#it seems to me like you can only accept women if they're perfect victims

[oldstormyy]

molly opinions and impressions.. I feel like you understand her way better than most of rdr2 fans

First impression: oh, I see. there is a lot to unpack here

Impression now: well, tragic characters are my favorite, and especially those who are deeply flawed and digged their own graves by making all the wrong choices, so. <3 Seriously she is my favorite character after Dutch & Hosea

Favorite moment: when she isolates herself. i mean ok let's be real Molly doesn't appear in many cutscenes because she doesn't go out on jobs with the others, but her presence and state of mind are very pervasive in camp i think. i mean, in chapter 3 you can't walk two steps without hearing her and dutch shouting at each other. so my favorite Molly moment is when she's shunning everyone at camp and being shunned in turn, reading a book by herself, talking to Tilly about her love life WHILE Tilly is getting work done, clinging to Dutch as if he's the only thing that can ever make her happy. I also like when she's in a good mood and she gets a little silly :)

Idea for a story: i WISH we knew at what point in time Molly joined the gang specifically, and WHERE. Dutch and Molly met at a slam poetry event actually

Unpopular opinion: i am QUITE sick of the only responses to Molly's character being either "she deserved better :(" or talking about Dutch's faults as a partner, as if that's all there is to Molly. I understand the sentiment but it's all I EVER see. can we talk about how she was insane enough to leave her life of comforts to follow around a bunch of criminals? or about how her character arc actually parallels Dutch's in the way they both isolate themselves and fall victim to their paranoia and insecurity after becoming disillusioned with their romantic dreams?

Favorite relationship: aside from whatever the hell she's got going on with Dutch, I'm obsessed with whatever the hell she's got going on with Karen. I think their interactions say more about Karen than Molly, because Karen is the only one who UNDERSTANDS Molly.... Karen who acts so tough is the only one who's soft hearted and romantic enough to reach out to Molly. Because they are so similar even if they seem to be opposites.... They are in very similar places in chapter 4: both have lost a romantic partner, both have fallen to the bottle and, although in different ways, both feel mocked and ridiculed (Karen leans into the role of drunkard while Molly is losing her mind), although when Karen tries to comfort Molly she's already too far gone inside her own head. and the fact that after Molly gets killed Karen finally loses herself completely........

Molly wip:

[daydreamcloudshiding]

#6 Astrology Observations

People with 2nd house stellium are generous but also protective with their resources. Like the more you show them that you want/need their help, the more they will withhold it from you

People with prominent Leo placements in natal chart have such sensitive ego, like the moment you make them feel like they are less important, they will remember that sh*t forever

Although, ironically, Leo placements are really good in boosting someone else's ego as well

Aquarius people are the funniest people I've ever met. They can be so loving and caring but in a light-hearted way

Prominent Saturn placement in composite chart have feel like one of you will be looked up to, almost like a parent or teacher. This also works in synastry chart

In my experience, Virgos always have that selfish streak about them. Makes me want to kind of gatekeep certain things from them lol

In my life, a lot of Sagittarius women fell for Cancer men so much??? It's weird though, because I always perceive Sagittarius women as this ambitious, freedom-seeking, and sometimes even reckless in their emotional expression. But they ended up baby-ing these Cancer men

North node conjunct Chiron in composite chart is very karmic and hurtful, at least that's my experience. It's like the universe will forced the both of you to grow and change, face your deepest fears and even the worst version of yourselves.

Mars in 8th house composite: The Jealous Couple. The moment some b*tch tried to touch / talk to their significant other inappropriately, all hell breaks loose. Just don't. Even the most chill couple I know just won't sit quietly, they will fight with you. And don't get me wrong, this isn't about one person gets jealous of the other. It's both. Both of them have this attitude towards the relationship

Lilith in 1st house composite, both become each other's sexiest and darkest fantasies

I feel like a lot of people are obsessed with 8th house synastry. People actually imagined it to be this hades/persephone type sh*t where one person is obsessed with the other -reminds me of those creepy booktok girls who fantasize about getting kidnapped by handsome dude. While in real life, 8th house synastry can be so emotionally abusive and the worst part is, not one person in this person meant any harm or even have the obsessive qualities before this relationship. Which is why some people talk about this placement as if the people in it is "losing themselves", because they do might be changed, but not always for the better. Or at least, these people will be the worst version of themselves before they get better. In real life, if you have s*icidal tendencies or depression, this type of relationship can trigger you so much. Oftentimes, this person that you have 8th house synastry with represents both your insecurities and desire

There's something about Pisceans that somehow seems like "the perfect victim" with how passive and innocent they are, only later people discover how they hate feeling trapped or abused in anyway. The moment they feel slighted, they will remember it forever however due to their somewhat light-hearted and dreamy nature, they seems to forget about it so easily but they aren't. It's only a matter of time before they leave. Somehow, some way, with their passivity, it seems to others that they will just "accept" whatever treatment from others, but then you notice with time, they will be withdrawn and avoid you little by little. Piscesan reminds me sooooo much of Sagittarius (and yes both are ruled by Jupiter, which represents expansion) so the idea that they're this harmless, passive, innocent little baby who will stay there no matter what is so not true. They will avoid confrontation and will not argue with you about how wrong you treated them, but they will find an escape route

Sagittarius women really out there being the baddies and somehow fall for questionable men 😃

Venus in 7th house in the Solar Return Chart does not always means that you will find love that year. It could also means that justice will be in your favor

Those people with placements that aligns with your mercury sign can help balance your mental health

I'm not even sure if I've written this before, but all water signs are equally vindictive. They don't ever forget sh*t you did to them, especially the girls

Scorpios, especially the males, are attracted to dark, dangerous personalities, probably because in some sense they recognized that characteristics within themselves. However, once they become the said victims of those dark personalities, they will become too spiritual/religious, or further affected their narrow-mindedness (if they are already narrow-minded) and those who aren't narrow-minded initially, they will start to become one. They can even turn hateful. This is because in my opinion, like most water signs, they are can be prone to naivety. They genuinely thought that these dark personalities will do harm to others, but somehow not to them because they too recognized these characteristics in them. But these dark personalities, or just messed up people are not picky about their victims, they just victimize anyone in their way. This can create power struggles in the relationship or make the relationship too transactional because Scorpios will want to overpower the other, and would rather stay in this relationship (until they win the war, or get even, revengeful, etc) than to just stay the f away from these toxic relationships. This can create harmful patterns in their behavior where future relationships with others/new lovers will be filled with manipulations and "tactics" rather than sincerity

[autisticrosewilson]

It's not that I hate fanon or that I think fanon is inherently less intelligent or morally wrong, but a LOT of fanon is based in racism, misogyny, and classism that I feel like a lot of you accept without question.

WHY is Duke (Daredevil, son of a god, has never once allowed himself to be defined by anyone's actions but his own) relegated to a background role, only characterized by reacting to the whims of other bats?

Why is Babs - Birds of Prey leader and backbone of the hero society, tells Bruce to fuck off and die 4 times a day and is constantly ruining her relationships by being biased and unhinged - Gotham bound, the mature responsible mom of the group who never argues with Bruce and never gets in trouble?

Why is Dick, both a tactical genius and master manipulator, a himbo only appreciated for his sex appeal? Especially when he is both Romani (group of people demonized and condemned as hypersexual by their nature alone) and an SA victim.

WHY is Damian "feral" and "uncivilized" despite being raised as a literal prince? Half of you treat him like a sociopath with no hope of redemption for an unfunny three second joke and the other half of you go full throttle into Bruce's white savior bullshit so that Damian can be "redeemed". Y'know when you're not villainizing Talia and acting like Dick is his other parent, actually.

WHY is Stephanie - extremely intelligent detective who can't stand Bruce and has a living mother she loves - lumped in as another member of the Batfam, a blonde ditz who only cares about prank wars and emotionally supporting Tim?

WHY is Cass - intelligent, a grown adult, suicidal perfectionist - emotionally intelligent, primarily existing to support the characters around her, immediately accepting of everyone she meets regardless of her own morals?

Why is Bruce the golden standard? Enough so that though everyone in the fandom could agree that he's an emotionally unstable wreck, being considered "the most like him" is seen as a compliment and not the HIGHEST insult? Everyone would agree if I said that Bruce purposely self sabotages his relationship half the time and the other half he simply does things without caring about the emotional impact it will have on people because he has to be the smartest in the room, but if I said that makes him a shit partner and emotionally abusive parent the fandom would bend over backwards to argue with me.

Why is Tim "the best Robin" when Dick Grayson invented the mantle, it is impossible for someone to embody the spirit of Robin better than him because he made it and he created what being Robin means. Maybe Tim is the best in Bruce's eyes, but what Robin means and who has the right to give it over was a significant thing they argued about. Tim the high school drop out, and yet also somehow the smartest? Tim "the most like Bruce" except no he's not, that's Cass. Poor neglected, abused, victimized little Timmy (the rich boy at the elite boarding school with loving albeit busy parents and almost every instance of him being victimized by another character has either been racist bullshit - The Al Ghuls and Rose Wilson- or a complete 180 for the character that made no sense when examined through the lens of prior characterization - Jason for instance.)

Almost every fanon trope that gets passed around like gospel seems to deliberately push POC characters and women into the background and strip them of interesting complex traits and stories, usually for the purpose of fitting them all into bite sized incorrect quote character types and uncomplicated narrative roles that are not only completely divergent from canon, but primarily exist to prop up the two rich white boys.

Also the insistence that Bruce, a 20 year old at the time, should actually be excused for how much he mentally and emotionally fucked Dick up because really they're more like siblings! While deciding that Dick at the same age was actually the perfect candidate to be Damian's new parent/guardian...have you lost the fucking plot you don't even make sense to yourselves.

Okay I lied at the beginning, I do hate fanon. You guys are so uncritical about the media you consume it is BEYOND just letting people enjoy things and have fun. I guess it's one thing if you KNOW this stuff isn't canon and UNDERSTAND why these tropes are problematic and you engage with it as such, it's fine read and write what you want, but just spreading the same nonsense around and parading it around as "better than canon" (version of the character so bland and boring you've somehow made the old white men at DC look like geniuses in the art of representation) is just infuriating.

[thecountesstribe]

I agree completely with your take on the Liv/Rhea feud and it was so refreshing to hear how you see ALL sides of it. 10/10 and reassured me I'm not alone in how I feel. I'm curious to see how Bad Blood will go with Raquel, I can only hope there's surprises and she doesn't just attack Rhea but also Liv to draw attention to the amazing points you made with Liv turning into everything Liv and Raquel hated. Something that has shocked me, like you, is the lack of media literacy regarding the concept of revenge... I see so much defence of Liv and it gets to a point where I truly think its borderline insulting to her character work, because she's doing everything she can in her actions to show she's going too far in this revenge tour, in all the ways you mentioned, and also her promos ("men like Dom don't go for girls like you" and her pride in being a homewrecker on this weeks show) yet her fans defend and celebrate all her actions, then complain when the plot isn't geared in their fantasy booking direction of her being a victim and hero.

I honestly love the work Liv is doing right now, but her fans are desperate to rewrite the narrative in all the ways you said. And they called her weak for being a chicken shit heel in the beginning, now they want Raquel just to keep the belt on Liv? They complain that Rhea is reacting to her partner of 2 years cheating on her, betraying her and humiliating her, saying Rhea is too focused on a man... when they worship LivDom, beg for more kissing and ignore the fact that every promo and action Liv has been in for the past few months has shown she's just as focused on Dom. Despite the obvious issues with creative you mentioned, I also think Liv's fans inadvertently fuel the fire of the "Liv not being credible" opinions because they're not accepting her character for what it is, and what I believe she is doing an incredible job with. I've had to stop going on Twitter because the stans on there are so black and white and biased in their approach to analysing the story and the targeted attacks on both women, especially Rhea from what I've seen over the past few days, feel so deeply rooted in misogyny. I hope Bad Blood signifies a bit of a break and refresh in the storyline so the stans calm down. I hope we get more depth in the future, but I will say, you have helped me reset and focus on the parts of this feud I love with your analysis/rant, thank you for that and I'm sorry I ranted in return!

Hey! So this was so sweet. Usually when I talk about this storyline on here or even on Twitter and I say something the majority of people disagree with I usually get spammed with hate messages and the likes. So I just stopped talking about it. I think what a lot of people are doing wrong with the storyline is going into it looking for reasons to justify their favs and essentially watching it with Stan brain. There are no heroes in this story, we're way past that. There is room for redemption though, which is the path that Rhea is on. I'm not saying anything on the LivDom fans, I've had it when it comes to attempting to talk to them. Just came to the realization that most of them are delusional and called it a day. Rhea and Liv are doing amazing with what they're being handed even if I do find it's a little beneath them at times. They're making it work, it can't be all perfect. I agree with that Raquel take though. I just don't want Liv's reign credibility to be hurt even more than it is but knowing the bookers, I've given up. As for the abuse the women in this story are taking I agree, the IWC has gotten ridiculous and it's more focused on Rhea than its been Liv. I'm not saying that Liv isn't battling it too but the vile shit that is coming out of some of these accounts has been mostly towards Rhea and it's been absolutely insane to see and I hate that for both parties involved. From slut shaming on both sides to misogyny, to bullying to just hatred. It's disgusting. Rhea can't seem to do anything right when it comes to reacting to Dom's betrayal in the IWC or Liv/Dom, Liv Stans eyes. She moves on they say she never cared, she reacts to him cause she's hurt, she's obsessed, she needs to move on and she still loves him. I'm over that situation in its entirety. As for the stans calming down, don't hold your breath. I have a foreboding premonition that it's probably going to get worse after Saturday and I'm exhausted about it already. Glad that we could've yapped/ranted together though, it was refreshing as hell for a change. 😂🩵

[rantingcrocodile]

Hello, it's the online man anon again. I read your answer and I can't thank you enough, I spent the entire day just sorta shell shocked but let your advice really sink in this time. Now I am just disgusted by him completely and I'm glad he's out of my life for good. To answer your question about why I would care so much about a man's opinion about my desirability... It's really because I've spent a lot of time in prior relationships where I got cheated on and abused, and would have people tell me that I'm not conventionally attractive. There's nothing wrong with how I look, and I take good care of myself via healthy eating, working out, sunscreen daily, etc. But I'm also a WOC and you know how that goes. :( I guess I just wanted to finally catch a break in the love department. I wanted someone to finally be crazy about me for once in my life. When I really stop to think about it, I'm shocked that I can safely say that I have never had anyone actually be in love with me before. Lust, sure, and maybe people had crushes on me... but that's not the same as actually loving me and deeply caring for me. I've never once experienced that. It's hard because I went heavy in radical feminism around the time I've met him, so I don't understand why I could not see his manipulation after all the books I've been reading about feminism and male violence/manipulation. But I think it all comes down to my own low self worth. I've spent many years with a violent narcistic man and I think the guy I was previously in love with also has narc tendencies. (He was super arrogant and seemed to not give a shit about anyone else but himself.) And to tie this up nicely, I think a huge reason why I keep getting hurt like this is because of also how I'm still apprehensive about completely accepting my bisexuality as a woman. I still feel disgusting and predatory and scary when I am around straight women, and I would feel like I should also apologize for my privileges around lesbians and feel ashamed of myself. It's sad but it's almost like only a man could accept my disgustingness because at least he could fetishize my attractions, know what I mean? Do you think bi women are huge targets for narc and sociopathic men? :/ How do we fight against this problem as a community? Again, thank you so so much, bless you, and hope you have a great weekend. x

I just hope that looking at this from another perspective can be of some use to you!

The most important thing to remember is that being any kind of radical feminist and knowing all of the truths about the world is not any kind of protection from abusers. You're still trying to tell yourself that this was your fault for not knowing somehow, but that isn't what happened at all. You could be the greatest expert into abuse and manipulation on the planet and still be abused and manipulated. People like that, men especially, will find some weakness and exploit it.

The most unfortunate thing is that if you've been abused before, then you're more likely to be abused again. Abusers are attracted to that kind of vulnerability. Manipulators latch on to it immediately, because they can start out being as near to "perfect" as they can to reel you in, and then the abuse starts. Because you've been a victim before and don't want to believe you've fallen into that trap, then it can be a vicious circle that is not your fault. Those abusers are always to blame, and you are never to blame.

It's not a surprise that you'll feel insecure about your body when you've had abusers deliberately target your looks like that. They do it on purpose, even to the most conventionally attractive, following-patriarchal-beauty-standards women, all to make women feel "lesser," and to believe that they're "lucky" to have the abuser give them even the tiniest scrap of attention. Plus, whether we know about radical feminism or not, we all experienced female socialisation and we all have internalised misogyny to try and work through, which is a life-long process, not simply the reading of books, you know?

It also doesn't help that bisexual women tend to have lower self-esteem, and bisexual WOC find the intersection of misogyny and biphobia even harder to bear thanks to the additional intersection of race. Those mixed oppressions are going to make things more difficult, especially when you're struggling with your bisexuality and have been taught that you're "evil" in some way purely because of your bisexuality. Bisexuals, after all, are treated as predatory and "bad" from all sides, both from heterosexual oppressors and from intracommunity bigotry that denies our oppression.

You are not "predatory" towards straight women, or anyone at all. You're only predatory if you target and want to abuse someone else. You're never "predatory" for simply existing.

One thing that you also need to let go of is the belief that you have "privileges" over lesbians, because you just don't. That's a lie. Both bisexuals and lesbians are equally oppressed, our oppressions simply look different. The uncomfortable truth is that the lesbians who deny that we're oppressed are biphobic and cannot stand the idea that they have to "share" being oppressed in public. That's all it comes down to. They've internalised the belief that it's their same-sex attraction that's the only thing that can be oppressed by heterosexuals, when the truth is that we're all oppressed for not being straight. If we were only oppressed for our same-sex attraction, then bisexual women would show that we're half-way between lesbians and straight women in studies about oppression, but in a fair few instances, we fare worse than lesbians.

Not recognising that you are as equally important is part of the reason that you feel "ashamed of yourself." That shame fuels your vulnerability, because there's a part of you that thinks that you "deserve" bad things happening to you for being bisexual. Once you accept that you're bisexual and you don't deserve bad things, that you do deserve equal care and support, then you stop hating yourself and you start feeling angry. That anger is the key to getting your power back. I know that sounds trite, but that's what happened with me and it's what's happened with other bisexual women.

How do we fight this as a community? We have to build a community. We have to create a branch of feminism for ourselves to build ourselves up. We have to bring bisexual women together to talk about our experiences and support each other. We have to work together to work on our boundaries and teach each other to demand better for ourselves. Then, we can stand up to biphobes and we can start making a real change. We have the numbers to stand up and make a difference, but only if we do it together. It's going to take time and it's going to take a lot of healing.

Whether that happens now, in a year, five years, a decade, longer, I don't know, but it is going to happen. It's inevitable.

Until then, I really hope that you consider joining the bisexual server to spend time with other bisexuals and be part of a safe community. The first step to anything is knowing that you're not alone and that there are bisexual women who have been exactly where you've been.

[poormeowmeowcollector]

First Kiss, But Not On The Lips

Pair: Tony/ace!Loki (platonic)

Warnings: mentions of insomnia, nightmares, panic attack, isolation and alcohol.

Notes: Basically, the idiots in love trope is my favourite. Tony is a bi mess, Loki doesn't care about a thing (or cares about too many things), Thor is a himbo and Steve is trying. Also, yes, Loki has the ace ring (and a pride flag in his room) and he legally cannot sit like a normal person. And Steve lost the bet because he didn't expect Tony to find out about his crush on Loki within a month.

Read on AO3

"You know what, I get it. We all deserve second chances and blah blah blah, but can't Loki redeem his name on another solar system? What about Jötunnheim? He did a genocide there too!" Tony argues. At least he moves past the redeem part.

"I told you they would not accept me," Loki sighs at Thor, trying to appear stoic. But Tony sees the disappointment in him. Because he knows how to spot it in the mirror.

"Fine, he can stay for a month as a testing period. But if he causes trouble, he's gone," Steve decides. He loves speaking out the decisions even though no one will disagree.

And Thor smiles widely and hugs his brother. But Tony can still see the disappointment in Loki.

~~~

Sleeping is hard while knowing he's in the same building. Tony expected it, but it's still annoying.

"You know he was a victim too, why are you so afraid?" He asks himself but no answer is given.

He knows he won't be able to sleep, and there is a broken suit waiting for him in the lab.

Well, if he's about to pull an all nighter, he better be productive.

~~~

Tony had gotten his all nighter on a schedule. He would wait until Steve is asleep, go to the lab, and return to his bed only one hour before Steve wakes up. Of course and they all noticed his dark circles and moodiness, but he would blame nightmares and get away with it. Not that he was lying.

And, apparently, Tony is not the only one with sleeping issues.

Thor was claiming that Gods don't need sleep or nutrition. But Thor is also a sleeper and eats every time like it's his last time. But Loki doesn't. He barely touches whatever food is placed in front of him or drinks a little water and he looks more sleep deprived than Tony. But no one has the guts to say to a thousand years old powerful cranky god to go sleep or to eat, not even Thor.

And he doesn't talk. It's been days since his voice was heard. Thor doesn't like it, but the few times he mentioned it or tried to get Loki to speak or take part in a talk, he only got a glare. And Tony still doesn't know how Thor still makes Loki even get out of his room.

~~~

Once again, Tony is working on a new suit, during his favourite inhuman hours. Because two things come out at 3am, the devil and Tony Stark.

But the first dude is not helping Tony with the non functioning leg that's driving him insane.

"It's not going to work," Someone comments from the lab's door. Who the hell is up that late?

"Excuse me?" Tony turns around, only to face Loki leaning against the door frame.

"Remaking the joint to resemble a human's is not going to work. You need less strength and more flexibility, probably even another material," Loki explains, staring at Tony. He makes a small nod. Loki then straightens himself and walks closer.

"You know about mechanical engineering?" Tony asks.

"Science, magic, it's all the same on Asgard… and I happen to be the Master of Magic, and therefore…" He trails off, something sad blooming in his eyes. Homesickness, Tony recognises with ease.

"Alright, so, how do you think we'll make it work?" Tony asks, a grin on his face. But instead of answering, Loki just lifts his sleeves and grabs a wrench.

Tony watches as Loki plays with the machine—he looks more like he plays than like he's repairing something—and uses his magic to change the elements on the materials, green glows appearing and disappearing. And, after the five minutes it took him, the leg is perfect.

"Wow…" Tony whistles. Loki grins and sits on the working table, spinning the wrench on his fingers.

"It will probably last for a millennium or two," He shrugs, like it's something easy. And Tony is more impressed.

And they go on with the suit, finishing it before it's time for Tony to go and pretend he's sleeping. And Tony would use this time.

"Well, I didn't know you're good at engineering," Tony trails off. Loki shrugs in response, again sitting on the table with his legs in lotus position.

"You never asked,"

"Yeah, sorry about that. You are just too…" He suddenly can't find the word.

"Cold?" Loki asks, raising his eyebrows at Tony.

"Reserved is how I would phrase it, actually," Tony responds, making Loki hum.

"You know what, nevermind. I'm asking now. What do you like? What don't you like? Just rumble about things," He decides, big brown eyes staring at Loki. And he responds with another shrug.

"I don't know… it is quite late, so I'll probably head to my bed. Good morning, Stark," He jumps up and leaves, before Tony can even think of stopping him.

Right, he's just waiting for people to ask…

"So… Do you remember the rumble offer? Cause it still stands," Tony eyes Loki. And Loki responds with a smile.

~~~

The next morning, Loki didn't appear. Thor explained that he crashed on the bed. And it must be the hell of a sleep because he got out of his room three days after. Again, while Tony was working on a suit.

"Hey, wanna help?" Tony yells at Loki as he walks outside of the lab. And Loki nods a yes and gets to work.

"Still not sleeping, Stark?" He asks, his smart eyes pinned on the helmet of the suit.

"No rest for the wicked," Tony smiles. Looks like he's more talkative now that he's fresh.

"Tell me about it…" He sighs. Then, he grunts a bit, probably gotten hit by some remaining electricity.

Tony hadn't noticed before how pretty Loki's smile is.

And Loki takes the opportunity and starts to talk. Tony learns a lot about Loki during the Great Rumble. Dandelions are his favourite flowers, thanks to the Æsir library he became an encyclopaedia of random fun facts (even took it far enough to share some), he's a cat person, he loves classical music or music without lyrics, and then he starts sharing some stories of him and Thor as kids.

But Tony notices other things too. He noticed that Loki's eyes seem to glow when he talks about things that make him happy, he moves his hands around, he has this cute little smile that makes his face shine. And when he talks fast, his Nordic accent slips out—just some trilled 'r's or some harder sounds—and he also has a stutter that slips out. And Tony finds all of those so beautiful, but he can't say it.

"Your turn," Loki says. And Tony freezes.

Because his mind is nothing but simping for Loki, right now.

"I… em… Ya know, I…" He mutters, trying to think of something. But, Goddamnit, those shining green eyes pinning on him and waiting are so distracting.

"I'm actually bisexual, but more attracted to women than men," He snaps, finally finding something. But what if Asgard is not so accepting? Earth is having issues with those things and those guys live in the middle ages.

"Oh, nice," Loki shrugs after noticing Tony's brief pause. And it's enough to relax Tony.

"And… Dammit, this is so hard… I like cheeseburgers?" He squirts. "I don't know, can't think of something right now… when something pops up, I'll let you know," He gives up and rubs his nose bridge.

"No worries, you're hot anyways,"

Loki grins after seeing how red Tony's face became. And Tony clears his throat in hope of containing himself somehow.

"Alrighty… How's the helmet going? Tony moves the subject away. He sees Loki short-circuiting for a long moment, before remembering what they are doing here and grabbing back the helmet.

"It won't let me fix it… whenever I try to do something to the source of the issue, I get striked," He answers.

"Have you tried plastic gloves?" Tony asks, not even looking up from the hand he's oiling.

"For the helmet?" Loki asks, his eyebrows furrowed at Tony.

"For your hands, you idiot!" Tony screams, his head snapping heavenwards. Why did he agree on this?

"Fine, fine… Norns, dauðlegir eru svo stuttir í skapi... —Norns, Mortals are so short tempered…" Loki mutters under his breath.

"You know JARVIS can translate from Old Norse to English, right?" Tony snaps.

Loki shrugs and leaps into the working table and walks across it with three big steps, jumping back down with grace and opening shelves to find the gloves.

"They won't fit," He yells at Tony.

"Whatcha mean they won't fit?" Tony yells back.

Loki jumps on the table again and ends right behind Tony.

"I mean, they won't fit. They're too small," He answers to Tony's ear. Tony has learned how much Loki loved climbing on furniture, so he just turns around instead of jumping around and cussing at the God.

"Come on… how big are your hands?" He asks. Loki grabs Tony's hand and places his palm against his own. Tony's fingers were beginning on Loki's second joints, his fingers long and thin. And Tony licks his lips, because he knows what big hands mean…

Stop being horny over deities, you idiot! It didn't end well with Jesus and it won't end well with this one too! The, usually silent, voice of reason reminds him.

"Maybe you can magic them into fitting…" He suggests. Loki nods and stretches the left glove with his right hand, a green light making it bigger as he slides his hand inside.

"Thank you, Stark…" He smiles and climbs back on the table, eyes pinned on the helmet as he's playing with the screwdriver. It's been two weeks since he came here, and he still uses only last names. But when Clint called him Odinson, Thor, Steve and the Hulk had to physically hold Loki from snapping the archer's neck. And no one dares to call him Laufeyson or even think about it.

"Hey," Tony snaps. Loki flinches at the sudden noise but composes himself right after. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya," Tony apologizes.

"It's fine… What do you want to ask?" Loki shrugs one shoulder, placing the helmet on his right and the screwdriver on his left.

"Why do you call everyone by their last name but don't want to be addressed as so?" He asks.

"I'm not anyone's friend, and first names feel too familiar for such a situation. And, I won't stay for a long time…" He answers, the livid glow in his eyes fading just so.

"And, your last name?"

"I don't have one…" He whispers, with what Tony recognises as shame in his voice. Tony frowns and walks closer, staying outside of Loki's personal space.

"But you're Thor's brother and he's an Odinson," He studied his words before speaking. The last thing he wants is to trigger Loki, even as an accident.

"On Asgard and Jötenheim, last names work differently. You choose the name of the parent who you are closest to and then add the -son, -dottir or -barn. But Odin and Laufey were not close at all, and Frigga could help but she chose to keep me at arm's reach. So, no last name…" Tony can see how Loki was trying hard not to show emotions, but he is so close to breaking.

"You know, with this logic, only Thor has a last name. Don't tell Steve, but Howard was a first class terrible father. Steve's dad abandoned him and his mother, after beating the poor woman. Clint's parents made him run away and go to the circus. Natasha was given her name in the Red Room, she doesn't know who her parents are. And Bruce's was violent too. The only people with decent parents are Thor and JARVIS." Tony should move the topic away, but he didn't. At least he tries to patch it up on the last bit.

"And Dum-E," Loki adds, with a barely visible smile. A fake one. Tony hears the robot's joints moving as he lifts his upper part.

"And Dum-E," Tony agrees with a smile, and the robot makes a few happy noises. Loki laughs.

"You know, he says he loves you," He turns to Tony.

"If that's so, he earned some nice oil," Tony grabs the oil and applies some to Dum-E's joint. It doesn't stop making those mechanic noises and when Tony is over, Loki's smiling at him from the table.

"He still says he loves me, right?" Tony asks. Loki makes a slight nod, not abandoning his small smile.

"And that you are the best dad," He adds. Tony laughs and pets Dum-E before heading back to the table. But he still won't get too close to Loki, he is very strict with his personal space.

Loki grabs back the helmet and starts poking it around with the tool, now ignoring Tony.

"So, you don't feel like talking, huh?" Tony asks.

"If you mean the topic you want to talk about, then no," Loki snaps, not raising his eyes. Tony nods, he knows better than invading Loki's personal space.

And Loki didn't open his mouth for the rest of the night. The next morning, he would pretend nothing happened, but Tony would see how something changed in him. How his eyes darkened and his face became colder.

~~~

The next night, Loki is even more grumpy. So, Tony avoids speaking, or making anything that has even the slightest chance to irritate him.

"You're scared of me…" Loki finally speaks, his voice soft like a whisper and his fingers playing with the black ring on his ring finger. Tony looks up from the metal glove he's making to stare at Loki.

"Should I be scared?" Tony asks, careful not to say the wrong words.

"You are too picky about what you do around me. Why not do that if not because you are scared?" He answers. And this is where Tony lets himself frown and talks without thinking.

"Maybe because I don't want to make you feel bad?" He lets his words come out without filters. And Loki raises his eyebrow at it.

"Well, you don't lie about it. But why are you so dedicated to this?" He narrows his eyes and crosses his hands, body leaning towards Tony.

And now, he can't answer. Why does he care so much? It's not that they're old friends like with Rhodey or ex-s but still friends like with Pepper. They're not even teammates. Loki said it himself, he will leave after the one month Steve gave him.

So, why does Tony care so much?

"Hmm, nice answer…" Loki snarls and looks away, playing again with the other hand of the suit.

"You're a cold son of a whore, you know that?" Tony spits, his eyes stabbing Loki. He now raises his glare again, but he looks more confused than before.

"I beg your pardon?" He blinks.

"I try to be decent towards you, okay? The reasons behind it don't matter. Could be fear, guilt, interest, it means jack. And you question me on how I dare be decent towards you and why and what I want from you! You know what, I have a question for you. Why can't you accept being treated as a normal person? Are you that messed up in the brain or you just love so much being alone and miserable?" Tony lets his thoughts come out as they are, not giving a care how much they will hurt Loki. But the moment he sees Loki's reaction, he regrets it.

The room gets cold enough for Tony to see his breathing. Loki leaves the tools and the metal hand beside him and locks his feet on a tight fatal position, his hands on his face and pulling some hair with enough strength to pull them out and his shoulders rising and falling too fast.

And Tony knows what this means… It means he messed up badly.

"Crap! Hey, buddy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean those things…" He sprints closer. Loki raises his hand towards him, a green glow erupting from it and sending Tony flying to the other side of the lab.

Loki mutters something to this in Old Norse, before jumping up and leaving, his feet shaking as he was trying to walk towards the exit. But he manages to vanish in the dark corridor anyways.

And this time, Tony definitely messed up the worst way possible.

~~~

For the next two weeks, Loki doesn't get out of his room. And it only makes the knot in Tony's stomach grow tighter. He asks Thor all the time how Loki is, if he eats, if he sleeps, if he needs something. It's a wonder Thor hasn't grown tired of the constant questioning. And the answer is always the same, "I don't know, he won't let me in,".

And if everyone on the tower has learned something about Loki, is that things are bad when he keeps Thor at arm's length.

Tony wants to go and check on Loki himself, but he bets his right hand that Loki will spit curses at him, and he has every right to do so. So, he has to settle down on annoying Thor and worrying with him.

"You know what? It's my fault," Tony admits to Thor the night before Loki leaves. And Thor furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

Tony explains everything that happened that night, and Thor smiles with sympathy and touches Tony's neck.

"You were right on your words, that's why Loki reacted like this. He doesn't want people to know too much about him… But he won't be mad at you." He answers.

"But, why do I care so much? We barely know each other…" Tony asks.

"Have you thought of love?" Thor suggest. Tony is about to smack Thor for saying something like this, but it makes sense.

"Do… you don't happen to know if he's queer, right?" Tony makes the big question.

"I know very few Æsir who are not your definition of queer, but Loki was never open about those things. You better ask him…" He shrugs.

Well, Thor has a point. But Tony can't exactly ask Loki what his sexuality is while he's like this. So, he better wait till it's time.

"Thank you, Point Break…" Tony pats Thor's back. And then, JARVIS yells at them that Steve wants everyone in the central room.

And there is everyone here, even Loki. Well, an emotionally drained and mentally exhausted Loki, but he's there.

"As you know, your month has passed…" Steve begins talking, his Captain Voice on. Loki nods and lowers his shoulders to appear smaller.

"I'll be on my way, then…" He mutters, voice low and breaking. Steve wants to smile, but Loki's reaction stops him.

"So, you don't want to be an Avenger?" He lets his Captain mask fall, eyeing Loki with worry. And every single one of the Avengers is now doing the same. Tony hadn't realised that this antisocial emo little God had become so popular.

Loki lets his lips make a smile so big Tony bets it hurts like hell.

"You mean I can stay?" He asks, his voice now louder and livid.

"Can't see a reason to kick you out," Steve smiles too.

And Loki drags him to a hug tight enough to break the poor soldier in half, smiling like a sunbeam and rumbling thank you again and again.

"Alright, can you let me breathe?" Steve wheezes. Loki makes a small oh sound and lets go of the hug.

"Sorry, Steve," He hums, not breaking eye contact.

"Steve? Where's the "Rogers"?" Clint asks, his eyebrows raised and his hands signing along even though he wears his hearing aids.

"Well, since I'm about to stay, there's no point in calling you with your last names, is there?" Loki shrugs.

"Alright, you know what we need? A party. Who's with me?" Tony claps his hands and yells, glad to see everyone agreeing.

~~~

Apparently, being an alien God makes you hold your liquor a lot. Tony knew about Steve, but he didn't expect those two to have this stamina as well.

But Thor has started losing his balance and yelling at everyone how much he loves them in Old Norse and Loki's accent and stutter are showing, but he is just sitting on the bar and watching over the chaos.

This is your chance. He's happy and drunk enough, what could possibly go wrong? Tony thinks and stumbles towards Loki before he sits on a tall stool.

"So, are you having fun?" He asks, smiling at Loki and sipping on his scotch. It's fine, he's done this countless times before and he can do it now.

"It's quite nice, yes…" Loki hums, now turning to face Tony.

"And, em… Sorry about the other night… It was too much, should have been midler on ya," Tony mumbles, trying not to lower his eyes and break eye contact. Loki makes a soft nod.

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize… And you were quite right about some things…" He gives Tony a small smile as he talks, making him relax his shoulders a bit a mouth a thank you.

"And I wanna tell you something… I also talked to Thor about it… And I think… No, I'm pretty sure I have a crush on you. And, that's why the care and stuff…" Tony rumbles, his eyes big as he searches for reaction. But Loki stays untouched.

"I am… flattered… But I'm also asexual," He breathes out, staring back at Tony for a reaction.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't want to make it uncomfortable…" Tony rushes to apologize. Couldn't he see the black wedding ring? It's a symbol of asexuality!

"You know, things can work out platonically. I mean, you do start to grow on me…" Loki responds, smiling just a bit.

"Really? I mean, you don't mind?" Tony grins at the response, his eyes big at the God. Loki shrugs.

"Yeah, If you are okay with not getting laid with me…"

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Tony gives Loki an ear to ear smile and grabs his right hand, kissing gently the black ring.

Loki's cheeks and ears get bright red and he bites his lower lip. Tony is quick to let go of his hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable…" He chunters, now lowering his glare and playing with his glass.

"It was… nice…" Loki whispers, most likely to himself. But Tony still snaps his head up.

"Seriously?"

"Yes… And…" The red blush appears back in his cheeks as he fidgets with his sleeves. "It was the first time someone kissed me…"

"No way!" Tony exhales.

"I know, embarrassing…" Loki bites his lip again, breaking eye contact.

"I'm actually honoured. Not a lot of humans had the chance to steal the first kiss of a God, you know," Tony grins, hoping the joke is not that bad.

Loki reacts with a snorting sound and a light punch on the ribs, that sends Tony straight to the floor and makes the glass scatter in pieces.

"Oh, dear, are you alright?!" Loki squirts at Tony.

"I think I need a safeword…" Tony grunts.

He is sure that Loki will grimace on the joke, but instead, he giggles like a highschool girl.

"Most definitely yeah," He sighs, handing over an identical glass with the one they broke.

From the back of the room, no one sees Thor laughing as Steve sighs at the view of Loki and Tony and handing over the twenty dollars of the bet.

[maeve-of-winter]

Can you please stop acting like you care about Midge? Honestly she was a swet girl who didn't deserve to die or anything bad yeah but the truth is that she was a tertiary character at most who had like no development at all and no reason for people to actually care whether her boyfriend hoops up with someone or not after her death... If you think it's bad writing and prefers Joaquin with Kevin that's fair, but just say that instead of pushing this "Wow they're doing Midge dirty" narrative.

Anon, you do realize that some of us care about misogyny and how female characters are treated, right? I mean, I realize that Kevin/Moose shippers don’t since Midge being killed means you get your ship of choice with the icky woman out of the way for good, but there are people out there who are concerned with how the female characters in Riverdale are represented.

Here’s the thing: until Midge died, I actually did ship Kevin/Moose (seriously, if you scroll back far enough in the “Kevoose” tag, you’ll see my posts), along with a whole bunch of other Kevin ships. It was not until she died and the show began using her death in a very specific, ugly way to motivate male characters that I turned again Kevin/Moose. I ship Joavin now by default. 

What happened to Midge is a classic example of “women in refrigerators” AKA “fridging.” Fridging is when a female character is killed off, raped, or otherwise injured to provide motivation to a male character, because while women’s suffering is supposed to be tragic, it’s also not intended by these writers to be their own. It’s meant to about how it affects and wounds the men, because women themselves often aren’t viewed as important enough to have storylines of their own, or to even have agency. And it is very, very rarely reversed with men being hurt to motivate women.

My deepest annoyance with Midge’s death is that it is not her own. I understand that she needed to be one of the Black Hood’s victims to drive the plot, but I’m still annoyed that she got used as a shock death. But if her death had people focusing on who she was and how much they will miss her, then fine. Instead, we just get a bunch of people and the show unironically using Midge as a motivating tool. Cheryl seems like she could care less about Midge herself being dead and more that a Vixen is dead, and inexplicably throws in with the Lodges, people whom she previously protested against and people her girlfriend is against for trying to take her home from her. To Reggie and Moose, Midge’s death drive their vendetta against the Southside and then ignite further conflict between the Northside and the Southside. To Fangs and, indirectly, Jughead, Midge’s death is a reason for them to angst, but not because she died and they’ll miss her, but because of the way her death is shaping up to affect them.

It’s not uncommon that a woman’s death is treated as motivation for the characters of a story, but it’s still a lazy, tired trope to use. Especially with how Reggie instantly charges out to fight the Southsiders when he realizes Midge was dating one of them in a scene filled with “How dare you touch one of our women!” vibes, even though they’d only been showing interacting once onscreen before. This is one dude who has no reason to feel motivated by this woman’s death, since he was barely shown to know her. And yet, somehow he’s driven to attempt to murder Fangs because he’s so upset at the idea of Midge’s death? It makes no sense whatsoever and can only be a classic case of “woman dies to motivate man.” (Yes, I know Reggie was in love with Midge in the comics, but the show is not the comics, and if Reggie was in love with Midge, they needed to establish that in the show.)

Also, another aspect I’m annoyed with is how they retconned Midge into cheating on Moose with Fangs. I honestly do believe they did this to make it more acceptable that Moose was cheating on her so that the audience will ignore that he was kind of an ass to her when she was alive and simply feel sorry for the guy with the dead girlfriend. I also think they’re going to try to use it to make it okay for him to date Kevin so soon after Midge died, but it doesn’t take away from how badly Moose has treated Kevin in the past. People can headcanon all they want about Moose and Midge having an open relationship, but from what we saw, Moose lied about Midge knowing about him and Kevin and tried to trick Kevin into thinking it would be okay if they started up another fling together, and Kevin was upset about it.

As a final note, I really do feel like the show did do Midge dirty. In a season where most of our main characters were continually acting like assholes or being astoundingly self-absorbed but the show didn’t realize how bad they were, Midge’s genuine kindness toward Kevin felt wonderfully refreshing. At last, we were onscreen with someone who cared about someone other than themselves! And then she was brutally murdered. I can’t help but think that’s something of a metaphor for Riverdale’s second season: people who act like assholes and do asshole things are rewarded for them and the show doesn’t realize that they are assholes, while characters who do seem genuinely nice are slaughtered offscreen. If only Midge had become a teen mobster and decided to unite with Archie and Veronica in making people homeless--I’m sure the show would have spared her then.

And before you response with “Well, perfect characters are boring! Characters should be allowed to make mistakes!” 1) There is a huge difference between the characters being completely unflawed and constantly being an asshole with no sign of development, and 2) there is a huge difference between a story that realizes its characters are assholes and a story that doesn’t. Riverdale doesn’t. It wants us to accept that the main characters are good and it wants us to root for them simply because these are our main characters. It continually shows our main characters (especially Archie and Veronica) being horrible people, but it does not ever acknowledge when they’re being horrible, or they portray it as understandable or inconsequential.

I can accept a story that’s about flawed characters struggling with what’s right or making bad choices as long as the narrative understands that they are flawed. What I resent is when I’m asked to accept characters as good people when they do bad things over and over and over, with no sign of stopping, no sign of regret, and no sign of development. And that is what Riverdale has been asking me to do this season with various characters. Midge was a character they didn’t do that with--she was just nice, plain and simple. So yeah, I’m going to be upset when one of the few likable characters this season dies. Especially when her death is used to try to make us feel sorry for her jackass boyfriend who cheated on her when she was alive, tried to manipulate a lonely gay kid he knew was interested in him into unknowingly cheating with him, and whose response to her death was to go out and target poor people.

[22degreehalo]

Honestly, this is really interesting because in a lot of ways I've gotten the same result but from almost inverted parameters, right down to being aroace rather than bi (but I still largely relate better to sexuality, and bisexuality, rather than gender or being gay).

For me, I like the 'overly polite, tasteful, un-horny, neat-and-tidy' characters. (Well, not the tasteful part.) That's just who I am as a an aroace, neurodivergent person (though, again, not at ALL the tasteful part. Also not so neat normally as well.) And honestly, I'm actually super fucking over the seeming universalness of these constantly mean and snarky characters and bickering dynamics where everyone is trying hard all the time to be the most wittily mean and never admit to actually caring about a thing. I hate it.

But. Here's the thing. Since I was little, I've always known that I am just not a Feminist woman. Female characters like me are Bad Female Representation. Honestly? The ones I relate to best, that feel the most like someone I am or could be, come from anime. Yknow, those cliched moe girls who are cutesily quirky and fail at ordinary things but are just so darned nice and earnest! As someone with ADHD, that is honestly kind of how I am. But that's deeply unfeminist, so it makes me feel very guilty.

The only Correct way to write women is to make them the opposite of that. Hyper competent, snarky, rude, and Not Interested In Being Nice. The only acceptable character development is to take an insecure sweet girl and make her Not Take Anyone's Shit and have her realise she's actually flawlessly amazing at things and it's only other people who are the problem. And I can't relate to a single word of that.

Men, though? You know all those stories about the expectations of masculinity, the pressure to be perfect, the shame of expressing emotions, and the difficulty connecting to other people? Those things I can relate to. And when you pick those things apart, and let those men be vulnerable and like silly girly things without shame and be kind and choose something other than violence, that's feminist.

When women are the focus, the Woke thing is to judge who is the victim and who has it too easy and deserves punishment and scorn. When men are the focus, the Woke thing is to try to carefully untangle responsibility from trauma and find a path to making the world better through understanding and kindness and the recognition that we're all flawed and just have to keep trying. At least, in my experience.

Not to mention that female-foused works tend to lean VERY heavily into """"the sisterhood"""" which uhhhhhhH as a ND aroace I sure have never gotten to experience myself. And the fetishising of f+f relationships as inherently flawless and full of perfect understanding just makes me feel super uncomfortable and bad. Which, yknow, is also why 'women who are tired of being mistreated and making it everyone else's problem' isn't empowering for me. My experience is of being on the other side of that. Of being the one that hurt lesbians and bi women "punched up" at. I don't want to remember that and I do not want to do it to anyone else.

To make it clear, I don't actually want 'Perfect Stories Where Everyone Is Unproblematic And Nothing Bad Ever Happens.' (I mean, not all the time? Sometimes stories like that do make me happy, though! And I think that's okay!) I like tragedy. I like deeply flawed humans. I like all kinds of dark and twisted topics that make me deeply scared of antis. But what I'm most interested in are stories about people who care about being good, even if they're very awful at doing that, and works which scrutinise morality as a complex and interesting topic. But female-focused works are very rarely interested in that. Usually, morality is treated as very simple: if a woman wants to be nice, she's a saint (in a way inextricably connected to womanhood, and yep I'm uncomfortable again), and otherwise, she's a 'loveable asshole' (a character type I, in all honesty, outright dislike at this point, and yes I know how strange and boring that makes me sound. Sorry).

Also f/f shippers are often Actual Lesbians soooo me as an aroace who doesn't feel much connection to womenhood is deeply intimidated by them because I honestly think they're better than me and I still get worried deep down that I'm ~invading lesbian communities~ by being there. Whereas in m/m there's a wider variety of people and I can actually make myself believe that if someone does something to hurt me it might actually possibly be that they did something bad and not that me feeling bad actually just proves I'm a bad person, which is how I feel in f/f.

If there were more f/f stories about struggling with shame and learning to embrace kindness and sincerity as something that isn't always easy but is always worth trying, about how people who don't seem to be struggling often very much are, about the intense difficulty of knowing or being known by other people, then I would read them a lot more. But there just isn't - or at least, none which don't also fetishise womanhood in a way that triggers my deep discomfort.

A lot of us feel like that. It always surprises people, but it’s so common.