire.

She thought she was a stupid idiot, feeling somehow happy and excited at the thought. She decided that even if her life were to end quickly, at least she would experience something interesting, intense. She sighed softly and began to unpack slowly.

She put her books and things on the shelves, hung her gowns and chemises in the wardrobes, although she had few of them, so as not to arouse suspicions of her parents.

She thought that she had no maid here and would have to do everything herself. Fortunately, when her sister still lived in their family home, Mathylda could not keep up with her duties and she was able to take care of herself. She felt there was something liberating about that independence.

When she was done, she locked the door and checked to make sure it didn't open. She sighed softly as she decided that it did, though she thought that if he wanted to it probably wouldn't have stopped him anyway.

She stripped off her gown and let her hair down as she changed into her nightgown. She slid under the sheets, covering herself tightly with it up to her head and stared at the view from the window. She felt very tired and excited at the same time.

She turned from side to side, but she couldn't sleep. Every creaking of the floor made her jump up and look towards the door. She heard him going up and down. She guessed that this was the time of his greatest activity and as long as she was with him she had to get used to it.

She sighed, laying back down, closing her eyes. Even though it was quiet at last, she couldn't sleep. She could still feel him kissing her hungrily. How willingly she responded to his tenderness, with what devotion she threw herself into his arms. She didn't know what had happened to her. The thought of having him at her fingertips made her want him.

She pursed her lips and lay down on her stomach, her hand hesitantly slipping between her thighs. A pleasant shiver went through her as she began to massage herself as he had done it in the chapel. She came this way many times since, getting a little more familiar with her body and how it reacts. The relaxation she felt after such caresses was indescribable.

She wondered if she would go to him he would touch her like that again. Would he give her pleasure again and then drink her blood. A cold shiver ran through her at the thought, but she also felt a throbbing between her thighs.

She sped up her movements, moaning, breathing quickly into the pillow, imagining him coming to her and touching her again. She was surprised at how quickly and hard she came, a soft, sweet moan escaped her lips. Only after she calmed down did she fall into a blissful sleep, her hand still between her thighs.

She woke up in the morning and looked around, wondering where she was. She sat up and looked around her new room. She thought it was really beautiful and airy in the daylight, lovely floral wallpaper all around her. She pursed her lips, listening carefully to the sounds of the house, but heard nothing.

She got up slowly, walking over to her wardrobe, taking out her simple home dress which consisted of a nice white shirt and a long black skirt. She braided her hair back, leaving some loose. She couldn't have gotten a prettier haircut until she had her dressing table with a mirror, but she figured she could walk around his house as she did now.

She quietly turned the key in the lock and peered through the door, scanning the corridor. She imagined his house as a spooky castle, but everything around her was bright and tidy. She decided that with a little dusting this property would be really beautiful.

She walked slowly down the stairs towards the kitchen. She saw on the table by the stove a package with a piece of paper on which she recognized his handwriting.

"Eat something from what I bought."

She looked inside and saw lots of different fruits, breads, eggs, hams and cheeses. She decided that it was too much for one person and probably some would be wasted. She wondered if he ate human food, but looking around the kitchen and seeing the complete emptiness she decided that probably not.

She sighed softly, taking the apple in her hand and began to eat it, looking around the room. She could cook a little, she thought if she read a few books she might try to make some simple dish.

She went up the stairs to the ground floor, continuing to eat her apple, looking around. She decided that she would spend the day acclimatizing and thinking about what to do next.

She was grateful that he didn't knock on her door at night, giving her at least a minimal sense of security and privacy. She thought that whoever he was, he had done her a huge favor. She felt that she should repay him in some way.

She figured that she'd clean up as much as possible. She'll wash the curtains, dust, wash the floors. She'll show him that she's really was capable of living on her own, so he won't keep her by force for long. She knew he would prolong her stay with him, not wanting to hear of her renting anything herself.

He told her not to go out without him just yet. She was afraid to walk around the city alone, so she decided that maybe it was the smartest thing to do.

She was just putting the books back on the big bookshelf she had wiped down, when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She turned and met his surprised gaze. She thought he couldn't help but be curious about the noise downstairs and came to see what was happening.

"What are you doing?" He asked in surprise, walking down to the room, looking around, seeing that something had changed, but he wasn't quite sure what.

"I'm cleaning your house. In gratitude for your favor." She said, going back to arranging his books. She wiped the thick volumes covered in dust and slipped them in back one by one. Aemond approached her uncertainly, keeping his distance.

"I'm not going to make you my servant." He spoke hesitantly, as if he was afraid that she thought that as long as she was with him she had to serve him in gratitude. She looked at him gently and smiled.

"I know." She said calmly, as she continued her work.

She shivered as she heard him walk closer to her. He avoided the sunlight that streamed through the windows, walking in the shade. She didn't look at him, but she could feel him standing behind her, looking at her intensely. She felt her heart pounding fast, a pleasant squeeze spread through her lower abdomen.

Her whole body shivered as he placed his cold hand on her shoulder. She felt him rest his forehead against the back of her head, his nose in her hair, inhaling her scent. She slowed her movements a bit, pretending not to feel anything as she grabbed next books. His other hand cupped her waist, his fingers on her stomach. She inhaled sharply at the feeling.

"I desire you." He whispered low, hesitantly, his voice trembling slightly. She inhaled sharply at his words. She wondered what he meant.

"How do you desire me?" She asked indifferently, sliding the small book back into the slot from which she had pulled it.

She felt his hand on her stomach pressing her against him. Even through her gowns she could feel his manhood all hard. She swallowed at the sensation, feeling the wetness between her thighs.

"In every way." He whispered, his face sliding down to her neck, planting wet, sticky kisses on it. Her body tensed, wondering if he was going to bite her and drink her blood again. She flinched as his nose moved to her ear.

"I still want to marry you. I want to live with you as with a wife." He whispered.

She felt her throat go dry at his words. His hand from her stomach slid down her skirt, between her thighs, starting to massage her through the thick fabric.

Despite the physical layers that separated her from his hand, her body responded with a strong thrill of pleasure. She rested her hand on the ledge in front of her, breathing uneasily, his pulsing manhood beginning to rub against her buttocks.

She thought that her parents were no longer with her to moralize her. She was responsible for her actions only to herself and God. She decided that she had never wanted anyone in her life as much as him. That she wanted it to be him, just this once.

"Take me to your bedroom." She whispered helplessly, and he moaned low, surprised, a strong shiver ran through his body at her words.

He spun her around to face him and grabbed her hips, lifting her up, heading for the stairs. She hugged him tightly and buried her face in his neck, feeling how her heart was pounding.

How badly she wanted it.

He opened the door with one hand without even closing it. His bedroom was smaller and darker, curtains blocking out the light completely, everything was in semi-darkness.

He laid her down on his bed, staring at her with his mouth slightly parted. He pulled his nightgown over his head with a confident movement, leaving him in only his boots and trousers. She swallowed hard at the sight and looked away, ashamed to see the naked body of a men before her for the first time in her life.

She thought that he was impossibly handsome, her thighs clenching tighter at the sight. She heard him take off his boots and climb onto the bed, straddling her without crushing her with his body.

His pale, cold fingers began to slowly undo the fabric of her white shirt. He looked at her, his gaze black and uncertain, full of something that made her shiver pleasantly.

"Are you sure?" He asked softly, as if he didn't believe this was happening and was hesitating himself whether they should do it. She nodded at his words.

"Yes. I can't stand it any longer." She whispered. He moaned softly at her words and pressed his lips to her mouth hungrily, parting the fabric of her shirt, exposing her breasts to him.

He broke away from her with a sticky click to look at her soft, pale breasts, his hand involuntarily grabbing one of them, squeezing it gently. She moaned loudly, squirming under him, looking away, surprised by this obscene gesture, feeling juices leaking from her thighs. His other hand grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him.

"No. Look how I caress you. What can I do with your body if you only wish." He hummed low as he leaned over her, his tongue brushing over her nipple, making her arch back in pleasure.

His mouth tightened on her breast, sucking her intensely, once in a while teasing her nipple again with the tip of his tongue. She moaned helplessly beneath him, stunned by the wonderful sensation that sent heat through her body, her hands clenching tightly against his hair, holding him close.

They both gasped as her hips began to rub against the bulge in his trousers, throbbing hard beneath her. Aemond lifted up the fabric of her skirt and nightgown impatiently, exposing her naked thighs.

He pulled away from her breasts, licking his lips, kneeling between her thighs, his misty gaze at her entrance dripping with lust. He ran his thumb over it, and she moaned loudly, red with embarrassment, looking away again.

"Look at me." He said dangerously and low, looking at her expectantly.

She swallowed loudly, glancing up at him, her body convulsing as his thumb confidently and painfully slowly spread her juices over her pearl, massaging it in circular, precise motions. She threw her head back and moaned helplessly as she felt his finger inside her again, slipping in and out of her with slow, gentle movements.

"You're so tight. Don't be afraid, we'll take it slow." He whispered, looking at her with a twinkle in his eye that both terrified and aroused her at the same time.

He slid his finger out of her and unfastened his trousers quickly, letting them down just enough to reveal his swollen, throbbing member.

She pursed her lips seeing how big he was, not knowing where to look, her body a complete mess, trembling all over. He smiled in satisfaction at the sight, taking her thighs in his hands, spreading them shamelessly in front of him. She pursed her lips, stifling a moan as his manhood began to rub against her entrance, sticky all over in her juices.

"Fear not, Miss Whaterfield. I'm sure all of it will fit inside you. Would you like to try how it feels?” He purred, his lower lip parted in desire, she felt his lenght throbbing against her skin in desperation to feel her.

She swallowed hard, disbelieving what she was doing, and nodded, her hands clasping the sheets at the sides of her head.

He grunted in satisfaction at her agreement, his gaze returning between her thighs. His hands parted the skin of her entrance slightly to the sides, as he tried to insert the tip of his member into her.

She sobbed softly, closing her eyes as she felt it. She opened her mouth wide in a silent moan as she felt him enter her a little, filling her to the limit, stretching her throbbing, wet muscles. He groaned low feeling it, and squeezed his eye shut for a moment as if to remember the moment.

"Just like that. Such a good girl." He whispered in delight, feeling her clench tighter around him, her greedily wet, hot walls pulsating around his manhood.

He licked his lips at the feeling, his hands gripping her thighs again, spreading them even wider. With difficulty he slid deeper into her, pushing apart her fleshy walls. She squealed softly under him in pain.

"He's too big." She sobbed softly, turning her head to the side, breathing quickly. She felt like he was about to tear her apart.

"Shh. Just a little more. He's almost in." He whispered tenderly, pushing his lenght deeper into her, to the very end, sighing with pleasure.

They were both panting, squirming beneath each other. He leaned over her, looking at her gently. He kissed her softly, comfortingly, soothingly. He brushed her lips, trying to calm her down, not moving an inch inside her, her walls pressed against him desperately. He tried with the last of his strength to simply not cum inside her.

“Look how wonderfully he fits. How well you did." He purred contentedly between sticky kisses, her fingers tightening on the bare skin of his back.

He slid out of her gently, then slid back in again, slowly, all the way. He repeated this simple, deep movement unhurriedly as he looked at her face. Her lips parted helplessly, she panted with him, her walls loosening slightly, allowing him to accelerate.

His hands tightened on her buttocks, thrusting his member inside harder and faster, rubbing her where his finger had touched her before.

"Just like that. Look how delightful it is. How wonderful it is when a men and a woman fuck like that." He gasped, losing control of himself, unable to bear the way her hot, wet womanhood pressed against him.

She moaned under him at his words, involuntarily spreading her thighs wider in front of him, feeling the tension in her lower abdomen reach its zenith.

They were both panting and moaning loudly, the wooden bed creaking beneath them from how brutally and quickly he fucked her. His movements were sure and fierce, his lenght thrusting into her with a wet, perverted slap of her juices.

His thumb teased her clit once in a while, making her lean back in pleasure. He looked at her dreamily, her hair scattered around her face in disarray, her cheeks red, her moist, shiny lips parted in pleasure.

"I'm going to cum in you" He whispered, looking at her with black eye. He was on edge already, his slaps chaotic and loud, fast and animal, her nipples sticking out painfully hard, her hips responding to his every thrust.

"Yes, please, please" She sobbed helplessly, unable to bear the tension in her lower abdomen anymore.

She knew it wasn't wise, but that was all she wanted. She moaned loudly as his thumb sped up, both of them tensing as they felt the impending fulfillment. She saw him squeeze his eye shut as his semen gushed deep inside her.

"Sweet God, yes" He gasped loudly as he cum inside her, his finger massaging her quickly and intensely. Feeling it, she leaned back, mouth parted wide as she mewled loudly feeling a wave of pleasure that she had never known before in her life.

She gasped as she said his name again and again, and he moaned softly above her, feeling her walls pressing against him so tight he couldn't breathe.

He just laid on top of her, crushing her with his body. They were both breathing heavily, trying to calm themselves down, his nose pressed against her cheek.

"Stay with me. Stay with me for eternity."

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @astral-blossoms @randomdragonfires @amirawritespoorly @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes @darylandbethfanforever9 @fudge13 @snh96 @diosademuerte

Others: @talesofoldandnew

[fast-moon]

DS9 Season 2 Thoughts

I've made it through the second season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine after missing out on it during its original run due to being too young to understand it at the time. Let's see how it holds up now!

1. The Homecoming: Kira goes to rescue a Bajoran prisoner who she hopes can unify the planet, but it turns out all the legends about him are just that, and he's just some guy who's not up to the task. But Sisko knows how religious people work, and insists he play the part anyway, since they won't be bothered about whether any claims about him are real or not.

2. The Circle: The plot continues to be too real as a government official conspires with the leader of a small but vocal conservative religious sect to use terrorism to overthrow the government and install themselves. Even the more liberal religious leader still has naughty fantasies.

3. The Siege: The three-parter misses the landing by naively believing that religious extremists attempting to overthrow the government would actually reconsider if shown proof that they're secretly being funded by an enemy power who wants to use them to destabilize the country.

4. Invasive Procedures: Okay, seriously, is Dax just utterly emotionally dissociated from her current body? She shrugs off constant sexual harassment and objectification, she was indifferent about being executed for a crime she didn't commit, she didn't treat Bashir's sexualized replica of her as any kind of violation, and now she's like, "Welp, this guy wants my liver squid. Oh well, bye, guys." Also, I get that Quark's an entertaining POS, but there are certain things he's done that he really should be facing consequences for.

5. Cardassians: Our fabulous Cardassian tailor returns! I'm not sure how I feel about sending the kid back with his bio dad, but if it had ended with him staying with his adoptive family, I'm not sure how I would have felt about that, either. It was a crap situation for that poor kid either way.

6. Melora: The station crew trip over themselves trying to improve the accessibility of the station for a new special needs crew member. Gosh, if only they were that worried about its accessibility for their permanent crew member who still has to contort himself into unnatural shapes on a daily basis in order to utilize its systems. #JusticeForOdo

7. Rules of Acquisition: Quark's new business partner starts hitting on him. His partner then turns out to be a woman, which actually ends up making it even more scandalous.

8. Necessary Evil: Oh, cool, a film noir episode that shows what the station was like under Cardassian rule. Quark finally gets some comeuppance but is saved by plot armor. Odo explores his inner Columbo. He was also apparently a lab subject and then a sideshow attraction before Gul Dukat hired him as security, so good lord, someone give this poor slime a break.

9. Second Sight: A woman in an unhappy marriage literally dreams up a self-insert OC to pair with Sisko.

10. Sanctuary: An entire nation of refugees comes through the wormhole and demands to settle on Bajor because it's their holy promised land. They get denied, then get pissy because one deeply religious group annexing territory from another deeply religious group and then having to live side-by-side has historically worked out so well in the past.

11. Rivals: Prince Humperdinck brings aboard a gatcha game that breaks the universe's RNG.

12. The Alternate: It's finally Odo's turn to get infected with the crazypox that he usually has to save everyone else from. Although, even without the crazypox as an excuse, I think he's earned the right to throw a violent temper tantrum after all the bullshit he's had to put up with. Also, "Wasn't that pillar over here before?" "It was in my way; I had it moved." is living rent-free in my brain due to how deliberate the inclusion of this exchange was yet how utterly pointless it ended up being. A red herring is one thing, but the entire pillar subplot simply vanished entirely following this scene and it left me so confused.

13. Armageddon Game: Aliens gift Sisko a deepfake video of how they would have killed O'Brien and Bashir if they were actually halfway competent about it.

14. Whispers: O'Brien becomes paranoid that everyone is conspiring against him, and it turns out he's right. Nice subtle touch to having him repeatedly order coffee throughout the episode, since his coffee habits in the previous episode were what initially clued them in that he was a fake.

15. Paradise: Sisko: "Excuse me, are y'all with the cult?" Alixus: "We're not a cult, we're an isolated commune that rejects technology and--" Sisko: "Yeah, this is it."

16. Shadowplay: Odo and Dax figure out everyone in the village is a hologram because the episode title gave it away. Also, I really hope that Odo remains aro-ace and the rest of the crew come to respect that, instead of constantly teasing him about his lack of a sex life and ultimately forcing him into thinking he needs a relationship to be happy. He already has to contort himself into uncomfortable shapes to conform. Don't force him to contort into conformity any further. #JusticeForOdo

17. Playing God: Huh. So there are rats on space stations. Also, Dax discovers a potentially universe-destroying proto-universe and decides to dump it in the Gamma Quadrant for them to deal with.

18. Profit and Loss: Quark teaches us that when a woman says "no", she really means "yes" if you hound and threaten her long enough.

19. Blood Oath: Curzon Dax continues to posthumously make me question Sisko's choice in friends, as Jadzia Dax now feels obligated to attend a Klingon murder party that Curzon RSVP'd to.

20-21. The Maquis: Humans set up colonies next to a known bear cave, whine that the Federation won't protect them from the bears, start an anti-bear movement.

22. The Wire: Bashir goes into a panic after his boyfriend ODs. Honestly, Bashir really needs to stop chasing women and recognize he has way more chemistry with Garak. He's always been annoyingly shallow and self-serving to the point that I wouldn't trust him as a doctor no matter how skilled he was. But this episode actually let him give a damn about someone without objectifying them, which is good progress. Hopefully it sticks. Also, Sisko's proclamation to keep Quark locked up "forever" in the previous episode didn't seem to last very long. But at least now I know where the "Especially the lies" meme comes from!

23. Crossover: Bashir learned nothing from the previous episode and goes right back to womanizing and talking incessantly about himself. Damn. Kira's meets her mirror universe counterpart who instantly falls in love with her, which... same.

24. The Collaborator: The liberals lose the election because they're more concerned with their candidate being 100% unproblematic than preventing the entire planet from falling under the rule of a goddamn religious tyrant. (throws table in a fit of "this is too real")

25. Tribunal: O'Brien goes on vacation to Planet Kangaroo Court, which is actually a bit more relaxing than what he usually has to put up with.

26. The Jem'Hadar: are truly truly truly outrageous. And really want to meet a Klingon, and I know we're getting Worf eventually because he's on the series splash screen. But until then, bring on the Dominion!

I found Season 2 generally a bit better than Season 1. I was really uncomfortable with Bashir in Season 1, and he was a bit more tolerable in Season 2. Downright redeemed in "The Wire", then he regressed immediately in the next episode, so I still have a fairly low opinion of him. Dax is another character I'm having trouble caring about since even after two seasons I still have no clear idea of "What would Dax do?" in any hypothetical situation.

Like, if a bunch of monkeys got loose on the station, I can imagine that Sisko would order a containment field and then go monkey-hunting with Kira, who would spend the whole time exasperated like, "Really?! Monkeys?!" O'Brien would technobabble together a monkey trap while grumbling about how this sort of thing always happens to him, Bashir would tell a long-winded story about how there was a similar incident with Emus back at the academy and how much of an adventure it was and he ended up saving the day and then a bunch of women were swooning all over him, Quark would stash a couple of monkeys away to sell later, and Odo would have grumpily already rounded them all up because he's the only competent crew member (and relieving Quark of his monkey stash). And Dax would just... kind of stand there I guess. Maybe quip about how one of her previous incarnations had a monkey. But she just doesn't have enough of a notable personality for me to go, "Yep, that's a Dax thing to do, all right." So far she still feels uncomfortably like a fetish character with little actual substance.

Also, the depiction of the Universal Translator analyzing a new language in "Sanctuary" made me even more perplexed as to how it even works. So, they started out speaking an unknown language, and over the course of the episode, the UT learned it and started translating it. Okay, cool. Except that implies that the aliens -- and probably everyone on the station -- are all actually still speaking their native languages and the UT is just real-time translating them all. But how does this work in a conversation? If Sisko speaks to Kira and Quark, how do they both hear something they can understand? Where even is the UT? They'll beam down to a planet and lose all their equipment but can still communicate with everyone fine. And how does the UT know to stop translating, like when someone will yell in Klingon for one sentence and then switch back to English?

I wonder if there's ever an episode where the Universal Translator malfunctions and everyone has to figure out how to communicate with each other. Heck, might be an opportunity for Dax to actually do something since she's the one most likely to be a polyglot.

Anyway, on to Season 3!

[30somethingautisticteacher]

Taking Matters into his Own Hands

Fill in fic for 7x05 after Eddie leaves the loft but before the coffee date.

***

After Eddie left, Buck considered what he had said. Eddie had been fully supportive of Buck's coming out, telling him that he needed to call Tommy to fix things, and maybe he was right. Buck sighed as he made his way upstairs into the bathroom, starting to get ready for bed.

As he stood in front of the mirror, Buck took a moment to really look at himself. He didn't look any different, but he felt like a changed man. "I kissed a man," he told his reflection, a smile tugging at his lips, "and it was amazing." Saying it out loud made it feel even more real, more significant.

"I am attracted to men," he continued, his voice growing stronger with each word. "I am physically attracted to male bodies. I love hot guys. I check out hot guys. I love men's asses and want to experience more physical, sexual things with men." The words tumbled out of him in a rush, as if a dam had finally broken.

"I'm..." Buck paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm bisexual." The admission felt like a weight lifting off his shoulders. It wasn't a new realization, but finally acknowledging it to himself was liberating.

He grinned at his reflection, a sense of pride and relief washing over him. However, the smile quickly faded as his thoughts turned to Tommy. "I went on a date with a man. I really liked him, and I wanted to kiss him again." Buck's brow furrowed, mirroring the turmoil he felt inside.

"I wanted to feel his tongue in my mouth and nibble on his bottom lip," he admitted, his voice a mixture of longing and frustration. "But I screwed it all up."

Buck gripped the edges of the sink, his knuckles turning white. He knew he had to make things right with Tommy. He couldn't let his fear and insecurity ruin something that had the potential to be truly special.

With a deep breath, Buck straightened up, determination etched on his features. "I need to fix this," he declared, his eyes locking with those of his reflection.

He reached for his phone, his heart pounding in his chest as he scrolled through his contacts. When he found Tommy's name, he hesitated for just a moment before tapping the call button.

Tommy answered after the first ring. "Evan?" he said, sounding surprised to hear from him. "Is everything alright?"

"Hey, uh, hey Tommy. Yeah, uh, everything's fine," Buck replied, stumbling over his words as his nerves got the best of him.

"Okay, glad to hear it," Tommy said sincerely. There was a brief pause before he continued, "Is there a reason you called?"

Buck took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "I was wondering if we could talk."

"Sure, we can talk," Tommy said, his tone kind but slightly confused. "Is now a good time?"

"Oh, not now, not over the phone," Buck clarified quickly. "Can you meet me? Tomorrow? Or do you have a shift? Are you on shift now?"

"I am on shift, but I'm off at 10 am," Tommy replied. "We can meet tomorrow at 1 if that works for you?"

"That's perfect," Buck said, a wave of relief washing over him.

"Where did you want to meet?" Tommy asked.

"There's a little coffee shop near my station. I'll text you the address, and we can meet there if that works," Buck suggested.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Evan," Tommy confirmed.

"See you tomorrow, Tommy," Buck replied before ending the call, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Buck breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew he still had one more call to make. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Maddie's name, then tapped the call button.

"Hey Maddie," he said when she answered, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Hey little brother," Maddie replied, her tone warm and affectionate. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if it was possible to get a plus one for the wedding," Buck asked, his heart racing in his chest.

"Is it the hot pilot?" Maddie teased, her voice filled with excitement.

Buck chuckled, a blush creeping up his neck. "I hope so, Mads. I'm gonna try to fix it."

"Oh, Buck, that's wonderful!" Maddie exclaimed. "Of course you can have a plus one. I'll make sure to update the seating chart and everything."

She paused for a moment, then added with a laugh, "You know, I told you that you'd figure it out in your own time, but this is lightspeed! Not that I'm judging, of course. I'm just happy for you."

Buck grinned, his sister's words filling him with warmth and love. "Thanks, Maddie. I know it's fast, but it just feels right, you know?"

He took a deep breath, then continued, "I just hope Tommy will forgive me and that I haven't ruined things before they've even really started. I... I think I want him to be my boyfriend, Mads."

Maddie's voice softened, filled with understanding and support. "Oh, Buck. I'm sure Tommy will appreciate your honesty and your effort to make things right. And if he's the right guy for you, he'll understand and give you another chance."

"I hope so," Buck said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I've never felt this way about anyone before. It's scary, but it's also exciting."

"That's how you know it's real," Maddie replied, her smile evident in her voice. "Just be honest with him. Tell him how you feel and what you want. The rest will work itself out."

Buck nodded, feeling a sense of determination settle in his chest. "You're right. Thanks, Maddie. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"That's what big sisters are for," Maddie said, her love and support evident even through the phone. "Now get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

After ending the call with Maddie, Buck settled into bed, his mind racing with thoughts of Tommy and the conversation they would have the next day. He tried to plan out what he was going to say, but his ADHD seemed to have other plans, refusing to let him rest.

In an attempt to organize his thoughts, Buck grabbed a notebook and started jotting down ideas about what he wanted to express to Tommy. However, after a few minutes of scribbling and crossing out lines, he realized that he was overthinking it. He decided that the best approach would be to speak from the heart and let his feelings guide him.

As he set the notebook aside, Buck found himself reaching for his phone and navigating to Tommy's Instagram profile. He scrolled through the photos, his heart racing as he took in the sight of the gorgeous man who had captured his attention.

It was clear that Tommy took great pride in his physique, as evidenced by the numerous shirtless selfies that graced his feed. Buck couldn't help but admire the dedication and discipline it must have taken to achieve such a well-sculpted body.

As he continued to scroll, one particular photo caught Buck's eye. In it, Tommy wore a sexy smirk that made Buck's pulse quicken. Buck's mouth fell half-open, and a small moan escaped his lips. Before he even realized what he was doing, Buck found his hand drifting downward, his body responding to the sight of the man he couldn't get out of his mind.

He whispered Tommy's name, his imagination running wild with thoughts of what it would be like to touch and be touched by him. He knew that he shouldn't be entertaining these thoughts, especially before they had a chance to talk and clear the air, but he couldn't seem to help himself.

They had only shared one kiss so far, which, though amazing and life-changing, had been on the more chaste side. But now, Buck couldn't help but imagine Tommy's lips all over his body, trailing kisses down his neck, chest, and abdomen. The thought alone was enough to make Buck's skin tingle with anticipation and desire.

As he indulged in his fantasies, his hand slipping beneath the waistband of his boxers, his fingers gently brushing against his most sensitive areas, Buck found himself responding in ways he never had before, especially from imagination alone. It was a testament to just how attracted he was to Tommy's distinctly masculine features - the thought of exploring Tommy's muscular body, running his hands over his firm pecs and down his happy trail, was enough to send shivers down Buck's spine. He fantasized that it was Tommy's hand instead of his own, caressing and exploring every inch of his skin with a mix of tenderness and passion.

He imagined burying his face in the crook of Tommy's neck, inhaling his musky scent and feeling the scratch of his stubble against his skin. The idea of experiencing these new sensations, so different from his past encounters with women, only fueled Buck's desire further.

Buck's breathing grew heavier, soft gasps escaping his parted lips as he lost himself in the sensations. He pictured Tommy's strong arms wrapped around him, their bodies pressed together as they explored each other with a mix of curiosity and passion.

The warmth in his core intensified, spreading through his veins like a slow-burning fire. Buck arched his back, his hands gripping the sheets as he chased the feeling, imagining the weight of Tommy's body on top of his own, the friction of their hips moving together.

After a few intense moments, Buck found himself panting and out of breath, his skin flushed and his body thrumming with the aftershocks of his release. He forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.

He knew that he needed to focus on the task at hand - figuring out how to apologize to Tommy and express his genuine interest in pursuing a relationship. But for now, he allowed himself a moment to bask in the lingering warmth and satisfaction, marveling at how strongly his body responded to the mere thought of being with Tommy.

With a contented sigh, Buck rolled over and tried to quiet his racing thoughts. He took a few deep breaths, willing his heart rate to slow down and his body to relax. Slowly but surely, the exhaustion of the day began to catch up with him, and he felt his eyelids growing heavy.

And as he finally drifted off into a restful sleep, his dreams were filled with visions of a future where he and Tommy could explore the undeniable connection between them, both emotionally and physically, discovering together the unique pleasures and intimacies that came with being with another man.

Also on AO3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57321616

[elencelebrindal]

Wuwa rant

I opened wuwa 3 times total this month. I'm so disgusted by the fanservice being shoved into the "story" every five minutes. There's no interesting lore anymore, it's just lost to the whole mess that is this incel-catering game, I'm so done with it.

It was so promising at first, it had so much potential. I had hope for Rinascita, but it's just disappointing. Characters are not even explored deeply because the only thing that matters is their relationship with Rover, and that's mostly in a fanservice way.

I want to say something nice about it, I really want to. I love analyzing characters and environments, I love watching animations and scenery, but the exaggerated fanservice just ruins everything for me. The majority of the fandom doesn't help either.

I'm so tired of this. The story was so intriguing, too, and it's just... nothing to me now. Every dialogue leads to some sort of fanservice, or prepares to it. Every story can't go on without some sort of innuendo, flirting, or the like.

It's the same thing, over and over, and it's just annoying at this point. And to do this, after establishing a profound connection between Shorekeeper and Rover (which is something I absolutely hated, they could have done such a beautiful relationship between creator and creation that wasn't romantic but it's gathering wives I guess), is just poor taste. Why even bother to establish something if you're just going to move onto the next piece of fanservice next?

I'm genuinely upset at the development of this game. My liking of some of the characters doesn't change the idea I have of it now. And the worst thing? Even when I really like a character, like Zani or even Ciaccona (her personality is amazing so far), they just find ways to shove fanservice into it. Zani's liberation looks cool, but in the context of a game that constantly sexualizes its characters is just bad. It literally threw me off and I don't want to pull for her anymore. She and Brant were my favorites in Rinascita design-wise, and now I don't want to pull for her anymore.

I really like the style wuwa has, the scenery is amazing and the combat is great, but the catering is too much. No character can be unique because everything is fanservice even when they try to be unique. Cantarella would have been such an interesting character if the game didn't have so many characters already sexualized to hell and back. Even her design (still too much for me but okay) wouldn't have been such a problem if she was the odd one out. But she's not. She's just another sexualized woman.

All the interesting things that make characters worth analyzing are just not there in wuwa. The world doesn't feel alive because there's too little to actually see, despite there being so much. It's sad.

[francesderwent]

Just wondering how you think TTPD is a "win" for Christian Swifties when she blatantly derides them as judgy hypocrites who want to "cage" her throughout the album?! I'm curious how you spin this because it's objectively the most anti-religious people album she's ever made!

Taylor could not possibly hate conservative Christians more and her contempt comes out in every song! She especially hates the type of Christians who judge about sexual morality. If you think otherwise, you're honestly just deluding yourself and willfully misinterpreting her lyrics to suit you.

I honestly can't tell if this is two separate people or one person who got progressively more annoyed as they typed but:

I think any good art which is honest about human experience is a win for Christians.

Style, which puts a happy face on an on-again-off-again relationship, pretends everything is fun and breezy, is not a win for Christians. but!! Is It Over Now, despite being more explicit, is a win for Christians, because it admits: this left a mark on me. I cannot walk away from what we did together. I cannot pretend this didn't matter.

likewise, False God & Lavender Haze are not a win for Christians. but The Tortured Poets Department, taken as a whole and as the refutation of False God and Lavender Haze, is a win for Christians, because it is honest about what it really feels like to give all of yourself to someone who isn't willing to make a commitment to you.

and I think this principle still holds true when the experience you're being honest about is people being obnoxious little creeps to you--even people who claim to or are trying to follow Christ. because that's life sometimes! I was just saying a week or two ago that the Barbara Howard plot in the Breakup episode of Abbott is fantastic Christian representation, and part of that plot is women in her church choir being nasty and judgmental! honest storytelling is always going to account for the fact that some of the people you regard as on the team of the good guys are at best hopelessly annoying, and at worst horrible people. that fact doesn't threaten me.

and just as a side note: the people she's lashing out against in But Daddy I Love Him are just as much the liberal woke purity police as the Christian sexual morality police soooo we should all have had a look inward at our own capacity to be judgmental jerks. it's definitely not about establishing a hierarchy of who Taylor has more contempt for.

[littleeyesofpallas]

You know the hype around Poor Things kind of came and went, but in all the prattling about "Is it feminist enough?" and the eyerolling about the unsubtle religious parallels, I feel like no one ever actually talked about the movie's really fascinating use of devil imagery and archetypes and how it relates to the kind of archetypal feminine narrative it was playing with.

Everyone spots the super obvious one: That Willem Defoe's character, Godwin, is literally referred to as "God" for short. That Ramy Youssef's comically bumbling Max McCandles is the Adam to Emma Stone's Bella Baxter's Eve --bound to the residence of the mad professor as their Eden together-- and thus the appearance of Mark Ruffalo's suave seducer character, Duncan Wedderburn is immediately clocked as The Serpent in Eden.

But in spite of the heft and presence his character is given as The First antagonist of the plot, he is very comically outpaced and then put away as Bella uses him as her first vehicle of liberation to see the world outside her father's walls.

But then she meets the travelling pair, Martha von Kurtzroc and Harry Astley (played by Jerrod Carmichael) and while the two together presents this introduction to a more intellectual and philosophical approach to life, Harry is very distinctly an opposite to Duncan, as a being seemingly entirely above sexual and carnal impulse or desire. And he presents Bella with this very literal Adversary role --The Satan-- where he looks at the self indulgent hedonistic lifestyle that Duncan has led her down, and asks her, "what about the worst in life? what about everyone else?" and shows her a literal pit of human suffering. And for a brief moment it breaks her, right before she resolves to take all Duncan's money and throw it away; very literally throwing it away, as it doesn't even go to the people she naively wants to use it to help.

So she's got no more money and she has to work for it, and she ends up a prostitute in the brothel of the delightfully eerie Madam Swiney, played impeccably by Kathryn Hunter. And there is this humbling learning experience that while she has up til now enjoyed sex, she does not in fact enjoy all sex, and the introduction of this transactional element complicating things threatens to spoil the whole notion as the Madam begins with offering reward and withholding necessity as this kind of Tempter character. (And I cannot help but want to compare this image of ""evil"" with Mel Gibson's halfwitted attempt at envisioning his tempter in the desert, in The Passion of the Christ, as a bald just barely androgynous, and thus in his unimaginative estimation "sexless," being.) That is until she also overcomes the antagonistic role that Madam Swiney presents and, yet again, moves on with her life and the plot...

And maybe you realize that that's the pattern here: for all the puff and genre-savvy looming doom and imposition these devil figures bring to the scenes, they all end up just... not that big a deal actually... And that feels very much the point. That for all the hot air pearl clutching moralists try to put into rhetoric about loss of innocence --obviously stemming from, but in no way limited to the deranged pushing of religious values-- Bella's innocence isn't not lost at the hands of these corrupting and seeming evil influences, it just kind of isn't a big deal. The protection/preservation of her ""innocence"" isn't the totality of her story or identity, its actually barely even a footnote.

She "lost her innocence" and learned and moved on, and lost some more, and guess what? It didn't matter. It doesn't stop her.

So finally she's faced with the truest Devil of them all, Lord Alfie Blessington. With no facade or tact to his methods of evil, just the raw seemingly insurmountable power of both real shameless physical violence, and the structural abuse of a patriarchal society behind him. He is A Monster. But as you can guess she's temporarily put off, set back, and abused, but she comes out on top. And more over in subjugating this final devil, reduces him to a literal animal, not unintentionally, A Goat.

So while people will take issue with the movie's focus on her womanhood and indeed personhood being so closely tied to her beauty and attractiveness to men and sexuality and her seemingly contradictory infantilization and how it relates to a perceived "innocence" (not all undue criticisms btw) I feel like something very essential is missing if you don't recognize the way the movie deals with this idea of evil and corruption in relation to that cliche of innocence.

Because as much good as it does to show and explain to people that, No, actually your mom or your pastor or preacher(or whatever other fake clergy titles evangelicals have made up) lied when they said giving a blowjob would make you a slut forever and you'd go to hell, or whatever... Just clarifying what a "slut" is or isn't doesn't address the label itself being meaningless gibberish, no matter how it's defined.

Because there is this deep religious-derivative fear at the root of things that to "stop being good" is this life/world ending thing to be avoided at all costs, and so the goal posts of good and evil have to be moved to dodge that, despite the fact that there's a whole playing field between them that needs navigating. Bella doesnt just find out the things she was told were bad, aren't bad. Or that the "bad" things were secretly good all along. She also finds out that doing bad things isnt the end of the world.

[cinamun]

I've been just reading and processing, and may I just say BRAVO!

Characters like Dira are sometimes hit or miss with me. Sometimes the face of sexual liberation is a woman with multiple partners, while a woman that is celibate or just not interested in casual sex is demonized as a prude, even though both are expressing bodily autonomy. And the same thing can be said in reverse. I'd like to applaud you for not demonizing either, and for also refocusing the real danger of this lifestyle.

It isn't the lifestyle, it's people pushing boundaries and not respecting women at their word. I, like several readers, am so used to women bearing the burden of men's actions and feelings that I didn't even realize that these dudes not hearing her isn't her fault. World view shifted.

I also love that Darren is there to be like, "Not your fault, but the way things should be isn't how they are. Protect yourself."

Now should I be concerned that you've introduced a literal Chekov's gun? Probably.

Should I be concerned that Dira has had a vision of SadBoi McKidnapper? Sure.

Is there still the fact that Dira, in her conversation with Hope, that she still think that when people express love, she thinks of control and ownership? Yeah.

But do you know what I'm most interested in right now?

Dira getting a job!

I know she's rich and fabulous, but isn't celebrity her aspiration? Eff the love life, I'm trying to see how she gets in these magazines. If she's going to get her Lori Harvey on, then let's go!!!

GOOD MORNING!!

Thank you sooooooooooooo much AND!!! Characters like Dira are tough to pull off for all the reasons you've described. I felt it fitting that we close out with wise words from her father. Wise words that gave her the harsh reality of what the world is really like! Something we didn't even touch during the commentary! It was all about Dira! But! No! Its about staying safe and protecting herself!

Whew!! Let's keep shifting world views, shall we?

As for Chekovian concerns, Its just for protection. Right? You never know who might start set trippin. Anyway... 👀☕🫖

BACK TO DIRA!! You know, her aspiration is to be an actress! Since graduating, she's just been vibing. Unlike Hope, she left home with a significant six figure starter package so she hasn't even thought about any career ambitions... YET! When she's not shopping, eating out, walking Pookie or chilling with Charlie, she's reading up on all the happenings in Del Sol Valley. The latest gossip, the latest film projects and she's subscribed to several zines that give her up-to-the-minute updates on upcoming opportunities. Whether its commercials, walk-on roles or extras, she knows about it.

I honestly can't wait for that season of Dira so, as always, stay tuned my friend.

[anamelessfool]

OC pride asks

For Primo: 6

For you, the writer: 14, 16, 18

OC Pride Asks

I'm 36, and there's a lot of stuff that's new now compared to twenty years ago. I've come into my own and found a label for myself (queer), although I'm personally indifferent to labels. But I think it's important to a lot of people and I support anyone who chooses a label. So that's where I'm coming from, and my characters reflect that.

I have all the characters’ traits in my mind when I write them, but sometimes they just never explicitly come up.

6. How does your OC feel about labels?

I'm no queer history expert but I think we have a wider range of labels now than in the 1960s/70s. Primo didn't even explore much before he returned to the Church. He had a lot of anxiety about attraction before the liberated environment of the Satanic Church of the Void. (His brothers, having been raised in the Church, had no such hangups.) If he were around today he would describe himself as pan.

I suppose his journey reflects my own, a little.

14: Any ace/aro OCs?

Yes! I've had one that was in the first ever story I wrote (and I took it down to work on it.) He’s a Sibling named Friar who works and lives in a satellite Church that Terzo visits just before his forced retirement. He’s a voice of reason character for the main character who has got herself wrapped up in Satanic Church of the Void drama. Nobody ever really explicitly says “hey, I am —-!” But in the way he interacts with everyone is reflective of his total worldview.

16. Did you ever change an OC’s Identity when they were already established?

I did, yes, for plot purposes. I like to have a “straight” (straight like in “straight man” in a comedy sense) person or relationship to oppose a main character or relationship. Like a “ghoul that acts normal around humans/their mission” Edelweiss Ghoul/Earth Ghoul/Alpha Ghoul vs. Omega who falls for his summoner and breaks a lot of rules. That way the reader feels the stakes more and doesn’t make assumptions about characters based on their lot in life, just their personality. These two characters Pamela and Frieda from my next three fics (the pre-retirement Terzo one and two Secondo ones) I turned from sisters to romantically involved. The way they acted around each other and also as a foil for Secondo’s own relationship hangups felt more like a romantic connection than a sibling one. It was a lot more interesting and flexible for me that way, so I changed it.

18: Do you prefer to give your OCs specific labels?

They’re in my head but never specified unless I do a profile of them or someone directly asks me. Also, in regard to the ghouls human ideas of gender and sexuality don’t apply to them. If anything all my ghouls are gender-fluid if we are thinking from human standards. I try to have a lot of different ways to be a ghoul featured in my work so readers get that impression organically. They’re human-shaped because their summoner is human, and there’s multiple ways to be human-shaped and how each ghouls reacts to that is based on their own personality. Aether Ghoul was cis female and she/her in his previous tour 400 years ago, but Edelweiss Ghoul has always been he/him regardless of how his body was constructed at the time. When the ghouls are in their natural astral living space beyond their human-shaped vessels, they are all they/them, and choose the form they wish. And a lot of times the forms are animals or just concepts and not human shaped at all.

Thanks for waiting for my really really long response!

[otomelavenderhaze]

Mcl and how aesthetical only poc representation is harmful

Before you all lit your torches and bring out your pitchforks, just read what I have to say and THEN you can come after me alright?

But before, let's talk about how mcl poc representation is mostly aesthetical, color blind, and lackluster and that's a missed opportunity for writing good stories, if you gonna do representation, please, try a bit harder? Pretty please?

I want start by saying that while representation is important, if you treat your poc character as if they just fell from a coconut tree and do not exist outside of their character archetypes, you are doing a disservice to your characters, your narrative and the people in the real world, players, who could recognize themselves in these minorities, BUT DON'T. And Why is that?

Color blindness. You treat your poc characters as white characters, you just like how they look like, you don't really care if they represent experiences or other cultures.

That's why when, let's say, a white female art student decides to falsely accuse her poc teacher and ruin his life, and you backtrack because you didn't like how you wrote him as the victim despite him being the victim of the situation, you just throw a half-ass everybody can forgive anything excuse and "she will have to live with what she has done, no repercussions beyond that" type of thing.

Throwing the name of the MeToo movement willy-nilly doesn't change the fact that you wrote it from a color-blind perspective ~

Self-awareness didn't went far enough ~

"But, talking about racism isn't romantic! It's not fun! Our game needs to be apolitical! None of that woke shit here!"

Brother in christ, what are you talking about?

The moment you cooked up poc characters, you stopped being apolitical, the moment you put lgbt characters on your game, you're being political, I will go even further: the moment you write self-sufficient female characters, you're BEING POLITICAL.

And yes, representation is not immediately = talk about racism. But you wrote the white student, you wrote her obsession, you wrote the consequences that it brought, you just missed the part when your characters are not ALL WHITE. You missed how MeToo has changed, that feminism is not just believing in the victims of sexual harassment no matter what. Feminism is about equality, it's about seeing how a minority is treated in the world and striving for EQUALITY. Feminism is not girlboss shit. I am sorry. Actually not sorry. Go read about feminism too.

I understand that not everybody feels capable of writing a history about a poc male teacher being harassed by a white female student, but I will tell you, if you have been living in a liberal hole, haven't at all pay attention to Black Lives Matter or you live your life with color blindness, then yeah, you will not be capable of writing it anyway. Write something else. Or, even better, take a day, maybe a week, and listen to the struggles of the minorities you're trying to represent, listen to podcasts, and activists, and tune yourself into the voices of the real people that you're trying to represent.

It's not that hard when we live in the age of YouTube essays, man.

Now, why I am bringing this back?

Because MCL new era (or whatever is the name of the new game) will have poc characters as well, and, oh, boy, oh, boy, I am not the only one worried about how the writing is gonna go.

All I ask of them is go watch some videos, learn how to be more inclusive and educate yourselves, IF you want a diverse cast in your game.

Your characters didn't fall from a coconut tree and they exist in the context of society, history, cultural norms and constructs, in the context of which they "live" and from what came before them, if you don't represent that, they will FEEL like a white character because white people already is the default reality, they don't really need context or background because there's no such thing as "white culture". That's why you can get away without addressing them a "culture".

And there's no such thing as being too woke or too political, we all as human beings live in a heavily political online environment, even when we choose to "not be political" we're choosing to be political: that's just neo-liberalism for you. Ignoring that fact doesn't change the perception of others, doesn't erase that you choose, for better and for worst, to be political anyway.

If your character isn't white, own it.

Don't pretend they have no cultural background just to make them more palatable to "a bigger audience", no, the moment you trop that they're korean, arabic or indian, there's gonna be people that will have prejudice, making them non-cultural in top of that doesn't change how they look like or the origins of their names.

Don't commit to a diverse cast and then erase all that diversity. Strive to create relatable characters, with relatable stories and relatable backgrounds, so your game doesn't just LOOK rich of diversity, but also FEELS full of diversity.

[oldguardleatherdog]

let me start by saying, I'm okay to agree to disagree on this, and I respect you greatly as my queer elder. I hesitate to even send this because I don't think this cause is worth dogpiling (and not even the fun way) on anyone against and , like , I will continue to follow and admire you as a mutual who has been through a lot of the hell that I'm going through right now and got to a place I want to someday be. (for context, I am currently housing & food insecure and am trying to live in a queer-accepting city)

Posting will never be praxis, you are my brother in arms no matter what you call trump or cops or whatever. There are some fat liberation blogs that take issue with calling cops "pigs" for a lot of the reasons I bristle at calling Trump a fatass, and like, if someone is actively fighting cops who can and will actively hurt me and my found family, I don't care what names they shout while doing it. So I see where you are coming from and I'm glad you fight for me. I fight for us too, in what little ways I can while I keep me and my found family afloat. I do better work in the community just by existing around people as a living breathing transgender than I could do in a million posts on this website.

I do think that this is a valuable conversation to have, though, even though you are completely right that this is a trivial thing and not at all the bigger, more real issue at hand. I think it's still important, on online platforms such as this, to talk about how we refer to the other people on this planet.

Think about why you didn't call Trump a "retard". You certainly could have, it doesn't *not* apply to some of his behavior. I know people of our generations once used that word a lot, and we don't anymore. Why and when did we change that? I honestly don't remember. For me, my aunt was medically classified as "retarded" and she was the best person I'd ever met, so I decided that word shouldn't mean bad things. The first time I ever hit someone was over them using that word in a derogative way. it wasn't about "mental illness positivity" it was about humanizing the people that word has been used against - people who have been stigmatized and oppressed with that word.

Right now, hopefully, the same thing is happening to the word "obese". Fat people are less likely to be hired, granted loans or secure housing. they can be kicked out of airplanes and fired from their jobs because of their body size. There have been laws proposed to take fat children away from their parents and "treatments" proposed to wire children's jaws shut and starve them to make them thinner. They are often medically mistreated and misdiagnosed. I once went to a doctor with an ear infection and instead of antibiotics, he prescribed me *bariatric surgery.* I have been refused transgender top-surgery because of my BMI, which keeps me at a passively higher risk for self-injury and worse.

I do not care about body positivity. Honestly, between being fat, trans, and poor, I'm at a point where I've given up on ever feeling good about my body again. All I care about is getting jobs and meds and keeping a roof over my family's head and food on our table. Normalizing the idea that fat is a bad thing that anyone can change continues that stigma. When you use Fat as an insult, you are saying fat=bad. Fat is a neutral thing that some bodies can be, like short or tall or lean. The revolution needs to be intersectional, and body size is another axis of oppression that needs to be acknowledged, just like sexuality, gender, race, class, disability, etc.

If you've gotten this far, thank you for hearing me out. I'm sorry that others are just performatively parroting the same things over and over. Civility is bullshit, and if you still want to use body shaming as one of the ways you fight against bigotry, it doesn't really matter to me. Just as long as you acknowledge anti-fat bias as part of that bigotry too.

Thank you for writing and sharing your life experiences with me, and for your solidarity as well. You're striving to make your way as part of a despised minority in a world that's turned unspeakably harsh toward you in an aggressively mean way seemingly overnight, and I admire you for the life you have lived, for your courage and perseverance during this difficult time where resources are scant and your housing and food security is uncertain at best.

(FWIW, after I was bombed out of my Lower Manhattan home on September 11th, my income went from six figures down to nothing overnight, and I was homeless and destitute for years. Twenty years ago, I was where you are now, and I can tell you that what you're enduring today will not last forever, that there is light and hope and blessing in your future, that you're not as alone as you might think, that you must never give up.)

What more can I do to make the point that "fat" has nothing to do with this? As I've said, I grew up obese, and it wasn't until I enlisted in the Army at age 17 that I was able to free myself from my violent and abusive family and unlock the potential of the body that had been hidden under layers of fat and shame all my life. I know that my path is not for everybody, that many others are not so fortunate, and I ceased long ago to think that fat equals bad or lack of character or any other pejorative attitude that society has attached to it for generations. I hope I've made that clear and that you take my word as truth.

I am not saying "let's fat-shame Donald Trump to make him feel bad." I am saying that I'm deeply troubled by the LGBTQ+ community prioritizing hurt feelings over the very real damage that's being done to us right now all over the country by Trump, his minions, his proxies, and his cult of bloodthirsty followers and worshippers. Trump's accomplices in Congress and state legislatures and Moms For Liberty are taking over school boards all over the country, banning books and emptying library shelves and harassing teachers and librarians to the point where they're being run out of town, where the State of Missouri has defunded its entire public library system rather than follow a court order to restore books banned just for featuring LGBTQ+ characters.

DeSantis and Abbott have put in place policies that are unspeakably brutal, that are forcing trans people in Florida to slowly and brutally revert to their pre-transition state, that have given health care providers in Florida the right to deny treatment to you and me and all LGBTQ+ people because we are gay, lesbian, non-binary, trans... but God forbid we should call Trump mean names!

We've seen what happens when we buy into the "when they go low, we go high" fantasy pipe dream. This is not the way the world works, it has never been, and we need to put this loser idea in the trash bin where it belongs once and for all.

We're being attacked and harmed in unspeakable ways that are happening now. This is not theoretical or hypothetical. It's happening to us, to those we love, this minute and every minute of every day. And worse is in the pipeline - they're writing laws that will place us under virtual house arrest, that will regulate where we're allowed to go in our own cities and towns, when we're allowed to be seen in public, when and where we can shop, how we're allowed to dress, even what we're allowed to say and SING, for Christ's sake!

And I'm supposed to be concerned about some minuscule hypothetical percentage of my own people being OFFENDED because I'm somehow being insensitive and violating some trivial picayune social justice warrior philosophy, because there's a possibility of some fragile flower taking it personally, and that I should shut my mouth and let the MAGA nutjobs run roughshod over us? Oh, come let Daddy kiss it! while our brothers and sisters are suffering in real time. Sickening.

Anyone who has a problem with my stance doesn't have to follow me or emulate my proven effective tactics as an activist with 37 years of successfully defending our rights under my belt if they're so dainty and delicate and easily bruised. Everyone else that sees this for the strawman bullshit it is, get ready to hit the streets with bullhorns and whistles once again. We've got work to do.

Your arguments are strong and well-reasoned, and I accept and acknowledge everything you're saying. We can disagree on this, certainly, and still work together to turn back the progress that the MAGAs are making, restore our rights, and protect ourselves and each other. But that will require the snowflake contingent among us to get their collective head out of their collective ass, stop whining, and get with the damn program. Calling me names and telling me I'm being a bad gay activist is a waste of time and energy that should be spent fighting the fascists and the haters who are out to kill us.

And to you, my friend and fellow traveler with a radiantly beautiful soul and spirit, I urge you to hang in there, to keep the faith, to keep caring about life, to work with me to secure our own future and the future of our kind. I send to you my very best wishes, energy, and prayers that you will find your way to a place of health, security, stability, and love for yourself and for this precious community to whom we've both dedicated our lives, who mean the world to us.

Yours In Service, Animal J. Smith

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

I was reading some of your old posts and I have to say what you said about people who are non straight or cis having to work overtime to learn the cues to fit into that world as well as creating their own language resonated with me even tho I'm aroace so I don't fit into either world it's to the point I feel like an alien a lot of the time around everyone. So it can be quite isolating and desolate and I feel like I have to do double time to understand any of it because most of the time it doesn't make any sense to me. It makes me grateful that one day all of this will end and I don't have to put up with it anymore since I've done my time in terms of living and an existence I never asked for. So thank you for saying that.

Hi.

I know what post you're talking about, and yes, when I was writing I had in mind the experience of growing up being attracted to girls and dating girls for most of my life. But it really isn't limited to that.

I've had other situations in my life that were not related to sexuality at all where I've also had to rearrange my vocabulary and lie, essentially, to make it look like what I was going through was "normal", not because it was such an anomaly but because people around me wouldn't have understood what was going on, and I didn't really have a support system made of people who I could talk to about it. Last year, I went to see a therapist for the first time in my life and I finally talked about it, and it was good. I cried the whole hour, and she cried with me, but her advice actually changed my whole year from that moment on, and I've been better. There's still a lot to work on, but you know, rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

Unfortunately, there is a hyperfocus on sex and dating, and everything in between. It's a cultural thing, it's fed nonstop from every industry and social classes. It's almost like the fight for sex liberation actually turned into something that's at times grotesque and unnecessary. I'm not aro or ace, but I frequently also find myself overstimulated and tired of all the sex talk and the hypersexualization of the most trivial stuff, stuff that really isn't about sex like when people post photos of men's arms with the veins showing and talk about it like it's super hot. Bitch it's just AN ARM 😭 I've found out it's mentally healthy to laugh about some of the stuff you see out there, too. It's all so ridiculous that at some point it's healthy to make fun of it all.

So, yeah. I can't say that it's going to get better because if it's up to the people out there, everyone's just looking out for themselves and their need to practice their own freedom of speech and also just millions of people literally living out their fantasies on the internet, which is embarrassing to watch a lot of times.

I think there are ways that you can make it better for yourself. I'm not saying you haven't tried or anything, because I'm sure you have. But I'm saying to not stop trying because there's space for you out there. As you grow older people stop being so much in your business, too. So it will get easier, I can assure you. It will get easier to just avoid certain conversations, or to find people with whom you'll be able to have the conversations you want to have. Internet is great, in that sense, but I can assure you you'll find your people in real life, too.

I also think that you don't have to try that hard to understand everyone else. Just don't try. You don't get it, and you just don't. I don't know if you've talked about it with your friends, but if you were to tell them how you feel, they will care about your feelings if they really love you.

You don't understand the way they feel, and maybe they won't understand you either, and I can't stress enough how OKAY that is. It's okay to not understand people or some situations; but respect is important. You don't have to understand and make sense of the way they relate to other people, to love them. I think in this case, it's okay to just love them or like them or want to spend time with them and keep being friends, without actually being able to put yourself in their shoes, you know? They most likely will be absolutely incapable of putting themselves in your shoes, but as long as they can respect You and respect your boundaries, a healthy friendship is possible.

If there's one thing I really want to say with this, is that it's okay to not understand them. And it's okay that they don't understand you either.

I never expected straight women to understand that I love girls, because I frankly, honestly, just don't understand NOT loving women. Or the way I don't understand religious people at all, and there's plenty in my family and I grew up surrounded by it and it's always been a very important theme in my life, but I still just don't get religious people.

But I know it's always going to be like that. I could never ask people to change their whole brain process and be like "sure girls I get why lesbianism is so great", because I know I would never be able to change my brain for them either. All I want is to be respected and acknowledged as a real person. Personally, as long as I have that, I can have a nice relationship with anyone.

There's also the internet where you can find more people who feel the way you do, and maybe exchange with them tips or advice on how to work through a healthy social life without losing your self in the process. I know you can do it.

As isolating as it is, I know that you're strong enough to live through it and not only survive but also have a good, fulfilling life. There's plenty of people, billions literally who live without a partner or just without experiencing romantic love or sexual attraction and it really is more than okay to live like that. I've always thought having friends or a comfortable relationship with your family is enough to live a good life. I'm not saying this only to make you feel better but because I really believe it. I encourage you too to think about all the other things you don't understand about people, even if it's just not getting how some are able to do 2436 x 37 in their heads, and you'll probably realize just how much of this world we don't understand AT ALL, and most likely will never understand, but that doesn't prevent us from living through it. We're amazing, really. The human brain is capable of the craziest changes in order to adapt and survive, so I know that you'll be able to do it, too.

[theaceoftales]

Ace of the Week #6: Mariana Mitogo

A common argument to try and invalidate the asexual experience is that "everyone feels that way." But just like with any topic, this often comes from a place of not realizing just how integrated sexual attraction is in daily life.

Take crushes on teachers for instance? No one really expects or hopes anything to come out of them, but it's a common experience to find some teacher or another as attractive and develop a surface level crush on them.

"It's a tiny teacher crush. Mine was Ms. Takahashi in ninth grade English. Futile but harmless. You know how it is." No... no, she didn't. Mariana's flustered frustration charred into embarrassment. years ago, had her classmates pined for their teachers too? She'd never felt whatever it was these girls felt, young and green and premature as it was. Had she missed some kind of pubescent rite of passage? Was that why, when it came to romance and sexual attraction, her ex had called her broken?

I can't get enough of this Waldo metaphor Mariana uses to describe her experience. Everyone seems to inherently get it, they don't even seem to realize what's not to get? It feels like common sense to them, and when you're inundated with that approach around you, you might just give up on understanding it. Faking it. Avoiding it. Adopting the idea that you're "broken."

"I don't know what attraction is supposed to feel like, but it seems like I'm supposed to. It seems like everyone else understands without even trying. Like they found Wado, and I'm running around just trying to figure out what he looks like!" She trembled with the memory that had shadowed the back of her mind for years. "My high school boyfriend told me I was broken for not feeling... whatever it is."

Pick up a copy of "Border Ctrl + Esc" by Ivy L. James from the publisher NineStar Press or from other book retailers. Also, a shout out to Queer Liberation Library for having this gem in their catalog.

[novinare]

A BUNCH OF LITTLE SINDAY HEADCANONS!

(tw for non-graphic mentions of sexual assault)

• ASMODEUS is the Prince of Lust. People having a good time, and feeling amazing, and gleefully indulging in their hedonism. He has no patience for any kind of sexual assault. At all. That all falls under Satan's wrathful domain, and it annoys them both to no end that people keep getting it wrong!

• CALLIOPE used to love inspiring mortal writers who wrote erotica. It was beautiful watching them own their own fantasies, and the delight they found in putting them down on paper.

But after her imprisonment and repeated assault at the hands of Erasmus Fry, and later Richard Madoc, she stopped inspiring those kinds of writings. People could still write erotica-- people are wonderfully creative, and most of them don't need her help! Which is for the best, because it feels like that was stolen from her. And she can't inspire something she can't feel.

• DEATH very rarely gets to indulge in her sensual side. She has too much work, and there's not enough time, and -- oh yes, the fact that she can't touch mortals without them dying makes things even more complicated! Of course, she could have a fling with most immortals, but honestly... Given the choice between a good bath and a few extra hours or sleep, or dealing with some immortal's fragile ego? She's taking the bath!

• EAMES has had sex in dreams... A lot. Sometimes using his own body, sometimes to get into the headspace and physicality of someone he's Forging, and sometimes because it's fun and the opportunity presented itself! He figures, if he's going to be a Somnacin addict until his brain dribbles out his ears, he might as well enjoy the ride!

• For the most part, ELON SPENGLER forgets that sex is something people actually do, and not just an occasionally relevant anthropological data point. He's spectacularly oblivious to people flirting with him, his own touch-starvation, and the fact that man cannot live on Twinkies and work forever (despite his very best attempts)!

Good luck and godspeed to anyone trying to seduce him, you'll need all the help you can get! (Be blunt... very blunt... Potentially with a graph or chart outlining why sleeping with you is a good idea!)

• EMILY has never had sex, with anyone. She's not entirely sure how it works, or why people seem to enjoy it so much; but even in Heaven it seems to be a very human preoccupation! Like other angels, divine or Fallen, she doesn't technically have any of the required bits and pieces to had sex. At least, not unless she makes an Effort. And maybe some day she will, but for the moment, Emily finds it all quite baffling.

• HERMIONE GRANGER'S first was Ron Weasley, and it was a complete disaster. Neither of them really knew what they were doing, and he got very angry and sulky when she didn't respond the way he'd hoped. In retrospect, she supposes she should have seen the red flags then, but she didn't. Either way, it was a memorable experience, but not in a good way!

• MOLLY SALVATORE knows a lot about sex, and very good at offering advice and answering questions about it, even if she doesn't have a ton of first-hand experience. You don't get to have a twin like Angel without picking up a few things, and learning not to be squeamish about what people do in their bedrooms! She insist that most of it is common sense (unfortunately, the 'common' is so common!)

• MOLLY HOOPER started anonymously running a sex toy review blog when she was in university. It was fun, and liberating, and filled with the kind of cheeky comments she'd never be brave enough to say in person. Over the years she developed quite the following, though none of them know that Mouse is actually a morgue pathologist!

• NINA ZENIK has a complicated relationship with sex. On one hand, she loves the hedonism of it; but on the other, the government sold her virginity in an attempt to steal information from a Zemeni trader. She's very good at playing a seductress, when she wants to (Heartrender powers are very useful for that!) but it always tastes a bit bitter.