#non native english ask meme

[sunshine-and-moonshine]

Slug? No, it’s a Slut.

Requested: Yes! [could i request 141+ konig reacting to reader who's not a native english speaker and asked for their help getting a slug out of their shower, but calls it a slut accidentally? Like that one meme, if you have time i'd love to see ale and rudy because i feel bad when they get left out but only if you have time! thank you <3]

Warnings: Uhhhhhh, some playful teasing. Reader gets laughed at. Second hand embarrassment.

Price

Blinks at you. Once, twice, three times before he just shakes his head, trying to think of what the hell you could actually mean because he’s pretty sure you don’t have a real life slut in your shower. That sure would be a weird situation though. He decides to just follow you, shaking his head again when he sees the slimy friend crawling around at the bottom of the tub. He’ll correct you later, after he gets this thing outside.

Gaz

Gaz laughs immediately but tries to hide it by covering his mouth with the palm of his hand, biting into his lip and taking deep breaths through his nose. It takes him a good minute to compose himself, looking at your distressed expression only sending him back into more fits of giggles. Eventually he just has to make his way to your shower, his laughter when he sees the slug being heard all throughout the base that day. But he does get rid of the slug for you!

Ghost

“A what now?” He asked you, the patience of a god while you were crying about a Slag in your shower. He’s pretty sure this is his own fault for saying that so often but he knows you’d probably confuse words anyways so he doesn’t feel too bad about it. He just pats your head, trying not to laugh at you when he enters the bathroom and sees what the problem is. Gently escorts the lost friend out the front door and has to fight down a chuckle everytime he sees a slug from then on.

Soap

Much like Gaz, Soap has a hard time not laughing at you. The problem is that he’s somehow much worse at hiding it. It doesn’t even seem like he’s making much of an effort at all when he ends up curled up on the floor, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clutches his stomach. He’ll apologize if you get upset with him over it but it’s just so funny to him! Everytime he sees a slug from now on he’ll smirk at you then point at it and call it a slut right to your face, much to the confusion of everyone around you.

König

Very confused. As a non native English speaker himself he understands confusing words. But your confusion only drives his own as he mutters a soft “Schlampe?” to himself, brows furrowed beneath his hood as he follows you to your bathrooms, his confusion only skyrocketing as he picks up the little slug and takes it outside. He just assumes that he’s pronouncing it wrong even though he’s sure that he isn’t. Gets very embarrassed when he calls a slug a slut in front of the other KorTac members and gets laughed at mercilessly.

[ancientbygone]

intro post

Copper, 19 years old, it/its pronouns (he/him acceptable; no they/them). made this side blog as a contained space for my own Sleep Token art and ramblings and such first and foremost, as well as others' Sleep Token posts i like.

if you want to support me, consider donating or purchasing from the store: https://ko-fi.com/copper_sands prints are available at https://ko-fi.com/s/622c53b51c

DNI:

the basics (racist/queerphobic/etc), including zionists

unmasking the band members

if you romanticize/glorify incest, zoophilia, sexual depictions of children, etc. (fictional or not, either way it's block on sight)

if you use, support, or in any way condone any use of generative AI (images, music, text, anything at all)

strictly/mostly NSFW blogs (if it's just occasional NSFW content that's chill)

taglist & more info under the cut:

notes:

DO NOT REPOST MY ART. if you wanna use it for non-commercial means, ask for permission & if allowed, credit me when used. if you wanna use it for commercial means, fuck right off.

my native language isn't english. if i fuck it up i fuck it up.

i do not ship the band members themselves or their stage personas and i find it uncomfortable in general (for myself). i know i listed RPF in my dni but i feel the need to elaborate that for the sake of personal taste, it applies to their stage presence, too.

adding onto the previous point, whenever i talk about the vessels in terms of lore/adjacent, i am talking about them as characters. always. this blog is not for speculating on their private lives, and if you do so, you will be blocked.

i'd prefer not to discuss any of the sexual connotations in the lyrics for my own comfort. i know they exist, i just prefer not to think about them for my own interpretations.

i would appreciate people not leaving NSFW comments on my art, especially the more emotionally heavy stuff, thank you very much! if you really Have to say something, please do it in a separate post or just in a place where i'm unlikely to see it.

even if i might tag my writing as "theories", they aren't necessarily intended as such. if anything, i'm telling a story of my own based on the lyrics. if you try to claim there is one correct interpretation and it's yours, you're getting blocked.

adding onto the previous point (x2), a lot of the time i interpret the lyrics in tandem with my personal life experiences. it will absolutely get a little too real here. if the subject matter is too heavy, it will be tagged with #[subject] and #[subject] tw.

let me know if you want/need me to tag anything specific! either in an ask or in my DMs. don't hesitate to reach out about that :]

in addition to everything, i will be posting about my Sleep Token D&D AU, which is as simple as it sounds and also not at all. it's also very removed from my "main canon" or most of the band IRL, so it's really just me (& @mapleborealis !) fucking around. also, unlike the "main canon", they are a polycule and all kiss with tongue /hj

blog tags (WIP):

organization:

#bygone art - my own art

#bygone talks - my ramblings & the more disconnected bits of writing/theorizing

#bygone writes - the more coherent writing/theorizing

#bygone lore - everything related to my version of the lore of Sleep Token, be it art, writing, or anything else

#bygone silly - my memes

#bygone shows - any post of mine related to a personal Sleep Token ritual experience (pics, rambling, etc)

#bygone footage - images/videos/etc of the band, mine or not (credited as much as possible)

#bygone beloved - posts i particularly like and want to archive, mine or otherwise

#bygone off topic - things vaguely related to sleep token or not related at all

#others' [___] - a post of any variety listed above, just made by someone else

d&d au:

#sleep token dnd and #dnd au - general au tags

#dnd au vessel/ii/iii/iv/etc. - character-specific d&d au posts

little clarifying moments:

#espera - tag for vesselettes (hopefully no maskless posts; won't call them vesselettes either)

#sleep token him - separate tag for whatever Vessel and Sleep were pre-Sundowning. you can glimpse more on that in my posts about it.

#sparrowverse (thank you @fivewholeminutes for the name) - everything related to the lore of a timeline alternate to my main lore in which each vessel of Sleep has to kill the one before them to assume their place. outlined in my fanfic "kill the sparrow". there isn't much to it right now but there might be more trust

[fire-bear]

I'm Not From The US!

@fortheunicornchild tagged me in this ask set, so I'm posting the answers here. (Sorry it took so long, been a busy week.)

1. favourite place in your country? I really loved the times me and my family were on Skye and there was this really nice wee restaurant in Portree. I think I just liked the illusion of isolation (there's a bridge that connects the island to the mainland).

2. do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad? When I was younger, we couldn't afford to go anywhere, so I spent all my holidays in Scotland, with a few days out into the very north of England (specifically around Hadrian's Wall). So, now that I work and have money of my own, I prefer to travel outwith the country when I can, especially since I want to go see the world.

3. does your country have access to sea? We're an island, baby.

4. favourite dish specific for your country? Haggis. Usually with broccoli and tatties (not a big fan of neeps).

5. favourite song in your native language? Technically, my native language should be Gaelic and I don't know many specific songs of it. But I do love listening to Gaelic singers. Such a melodic language, really.

6. most hated song in your native language? None, I guess.

7. three words from your native language that you like the most? Failte - means welcome. Usige beatha - literally means water of life, or whisky. Ceilidh - a traditional night of dance, super fun.

8. do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom? Not really. I suppose people just think I'm British, which is also true, but I consider myself Scottish first.

9. which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best? I'd like to go back to Norway. I went once, for a week, on my own, a week before everything really opened up. There was a bit of snow too, and I wasn't really prepared since I somehow thought that it must have been spring by then. Anyway, I'd like to see what I missed and also go to the fjords, since I was mostly in Oslo.

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language? To be honest, I don't really know any Gaelic swears offhand. I'd have to look it up. But, in English/Scots, I do like "bellend".

11. favourite native writer/poet? Robert Burns. Gotta love Tam O'Shanter and To a Moose.

12. what do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem? Burns's stuff is in Scots. If you translated it to English, that would be sacrilegious.

13. does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders? Up Helly Aa - a Viking festival that happens in Shetland. Most of our superstitions and traditions are probably widely known, or so I think. I suppose people would find it strange that a Viking festival is still being celebrated in a non Nordic country.

14. do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV? Yeah, there's loads of fun things! "There's been a murder."

15. a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get? "Gonnae no dae that?" - "How naw?" - "Just... gonnae no."

16. which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with? I suppose everyone having red hair is something I disagree with - I mean, it's pretty rare. I'm not sure which one I would agree with, probably how friendly we're supposed to be. No idea, really.

17. are you interested in your country’s history? Yeah! I've always loved going around Scotland and learning more about its past.

18. do you speak with a dialect of your native language? Not really. I speak English.

19. do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem? They're the best! Love them! And our national animal is a unicorn.

20. which sport is The Sport in your country? Football, unfortunately. But rugby is a close second, I guess. Oh! And we're pretty good at curling. Oh, oh! And we're the home of golf, I guess. But most people are concerned with football.

21. if you could send two things from your country into space, what would they be? Myself with some Irn Bru. Or, a kilt and some bagpipes.

22. what makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed? We tried our hardest not to be in the UK centuries ago. And the Treaty of Arbroath was apparently the precursor to the French and American declarations of Independence. And, for ashamed, a lot of Scottish entrepreneurs and businessmen basically became slave traders and I think they kick-started it? Whether they did or not, most of the slave traders were Scottish, I think, though I'd have to look that up to confirm.

23. which alcoholic beverage is the favoured one in your country? Probably beer/cider/lager? I don't really drink, so I don't know which is which. Although, I remember drinking a lot of vodka and soft drinks, so... 🤷🏻‍♀️

24. what other nation is joked about most often in your country? Probably the English/Americans, about equally.

25. would you like to come from another place, be born in another country? Nah, I'm fine with Scotland, even if we're still stuck in the UK.

26. does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal? I suppose. I guess Scottish people get romanticised a fair bit. Or made fun of in the Simpsons, but that's hilarious.

27. favourite national celebrity? Ewan McGregor. He was at a con I was at once and I watched his panel and he seemed lovely.

28. does your country have a lot of lakes, mountains, rivers? do you have favourites? Yup. So, so many. Though we call them lochs. Not got a favourite, really. I love the scenery in Scotland.

29. does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country? I suppose the west of the Central Belt and the east have a sort of rivalry. But it's not that serious, more of a joke.

30. do you have people of different nationalities in your family? Nope. All Scottish. Though, apparently, my ancestors on my dad's side were Irish at once point.

[xchildofdestiny]

Introduction

OOC: Hello, you wonderful person! Welcome to this roleplay Tumblr blog, where you can find mixed content regarding the character and the fandom where he belongs; such as writings, opinions, headcanons, incorrect quotes, fanarts, memes and more.

ABOUT THE ACCOUNT

This is an independent portrayal of Jin Kazama, one of the main characters from the TEKKEN series.

Mostly canon protrayal, with some additions of personal headcanons. So any other spin-off/non-canon product is not considered here unless is just for graphic purpose (Tag 1 and 2, Motion Picture, Street Fighter x Tekken, Blood Vengeance, Bloodline, etc.).

Settled in the TEKKEN universe mostly, this character can be also adapted to multiverse.

This is somewhat a mirror account for the one I use on Twitter, so the evolution on this site is paired with the previous said.

Experienced with roleplay, the character and the fandom.

Variable and adaptable extension; from short to medium and even extended writing.

Experienced, literate and detailed writer.

Open to serious and long term storylines, as crack/short/banter stuff as well.

Writer is bilingual; writes both in English (basic/medium) and Spanish (native).

Willing to receive private messages and asks, be it to ooc talk, storyline discuss, opinions and else. So you're free to send my anything, whenever you want!

Some NSFW themes ahead (Adult language, Crude humor, Mental disorders and Traumas, Use of some alcoholic substances, Violence, Blood, Death, etc.).

Single shipped with Nina Williams (@asktheblondebomb)

ABOUT THE RIGHTS

This is just a roleplay account.

All rights belong to Katsuhiro Harada, Namco Bandai and others.

All media belong to owners, as fanarts to their respective artists.

This roleplay account is for entertaining purposes only. The user of this account earns no money for this.

ABOUT THE WRITER

My name is Nicolás, but you can call me just Nico (He/Him pronouns), if you prefer it. I'm currently 30 years old and from Argentina (which means that my native language is Spanish, so sorry in advance for any grammar mistake in Ensglish).

This is a mirror account for the one I have on Twitter: xChildOfDestiny. So you're free to see me more often there.

If you want to contact me, send any message here or my personal Tumblr blog: @burstofastar.

[winryofresembool]

Get to Know Me meme

Thank you @athenasparrow for the tag!!! :)

Last song: Taylor Swift Eras tour spoilers (if I have someone who wants to avoid those following me!)

...

Um, possibly Karma by Taylor Swift since that was the last song she sang in her concert and I spent a /lot/ (too much) of yesterday finding clips from the said concert. Also currently have this is me trying open in a tab but haven’t listened to it yet. 

Last Show: (referring to my previous answer) Watching a concert online doesn’t count, right? In that case, I think it was Diandra’s (a Finnish singer) concert in November. Yeah, I don’t really get to go to these often bc I live in the middle of nowhere :d

Currently watching: I watch very few TV shows these days (aside from certain anime but I’m not gonna list them here) but I currently have a tinykittens (a Canadian cat rescue organisation) livestream open and I take a peek at it every once in a while. Those Bramble kittens are super cute ♥ (I would absolutely love it if I happened to have a fellow TinyVillager following me! So if you do, pls come talk to me!)

Currently reading: While my TBR list is ever growing, I have to be honest, I haven’t really been reading published books for several months now. Blame the Jily fics. They are way better :P But if I have to mention one, I’ve been reading this book by the Finnish translator of Harry Potter (Jaana Kapari) where she tells about her translating process and it’s honestly pretty interesting, makes me wish I was a translator too.

(As for the Jily fics, do not ask me how many fic tabs I have currently open. I literally just visited the Jily tag here and was like :--------O ‘Oh wow, a lot of authors seem to have decided to post stuff last night’)

Current obsession: my poor friend @criis55 who has to listen to my ramblings every day would be able to testify for this: currently it’s Taylor Swift. I wanna talk about what my relationship with her music is because I’m not a long time Swiftie unlike so many of the people I’ve seen here are. I first started paying attention to some of her songs maaaaybe around the time I started writing Caleo fics so ~ 2020 (obviously I knew some of her hit songs before that but I couldn’t call myself a fan) but a year later she released Red (TV), incl. All Too Well 10 minute version and that was probably when I started thinking, hey, this song is wonderful, I should give a chance to her other songs too. Since then I’ve been slowly getting more familiar with her other albums (it’s been a longish process bc she has a /lot/ of songs and as a non native English speaker I need to be able to see the lyrics to know what’s really going on in the song) and found more songs that I enjoy. This very week is an important milestone to me when it comes to me being her fan because she just released 4 new songs/new versions of her old songs and started her tour and I get to follow it from the beginning and as a relatively new fan I find all that really exciting. Hence you may also see me talking about this more here on tumblr as well. 

Well, other than TS, Jily ofc remains high on my current obsessions list ♥

Tagging: @criis55 if you happen to want to do this, no pressure ♥

[onbearfeet]

Working as an editor with a number of non-native English speakers for clients, I eventually learned to just type, "This is a sex act/sex toy/LGBTQ slang/etc. If you do not want to become a meme in the worst possible way, change this."

Very rarely, I would get a "what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament?" sort of question. Depending on the client, my answer was some mix of "I'm on some parts of the internet more than you are," "you do pay me to know what words mean," or simply, "You don't want to know." Very rarely, someone would push for more details--usually an older man who seemingly expected a salacious answer. At which point I would rest my chin on my hand, assume my most bored and judgmental expression, and say, "Did you know there are people who will discuss the details of their sex lives loudly in public? Whether the rest of us want to hear it or not? Particularly if the person trying not to hear it is a woman? And did you know I HAVE AN EXCELLENT AUDITORY MEMORY?" *glares*

And because usually the man asking this has done just that at some point in his life, I'd get to watch him back the fuck off the question.

if you're working on a project as a lowly concept artist should you, like, warn clients not to call the evil tech company in their tv show "vore incorporated" or name a villain "the bad dragon" or whatever? is that your moral duty?

[fightingmonsterswithwords]

I too am a very impatient bitch to get to the exciting parts when I am writing fics. I seriously don't think I could do a proper slow burn even if I tried 😅😂

I feel very much like Darth Sideous just going "do it!" when I was reading your most recent ask response, in regards to you just jumping to writing the parts you want to right away.

I totally agree with that ask though, I hate that your doubting where you want to take it because I am just as excited for things to ramp up in this story! I'm dying to read the next update whatever the content may contain, I just know I'm going to end up obsessing over it just as much if not even more than Ch. 7. It's embarrassing how much time I've spent thinking about this story even with as few chapters as you've done so far.

I don't think a fan fic has captured and consumed my attention like this in such a long time. One of the things I still find crazy about how great it is, is knowing that you're not a native English speaker. This story to me has very much been the stereotype meme of 'sorry guys, English isn't my first language' kind of fics that just turn out to be masterpieces on a whole different level than others.

Anyway, sorry for the fucking wall of words, I honestly could not stop myself.

In summation, you are absolutely amazing and I'm low-key growing obsessed with this story you've been sharing with us. Haha I don't want to sound crazy but I just think you should know that you've been creating such an amazing story that can invoke such a response in a reader.

Don't apologize for the long message, my answers are even longer, hahah.

Yess. I truly admire people capable of writing a good slow-paced romance, since I know it would take me ages to get there with my writing rhythm I just don't even think of doing it. I would give up halfway 😅 For original stuff I try to have everything outlined, but with fics I mostly improvise, so I can't plan that far ahead. But I try to keep the pacing realistic even if it's a bit hurried. And yeah, I sorta played the card that Alastor and Little Bird had an stablished weird relationship before for that reason.

I'm screaming that you would throw me into the 'non-native English writing masterpieces' meme thing 😭❤ I'm so not worthy. I always include that bit of information in case there are lots of weird sentences, false friends, etcetera. And there always are. But like, I'm reading a first person POV novel right now set in North Carolina and the protagonist says/thinks a lot of things I don't completely understand because I lack that level of cultural depth. I realized the same thing reading a Hazbin Hotel fic full of cultural references that I sorta understand but aren't that familiar to me. If I wanted to write something about Alastor while he was alive in New Orleans I would have to do so much research. But also, being completely honest, I have a Bachelor's Degree in English Studies and work in the Translation field. I read more in English than in my own language (and I do fear the stuff I write sometimes uses overly flowery English because I have studied so much classic stuff). I have a decent grasp of the language. Just not flawless, not by far. I'm not trying to be humble, just self-aware. 🙃 For example: my dialogues are zero percent realistic because I don't usually have conversations in English.

I'm truly honored that you love the fic this much and have told me so repeatedly 🥰 I might not be doing so bad, after all, hah.

Thanks again for all the love and support, Kew!! 💖💖💖

[annabelle-creart]

💖Hi! My name is Annabelle Creart. You can call me Ann, Belle or Anna, I'm a self-taught artist and writer💖

I'm mainly active here on Tumblr

The account is mainly in English but my native language is Spanish

What I like:

Comments and compliments makes me happy

Reblogs and shares helps me to grow on audience

Hearts means to me that you saw me and that's great!!

News section

I CAN'T DONATE!!! I will not spread the word and please STOP!!

I have new blogs!! Dedicated only for content about The Garden @the-garden-mv and @el-jardin-mv (spanish account for The Garden) they're still on construction but on their way!!

Ask Game!!!

Fandoms:

Transformers (mainly)

The Arcana game

The Amazing Digital Circus

Monsters and Girls

Nerd and Jock

Muted and Lovebot

Arcane

Rusty Lake

Dark Dome

Dragon Prince

Original Tags:

Life of Rescue Bots Au (My main fan continuity. Fanfic on Ao3)

tf oc Lightwave

tf oc Radiowave

tf oc Sissi

The Garden (MV)

The Garden (MV) wips

Sweet Tooth x Rescue Bots (Crossover)

13 primes au

tf outlier (Outlier Au)

The Other Side of your Spark (tf outlier fic)

TF: Missing Days

TF: More than a Disguise

Adventure bots au

The perks of parenthood (LoRB fic)

The multiversal Storm (for most of my multiversal encounters that end funny but wrong)

Monster au (makes reference to Hunters of the Cosmos and the actual Monster Au)

Boulder the Dino-bot (Au where everything is the same but Boulder is a real dinobot)

Valley of the Sacred Au (new one, still figuring out it's lore)

Trollhunters swap au

Disney True Heroes Au

Anne's art (for art)

Anne's sketch (for draw sketches)

Anne’s writings (for most of mu written work, usually the original content)

Anne has a problem (Random thoughts and fixations)

Anne replies (for asks)

What I do:

Fanfiction

Art

Comics

Sketches

Written Valveplug

Opinions

Memes

Au's

What I don't do:

Draw valveplug

Non consensual NSFW

Gore

Political opinions

Donations (I can't pay)

News (Links):

The Garden, my original webcomic proyect

Masterposts:

My Transformers Continuity:

Masterpost

Transformers Rescue Bots: Outlier Au:

[Outlier!Au masterpost]

The Garden (My Original Comics):

[Masterpost] (English)

[Masterpost] (Español)

OTHER BLOGS AND ACCOUNTS!!!

The Garden (my original project) english blog: @the-garden-mv

El Jardin (The Garden) spanish blog: @el-jardin-mv

Ao3 user: Annabelle_Creart_InHerHouse (Works only for registered users)

Wattpad User:

Annabelle_House (The account is in Spanish but some works are in English)

[the-boy-king-rp-multi]

(TW: mention of rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, noncon)

Rules/Guidelines:

•I am a roleplayers with chronic fatigue and various other medical problems, sometimes having flare ups in my wrists/hands and this can cause me to become slow in writing, or days to reply to longer threads. Please bear with me in these cases and I appreciate anyone's patience with me being slow with replies at times.

•OC Selective. I will not write with OCs who are the children of characters, unless already established in canon. I will not write with any old OC that hops in my inbox without knowing about your muse and deciding if I like them or not, and especially if you just jump on my prompts/memes acting like our muses know one another without prior interaction. Absolutely NO self inserts are allowed as far as OCs are concerned (roleplaying as yourself). It personally creeps/grosses me out and if you continue to press it onto me you will get blocked.

•If you write, participate or genuinely enjoy or get off on roleplaying or writing rape, non-con, sexual assault, etc please do not interact with me or my account/muses.

•I write with who I think would go well with my muse and who I desire to write with.

•I will not write NSFW threads with anyone under the age of 18, as I myself am 24.

•I am nsfw/smut friendly, but I am a tad selective depending on the pairing. All nsfw will be in group chats or privated at request of the other writer.

•This account does explore themes involving gore, blood, addiction, violence, mental illness, attempted suicide, and sometimes self harm. Be warned before you add or interact.

•Rape, pedophilia, non-con, m-preg, and A/B/O will never be written on or with this account.

•Please do not share my personally written headcanons or my threads unless you are the one writing with me or tagged. After a warning you will be blocked swiftly if not removed.

•I am selective of M/F romantic threads.

•I will not write NSFW with someone if they expect me to top 100% of the time.

•I won’t write sexual threads involving certain bodily wastes (urine, feces, vomit, etc.)

•Please be literate/have good grammar. I understand mistakes are made and that not every writer is a native English speaker.

•I don't have any banned face claims per se, but I'm not comfortable roleplaying with someone who uses face claims of musicians, YouTubers or band members.

Don’t be shy to DM me or send asks if you wish to plot, I don’t bite! 🖤

[cherub-silence]

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Rules˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

18+! No exceptions! This character and the lore are derived from 18+ materials. If your age is not listed on your blog or in any of your information I will ask just that you’re 18+ and you don’t have to give any more detail than that.

Dark and NSFW themes may be present! I will do my best to tag trigger warnings but this is my general warning for the blog. I have a full list of the tags that I do track on this post, just ask if you need anything added.

Absolutely non-selective, any and all interactions are encouraged! No prior messaging is required whatsoever but it’s always appreciated! I’m very friendly :) 

Non-private, all threads will be shared via Tumblr posts, I do not rp through DMs or any other platforms. Please understand that it’s what I'm comfortable with and not something I see changing anytime soon.

If you’re interested in interacting please check out the Verses! All writing, threads, and plots will take place in Verse 1 unless otherwise specified.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Info ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

🪻Summary🪻

I go by a couple nicknames and my blog URLs, I'm comfortable being called Art, Apidae, Api, or Cherub. I’m 21+ NB (They/Them), in CDT/CST time zone. My main blog is @eternal-apidae

🫧Writing🫧

Native English speaker, but I will probably make some grammar/spelling mistakes. I keep most posts formatted, abusing the read-more and post-cutting features, because I prefer how it looks and to keep dashes from getting overly clogged. I cut all posts after 10 reblogs. I also post all starters and NSFW under read more. Replies are medium to long, but I don’t require anyone to match my length, just please don’t reply with one-word replies, it doesn’t give me a lot to work with.

🪻Shipping🪻

I will not hesitate to ship our muses if you’re interested but it will never be required. With all the themes and plots I'm interested in for my muse, there are plenty of options.

🫧Plotting🫧 

I absolutely love plotting, and I am always willing to hear how you’d be interested in our muses interacting. My DMs are always open. In the event that we have started a thread, plotted, or rp meme, that I lose interest in I will reach out to you to see if there’s anything else we’re both interested in.

🪻Activity🪻

Highly active and typically quick to respond. I’m mostly active during the day and tend to get busier in the evenings but my sleep schedule is wonky enough that if I have time you may get a reply in the middle of the night.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Bio˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Name: Opal, she doesn’t remember her birth name Gender: Female Face: (tw link is for an artbreeder render) [🪻] Age: 18-25, usually 22 Zodiac: Cancer Height: 5’0 Body type: Pear [🪻] Skin Color: Pale  Eye Color: Silver [🪻] Hair Color: White Voice: Light and musical, with a Swedish accent [🪻] Scars: Several all over her body the most prominent are the ones on her knuckles and fingers from working in the kitchen, the ones on her back from a cat of nine tails, and discoloration on her wrist and ankles from shackles  Sexuality: Omnisexual Biology: She has gemstones embedded into her skin, attached to her nervous system. She has two on her chest above her breast and two on her rib cage below, there are six going down her spine, one on her tongue, and one on her clitoris. She has also had a full hysterectomy, so she does not menstruate and is unable to get pregnant [🪻] Occupation: Sex worker / Housekeeper  Hobbies: Playing music, writing poetry, reading, partying/clubbing, doing makeup/painting her nails, flower arranging, songwriting/singing, butterfly taxidermy  Characteristics: Creative, Diplomatic, Introverted, Friendly, Nervous, Polite, Quiet, Sensitive, Shy Hogwarts House (we do not support jkr in this household but I think they’re good character identifiers): Hufflepuff and Slytherin [🪻] (Divergent) Faction: Raised Abnegation, but would choose Amity Languages: Raised speaking English and Swedish, was later taught German, French, Japanese, and Russian Instruments: Violin, Harp, Kalimba, Flute and Piano Skills and Training: Housekeeping, Culinary arts, Secretarial duties, Translation, and Entertainment  Scent: Illicit by Jimmy Choo [🪻] Favorite Color: Purple Favorite Food: Italian, specifically Alfredo  Favorite Drink: Tea, her favorites are Oolong, Chamomile, English Breakfast, and Chai

Style: Conservative/Professional, but just a little bit slutty. Typically keeping her stones covered unless she wants the attention

What’s in Opal’s purse? (just a thought experiment that got a graphic so I decided to add it)

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Verses˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

・❥・{Verse 1}・❥・

As a Jembax Opal has an Owner/Master, they are sometimes cruel and don’t particularly care for Opal other than making sure she performs her duties well. They are powerful, they can have political or business connections. They are rich and upper class. With this verse, Opal is used to the finer things in life simply for upkeep, name-brand clothing, manicured nails, and simple but expensive jewelry. She is something to show off, a glorified housekeeper, entertainment, and a sexual object. This life has made her very unhappy so she turns heavily to alcohol and drugs to numb herself. Since her Master doesn’t care much once her daily duties are taken care of she tends to sneak out to bars or to party. With this verse, Opal tends to meet people through her sneaking out or through her Master’s grand parties to show off.

・❥・{Verse 2}・❥・

With this verse, your muse may be Opal’s Master by purchasing her from a previous Master. She can be traded for money, favors, belongings, or whatever her previous Master was willing to negotiate with. For whatever reason your muse has decided against creating a new Jembax and simply wants to bargain for her. Being a pre-existing Jembax she’s not as valuable as a custom-made Jembax, but her considerable appeal is how trained and educated she is. Her biggest downside is that she has been a Jembax for many years and had many cruel Masters before your muse and is quite depressed and may even go through withdrawal due to her previous lifestyle. With this verse, your muse owns Opal and can use and set any expectations for her that they see fit.

・❥・{Verse 3}・❥・

As a Jembax Opal is not considered a free person, after many years of obedience she has finally snapped, whether your muse had any influence in that decision or not. She is considered a fugitive and anyone helping her will be as well. Being on the run is not something Opal ever wanted so it’s not a decision she takes lightly, she’s moody and regretful about whatever has caused her to take this path. The only work she can find is a brothel willing to turn a blind eye but they will not do anymore to help her and will turn her in if she causes too much trouble.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Tags˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Non-thread

[OOC] - everything on the blog that isn’t an rp thread

[~Opal Blogging~] - everything that Opal would post

[~Thoughts~] - text posts that Opal would like

[~Aesthetic~] - pictures Opal would find appealing or that relate to her 

[~Music~] music Opal would play or sing

[~Poetry~] - poems that Opal would write

[~Wardrobe~] - items that would be in Opal's wardrobe 

[~Portrait~] - a tentative face claim of Elle Fanning, because she’s the actress I’d pick for Opal but I don’t think she looks exactly right

Prompts

[~Open Prompt~] - any and all open rp memes, plots, or wanted threads

[~RP Prompt~] - rp memes I reblog

[~Wishlist~] - plots I’d be interested in

[~Character Prompt~] - character questions or writing prompts

Threads

~AUs~/~Fandom thread~ - the au or fandom that best suits the thread’s content 

~Thread name~ - the prompt name, name of your starter, or a random name I come up with

[Examples]

Content warnings

tw alcohol mention - these threads mention alcohol but it may or may not be being used at the time 

tw alcohol - these threads contain alcohol use

tw drug mention - these threads mention drugs, prescription or otherwise, but they may or may not be being used at the time

tw drugs - these threads contain drug use, prescription or otherwise 

NSFW - these threads will contain smut, including noncon and dubcon 

tw violence - these threads will contain violence, including anything from assault to physical abuse 

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Links˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Since you’ve made it this far! Here! Have some links!

(You don’t have to check these out, but AO3 has the original author’s information on Jembax and Refsheet has a full gallery of all the commissioned art of Opal)

🫧📝💟 AO3 💟📝🫧

🪻☔️📝 Refsheet.net 📝☔️🪻

🫧🍾💟 Pinterest 💟🍾🫧

🪻📝💿 Spotify 💿📝🪻

[yugenfruzzz]

I second this!! Also, I think that's because a lot of us (non native english speakers) usually learn by reading it. It could be in videogames, memes, even fanfiction itself! But humans doesn't learn their native languages by reading or writing, they learn hearing and coping sounds. Damn, I don't even know how to conjugate a lot of verbs in my native language if you ask for it, but they'll slip outta my mouth if they're on a phrase I want to say.

And I don't know if this is a regional thing, but a lot of the non native english speakers I know are actually... ashamed of saying so? I attribute this to how english teachers actually teach the language (at least here!) and how very often they would just humiliate you if you don't speak it perfectly, so you really gotta make sure you know the language if you're going to participate in class (and even then, if they know you speak good english they will often expect a lot of you).

I think people just tend to not take our native languages seriously, because we can speak it, so being able to spell it is not always necessary outside of school and texting.

i do not understand how some people can be like "sorry if my english is bad, its not my first language" and they speak n write better than most native speakers. like genuinely what. i have had lessons on how to spell simple keywords for our topics, because people cant spell, or their handwriting is so bad not even themselves can read it. this isnt a dyslexia thing btw, this is nt kids im talking about.

"we have to talk about this. so many of you have spelt these words wrong. need you all to copy them into your books three times over!!" and then the words were autumn (im british this is a common word), school, literally, rubbish. and other common things.

its not even that bad in my spanish class bro. sure people pretend to do inappropriate acts and scream odd things, but like we've never had a lesson where the teacher is on the verge of tears, because the kids can't spell. the only things we ever had an issue with was last year the word "aburrido" (i dont even think thats spelt right) and that was just because it was spelt wrong in all the resources we were given.

school is all fun until you're sat next to "the boyz" and you have to witness them fucking up their own language so hard you shed a tear. we are not texting stop writing in ganglish. WHY CANT YOU SPELL 'AND' OR 'THE'???? like yes i was a bit insane in english last year, slipping in CONSTANT pjo, tdi, pokemon and Grey's references but my grammar and spelling were good. its so concerning when i see people not being able to form words or letters correctly because they haven't payed attention and just dont care. again talking about the ableist nuerotypical kids here. ive seen the list of sen kids (has accidentally been left up multiple times) like auhhhhhh

like i have read works from people who's first languages are italian, spanish, chinese n more that have better grammar than half the people in my school. my generation is cooked.

[missmaxime]

Tag game #2

Was tagged by my fellow non-native English speaker @bourbon-ontherocks to fill out this little questionnaire.  Tag game!Non-Native English speaker asks because I’m curious as to how your brains work when it comes to writing or interacting with the fandom.Tag other creators whose first language isn’t English! How many languages do you speak? Fluently two, a little more haphazardly another two, and a little Spanish.  What’s your native language? Dutch. Incomprehensible to foreigners, so I’m told. And if you live in the Netherlands and want to learn it anyway, we’ll just talk to you in English because nobody has time or patience for your sincere effort of learning a foreign language.  Which language you’re most comfortable with? Outside of my native language, most definitely English. I’ve been invested in really learning it since I was like eleven, and especially during high school I really made a conscious effort to at one point call it my second language.  Where or how did you learn English? In the Netherlands English is a mandatory language during your 4, 5 or 6 years of high school - but sometimes it’s taught as early as primary school (but that depends on the school). So when you suck at it as a Dutch person, in general you can still hold up the most basic of conversation.  And something else that @bourbon-ontherocks mentioned is that growing up in The Netherlands - as opposed to some other countries - we see a lot of media and content that’s English spoken (and subtitled). Even in the nineties and early 2000s, when I grew up, there were a lot of cartoons and live action kids series on TV that were either British, Australian (still get hyped by the begin tune of Ship to Shore) or American.  As a teen I got really bored in high school so I made it some sort of personal mission to actively learn English, to a level exceeding the curriculum. So what I did was watch a DVD of English spoken series, first with the Dutch subtitles, followed by watching the same episodes with English subtitles. And around the same I time discovered fanfiction - so reading that with a dictionary (yes, like paper things, online dictionaries weren’t the best then) made me learn how to build sentences, understand expressions and jokes better. What also really helped me is that I was a part of this RPG Message Board with mostly English natives, and writing stories with them made me get to their level a lot faster.  One thing I would love to learn to be better at is talking in English. In February I was in Liverpool for a convention and when you’re constantly surrounded by English natives it comes naturally more easily. But like day to day life if I converse in English it’s in emails (or here or in fic obviously), so I don’t really have opportunity to get more fluent at it.  When outlining a fic, which language are you thinking in? Let’s define outline, haha? Outline is notes in my phone in bullet points. But to answer your question, I do that in English. When we’re talking like just thoughts, I could get an idea in Dutch, but when I write it down it’s always English.  When planing a fic, which language are you thinking in? You’re making me think real hard about this, haha. I never consciously paid attention to this, but I think the vast majority is in English, if not all. I feel this weird disconnect to the source material if I write something down in Dutch about it?  If it gets technical it could happen I do my research at least partly in Dutch. I did that to research how XTC is made, distributed and costs for Wild at Heart. Or what the technical terms are in the TV Industry in America vs Dutch (there’s a lot of similar words for different functions - it’s insanely annoying) for the Reality TV AU. But I end up converting that to English pretty fast.  Is the first draft in your native language, or is it in English? Never in Dutch, always in English. I think my drafts are already so close to the finished work - I’d be shooting myself in the foot doing it in Dutch first, and it really sounds like double work. I also feel like in Dutch I write differently - it’s a bolder, chunkier, rougher language to work with. In my perception English is the other way around; it flows better, it’s a little softer, I find the bouquet of different words more interesting. As a writer you have opposing challenges with these two different languages in my experience.  What do you [THINK?, red] of your English? I think it’s pretty good overall. I hadn’t written fanficiton in years before I started writing Good Girls fanfiction, so it’s been a lot of fun exploring the language again. When I look at my earlier work in this fandom I can definitely see I was rusty when I started, I think I’ve improved a lot over the past year. I don’t it will ever not be a challenge to really capture nuance, humor and tone - because it can be really delicate (even in my own language). But I’m pretty confident all together.  I think a lot of non-native speakers were already tagged, but maybe: @delicatelingon 

[meme-conservation]

im afraid to ask, but what is the status of the lolcat?

The Lolcat

Conservation status: disputed

Classification: non-native, disputed

Anon's misgivings about asking are well-justified, as the Lolcat is one of the most academically controversial memes.

The first major dispute is what precisely constitutes a Lolcat. Some experts argue that a Lolcat must be a picture of a cat that has misspelled text superimposed upon it in Impact font. These experts consider the Lolcat to be extinct in the wild, being preserved in captivity for the sake of nostalgia. While this certainly is a Lolcat, experts disagree if this is the only form of meme that qualifies. Is a cat with simply "BODE" rather than poorly spelled English a Lolcat? Is an oblique reference to Long Cat (e.g., "long post is long") a memetic variation on the Lolcat? Is a photograph of a cat with a caption that speaks like a Victorian child a Lolcat? Is a non-pictorial post featuring a cat speaking in broken language (such as Miette) a Lolcat? Is the cat on the car windshield captioned (but not in Impact) "Gib Bagul" a Lolcat? Experts have taken every possible stance on this issue. Several instances of unpleasant office politics, a fistfight, and (allegedly) a poisoning have occurred amongst meme conservationists over this issue.

The other controversy is whether to classify the Lolcat as an invasive meme. The argument in favor of this classification is that Lolcat language has penetrated the lexicon so thoroughly that one can hardly request a cheeseburger, or reference something being long, without making a Lolcat reference. This would constitute a loss of memetic diversity, the argument claims.

The other argument is that select Lolcat language and formatting has transcended the category of meme and become simply a foundational part of the memetic ecosystem, predating the tumblr environment and therefore categorically unable to invade it. The comparison often made is to the mitochondria in eukaryotic cells: while they were once an invader, our cells have long since adapted to their presence and now would be grievously harmed were they to disappear.

The TACM is unable to offer a conclusion to this entry on Lolcats for legal reasons. We apologize for any inconvenience.

[heartless-aro]

So, I just realized I never responded to this (sorry about that).

I agree that at events like the one you described, it’s definitely best to let aromantic people lead the discussion rather than trying to explain aro concepts to them. I highly respect that you gave the aromantic folks present the space to focus on their own experiences.

If the main issue you’re having is lack of participation from those present at aromantic events, it might be useful to ask attendees general questions about their experiences and/or about aspects of aromantic culture that you’re familiar with. The best way to do that will probably depend a lot on format of the talk (e.g., virtual, in-person, hybrid), the number of people present/expected to be present, and just generally how your organization runs these sort of talks. Depending on the “audience” size, you could even split people into groups and give them some topics/questions to discuss as an icebreaker (e.g., “How old were you when you first realized that you’re aromantic,” “What’s your favorite aromantic pride symbol,” “Do you own an aro ring,” “Do you feel like your aromanticism affects your relationship with gender,” “Do you enjoy romance in fiction,” “What is your sexual orientation,” etc.). You could even make a game of it; for example, you could hand out one of those “aromantic bingo card” memes that people have made and use that as a way to prompt discussion and let the aros in attendance find commonalities amongst themselves. Honestly, you probably know a lot more about the logistics of this sort of thing than I do. I’m basing a lot of what I’m saying on things that my therapist did to encourage discussion when conversations stalled back when I was in group therapy, so I’m not sure how applicable this all is (especially since I myself have never had the opportunity to attend a talk like the one you describe).

I think it’s a great idea to bring up alloaros in a sex-positivity discussion, since they are uniquely affected by stigmas surrounding sex. In general, bringing up aromanticism (especially alloaros) when relevant outside of aromantic-centered events is probably good practice, especially since many aro people who attend your organization’s events may not be familiar enough with aromanticism (due to it being a lesser-known identity) to realize that they’re aro and, as a result, may not be attending your group’s aromantic events (due to not knowing that those events are relevant to them). Plus, it doesn’t hurt for alloromantic people to learn about aromantic experiences and perspectives.

As for the term “loveless,” as far as I can tell, it isn’t used much (if at all) outside of the English-speaking subset of the aromantic community. It’s difficult to say for sure, since my knowledge of the international aromantic community is admittedly minimal, since I’m limited by my perspective as someone who is American, lives in America, and doesn’t speak their second language well enough to seek out native speakers’ accounts of their own experiences with aromanticism. I did take a look at a couple of the non-English glossaries on AUREA’s website and saw no references to lovelessness, though I can’t say for sure whether that’s because loveless aromantic is an English-exclusive term or if it’s simply because AUREA’s non-English glossaries are somewhat sparse. That being said, chances are that the term loveless aromantic (or some equivalent) doesn’t get much use outside of English, if it gets any use at all in other languages.

That being said, some aspects of the concept of lovelessness may still resonate with aromantic people from other cultures, even if many other aspects of lovelessness are rooted in experiences and philosophies that are directly related to the English language. In particular, some aros of other cultures might relate to not experiencing any form of love (due to neurodivergence) or might relate to the desire to reject love as a label for themselves due to ways that love and attitudes surrounding love may contribute to their own oppression, dehumanization, etc.

However, depending on how aromantic experiences differ within the context of non-anglophone cultures, the word “loveless” may not quite match up with the lived experiences of aromantics internationally. If there’s too much dissonance between English speakers’ experiences and non-English speakers’ experiences as aromantics, it may be more useful for aromantics from other cultures to create their own terminology in their own languages to describe “loveless-adjacent” experiences shared by aromantic people of their individual cultures.

Ultimately, decisions on whether each non-English speaking subset of the aro community should adopt the term “loveless aromantic” (or, rather, an equivalent translation), create a new language-specific term, or disregard the concept of lovelessness altogether is a decision that’s best left to the people in those subsets of the community (rather than my silly little American self). If you’re comfortable doing so, it may be worth asking the aros you know about their perspectives on the English concept of lovelessness so they can decide for themselves whether they find it relevant enough to their lives to open up a discussion on the possibility of adopting some translation of the term “loveless aromantic” or creating new terminology to describe loveless-adjacent experiences that exist within the context of their own culture.

By the way, if you’re ever willing to share any aro terminology from your native language or any perspectives of aros from your country (with their consent, of course), I would love to hear about it. It’s difficult to find information on the aromantic community that exists outside of English-speaking countries, so it would be interesting to hear about aromantic experiences in non-English cultures.

Heyo, i'm part of a queer organization irl. I'm trying to lead us to focus more on aromanticism, since even a lot of queer people know very little about it. I have two questions. Number One is about the term loveless, since I've seen it used (and explained) quite frequently but still don't understand it. I don't get it of it's an actual description of not wanting love of any kind or more of a hyperbole, a stance taken against the common practice of only talking about love in a romantic context. And also i wanted to know if you have any more general suggestions

Ok, so I’m actually gonna start with general suggestions since I know I’m going to ramble a lot about lovelessness when I get to that part (given how I am as a person).

Since aromanticism isn’t as well known as most other identities, it would probably be difficult to set up events or groups for aromantic people, so I’m going to assume that your main goal, at least to start with, is probably going to be providing information and resources, and I’m gonna do my best to give advice based on that.

So, first and foremost, I would recommend being very clear about the fact that you can be aromantic even if you are allosexual. Alloaros are a much more significant portion of the aromantic community than people tend to realize. I’ve been meaning to make a post about some research papers I’ve read that give a bit of insight into the exact statistics, but what’s important to know is that, based off what little research exists, it is likely although aromantic people are more likely to be asexual than alloromantic people, most aromantics are still allosexual, not asexual. There’s probably a lot of people who are aromantic and just don’t realize it, because unfortunately with the amount of alloaro erasure in our community, many allosexual people don’t realize that identifying as aromantic is even an option for them.

Also, this is a bit specific, but I would recommend that when providing resources on aromanticism, you also provide a bit of info on aro rings (i.e., what they are/how to wear one), since many aromantics have never met another aro irl and would likely benefit from having a way to find and connect with other aros.

AUREA’s website (aromanticism.org) has a lot of great resources too, so I would definitely suggest checking those out and maybe directing people to AUREA’s website for further information about aromanticism.

These are all somewhat simplistic suggestions since I’m not really an expert on organizing and I don’t know what sort of goals and resources you’re working with, but if you want to discuss further, feel free to dm/message me and I’ll help as best as I can (for real I have nothing better to do lol) ♠︎.

Lovelessness

Ok so now for your first question about whether the term “loveless” is literal or hyperbolic…the short answer is…yes. Yes it is. As for the long answer…

There are a number of reasons why someone might identify as loveless aromantic. For some people, their identity as loveless may be related to some intrinsic aspect of themselves while others may adopt the term for ideological reasons (i.e., as a political identity of sorts).

AUREA defines a loveless aromantic as “a person on the aromantic spectrum who feels disconnected from the concept of love, does not experience love, or rejects the idea of personally experiencing love” and clarifies that “loveless aros may experience other attractions, but do not equate these attractions to love.” This is a good start to understanding what loveless aromanticism is, but I’m going to try to discuss this in a bit more depth (at least, to the best of my ability).

At its core, lovelessness is simply the rejection of love as a descriptor for oneself and for one’s experiences — nothing more, nothing less. It only starts to become more complicated when you start delving into why someone might decide love is not a useful or applicable term for their experiences.

The most straightforward and obvious reason is that some people simply don’t feel anything that they can identify as love. This may be the case for people who lack the desire or ability to form close emotional bonds with others; this could be due to a personality disorder like szpd, aspd, npd, or ocpd, due to emotional detachment related to ptsd, due to negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and so on. Similarly, someone who struggles to identify their emotions may not know whether or not they feel love.

Some may also consider “love” to be inapplicable to themselves because love is often so loosely and inconsistently defined as to seem nonsensical or meaningless to them. After all, how can romance, friendship, family bonds, passion for hobbies, and general enjoyment of life all be categorized as forms of “love” when each one of these is a fundamentally different experience?

The word love can refer to a lot of things, but romantic love is, for better or for worse, central to its basic definition. So much of our society’s concept of love is characterized by traits associated with romantic love, with all other forms of love being treated as secondary at best. Although we can stretch the definition so the word love can be more broadly applied, that doesn’t change the fact that, unless we completely rethink how we conceptualize love (as many lovequeer aros do), love as a social construct is inextricably tied to romance.

People are quick to label virtually any positive human experience as love, and in doing so without actually deconstructing what love means, they implicitly draw a connection between romantic love and those other positive human experiences. Yet is my “love” of music really the same emotion as someone else’s love for their spouse? Or do we only call them both love because — with romantic love being seen as the pinnacle of human emotion — we have become convinced that the only way the enjoyment of music could be anywhere near as valuable an experience as romantic love is if the enjoyment of music is in and of itself a form of love? By calling labeling any and all sources of joy as forms of love without considering whether they actually meet the definition of the term, we risk elevating the pedestal upon which society places romantic love, to our own detriment.

So, part of why someone might identify as loveless is because, in rejecting the idea that our experiences should be labeled as love, we are seeking to challenge the notion that the value of our experiences lies in their similarities to romance. In doing so while continuing to assert that our experiences are equal in value to the experience of romantic love, we seek to combat the idea that romantic love is above all other things.

Furthermore, there are also many people who identify as loveless due to having had “love” weaponized against them in the past. When people say that love makes us human, some of them may mean love in that broad sense that includes platonic affection, familial bonds, care towards pets, passion for hobbies, and so on. But for most people, the first type of love that comes to mind is always going to be romantic love, and for many, love and romance are inherently synonymous.

Although attempts to expand the definition of love are valuable, many aromantics (like myself) are uncomfortable with labeling any of their feelings as love. Furthermore, many neurodivergent aros, autistic aros in particular, have the love they do experience delegitimized by others because they cannot express love in the way people expected them to. (This is something that K.A. Cook explains in much greater detail in hir essay where ze first coined the term loveless aromantic. I plan on posting a link to this essay in a separate post in a bit. I highly recommend reading over it if you have the time).

After a lifetime of being excluded from the category of “people who love,” many aromantics don’t want to be told that we’re allowed to “join the club” now. There are people who will never consider our experiences to be the same as “real love,” and those who do will often consider us only as an afterthought. When people reinforce the idea that “love makes us human” or that “love is the meaning of life,” they may be including things like platonic love in their definition of love, but at the end of the day, not everyone will interpret their statements that way, and so their statements will still contribute to the dehumanization of aromantic people. Thus, it is not enough to be placated by the notion that love can include us too; at best, this is an empty platitude, and at worst, it serves to silence us on the matter of our own dehumanization. We need to dismantle the notion that love is intrinsic to humanity and happiness. In rejecting inclusion into the category of “people who feel love,” loveless aros make it impossible to ignore how equating love with humanity and happiness dehumanizes us and devalues our lives.

Anyways, this is based pretty heavily on my own thoughts and experiences and it’s probably not super organized but I hope that it helps.

So uhh,

tldr; loveless can be a descriptor for someone who doesn’t want love in any form, or it can be used as a hyperbole to express a stance against equating love and romance, or some combination of the two.

[nevermindirah]

Do you have any thoughts on the use of AAVE for Nile (or lack thereof) in TOG fanfiction? I've been reading some Book of Nile fic and some writers seem to write her as a Millennial™ (using words like "fave" and "woke") but never acknowledge her Blackness in her patterns of speech. I know we don't see her use as much AAVE in the films, but I would argue she's in situations where code-switching would be valued (first in a "professional" environment in the army, then around a group of non-Black strangers).

Hi anon! I have many thoughts on this and I'm honored you asked me! But I should start by saying I'm white and any thoughts Black fans and especially Black American fans have on this that they want to share would be beyond lovely. (I'm not gonna tag anybody bc that feels rude but please add onto this post if any of y'all see this and want to!)

The main reason I personally avoid AAVE for Nile in my own fics is because I'm not Black. But Nile-centric fics by Black writers tend to avoid using much of it too, at least from what I've noticed/understood, and my guess is it's largely for the reason you mention, that she's in situations that encourage code-switching.

In movie canon Nile is highly competent at tailoring her language to each situation she finds herself in. This fantastic linguistics analysis meta shows how skillfully Nile chooses her vocabulary and grammar to meet her goals with different conversation partners in different contexts. In comics canon Nile had a bunch of different civilian jobs before joining the Marines, so she would've had experience code-switching in the ways that made sense for all those different contexts as well as the Marines and her family and high school and wherever else she spent her time before we met her. And now she's spending her time with a handful of immortals none of whom are native English speakers and a fellow Black American but one with a Queen's English UK accent whose professional experience is in the CIA where high-status code-switching is often an absolute must for success or even survival.

Fics featuring Nile are charged with extrapolating from that to how it might show up in her use of language that she's coping with a traumatic separation from her family and her career and pretty much everything she's ever known and now she needs to be able to make herself understood to people who seem to care about her and each other but are super duper in crisis, three (soon to be four) of whom predate Modern English entirely and the only one who's anywhere near her contemporary she's not supposed to talk to for a century. All of these people are telling her that pretty much any contact with any mortals poses an existential threat to her and the rest of the group. How the FUCK is she supposed to cope with that, like, generally? And would it be a more effective way for her to cope if she talked to Andy Joe and Nicky using the speech patterns that she used to use with her mom and brother, to at least retain that part of her identity even if it means having to do a lot of explaining, or would it meet her needs better to prioritize Andy Joe and Nicky understanding what she means with her words over using the particular words and grammar forms she used with her family?

I've seen several fics, both Nile-centric / BoN and otherwise, explore this a little bit in how/whether Nile uses Millennial™ speak. It's often a theme in Nile texting Booker despite the exile because of the popular headcanon that he as The Tech Guy is the only other immortal who understands memes. But Nile's much-younger-than-Booker mom probably uses Boomer and/or Gen X memes and Andy has been adapting to new communication styles for forever as evidenced by her canon high level of fluency with standard-American-accented English.

Which brings us back to people avoiding AAVE because they're not Black and they don't want to make mistakes (or they're not Black and they don't want to get yelled at for making mistakes, though I think many people overestimate how much they'll get yelled at while underestimating how much these mistakes can hurt). I can imagine some Black fans hold back from using much AAVE in fic because they don't want to share in-group stuff with white people who are likely to then adopt and ruin it, as white people so often do with Black cultural stuff. Some links about this including a great Khadija Mbowe video. I'm saying this gently, anon, because you might not know: woke, an example you cited as Millennial™ speak, is AAVE, and that's gotten erased by so many white people appropriating it and using it incorrectly online.

And also there's the part where fandom is a hobby and you never know when you're reading a fic that's the very first thing someone's ever written outside of a school assignment. This cultural considerations of language shit takes a level of effort and skill that not everybody puts into every fic, or even could if they wanted to because they haven't had time to build their skills yet. It's definitely easier for non-Black fans to project our millennial feels onto Nile than to do the layers of research and self-reflection it requires to depict what Blackness might mean to Nile, and it's not surprising that often people sharing their hobby creations on the internet have gone the easier route. There's not even necessarily shame in doing what's easier. It's just frustrating and often hurtful when structural white supremacy means that 3-dimensional Black characters are rare in media and thoughtful explorations of them in fandom are seen by the majority of fans as not-easy to make and therefore Nile Freeman, the main character in The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, has the least fic and meta and art made about her of our 5 main immortals.

I've been active in different fandoms off and on for twenty years and I barely managed to write 5,000 words about Sam Wilson across multiple different fics in the 7 years since I fell in love with him. There's an alchemy to which characters we connect with, and on top of that which characters we connect with in a way that causes us to create stuff about them. Something about Nile Freeman finally tipped me over the edge from a voracious reader to a voracious writer. It's not for me to judge which characters speak to other individuals to the level of creating content about them, but I do think it's important for us to notice, and then work to fight, the pattern where across this fandom as a whole Nile gets way less content, and way less depth in so much of the content that's in theory about her, than any of these other characters.

Anyway, back to language. My two long fics feature Nile with several Black friends — Copley and OCs and cameos from other media — but all of those characters except Alec Hardison from Leverage aren't American. It's very possible I'm guilty of stereotyping Black British speech patterns in I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore. I watched hours and hours of Black haircare YouTube videos in the research for that fic and I modeled my OCs' speech patterns on what I heard from some of those YouTubers as well as what I've heard people like John Boyega and Idris Elba saying in interviews, but the thing about doing your best is you still might fuck up.

I'm slowly making progress on my WIP where Nile and Sam Wilson are cousins, and what ways of talking with a family member might be authentic for Nile is a major question I need to figure out. For that, I'm largely modeling my writing choices on how I hear my Black friends and colleagues talking to each other. I haven't overheard colleagues talking in an office in a long-ass time, but back when that was a thing, I remember seeing a ton of nuance in the different ways many of my Black colleagues would talk to each other. Different people have different personalities! And backgrounds! And priorities! A few jobs ago my department was about 1/3 Black and we worked closely with Obama administration staff many of whom were Black and there was SO MUCH VARIETY in how Black people talked to each other, about work and workplace-appropriate personal stuff, where I and other white coworkers could hear. There are a few work friends in particular who I have in my head when I'm trying to imagine how Sam and Nile might talk to each other. From the outside looking in, God DAMN is shit complicated, intellectually and interpersonally and spiritually, for Black people who are devoting their professional lives to public service in the United States.

One more aspect of this that I have big thoughts on but I need to take extra care in talking about is the idea of acknowledging Nile's Blackness in her patterns of speech. There's no one right way to be Black, and Nile's a fictional character created by a white dude but there are plenty of real-life Black Americans who don't use much or even any AAVE, for reasons that are complicated because of white supremacy. (Highly highly recommend this video by Shanspeare on the harms of the Oreo stereotype.)

Something that's not the same but has enough similarity that I think it's worth talking about is my personal experience with authenticity and American Jewish speech patterns. My Jewish family members don't talk like they're in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I've known lots of people who do talk that way (or the millennial version of it), some of whom have questioned my Jewishness because I don't talk that way. That hurts me. Sometimes when another Jew tells me some shit like "I've never heard a Jew say y'all'd've," I can respond with "well now you have asshole, bless your Yankee-ass heart," because the myth of Dixie is a racist lie but I will totally call white Northerners Yankees when they're being shitty to me for being Southern, and this particular Jew fucking revels in using "bless your heart" with maximum polite aggression, especially with said Yankees. But sometimes I don't have it in me to say anything and it just quietly hurts having an important part of me disbelieved by someone who shares that important part of me. The sting isn't quite the same when non-Jews disbelieve or discount my Jewishness, but that hurts too.

Who counts as authentically Jewish is a messy in-group conversation and it doesn't really make sense to explain it all here. Who counts as authentically Jewish is a matter of legal status for immigration, citizenship, and civil rights in Israel, and it's my number 2 reason after horrific treatment of Palestinians that I'm antizionist. But outside that extremely high-stakes legal situation, it can just feel really shitty to not be recognized as One Of Us, especially by your own people.

It can also feel really shitty to be The Only One of Your Kind in a group, even if that group is an immortal chosen family who all loves each other dearly. Sometimes especially in a situation like that where you know those people love you but there are certain things they don't get about you and will never quite be able to. I'm definitely projecting at least a little bit of my "lonely Jew who will be alone again for yet another Jewish holiday" stuff onto Nile when at the end of I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore she's thinking about being the only Black immortal and moving away from the community she'd built with a mostly-Black group of mortals in that fic. Maybe that tracks, or maybe that's fucked up of me.

Basically, this got very long but it's complicated, writing about experiences that aren't your own takes skill which in turn takes time and practice to build, writing about experiences not your own that our society maligns can cause a lot of harm if done badly, it can also cause a lot of harm when a large enough portion of a fandom just decides to nope out of something that's difficult and risky because then there's just not much content about a character who deserves just a shit ton of loving and nuanced content, people are individuals and two people who come from the exact same cultural context might show that influence in all kinds of different ways, identity is complicated, language is complicated, writing is hard, and empathy and humility and doing our best aren't a guarantee of avoiding harm but they do go a long way in helping people create thoughtful content about a character as awesome and powerful and kind and messy and scared and curious and WORTHY as Nile Freeman.

[retro-friki]

About this blog

ENG/ESP

So I’ve been receiving new followers lately of the non-bot type and I think this is a good opportunity to make a post about this little blog.

First of all this is a LGBT+ safe space, and I don’t condone any form of discrimination, misogyny, racism and ableism, you know the drill. I’m older than 30 and although my content is honestly pretty safe and I don’t mind receiving asks and comments about fandom stuff, I’d rather not chat with minors, they can follow the blog but don’t expect much interaction on my part.

This is mainly a hobby blog so right now I mostly make memes, random musings and shitposting about stuff I’m currently very normal about. (Very normal, indeed 🫠) Sometimes I make reviews about movies, manga, books and random anime episodes, I don’t do them as often as before but they may occasionally appear.

As for the fandoms I’m in, a look at my recent posts will give you a fairly good idea of what I’m watching right now. I particularly like 90’s anime and very old manga usually centered in female protagonists. My favorite anime of all time is Revolutionary Girl Utena so it’s a guarantee that I will love everything that’s remotely like it. I think this would give you an idea of the kind of person I am… Probably.

Another aspect is that I’m a Literature nerd, lately I haven’t been reading and writing as much as I would like but I’m really passionate about language and literature so I’m interested in making other people know about these things too. Hence why sometimes I use whatever’s trending on Tumblr to make book and authors recommendations (yeah, I kinda feel like the “how you doing, fellow kids?” guy when I do it but people seem to like those posts so I’ll keep it up).

You can check out this blog’s archive to read some of the reviews and recaps I’ve been writing during the years. I think some of them still hold up. Also you should know that English isn’t my native language and that I also post in Spanish.

I hope to keep posting funny and interesting content on this blog, so you’re welcome to stay :).

***

Hola, me he dado cuenta de que he recibido muchos follows nuevos últimamente de parte de personas reales y no de bots, por lo que creo que es buena idea hablar un poco de este blog.

En primer lugar, soy pro LGBT+ y estoy en contra de cualquier tipo de discriminación incluyendo racismo, capacitismo y misoginia así que ya se la saben. Tengo más de 30 años y aunque mi contenido es apto para todo tipo de personas en general, prefiero no interactuar con menores de edad. Puedo contestar comentarios y preguntas sobre fandoms o libros y cosas así, pero si son menores de edad no esperen demasiada interacción de mi parte.

Más que nada esto es un blog de mis hobbies, así que actualmente lo uso para postear memes, shitposting y comentarios random sobre cosas que me gustan. De vez en cuando hago reseñas y recapitulaciones de libros, películas y series, pero no escribo tan seguido como me gustaría.

Si ven mis posts más recientes, se darán una idea de los fandoms que me agradan actualmente. Me gustan mucho los animes y mangas retro, (podemos decir que soy fan del tipo de cosas que luego pueden ver en el canal de Rayo Confuso, jajaja). Mi anime favorito es Revolutionary Girl Utena y me encanta todo aquello que se le parezca, así que más o menos eso les da una idea del tipo de persona que soy.

Me encanta la literatura y de hecho cuando empecé este blog hacía muchas reseñas sobre libros tanto buenos como malos. Muchos de estos escritos son bastante viejos y quizá haya cambiado de opinión sobre algunas cosas que escribí, de todas formas les recomiendo revisar los archivos de este blog y el tag de “escritos”, hay algunas cosas que todavía me parecen graciosas y bien hechas.

Pueden ver que últimamente posteo más en inglés, pero sí me gustaría retomar las reseñas y recomendaciones de libros en español. También son libres de mandar preguntas y comentarios. Espero que les agrade lo que tengo que ofrecer aquí :).