#just recently talked to a friend who is very into the whole '''community''' narrative and yeapp

[muppetminge]

i have some burning takes on why '''the community''' is so bullshit for lesbians especially looking at the bt axis but y'all ain't ready for that <3

[genderkoolaid]

Hello I am here pretty much just to complain about something small that i cant really say without sounding like a transmisogynist anywhere else, I hope that's alright

I was reading a post about how we're living through another red scare, lavender scare, and satanic panic all at once, and the post as a whole had very good points and I agreed with it a lot. OP got to a section about the current lavender scare and specified that she was talking about the recent wave of transphobia and said something about how everyone in the queer community was affected but it is very targeted at those who challenge gender norms, "especially trans women like [her]."

This genuinely isnt anything against OP of that post and I'm not trying to say that the legislation isnt heavily transmisogynistic. I'm not trying to minimize the transmisogyny coming from all sides. I just think it's a little unfair to minimize the way that transmascs are at least equally affected, and it hurts when other queer people seem to ignore that we're being hurt too.

One of my transmasc friends is being forcibly medically detransitioned because of this. Another was planning to go on T next year and now he cant. Some of them, including me, are worried they'll never be able to because of autism diagnoses. Rhetoric almost identical to the Irreversible Damage book is spreading rampantly everywhere we look. Transmascs are being hurt too. They want us gone just as much as transfemmes, but it seems like a lot of people are ignoring that.

I recently saw a post that had an addition by someone I know to be transandrophobic saying something similar ("trans people are facing genocide, mostly trans women").

I think its one part "people in general are ignorant to how transmascs are materially affected by transphobia" (see: The Archive of Violence Against Transmasculine People) and one part "there is a general narrative in trans spaces that trans women/amab trans people are The Most Oppressed* and trans men/afab trans people are only impacted by a few annoyances"

*this doesn't mean that trans women are always treated well in trans spaces. Honestly I don't think this narrative does much to improve things for trans women at all, all things considered

[idleorbitals]

okay actually I just want to talk about this scene:

ray has been feeling out his own feelings this whole episode (while sand sits beside him taking psychic damage off every "he's my friend" doled out) but here he's explicitly inviting sand in, in a way that we haven't really seen him do yet. yeah, it's a bummer of a moment for it, but it's actually some stellar emotional outreach, especially considering what this scene is following

obviously boston was way out of line on multiple levels, not least for implying that ray was somehow betraying sand by not having already confessed his feelings for mew. this is not information ray owes to sand at this point in whatever they got going on. but the cruelest thing boston has just done is place both of them in a narrative that they think they belong to: ray as broken, toxic, and unlovable; sand as secondary and disposable. they will both believe these things about themselves given any prodding, and boston (along with ray, through no fault beyond his own reactivity) has just given them a hell of a prod.

still ray manages here—with frankly stunning composure and vulnerability—to offer sand an in on the mess. and it's a real offer. after he says don't listen to Boston; if there's something you want to know, ask me he stops and gives sand time to ask him, and then prompts okay? when sand doesn't respond, and then we get to watch his face fall in real time as he realizes that sand's deciding not to take him up on it

we end on a low note because sand doesn't trust ray enough to reach out in kind. this is certainly not unjustified, given the imbalance sand sees in their feelings for each other. and maybe it's wise, given what's we've seen in the previews. but it's a travesty for both of them in this moment. when sand turns away we can see on his face that he wants ray to reach out; we can hear the hope in his voice when ray touches him and says his name, and then the disappointment when all ray has to offer is a reminder that it's sand's terrible no good very bad birthday.

meanwhile ray, who has been given several recent boundaries lessons and has generally been good about sand's, takes sand's words and body language at face value and doesn't push further. instead he pulls his hand away again and turns this utterly crestfallen look at the ceiling as he slips back into his own story about himself

the communication mismatch has come for raysand and it won't be over anytime soon methinks

(all ofts watch throughs)

[educating-bimbos]

The Pinned Post 2

new pinned post because tumblr hid my old one from my view so I can't see, edit it, or reblog it to add an addendum. I only have a few things to add, so I am just going to copy and paste it.

Who is Educating Bimbos?

My name is Nicolette. I am a technical artist, musician, and an outdoorsy type of gal. I enjoy the finer things in life, and I fancy myself a traditional woman and a bimbo. I don't really enjoy mindlessly obsessing over labels, but if it helps people gauge where my brain is at, I am pro-patriarchy, in favor of traditional gender roles and dynamics, an ex-feminist, and before all else a believer in one's ability to exercise personal freedoms. My beliefs, mannerisms, and presentation attract the ire of feminists, born-again-religious types, and any number of anti-fun douchebags. At the end of the day, just remember that behind this silly blog is a silly person.

What is Educating Bimbos?

It is a blog and small community of bimbos looking to learn more about and express a traditional lifestyle. It is also about people who may not be familiar with or comfortable around things like BDSM get a nice and soft introduction to it without being exposed immediately to the idea of how people can enjoy things in a pseudo-sexual context. At the end of the day, it is a blog and community where I and other like-minded people can express silly ideas without the fear of being lambasted by people seeking to harm others.

Where is Educating Bimbos?

Educating Bimbos can be found in one of these two places.

Why is Educating Bimbos?

Well for a while I was annoyed by the lack of communities that focused on a kind of "hyper-feminine" aesthetic while also promoting more traditional ideas. There was also the issue of communities that have tried this before of devolving into bigoted and abusive communities that would do everything under the sun to create an insular and ToS breaking community. I spoke with a friend of mine who runs a similar community a while ago and she inspired me to give this a shot. Now - close to 3 years later - I have a steadily growing community that pulls from all corners of ideology, cultural, ethnic, and interest level and the discord has been almost completely drama-free in its whole existence.

When is Educating Bimbos?

I am alive and doing silly stuff all day, every day. Except when it is nap time in which case I will be in the realm of dreams.

What's an ex-lesbian and why do you call yourself that?

For a number of very personal reasons, I have decided to call myself an ex-lesbian. I did this of my own volition, and I was not pressured into doing so. For a long time, I had thought of myself as a lesbian, mostly because of socialization and how all the girls around me were so might as well follow suit. I experienced a number of harmful and traumatic events when I considered myself a lesbian and it effected how I view myself. After a while and talking to some friends who I trust dearly, I came to the realization that I am not a lesbian and that it really isn't a thing I identify with the same way others do. I am still trying to come to grips with that given I only relatively recently had that realization. I also feel that people use that term in bad faith to harm people and to push bad narratives and ideas so I thought "hey might as well try and take back what should be an innocuous phrase."

In short, I think an ex-lesbian is just a way of identifying one's sexuality similar to asexuality or demisexuality. It is not that I am one sexuality or another, it's that my sexuality is defined by my experience and coming of age.

I have had a number of people confront me about this, talk to me about it in sincere curiosity, and even attack me. I welcome anyone who is curious or has a genuine contention to come to me in DMs, I am not a mean person, and I will love to talk honestly and respectfully. I find that disagreement is not grounds to discredit or avoid befriending people, I hope you can do the same.

Further questions for Educating Bimbos?

If you find that these questions are unsatisfactory in any regard, or you wish to try your hand at doing what I do, follow these two links!

Ask me anything!

Ask me anything you want! I have some personal rules with regards to what I can and cannot upload, but this is generally the best way for me to answer any question you may have. I also have anonymous asks enabled just in case you are shy.

Submit a post!

If you think I should be made aware of something, post something, or if you just want to signal boost something try this. So far, I have no real rules or expectations so do whatever you want with this button.

[iwanthermidnightz]

To me, these articles responding to that opinion piece aren’t so much concerned with contributing to the conversation, but with jumping on a topic for clicks that has been blown out of proportion because it made some Swifties uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the actual subject the piece is about has been unbothered by it and taken a woman on her arm to the Golden Globes.

And before anyone tries to counter—yes. We all know why Travis wasn’t there. Yet she has other male friends and even Austin she could have taken with her. Or gone alone.

I think the real conversation should be why it’s ok to “obsess and speculate” over Taylor’s sexuality when it’s assumed to be heterosexual, but an issue to “obsess and speculate” over her sexuality when posited that she could be queer or that her lyrics have queer undertones (if that’s the right wording).

People speculated for SIX YEARS that she was married to Joe Alwyn and were very much recently speculating that Travis was proposing over Christmas. Someone on Deuxmoi speculated she had a miscarriage, which (in addition to the pushed marriage ceremony narrative) pissed Tree off and prompted a direct response. But hey, those are completely fine, because those are built around a heterosexual construct. (*sarcasm*)

Yet, when an article brings up queerness and Taylor Swift in the same sentence, based on words written a spoken and actions conducted by Taylor herself (who as we know, prides herself on writing her own lyrics), it’s suddenly “harmful speculation” or a “delusional obsession” by a group of people projecting their “fantasies” and sexualities on a woman who has said she is straight.

Yeah, all while placing herself smack dab in the middle of the (LGBT) community in YNTCD….when she could have been Ryan Reynolds in her own video.

But I digress.

I think what’s really harmful is when people like Misha Collins (for example) tweet at Taylor about the piece saying his DM’s are open if she wants to talk because “he’s been there” (when idk, she could just talk to Shawn Mendes, who her “associates” threw in traffic while voicing their dismay).

After all, a few years ago at an event, Misha himself said:

"By a show of force, how many of you would consider yourself introverts? How many extroverts? And how many bisexuals?" Then said “I’m all three”.

He later “apologized” calling it “clumsiness of his language”. Saying his intent “was to wave off actually discussing my sexuality”, but he “badly fumbled that” and understood that it was seen as him coming out as bisexual.

So….here we are. Bisexuality (in the queerness family tree and used among the words “extrovert” and “introvert”) is being posed as “clumsiness of language”.

It’s just interesting to me how people use “obsession” and “speculation” in context of sexuality.

I very much agree. Thank you for putting this into words.

The most concerning part (and this has been the case for years and years) is how comfortable people (usually straight) are with accusing queer people of a whole slew of problematic accusations rooted in their ignorance and unwillingness to understand queer experience, culture and history, and their obvious intent of trying to hurt and gaslight an already vulnerable community with the most malicious rhetoric. It tells me the views/experiences of the lgbtqia+ community are not valued. At least not as much as heteronormative standards.

Like the guardian article mentioned yesterday,

“the entertainment industry is perfectly fine with its biggest stars flirting with LGBTQ+ imagery. It’s fine with its biggest stars draping themselves in rainbow flags and making statements about allyship. Dare to suggest that those stars might actually be gay, though, and you’ll see quite a lot of old-fashioned homophobia coming out.”

Moral is, it’s clear society is ok with using queer culture when it’s beneficial, and at the same time using it as a scapegoat when they feel threatened by it.

It’s the double standards and hypocrisy for me. It’s exhausting.

[painfullymeta]

I wrote this in June of '22 on the tweeters

and I'm going to rescue it because of reasons. The fact it was originally on the tweeters is why the syntax is what it is.

Me and queerness, as inextricable from theology, autism, and occasionally having throw-down arguments with people online:

(Please keep in mind that neurodivergent folks are known for being fucking unable to manage a linear narrative. This isn’t tidy. Life isn’t tidy. Making life look tidy when it isn't is super weird.)

My first Pride, I thought I was straight and cis. (I knew I was acespec but had never encountered terms.)

I was doing a study abroad in London and was invited to Brighton Pride by some friends from alt.polyamory. [waves]

It was unspeakably beautiful. A bright sunny day in a park filled with people who were, at least in that moment, free and unafraid. I wanted to be like that.

I didn’t even know what I was afraid of and I wanted that.

So there’s me, sharing a picnic blanket with a glorious tangled heap of bisexuals, one trans guy who seemed even more shy than me, and the femmest straight guy I’ve ever met, awkward, unknowingly autistic, and basking in this sense of a community that I was not part of.

I saw someone commenting in a discussion thread recently that she’d (just checked pronouns) felt the most welcome at Pride when she thought she was straight, and remembering Brighton makes me wonder.

My second Pride, I still thought I was straight and cis. I was helping staff a local polyamory booth, with a water bottle with a splash of vinegar in it because I am bad at hydration, and it wasn’t magical like Brighton. I don’t know why. It was still good.

Sometimes things are only magical the first time, mind, or magical like that: once you know the Mystery it’s hard to capture the thrill of learning the Mystery. It could’ve been that.

Time passed. I had a lot of ace arguments on usenet, with various people in predictable roles. (“All human interaction is fundamentally erotic, if you don’t perceive that in others, you’re dehumanizing them!” “Have you tried casual sex to get over this problem of yours?”)

I did manage to get somewhere by the point that I could articulate that just because someone is attractive to look at doesn’t mean anything more than “They’d make a nice wall hanging.”

(Years later I learned “demi”, in the context of people mocking it as worthless claptrap.)

Eventually my arguing on the internet migrated to the fringes of the feminist blogosphere, where I learned a lot about TERFs, SWERFs, and KERFs, who made me very tired.

And got me seriously gnawing on questions of identity.

(Thing I didn’t - couldn’t - talk about when it was going around the tweeters, how fucking devastating the Tiller murder was when heavily pregnant with Oldest. Knowing what that man did to balm the wounds of people who were suffering unbelievable pain.)

(Still not really capable of talking about it. I blogged it at the time.)

(He was the one who cared enough to make sure they could have a funeral.)

(Fuck.)

Anyway.

There’s a lot of intensely eggy flailing in that blog, in between snarking at the various flavors of ERF. Processing the massive dysphoria of pregnancy. Wondering if issues with gender were distinct from other forms of ‘I can’t figure out how this social shit works’.

Those people were exhausting, so full of furious categorization. Women Are And Must Be Like This. The Mysteries Of Shared Girlhood. That lot didn’t go in for a lot of The Spiritual Experience Of Menstruation but gods know as a pagan I didn’t need a supplement.

When I talked shared girlhood experiences through the person I had the most in common with was a trans woman.

And I can't separate the sexual violence I’ve experienced from being targeted for being autistic.

(That was also a whole thing: “But that abuser might be a socially awkward autistic guy!” “… what about the socially awkward women?” “They shouldn’t be abusing people either har har har.”)

(Thanks. That’s a big help.)

(I’m just gonna sit here trying to take my social cues from people who are ignoring what’s happening to me, because that’s what I gotta do to survive….)

(Masking sucks. Whatever my gender is it is also autistic.)

I came into the blogworld with “geek as gender” in my back pocket and a sort of complex ambivalence about a lot of conversations, as well as a habit of picking Discordian fights with homophobes in alt.sports on usenet. (Which did get me sent highly photoshopped dick pics.)

(Look, dudes, if you’re going to call people “cocksuckers” on the internet I’m absolutely there to ask you why you think that’s an insult if you like receiving oral sex.)

Anyway I came out of the blogworld with enough experience that I occasionally consider lapsing into a massive clickbait rant entitled, “I was transed by the TERFs.”

They defined “a woman is” at me so hard I realized I couldn’t be one.

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have figured it out without them.

I don’t have a clean, categorizable experience of gender. I simultaneously had an intense spiritual/physical calling to bear children and found the experience at times so horrifyingly dysphoric that leaving the house was literally unmanageable.

A gay man in a Craft training group asked me if I was aware I had a lot of male energy, which I chalked up to my astral/energetic penis. It made my day and I had no idea why. I’m not sure I even believe in “male energy”.

Someone once told me that I was just butch because something and I spent a while going, “Am I butch? Am I fucking butch? I am pretty sure on the butch/femme axis I am definitely multiplied by i, and possibly ???”

When I stopped thinking of myself as female, I started learning about eyeshadow.

Literally never touched the stuff before aside from getting enthusiastically femmed by a friend of my mother’s for senior prom and this one time a Mary Kay lady came to the house.

The thing about cosmetics is when I was a woman I could do it wrong, and being autistic I was just fucking tired of all the things I was doing wrong, socially, so I included me out.

When I stopped trying to be a woman I could have fun.

(Pretty sure I’m not butch.)

(When I did a clothing purge I kept this one blue dress in case I’m ever man enough to wear it again.)

One of the most surreal days of my pandemic life:

Extra-super-epic dissociated from extensive mammography, got back to the car in my mask and Boston Flowers blaseball cap and the parking lot attendant said “You have a good day, sir” as I left.

My Craft training got hung up on a point of theology and focus at one point. My teacher corrected me and suddenly—suddenly I had a beautiful, intimate relationship with one of the gods.

An explicitly transmasc god.

The seeds sleep in the dark until the season of emergence.

There was also the time I was doing some reading on the nephilim and wound up with a visitation from a transmasc angel.

The nephilim gave weapons to humanity, you know. Swords and cosmetics both.

They’re weapons.

Never forget that the makeup palette is a weapon too.

Some people know that in their bones.

(It’s really all about the copper. Copper alloys, copper pigments, hello I’ve tripped over a Hetharu mystery while I’m trying to articulate something about queerness, thanks Mum.)

(Copper connectivity, copper electromagnetic, the attractive-repulsive powerhouse of life.)

I struggle a lot. I still struggle. I know now what I was afraid of that first Pride, that beautiful day in Brighton, and I am not yet free.

I am not yet legible even to myself.

A while back someone was doing a survey of women in public/online gaming spaces, and it made me angry. Not because it was trans-exclusive - it explicitly called out that anyone who was identifying as a woman was welcome to participate.

But I’m not a woman.

There was no space for me to talk about the experience of being perceived without being—of the Vent suddenly falling silent before the raid and someone whispering, “There are *girls* here,” a little too loud–of the rest of it.

Not without betraying myself.

The complexity of the narrative isn’t *there*. I wasn’t “always a man”, or even “always a pretty boy” (I am better with ‘pretty boy’, I don’t know that ‘man’ is what I am.) I’m a middle-aged whatever-I-am with a history and it’s not clean or tidily genderable—and it doesn’t, looking back, produce any “And now, it all makes sense!”

Okay, the autistic thing did that, but the gender thing? No. It’s always been a giant fucking mess. Best I’ve got is “ah, that’s why my attraction to men felt more like a similarity-thing than a difference-thing, I thought it was just that I only fancy geeks.”

I feel like what I have is an experience that exists, that has broader meaning, this complex interaction in which I have Done As Much Female As I Intend To and am now swirling into the arms of a different god, but my culture does not have words for this.

That is the thing that makes me angry, that this sacred queer liminal “I have been here, and that is not where I live, I am in motion, I am other than you expect” feeling is not something for which there are *words*.

There is no ceremony. There is no ritual.

I could make one, but that is just me, it is not the ceremony of the people who are like me.

I am not alone, but I’m also a white person on stolen land and my people mutilated away our spaces for sacred queerness a long time ago.

Things that have been built are not for me. Or… I cannot feel they are for me and whether that’s that I don’t fit or that neurodivergence makes me presume rejection or what, I don’t know.

I have built so much to house my spirit, but souls are a community work, damnit.

I talked to my minister at church a while back about this, awkwardly, not knowing how to articulate it.

I was glad to do so, to feel safe doing so. He retired, though.

Maybe I’ll join the relevant committee. Ha ha UUjoke.

I wind up muttering about wrasse a lot, helplessly, into the void.

Also, unrelated to personal stuff, but because I cannot resist a factoid, some varieties of slime molds have thirteen sexes (when calculated by mitochondrial inheritance). I believe others have more or less.

I need a new binder. I need to figure out hormones and my medical stew. I need to deal with being afraid of transition, because one thing I have neurodivergently learned is that change is extremely high-risk, even if there is a potential of good in it.

I need a nap.

When I was in my early twenties, I was on the pill, as is not uncommon. It fucked me up in many ways, also as not uncommon.

I got a new formulation that fucked me up much less.

It was a high-testosterone version.

What is a man? (A miserable pile of secrets.)

Someday maybe I will know a thing about this.

(Have at you.) /fin

Oh yeah I should add a note that I have a reasonably large pile of queer-affirming and queer-analysis Christian exegesis because, uh.

Well, I didn’t know why I wanted them when I got them.

Funny how that works.

[mrpenguinpants]

YOU POSTED A THING! Ignore how long it took me to write this up, I've been,,, honestly? I've not been doing things, I've also not been doing this, but-

So the two plots stolen from Genshin is the Chenyu Vale story quest, and I've forgotten the second one, oops- I thiiiink it's kinda like the Mondstadt festival (the one where u have to pick that fuckin flower and it didn't matter abracafuckyou /lh)

LOOKING AT MY THINGS THERE WERE MORE okay hold on-

So the concept of the campaign is every character is a fallen god who's forgotten their divine life, and they regain a shred of their memory and now must find a way to ascend due to the fact that only Whole Mortals can reincarnate/be reborn, but if you die as a mortal-body divine-soul That's It (yadda yadda, non-dnd approved type shit; there are actually multiple ways they could go about it but I have no idea what they'll do beyond revive the sun) - One player didn't do that, but it's fine, he is instead POSESSED by a goddess, it's chill, and I adore his backstory and he's the only one with a backstory tightly interwoven with the world's lore and local area the campaign takes place in he is THE ONLY MAN WHO MATTERS T O M E (/j)

The Genshin Quests that I have plots for bc I stole them are as follows; Natzissenkreuz Ordo, Chenyu Vale, and the Windblume Festival. I won't get into it rn so you don't have to tag this ask as spoilers (unless... thinking emoji) BUT oooOOOOooOoOOo you wanna hear abt my dnd So Bad sdfsdfsdfg (I just wanna talk abt it SO BAD bc we're on a month hiatus bc one player's in the middle of bumfuck nowhere for a while)

I ALSO HAVE A ONESHOT PLANNED FOLLOWING/INSPIRED BY THIS YEAR'S SUMMER EVENT IN GENSHIN! I'm planning on running it at two tables (different groups) and potentially even a third when I get to sorting it out, ASK ME ABOUT IT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE asdfgh

DND ASIDE- I recently found out one of my irls plays Genshin and I've been talking to him about it and honestly??? very nice, very fun (very demure /j) asdfgh I got into genshin to play w/ some other irls but now I am the last,,, genshin player standing,,,, and we're gonna help eachother farm when Natlan comes out bc I love running domains >:3 I'm a lil domain fiend

-Lucky

Ignore the fact that I'm responding backwards. But the pressure did work 👀 now I just need it to happen again because I blinked, and a month rolled around. I thought it was at most a week but no, my sense of time is fucked.

I'm so bad at names, and I barely do the story in any game I play unless I'm forced to (I missed an event in ZZZ because I wasn't on the third chapter yet ;-;). So I don't remember if I've done, seen, or even heard of the Chenyu Vale story, but I do know Mondstadt, at least.

I love it when my friends actually get invested enough with my imagination/ideas that they actually tie things into the ever-working narrative ;u; sometimes I feel like people don't do it because (they don't fucking care lol) they don't want to overstep on something that's made up by you. I understand, but man, it feels so uplifting when it happens. Keep that man alive. Are you planning on revealing parts of their divine life as the campaign goes on? I remember watching this youtube short about DND where they basically say that each player is given a blank sheet, and as they progress through the story they learn more things about their characters based on outside reactions.

I only know Windblume Festival but if it's a required quest/event quest, then I've most likely played the others. But yess, feel absolutely free to dump all your DND lore since I know you can't say it to your players unless you reveal too much. I'll tag spoilers in case you want to get more specific with the genshin quests because I do not remember any of them.

Here is your spotlight Lucky, lay it on me. What is this summer event-inspired oneshot?

I was talking to an old anon on another blog and it kinda makes me sad how the genshin community died out. Not in the sense that there's no fandom there, but that old players have either quit or lost interest. It makes me wonder if I even like genshin or if I write it because it's what I've been doing for so long.

[es46]

Something of a muse that struck me recently. During discussions with associates on Black White 2 and the Pokemon World Tournament, I recalled a character there who if spoken to would give you little facts and details about the gym leaders and other notable characters present. When he spoke about Skyla, one of the details he felt noteworthy to mention was that she was close friends with Elesa. Now, it paints an interesting image, because of course it gives the impression that some people only regard Skyla so much by her relationship with Elesa, not her own accomplishments. And she is accomplished - a caring community member, prodigal pilot, mechanical design and in general a competent career woman. But to some, regarding Elesa as the far more prodigous and infuential figure as a world-famous supermodel, Skyla's own achievements feel second place to her privilege in being Elesa's closest confidant and friend. Not to say that's the whole picture of perception, but it can make for an interesting nuance to the pair's dynamic. Skyla herself often talks highly of Elesa, in example exclaiming a touch of envy to how well Elesa handled her Pokemon, and while sincere to her adoration, you wonder if Skyla herself feels a touch of inadequacy, that in a way she's only considered a second banana to Elesa. Which in turn makes it just as interesting that Elesa will repeatedly reference Skyla, even when she's not around, as someone she admires just as much, stating her stylish and admitting that she can feel more like herself and less pressed by the expectations of her career when she's with Skyla. It really makes for an introspective look at how the two perceive each other, what facets of their relationship coud be explored, and overall proves heartwarming in their continual support of each other. Irregardless of romantic or platonic interpretation, I do find Skyla Elesa's synergy a very engaging narrative and can hope future media continues exploring their nuances, befitting one of Pokemon's canonically closest bonds. Thank you for reading and take care.

[crazycatsiren]

Something I've been thinking of lately. It's got me questioning myself and my path again but once you hear why it kinda makes sense why I'm back to questioning myself. I've been thinking about the miracles like at Fatima and Guadalupe. These two particularly in my mind because I remember reading the story from a religious magazine my grandma had where Our Lady, Mary, said "There are so many false religions". And then Guadalupe, I had the honor of being in a rosary with my whole family around one of the copies of the original mural. The guardians of the copy talked about the symbolism on Our Lady's dress and one of the symbols meant the one true god. I'm very particular to these two miracles and, I'm sure this is just the conditioning of the church, but it made me curious how these miracles are explained by the witch community and witch historians.

I'm not trying to discount other beliefs or anyone's path. I'm just curious because it's something I'm recently thinking about and it's bringing me back to the doubt I have in my mind that I know is conditioned by the church. I think I just need to be educated on what's what concerning miracles and the word of God. Especially since my friend says that Our Lady is used as a mouthpiece by the church a lot to push their narrative. I suppose I'm looking for more assurance and I really apologize if you're getting tired of my questions. It's just.... Ugh.

One thing to keep in mind is that religious institutions like the Catholic Church have always had their own agendas, which have nothing to do with spirituality and everything to do with power. They have ulterior motives for making people believe. They know what they're doing to maintain control.

Which is why, skepticism is a good thing, and blind faith is dangerous. Religion is a highly personal matter. Anytime when any supposed authority or organization comes along and tries to turn it into everybody's problem, I know I can't trust them. It's why I kept the Catholic religion in my life, but flipped off the Catholic Church ages ago.

I'm not saying I don't believe in miracles at all. But who's making all the fuss over them, and who's benefitting? These are the questions you have to ask.

[msvorderofoperations]

More dream journaling

I was living with my family again, but we were in the midst of packing everything to move. We were moving because the home we currently were in was haunted...I think. Details were vague at this point, and there were definitely other factors in play. Once everything was packed away, we were deciding what to do to kill some time because the move was happening the next day. The idea of seeing a movie is floated, and we happen to be right next to a theatre.

We go to see a movie (I think it was TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, of all things) and as we're filing into the theatre, I see a content creator whose work I used to follow (The Spoony One, if you're familiar). And it also just so happens that a group meetup for the Rooster Teeth community is happening at the same time. After the movie is over, I get recognized by someone who is documenting the whole event. They then pivot the narrative to talk about my contributions to the community, which were not numerous but were very significant. I had fundamentally changed the meta of several of the games that the community played and/or created. I created a style of sign off in a community content driven show that a lot of people ended up using. I made a bunch of animations using assets provided by Rooster Teeth and other members of their forums that a lot of people found inspirational. It is worth noting at this point that none of the things I was being cited as influencing actually exist, but it carried a very powerful feeling of being real.

And after all of this deeply moving and happy reminiscing, I then run into a former friend that I cut off some years ago. He has changed very much as a person, but along the lines of why I had to distance myself from him. He is deeply bitter about the fact that I stopped being in touch with him, and has made hating me a big part of his identity and he has a whole group of people with him dedicated to the same. He doesn't even ask why I stopped hanging out with him, but just assumes that everything was done out of malice. But as he does in real life, everything he says and does is passive. Snide remarks and heckling are all he can muster.

Not wanting to put an end to the "this is your life" style presentation the Rooster Teeth documentarion has put together, it continues despite my former friends interruptions. It then moves to the times long before I joined the RT forums, where I had done things like enter robot fighting tournaments, been tech support for a lot of people, and built my own computers and laptops, all while being in elementary school. It even goes into how I railed against and maliciously complied with disciplinary efforts made by the schools I was in at the time that were downright dystopian. All of these things were done with style and panache that I absolutely did not have as an early child, much less as an adult in real life. As none of the people who will read this will know, I did not do any of the things being showcased in this dream, apart from cutting off my friend. I don't doubt there are a few people who miss my presence on the Rooster Teeth site, but I was first and foremost a lurker, and only posted very occasionally. And it was never anything as ornate and involved as the things being remembered here. All the same, I was deeply awash in nostalgia for the early internet, and this is something that has happened a couple of times in my recent dreams.

Once the whole remembrance had wrapped, I was asked to join in on the rest of the day's events. As I did, slipping back into old behaviours felt as natural as breathing and as comfortable as a pair of perfectly sized gloves. The entire time I felt so at home and complete that I began to wonder why I had ever left. In reality, I stopped being part of the community because the staff (in ways I was never able to confirm or really even investigate beyond hearsay and second-hand accounts) had mistreated a number of my friends. I will not go into details as I don't actually know for certain that these things happened, and this was many years ago at this point.

All while this is happening, my former friend is standing at the sidelines and endlessly shittalking. At this point I take him aside and go over why I stopped being around him (he was entirely passive about everything in his life and would never take any actions to improve or change his situation and I couldn't be around someone like that even in my 20s), and why I think he needs to move on from me to start growing as a person. He finally relents and leaves to do some reevaluation of his life.

The idea that having this single conversation and fully changing someone's life is egotistical to the point of narcissism, but I won't deny that the idea of getting closure on this whole thing felt very satisfying. And around this time, I woke up.

[variousqueerthings]

hi! it's me, the anon whose relatives collectively look like latino ralph macchio, i have just finished watching cobra kai! and uh wow! wow! wow. i feel gratified that season 5 finally like properly acknowledged that tkk3 was like A Whole Lot, and uh wow. i'm still reeling slightly from all of it. i did a lot of yelling at the screen from basically the first episode. the dynamic between kreese and silver is very Wow. the whole baby plot thing was very uhhhhhh. literally every "happy" reaction felt forced it was really weird. sam and tory!!!! wow!!!!! (also,,, robby and miguel 👀👀👀👀) clearly the answer is polyamory. it's almost always polyamory. also i love chozen and amanda both. more of them please. wow.

i'm exercising restraint and will not go into every single thought i've ever had but also as someone who does brazilian jiu jitsu it's really interesting to watch all the fighting in a completely different discipline and also the queer potential of a martial art that's almost entirely floor grappling is truly being missed out on yeah uh fun times wow. wow. i may have more coherent thoughts after more time has passed.

also your ck posts are galaxy tier and reading them has been a great joy as i descend further into this fandom

took me a sec to get back to you friend, but I am here!

wonderful wonderful news on the watching front, you really powered through the homoerotic karate show!

kreese and silver = insane and in love since the early 70s

sam and tory = slightly less insane about being in love for... a year and a half?

robby and miguel = brothers? in love? johnny's sons but also 👀👀👀

chozen and amanda = the bisexuals who have figured their shit out and no kind of side-eye the rest of the gang while drinking mojitos?

the answer is always polyamory

please talk about any thoughts you have, I enjoy them immensely

THE QUEER POTENTIAL OF MARTIAL ARTS (and it doesn't help that they give everyone their designated narrative foil of the same gender and then segregate the sport almost entirely????? I'm not a fan of the segregation At All, but it's like... so it's gay. I'll take the fact that it's gay then at least)

I am so happy the posts have brought you joy. I'm finding a place to enjoy this show from a new perspective these days -- the one in which I can really rest on the fact that it will have a probably ridiculous and terrible overdone ending in which none of the original themes are properly executed and resolved, but!

but that does not negate the fun I've had, both with some of the canon material, but especially with the fandom, which has been very important to me these last few years

and you've been a part of the recent change, where I can enjoy what it is and turn it into what I want it to be on my own/with some cool people from this fandom, where we focus on what we enjoy and kvetch about what we don't, and it's a community experience either way

[whileiambored]

Alright friends. Here’s the actual deal with this from a University of Pittsburgh student. See point Five for other real tangible stuff you can do :) Please don’t mind any typing errors, I did this on my phone half asleep

First: The University IS NOT hosting him. A club at the university is. This is a very very important distinction because 1. the university isn’t sponsoring the event and 2. clubs are essentially allowed to host who ever they want.

Second: We are a public (ish) university. Canceling this speaker can and would open them up to a whole host of issues regarding free speech and censorship. Universities have fought long and hard for the right to free speech (see the UC Berkley movement of the sixties). In order to uphold that right so that future speakers who may be considered controversial can also speak, this event cannot be canceled.

Third: “But this is hate speech” Tough shit. Hate speech is protected speech (see Snyder v Phelps 2007(?) as most recent). There are exceptions 1. threats of true serious bodily harm and 2. imminent incitement to illegal or violent activities. Imminent is the key word there. General this should happen is not imminent and is not exempted from protection. Whether or not you think it should be protected doesn’t matter; what matters is it is.

Fourth: Canceling this event or majorly disrupting it would feed into the narrative he is trying to create. He is telling people that colleges are radical leftist organizations that have declared open season on conservatives. I have seen multiple OpEds stating that exact thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, it matters if people believe it. The Daily Wire has just run the headline “leftist students meltdown over upcoming Michael Knowles event” Allowing that to be an interpretation of the events is harming our position. “But the daily wire isn’t a legit publication and they live to publish sensationalized/false shit” Oh well. They have national reach and people do read them. For a large number of people, that headline might be the only time they hear of this and that supports everything else they’ve been told. Also for people like Micheal Knowels having an event cancelled or being talked over during an event is just a feather in his cap and another alarmist talking point for the next time he talks to conservative lawmakers.

Fifth: So what can you do. If you’re in the Pittsburgh area attend the rally for trans rights outside the cathedral of learning (March 25 at 6:00pm). (THIS WAS YESTERDAY. I FORGOT WHAT DAY IT IS EVEN THOUGH I WALKED BY THE PROTEST ON MY WAY TO A MEETING)

For everyone: Support SisTers PGH they are a trans lead trans focused organization in the Pittsburgh area dedicated to providing a wide range of services to local trans people including medical referral, housing assistance, and general education and support.

Support TransYOUnited another Pittsburgh based organization dedicated to providing resources to trans individuals.

Support the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation, founded to support the medical needs of the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities they provide services and supports to the community.

If you are a Pitt Student, our on campus advocacy and community clubs are Rainbow Alliance (undergrad), Pitt Lambda (grad), Pitt Outlaw (law school), AQUARIUS (queer Asian student org), ADDverse+poesia (artistic expression from marginalized groups), Pitt MOGI. Please support them when they have events and fundraisers. Rainbow Alliance’s pride week stuff is happening. See their Instagram for details. I probably missed a bunch of groups, this is what I could come up with off the top of my head.

this sucks ass but what’s neat is the event is free to register for and will be capped at 300 in person registrations. pitch in and register with your favorite fake name and hopefully this idiot will walk in to a room of empty chairs. takes like 10 seconds. el oh el

edit: to be more clear, sign up with a name and email that is at least semi convincing.. they’re probably not gonna think Hugh Jass and Trans Rights are real humans who are going to show up

[designaday]

Interaction 23: Undesign the defined

Wednesday, March 1st, was the beginning of the conference proper. I took advantage of the hotel breakfast assuming that there wouldn’t be much provided at the Zürich Convention Center. You see, the conference has been the primary source of income for the organization, and we had two years during which the conference was only online. So, I knew the budget wasn’t going to allow for some of the extravagances of past years. 

Unfortunately, not everyone realized that. Interaction has a reputation for providing an outstanding experience, which is fitting for a User Experience conference. I overheard someone say that they had told a co-worker that the conference always provides a lot of great food, but there was no food to be had. In fact, the coffee service didn’t start until 11:15 am. This immediately generated a bit of a scandal. How could you not provide coffee first thing in the morning? There were many people who arrived only to turn around and head back out into the cold to find a warm beverage and a bite to eat. I’m sure there were good reasons for this decision—likely financial ones. The mistake was not communicating this ahead of time. Even though we hadn’t been in-person for three years, there are expectations. I guess it fit with the day’s theme: Undesign the defined. But enough about Coffeegate. The conference was about to get underway.

Congress Hall was a very nice space. The large windows on the left wall were unexpected. I’m used to dark theaters, but the daylight made the space feel expansive and open. It didn’t seem to negatively impact the visibility of the screen.

Brenda Laurel gave the opening keynote: Designing Interactions with the Earth. This was one of those talks that just introduced a whole bunch of stuff that I wasn’t previously knowledgeable about. From Miyawaki Forests and 3-D bio printing to vertical farming and cultured meats, Brenda guided us through all of the innovative approaches companies are taking to reduce our impact on the planet. I was especially impressed with the solar canals in India that not only generate electricity but save more than 250 million liters of water annually lost to evaporation.

After Brenda’s talk, it was A.I. all the way down. Andreas Markdalen, Global Chief Creative Officer at Frog, outlined the current state of design claiming that design has lost its meaning. Then he gave an overview of all the new paradigms introduced through artificial intelligence and wrapped up with three potential narratives for the future of design. Christopher Noessel, Design Principal for Applied AI at IBM, explained how they’re equipping designers to design for AI. Norbert Krizsán asked if we can build machines that teach us instead of making decisions for us. Nadine Bienefeld talked about machine learning and trust as applied in medical diagnosis. 

Daniel Burka brought the day’s closing keynote: Can designers save lives? Not by themselves. He used his recent work with Simple, free software supporting large-scale hypertension and diabetes management programs, to illustrate how designers participate in projects tackling wicked problems.

After the keynote, they brought all of us Regional Coordinators on stage to recognize our local groups.

The activity of the evening was local agency tours. I had other plans. It was Jason Mesut’s birthday, and I joined his party at The Penthouse, a hip, Japanese, rooftop restaurant, lounge, and nightclub. Good friends, good food, good times.

[chirpsythismorning]

My favorite combination of endgame byler proof dates back to the promotion for season two (bc of course it does)!

About a week before s2 premiered, David Harbour did an interview, and deadass the only thing that makes any sense in regards to what he could possibly be referring to here, is endgame Byler:

"We’re talking about ending Stranger Things at either season four or season five. I know there is an end to the story. It’s a very beautiful end. We’ve already been laying out the pipework. There are easter eggs in season one that you won’t get until season four. You’ll look back and say ‘we’ve been seeing this story the whole time, we just haven’t realized it’. To me, that’s wonderful.”

Now, one could try to argue that David was referring to Will’s sexuality/feelings for Mike here, and I would agree, at least partly, because David’s wording sounds an awful lot like what Noah said recently in his interview with Variety:

"I mean, it’s pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike. They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in Season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly grew that storyline. I think for Season 4, it was just me playing this character who loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not, and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong. Will has always felt like that."

Where it gets complicated though, is that if David was referring to solely Will sexuality/unrequited feelings in this interview, then it doesn’t really make sense for him to frame it as ‘wonderful’.

But, it is important to note that David was talking about the ending, not the beginning of the end, which is what s4 ended up being. His assumption back then, was based on his knowledge of the ending, and how long he hoped the show would go for them to close off that story.

S4 obviously wasn’t a 'beautiful', nor 'wonderful' conclusion to Will’s story arc involving his sexuality/feelings for Mike being built up since s1. So, even if that’s all David was referring to, we are still yet to see the payoff.

This is where the damning proof combo comes in...

Most of you probably know, but as promotion for s2, Spotify collaborated with Netflix for official playlists dedicated to each of the ST characters. It was said that these playlists were specialized and unique to each characters traits.

But especially when it comes to the first song on each of these playlists, almost all of them are instantly recognizable as to why we can assume they chose that song, for that specific character, to start off their playlist. And arguably, even for the most casual of viewers.

For El it’s, Papa Don’t Broach. Pretty self explanatory.

For Will, it’s Should I Stay or Should I Go. Again, self explanatory.

For Mike, it's Smalltown Boy...

To those who don't know, Smalltown Boy (1984) is an unequivocal gay anthem about a young, gay man in the 80's who experiences homophobia and alienation in his small home-town, only to leave (run away) by the end, in order to be happy.

The music video leans even more blatantly into this narrative. Here it is beside this shot of Mike in 4x01 (one of the very few POV shots we got from him in s4, might I add), and it fits quite well with the Smalltown Boy agenda...

To be clear, this isn't just some song the queer community loved and so it turned into a gay anthem overtime. Because, yeah, there are definitely some songs that lyrically just feel like they could be queer (despite not intentionally being), and so the gays sort of claim it and it gains even more meaning and importance over time. However, that is not the case here. This song is undoubtedly one of the most intentionally gay songs of the 80's. And a heartbreaking SYNTH one at that!!!

If the hints for Will were intentional back then (confirmed), then it’s highly likely Smalltown Boy being the first song on Mike’s official playlist, may just be one of the many Easter eggs pointing to the fact that Mike has also been gay (and in love with Will??) this whole time.

Also worth mentioning that when Finn was recently asked about M*leven's relationship in season 5 (the ending), he had this to say;

"I don’t know, I’m really interested… I don’t know, I’m interested kind of like for the end of the show kinda in general (…) Who’s gonna stay in Hawkins, who’s gonna leave. Who’s gonna try to find a life outside. Is there even gonna be a Hawkins? I don’t know. But yeah. I’d be interested to see if Mike stays in Hawkins, or tries to find a life outside of his town. And also, you know it’s hard to tell, like obviously with Eleven and his relationship, but I hope they find, you know, happiness."

When they make-up after fighting in 4x04, Mike tells Will that Hawkins isn't the same without him. After literally listing off all of their friends, basically separating them from Will, "They're great... but-" sort of confirms to us that no matter what Hawkins has to offer, without Will, it's not the same to Mike. Which means if Will isn't going to stay in Hawkins at the end (he won't), Mike probably wont either.

TBH, Will and Mike both having feelings for each other since the beginning, and ending up together, fits a whole lot better with: ‘we’ve been seeing this story the whole time, we just haven’t realized it. And I think that’s wonderful’, than an unrequited love story does....

And the fact that all of these easter eggs, for both Mike and Will, started picking up more prominently after season 2, makes the Duffers whole "what is s2?" act right now even more funny...

[absolutebl]

I've been showing a good friend BL twice a week since early pandemic. She's seen a lot of the best stuff, and recently finished To My Star 2. We were discussing how the seme/uke and top/bottom perceptions affect how the characters are portrayed.

With TMS2, I commented that the scenes we get to the end where they keep switching who is big and little spoon felt like a tasteful way to show that they were versatile. We also noted that Pat and Pran are never shown in a way that confirms their positions.

Does your spreadsheet track anything regarding top/bottom presentation, and do you have thoughts on BL and how it presents this?

(note from the future, this post if VERY old now and since 2023 there have been a lot more verse characters)

Verse Characters in BL 

What an interesting question.

Well I would argue that Fighter & Tutor are the only Thai BL couple who are explicitly verse, in their case they talk about it openly in terms of "showing ownership" which is pretty clearly code for who fucks whom. As in, the idea of being taken or taking (invasion) = ownership. Trust a BL script to use the language of war for an act of communication and connection. 

My spreadsheet doesn’t track this because it’s so rare. I remember a couple other times getting very excited about it (other than Why R U?) but not which shows. 

Okay here’s our biggest example: 

Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese shows them verse (explicitly depicts the sex act both ways), but it’s one of Japan’s discussions about the nature of identity and intimacy and possession. It could actually be argued that the whole movie is a debate of what seme/uke means and does to its characters, what obsession means, how long term devotion without consequences of boundaries corrupts. It’s kind of like the very dark version of what could have happened to the characters in My Beautiful Man if they had never managed to find each other and reconcile (and Hira learn to accept and express himself). The leads in CMDoC are genuinely at war, so the lens showing us who fucks whom as an expression of who is winning the narrative battle at that point in time. 

Look, I don’t like this movie, but apparently if it’s Japan I’m always going to have a lot to say. 

I mean there needs to be enough self aware queerness in the BL to realize this should even be addressed - otherwise just slap seme/uke on it and conflate personality with sexual preference (SIGH). 

Also the BL has to somewhat follow the characters into the bedroom, and it would need to be higher heat which, in and of itself, is pretty rare. 

So I did a heat ranking, then a ratings sort (since I’m more likely to rate verse characters higher) and here’s a short list of ones for which a case for verse... could be made. 

Why R U? - Fighter & Tutor (no question - couched in a request to “prove/show ownership”) 

My Day - Ace & Sky (also I think this is pretty clear via their sex scenes - they were the other ones I was thinking of, also they engage in some fun light kink, I LOVE these two) 

To My Star 1 & 2 - implied by the cuddling debate in 2

Bad Buddy - actually they imply, when asked at one point, that it’s still open to debate between them, so we don’t know what they settled on but given their dynamic, probubly verse 

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line - ZiXuan & YuHao, I mean YuHao's fantasies go both ways so I think he, at least, is verse

Mr Cinderella - mostly because of the linguistic grappling, but also both actors have a history of the seme role (clearly also implied top) in their other BLs, they swap tropes around a lot too in this one 

His the movie - it’s just... not important 

Ai no Kotodama - I actually think they have a kinda conversation about this, it’s been a long time since I watched it though, and 2010 = intentionally confusingly vague about everything 

Boys Love - right so there’s a bit of an underpinning dialogue about this in both installments. In both cases I think the “teacher” is meant to be the bottom, but also the student is so desperate and so needy there’s an implication that he would do ANYTHING, including alter his whole identity (even sexual preference as a top) in order to be with the object of his desire, which is part of what makes their love destructive - it cannot and does not conform to... anything, least of all seme/uke (which at the time, when present, was always conflated with Top/bottom). 

Either of KarnNat’s pieces, I mean I think Nat is meant to be the catcher, but they don’t act their higher heat scenes that way, it’s extremely mutual, and power exchange back and forth in terms of who kisses whom and stuff. 

Frankly, any of the couples who have no seme uke are open to debate since in Thai BL especially Top/bottom = Seme/uke (it shouldn’t, but in the narrative it’s implied). BL couples where there is no seme/uke

Be Loved in House: I Do - YuZhen & ShiLei, maybe 

Double Mints - fuck ‘em, though 

Ingredients 

My Tee 

Wish You 

Second Chance - PaperFah

Seven Days 

So Much in Love - North & Onsah, there’s no seme/uke in this Thai pulp, but it’s so much a pulp and so confusing I’m not sure if that’s intentional or just failure of narrative clarity and poor acting 

Your Name Engraved Herein - I am NEVER watching this movie again, but from my recollection of the characters’ behaviors, maybe?  

Gameboys 2 - I have only seen discussion here and the previews, but I think they make this pretty clear in conversation and behavior

Hey Rival I Love You - certainly entirely up in the air in all ways

Love is Science? - Mark & Ouwen, I think the flip flopping of who’s on top/in charge in their sex scene implies general experimental willingness, shall we say?

HIStory 3: Trapped - TangYi & ShaoFei, possibly, ShaoFei is hesitant because he’d scared, but that’s of the implications and intimacy of being a couple, not really of sex. After all he runs away when TangYi is too nice and gentle with him.

I honestly think My Engineer 2 should go there with RamKing. They are perfect characters and actors to do this with. But Thailand really doesn’t have the guts. 

Other pairs who I think can and should rep verse? 

First & Toru 

PokeTongue 

MaxTul could absolutely portray verse. Why they haven’t yet is a weakness of Thai BL and y-novels inability to stop heterosexually vomiting all over their gays. 

Weirdly? EarthMix, I think they could and should do a bit of a FighterTutor sitch in Moonlight Chicken. 

Crosses arms.

Impress me, GMMTV. 

A reminder: 

So top/bottom/verse is difficult because it means we follow the characters into the bedroom AND have a glimpse into their penetration preferences, that means very high heat, and there is (statistically) less of that in BL.

As opposed to Dom/sub/switch which plays into personality and correlates better (but not perfectly) to a seme uke dynamic because it is about who has the power to make decisions.

And my definition of Seme/uke - which is the character showing the most narrative drive to consummate the relationship (physically or otherwise) = seme. 

Finally: 

Sexual preference does not correlate to personality! Please stop this. I put it to you in het terms: 

If you are a straight women who likes to ride reverse cowgirl style does this show up in your personality as you walk around in your day to day life? No it does not. 

So a boy likes to fuck or be fucked - that’s like cake verse pie, it doesn't say anything about how aggressive that boy is in relationships. And prying into that dynamic is tantamount to me asking you about the details of your penetration preferences. (Which, to be fair, I probubly would, but I'm a curious, rude, intrusive shitmonger.) 

Also, it behoves me to add, plenty of gay men do not like penetration at all. Plenty of straight women don’t like it. Or don’t like vaginal but do like a-play. And plenty of straight men like to be pegged. A-play has to do with how sensitive you are, how relaxed, how prepped, how much lube, whether you find the idea a turn on when applied to yourself, how self conscious you are, and a host of other factors. 

Puts proverbial soap box away while reminding you that soap = also to be used prior to such encounters. 

(source)

[quarra]

This is fair and true.

... but also there is a shocking amount of paperwork involved with most jobs. Does your job deal with money? There are ledgers and piles of invoices to handle. Does you job deal with building things? There is paperwork for acquiring, storage, and tracking of materials, and then more paperwork for the storage, sale, and distribution of finished products. Do you build experimental shit? All of that materials nonsense is still there PLUS now you have math and extremely detailed models to do to make sure your thing works. Over and over. Along with a whole lot of data for every test run, and then a lot of math and comparing numbers.

Is your job talking to people? Welcome to the world of correspondence, which, yes, a lot is verbal, but just as much is written, not to mention all bullshit to set up to maintain those networks and keep updated on any various projects or special interest groups that may be relevant, plus any/all reports required to keep your superiors (if you have any) updated on progress. Business communication counts as paperwork (where are my office workers out there who have spent three hours on an email so you dont get fucking roasted later, or so your project gets approved?).

Do you have a military command? Omg welcome to paperwork central (as confirmed by a friend of mine who is an O4), because everything needs to be tracked, and all things run on bureaucracy.

Lawyers? Holy FUCK the paperwork. Court documents don't write themselves, and there is a LOT of specific language, AND it needs to have references cited (there was a pretty spectacular couple of court case fubars recently about a couple lawyers trying to us chatgpt for it and fucking themselves and their client over HARD).

Are there folks who are "important" enough that they can push off any and all paperwork onto minions? Some, but they tend to be few and far between, and even very powerful people often like to personally ensure that said paperwork is being done right, which at least requires a review. Get enough projects going and employees, and even a basic glance over of each team's work just to make sure that the end product isnt a steaming pile of shit can turn into a LOT of reading. And potential editing, too.

So. Like. Yes. The mindless paperwork that a lot of fic authors use to fill in the narrative gaps in fic is amusing and sometimes ridiculous, especially if the character.in question doesn't have a 'job' per se, they just go DO STUFF. And yeah, there are definitely characters ans stories that excess paperwork doesn't make sense for.

But a lot of the background busywork is based in what a lot of jobs are really like. And the more action-based a character's job is (ie a mechanic fixes things, a jedi talks to people and potentially stabs them, a race car driver drives cars), the less happy they are likely to be about doing any required documentation, invoicing, or book keeping to sustain that job.

We don’t talk enough about how fanfiction writers love to give character large amounts of non-specific paperwork they hate doing