#the quicksilvers say

[oopsallfictives]

I am still a person even when I'm experiencing symptoms! The fact that I experience symptoms isn't dehumanizing! If I tell you about my symptoms and you decide I need to "humanize" myself that's you dehumanizing me

[mybrotherinkarkat]

Dirk: I made an AI

Roxy: you ruined a perfectly good pair of sunglasses is what you did. look at them they have anxiety

[transmanmonoma]

[Image description: the Calvin and Hobbes "change my mind" meme edited to read: tododeku is high empathy autistic/low empathy autistic solidarity you can't change my mind. End ID]

[transrobins]

I think people are right when they say that the horrible ways Bruce tends to react when one of his kids gets hurt come from a place of fear and helplessness, but I also think a lot of it comes from guilt. He feels responsible for it, and he can't handle that feeling because he never learned how to sit with negative emotions. So in order to stop feeling that guilt, he blames his kids for getting injured, or even dying

For example, there's absolutely no way Bruce didn't know Dick was just going to go to the Titans and reinvent himself after he fired him from being Robin. Everything about Dick's time as Robin was basically a neon sign flashing "I'm not going to stop fighting crime just because you tell me to". So Bruce had to know getting fired wouldn't stop Dick, and therefore wouldn't keep him out of danger. But if Dick keeps fighting crime against Bruce's wishes, then Bruce can tell himself that any injuries after that point aren't his fault, because he told Dick to stop

It's also why he has to say that Jason died because he was being reckless. If he admits the truth, which is that Jason died because he was a loving kid trying to save his mom's life, then Bruce has to take a hard look at why Jason was so desperate for a different parent in the first place. He might have to come to the conclusion that if he'd been a better dad to Jason, he might not have set off on a global search alone to find his biological mom, and this whole situation might've been avoidable. And Bruce knew why Jason went into that warehouse. Sheila didn't die immediately, Bruce actually talked to her, and she told him Jason was trying to save her. But the reality of the situation makes him feel guilty, so he has to blame Jason for being "reckless"

Bruce has to construct a narrative where he did everything right, and the bad things only happened because his kids didn't listen to him. He can't handle the thought that he might be in any way responsible for them being harmed, and because of this he ends up hurting them more

[oopsallfictives]

[Image description: screenshot of a tweet by user AhBiola, with the display name A. Tweet reads: This therapist just said "it's not that you're attracting toxic people, toxic people aren't picky, they go to everyone, you letting them stay is the issue that needs to be worked on" and this makes so much sense than that "you're broken that's why you're attracting broken people". End ID]

I don't disagree with this, but I wanna elaborate a little. Toxic and abusive people usually push the boundaries of everyone around them, and if you're really good at setting and sticking to your boundaries, they'll usually move on to someone else once they realize you're not going to give them what they want. If you struggle with boundaries, they keep pushing little by little until they get whatever it is they want. And if you've been abused in the past, boundaries are probably something you struggle with. That's not your fault, abusers fuck with your boundaries to make it easier to control you, but it can make you vulnerable.

The issue isn't that you're "letting them stay", it's that they're taking advantage of a vulnerability you have. The good news is that setting and sticking to boundaries is a skill you can learn, with or without the help of a therapist. So if this has happened to you, or you're worried about it happening in the future, developing those skills is a good way to protect yourself. But if it does happen, that doesn't mean it's your fault. I mean you wouldn't blame someone for getting stabbed just because they weren't wearing armor, right?

An interesting perspective to consider

[nightsilver]

peter and kurt

[dinogoofymutated]

Please, when u have the time, more Pietro stuff 😭😭😭 ur writing for him is excellent and I need more!! Headcanons, stories, idc I just need more Quicksilver written by u.

Enemies to lovers!Quicksilver/GN!reader - pt 2

Here's part 1

It's finally here!! I'm sorry if there are any spelling mistakes. Also, I think the ending is probably the most dialogue heavy scene I've done so far, and I'm not entirely happy with it, but i wanted to post this so bad!! I might go back and edit later though. Hope you all enjoy!! TWS: Fighting, passive aggression, full on aression kinda, logan is a worried asshole big brother, Professor X watching his tragedy not quite repeat. Pietro is kinda an ass but he's a broken ass so its okay.

You and Pietro had a weird relationship. And it seemed to just spiral into even weirder territories and murkier waters. Each and every interaction tiptoed into something a little more than just enemies, and one night you think the two of you fully crossed the line. You were sure of it, and it was just the start.

    You’re finally starting to fall asleep when there’s a sudden whoosh of air and grunt of pain. It startles you, and you sit straight up in bed, leaning over to flicker on the light. When your eyes finally adjust, you see Pietro standing by the window, hunched over in clear distress.

    “Pietro? What are you doing here?” You ask, But he doesn’t respond. His suit is ripped and bloody, and various deep cuts litter his skin. You swear he’s about to pass out as he stands in front of you, swaying just a little like he did on that day at the beach. Whatever fight he had just been through, it had taken a little more out of him than that fast metabolism could heal so quickly. 

    “Are you okay?” You ask, wide-eyed at him. Pietro grimaces in a way that looks more angry than it does pained, and yet he still says nothing. Unable to deal with the idea of admitting he needs help, you assume.

    He’s sitting on your bed now, naked from the waist up as you stitch his wounds. He’s been silent the whole time, only offering a wince or grunt every now and then with particularly tender wounds. Right now you’re on your knees as you stitch up a rather deep cut on his upper side, his arms keeping his balance as he leans back on your bed.

    “Do you wanna talk about it?” You ask eventually. Pietro’s chest pulls on the stitches just a little as he huffs in annoyance, regretting the action a moment too late.

    “If I did, I would be.” He snaps. You raise an eyebrow at him as you begin a new stitch, piercing the skin perhaps a tad less cautious than you had been before.

    “Take it easy, speedster. ‘Last time I checked I was the one with the needles in my hand.” You snark. Pietro has nothing more to say to that, instead turning his head away so that he doesn’t have to look at you. It doesn’t take a genius to know he’s a bit embarrassed at this whole situation, and you feel a bit bad for him. Out of all the places he could have gone to, there had to be a reason he chose to come here. You just couldn’t tell what that reason was. 

    You’re gentle while you finish wrapping him in bandages, and he can’t seem to look you in the eyes even for a second. When you reach out to brush some dirt off of his face, he finally meets your eyes. He’s a little less guarded than he was before, but the wall between the two of you still remains. There's a quick gust of wind as he moves towards the open window, stopping just before he leaves.

    “...Thank you.” He says after a moment, looking at you from the corner of his eye. You smile at him, a warm feeling in your chest. The difference in his attitude was noticeable, and the fact that he was acting even a little less cold with you was reassuring.

    “You’re welcome.” You reply, and then he’s gone again, having closed the window behind him this time.

The difference between the two sides of Pietro you saw was so jarring. You were so used to the cocky asshole that spent all his effort in terrorizing you, not the quiet, almost angry, and guarded man that stood before you that night- and the many nights afterward.

The second time he showed up, this time woundless and simply laid on your bed to rant, you were surprised but didn’t mind it. Then it happened again, and again, and then came the board games, the nights of talking endlessly, and the midnight snacking. 

And eventually, Pietro started to climb into your bed. He never spoke a word when he did, simply pulling back the covers and pulling you close, pressing his face into the back of your neck. Nights like this were vulnerable, and tender. Quiet. He came to you in need of comfort often, and you were willing to be his safe space for as long as he wanted.

The more he came to you, hurt or angry or sad, the more concerned you became. And you were upfront about it, much to his dismay.

     “You know, I get that we’re on two different sides of things- but you know that the school’s doors are always open to those who need it, right?” You ask, late one night after he had crawled into bed by your side. You were facing him, hand curling on the pillow an inch away from his face, fighting the urge to brush his bangs away from his forehead. Immediately, he has a negative reaction to it. He scowls, recoiling away from you as he glares. You know it should hurt worse than it does, but all you can see is the hurt he's feeling right now.

    “The last thing I need is for another person to tell me what to do.” He snaps, turning his head away from you as he sits up and runs his hand through his hair, aggravated. You sit up on the bed a little further, almost wanting to reach for him, but you don’t.

    “Pietro, You know that’s not what I meant-” You say, softy.

    “Does it matter what you meant?” Pietro practically cuts you off. His tone is sharp, and it hurts you for a second. You frown at him- not that he could see it anyway, and the hurt quickly turns to aggravation on your end.

    "Yes, it does. I'm not bossing you around, I'm just telling you that the X-men- myself included- are here if you need any help." You huff, watching as he practically rolls his eyes at you and stands, looming over the bed as he turns to look at you.

    "The telling part is the problem. Everyone tells me that I could do something, but what they mean is that I should do it." He snaps. You move over to his side of the bed before standing, almost in a challenge. The two of you are now almost uncomfortably close, to the point where you’re sure if you moved an inch your noses would be touching.

    "Well, What if that's not what I’m doing but you're just reading it that way?" You say, meeting his gaze. Pietro was never one to back down from a confrontation, especially not one with you. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him quite this angry at you before, rocky past be damned.

    "So you’re saying I'm overanalyzing?" He says, and you groan at the fact that nothing you said was getting through to him, pushing the palms of your hands into the outer edge of your eye sockets. 

    "I'm saying that I'm not your dad-" 

    "And what would you know about my family?!" Pietro yells, and you’re quick to look back up at him, scowling. 

    "Don't raise your voice at me!” You snap, pushing a finger into his chest. “I know enough to know that your dad controls every aspect of what you do, and that's not fair to you." You tell him.

    "Don't pretend that you understand or care about any of that" Pietro says, grabbing ahold of your hand rather tightly. God! You did not understand why he couldn’t get it through his thick fucking skull!

    "I do care, Pietro!" The words burst out of you, almost uncontrollably. You slam your other fist into his chest, tears of frustration welling in your eyes as you look at him. His eyes are wide, looking shocked and confused. You’re beginning to lose your fight, leaning against his chest, still somewhat caught in his grip despite the fact that his hold on your hand had become light, and still, it felt confining. 

    "I may not understand why you do what you do, but I do care about you." Your words come out quieter this time, blinking away those stupid tears that had started to well. Pietro’s eyebrows are furrowed, eyes searching your own, but you don't know what for. The two of you stand there for what feels like forever for both of you speedsters, but was surely more like a split second. You’re still pressed up against his chest, faces so close they could touch.

    And then they did.

    Pietro is the first to kiss you, leaning in and quickly cupping the back of your neck with his free hand, almost in a possessive manner. Once his thoughts have finally caught up with his actions, he pulls back. He looks at you, wide-eyed at his own actions before you gently pull him back in for another kiss. It only takes a moment to click before he sighs into you, melting into the kiss. His kisses are tender, sweet presses of his lips against your own. After a few long moments, you slowly pull away from him. He rests his forehead against your own, a fond look in his eyes that you were sure you mirrored. 

From that night on, his nightly visits to you meant something more than they had in the past.

That didn’t mean that they went unnoticed by others, however, and one day you found yourself being called into the professor's study. Of course you were a little worried, but you were so sure that there was no way anyone could have noticed, right?

    Logan is standing next to the professor's desk when you enter the room, frowning with his arms crossed. Professor Xavier on the other hand sits rather calmly, inviting you to sit down. You choose to stand instead, cocking your head at them.

    “Wow. What is this, an intervention?” You joke, trying to laugh off the oddness of the situation.

    “Yup.” Logan snorts. You shoot him a confused and slightly panicked look that the professor picks up on immediately.

    “There’s no need to worry, my dear.” The professor says calmly. “We just had a few concerns about-” 

    “We know that Magneto’s brat has been sneaking into your room.” You almost flinch at Logan's accusatory tone, bristling with a sudden flash of embarrassment and then anger at him for what he calls Pietro. “I’ve been smelling his scent on you for weeks.” Logan finishes, and you’re so taken aback you don’t know what to say at first, mouth hanging open in shock.

    “Easy, Logan.” The professor says, raising an eyebrow at the furry man, but Logan isn’t listening, approaching you with a scowl on his face.

    “Have you ever heard the phrase, no fraternizing with the enemy, kid?” He continues, and the close contact has you bristling again, unwilling to back down.

    “Logan.” The professor tries again, unsuccessfully.

    “Look, the first time he came to me he was injured. I wasn’t going to turn him away.” You finally say, fists clenching as you ignore Logan before looking back at the professor instead.

    “I understand that. In fact, I’m thankful that you could be so forgiving towards Pietro, despite the past the two of you share.” The professor states, but his words hardly relieve you.

    “Then what is the problem?” You ask, exacerbated by this whole interaction already. Logan seems to be angry that you’re ignoring him but snorts at your question.

    “-The problem is that you shouldn’t be letting him in your knickers.” You gasp at Logan's accusation, and the professor looks appalled. 

    “Logan!” Professor X scolds as you struggle and scrabble for words, now both embarrassed, mortified, and rather flush in the face.

    “-Excuse you! We weren’t- we’ve never!” It’s a struggle to finally find your words, and even more embarrassing to be so caught off guard. What kind of asshole accuses someone of that out in the freaking open?! In front of your mentor no less?!

    “Sure you haven’t. That’s why your bed doesn’t smell like him.” Logan rolls his eyes, and you refrain from punching him in the face right then and there.

    “Well if your stupid nose was as good as you say it is, you would know that we haven't done anything just by the smell!”

    “Just because it hasn’t happened now-” 

    ENOUGH! Both of you! The professor silenced the argument with a single thought. Both you and Logan feel scolded, and yet still bitter about the other. You cross your arms in a bit of a defensive manner ad the two of you turn back to face the professor.

    “This was never supposed to be an argument, simply a conversation.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. You scoff at that, sending a pointed look in Logan’s direction.

    “Well maybe, Logan should learn to stay out of my business!” You say, only for the professor to hold his hand up for you to stop, simply hoping both you and Logan would quit continuing to dig this hole deeper and deeper.

    “I’ve heard enough.” Professor X states. “We were simply concerned about the nature of the relationship between the two of you, seeing that you have been growing closer. I know your mind, and I trust you to stay by the X-men’s side.”

    “Then what is this?” You ask, the words coming out as more of a whisper. Logan sighs, looking regretful but ever the stubborn ass. He looks at you, moving to where he can lean against the professor’s desk again.

    “... Look, Kid. we just don’t want you to get hurt. Anything between you and Pietro isn’t going to end well.” Logan says. You feel a little more understanding of him now, but only a bit, with him back to acting like he normally did. He was always an older brother figure to you, but that did not give him the right to air out your business, even if the professor could find out everything that had been happening with the barest glimpse into your mind. Still, you scowl just slightly at Logan, looking away from him. He sighs again, and with a nod from the professor, leaves the room. The professor nods you over to his side, wheeling his way towards the bookshelf with one particular photo on it. One of him and Magento in their college days.

    “You are an adult. I cannot stop you from making your own decisions.” The professor starts. You find yourself tracing the features of the young Erik, finding the image of Pietro in every part of his father's face. The professor looks at you, and all he can see is a face so similar to his own. “I too, understand what it is like to hold affection for someone so distantly aligned from you. It’s due to that understanding that I worry for you. I…” The professor trails off and you turn to look at him with a frown. You knew. You know. The two of you are so different from each other, but surely that didn’t mean you would be enemies forever? He wouldn’t hurt you in the way that Magneto had hurt the professor so many times before… would he? Professor Xavier reaches out to take your hand in both of his own, squeezing it reassuringly.

    “Just be careful, my dear.” 

    “I understand, professor.” 

[oopsallfictives]

Every now and then I see a post that reminds me that most non-kin have an idea of the otherkin community that's defined more by people who made fun of us than by our community itself

If you heard about otherkin through general tumblr osmosis but never made an effort to actually understand us, your mental image of otherkin is mostly likely informed by people who pretended to be otherkin to start drama with the express intent to get people to hate us. It was really common a while back for anti-kin to create blogs posing as otherkin and post absurd, ridiculous, and inflammatory things like "I'm plantkin and keeping houseplants is slavery" or "I'm dragonkin and I ate my mom's jewelry". If you actually knew anything about the community it was fairly easy to figure out that these blogs were trolls, but most of the people on tumblr at the time either didn't know enough to be able to tell, or didn't even consider that they might be fake

And the most upsetting part? It fucking worked. So many people still seem to think that those posts were genuine reflections of what being otherkin means and how we act or talk about our kin identities

[oopsallfictives]

Every system has:

Responsible one: Dave (he/him)

Chaotic bisexual: Sollux (he/she/they)

Pure cinnamon roll: Eleanor (she/her)

Sass machine: Dean (he/him)

Shit stirrer: Neito (he/him)

Sweet but will fuck you up in Mario Kart: Lily Rose (it/she)

Looks human but isn't: Oliver (it/its)

Has died at least five times: Cat (she/her)

Has absolutely 0 chill: Karkat (he/they)

Here, have another "every system has" meme!

[mybrotherinkarkat]

Lanque Bombyx and the Perils of Transmasculine Representation

I remember when Lanque was first announced as a character for Hiveswap Friendsim, and confirmed by the writers to be a trans man. I was so excited. There had been nonbinary characters in Homestuck for a while already, but as cool as that was, I had been really wanting there to be a canon trans guy. I wanted to see myself represented. So even after my interest in Homestuck had waned, I bought and played Lanque’s Friendsim

To call it a let down would be the understatement of the century

I’m gonna stop here and give a disclaimer. I know the writer got a lot of hate and harassment when this first came out, so I want to make it clear that while I have a lot of negative things to say here, none of this should be taken as justification to harass anyone involved in the creation of this character or his Friendsim. I’m not even going to say that I think V did any of this intentionally or with malice, it’s equally possible that the issues come from a lack of awareness. Thoughtful media criticism is important, but please don’t harass anyone in my name, or in the name of trans guys generally 

Also, if you’re one of those people who thinks trans men aren’t “really” oppressed, don’t read this. I don’t want to have to deal with your whining when you inevitably don’t like what I have to say

TW for discussion of sexual harassment and assault

So let’s break this down. There are three routes you can play, each with a different ending: valid, chittr mutuals, and shamed 2 death. The valid route has a completely different characterization of Lanque than the other two, and which characterization you get is dependent upon how you answer a question at the beginning about whether or not you’re old/mature enough to handle a party with adult/sexual/“problematic” themes

If you say no, you get the version I call uwu softboy Lanque. He wears makeup and a flower crown, writes poetry, and is in touch with his emotions. This route gets you an ending where you don’t really befriend Lanque at all, you just strengthen your friendship with Lynera. If you say yes, you get the version I call fuckboy Lanque. He’s mean, overtly sexual, and tries to pressure you into doing drugs and having sex. There are two endings you can get with him. Either you alert Bronya to where you and Lanque are hiding, and therefore don’t end up having sex with him, or you don’t alert her and you do have sex. If you alert her, you and Lanque become chittr mutuals, though it’s implied that this is only so that you can hook up later. If you don’t, there’s a fade to black sex scene and then Lanque calls you a bad lay and leaves you to die of embarrassment 

So what’s the problem here? The problem is that both versions of Lanque play into harmful stereotypes about trans men. The uwu softboy trans guy trope is basically the portrayal of trans men as always small, feminine, and young. This is employed to either infantilize us and therefore strip us of our autonomy (think “young girls are being coerced into transition”) or to portray us as ~evil men~ trying to make ourselves seem less ~evil~ by *checks notes* being gnc. Or both, depending on what’s more politically convenient in a certain situation. For example, in Abigail Shrier’s book Irreversible Damage trans guys are positioned as both the young “girls” being coerced into transitioning and the evil men doing the coercing

The latter use of the softboy trope, the one where we’re supposedly using it to hide our true nature as ~evil men~ is often combined with the idea that trans men are inherently dangerous and predatory by virtue of being men. This is usually employed by either people who call themselves trans-inclusive feminists but haven’t gotten past the idea that feminism means “men bad, women good”, or by TERFs who don’t care that they’re being contradictory. It relies on a form of gender essentialism that, instead of being about  “biological sex” is about a supposed internal gender essence (think “trans men are men because they have male brains”). This trope is used to demonize and dehumanize trans men, and portray us as not needing sympathy or protection. It’s also usually paired with the idea that trans men gain systemic male privilege by transitioning (spoiler: we don’t). This combination of tropes has unfortunately proved to be pretty effective at getting cis women who are otherwise trans-inclusive to turn their backs on trans men

There’s also a racial element here, as Black trans men are typically seen as inherently aggressive due to racism, so the softboy framing is almost exclusively leveled at white trans men. Under white supremacist patriarchy, race and gender are inextricably linked. I’m writing this from the perspective of a white trans man, so there may be nuances I’m missing. Just please remember that there’s no one single trans male experience, and intersecting identities play a role in how bigotry impacts trans men

I also want to stop to talk about the sexual harassment and coercion aspect. I’m not going to speculate on whether or not V intended to portray Lanque as a sexual predator. I can’t know what’s in her head, and frankly it’s not important. Because of the general lack of education around consent in our culture, many people don’t really understand how sexual coercion works or what it looks like, and coercion being presented as normal and fine is unfortunately very common in media. I personally read the way Lanque pressures the player into sex as either sexual harassment (if you alert Bronya) or coercion (if you don’t). While I’m not going to say there are no trans men who are sexual predators, the fact is that trans men are extremely likely to be the victims of sexual violence. According to a study in 2015, roughly half of all trans men have been sexually assaulted, a fact that is rarely talked about and frequently swept under the rug. I’ve personally never seen a media representation of a trans man that dealt with that topic outside of Boys Don’t Cry (and that very emphatically did not handle it well. It was exploitative). So my issue with Lanque being written as sexually predatory isn’t just that I didn’t like it. There’s a real systemic issue with sexual violence towards trans men being ignored and silenced in favor of pretending that trans men are the real danger, and this version of Lanque plays right into it

However, when I first played Lanque’s Friendsim, I couldn’t articulate any of this. I couldn’t really put into words why it hurt so bad. And it did hurt. I went into this excited to see a character who’s like me show up in a franchise that had played a big part in my adolescence, but by the end of it I just felt awful. It wasn’t just that I didn’t like it, playing it made me feel bad about myself. I was ashamed of myself for getting so excited only to be let down. Being angry and not being able to put into words why I was angry only added to that shame. I didn’t want to be associated with Lanque. I didn’t want people to look at either version of him and think that I was like that, or that he was representative of me and my community. I felt betrayed. I also felt like I couldn’t even try to talk about it without being lumped in with the people who were harassing the writer

At the time, the only legible criticism I could articulate was that it was really annoying that they had Lanque take off his shirt and didn’t give him either a binder or top surgery scars. While it’s absolutely possible to be a trans guy with neither, it felt like a deliberate choice had been made to not give him any visible indicators of transness on top of his transness not being mentioned. I get not wanting to make a huge deal out of it, to write him as a trans character whose transness isn’t the focus of the story. But you can do that and also draw Lanque in a binder or with scars. Just have both Lanque and the player treat it like it’s completely normal, or even not acknowledge it at all. That’s a smaller issue, but that’s my advice to cis writers: you can have a character’s transness not be the focus without all but erasing it

Because of all this, I was pretty hesitant when I heard that Hiveswap part two had been released, and that Lanque was in it. I’d been burned before, but I had to know, so I read his wiki and watched a playthrough of his portion of the game. I’m glad I did, because I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it

(Spoiler alert for Hiveswap part two)

While he’s not explicitly called trans, the way him being a male jadeblood was portrayed was almost painfully relatable to me as a trans guy. The scorn, objectification, intrusive questioning, and thoughtless dismissal of his identity were all spot on, in my opinion. I also really liked that his actions felt realistic to what a trans man might have to do under an oppressive system like that. Framing Lynera and/or pushing Joey off the train if she figures him out are ~problematic~, sure, but his other options are to either permanently closet himself or get killed for his identity. And when you combine that with the ruthless nature of Alternian society, it makes sense for his character. After the disaster of his Friendsim, it was refreshing to see a trans guy who didn’t feel like three bigoted stereotypes in a trenchcoat 

I honestly think Lanque makes a pretty good case study for the dos and don’ts of writing a trans guy. And his characterization in Hiveswap is a great example of how to make him morally grey without dehumanizing real life trans men in the process

Obligatory reminder that I’m just one trans guy and my opinion is my own. If you’re a trans guy who sees this differently, that’s fine. If you’re a cis person who sees this differently or thinks I’m wrong or overreacting, no offense but I don’t care even the slightest bit and will block you if you try to start shit on this post

[transmanmonoma]

Okay but honestly I really want Bakugou to be the one who takes down AFO. It would be so fucking poetic. AFO has built himself up as this supreme villain who can only be defeated by this one very special hero, so for him to be defeated by someone he sees as a pebble in the road? The same thing Bakugou used to see Midoriya as? Poetic justice.

And also, AFO isn't Midoriya's villain. Midoriya's character arc has been intertwined with Shigaraki's, not his. They didn't even interact until AFO was possessing Shigaraki. That old man is not his problem. Plus he just had like a whole arc about how thinking of himself as the one and only person who can defeat AFO was dangerous and damaging, and how he needs to let his friends support him and take some of the burden.

Also also! It would be so narratively satisfying for Bakugou's character arc. Like, he's at this complete role reversal where now he's the one having to push through the pain of his quirk to even stand on the same battlefield. Now he's the one being seen as a pebble in the road. And he's accepting it. So now, and only now, can he be the one to take this burden off Midoriya's shoulders. And when All Might hands him the arm brace, a piece of the gear he used to stand on that battlefield without a quirk, and says "I'm sorry I can't give you more". I'm screaming. He could never have given Bakugou OFA, but he can give him AFO's ass to kick.

I'm being so normal about this, I promise.

-Oliver (it/its)

[transrobins]

🪴hello....! Just wanted to message you all to tell you that your plural tim fics on AO3 are excellent to read...! We thought it was interesting how you chose Tim specifically, as we've been examining him in a plural light lately as well (being a fictive of BTAS Annie and examing my own source's plurality will do that, heheh). But again, fantastic job on those and we simply adored your portrayal. Judging by the comments it felt like it was very informative for people not too familiar with the terminology gaining traction. Have a lovely day, and thank you for existing...!

Thank you so much!!! 💗

I'm gonna be honest, we didn't put a whole lot of thought into picking Tim lmao, we kinda started it on a whim. We wanted some positive rep in the fandom, so we figured we'd provide it ourselves. We're really happy with the response we've gotten from both other plurals and singlet allies. It really feels like we made a positive impact, even if it's a fairly small one, and that's all we wanted

At this point our DC hyperfixation has passed, so it's unlikely there'll be any more of this series, but we hope it can continue to be a source of positivity and education for folks. It means a lot to see that people are still coming across it and getting something out of it

Anyway thank you so much for the ask, it made me really happy :D

[oopsallfictives]

1. I have two answers for this. The first is having a ton of headmates and/or not being able to know all of them. I feel like a lot of system stuff, especially fun stuff like ask games, has an underlying assumption that you know all your headmates well enough to have general answers, or few enough headmates for everyone who wants to answer to be able to do that. I saw one of those ask games going around recently and wanted to RB it, but the answer to 90% of the questions would've been "I honestly have no idea" or "there are way too many of us to start listing answers"

The second is being a front anchor/shell/permanently frontstuck/etc. I've been fronting for nine years and can't figure out how to stop, which has caused a lot of problems for the system as a whole, and for me specifically. It's probably one of our biggest sources of conflict (or I'm biased bc it's the conflict I'm most involved in). We've talked a little with other systems with similar experiences, so we know we're not alone in this, but it's still kinda isolating bc this is the whole context in which I exist and it's barely talked about

2. Being a psychiatric survivor, hands down. Not gonna get into details, but we were dxed with DID and abused in the guise of treatment. Because of that experience, we don't identify with disordered labels even though we've been dxed with both DID and OSDD. We also don't use medical terms like alter or part for ourselves, and get distressed if anyone else does. We don't go into disordered spaces, not just bc they're hostile to systems like us, but also because the way people tend to talk in those spaces is extremely triggering. So we're cut off from some resources because of that

It's also the reason it's so important to us to have our personhood recognized. We know what can happen when someone refuses to see headmates as people, the things they can feel justified in doing. A lot of our opinions that could be considered syscoursey are shaped by our experiences as psych survivors, and tbh a lot of stuff we see online sounds like stuff that abusive psych said to us. So the way we interact in the plural community is shaped by our psych survivorship

Also it literally reshaped our system and how it functions. What I said above, about fronting for nine years? That's because of this. I (and the other Mercurys) was created to stay in front and eliminate amnesia (didn't work, don't try it) to keep it from being used against us again. Because I significantly reduced our ability to keep memories hidden from each other, almost the entire system had to retreat into the inner world or go dormant. We call it the system reset because an almost entirely new group of headmates (none of whom knew we were plural) came into existence and were the only ones fronting for like five years. We also became heavily co-consicous and blendy, and couldn't tell we were different people even while experiencing the same thing from different perspectives. Trying to avoid future psych abuse literally reshaped our entire system

-Oliver (it/its)

System Stuff Weeklies #2

Hello and happy [insert timezone here]!

What's something about your experience of multiplicity/being a system that you don't feel like you see represented very much, or wish you got to connect about more often? (yes there is an ulterior motive to this question, which is to see if anyone answering this actually has that thing in common with another reader :P )

What's another aspect of your experience and/or identity that you feel like has a significant impact on how you experience multiplicity? (There's probably a lot, so feel free to pick just one or two this time around--I'll probably bring this question back more than once, haha)

Running on Low Brain Battery rn so we'll add our own answers in a reblog later!

[it-meant-nothing]

Fox Quicksilver— Peter Maximoff was canonically referred to as Pietro Maximoff once.

This article was included in the website “25 Moments” made by Fox a decade ago before X-Men: Days of Future Past was released.

There were also a lot of other events included from the years 1962-2018.

You can check it on www.25moments.com but unfortunately, I think the page doesn’t exist now. I used the Wayback Machine so I was able to access how the page looked like in 2014. But if you’re too lazy to go to the Wayback Machine, you can just check this summarized version.

[pietrodart]

pietro maximoff my beloved my love my sweet pookie beautiful beautiful man. youre so loved...

[oopsallfictives]

#system stuff#reblogging for the great addition#yeah! our understanding of the history behind it is#originally the idea was that “proper” treatment for systems HAD to obviously end up with final fusion#so “integration” was the word for everything involved in therapy for systems (including basic stuff like communication and cooperation etc)#because it was seen as a linear process with final fusion as the inevitable result#but once the concept of healthy multiplicity started gaining traction as a fully viable alternative to fusion#then the terms started diverging bc fusion was now a distinct concept#and not automatically assumed to be a universal and/or necessary part of integration for all systems#but we could be wrong about this! definitely would love to hear if other folks have different info

Hope you don't mind me peer-reviewing your tags, but this is also our understanding of things. We've seen examples of the terms "fusion" and "integration" being used interchangeably by psychiatrists writing about DID, and even some who used other terms altogether. I think Rings System have talked about this before, so they might be able to give actual sources. I also vaguely remember it being the system community that first separated the terms in the way they're used now, but I could be wrong about that

-Rantaro (he/him)

I am begging young systems to learn the difference between integration and fusion please i beg of you im on the ground banging my fists on the floorboards with tears streaming down my face begging yall to stop and educate yourselves