#like okay i guess if youre not into research and history and you just wanna exist without having yo be an expert that is fine

[charliethemanticore]

Hi btw being trans does not automatically grant you supernatural understanding of all esoteric trans knowledge. You actually need to put effort into learning or put effort into keeping quiet about things that don't pertain to your specific experience

[stranger-stevieee]

Risk

Summary: You have a bad habit of falling in love too quickly, but is it really that bad if a certain someone happens to feel the same way? Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader Word Count: 1.5k Warnings: use of y/n, fluff, angst? (maybe), cliche writing, first kiss

Look at me now Said I wouldn't do it, but I hunted you down Know you had a girl, but it didn't work out

Steve Harrington was very sought after. Every girl wanted him and every guy wanted to be him. You tried very hard to not fit into that stereotype but you failed miserably.

There was just something about him that drew you in. You told yourself that you wouldn't fall at his feet like every other girl at Hawkins High but you couldn't help it.

Now, Steve wasn't really known as a relationship guy. He was more of a "let's go out once or twice, have sex, then onto the next girl" type of guy (he was called "King Steve" for a reason after all) so it was a shock to everyone when he started dating Nancy Wheeler.

You were sad, just like every other girl, that you had lost your chance with him but when you heard about their breakup after a year of being together, you couldn't help but feel like you actually had a chance.

I'm not proud Guess I'm just scared of you shootin' it down You can just talk, and I'll stare at your mouth You could be bad, but I wanna find out,

Giving in to him wasn't your proudest moment but it was inevitable. You had decided that if you wanted him, you would have to go get him.

See that's what all these girls were doing wrong. They would wait for him to come to them and ask them out, when in reality if they wanted a chance they would have to take it. So that's exactly what you did.

You were in your history class that you happened to share with Steve and the teacher had just announced a research project that would take all month to complete.

Picking a partner would've been easy had your only friend in the class been there that day, but sadly she had stayed home for whatever reason. The bright side was, now you could take a chance.

You got up out of your seat and walked straight over to his. You were a bit nervous but decided it was now or never.

"Hey, Steve!" You spoke loudly due to your nerves but luckily he found it funny.

"Hey..." he paused

"Oh, it's Y/n," you said embarrassed that you had been fawning over this man that didn't even know your name.

"Right! That's right, I- I knew that"

"Yeah," you laughed it off, "So do you have a partner yet? For the project, I mean?" You stuttered over your words a bit, albeit scared of the potential recegection coming your way.

"No, actually, I don't"

"Okay, cool... do you wanna work on it together? Maybe?"

'Here it comes' You thought 'He's gonna say no, laugh in your face and...'

"Sure."

'Oh. Well, that was easy.'

And I wake up in the middle of the night With the light on, and I feel like I could die 'Cause you're not here, and it don't feel right

It's 4:28am and you can't stop thinking about him. You woke up from your dream almost 30 minutes ago and haven't been able to get back to sleep.

This dream just messed everything up because now you've come to the conclusion that you're in love with Steve Harrington.

This wouldn't be your first time loving someone but it is your first time being in love. There's a difference. You tend to love rather quickly and when you love, you love hard.

It takes a while for you to stop loving someone. But you have a feeling things will be different this time.

You think about what it would feel like if he were with you in that moment. But he's not, and it sucks.

God, I'm actually invested Haven't even met him Watch this be the wrong thing, classic God, I'm jumpin' in the deep end It's more fun to swim in Heard the risk is drowning, but I'm gonna take it

A couple weeks into working on the project and you still barely knew anything about him. The only thing you both talked about was the project and how it's coming along. You were getting nowhere.

"Hey, what do you think about coming to my place today?"

You had been digging through your locker looking for a specific book for your next class when Steve came up to you and it's safe to say that his words shocked you.

"What?" you asked

"Do you want to come work on the project at my place today?" Although he didn't sound like it, he was nervous asking you to come over.

"Sure!"

'Maybe she is interested in me' he thought

His heart fluttered at the sight of your excited smile.

Isn't it fun thinkin' I'm right when I'm probably wrong? Holding my breath like I met someone Knowing damn well that I haven't been touched by you In my head, you're in the car, and you're comin' to me And you get to my door, and you can't even speak But I think that it's sweet, yeah, I think that you're sweet

You knew Steve was rich, but you didn't know he was this rich. Standing in front of his house you were a bit worried about what was to come.

Once you finally worked up the nerve, you lifted your fist to knock on his front door. Inside Steve had seen your car pull up and stood by the door waiting for you to knock.

When he finally heard it, he waited a few seconds, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Welcome..." he sighed "Sorry I don't know why I said that, that was weird, let me start over... hey."

You had a small smile on your face trying not to laugh. "Hi... can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah of course."

"Thanks," you let out a little giggle

You walked in and looked around in awe. His house was 2x the size of yours. "Your house is amazing," you whispered.

"Yeah, it's great I guess. It does get lonely sometimes but... anyways we should probably finish the project."

He walked you over to the dining room where he already had his textbook laid out. You both sat down, took out everything you needed, and got to work.

After an hour of working you had finally finished the project and it had only taken you about 3 weeks. Even though you were finished, Steve didn't want you to leave yet so he suggested having an early dinner.

"I wouldn't have pinned you as a cook, Harrington," you said with a small smirk on your face.

"Yeah, well when there's no one around to cook for you, there's only two options. I can cook for myself or get takeout, and I obviously have to stay healthy so takeout's not ideal. Gotta stay in shape for the ladies, you know?"

'Maybe he isn't interested in me' you thought

"The ladies. Right." you let out a nervous laugh.

Too soon to tell you "I love you" Too soon to tell you "I love you" Too soon to tell you "I love you"

Steve could tell you were nervous to tell him something. You were standing in front of him on his front porch unsure if you were ready to say what you wanted to say. But you knew you couldn't keep it in any longer.

It had been months since you both finished the project and you had become even closer than before.

Ever since that day at his house, you've fallen for him more and more each day. And even though it might be too soon, you have to tell him.

"Umm... can I talk to you?"

"Sure, come in." He said stepping out of the doorway to let you in. "So, what's up?"

"Uh, so, I just wanted to say that... you've been an amazing friend."

Steve let out the breath he was holding and sighed with disappointment. That is definitely not what he wanted to hear. The exact opposite actually, but he let you continue anyway.

"But I can't just pretend that that's all I want to be. I love you and I know it's probably too soon to be saying this but—"

Steve suddenly stepped forward and brought his hand up to cup your face which shut you up quickly.

“Is it ok if I kiss you?” he whispered

“I would like that very much.”

He leaned in and connected his lips with yours and, if it was even possible, you fell in love with him even more. The kiss was soft and tender, way different than what you thought it would be.

It was the first time your lips were meeting, but you immediately knew that it wouldn’t be the last.

Steve was the first to pull away and as much as he didn't want to he knew he had to.

"I love you too, by the way"

"Good"

You're the risk, I'm gonna take it

[somehhuuuhh]

I know the ture meaning of proshiper and antishiper!

Okay okay I know it's seems far fetch but hear out!

Oh this not any form harassment I'm just talking about what the true meaning of proshipers and antishipper and that's it. If I'm wrong then I'm wrong it's not a big deal. I'll just cry because of how many hours I have to research, and it turns out to be wrong

Kay Kay but before we start talking about it let me just tell you what a proshiper thinks what a proshiper and a antishipper

So this one proshiper in the undertale community made there very strong claim that the true meaning of proshiper is "you're against censorship and harassment over fiction and curate your experience the internet to have a healthy distance from things to make you uncomfortable" Um well frist all not all proshiper are against censorship. Second many proshipers harass people for calling them out or they got block. Having a healthy distance from things that make you uncomfortable is great, but you need to know that not every proshiper is doing that. @/Flowey-the-lanternflower56 is a proshiper, but for some reason she keeps following people who don't feel comfortable with proshipping and says proship dni in their bio. She says she dislikes antis but yet she keeps following those blogs that aren't meant for proshipers. She makes the blog owner uncomfortable and probably over time make her uncomfortable when they keep saying the space is not for her or any other proshipers.

The same proshiper thinks the true meaning of an antishiper is that "you're okay and even encouraged harassment towards freaks and "weirdos society deems acceptable to hurt" uhhhh....what? Am I blind or something cuz I don't anti shippers harassing proshipers . If they just talk about proshipers dni or how uncomfortable proship makes them feel or just calling them out. I don't think that's harassment, I think they expressing their opinions on the topic. Well I understand why they say that because they post this after this one dude threatened to doxxed some proshipers but I they quickly dissappear when many people say that's not right and some of those people were antishippers. But maybe they harass in Twitter or something idk, but a lot of antishipper are very against doxxing and harassment.

Okay so after the proshiper say that, they said "learn your Fandom history," and that really inspired me to do this and waste many hours to learn my Fandom history. (Gosh I wanna die)

The term of antishipper has been around ever since in the 1990s from the wonderful Fandom of the X-Files. The definition of antishipper is "it generally refars to someone who opposes shipping or a certain pairing, which can be for reasons," but since the mid-2010s the term changed into "A fan who believes that it is morally wrong to ship some ships" The definition has been change over time in different Fandoms for different reasons. But those two are the og.

There are many other "antis" like anti-incest which they have the best fucking motto ever. "Family is family, nothing more" There is anti-ship, but I'll not gonna talk about it now.

The term of proshipers or anti-anit came from Tumblr (of course it did). The definition of proshipers is literally just the opposite of antishippers so that means "it generally refars to someone who is with shipping or a certain pairing, which can be for reasons," or "A fan who believes that it is morally right to ship some ships" or something like that.

Okay so since I talk about the true meaning of proshipers and antishipper. There is one more thing I want to talk about which the proshiper said which was "Fiction is fiction and doesn't affect reality" but I do have poof that it does.

Okay I'm going off strong. BlogTheGreatRouge, everyone knows and dislikes her. She was a proshiper, who ship pj with fresh and guessed what pj was kid and Fresh was a grown ass man when she drew them. Even pj daycare Fresh was a kid and Pj was grown as a man. Her comics were disgusting and talking about suicide like it's not so serious. She thought that her comics weren't affected anyone and lable her comics as 13+ even though they should've been labeled 18+ cuz of the suggestive theme, and other stuff. So of course the little kids are going to see that and think that it's okay that a grown ass people touch them which you think they aren't that dumb, but like they were kids and where deeply affected by her comics. There is a videos talking about here and each videos there a comment of people get gr#$med by an adult because after watching or reading the her comics they think it's okay for adults to do that and here are some of the comments...

So yea you can't really deny that her drawings which was a silly fiction thing did impact reality! And impact a bunch of people in a negative way.

Okay let's say you're a proshiper and you only ship incest and that's all. And you don't think shipping incest will harm anyone. It just a simple ship.....shut the fuck up. Okay me personally I been affected by those incest ship especially the proshiper that I keep mentioning. Every time I see dreammare I just think that's me and my brother kissing which IS VERY DISGUSTING AND UNCOMFORTABLE FOR ME TO THINK OF. Me brother is close BUT NOT THAT CLOSE!!! I don't like to be near my dad or my brother which makes me feel sad because when I give them a hug I just feel uncomfortable thinking of that and when they really want to talk to me I keep my distance. I just feel horrible for thinking that and not talking much with my brother and my dad because I keep seeing that and thinking about that. It makes feel like a horrible sister and a horrible daughter...

But I think that's all I have to say I was very hesitate to post this because I was worried people will react but I just don't need this to clear my mind and tell people there definition is probably wronged.

Oh and please rbloog or repost I don't care but it well appreciated

Oh, and I know it's different from what I usually post, but I just wanted to talk about it. It took me a while to write this because it took me a lot of balls just to think about posting it because this topic is very mixed, so please don't harass me for this

[iwritelmao]

The Maximoffs

summary: Wanda begins her studies on research, history, and literature, while in true Maximoff fashion, bending the rules a bit. Additionally, her classic shut-in behavior must end... With Peter's help, of course.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5 Coming Soon)

Wanda sat in the library, hunched over a book, exactly how she’d been about six months prior in Queens NY, in the library of Fordham University. Only this one was much smaller, even in its non-relative impressive size. Wanda liked that though. There were no whispered conversations at the circulation desk, no study groups being a bit too loud in a far corner. It seemed in this school, you were either dead silent, or you weren’t the type of person to be in a library.

Of course, there were exceptions. Like when Scott barged in to call Jean out on importan X-Men business. Something about national security being in danger. Or when Hank and Raven flirted over engineering volumes. Or when the professor came to check on Wanda after her third hour of isolation.

“I see you’ve abandoned War and Peace.” He noted, though he didn’t seem upset.

Wanda looked up sheepishly from the book she was reading. “You have a first edition Wuthering Heights.”

“Yes, I believe I also have Jane Eyre lying around somewhere.” Charles Xavier smiled at the girl’s astonishment. “A great something or other of mine was a Brontë fan.”

“Wow…” Her voice was barely at a whisper.

“Do you like to read?”

“Kind of? I think most of the appeal is seeing where the books have been. Looking for signs of whoever read them before; names inside covers, library logs, notes in margins.”Wanda said enthusiastically, though still keeping her voice down. “It’s like you can look at someone else’s life, their reality, through the window of another reality entirely… that’s a special thing for those of us who can’t read minds.”

Charles nodded. “I can imagine.” He said. “Though what I can’t guess at… is why you dropped out of university.”

Wanda looked up from the book. “It’s a long story.”

“Wanda you’re a wonderful student, filled with more academic curiosity than I can begin to muster out of Scott, or Jean, or even Kurt.”

She tensed up. “I really just don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Would you rather talk to your father?”

She clenched her jaw then took a deep breath. “No. And he obviously wants nothing to do with me or Peter.”

“You can’t really believe that.”

“Professor, he knows. And I’m willing to bet he’s known for a while.”

Charles Xavier sat up just a bit straighter. “No, that’s… surely he would’ve said something.”

“Yeah, your guess at ‘what the fuck’ is as good as mine.” Wanda said softly. “Don’t believe me? Read his mind, or something.”

“I’m not going to- no, I believe you,” Charles said. “Whatever he knows or doesn’t know, Erik wants a family more than anything. There must be something keeping him from speaking out… there must be.”

Wanda got back to her room to find Peter sitting cross-legged on her bed, flipping through one of her books. He looked up briefly before turning his attention back to the book, silver hair shielding his eyes. "You wrote all over this thing."

"That thing is a history textbook, so yeah, I annotated it," Wanda said, dropping her bag at the foot of her bed and sitting next to her brother.

"On Bohemian Culture..." Peter read from the cover, then moved to the sticker on one of the bottom corners. "Rented copy... Weren't you supposed to give this back to Fordham?"

Wanda shrugged. "I wanted a souvenir. And it's actually really interesting."

"God, you're boring," Peter tossed the book aside. Wanda used her powers to catch it in mid-air then set it on her desk. "Make any friends yet?"

The girl looked confused. "Why?"

"You're kidding," Peter remarked with raised eyebrows. Wanda shrugged. "Okay, fine. I'm heading out on the town with Hank and Raven tonight, you should come."

"The teachers?"

"Unless you, a vaguely 20-something-year-old, wanna go hang out with the gaggle of eighteen-year-olds," Peter suggested sarcastically, referring to Jean, Jubilee, and Scott. (seriously what the fuck is the aging system in these movies? I'm choosing to believe that the Maximoff twins are both 23 cause I feel like it)

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Fair. But Hank and Raven are... well, I don't know. They're something. I feel like they'd just be babysitting us all night." She said. "Plus, what nightlife is there in Westchester, New York?"

Peter stood up. "Would you stop making excuses to exile yourself?"

She looked at him for a long time, trying to find more reasons to say no, stay in, and read. But she kept drawing up blanks. Her mind kept going back to that one question. Where exactly was one supposed to find good nightlife in Westchester?

Raven threw her head back laughing and Hank watched adoringly. The older man smiled, then took another swig from the bottle of wine he'd brought (apparently, beer didn't agree with his stomach). Raven and Peter shared a six-pack, while Wanda sat and watched with a lukewarm, unfinished hard cider in her hands. She wouldn't drink anything that wasn't sweet or fruity.

They sat around a bonfire in the woods. It had previously been populated by the K-12 students during the homecoming season, but now all that was left was long since scorched grass, and empty bottles littering the clearing.

It was nice, Wanda decided, to be so free with a small group of people. Hank had been hanging from the trees earlier. Raven, shifting from blue, to blonde, and back as it suited her comfort. Peter darted back to the Mansion more than once for more ice to put in the cooler. Wanda had refrained from using her powers much, maybe because she wasn't drunk enough. Maybe because she was too intoxicated to do so safely. After all, dangerous things could happen if one played with chaos magic, the very threads of reality, so carelessly.

"Wanda!" Raven called out. "Your turn."

"Oh, uh..." Wanda paused, considering the question they'd all gone around the fire answering. "Nowhere."

Hank tilted his head. "What do you mean, 'nowhere'?"

The young woman shifted in her seat. "I mean, I've never..."

Peter spit out his beer. "What?" He stared with wide eyes. "What about that one guy? What's his name? He took you to prom, and after, you went to his place and..."

"Watched Never Ending Story on VHS."

Raven set her drink down. "Let me get this straight... You're a twenty-three-year-old virgin?"

Wanda shrugged. "I guess. I mean I've never really felt that way about another person. Sure, I've wanted to date people before... maybe even kiss them, but anything past that..." She looked up from her hands to see the rest of the group staring. "Sorry, I know it's-"

"Natural," Raven said. "Whatever you feel, or don't feel, it's for a reason. It's okay."

Wanda looked at her with a smile. For a moment, the only sound was the crackling of the fire, until Peter took a worryingly long sip of beer and said. "My first kiss was a guy on the track team at the high school I went to."

All eyes went to Peter. His twin sister's eyes widened as her head snapped in his direction. "Not Oliver..."

"Yes, Oliver."

"I thought you hated Oliver."

"Oh, I did. Hated him all the way to third base."

[rjalker]

(1/2) This is kind of a silly question I guess, but I'm being told that theyfab was originally used by transfems as a way of grouping AFAB trans folk in the nineties, starting when Michfest was excluding trans women from their organisation while including aforementioned AFAB trans folk. Further, I'm being told that it's mostly an offline thing, so obviously I won't see any definitions of this online, and I just don't know enough transfems IRL.

(2/2) I don't really know how to argue against this, since it's kind of unfalsifiable, and you seem intelligent, so I was wondering if you knew how to better find resources for this? You don't have to answer this publicly/at all, especially if I'm wrong -- I don't really wanna keep arguing this point with the person I'm talking to, since I'm not a great debater. I've never heard it used IRL and I do live in a queer-heavy area, but I'm not very social so I can't tell if they're right or not.

made with speech to text so there's probably some typos. I'll fix them at some point when I have my laptop on but feel free to reblog before that anyways.

well, I'm happy to tell you that that person is full of absolute shit, and that is completely and utterly made up in one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. This is literally just making up lies to justify using slurs..

Like that's literally all of it is They are literally just lying through their teeth. Whoever the heck said that, just just do not waste another second of your time on them, they are not worth speaking to if they are going to this length to justify using an exorsexist slur.

The trans radphones have recently started just flat out making shit up about the Mitch fest women's festival and claiming that all of the trans people who were not trans women were betraying them, and literally all of it is just a giant pack of fucking lies that they're hoping nobody will do 5 seconds of research to disprove. Because it's literally all just lies.

You just Google Camp trans. I'm sure there's documentaries about it and I know that there are books.

These people are literally just coming up with the most absurd lies in the world to retroactively justify using a slur made up apparently by 4channers.

First they started claiming that it has been used recently by transfems to criticize trans misogyny, now they're like okay well that didn't work because that was easily disprovable so now let's just come up with an invisible and tangible inaudible dragon that nobody can disprove the existence of by just saying that this was a thing in the '90s so therefore history didn't exist yet so nobody can ever disprove this.

There is no other way for me to say this This is just absolute bullshit. Whoever told you this is literally just so full of bullshit I don't even know how they managed to say that without their brain combusting.

This is just a new level of reprehensible. They are literally trying to rewrite trans history to suit their narrative that everybody always forever hates trans women and wants them dead and that's literally not fucking true at all, they are literally erasing decades of solidarity so that they can play the victim and pretend that everybody is always been out to get them.

Do not waste a single second more of your existence trying to reason with this person because there is literally no reasoning with someone who is willing to just make up such blatant lies about actual real queer history to suit their bullshit agenda. Omfg.

When the women's festival banned trans women from entering, the trans people created Camp trans and everybody stayed outside with them in solidarity, and if I remember correctly at one point, the people deemed acceptable did at one point purposefully go in explicitly to give a speech written possibly by the trans women or at least on their behalf to ask them to let them in.

transrad-Fems are so fucking desperate to call non-binary people a slur that they are willing to lie about actual real trans history to paint themselves as the ultimate victim, because they would rather shit on so many actual activists memory and legacies so that they can just keep calling non-binary people a slur without any consequences.

@furbearingbrick looks like the person you found saying this is not the only one. These bigots are literally ready to shit all over actual queer history of solidarity to just keep calling us slurs.

I hope the people spreading these lies die before any of the surviving people who actually attended Camp Trans have to see this bullshit being spread in their name.

You can look up books by Leslie Feinberg on the internet archive, which talks about the women's festival in multiple instances, I forget exactly which books it is though. And like I said I'm sure there are documentaries from people who were there, you can probably find them on YouTube.

It is kind of hysterical to me that these people are claiming that because it happened in the '90s, it wouldn't have been written down anywhere... As the books and cameras didn't exist back then as the writing was invented in 2010. It's just fucking hilarious.

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

pspspsops

hi 👀

i havent decided yet what culture i want the genie dca to come from but if you would like to infodump about arabian or persian clothing (both royal and commoner wear) i am all ears

hmmmm

Okay, I don't really know too much abt clothing (unfortunately not much of a historical expert), but here's what I can tell you:

as said before, clothing typically depends on the region and the culture/ religon of the place, as well as the place in society

So, as said before, higher class is gonna wear brighter colors (ex: purples, greens, blues, bright yellows) with complex designs, while commoners wear duller colors (browns, creams, whites, some dull greens or yellows, a few blues) with more plain fabrics

I think I mentioned fabric type earlier, but here it is again: silks and satin were reserved for the more wealthy, while commoners typically just stuck to cotton

Richer people wore LOTS of jewelry. Gold chains with patterns of stones, large necklaces with jewels hanging off of them, bracelets that jingle with every movement...style depends on the place. A lot of places like to incorporate eyes into jewelry and decor, so that's a place to start. Simple bead bracelets can have engravings with arabic text. Beads can be huge or small and simple. Kohl ( an eyeliner) is pretty popular, as is henna in a a lot of places. Henna art can usually be done on the hands and arms.

If you're trying to find a country to base it in, I'd recommend doing your own additional research in case. I'd suggest going with somewhere further out from the heart of the Middle East. So think more northwest: Turkey or Syria or maybe Iran (Persia in the olden days), as opposed to Saudi Arabia or Iraq or Egypt. Based on your genie design, I'd assume it'd probably be largely influenced by Indian culture, though you'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable about that. So maybe around or closer to those regions?

If you're wondering about hijabs and veils, not everyone necessarily wore a hijab, though it really depends on the era. If you're asking for religious sides, Islam claims that hijabs were a must from the beginning. History (which I've found some Islamic scholars do in fact agree with on this) says that hijab was actually later introduced as a cultural thing, and started out more as, again, an upper class thing. Women of high standing wore thin veils of silk and satin. This was around 62o-630 CE, I'd say, though, again, I'm not too sure.

Main language would probably be Arabic, although really it was a mix. To be on the safer side, you should probably just stick to English, cuz even among Arabs we struggle to figure out what different people are saying. The language depends on the region and dialect (Ex: people from Egypt and Lebanon are said to be softer with their pronunciation of things, while Iraqis and Kuwaitis are a bit rougher with pronunciation). A single word can have multiple meanings depending on the place you're at, and some dialects have words that technically don't even exist. (Ex: Iraqis refer to tissues as specifically 'Kleenex' because that's the most well known company. Then again, this could just be among my extended relatives, so take this with a grain of salt.)

In terms of clothing styles and choices:

For women, it's gonna be a biiit more modest in some regions as opposed to others. Some places refuse to show a singular inch of skin, while others are pretty lenient. It again, really depends on where you're at. If you're not exactly sure where you wanna place it and want to do what the movie did and make up a place, I'd suggest covering up most stuff, arms, legs, shoulders, etc. Pants and dresses are pretty much interchangeable.

For men...I wouldn't really know, actually. Modern day they don't really care and tend to just wear the typical t-shirts and jeans in some parts, or something a bit more traditional. I guess it was pretty long robe, if you want to think of it like that? They covered up, too, though for a different reason (prob the heat).

If you want to add in a Jasmine, I could give you a small bit of info on rights of the time. Women could hold positions in financing (it is pretty well known that the first wife of Muhammad [Islamic prophet] was a businesswoman and a merchant herself), as well as own and sell property. I'm not too sure if they could hold high positions in government in some places, though in others there were females who did go into battle or become sultanas. In history it is known that many people were ashamed to have daughters and sometimes buried them alive, though this supposedly changed after Islam was spread (whether or not this is true I'm not sure). Slaves were still a thing and continued to be a thing, although during the khalifa it was said that you couldn't enslave a Muslim. Most people don't believe this to be true and say that slavery was completely wiped out after the introduction of Islam, so I'd just be careful about this topic because it kinda depends on who you ask.

In terms of clothing patterns, vines and flowers were pretty popular, as well as this one textile thing I dunno how to describe...if you've seen Persian rugs than it looks similar to those. It's very geometric based, too. Here's a picture to get the idea tho:

....Okay just look up Persian rug and you'll get the idea, I dunno how else to explain it.

Sorry if this wasn't very helpful, I kinda had to rush it cuz I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. Hope this did something, tho!

[qqueenofhades]

I just saw some article abt a tiktok where a mother asks if her 10 yo's written music piece can be played (yes it can) and she starts with the kid having played violin for 2 yrs but it turns out it's a family thing with parents/aunts/grandmothers involved too...

And the reason I'm bringing this up is because of my university experience. I didn't do anything like AP classes or A levels when I was in high school. My parents have their high school diplomas and they're at very basic levels. I used to attend a different form of tertiary education attended by ppl who had backgrounds a lot more similar to mine, but in academia I'd say 80% of people had university educated people and probably about 10% had at least one parent and/or grandparent with a PhD.

I messed up my MA thesis. I mean, I passed and realistically I know that a lot of what happened isn't my fault (I ran into a serious medical issue which meant my process was delayed AND then my supervisor left after giving me minimal feedback and w/o any sort of decent transfer, after which I was not allowed to get any feedback from the replacement supervisor who was new at my university/in my country).

At the same time, I feel like the situation is definitely compounded by not having any academics in my family. I wasn't raised with the academic sense of thinking (and therefore rely too much on background research because I get insecure!) and I don't have the degree of Background Knowledge that is sort of expected of people when they wanna succeed (and yes languages like Latin are sort of included but the STORIES and HISTORIES are a lot more important, in the sense that learning Latin can be done postgraduate for sure but catching up on many many of the stories and references is a lot more difficult).

I was wondering what your thoughts are on this. I don't know if this really qualifies as a hidden curriculum as technically it ISN'T needed to succeed, but I DO notice that I have had to work a lot harder than my peers for the same outcomes, and the moment I faced setbacks I simply didn't have the type of backup in place (esp with few friends) that other people did have.

Ofc this also isn't to say that people who do have all this background knowledge should be excluded or whatever! It's just supremely difficult to catch up once you're behind, and it really has confronted me with class immobility more than anything else. Jobs in the academic world ARE notoriously difficult to come by, but this is about the step before that - succeeding in programs where previous knowledge DOES really benefit students simply because they're capable of drawing more connections because they KNOW more, and how that should be dealt with. The idea that people who are "behind" in their way of approaching academia and/or the knowledge required being immediately put at a disadvantage (and I know I am and I am a rare case bec most ppl with this disadvantage don't MAKE it to uni in the Netherlands or don't do as well as I somehow managed to do at all), AND the idea they need to catch up in the same amount of time that other students without the disadvantage to catch up... And of course not doing as well be cause we need additional time to catch up!

Like... University to me has been sucu a confrontation with how different classes of people (whether traditional income based or more education based) function and the inequality functions in a way I can't really find the words to express. All I know it's been very difficult and made me feel the odd one out pretty much the entire time I was studying.

How do you feel about inequality in higher education, and I guess also how do you feel about the current postgraduate system (MA/PHD).

Okay, so if I'm understanding your question correctly, you're specifically asking how I feel about how inherited privilege functions in academia, and how this contributes to overall inequality in the discipline/in regard to people involved it?

Obviously, kids from well-off homes, who have access to better education, private schools, personal tutors, cultural/learning opportunities paid for by their parents, etc. etc., all have a big advantage going into university. This doesn't always translate into actual results, but we all know about the nepotism/Ivy League kids who get into Yale while clearly not being very bright (cough cough George W. Bush) because, well, their families have always gone to Yale and it's what they do. I often see people expressing incredulity that particularly noxious American politicians, such as Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Ron DeSantis (who all went to Harvard/Yale/Princeton etc) act that way, because "they went to Harvard, shouldn't they know better?" This naively assumes that because Harvard is so prestigious, it must therefore teach a more Correct or Intelligent Curriculum, and totally ignores the fact that when Harvard IS in the news, it's usually for some scandal or gatekeeping or corruption, because it's functioning exactly as designed in transmitting the mentality and privilege of the American ruling class. Harvard is prestigious (and very hard to get into) because of that, not due to any extra rigor or merit in its curriculum. If you have that name on your CV, then yes, doors will automatically open for you whether or not You Personally Deserve It. That's just not the way anything works.

As such, academia reflects the inequalities that are already present in society, and it often magnifies them, especially because the long-term pursuit of higher education is, to put it bluntly, almost impossible without equally long-term funding resources. People either have to go into massive amounts of debt, or rely on having the Bank of Mom and Dad to pay for them. If you don't have and/or want either of those, your options are limited. Tons of people quit because they just can't afford to do it, they have no job options afterward, or they're burned out. Academia is a corporate structure just like everything else, and it's certainly not some magical fairyland where everyone is judged only on the quality of their ideas and nothing else. Getting an academic job is all about who you know and how you can leverage your existing connections in the field. So yeah, it can often function as a microcosm of all the other inequalities in society, and produce narratives that are, as ever, beneficial to the powerful.

That said, I do think there has been important and meaningful progress in the last few generations of scholars alone. Diversity, equality, and inclusion statements/institutional values can often sound canned and stereotypical, but the fact that they're there at all, and have broad acceptance across the academy, is remarkable and somewhat underappreciated. Ron DeSantis and his fascist footmen aren't trying so hard to totally destroy higher education in Florida (and if he wins the GOP nomination, across the country) for no reason, and conservatives aren't so hyper-obsessed with their local school boards for the same reasons. There is more awareness of marginalized narratives and dynamics in the academy than there has ever been before, and there is real and important work being done by a wide variety of incredibly diverse scholars. One critique of academia that really gets my goat, and shows me that those repeating it have no idea what they're talking about, is "academia is all old white men at elite universities!" That just isn't remotely equivalent to what things look like in 2023, or what they focus on. What about that guy who couldn't even read until he was 18, who just became Cambridge's youngest black professor at age 37? Obviously, obviously, more work needs to be done across all levels in increasing access and opportunity. But that shouldn't prevent us from recognizing the real progress that has been made, and just why anti-democratic, anti-intellectual forces perceive it as such a threat.

Likewise, academia is an incredibly fusty and outdated practice based on rules and systems originally developed about 1000 years ago, which is why it can be -- to say the least -- resistant to change. So the whole MA/PhD system is predicated on those very outdated systems, but nobody has really come up with a better one. I was very fortunate to have had the support of friends and family, including financially, while I was completing my degrees; without that, I too would not have been able to finish. Likewise, anti-intellectualism and the idea that all information is created equal, that academic expertise doesn't matter, that all intellectuals/college professors must be secretly lying to you for the power trip, etc., is something that often turns up in left-leaning as well as right-leaning spaces (see, uh, Tumblr, which tends to think that whatever is empirically true is whatever aligns with their favorite belief). So I have to push back on that as well as the rest of it, if that makes sense.

[horizonspurple]

Hi☺️

I knoww, it's really hard, I'm pretty indecisive as well. I've seen AND loved all of those series, other than Alice in Borderland, I actually haven't heard about it before. And all honestly those are all so different so how are you supposed to choosee. I don't think I can choose one at all, tho I will say that I enjoyed Atypical a lot as well, I feel like it has a very similar air as Sex Education, tho a very different plot. Amd a recent favourite of mina has been Cunk on Earth. I found it really funny. I don't know if you know it but it's a comedical documentary in a way. This character: Filomena Cunk goes around museums and good schools and asks experts questions on history. And the experts don't really know what she's gonna ask and some react very smartly and insightfully while some are just completelly stunned. She asks questions like (were humans from the same flesh as we are or were they made from pork or beef?). I like the humor in it a lot. And there's one point in which she asks one expert if the Romans invented anal bleaching. His reaction is priceless🤭.

I saw @lord-of-dice-and-kinks is taking a break from tumblr. Hope he's okay:) and social media can honestly be so draining.

Hm I guess the thing about fetlife that I don't like is that since you have to register to see how it is I don't really get to see if it's something I will like if that makes any sense. And I also don't like that you put in your city, I know it can still be anonymous but I don't know. As much as I know it's completelly okay I'm kinky and that if someone is on fetlife as well it's nothing that will shake the world, but I feel like in order for me to comfortably explor this side of me I just really like anonymity.

Hm🤭okay so maybeee I have a thing for Tom Riddle fanfictions. Well I haven't read one in a while but it was my thing. One of my favourite fanfictions in Unsphere the Stars. It's not necesarilly kinky but I enjoy Tom being a dark character and it's really well writen.

No spoilers, but there's definitely spicy scenes🤭I'm sure he's enjoying your research hihi.

I'm glad you have people around you that can help you with that, it has happened to me as well. And you're beautiful:) your personality absolutelly gorgeous.

Hm I like that I'm curious and I really like my hair:)

:)

Oh I knoww, starting to write is so hard. Hm random idea you're totally free to ignore but a story starting with "Make me," sounds like a lot of fun🤭

Oh and for the question which is from the list of questions you rebloged because I couldn't think of an original one🤭what's your favourite foreplay activity?

Hope you have fun:)

-your sleepy anon

Heyy

Ohhhh so fun that you like all of those!! You have good taste xD Alice in Borderland is really good but it's also pretty gorey and dark so it's not for everyone, but it's such a well thought out plot Oohh Atypical is a good one as well! Cunk on earth is on my watchlist, I've seen little blips come by and it looked really funny :) Oh my god that sounds very funny haha, I definitely need to watch it now!

He's doing okay! He just needed some time to focus on himself a bit more

I get that, that made me a little nervous at first as well, but it does make sense privacy wise People post nudes and sensitive images on there and it would not be ethical if just anyone without an account could see However, with the city thing you can choose who can see the city, state and country you live on For example, I have my city only visible for friends but I could also make it so only I can see it Same goes for state and country,a dn I guess if you wanna be very safe you can put in a fake country and city Mhm I get that anonimity part I'll just share that there are a lot of people that keep their profile really empty, you don't have to put a picture, you don't have to put in your legit age (although you should still be atleast 18+ before joining) and your legit country/city and you don't have to write a bio However it is just nicer if you decide to interact with people to have some stuff on your profile so others know you're not a creep or something But that is all up to you, I hope this information can help you make a choice about what you think is best for you 😊

Ohh Tom Riddle, nicee Mhmm well written dark characters can be so goodd!

Can't wait to read them 🤭

Thank youu 🥺☺ so sweet Ohh being curious is a very fun trait! And I'm sure you're hair is superpretty :)

Oohh that sounds like a very bratty start to a story xD I might do that 👀 would have tot hink of some bratty words and actions first tho hihi

Hihi that's okay! As foreplay I really like making out, playfighting/wrestling a little, dirty talk (although I am not good at it xD) And lots of touching/oral How about you?

Thank you for another fun message 😊 And hope you had a good day!

[sixpossumsinatrenchcoat]

Regrowth

Four years after the good end, Aubrey helps Basil dye his hair. 9k words of wholesome timeskip photobomb, AKA the most sapphic-coded het ship of all time. Link after the preview!

Basil’s been daydreaming about dyeing his hair for years. Not that he’s ever actually said so. He’s just… obvious. Every time Aubrey shows up with her hair in a new shade of pink, his whole face lights up. 

The next time the gang rolls out for one of Kel’s games, she finally pops the question. “So, when are you gonna let me dye your hair?” 

Basil’s big blue eyes get even bigger. “Y–You want to??”

“Hell yeah I do! C’mon, what's the worst that could happen?"

He swallows. “Well. I could mess up the ratio on the bleach and lose all my hair… Or they might have mislabeled the d-dyes, so I’d end up looking like a clown… Or my professors might think I was, um, f-frivolous, or… unprofessional… Or they might not even recognize me! And when they tried to throw me out of lecture, I’d get so p-panicked I couldn’t even explain, so it’d get marked as an unexcused absence, and then—”

“Damn, dude, you’re really serious about this.”

He startles and stares.

“Sorry,” she snickers. “I just mean… Look, no one can say you haven’t done your research. But, hey! The good news is, everything you’re scared about is stupid.” 

Basil gives her a reproachful look. “You only get three unexcused absences before they dock your grade.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Okay, dude, I gotchu. Check this out.” She counts on her fingers as she rattles off each reply. “You’re blonde enough that you can probably skip the bleach. We can do a test strip before we do your whole head. You’re a fucking literature major, half your professors have more tattoos than I do. And… Uh. What am I missing?”

His frown is twitching at the edges, like it’s fighting with a smile. “Unexcused absence.”

“—And no one in all of history has ever been turned into a stranger by a little hair dye, but if you’re really worried, I’ll walk you to class after. That way, if you go all deer-in-the-headlights, I can talk for you.” 

“Y-You’d really do that?”

“Yeah, it’s whatever,” she yawns. “I guess I'm just, like, an insanely good guy.”

A snuffling little laugh slips out of him. “Well… If you really wouldn’t mind…” 

“Hah!! Fuck yeah, dude! Look at you, being all brave and shit. When d’you wanna do this?”

“Well…” He looks sideways at her. “Um… Are you doing anything after this?”

After saying bye to the others, Aubrey has to double back to unlock her bike.

“Oh,” Basil says, frowning at it. “Hm.”

“What? You don’t think you can keep up?”

His eyes widen. “Um—!!”

“I’m kidding,” she snorts. “Anyway, you definitely could not. Don’t stress, dude, I was always gonna walk it. Unless you wanna ride on my handlebars?”

Basil looks down the hill and shudders. “D-Definitely not. Um. No offense.” 

“Naw, that’s fair. I’d feel really bad if I had to brake and launched you into traffic.”

He chokes on a laugh. “...I could maybe try to stand on the back tires?”

“Ooh, very Ghibli. But I gotta pass. Great way to break an axle, unfortunately. It’s cool,” she reassures him. “It’s a nice walk.”

At the first crosswalk, Aubrey frowns and slows to a stop, nodding at Basil to keep walking. “Here, get on my left. I don’t wanna whack you with the handlebars.” 

And if it also puts Basil on the inside of the sidewalk, further from the street, well. What about it? The gutters are still puddled with last night’s rain, and Basil’s outfit is way too cute to get splashed.

Basil tends to dress down for Kel’s community basketball games. (Kel might be the nicest nerd ever to dribble a ball, but jocks are still jocks.) So there’s no shimmer in the creases of his eyes, and only a couple of those silly little hairclips he likes. But his knitted sweater is covered with fuzzy white sheep, and the pale pink of his swishy wide-legged pants doesn’t look very mud-friendly. 

Right on cue, a city bus screams past, spraying Aubrey with a spatter of grade-A grime. 

“Oh!!” Basil gasps. “Are you okay?” 

“No. I’m melting. Guess you’re gonna have to get Sunny to do your hair. Just, please… Tell my story…”

“Hmph! Then I guess you don’t want the Tide-to-Go pen I’ve got in my backpack!!” 

“Pfffw,” she sputters. “Oh, my god, it’ll come off in the wash, you nerd. Anyway, these shorts have definitely seen worse.”

They take a quick detour to shop around for dye, and then they’re back on track. Outside of the CVS, Basil excuses himself to glance at his phone. He frowns. 

“...Sunny?” Like she even has to ask. 

Basil nods distractedly. “I’m a little worried…” 

Basil is basically always a little worried, but this time, he’s got a point. “Yeah, I guess he was a little off today. He’s all worked up about this Kel thing, huh?” 

“Oh my gosh, thank god you guys already talked about it—Yes!! They’re being so silly about this!! It’s—I mean—I don’t think I’m just making assumptions; of course I can’t see inside anyone else’s head, but it’s… From an outside perspective, it certainly seems like…”

“...They want the same thing, and they’re just being dumbshits about it?”

“Exactly!!!” Basil hesitates. “Well. Maybe not that last part. But Kel came over yesterday and oh my gosh, Aubrey, you would not believe how much they were—Ugh!! Okay, let me paint you a picture.” 

Some people might call it gossip, but their friends have always loved nothing more than talking about their friends. Knowing everything about each other is just another way to love someone.

“Hey, here’s an idea,” she says, when she’s finished laughing her ass off. “Kel’s headed to your place later, right?” Basil and Sunny are the only ones who actually live there, but all five of them have the keys. 

Basil nods.

“So, why don’t you crash at mine?” Nice. Totally casual. “Give Sunny a little space to sort his shit out, instead of just whining to us about it. Let’s be honest, those nerds need all the help they can get.” 

Basil’s eyes widen. “You… wouldn’t mind?” 

“Hey, c’mon! Why would I! It’s been way too long, anyway. When’s the last time we had a sleepover?”

“Probably, um.” He hesitates. “P-Probably after the psych ward.” 

…Right. Obviously. Wow, she’s an asshole. 

***

The last time Aubrey slept over at Basil’s house is also the first time in at least four years. (Assuming you don’t count the night she spent in his living room while, just down the hall, Basil was busy gouging out Sunny’s eye. Which Aubrey doesn’t. Basil wasn’t even there.)

It’s been exactly two weeks since Sunny moved away. Two weeks since Basil took Sunny’s eye, and Sunny clawed Basil’s face to bloody pulp. Two weeks since Sunny finally told the truth behind the lie that broke Hero’s heart and Basil’s mind and Aubrey’s ability to be a decent fucking person. 

It was too much. Way too fucking much. Aubrey had only just found the strength to look at herself, at all the things she’d said and done and didn’t do. The way she’d let grief make her into a monster. And before she even got the chance to properly apologize, the whole picture got flipped on its head. How is she supposed to feel about Basil now that she knows what he did? How is she supposed to apologize when she’s still so fucking angry? 

She needs answers. She needs answers, or she'll never sleep through the night for the rest of her life. Where the fuck else is she supposed to get them?

The doctors at the psych ward don’t want to send Basil home. But he’s following the rules, giving the right answers to all their leading questions. And they need his room for kids that are still actively trying to shoot up their school or set fire to their step-dad’s trailer or whatever. 

The doctors know that Basil is all messed up. Unstable. Dangerous. But the victim refuses to press charges, so, technically, there is no crime. At a certain point, their hands are tied. There’s nowhere else to put him. As usual, nobody wants him.

They did put him on antipsychotics, though. And sedatives. And anti-anxiety pills that make him feel like he’s floating underwater. All the drugs wrap his brain up in a soft blanket of fog, insulating him from the things he can’t stop remembering. The dark behind his eyes is still red with Sunny’s blood but it’s like a memory of a dream, a fairy tale he only half remembers. Once upon a time there were two boys, one made of poison and one made of blood. Rivers of blood. So thick that it runs almost black. 

Basil floats home and floats down the hall and floats into his room. Someone’s diligently removed everything sharp, the bonsai trimmer and the pruning shears and even all the pencils on his desk. And his carpet is gone. There’s a spot on the floor where the wood’s bleached white. That must be where he did it. 

Something rattles against his window. Outside, it’s already dark. On the other side of the glass, Mari swings from the tree. 

Basil blinks and the picture rearranges itself. Not Mari. Too alive. And too... pink. Aubrey. But why would Aubrey be hanging from the tree? Aubrey isn’t even dead. 

“Basil,” Aubrey’s voice hisses. It sounds real enough. But then, the voices always did. 

Basil frowns. Weren’t the drugs supposed to fix him? It feels like they made him worse.

“Basil. Basil!! I know you’re in there, man, we are literally making eye contact. Will you open up already? I’m losing my grip.”

Basil blinks again. Is the actual Aubrey actually hanging from the tree? He can’t make it make sense but he can’t connect any thoughts with any other thoughts, so maybe it does make sense, and it’s just his mind that’s wrong. Just in case, he lurches to his feet and fumbles with the lock.

The floor feels like jello. He misses the window-lock three times before it clicks. Then the window rattles open, and Aubrey swings through it. 

The picture warps. When Basil opens his eyes he’s on his bed again, slumped back against the headboard. But Aubrey is still there. She looks real. And strangely panicked.

“...Aubrrrr…? Why’re…” 

His tongue fumbles the rest. He’s out of practice, talking. Even when he wasn’t, he was never any good.

Basil’s eyes won’t focus. His pupils are wildly dilated, as round as two dimes. Aubrey managed to wrestle him back into bed before he could crack his skull on the floor, but he’s still slipping in and out of consciousness. He keeps looking at her like he’s not sure she’s real. Shit. What kind of fucked-up shit did they dose him with? 

“What‘rrr,” he mumbles. What are you doing here, probably. It’s a reasonable question. 

Aubrey came here for answers.

She knows what happened. Sunny isn’t much for talking, but when he does, he’s always very clear. But she still can’t understand how, or why. And she can’t stop feeling angry. She feels just as sorry as she feels angry, but that only makes the anger louder. Her anger is an alive thing inside her and it won’t stop burning in her chest, clawing at her throat. It feels like it won’t stop until she understands. 

But it doesn’t look like Basil is in any condition to help with that. Does he even know who she is? 

“Aubrrrr,” he slurs, tilting over sideways. So that’s probably a yes. “What’s. What???”

She huffs a breath. “Sorry. I just, uh. I heard you got discharged, and…” Her hands curl to fists. “Look, I think we need to talk.” 

To her horror, Basil bursts into tears. 

“H-Hey, come on. It’s not like—” Muscle memory makes her reach for him. Actual memory reminds her to keep her hands to herself. “I didn’t come here to hurt you.” 

It only makes him cry harder. Basil curls into himself like he’s trying to disappear. He’s trying to say something but it’s just noise. The keen of an animal in pain. 

Shit. She is fucking this up. 

She shouldn’t be here. It’s so fucked up that she’s even here. The bully who made his life hell for the past four years—the psycho who tried to drown him—just forced her way into his bedroom. Of course he’s fucking scared.

She lets out her breath. “Sorry. This was stupid. I'll get out of your hair.”

“W-Wait,” Basil gasps. “Please wait, I’m s-sorry, I can s-st-stop crying, I— If you j-just g-give me a second I p-p-promise I’ll stop.”

Jesus. “That’s not… What the fuck are you even—" He’s shaking like a leaf, shuddering with the effort of holding it in. “Jesus christ, Basil, I don’t care if you cry! I just thought you’d want me out of here!!”

Basil shakes his head, pathetically fast. 

Christ. How alone do you have to feel to beg for the company of someone who treats you like dirt? Jesus fucking christ, this kid has been so fucking lonely. 

(And whose fault is that?)

The knife in her gut twists.

—Fuck. Okay. No. She's going about this all wrong. 

When they were kids, Basil never liked getting doted on. When he cried, he wanted to be touched, but not looked at. Obviously the touch thing is a non-starter, given... everything. But he didn’t used to mind getting talked at. It helped break him out of it, sometimes. Otherwise, he could get stuck like that for hours.

Aubrey sits on the floor, deliberately nonthreatening. “...Do you want a minute? Or should I just talk at you?”

“P-P, Pl—“ He grimaces through his tears, makes a fumbling gesture. Go ahead.

His stutter is worse than she remembers. Almost as bad as when they first met. That’s probably her fault, too. The shrapnel in her stomach crunches and grinds.

“I’m sorry I shouted,” she says quietly.

Basil’s forehead scrunches. The motion wrinkles the scabs feathering his face, making him wince.

“Sorry. I mean, uh. In the hospital. After Sunny—Um.” Stupid. He knows what she means. “I didn’t mean to, uh.” She clears her throat. “I was just. Overwhelmed.”

Basil’s head tilts. His eyes are clouded, uncomprehending.

“I—” Aubrey huffs impatiently. “Have you heard from Sunny?”

He shakes his head. “They didn’t let me keep my phone.”

Of course not. “Sorry. I, uh. I still need to talk to you. If that’s okay. But honestly, dude, you look like shit. You should probably, like… rest? I can come back in the—”

“No,” he gasps, lurching forward so violently that would have toppled out of bed, if she didn’t fling an arm in the way. “P-P-Pl, p-p-please—”

“Hey, woah!! Careful! Jesus fuckin… I’m not going anywhere, okay? I don’t really get it… But, I dunno. I guess I could… stay… over?” It’s almost unfathomable. Aubrey hasn’t slept in Basil’s room since they were stupid little kids. Just a couple of unwanted brats who’d got lucky enough to worm their way into someone else’s family. 

Immediately, she wants to take it back. Because, honestly, what the fuck is Basil going to think when he wakes up to find Aubrey on his floor? The monster under his bed, crawled out of his nightmares and into his waking world? But he looks so relieved that she can’t bring herself to do it. 

A moment later, a pillow falls onto the ground beside her. It’s followed by a blanket. 

Aubrey sits up a little, frowning. “Hey, c’mon. What are you—”

“Y’ll be cold,” Basil mumbles, semi-conscious. 

…Christ.

Whatever. It’s fine. It’s not like there’s anyone waiting for her at home. Aubrey will just wait until he falls asleep and then slip out the way she came, like she was never even here. Then once the sun’s up, she can knock on the front door like a normal fucking person. 

But when she opens her eyes, it’s already morning.

The scars on Basil’s face healed beautifully. Four years on, all that remains is a scatter of splintered white, like when you press your heel against a half-frozen puddle but only gently, not hard enough to crunch through to the mud. Or like those Japanese ceramics you make by smashing a pot and then painting it back together. 

Not that she’s ever told him that. She wouldn’t know how to do it without hurting him. Basil is very good at hearing the worst possible version of whatever-it-is you actually said.

Anyway, those wounds are already healed. No reason to cut into the scar.

[despair-to-future-arcs]

I still believe there’s something shady behind this.

I think so, especially given what I know about Kikue...

CHIAKI: From what I'm seeing of Kikue's profile, she score quite low on the exams during the first year.

Indeed and that is the part that confuses me, Kikue would never score that lowly; she actually did the most studying and even her own teacher stated that she would score very high which she was just as confused as the rest of us.

In fact, I think all of us at the time thought Ibuki or Akane was going to get kick out.

CHIAKI: Wait, you mean those 2?

Well of course and I'm not saying that to be harsh or cruel, it was obvious to everyone that either of those 2 were going to get the kick from Class 77, like it or not - that is how Hope's Peak Academy was run.

If you score the lowest of your Class year, one person is to be expelled, no exception; it was the same for our senior year too so studying for the exams was necessary.

So why... why did Kikue get expelled?! I still don't understand how it happen but it did!

...

...

...

Date: July 10th, 2010

*at the library, the girls of Class 77 were all studying together*

Man... why do we gotta study? I really don't wanna study...

But we have to, given that written exams are 50 percent of your exam grade.

Exactly, unless you want to be kick out then you better continue to study, even if you aren't good at it.

Easy for you to say, you 2 got talents that have history while mine is music, not sure why I have to write it and even Akane might do better because se at least has Nekomaru helping her and Shoji is in Class 76 so meaning I'm on my own.

Yeah but even then I tend to fall asleep, it's hard to focus on that stuff when all I can do is perform some tricks.

Yeah... honestly I think for those that have talents that aren't written; we all probably are gonna have a hard time.

Oh well, except for Kikue; she probably grade the highest of us!

*has a bunch of books around her and reading them and writing* ...

Yeah honestly thinking on it, Kikue getting the highest score would be easy.

Say Kikue... can you maybe give us some tips to help us out?

Hey, no cheating Kiriko! I thought that was clear we don't do that!

I know co-student council president but I just figure asking for some tips could be helpful and it's not cheating; just some advice and besides, it's not like we are asking for her notes; after all, it's just to help make studying easier for some of us.

You want some tips? Well, I wouldn't mind to give you all some.

Well if I have to give advice here; I recommend to keep your area clean, it helps when working also background music can really help too.

Whoa so listening to music can help?

Well yeah a psychologist name Francis Rauscher, whose research on music and the brain inadvertently prompted the whole “play classical music to your unborn child” craze, the brain can improve certain cognitive skills so maybe bring some headphones and CDs to listen to and it doesn't have to classical either, whatever music you enjoy and helps with studying should do.

Hmm, okay I guess I can do that; I was always told that not listen to my music but that's useful.

Indeed, as long as your not distracting others; you should be fine. While for Akane, I do recommend bringing some snack foods you can eat while studying; probably fish, nuts, seeds, yogurt and blueberries would help out.

Wait so your saying that food can help with studying too?

Yeah it can, choosing nutritious foods that have been proven to aid concentration and memory, even eating a good meal before exams can help as well. I can make some recommendations of what you can eat if it helps and write them down.

Okay, thanks! I'll be sure to keep that in mind and have Coach Nekomaru get me some.

Thank you so much Kikue, I think having you help us with studying really has help and might make it easier.

It's fine, after all; I think if we all want to success then it's best to work together and try to ask for help; that is what we should be doing so let's keep going.

'Kikue help with study group sessions, giving us all tips and advice to help with our exams, she seem like she would score the highest and even told us that even if we don't success; the best we did is at least try...but... but she didn't pass...'

[concubuck]

(( *laughing in "has a hobbyists interest in nutrition sciences and can guess how insanely complex lactation magic could get"*

Poor Alastor 😂 ))

((okay but that sounds super interesting and if you happen to have any relevant info/trivia I'd love to hear it 👀

I don't have a prior interest in nutrition sciences but what I DO have is a tendency to go apeshit on the research when I'm writing about a topic, which for the past few months has meant I've read an ungodly amount of articles about pregnancy and infant care; and so it was an article about the history of baby formula and other breast milk substitutes—along with the history of all the babies dying from bacteria or nutritional deficiencies we didn't know were in the substitutes, even well into the 20th century—along with an article about how you shOULD NOT TRY TO MAKE YOUR OWN BABY FORMULA AT HOME, DO NOT DO THAT—that convinced me that yeah... This is probably some advanced sorcery. If u wanna make that stuff on purpose rather than just let ur body figure it the fuck out it's gonna take like a master's degree in niche magic.

I think Alastor will be alright. It's a lot to take in but learning new kinds of magic makes his brain go zoom. It's enrichment in his enclosure.))

[raainy-daze]

Can you do headcanons of how the rottmnt(and the 2012 turtles if you really wanna) turtles would react to their gender neutral s/o getting mutated by the ozzsquitos into a raven/crow mutate

(Remember you don't gotta do it if you don't wanna)

Thank you and good night 😘

turtles react to s/o mutated into a corvid

rottmnt turtles (non poly) x gn!mutant!reader

summary: so as it turns out, oozesquitoes kind of suck. their stings hurt a lot more than you’d think, not to mention you’d suddenly sprouted feathers. maybe you should find the turtles.

word count: 544

a/n: thank you so much for requesting!! i have searched more random corvid facts over the last however long it took me to write this than i ever have in my life and i lowkey forgot english at several points. hope you like this!

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤

Raph . . .

“okay, okay, this is fine, (y/n)’s a mutant - OH MY GOD (Y/N)’S A MUTANT”

he’s not as much worried about you being a mutant as he is how you react to being a mutant

eventually, however, the dust’ll settle and you’ll get more used to your new form

after everyone adjusts, raph finds that he really admires your feathers

they’re just so pretty and smooth??

if you let him, sometimes he’ll just pet your feathers really gently

he thinks you’re really pretty / handsome / whatever term you prefer in general

he always did, of course

it’s just that the crow form really fits somehow?

after you get mutated, he seems to make extra sure you don’t get caught up in anything else

he has three little brothers he needs to worry about, he does not need more stress

long story short he’s overprotective

•°. *࿐

Leo . . .

most humans don’t want to be mutants.

leo is very aware of this.

so when you come into the lair covered in feathers going “hey so y’all are never going to guess what happened”

that was. something.

as long as you don’t mind, he doesn’t either

if you do, though, he will absolutely (attempt) to punch draxum the next time they cross paths

he gets you shiny things

it doesn’t matter if the shiny instinct actually transferred to you, he’ll just see a particularly shiny button and go “ha (y/n)”

oh and you better be braced for the dumbest bird jokes you’ve ever heard

or, worse yet, bird based pick up lines

probably sends you the average crow lifespan off google captioned “</3 you will be missed”

•°. *࿐

Donnie . . .

donnie’s google search history got really bizarre really quickly

“my partner is a mutant”

“help my partner got mutated”

“what to do when a radioactive mosquito turns your partner into a bird”

now knows several corvid facts and will tell you all of them! (threat)

“hey (y/n), did you know that crows have funerals?”

for some reason, he can’t for the life of him figure out whether you’re technically a crow or a raven, and it drives him nuts

this will not stop him from nitpicking anyone who calls you one or the other

if you do want to go back to being human someday, he’ll be researching a potential remedy in his free time

you’re the only one allowed near his experiments when they’re in progress

this has always been true but now he has the excuse “corvids are some of the smartest animals on earth”

•°. *࿐

Mikey . . .

it takes mikey a little bit to process that you’re actually a mutant

just because it never occurred to him anyone could get mutated

he never considered the possibility until it actually happened

he kind of just stood there for about ten seconds. blank faced. no thoughts.

similar to leo, he gives you shiny things

but no no no

not just shiny things

he makes you a shiny BRACELET

it clinks together a lot, and probably has a couple jingle bells on there, so it’s incredibly impractical

but it’s made with love

if you ever feel down about missing your human life, he does his damn best to cheer you up

he will bring you your favorite pizza and give you hugs until you feel better

[youtubesavedmylife]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses Characters as Things My Family Has Said (⚠️General Spoilers)

Blue Lion:

Dimitri: "Give me access to the seratonin as I have never had before."

Dedue: "Ma'am please this is a Wendy's."

Sylvain: "I swear there's nothing in my underwear but me."

Felix: "Well, if Sylvain gets his butt cherry popped, it's his problem not mine, as long as it's his decision."

Ingrid: "NO DICK-WHIPPING DURING FAMILY TIME!"

Annette: "It was a snacks-ident."

Ashe: "Imma bad book! You can't read me!"

Mercedes: "This is for a girl that likes pink, plastic roses, and Sothis."

Black Eagle:

Edlegard: “I don't know, I might body swap with Dimitri just so I could kill myself.”

Hubert: "I probably scared them off with my scent."

Ferdinand: "If I had known about polyamory in college I probably would've done it."

Bernadetta: "I can't even scream, I just got that Windows XP load up noise."

Lindhardt: "I firmly believe I am asexual, but nothing gets me going like a tall woman."

Caspar: "My friend asked me 'if you were a pinata, what would you drop' and I said adderall and lego studs."

Dorthea: "If a guy wants to get you pregnant, tell him you left your vagina in your other pants."

Petra: *opening a peanut* "Oh I got a double nut!"

Golden Deer:

Claude: "Bro, being sad is dumb."

Hilda: "I got excited and forgot about the consequences of winning."

Ignatz: "He could cream his shorts and still be like 'it's okay'."

Raphael: "I need to Google why my farts smell so bad."

Marianne: "She's just hypersensitive to that good good."

Lorenz: "Ugh, women don't deserve a history month."

Leonie: "Me when I become your stepdad."

Lysithea: "No, honey. You should've been euthanized at 15."

Ashen Wolves:

Yuri: "I'll suck the emperor's ass before I let anyone convince me my father is a good man."

Hapi: "Why would you wanna be a politician? That just automatically makes you an ass."

Constance: "She's the definition of 'my life sucks so I guess I'll eat dirt.'"

Balthus: "I want people to lure me out places with meat on a stick."

Other:

Byleth: "Some of the teachers would sit in the cafeteria, making sure the natives don't go wild."

Rhea: "What about 'fuck dem kids'?"

Sothis: "I'm bout to Ooguay outta here."

Seteth: "STOP DON'T TAKE MY CHILD!! That's theft."

Flayn: "I'm gonna guppy your bubbles if you don't shut up."

Cyril: "The coolest thing I've ever made is a breakthrough in counseling."

Catherine: "I didn't body slam her, I accidentally pushed her."

Shamir: "I have a lot of problems and most of them have to do with straight people."

Alois: "I hope one day I'll never stop being funny."

Jeralt: “Please don't do anything behind my back, I'm sensitive there.”

Manuela: "I fulfilled my middle-class white girl duties today."

Hanneman: "Why do something if you're not going to research it?"

[atpaftmoom-bily]

Thoughts about Erik, why Wilhelm wasn't allowed to come out, and more.

Be warned, this is long, confusing, and I'm not even sure if I made any valid points. But I had thoughts on Young Royals, with no one to talk to, so here you go.

I've seen various different takes on Erik and what people thought his reaction would have been if Willie had come out to him, most of them being positive, and some as well saying how sad it was that Willie never got to come out to his brother. I have a different take, but bear with me it's gonna take a second to get there.

Something that I found interesting in the first place was that when August found out it was Simon and not a girl, he just seemed shocked, but not in a homophobic way that I had kind of been expecting.

Additionally, let's take a look at the comments on the video, I've split them up into three different groups. General comments (disbelief, surprise, pity, etc.), comments sexualizing them, and negative comments. (I've translated these as well as I could as they were not all captioned, but if I've made a mistake feel free to let me know!)

General Comments "OMG Have you seen this?? The Prince is gay!!!!" "Who's the other guy?" "I'm dead" "Finally some news to put Sweden on the map!" "Poor boys, I feel sorry for them" "So clumsy to get caught on film" "I know where he lives!" "I think the video is fake" "Love for the boys"

Sexualizing Comments "Royal porn" "Sexy" "Love" "Sexiest video ever"

Negative Comments "How will the monarchy survive this?" "The end of the royal family, time for Sweden to become a republic!" "Never been ashamed about being Swedish until now" "Class traitor! Your mother cries for your sins"

Now, there are quite a few things I want to point out about Sweden that I feel should be taken into account here. Of course, we don't know the exact dates that the show took place, but we do know it is modern-day, and though it is a work of fiction, I am going to assume that anything that is currently true in Sweden at the moment, give or take a few years, would also be true in the Young Royals universe.

The first point I would like to make is that Sweden is one of the most LGBT-friendly countries, even being named the most friendly country in 2019. Looking back in history, 1944 was when Sweden decriminalized sexual relationships between consenting adults of the same sex, though it was still thought to be an illness. However, in 1979 it was no longer considered an illness. Fun unrelated fact, but Sweden was the first country to legalize gender change in 1979. (If you'd like to read more on LGBT rights in Sweden here are some resources. One. Two.) If Sweden is that progressive and is that LGBT-friendly, then I wondered what the problem was with Willie coming out, so I dug some more.

I'm American, so my understanding of many parts of the world is unfortunately skewed or incomplete, but I'm working on changing that. However, because of this, one thing that surprised me in my research was that the monarchy in Sweden is more of a unifying symbol than anything else. They have no political affinity or formal powers, but rather "the King’s duties are mainly of a ceremonial and representative nature." Of course in the case of Young Royals, the Queen inherited the throne, and Wilhelm would after her.

Something else I found interesting about the monarchy in Sweden is that the current Queen, Queen Silvia, did not come from a line of nobility, so when Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf married in 1976, it was highly unusual. (See more on the Swedish monarchy here.)

There is one last thing I want to point out about the current King and Queen. "In summer 2000, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden made history when they ate under the rainbow flag at Djurgårdsterrassen, a Stockholm restaurant owned by gay owner Arto Winter. At that time, the decision was seen as controversial, and played a valuable role in moving conversations forward – while making the royals’ position abundantly clear." (Source)

Now, of course, I understand the difference between a fictional work and real-life situations, but at least in my opinion, these same ideals should carry through to the show that we see. If the King and Queen in real life have been openly supportive of the LGBT community since at least 2000, then although specifics might not be the same, some of those ideals should carry through to Young Royals, so what is the problem, right?

I'm not trying to erase the reality of homophobia altogether, because of course, that exists. We even see in the show through comments that there are some people who are worried about the state of the monarchy, are disgusted, or downright still think that not being straight is a sin, but we also see other comments as well. If Wilhelm were to come out, what would happen? Would there be some backlash? 100%. Would there be people who would support him? Also 100%. Would it make his life harder? Probably, but would he be happier? In my opinion, yes, but I guess that's a question that Wilhelm would have to gauge on his own.

Now I want to look deeper at the conversation that Wille has with his mother, the Queen, in the car on the way home so he can give a statement to the media. Below is an excerpt from their dialogue.

---

Wilhelm: Why can't I just have a relationship with him? And not say anything. Just live a normal life.

Queen: You're the crown prince. And that's a privilege, not a punishment.

Wilhelm: Yes, but I didn't ask for this!

Queen: Well, nobody has ever, ever asked for this! You are the only one who can take over the throne after Erik. Don't you understand that? You are so young. When you're young, love feels like the most important thing in the whole world. When I was your age, I too had an unfortunate romance. That was before I met your father. What I mean is, is it worth it? If you feel that the attention you've been getting so far is unacceptable, it's nothing compared to what you will endure for the rest of your life. We have a chance to cover this up, I urge you to take that chance. You may not get another."

---

Something I find interesting is how much Willie just wants to live a normal life, which I get. He is under so much pressure, from being a role model, his brother's death that he hasn't even had time to process, preparing to be king someday, and (kind of) being outed to the entire world, but at least his school. It's enough to make anyone want to live normally. I think the biggest thing we have to think about here is the Queen's question as well. Is it worth it? She is right of course, the attention he will get will always be there, but I do think that Willie would be able to find a way to be happy along with being King. It shouldn't have to be a case of either-or, and ultimately I don't think it is.

Now I'm going to move back to Erik, and really, this ties everything back to the start where I mentioned I had a different take on Erik's reaction to Willie being not straight. I think that Erik already knew. It would make sense for a variety of reasons. In the show, it is obvious that the two of them have a good relationship. We also hear Erik tell Willie, "you can trust him, he's like a brother," in episode one when speaking about August, showing that trust is something strong between them as brothers. I'm not exactly sure how old Wilhelm is meant to be in the show, but I estimate somewhere around sixteen. I would like to assume that sometime before attending Hillerska, he may have had a crush or felt some attraction to a guy. We also can see from their phone call in episode three, that they're not afraid to joke around with each other about such things, meaning that Erik would most likely be the first person that Willie would go to about such things.

Another thing that makes me believe Erik already knew has to do with people assuming that Simon is the first guy that Willie has liked. Now, I know things are not the same for everyone, but if we consider what happens when the video is posted, and Willie had to deny it is him, we can conclude that being anything other than straight in their family is not okay, simply because they are royals, and the media attention will be too much. Imagine you've known your whole life, you can't be something, the first instance you encounter that, you're probably not going to give in right away. I'm talking at least some minor internalized homophobia here or something.

So put that into the context of Simon and Willie's first kiss in episode two. Simon kisses Willie twice before Willie says "Well, I'm not... I'm not... Stop! Wait, wait, wait!" and immediately pulls Simon back towards him. Let's reflect back to episode one where Willie says "I’m not… I’m not allowed to speak about political issues." I'm not allowed. Of course, there are TONS of restrictions on what he can and can not do, kissing guys, probably being one of them. But if he was going to say I'm not gay or I'm not like that, why would he instantly pull him back in, contrasting what he was just going to say. In episode three, Willie does say, "I'm not like that," which makes sense. He's had time to think and isn't in the heat of the moment. What other explanation can he give? Sure, he could say he's not allowed to be like that but saying that would admit that he is. It's a circle, a very messy circle, but it is a... loop.

Going back to what I'm supposed to be talking about here, Erik. This isn't Willie's first rodeo, but Erik was there for the first. One last thing I want to talk about is the phone call that Erik and Willie have in episode three. Below is an excerpt from their dialogue.

---

Erik: You've met someone.

Wilhelm: I, uh... Yes, okay, but I... I don't think we're a couple or anything. I don't know what it is but can we just...

Erik: I get it. I get it. You don't have to tell me any... I don't wanna hear any details. Hey. Willie, enjoy yourself. Soon enough people will start having opinions and-

Wilhelm: They don't care about me. 'Cause you're the Crown Prince that they have opinions.

Erik: I don't get it. Why are you sitting in your room sulking when you have a crush to hang out with?

---

Firstly, Erik refers to Willie's crush as completely gender-neutral. "You've met someone" could very easily be "you've met a girl". The same goes for "you have a crush to hang out with". Very well could have been "you have a girl to hang out with". Sure, it could be completely coincidental, but we live in such a heteronormative society that it would just make sense for Erik to use female-gendered words. Unless, of course, he knew.

Secondly, "Hey. Willie, enjoy yourself. Soon enough people will start having opinions". This sounds very much to me like, enjoy your time while you can be yourself without backlash because soon you won't have that privacy. While I feel that, yes, the same may happen with anyone Willie was to date, him having a same-sex partner multiplies that, by a lot.

In conclusion, Erik knew Willie was not straight, Willie should come out, but when he is ready, and August is a really deep character that people don't give enough credit to. Gosh, I hope I covered everything, I probably forgot so much, but it's fine. Please let me know your thoughts if you've made it this far into the post.

One last thing. I hope you'll notice how in this post, I never referred specifically to Wilhelm's sexuality, and I did that for a reason. I often see gay used to label him, and though I am unsure if that's being used as an umbrella term or specifically as in he only likes men, I think it's really important to realize that they're specifically making him unlabeled. In this youtube video Edvin Ryding, the actor who plays Wilhelm, says "What we're trying to do... We're not labeling Wilhelm's sexuality. I think that's good because it's like, it portrays that it's okay that way too. You don't have to. You shouldn't have to come out. It should be allowed to be a bit fluid, a bit out there." I just think that it is important as it's another type of representation that is not seen often.

[queers-gambit]

hi there, cherry!

i read tears in the rain (again! no one is surprised) and it got me thinking - will a person who underwent surgery have any marks left on their chest, like scars or stitches? or as a part of the lore, do they magically disappear? i've never read hanahaki disease fics before yours so i am unaware of this just yet..

i just can't stop thinking about how the reader would see it all the time and try their best to remember why they had it but to no avail, while everybody around them probably avoids having to answer their questions truthfully. it hurts, but in a good way (god i love angst so much)

hope you're having a good day, and thank you

i love your stories as much as i love you!

hi, poppet!

solid question - and here's the thing. folklore has a plethora of explanations, so from my research, it's more common that the person who had the surgery doesn't remember the reason they had surgery, and their scars heal crazy fast so they're no longer there.

however, there's a thousand ways to write Hanahaki so there's a possibility that there's scars. and the very idea that baby girl has to look at them everyday but she can't remember? pure pain.

but that's such an interesting idea. like, she sees the scars and gives herself stress headaches trying to remember but she can't. her parents won't answer her, and when she asks her friends, they're swift to change the subjects.

and they're also really supportive of her scars; they might be borderline prouder of them than she. THEY remember why she needed the surgery and the bravery that was required to go through with it - so, they do their best to avoid her questions out of sheer want to protect her.

wanna be hurt more? what if it's Eddie that tells her she had surgery?

hear me out - he avoids her, gives her space, doesn't want to hurt her anymore. and he finds himself at Lover's Lake, in the spot they always hung out in; just smoking and watching the creepily-still lake surface.

he hears someone approaching but doesn't react because he just wants to be alone and prays whoever it is moves on.

but then you're sitting next to him after spotting him and figuring it was okay to approach because you thought you wanted to be alone too, but something in your stomach twists and you'll shyly introducing yourself to the boy you shared History class with, missing the single tear that falls from his eye out of pain. he'll play along and choke back his rest of his tears before you're asking him for a hit of the joint he's smoking.

he'll pin you with a confused look, "you can't smoke."

"why not?"

"you just had surgery, like, 3 months ago."

your head cocks, "you know?"

"course i do."

"well, do you know where the surgery was?"

he'll, again, pin you with a confused look. "what do you mean?"

"well, i can see the scars but i can't remember why i needed surgery."

he nods slowly, so fucking slow it's almost missed. he'll take a long pull of his joint and his eyes will fall to the dark dirt beneath you both; moon casting the only light.

"you had surgery on your lungs."

he takes a long hit to halt the emotion on his tongue.

"what was wrong with them? i can't remember that either, and nobody wants to tell me..."

he'll feel this overwhelming empathy because he figures you deserve to know what happened to you. "you were dying," he'll admit quietly, drawing his knees in and hooking his arms around them. "and you made a really brave decision to have the surgery. it... it saved your life, so, maybe that's why they don't wanna talk about it. it scared them that they'd lose you, so, they don't want you to remember that pain."

"what pain?" your voice is in a whisper.

and he'll finally look at you and the moon's glow will make his eyes shine brightly; you'll clock his tears as they fall, but you're distracted by his words, "the pain i caused you."

i'm hurt again. but i love you, too, poppet!! thank you for sending this in!! 🖤

edit: i'm supposed to be resting but wonky brain now can't let this idea go so guess who's outlining and fleshing out fics!! lowkey might have to incorporate this into a fic 🤔

[sitaarein]

Desi rep

okay so this is partly inspired because of a whole bunch of incredibly, incredibly dumb asks my friend has gotten but it is ALSO, more importantly, because I am sick of the shit I have seen so here, have a not very concise post about what to do and what to avoid if you are writing desi rep (this can also be applied outside of writing I guess??)

If you give a character an Indian name and call it a day, I will actually come and murder you. For starters, India has a whole CULTURE that you have very much decided to ignore and that. is. not. okay. If you can give your white characters all the attention and details and research in the world, you can do the same for your desi characters. Secondly, the word “desi” is used to describe so much more than simply Indian. Wanna know which countries qualify as desi? India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Don’t you even dare assume desi=indian and leave it at that.    

This point ties into what I just said about desi people. Please, I am actually begging you, include more than Indian characters if you want to include south asia in your writing. I am Pakistani and I am so so sick of my identity being erased wherever I look. NOT that I have anything against India or Indians. It is simply the ignorance of people assuming the whole of South Asia is simply India that is supremely horrible to see

 This is based off of personal experience. People actually think that either a) India isn’t a part of Asia or b) there are no countries in South Asia aside from India or c) both of those incredibly ignorant views. And all I can say is: what. the. fuck. Do not do that. Indians are Asians. Pakistanis are Asians. Nepalis are Asians. Bengalis are Asians. Bhutanese are Asians. Sri Lankans are Asians. Maldivians are Asians. If you do not think so, then that is actually just racist of you. Don’t talk to me until you’ve looked at a map.

Another personal point that just.. hurts. Do you know what the Muslim population of the Indian subcontinent is? (The Indian subcontinent is made up of all the countries mentioned above) The answer is: around 600 million. Out of 1.7 billion people, 600 million of them are Muslims. Put into perspective, its not a lot. But the Muslims have a whole separate identity. A separate culture. The whole reason Pakistan even came into existence is because the Muslims of the subcontinent were so fundamentally different. So if you have a desi based country or continent, please, please take a moment to think about the different cultures. 

The above point, but apply it to Sikhs and Brahmins and the numerous identities I do not even know of. They’re all unique. Look them up. Don’t just call a stereotyped culture “Indian” and leave it there.

Speaking of culture: Just. Do your bloody research. Each of the countries in the Indian subcontinent have different national languages, and then INSIDE the country there are multiple dialects based on areas and tribes. Going to take Pakistan as an example: Our national language is Urdu, but the language most commonly spoken by far is Punjabi. So the average Pakistani you meet is almost definitely bilingual, and if they have had an english education, they are almost definitely trilingual. Same goes for all the other countries, I’m sure

Speaking of culture, part 2: there is literally too much to talk about for me to cover it all in one post, so I’m just gonna say: all desi countries are very different to each other, and inside the countries the various provinces are incredibly different. In addition to the changes in language, you’ll also get different staple dishes (even though most the food of the Indian subcontinent are the same in every country, you get some kind of twist that is always uniquely of that country or region or province’s), different folk tales, different poetry and literature, different icons and heroes- the list goes on. So, once more: Do your research.   

I mentioned food briefly in the point above which reminded me of something else: I resent the fact that food that is pretty much native to the whole subcontinent is simply called... Indian. Once again, this is absolutely NOT out of hate for India, it is because that is such a generalization.  Its because by calling it Indian you are effectively dismissing 5 other countries who eat and cook the same food because it belongs to them just as much as it does to the Indians. If you want a general name, call it desi food. 

this point is... less serious than the others, its just something I find fun and could use more of in media. Desi people are obsessed with sports. Like, obsessed. Some of us pretty much breathe cricket. I just think its an interesting fact and pretty much a part of culture at this point, so I’d like to see the stereotypical desi uncle who wouldn’t miss a match for the life of him every once in a while

Back to seriousness. If you even bloody imply that your desi character is violent, I will duct tape you to a chair and make you watch dramatic pakistani dramas on repeat (it won’t be fun, trust me). I have had it with South Asia being portrayed as a terrorist hub. Do not even think of conforming to such a stereotype. I will literally hunt you down and make sure you never, ever even think of doing so ever again. 

Also: If you bloody dare imply that we are, in any way, backward, I will once more carry out the above punishments. Stop. Just stop.

Oh man, talk about the history of the Indian subcontinent. Talk about the heritage. Have you like... seen the architecture????? There’s more than just the Taj Mahal here my dudes. Forget all the “dangerous countries” bullshit. Focus on the brilliance of, well, everything, instead. 

Oh oh speaking of: Have you guys heard of mohenjo daro?? Look it up. There’s some fantasy/mystery potential there. Use it for whatever, it would make my day

Time to talk about geography. So first off: Mountains. So many amazing mountains. Both Everest and K-2 (the tallest and second tallest) are located here. The Himalayas are located here. Pretty amazing, eh? Second off: Deserts. Do you know how many mineral riches are hidden in those? Its amazing. Third off: Rivers. Oh man the rivers. Did you know the Indus river is full of blind dolphins native to the Indus river only? Did you know they’re very very endangered? Find some funds for them while you’re looking up info about them, btw. Also another sea animal native to South Asia which has pretty much been driven out of Pakistan and Myanmar: the gharial. look them up too, seriously. That would be great. Fourth off: The plains. Do you have any idea how fertile our soil is? Because. Its insane. And there’s so much more about the geography and topography of the Indian subcontinent, guys. Look it all up. I’m so sick of vague desert land descriptions for the Indian subcontinent.

Religion. Now this overlaps with culture a lot, since quite a few people choose to define their religion as their culture, but we’re still touching upon it. This is pretty vague, but there are definitely at least over seven. Each comes with its entirely unique practices. Do not even try having a desi character who is Sikh but knows nothing about Sikhism, or Muslim but knows nothing about Islam, because even if they aren’t practicing, they grow up learning about whatever religion their family practices, most of the time. 

If you’re desi, feel free to add on whatever you think is relevant here. If you’re not, shut the fuck up. This is not about you, and it will never be. Feel free to reblog, but kindly keep your comments or opinions to yourself if they are not in agreement with all the above points or promises to be less ignorant.

My inbox is open if you have any questions. Desi people let me know if I said something wrong or offensive and I promise I’ll do my best to correct it