#then getting upset when people ask why you misused tags

[supernaturalkickparty]

Too damn early for fandom wank.

[voidstilesplease]

zenith

word count: <1000 words | tags: lovers to enemies; mancers or magic users Stiles and Theo. Theo is a Necromancer (a magician of death), while Stiles is a Dismancer (a magician of discord/chaos). Based from this tumblr post. Complete AO3 chapters here.

after years, i finally completed this au series. phew!

—-

Stiles has waited years for this day. He’s fantasized dozens of scenarios for when he and Theo cross paths again but somehow never imagined it happening this way. It was always some version of Stiles waltzing into the den of the Dread Doctors – the supernatural scientists responsible for taking Theo away from them almost two years ago – saving Theo and bringing him home.

Despite the initial distrust they had of Theo – the only Necromancer to be born in the last three centuries – once Theo proved himself and his loyalty to the House of Magic by bringing Kira back to life, endangering himself, and fighting the hunters, they couldn't deny anymore that he was one of them. Despite the type of dark magic he had – the darkest magic that every single magic user in existence fears – he belonged with them.

And he was Stiles’. Before those Dread Doctors came and disappeared with Theo in the shadows, he and Theo were discussing the lives they could and would like to have someday outside the House of Magic, outside Beacon, outside their ability.

But now, it is evident that those fantasies will never come to pass. 

“Was this your plan all along?” Stiles quietly asks, kneeling in a pool of blood. He can’t even tell whose blood it is mostly – just that it’s a mix of everyone he loves. Every one of their friends who wanted to get Theo back just as much as Stiles did. And now everyone Stiles may not get back.

Were any of those plans he made with Stiles even real for Theo? Even a little?

Theo steps forward, gesturing at the chamber, healthy and seeping with power, not at all the magic-depraved, sickly, and tortured man they were worried he would be. 

“What do you think of it, Stiles? The walls, floor, and ceiling are heavily infused with iron and lead, enough to incapacitate even a powerful magician.” When he looks at Stiles, he grins. “You know, like that one that we planned to build in the House as an isolation room? Of course, I made it ten times worse and added a little touch of fatality, but yeah. As envisioned.” He sweeps his hands around proudly like he expects Stiles to applaud his genius.

He can’t if he wants to since Theo has his arms and wrists bound in poison iron.

“I think,” Stiles replies, throat raspy from misuse, “you’re a piece of shit.”

The smile doesn’t slide off Theo’s face. He shrugs easily like the weight of what he’s done to his friends is not weighing down on him at all. “I guess, I deserve that after this... poor reception.”

No, Stiles disagrees. What he deserves is pain. An endless flow of it. Stiles has a lot of it from his friends; from himself, even more. If only he could inflict it on Theo.

“Was this your plan all along?" he asks again, looking at Theo, willing him to tell the truth. Willing him to stop his lies, for once. "Lure us in, slowly kill us to feed your magic, and then give us to the Dread Doctors to be their plaything as you were? Why wait years, then? Why didn't you let us find you right at the beginning? Why were you so confident we wouldn't just give up on you?" Quieter, he adds. “I guess that's where I come in: this stupid magician who makes a habit of upsetting the balance just to keep the people he loves. Was none of it real?” Was anything between us real?

The smile does drop, then. All charades gone. In place is a cold look. Theo shrugs again, “Does it matter now?”

Stiles exhales shakily, “It does.”

Theo frowns at his reply, “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me, Stiles?” He steps forward, suddenly enraged. “You’re the expert in creating illusions inside people’s heads, aren’t you? So, you tell me. Was any of it real?” 

Stiles scoffs. “When have I ever pretended with you? I'm here, am I not, as you knew I would be? My magic feeds off of pain. I create nightmares, Theo, not fantasies.”

“But when those fantasies fall, what is left, Stiles?”

Against his better judgment, Stiles’ eyes begin to prickle. “I’m not the one who betrayed us. We came here to save you. I came to get you back, you worthless son of a bitch.”

Theo stands abruptly, hands tightly fisted at his sides. “I don’t need saving,” he spats, turning and making for the exit. Then he stops and looks over his shoulder to say, “You never should have trusted me.”

“No,” Stiles says, hollow voice above a whisper. “I never should have.”

For a moment, Theo only stands there, looking at Stiles, at the unconscious and bloody bodies of their friends. The only reason Stiles knows they’re not dead is because he can taste their pain. He cannot use their pain, not inside this room, but he can still feel it in the prickling of his fingertips.

“I can feel your pain, too, you know?” says Stiles a moment later. His eyes meet Theo’s. “That’s how I know some of it was real for you. In a perfect world, we can still escape and live the life of our dreams.” Stiles watches the hard way Theo swallows and hears his sharp exhale of breath. “But we’re done living in that fantasy.”

Theo tears his eyes away, moves past the entrance, and presses a button to close the chamber's mechanical doors. 

For a moment, their eyes meet one last time as Stiles and Theo, the magicians who fell in love and dreamed of getting out. There’s no getting out after this.

“Welcome to your nightmare, Theo.”

And the door shuts.

—-

steo a-z: part 26

[tockamybeloved]

Thank you @circumference-pie for the tag!

Why did you choose your url? Toska, the word associated with Russian despair, longing, there's not really a clear definition but once you've felt it you know. I'm not Russian, but someone I loved was.

Any side blogs? I barely keep up with this one!

How long have you been on tumblr? Since 2019

Do you have a queue tag? Yes. Music queue is the one I use most.

Why did you start your blog in the first place? Started writing a POTC fanfic.

Why did you choose your icon/pfp? I love roses.

Why did you choose your header? It combines reading/writing with my love of the ocean. It reminds me to appreciate each sunrise. The world can and should be viewed from multiple angles, and sometimes you have to turn the world upside down to find happiness.

What’s your post with the most notes? Recently, a Ronghao sketch. Two years ago it was a costume I sewed, and I think that still might be the top.

How many mutuals do you have? 15

How many followers do you have? Just under 100. Some of those accts are inactive though.

How many people do you follow? 48. It used to be over 100. I like to interact and felt obligated to like posts just because. Mostly I don't follow because the timeline ends up burying the blogs I DO care about.

Have you ever made a shitpost? No. If people get upset about something I post or my opinion, fine. But my intention is not to post something to purposely anger or provoke.

How often do you use tumblr each day? Once a day.

Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? In my head, yes.

How do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts? Not gonna happen.

Do you like tag games? Sometimes.

Do you like ask games? Yes!

Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? Honestly I no longer pay attention to this sort of thing. I either know you or do not, and famous is a misused word. There are probably blogs who believe they are famous only because people recognize their name. Unfortunately a lot of 'tumblr famous' blogs I've come across are also the type who post headcanon as fact, or who believe because they have SO many followers they self-appoint as leader of the fandom and by doing so - possibly unwittingly (I'm giving these blogs a lot of grace here) - narrow their experience and make other fans feel unwelcome. It's great when works from the heart or silly things are recognized and shared and passed around for others to see and enjoy! Let the post be famous.

Do you have a crush on a mutual? *blushes* Yes and they know.

tags? Only if you want to @greycricle @tortoisesshells @ladyniniane @nemainofthewater Or anyone else who wants to! (you were already tagged, @intricatecaprice 💗💗💗)

[tylerhoechlin]

You know if you deliberately mistype trigger warning tags like 'self harm' to 's3lf harm', as you're keep doing, Tumblr will never filter your posts out for people who want them filtered and added 'self harm' to their filters? Is that why you're doing this so your posts will reach more people even if the content is disturbing for them, or what? Sorry if it's coming out of the blue or feels offending but this makes people really uncomfortable and even disturbed, and I genuinely curious the reason for putting up a barrier in safe Tumblr usage.

I truly do apologize if there was a tag that was upsetting. But I went and checked and that tag was only used twice (one recent post and one from 7 months ago) and both instances were clearly accidental as there was zero self-harm in either post (and I have removed that tag from both). If there are other tags used inappropriately, feel free to let me know.

I tag Teen Wolf posts with the season they are from by using tags like "tws1" for teen wolf season 1. The post from today you were referencing was from season 3 and I must not have been paying close enough attention when quickly adding tags and "tws3" became "tw s3lf harm" (since tumblr will autogenerate and suggest common tags). As you can see the first 4 alphanumeric characters were the same from my tag to the unfortunately misused tag. It was an honest mistake and was not something that I "keep doing". And I definitely did not, and would never, tag something incorrectly or inappropriately just to "reach more people". Both of those accidentally tagged posts were not even my own, they were reblogs and therefore getting more people to see them does not really have any significant benefit to me. But even if they were my own original posts I still would never purposely incorrectly tag posts that might be triggering. I try to be mindful and tag for anything that could be a trigger to people. I use content warning tags for things like "blood cw" (blood content warning), "gun cw" (gun content warning), "flashing cw" (flashing content warning for people who are possibly triggered for seizures), etc.

I absolutely welcome people asking me to tag for things that I might have missed, or that I might have tagged incorrectly / in a way that doesn't work with tumblr's filtering system (I can't always keep up with the changes to tumblr). I am fallible and therefore welcome people letting me know if there is a problem with something I have posted. I am happy to try to accommodate everyone and my intention is NEVER to make people feel uncomfortable or disturbed. I would never purposely put up a barrier to safe Tumblr usage. And I don't feel like anything in my blog's history shows otherwise. I would, however, appreciate a little grace for what was a simple mistake rather than just assuming I intentionally did it to harm others or make others feel hurt, upset, or unwelcome here or for my own personal gain. Before you assign motives to a person who is basically a stranger on the internet, maybe just ask them first. I am human, I make mistakes.

[little-bloodied-angel]

First of all, the "thick skin" comment was only in regards to stuff like people hating on your ships and I did qualify "from what I've seen". I didn't intend to imply that you're not affected by things and I'm sorry if it came off that way.

And I never argued that people should not be entitled to their opinions and to expressing those opinions wherever they want. I just think using some tags because you don't know what will upset or even trigger someone isn't a stretch, it's being civil; and sometimes people aren't even able to avoid that content until after they've seen it precisely because of the tagging issue. Of course, the person in question should ask politely and not come in with demands, but I think "your feelings aren't my responsibility" applies more to "you were warned about this content so I'm not responsible if you choose to consume it" rather than "I don't care if you're upset and I shouldn't do anything to make a fandom space more comfortable or easy to navigate". Again: if you putting something in a tag on Tumblr only appeared on your blog, I wouldn't even think of having this discussion, because the tag could just be blocked in your blog with no other issue, but politely asking someone to add a word to a tag so they don't have to choose between blocking the whole tag, a whole blog they otherwise enjoy, or being upset or triggered without warning, isn't that much to ask. You can't curate your own experience, particularly in fandom spaces, if nobody cooperates with you. I've seen people argue that if you get triggered you should just not participate in fandom using the "your feelings are not my responsibility" argument, and that's just unfair. Again, people should ask politely, but Tumblr is not a podcast or a YouTube channel where you simply don't click on something that will make you feel like that. If people misuse tags then you see those things with no warning or you have to stay out of the tag entirely. If the intention isn't to provoke, upset or trigger people on purpose then it doesn't cost much to add a word or a tag to avoid exactly those things. Same with fanfic sites: the warnings should be on the tags, or at least tagged as "chose not to tag".

Like I said, if I worded a request like in the previous example, as calmly and politely as possible, and the person I'm asking essentially told me to fuck off because their feelings are not their problem, I don't think I'd be the one in the wrong. I just don't think someone should be sent crying or even having a panic attack to "deal with it themselves" if two extra seconds on someone else's part could avoid it. That's precisely why we tried to make the "anti (x)" and "(x) critical" tags commonplace, so that people could criticize, vent, or even rant or bash to their heart's content without the actual fan tag being flooded with negativity. That's not making someone responsible for your feelings; that's when you were warned, interacted with the content anyway, and then went rant at the person who made it about how dare they make the content in the first place.

I'm really not trying to antagonize you here. You've actually done that exact thing before, with me specifically, most likely because I asked politely. Most recent example: I told you certain wording in a possible Charmine fic came off as classist, which I was sure was not your intention, and maybe it would be better to change it because it was really uncomfortable to read, and you agreed and changed the wording without changing the sentiment. So I assume that if I asked you with the same level of politeness "hey could you please add this tag? You know your blog is one of my favorites, but I just can't stand to see (whatever), it's really upsetting to me", without criticizing you as a person, your opinion, or anything else, you'd do the same. The issue is not asking but demanding, imho, and it's also quite a different thing to ask someone to tag something than to say "you shouldn't be writing that", obviously. Again, the "there's a human being behind the screen" applies to both people. That's all I mean. And it doesn't hurt anybody to try and make online spaces a bit easier/safer to navigate; not by censoring things, I'll be the last to advocate for that, but simply by giving a heads up that that's what you're talking about.

Stuff kids on tumblr better relearn

1. You are responsible for your own media experience. 

2. There is such a thing as a healthy level of avoidance towards topics that make you feel unwell or even (in a real-life clinical definition of the term) trigger you - but you are the one to actively take care of what you view.

3. Avoiding does not mean policing others.

4. You have no right to tell artists to censor themselves - you may criticize what others do, you may dislike it, that’s fine - but actively asking for censorship when you could easily unfollow or block a person just makes you look incompetent in your use of the internet.

5. Do not give people on tumblr or /any/ website the responsibility for your emotional well-being. Because these people do not even know you so no, you have no right to ask them to take care of you.

[watch-grok-brainrot]

can i enquire your opinion on what i perceive as misuse of the words "zhiji" / "zhiyin" by western authors? it's often translated as soulmates, or even used synonymously, and for wx, often in romantic situations to fulfil non romantic soulmate fic tropes. i often get a bit frustrated by it. zhiji and zhiyin are both bosom friends, people who get you, appreciate you but they are not the western term of soulmates. what do you think? seeking perspectives to shape my opinion!!! thank you!!

nonny! I am so sorry! I meant to answer this the week you sent this and then i kept on getting sidetracked and forgot. >.> this is why i don’t get asks. i’m terrible at answering things. 

First of all, for those who are reading this and not nonny, i’m assuming you are either familiar with chinese or have read the blog post by @/hunxi-guilai by now. If you are not chinese and/or have not read her blog, go to her blog and go to linguistic meta and then read the post titled “ all right guys, let’s have a conversation about soulmates ” (gonna delete the link if i can’t get this to show up in tags since this is a nonny ask i want nonny to be able to find this... )

ok. now that we’re on the same page, let’s talk about translation. translation is messy. cultures don’t have the same concepts. when expressing words as complex as 知己/ 知音, you do what you can. 

do i think soulmates is an acceptable translation? yes. i would not hesitate to call wangxian soulmates. 

Is 知己/ 知音 inherently romantic? no.

do i think the connotations of 知己/知音 and the connotations of soulmates match perfectly? no. 

am i fine with fanfiction authors writing what they want? yeah. if i don’t like it, i just won’t engage with the material. it’s the idgaf of old age that i’m really glad i acquired. i can just nope right out and go find something i prefer. e.g. if i see a baobei in a wangxian fic, i usually nope right now. it’s not worth getting worked up over. lol. 

yes 知己/ 知音 are bosom friends but it’s deeper than that, right? 

Actually, i’m really glad i’ve waited. I’ve just binged Word of Honor (or what eps are currently out) and they toss out 知己/ 知音 a lot -- as they should. The show is spectacular (thus far 25 of 36 eps are out and i am dying at how amazing the main CP interactions are). Basically my heart is full of  知己/ 知音 mood so i think i can do a better job of explaining what it means to me now. 

To me, 知己/ 知音 is knowing someone/hearing someone so deeply that your souls are in sync. It’s being open and vulnerable. The mortifying ordeal of being KNOWN and/or HEARD. it’s joyous to discover that your eccentricities are understood implicitly. it’s stolen cheeky grins and stupid laughs that makes you feel alive again. It’s precious and rare and if you get one person in your life that REALLY knows/hears or tries to know/to hear you, you are lucky. this can be part of a romantic or platonic relationship. 

someone wants to call that a soulmate? sure. by all means. 

But if I were to see it in a novel or show I was trying to translate, I may translate it differently each time. The beauty of translation is, as the translator, I have the power (and the terrible responsibility) to interpret a work. My choices will be the text moving forward. My diction, if the only translation around, could be overanalyzed by a portion of the fandom. So would i always translate  知己/ 知音 as soulmates? no. Sometimes I might say say, “You’re the only person to know me truly.” or “To be truly heard in this life by one person is enough.” or I might say “soulmate” sometimes. 

so, i guess i do agree that soulmates limits the translation of the concept. but if you’re watching a show and there are subs, the subbers have more than meaning to worry about. you have to consider characters per second: 1) physically focusing on words with one’s eyes and then reading them takes time; 2) some people are much slower readers than others. (subbers also have to consider sentence structure and how to breakup a lines. and, depending on the show, sometimes the subs come out at an INSANE pace. it’s approximately 3-4 hrs of translation work once you have the chinese in front of you for a 20ish min ep if you’re being neurotic and probably just as much if not more of timing work to get an episode out. not to mention the translation checks and quality checks. so sometimes shortcuts are required... but i digress...) Is soulmates a good, succinct way to get the message across? yes. so i’m fine with it. and if it captures peoples’ imagination and brings someone joy, then even better. 

fandom should be fun. it should be happy. it should be a place where you grow and meet people that bring you joy. :) so am i upset that it’s the preferred translation of the mdzs/cql fandom? not really. it’s not perfect but it’s good enough for fandom (and horseshoes and hand grenades as people would say). 

[percabeth4life]

Sorry to just jump in here and drop this on you, but i saw a blog once call percabeth an abusive relationship???? and i was like ?????? but none of my friends read pjo so i cant ask them for thoughts, how about you?

Oh boy anon so this is a thing.

Percabeth is abusive is a common thing those that hate percabeth or ship something else and want to validate it say, and why I have the “anti-percabeth” tag blocked.

I’ve seen people say Annabeth just giving him a dirty look was abuse, people will reach for anything done between them that isn’t perfect, usually to justify why their ship is better.

Honestly, I’m open to most ships. Percabeth is my main but if you ship things that’s totally fine, even if I don’t like it I won’t say you shouldn’t ship it. I read non-Percabeth ships, but a lot of people feel a strong need to insist a ship is abusive if they don’t like it.

It’s fine to just not like a ship.

First off lets preface all of this with a warning that I’ll be discussing abuse here so if that’s upsetting skip it.

It got long, like very long (word count is nearly 3k), so it’s all under the Read More, there’s a TLDR at the very bottom.

Now then, what is abuse?

There are two definitions that pop up with a quick google search

Use (something) to bad effect or for a bad purpose; misuse. 

Treat (a person or an animal) with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly.

If you look up the legal definition (law.cornell) used to define abuse there are more options, but I’m leaving out 2, 3, and 4 cause 3 and 4 def have nothing to do with this and definition 2 is in regards to child abuse.

Abuse, generally: physically, sexually, or mentally injuring a person.

Now if we want to go deeper in lets define physical and mental abuse. I’ll be leaving out sexual as that has no bearing on this particular situation.

Physical abuse is defined by healthyplace.com as

Non-accidental use of force that results in bodily injury, pain, or impairment. This includes, but is not limited to, being slapped, burned, cut, bruised or improperly physically restrained.

Now lets expand on this.

Something that is pointed to specifically is the mentioned intent. “Non-accidental”. It must be purposeful harm.

Now, I will also point out that Physical abuse doesn’t necessarily say the intent needs to be abuse, but as my lawyer parents state it simply needs to be “intent to harm” and it gets labeled abuse. The legal definition (given above) agrees, it is simply that it needs to be purposeful harm. But then we need to define this harm, especially the bodily injury, pain, or impairment.

Bodily injury is defined by Merriam Webster as

any damage to a person's physical condition including pain or illness

Now what is damage?

loss or harm resulting from injury to person, property, or reputation

So then harm is defined as... damage, so the definition I prescribe to (and I asked my lawyer parents to confirm, unfortunately I have no link for that).

Causes pain (pain defined as suffering)

Pain is defined by Merriam Webster as

a localized or generalized unpleasant bodily sensation or complex of sensations that causes mild to severe physical discomfort and emotional distress and typically results from bodily disorder (such as injury or disease)

a basic bodily sensation that is induced by a noxious stimulus, is received by naked nerve endings, is associated with actual or potential tissue damage, is characterized by physical discomfort (such as pricking, throbbing, or aching), and typically leads to evasive action

mental or emotional distress or suffering

Finally impairment is

diminishment or loss of function or ability

(all of the above definitions except harm are pulled from Merriam Webster linked with Bodily Injury)

Okay, so now lets consider it, physical abuse needs to cause damage to someone, it must be purposeful damage though the intent to abuse does not necessarily need to be the intent. So if your actions do not intend physical harm then it is not physical abuse.

So then, do Percy and Annabeth have a physically abusive relationship?

Lets start with the classic one that everyone likes to bring up, the Judo Flip.

First off, do Judo Flips hurt? [sourcing (1) (2) (3)]

They CAN hurt if done with that intent, but if your intent is to not harm and you are trained properly, No Judo should not hurt. Anyone properly trained in Judo should know how to prevent harm. (1, 2)

On top of that, the first thing anyone learning Judo is taught is how to fall.

All judoka learn to fall safely, by rolling and breaking their fall with Ukemi. This breakfall absorbs the impact of the throw. (3)

Percy should have the basics of this down seeing how he was already in matches (mentioned in book one prior him being claimed) in his first summer at camp, after four years he’s definitely got the basics down.

Therefore, the Judo flip did not intend to cause harm, nor did it appear to. Despite that it was on stone, and Annabeth had him pinned, Percy didn’t even show discomfort. He laughed.

On top of that, when Annabeth last saw Percy he had the Curse of Achilles. As far as she was aware, he still had it. A requirement of Physical Abuse is the intent to cause harm, every factor here shows that there was no intent to cause harm.

This scene was not physical abuse, it was just bad writing.

I can think of other scenes, only a few, before they were actually in a relationship. In book three Annabeth punched Percy in the stomach when he didn’t catch her hint that he should ask her to dance

She punched me in the gut. ‘Me, Seaweed Brain.’

‘Oh. Oh, right.’ (TTC, chapter 1, page 8 of book on my copy)

There doesn’t seem to have been any harm done as he doesn’t even mention it hurting, not even a pause, just went “oh yeah her”. So it was likely a light punch, the kind friends do that don’t hurt just catch attention. Annabeth has been trained since she was 7, she should know how to throw a punch without actually causing harm.

If anyone wants to bring up other examples, feel free, I’m not combing the books right now for examples but I will reply to them (preferably in asks so this post doesn’t get super long...)

I cannot think of any examples of Percy hitting/punching Annabeth nor any other kind of physical interaction, if someone wishes to bring one of those up feel free.

Does this mean that I think they should be hitting each other despite the fact that it’s clear there is no intent to harm?

No, I don’t really think they should be hitting each other.

But! An important thing there is their own boundaries, not mine. I would not be up for being hit but I do share friendly punches with my friends, which is similar in intent. It’s simply that they’ve been trained to fight and have to a lot to survive so their boundaries for what is “harmful” are different.

But that’s a whole different issue and a different academic essay :)

I don’t believe there is any physical abuse in Percabeth.

Moving on, Emotional abuse (which Psychological and Verbal added as they all connect).

Emotional abuse is defined by helathyplace.com as

Any act including confinement, isolation, verbal assault, humiliation, intimidation, infantilization, or any other treatment which may diminish the sense of identity, dignity, and self-worth.

It also covers Psychological abuse and verbal abuse. Psychological abuse does not have a definition available on the site I’m using but it does have a description. If you’d like to read the description go (here). I will add a detail of how it works though

Psychological abuse signs and symptoms may start small at first as the abuser "tests the waters" to see what the other person will accept, but before long the psychological abuse builds into something that can be frightening and threatening.

Verbal abuse definition defined by healthyplace.com is

Any language or behavior that seeks to coerce its victim to doubt their perceptions or their abilities and subjugate themselves to the abuser.

So considering that, we note another important factor here, they also have intent involved. “Test the waters” and “seek to coerce” for Psychological and Verbal abuse.

Emotional abuse is different in that it does not specify intent, except every item mentioned is purposeful. If you’re confining someone then you’re doing that on purpose, you cannot easily accidentally do most of that. Those actions carry intent, even if the intent is not abuse.

Now then, is percabeth emotionally abusive?

Once again I’ll start with the big thing people point out, the Judo Flip.

I’ve seen it point out that it could be seen as humiliation.

Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, “Hold! Stand down!”

Annabeth put her knee on Percy’s chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat. She didn’t care what the Romans thought. A white-hot lump of anger expanded in her chest—a tumor of worry and bitterness that she’d been carrying around since last autumn.

“If you ever leave me again,” she said, her eyes stinging, “I swear to all the gods—”

Percy had the nerve to laugh. Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside Annabeth.

“Consider me warned,” Percy said. “I missed you, too.” (MOA, chapter 2, page 19 of my copy)

If you look at the scene itself you’ll see that Annabeth is very emotional right then, she just got her boyfriend back, she’s exhausted from months of worrying, she’s emotionally very strained, and she judo flips him as all her pain just fills her.

A lot of people with anxiety or high stress or similar issues have times when the anxiety doesn’t affect them during the time they’re stressed, but right after the stressors are gone.

It’s clear that’s what happened here, all her feelings that she’d been burying to work just filled her.

And Percy smiles up at her and says he missed her.

It’s clear from her own comment that she didn’t care what the Romans thought (said right after they almost attacked her) that her thoughts were not on how this looked for Percy, but for her. She knew it looked bad for her to attack him.

She wasn’t trying to embarrass or humiliate Percy, she was trying to get all that pain and stress and anger out. I don’t like how it was done, but it did not physically harm him (nor did she expect it to) and it clearly did not humiliate him.

He smiled and said he missed her.

He understood what she was going through, and made it clear he loved her.

I still think it was bad writing, but it’s not humiliation, nor is it emotional abuse.

Another thing I’ve seen pointed out is Annabeth’s nickname for Percy.

Seaweed Brain.

I will start this with a reminder that both of their nicknames for each other were originally meant as insults.

Wise Girl was first used by Clarisse and it clearly upset Annabeth, it is used twice by Clarisse actually.

Once in TLT, when she and Percy first meet, and once in SOM when they’re attacking Charybdis.

Percy in comparison uses Wise Girl twice as well, both in TLT, once when he was mocking her at her coming along on the quest and once when they were saying goodbye. It’s also used once in HOO, in BOO.

Honestly it’s not much a nickname... only used by Percy 3 times in all the (main) books. There are like 3 other cases in all the side stories and MCGA combined.

Annabeth uses seaweed brain a total of 41 times in all the books combined, in PJO it’s used 25 times, 22 by Annabeth, and HOO it’s used outloud 9 times, all by Annabeth. On top of this, while the PJO cases were all outloud, the HOO cases were not, with 2 (making the total 11) used only in Annabeth’s thoughts.

Seaweed brain is used in TLT 6 times, 5 times by Annabeth.

The first time is when Annabeth is joining the quest, then when he says things are going fine so far when they start the quest, then when at the Ride of Love, then when Annabeth calls him her friend, then when they’re saying goodbye.

If you watch the progression of it it’s the same as with Wise Girl, though used more often. It starts as an insult, and then becomes fond and a term for her friend by the end of it.

I don’t particularly want to label every single instance, but a quick overview of all the PJO books is that it’s used by Annabeth in annoyance a total of 4 times, in fondness/exasperation/worry 18 times. Those times of annoyance were all in books 1 and 2, the time of exasperation (1 of the 18) was in book 2.

The vast majority were done out of worry, and the rest when she was being soft.

It’s not meant to diminish his intelligence, nor is intended as an insult beyond book 1 and 1 instance of book 2. It is rarely used because he’s being ignorant either. You can make an argument for the first case in book 3 being done because he wasn’t catching her hint to dance and thus was mocking his inability to catch a hint, but it was mixed with fondness from my read.

Overall the nickname is not intended as an insult anymore, it has become a friendly name for Percy that shows how fond Annabeth is of him. She does not have nicknames for anyone else.

In HOO all the cases were relatively fond, with one that she didn’t say outloud being used when she was cheering Hazel up by telling stories about Percy (ah the benefits of long time friendships, you get to tell all the good stories).

In the end I think that it’s cute that they have a nickname for each other, and though there could be more flattering ones, the intent that Percy understands from it and the intent Annabeth uses it with clearly show that it is meant in fondness and was a gradual change from a name that was meant to poke at him. It’s meaning is is fond and loving and it was only used 3 times prior with any other (negative) intent.

Also friends give each other nicknames, and commonly they are meant to be teasing.

There is one other thing I’ve seen brought up, being Annabeth thinking that she needs to keep Percy on his toes (specifically about Rachel in this case) when they’re in Tartarus.

‘Rachel?’ Percy asked. ‘You mean our Rachel? Oracle of Delphi Rachel?’

‘That’s the one.’ Annabeth suppressed a smile.

Whenever she brought up Rachel’s name, Percy got nervous. At one point, Rachel had been interested in dating Percy. That was ancient history. Rachel and Annabeth were good friends now. But Annabeth didn’t mind making Percy a little uneasy. You had to keep your boyfriend on his toes. (HOH, didn’t bother to check chapter number, page 109 of my copy)

So here we see that Annabeth is “keeping him on his toes” but in context, they’re sending a note to Rachel through the Hermes temple in Tartarus. It was not Annabeth bringing it up to mess with him, it was her smiling at the little moment where he was thrown off about Rachel.

Frankly, in general Annabeth doesn’t do anything like that. She occasionally teases Percy but he always teases back. After the Rachel stuff in book 5 things were chill with all of them. We’ve seen no evidence of Percy being uncomfortable with Rachel being brought up, nor Annabeth thinking that it should be brought up for that purpose.

If anything Annabeth has shown some serious abandonment issues in fearing that Percy would leave her over other girls (she needs some therapy after that mess of a childhood but Khiron apparenlty doesn’t think so).

I see this as a case of bad writing with nothing else supporting it, including the scene it happens in.

Even had it actually been something supported by other instances, in the context she says it in it seems more like teasing over an ex where the break was amicable and everyone is still friends, which isn’t abusive or manipulative.

It’s just that Rick is tasteless.

So is Percabeth emotionally/psychologically/verbally abusive? No.

If someone wishes to bring up other instances shoot me an ask.

So in conclusion,

I do not see how it is abusive. There are elements I do not like, and some parts that in my own relationship I wouldn’t be okay with. But in Percy and Annabeth’s relationship they have clear boundaries, they are both more than capable of stopping the other if they do something that upsets them. They have both shown fondness towards the others actions even if it is something that we don’t approve of in our relationships.

If Percy showed upset at her actions that would be different. But we literally see into his mind and he shows no upset at her words or actions. He is fond, he is understanding, and he responds to each instance of teasing with teasing of his own.

Notably I never see people saying Percy is abusive, only Annabeth.

I get a feel that people ask for flawed characters then crucify them if they’re not flawed in easily likeable ways. Annabeth is not a perfect character, I don’t like everything she does, but she is a realistic character and should not be demonized.

TDLR: Annabeth has never purposefully harmed Percy, and Percy has never purposefully harmed her. Neither have verbally/emotionally/psychological taken actions with the intent of harming the other when in their relationship or since becoming friends. There have been instances of upsetting the other but they talked and it clearly was not meant to hurt the other but because they themselves were hurting

Percabeth is not abusive

[ferns-leaves]

Normal Attack: BYF

This blog is both nsfw and sfw. Nsfw posts will be tagged as "nsft". If you're a minor, I ask you to be responsible and not consume my nsfw content. It's tagged and has content warnings for a reason. Even if you're an adult, I encourage you to read content warnings and decide for yourself if you wish to read something or not. That's what they're here for.

This blog is and always will be pro-choice and a safe space for anyone regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion or anything else. If you have a problem with that, get out.

I'll try and put trigger warnings for the most common triggers. If you wish for something else to be tagged, you're welcome to send me a dm/ask/leave a comment!

I'm more than happy to interact with you, as long as you don't make me uncomfortable

This might be a weird one, but when talking to me please try not to use more questionmarks than necessary when asking questions (aka, just use one at all times). It isn't quite a trigger, but it makes me really uncomfortable, I can't really explain why.

I'd appreciate it if you could use tone indicators when talking to me, especially for:

- /s (sarcasm)

- /j (joking)

- /hj (half-joking)

- /lh (light-hearted)

- /pos (positive connotation)

- /neg (negative connotation)

Elemental Skill: DNI

If you're against any members of the lgbtq+ community, MAP s or whatever you people like to call yourselves now, here to bring any kind of drama/ ship wars/ Pro-/Anti-Ship debates on my page; JK Rowling defenders; People who misuse tone indicators (aka saying something mean and then adding /j or /lh because "now you can't get mad at me lol"); people who make fun of tone indicators, people who romanticize abuse, pro-lifers

Elemental Burst: General Rules

If you see me do anything wrong/ upsetting, please tell me so nicely and calmly

My views on "dark" themes in fiction don't reflect on my view of these matters irl. Don't start a debate with me on this. I likely won't write a lot of dark content myself, but I don't condemn people for doing so.

I'm not comfortable with: Toxic/ Abusive relationship, Non-con, anything sexual involving underage characters, gore (especially in a sexual context), incest, bestiality, cheating

I generally try not to talk about shipping here but just to be safe: Please do not talk to me about any Albedo ships (especially not Albedo x Sucrose)

[haloud]

I always thought Michael's hand being healed was such a strange direction to take, it was such a huge part of his arc in season 1 they even went as far as showing us on screen how it happened which is something I havent been able to watch since it aired I have to skip that whole scene, to just erase it at the end was such a disappointment and then there was never really any follow through in season 2 but season 2 was kind of a mess anyway I figured we would of got some confrontation between max and michael about it.

there are multiple excellent metas about consent in RNM, particularly how it pertains to Max, so I can see why Max violating consent in this case would be a deliberate choice to demonstrate just how much Max was affected by the energy and power he absorbed, how much it could change him. however, yeah, you’re right--michael’s hand was a huge part of his arc in season 1, it’s a huge part of his character, and even flirting with the line of a disability cure narrative is very difficult to do well, so this was a decision that had to be approached with a lot of intentionality, with a very deliberate direction, with something to say about max and michael, about how healing powers can be misused, about bodily autonomy...

and season two just showed again and again that that wasn’t the case. there was nothing there. max and michael don’t talk about it. it barely even comes up with michael. and the time it’s dealt with directly, it’s your show’s only remaining disabled character berating him for not dealing with it the “right” way. it’s honestly very upsetting, and this is what leads me to the stance i expressed in the tags on my previous reblog--that i don’t believe that rnm sees michael’s hand as a disability in the same way alex’s leg is a disability.

with this criticism i also feel the need to say that i do recognize that RNM is still a living document--they may go back and address it better, let michael and max talk about it, let michael feel what he feels about it and process it on his own schedule. but season 2 has given me NO reason to trust that this will happen. michael? ALLOWED to be angry about something that was done to him? automatically toxic, none of that allowed here, no sir.

like im sorry, this is a salty tangent, but of all the things--you can accept all the times the show TELLS and not SHOWS that michael has a consistent anger issue that harms the people around him and alex specifically, but michael wearing the bandana, even if it was because he wasn’t ready to let go of his anger at jesse or max--which that’s a big IF, because michael doesn’t say that, alex assigns him that motivation and gets mad at him for it (alex, you see, is allowed to be angry about things)(at michael at least, not in a sustained way at his abuser, noooo)--it was literally hurting NO ONE. literally no one. for michael to wear a piece of fabric on his hand. if alex has a problem with it, if it’s hard for alex to see, that’s officially alex’s problem and something for him to deal with with a therapist, not a stick to beat michael with when he’s mad at him.

anyway

rnm may go back and address this topic, and i hope they do, i hope that this storyline can be salvaged somehow. like i’ve previously expressed, i think the most eloquent solution would be to restore his disability somehow, preferably through him protecting loved ones again, as that reinforces that element of his character and kind of reclaims the circumstances, reframes them from the very painful hate crime to an active and empowering act of love...but they didn’t ask me. and there are other ways to do this right. but season 2 damaged my trust significantly, and whether or not they do, eventually, fix it somehow, people are allowed to react to even an in-progress story as it happens and work with the current information they possess.

[atomicfilm]

hey, so I'm gonna ask about INTP stereotypes. I'm doing research about some MBTI types to my story, so I would like to know what should I avoid in order to create a reliable female INTP character, are there any common misconceptions? if you want to add anything about INTPs, like weird stuff they do, what do they like or very random things that nobody talks about, I would love to hear about it!

Awesome! If you ever need someone to read it, I’m open to that. I think one of the main misconceptions is how cold we are externally A lot of types might look at us and think we’re standoffish. However, I can actually warm up quite quickly with the right encouragement. The best approach is not to compliment me, it will make me feel awkward and probably slightly avoidant even if I don’t consciously intend to. I don’t really like to be observed in that way when I’m not trying to be. A better way is to tell a few jokes, make really random references, and get me used to the idea of you being in my physical space in a non-creepy, non-confrontational way (a fist bump or high-five will do). 

There are a lot of nuances I would say. I am very insecure and very confident at the same time. Generally, I’m very confident in my academic abilities and very insecure about my social interactions. 

INTPs aren’t all math all the time. I’m certainly not an engineer, even though I admire engineering from afar. I’m generally the most willing person to shut down people who are being assholes in class (i.e. those really loud kids that exist in every math class) and also contemplate other people’s ideas. However, some INTPs I know are actual engineers. This is very cool, but I’m also aware of the fact that they too get insecure about their math-skills as well because math is cool but not always conducive to the way we think. We’re kind of sporadic thinkers and not algorithmic as much. We can be really talented but are also generally at least a little unstructured (but a lot of types won’t see that, i.e. ENFPs typically think we have our lives figured out). 

Everyone likes different things, it’s certainly not limited to type! I only know two other INTPs and they are both guys. I actually am pretty sure i know one other woman INTP but I haven’t spoken to her in four years. I don’t think any of us have a super-strong affiliation with gender and certainly not gender stereotypes (although we all are huge feminists). Perhaps the main misunderstanding is how much we care. Just because we may not outwardly respond does not mean that we didn’t hear the rude thing someone said to us or we aren’t furious about something happening in the world. 

Another common thing for us is just being misunderstood. My INTP friends and I call each other aliens and it feels very true a lot of the time. Being an outsider is evident, even if we are well-liked. 

I can be seen as sarcastic, snarky, blunt, and I am to an extent, all of those things, but I am not mean. I am very, very intentional about the boundaries I cross and often map out what will upset certain people to avoid hurting their feelings. When I do hurt feelings, it is generally because I have hit the end of my human feeling knowledge (i.e. what do you say to someone whose dad died if you are not religious, they are not religious, they didn’t know him and he was a bad person, but they are crying). I think now I would say “I am here for you, you can cry it out, let’s get you home”. But five years ago when I was in that situation, I didn’t say anything, just let my friend cry on my shoulder and when people came up to us, I told them that she didn’t want to talk. I was trying my best to be there emotionally, but I didn’t have the right schema yet. 

My Ne/Si is a cause of a lot of my fights, actually. I tend to build schemas a lot (as most people do) but I am strict in my predictions of what I think people will do. Usually, people do not stray from my predictions but sometimes they do. When that happens, I’m either laughing my ass off and super excited about being surprised or I feel like I have betrayed myself by not being able to predict every outcome. 

To write a good INTP character, you ought to give them a lot of comforting things. We like the friends we’ve had for many years, we like to wear the same jacket every week, we often order the same things off menus and say the same jokes and try to keep things quality-controlled. (I’m 19 and I still make pillow forts.) Then, to write a good book, you should mess everything up for your INTP.

If you need some emotional conflict, give them an Fi user. I personally fight with every Fi user I have ever known because there is always eventually a conflict that goes like this: 

Fi:“YOU HURT MY FEELINGS. I’M SAD, WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME?”

Fe: “Your feelings do not make sense in this logical construct I have programmed to understand human emotions.”

AND/OR

“You are hurting other people’s feelings.”

OH, and another large misunderstanding. INTPs talk more or less like normal people. I have an incredibly colloquial style because formal writing is alienating and often misused. My INTP friends typically love memes as well as puns, bad jokes, and writing texts in stanzas like a drunkard poet. So yeah, we’re not all like “wahhh, you don’t speak in Python, my computer-brain doesn’t like this” (but also we kinda do just in different vernacular).

I also think that INTPs are not incredibly skilled at understanding who they are, even if they appear to be. I can analyze myself all day bebeY but if you ask me what my name is or what I’m doing I’m often like “yeah, idk, who am I? What is the purpose of existence?”. Actually, one of the easiest ways to identify an INTP in my personal belief is to shout very loudly “SO I WAS READING THIS EXISTENTIALIST BOOK THE OTHER DAY-”. 

INTPs have a nice dichotomy of wanting stability but getting very bored once they’ve figured something out. If I am not planning something, I am depressed point-blank. Another cool dichotomy is disliking conflict but being sensitive and standing up for people (learned skill).

Hope this helped! Feel free to ask me about how I would respond in a certain situation too. 

P.S. Why can’t I add tags to asks until after I’ve posted them? Extremely inefficient. 

[veridium]

fuck it, queer meta.

About a year ago I wrote one of my first and largest meta posts about why I consider Cassandra a prime example of queerbaiting despite her being a character who explicitly says she is heterosexual. This lead to quite the day of inbox hate mail from people throughout the fandom. Most were upset I used the “q slur” and left it untagged as such in the big DA meta tags. I can imagine for those folks, the substance of what I had to say mattered little as a result. 

I deleted most of those messages and my responses soon afterward. They upset me greatly even as I took it all in stride. However, given that it’s been about 365 days since that fiasco, and some interesting events have happened with regards to current and former DA writers, I thought it would be “fun” to write a recap and reflection on why, generally, I still feel the way I did when I wrote that post. With some changes and growth, of course. 

The gist of it is, as we have come to learn in past, recent, and ongoing discourses in fandom, that much to the chagrin of a lot of folks in this fandom: BioWare, and in this instance DA writers, are not your SJW Icons. Furthermore, they never should have been, or should be, considered as such. 

The gist (part two) for me, is: for as much as diverse characters, worlds, and societies are being uplifted by Games these days, the counterbalance of bullshit is still there. And I think it survives most sturdily in the kind of logic the BioWare writing culture throughout the years. This sense of egalitarian, “of course” logic, that appears to make socially deviant identities normalized but really just falsely positions those identities as meant to be in lock-step with the norm. Representation to gaming, and most of media writ large, all-too-easily falls into the trap of “we want what the privileged have,” which it to say, we want our existence to be a no-brainer, even if it means we lost the essence of why our stories are so profound, important, and necessary to do justice. 

I really can’t imagine accepting the way characters like Cassandra were written because I don’t accept the writer(s) who wrote her. Why?

Come with me, and we’ll be, in a world, of pure fuckery...but with citations...because I’m an Academic and that’s my roll.*

*Please see tags for pertinent content warnings before clicking.**

**if you reblog and tag this shit with “q slur,” I will take all the reserves of understanding I have as a DA fic writer for all of the enraged womxn in the series and express it accordingly. And, as a femslash-oriented author, I can promise you: that expression will be consumptive. 

Hm, I wonder, what with the predominant writer for her character inquires on Twitter for “lesbian fanfic porn” recommendations for writing “research,” but seems to be unable to hire appropriate creatives to write, consult, etc. for the project. 

Or that the writers room made, and continues to make, space for a writer who continually does Black and queer characters dirty with his mediocre-at-best work, in both game and novel form (because, plot twist, he’s a shit writer) (1) (2) (3). 

Or that the writer’s room, and specifically Ga*der, attesting that the development of the Qunari was based on Arab cultures around the time of “Medieval Europe,” which is somehow his way of getting out of the thematic botching of the Qunari language, social structure, etc. from Islamic tradition. 

Or, the writers who intentionally shaped the story so that Vivienne, one of the limited number of Black women characters in the entire series to have a role as an ally, to be a red herring of an distrustful and conceited antagonist, to the point where her treatment by fandom has been incredibly racist, heinous, and lazy for years.

These are a few of MANY reasons, with thorough exposition, why the veneer of “progressive inclusion” studios like BioWare claim to be authentic. Having “diverse” writers in the room -- and I’m using that word incredibly tenuously here -- didn’t change the result of any of these harmful scenarios. In fact, it created them. This, combined with the tale as old as time: toxic fandom culture with white, anglo-centric, cisheterosexual masculinist ideals at the fore, have gotten us here. 

So, do I hold all of the reasons why I am angry about Cassandra’s character writing the same way now, as I did then? No. Certainly not. In fact, there are parts where I would correct myself. On the other hand, the thesis for me remains largely preserved: I revile G*ider, I revile that he gets the accolades he does by fandom for his “diversity” of characters when he exploits, erases, and uses slippery morality to get out of admitting he has shortcomings in his work. I hate that the exaltation for representation still funnels itself onto the heads of white writers and predominantly white-staffed studios. 

And, underneath it all, I am mad that some of ya’ll see no problem with that. Because what does it matter, if you do not come from communities, cultures, and coalitions that get the brunt of this misrepresentation? What does it matter if it angers a lesbian fan that the writers who have a long history of misusing and conveniently copping themselves out when they write women and queer characters, seem to use that “expertise” as permission to do what they are supposedly combating?

G*ider, the hero himself, is on written record saying that it should not be second guessed as to why Cassandra is straight, just as he thinks it should not be second guessed that Dorian is gay. Yet, when he asked on Twitter if there was some moral significance to people modding character’s sexuality (in this specific instance, Dorian, actually), G*ider said that in the end, people’s mods “do not change” what he wrote, and that unless they claim their changes “supercede” canon, there’s no harm done. 

So, really, I’m just over here like -- is this ya’lls hero?

Why in the fuck would someone be modding a gay character to be bisexual or heterosexual, if they didn’t somehow believe that version “supercedes” the canon rendition? Secondly, where is the attention to the fact that, in an ensemble of multiple romanceable characters, Dorian has to be the one that has to be sexually and romantically accessible to those outside of his canonical realm of attraction?

I mean, for fuck’s sake, it’s the whole virtue grounding his companion side quest, the fact that he is estranged from his Father who tried to magically change his orientation! This is a crucial part of Dorian’s entire journey to serving the Inquisition, and serving Tevinter as a dissident.

But, you know, it doesn’t change what G*ider wrote. And he’s correct, it doesn’t change what he wrote, which he got credit, money, and esteem for. It doesn’t change that if you load up the base game, Dorian’s gay. In G*ider’s head, that is the protective force: the parts where he has ties, and not the culture of the fandom, the culture the fans who helped fill his pockets from that game have to dwell within. This isn’t revolutionary, this isn’t good-faith representation. This is getting a piece of the rotten-sweet pie and saying “let bygones be bygones, you toxic, funky heteronormative assholes!”

But, where are my manners. I’m getting heated, aren’t I?

Basically, if you condemn queer fans for calling out queer bating -- or any marginalized fan for throwing up the alarm for bullshit -- and your first reaction is to side with folks like G*ider who got theirs and said screw everything else, fuck off. Literally, fuck off. I call Cassandra’s circumstance queerbaiting because she’s one example of writers getting their cake and eating it, too. If they are so aware of just how much of their fanbase is marginalized folks, they don’t get to say they don’t have fingerprints on things like queerbaiting. You don’t get to be acclaimed and excused for the shit you say you are combating, which is the source of that acclaim. And if your claim is happy ignorance, then you definitely don’t get to blithely equivocate when fans do ask you why the story happened the way it did. 

I also just want to keep in mind here that there’s a deductive conclusion to be had about this, given how La*idlaw explicitly stated they endeavored to make Cassandra extremely hot, “really enticing.” That conclusion is: 

(1) Either they aren’t/weren’t nearly as attuned to their queer audiences as they generally claim to be, or 

(2) They were, and had no intention of developing compassion or empathy passed G*ider talking out of his ass about why Cassandra was developed as straight. Which, ultimately, does coincide with conclusion (1) more than not. 

No matter what, the contour to the conclusion is: wow, a taste of nauseating objectification, in the BioWare writer’s room. Who knew!

It’s no wild accusation to make to a writer like him and his colleagues, that they don’t know how to handle sapphic, wlw, and/or queer-related storylines, especially with women. Especially when the answer seems to be, “well, it was decided before I took the lead, and in any case, why question it! You wouldn’t question a gay character’s orientation!”

But that’s just it, you complete and utter turnip. People did question Dorian’s sexuality. People do question Dorian’s sexuality. That fantasy world of equal bearings is as insincere as it is out-of-touch. And why not, when, as you said, 

it doesn’t change what you got paid for.

The ethos seems to be crudely reflexive: people’s phobic interpretations and alterations of the canon do not matter, but then again, why would you even question why a character is straight? Why would you question my narrative vision, in all of its beautiful shittery?

It’s all a game of dodge, ya’ll. Dodge, dodge, dodge. With a strong and acidic dose of vanity. 

So. In summation, folks: I could care less for your false equivalences. I could care less about my contribution of queer content fucking up your good time in the meta tags. Obviously you aren’t there to actually engage in creative, exploratory thought, so why bother reasoning. There is more to the possibilities of queerbaiting than stringing along a could-be, would-be, should-be queer storyline directly. There’s knowing your audience enough to exploit your good graces with them. There’s benefitting from a charade of liberal progressive clout. There’s the ability to foresee that queer people will cathect to a given character, and not only denying an experience they could have, but denying it so harshly that the character says they can’t love yours because you’re female. 

And I am so, so, so sick of these people continually enriching themselves off of the “nobody’s perfect” grace. To me, that grace is the promise of good faith, and the intention to do right by people. When that isn’t there, the grace isn’t going somewhere where it’ll be appreciated, that it will be nourished by. I mean, fucking hell, people, this is rainbow capitalism: don’t you taste it?

That’s that, then. “Cassandra and Queerbaiting Rant,” one year on. An extra dose of salt, just for the haters. 

[bugaboosandbees]

Duchess Noir Part 5

So... I know it’s a short update. (Clocking in at a little under 2000 words.) But, I’m traveling and I wrote this between trains. I just really wanted to get something out there. There’s nothing like being noticed by someone you admire to give you a kick in the pants to keep writing! So, @angelofthequeers , this one’s for you. :)

As per usual, all of you lovely people who have asked to be tagged are listed at the end. If for some reason you are not tagged and you asked to be, please send me an ask/message/reply and I shall fix that post-haste. 

Thank you all again so much for your support. I really can’t say how much that means to me!

I hope the Adrien bits don’t seem forced... I’ve been reading a lot of fluffy Adrinette lately, so it was a bit hard to channel the salt, lol.

Chloe

Chloe lay back in bed, hand raised above her, fingers splayed as she looked at the deceptively plain ring she now wore. Her new kwami and partner, Plagg, had sullenly sequestered himself in a far corner of her large room with the cheese plate she’d called up from room service on his request. Her head was still spinning.

Tikki had left after she’d finished explaining the situation. Chloe could see how upset the whole matter had made her, and Plagg for that matter, who had hardly said a word except his weighty declaration upon giving her the ring. When the two kwamis moved to a different corner of the room, speaking in hushed voices and exchanging a tight hug, Chloe had awkwardly turned away. Even in this situation that was so difficult for the two of them, something about the way they seemed to gravitate toward each other made Chloe’s heart clench. After a few minutes, they’d finished their goodbyes. Tikki had nodded once at her and then turned back as she flew towards the window, eyes softening. “Thank you, Chloe. It will be nice to know that someone has her back.”

Chloe had stared at her determinedly. “I won’t let her down.”

“I know.” Tikki had smiled and then vanished into the night.

Chloe wasn’t quite sure what to make of Plagg. He was very different from Pollen… Pollen was kind and quiet. In the few moments Chloe had had with her, she seemed pretty content to cave to Chloe’s judgment. Plagg was gruff and reticent. Although he was a physically small when he’d issued his conditions to her taking the ring his presence had almost choked the air around her. She had no delusions. Plagg might have been tiny, but he was a god. She knew that this was a kwami that wouldn’t let their wielder get away with the kinds of things she’d done as Queen Bee at first. She wasn’t going to lie, as frightening as she felt he could be, that was reassuring.

Plagg didn’t seem to want to really talk with her, but he’d explained the powers of the black cat miraculous to her in as much detail as she could wring out of him. She was going to be the best damn superhero partner Ladybug could ever dream of having, and she couldn’t look anything short of competent her first time out.

“The power of destruction must be wielded carefully,” he’d sighed. “Each miraculous needs a certain type of person as its wielder. The Ladybug needs a strategist, first and foremost. The Bee needs a strong, direct will, the Fox an individual who knows the damage a lie can wreak. The miraculous of the Black Cat…” he paused, looking pained, “needs a wielder possessing kindness and pragmatism in equal measure. The power of destruction is not to be wielded lightly. Although destruction can be necessary, it must never be used in excess. This power is chaotic by nature and can be difficult to control. You’ll need to have a steady head -- need to know when it is necessary for your power to be used, but you also need to have an unparalleled respect for life, for light, and for creation, and to only use your powers when they are key to upholding their opposite. Do you understand?”

Chloe’s shoulders had curled in as he’d spoken, losing part of their usual pin-straight cast of confidence. “Plagg… I don’t know how much you saw when you were with the previous Chat Noir but…” She clenched her eyes shut. “I’m… I haven’t been a very good person in the past. I know that. It just seemed that every time I tried to let someone in… it didn’t end well. After my Mom… after everything else, I didn’t want to give anyone else enough of me to break. But… Ladybug, Ladybug is the only person I’ve ever met who looked at me and saw someone that was really worth something. She trusted me with the power to save Paris, but also to feel stronger on my own. I… I don’t know if I can promise to be perfect, or even really kind, right away.” Her eyes opened, blinking around tears that had suddenly appeared. “But… I promise to try. For right now… well, I love Ladybug more than I love myself. She saved me in more ways than one, and there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for her. I’ll support her as best I can, and I’ll listen to you. I’ll learn anything you want to teach me. I -- I just want to be good at this. I want to help Ladybug, and I want to help Paris. I want to be a hero that she can be proud of.”

One moment stretched slowly into another as he stared at her with an unreadable gaze, before nodding softly. “That’s enough for now, kid.”

Marinette

Marinette awoke to sunlight streaming over her face. She stretched, still half asleep, and curled her toes into the soft blanket. She felt so relaxed...  She turned her head and slowly opened her eyes to find Tikki sitting on the small bed she’d fashioned for her, eyes closed as a shimmering red glow emanating from her, covering the entire bed.  

“Tikki? What’s going on?”

Tikki slowly opened her eyes. “Good morning, Marinette. I… I thought that after last night, you deserved a really good night’s sleep. Just think of it as a bit of kwami magic.”

Marinette smiled softly. What had she done to deserve Tikki? “Thank you, Tikki.”

The red glow dissipated as Tikki rose into the air, hovering over her charge. “And, it’s Saturday, which means that you should be able to work on the dress you’ve been meaning to finish!”

Her eyes lit up. “You’re right! I’ve been so busy, but all I have to do this weekend is the history report, and I’ve already picked out my sources, so that shouldn’t take too long!” She rose out of bed, clambered down the ladder to the floor, and stretched, arms raised high over her head.

“... Marinette,” Tikki sounded almost hesitant. “There is something I should tell you before you get to work.”

Marinette looked up at Tikki questioningly. “What is it?”

The tiny god sighed. “Last night… after you went to sleep, I was just so worried about you, and about everything happening with Chat Noir… I was so angry. I decided to go to the Guardian to choose a new hero that you could rely on, but… on my way there I ran into Plagg -- Chat Noir’s kwami -- and… well, he’d decided to leave Chat Noir.”

“W--what?” Whatever she’d been expecting, that was not it.

Tikki barreled on. “We agreed that things had gone too far. The Guardian was so unwilling to believe that he could have made another mistake despite what his last error cost us all.” Marinette had never heard her usually sweet kwami sound so strange and bitter and powerful, but she wasn’t afraid. Her heart warmed knowing the extent to which her kwami had sought to protect her.

“Plagg told me that he’d been trying to counsel his kitten for months, but that every time he’d try to get through to him, he’d either threaten to renounce Plagg or transform! He’s wreaking havoc on the balance between creation and destruction, and, frankly, if we hadn’t done something soon, you’d both be facing side effects from our domains being out of sync. I couldn’t let that happen to you.” Tikki’s voice, which had risen higher and more forceful in her anger suddenly quieted. “I know that it was difficult for Plagg. Despite everything… he loved his kitten. He said that he needed him, that he needed someone…” The anger returned. “But no matter how cold his life is, it doesn’t justify what he’s done!”

“Tikki, Tikki, it’s…  okay. I… with everything that’s happening with Chat lately… as much as I wish that I could go back in time to when he was my friend… ” she quieted. “I’ve been messing up in battles. Our dynamic is off, and I’ve been getting really scared that he’s just going to up and quit one day because I turned him down again… I feel like an awful person, but I’m so relieved Tikki.”

Tikki flew down to rest a comforting paw on Marinette’s cheek. “It’s okay, Marinette. Everything’s going to be okay. For now, why don’t we get to work on that dress?”

Marinette nodded and turned towards the half-finished gown on her mannequin with a determined smile. Her kwami was on her side, and, as bittersweet as it was, she had someone new that she could trust to watch her back. For now, Tikki was right -- it was time to do something she enjoyed, and she wasn’t going to let anything taint that.

Plagg

He’d stared at his new kitten… no, simply his new wielder, (he couldn’t let himself care this fast) as she’d cried. Her opulent room felt just as empty of love as Adrien’s had… and he’d seen her display some of the same selfish behaviors as his previous charge in the past. Why on Earth had Tikki said that this spoiled selfish girl would be a good fit? Gods, he couldn’t bear the thought of another holder going the way Adrien had. Despite all of his faults, Plagg had allowed himself to love Adrien. He’d had many chosen throughout the centuries, and there were a fair few times that he had been misused even as Noroo was now. When he’d first met Adrien, he half wondered if there had been a mistake. The boy didn’t resonate with the ring particularly well, but he was so lonely and so fragile… He’d awakened parental instincts Plagg hadn’t even known he’d had -- and Plagg had let him get away with far too much for far too long. He could not make the same mistake again.t

But… beneath it all, and despite everything he knew of the new blonde sitting across from him, he could sense the way that the ring had taken to her -- energy already coiling like steel in her soul, drawing out the heart that had been long buried. Against all odds, this Chloe was a chosen, just like Tikki’s bug.

For the first time since Adrien had made the decision to let the people of Paris drown over secrets that were not his to know, Plagg felt something loosen within him where he hadn’t known there had been tension. Maybe, just maybe, everything would turn out all right.

Adrien

Adrien woke to sunlight streaming through the window onto his face. He groaned and glanced over at the Ladybug digital clock next to his bedside. 10:00? That was strange… Normally Plagg woke him with demands for cheese before 8:00 on weekends… Well, he wasn’t going to complain about the extra sleep! He ran his left hand through his hair, pushing back the inevitable strands that fell across his face during the night. Then he froze.

Slowly, and with mounting horror, he lowered his hand in front of his face. The ring. It was gone.  

Tags: 

@demydreamer-otaku-and-book-lover , @anastasian-dreamer, @donegonewrong , @twinkletoes-rp , @asandygraves , @fatimaabbasrizvi , @im-here-for-the-content , @theorangelizard , @captainrose35 , @pleasefollowmeuwu , @the-ice-goddess , @ofpassionsandobsessions, @starberry-mina, @mikantsume, @bloody-no-kissu , @chocolatemilk52 , @angelofthequeers, @bluelioncupcake, @ml-cartoons, @thelifeofmely, @shadowberrybinch, @creativetwit, @lordsmeldingtonthethird

[mbti-notes]

INFJ. I think I'm enneagram 9 (I know this blog isn't about enneagram, but a relevant point is they're titled "peacemakers"). I often have the ability to see things from all sides. While this can be good, I feel like I often end up repressing my feelings about things because of it. Sometimes I'll disagree or be made uncomfortable by someone and in the moment, I will be nice and agreeable, and later realize I was actually upset by what they said or did. ( 1 / 2 )

[con’t: It sneaks up on me because I’m more focused on dousing the fire than how I feel. My BIGGEST question: how do I become more in tune with what I’m feeling in the midst of conflict instead of way later? I feel like I’m dishonoring myself and “my truth” with this habit. And how do I approach expressing how I really feel after the fact? (And discerning when its really worth pivoting back to an earlier argument.) There was a point where I was starting to assert myself, but I got angry at the wrong people for the wrong reasons. In the beginning my anger was understandable, but I was very stubborn about not letting go of that anger instead of being sympathetic and working to resolve the conflict. It caused a lot of damage. I wouldn’t want to repeat that failed effort of asserting myself. How do I know when to show feelings of anger? Thanks so much!]

Read the articles about emotional well-being and communicating through conflict, as well as related tags, because this topic has come up several times from infjs before. If you need more than that, there are book recommendations on the resources page about these topics. You describe poor judgment, which means that your Fe-Ti functions require better development. It seems you overindulge Fe and have difficulty drawing appropriate emotional boundaries, too easily getting tied up with what people do or think. When your emotions get the better of you, you misuse Ti and Se, hurt morphs into anger, and you indulge the impulse to attack, only to deeply regret it. Aside from this, infj problems almost always trace back to dysfunctional Ni and one’s problematic beliefs/assumptions about the world. Let’s delve into your belief system and the assumptions you make…

Labeling oneself a “peacemaker” is rather useless when you have no insight into why you manifest this behavior. It’s obvious that this label is part of your persona and thus an unconscious source of pride. However, every source of pride is also a potential catalyst for your downfall. In FJs, playing “peacemaker” is inextricably tied to a deep-seated fear of conflict, which in turn is often accompanied by a deep-seated fear of hurt and rejection, which in turn is often rooted in low self-worth and the belief that one’s own needs and desires are illegitimate or “selfish”. “Peacemaker” doesn’t sound so hot when you put it like that, does it? It seems you don’t yet possess a deep enough understanding of your beliefs about yourself.

Serious question for you to reflect on: What’s wrong with conflict? You seem to treat it as the end of the world. Expanding on the first point, a false self-image means that you cannot accept the reality of who you are. You bristle when the mirror of your social interactions reflects back to you your true face, as your unconscious fears get triggered and your dark side quickly emerges. In other words, perhaps you fear conflict because it reflects back to you the truth that you’re not as agreeable, understanding, accepting, acceptable, etc, as you want to believe you are, and/or the fact that the world doesn’t actually live up to your desires and expectations. Instead of confronting your fears within and getting to the bottom of your problem, you seek to “manage” it out there in the world. You want to manipulate the social environment to suit your comfort level, but you can’t fully admit that this is what you want because then you sound like a “selfish b*tch”, so you have to couch everything in nice sounding words like “peacemaking” or “asserting”, etc. You’re basically asking me to provide you with permission to put yourself first, but it’s just part and parcel of the same old pattern: put others first, resent, put myself first, shame, rinse, repeat. As you hinted at, it’s pointless to ask me when it’s okay to get into an old pattern again.

You ask “how do I know when to show feelings of anger?” Wrong question. Ask “how is it that I got to be so angry?” Anger is at level 10 and you wait until 11 before you even consider the possibility of doing something, then you seem taken aback that you’re basically ready to attack someone like a frothing animal. Anger is merely a cowardly extension of sadness, and sadness often comes from feeling hurt. You are afraid of feeling hurt (because it reveals your darkness), you are afraid of appearing hurt and vulnerable (because that would disrupt social harmony and your self-image of how you promote social harmony), so how can you acknowledge your hurt let alone express it? You want to express your feelings when you can’t even accept that they exist. You suppress them until they morph into something ugly.

You’re not owning your emotions but rather misattributing them to an outside source, believing that “they made me angry”, so you wait passively for that external trigger to go away or you surmise that the resolution (or closure) lies in confronting THEM and maybe “correcting” THEM so that they agree with you. You’re turning anyone who disagrees with you into an enemy or traitor rather than taking a genuine interest in their viewpoint. If someone says something disagreeable to you, why is it not a viable option to simply say at that moment “I disagree” or ask “why do you believe that”? What do you think would happen? Do you believe that a civil discussion isn’t possible as soon as there is disagreement? And why is it not a viable option to simply allow someone to have their opinion, assuming that their personal opinion has no tangible impact upon you?

It seems you haven’t reflected on your beliefs about what makes for good communication. Many immature FJs actually treat communication as opportunities to fish for affirmation, but communication is about forging connection, which can’t happen when people can’t express themselves authentically. And how can you express yourself authentically when you can’t accept your own feelings and emotions? Perhaps you naively believe that communication must ALWAYS be positive, “peacemaking”, “agreeable”, a kumbaya circle, etc. Then you’re living in fantasy and you hope for something fake. There are always going to be disagreements because every individual has their own unique experiences that result in a unique viewpoint. You get stuck on disagreements because you fail to understand that confronting the negative is necessary for reaching the positive; it is through carefully exploring differences that people come closer together and develop appreciation for each other. Why do you think people naturally become LESS racist, sexist, homophobic, etc, the more they interact with the people they deride? Disagreements can be a good thing when you know how to utilize them to foster deeper understanding. Fear of conflict means that this option is completely closed off to you, since communication immediately shuts down the moment you get triggered.

Overindulging Fe means being oversensitive to social feedback. This happens because there is no clear understanding of the difference between “your business” and “none of your business”. You say you “have the ability to see things from all sides”. Do you really? It sounds like a myth that you like to perpetuate about yourself (false self-image). If you have this ability, then why do you begrudge differences of opinion? Do people not have a right to their own individual thoughts and the freedom to feel their own feelings? If you have this ability, then why do you downplay or devalue your own side? Are you not a person and do you not deserve to have your own thoughts and feelings? Believing something is true doesn’t make it true. You claim a fair-mindedness that is betrayed by your unfair approach to disagreement. You’re not that good at seeing things from all sides, but if you insist on believing you are (false self-image), then how are you going to improve this ability? Isn’t the truth closer to this: “I only have the ability to see the sides that closely resemble mine”?

Healthy Fe is fair-minded, respectful, and compassionate. But do you want to be these things because it would absolutely destroy you to learn that you are NOT these things (egotistical intention), in which case, every social interaction becomes a looming threat as every conflict reflects back to you your unexamined darkness? Or do you truly understand the value of Fe and aim to express it properly (authentic intention)? If you are truly fair-minded, it wouldn’t trigger you to hear differences of opinion and you wouldn’t take other people’s business so personally. If you are truly respectful of everyone’s humanity, you would not disrespect yourself or become excessively critical of people just because you feel hurt or afraid. If you are truly compassionate, you would know how to extend compassion to yourself and resolve negative social situations through patient empathetic dialogue. Work on Fe.

[that-yandere-life]

Who Hides In The Darkness- Chapter Two: Who Done It?

[Thank you so much for your support on Chapter One! I really hope you continue to enjoy the series! If so please let me know it really does help! If you want to read Chapter One my masterlist is in my bio, I’m pretty sure Tumblr still sucks if you use links. If you would like to be added to the tag list let me know!]

[[Deadpool: Yeah you know like, comment, subscribe and all that good shit. Me: That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works!]]

Mini recap- Chapter One:

“Only one problem with that Capsicle… No one has landlines anymore, and there is no service for cells out here in the woods. All the cars are gone, plus no civilization for miles and miles. We are totally isolated, we are going to have to figure this out ourselves. When I said we would be stuck out here for the weekend, I meant we would be stuck out here.”Tony explained biting his knuckle in contemplation. No one knowing if it was him trying to figure out who did it, or what in the hell they were going to do now.

Chapter Two: Who Done It?

Everyone was clearly shaken by the events that had just taken place, and you did not want to be alone. Thankfully the feeling seemed mutual as you all slowly made your way back to the lounge that you had been in a few hours ago. Clint lead you to a couch and sat you down since you could hardly gather your thoughts, let alone process what was happening around you. Staring off into space at the wall ahead of you, you could hear low level chatter coming from the people around you.

“Alright we need to figure something out, we can’t just sit here and do nothing. Pietro is in there lying on the ground dead and one of us has to be the culprit.”Steve started off in his Captain voice, pacing from side to side. “I don’t want to believe it, but there is no other option.”He sighed rubbing his forehead earnestly.

“What about one of the waiters? They were the ones with the access to the wine.”Peter suggested softly wringing his hands together. “Although why would they have incentive to kill one of us?”He added as an afterthought.

“Maybe somebody paid one of them off to get them to poison the wine.”Bucky suggested shrugging a little. “Or slipped it into the wine beforehand, but how would they know what wine bottle would make it to Pietro?”He lamented shaking his head at his own idea.

“Why don’t we start with who has the most motive to kill him?”Tony suggested still nursing a whiskey and coke swirling the liquid in the glass in contemplation. “The problem is, I don’t think any of us have a solid motive to harm him or anyone else here.”He sighed looking down at the ground for a moment. “Any ideas?”He finally asked looking up at the others.

“(Y/N), you were talking to him right before he collapsed what were the two of you talking about?” Steve asked curiously looking to you for an answer.

Snapping out of your trance like state of staring at the wall you looked at Steve in the eyes. “I’m sorry can you repeat that?”You asked still trying to keep it together but having a hard time maintaining.

“What were you talking to Pietro about before he died?”Steve asked calmly seeing that you were still definitely in a state of shock.

“Oh uh, we were talking about going to hang out alone after dessert.”You explained feeling your cheeks heat up hoping it wasn’t obvious what you meant by that.

“Alone?”Tony asked with a lifted tone, raising an eyebrow at you, understanding instantly much to your dismay.

“Yeah, alone.”You said sighing heavily crossing your arms over your chest, closing your eyes, groaning in embarrassment.

“So I think it’s safe to say that you wouldn’t have killed him, since you were about to well have some ‘alone’ time.”Tony smirked winking at you before downing the rest of his glass.

“Alright let’s not talk about (Y/N)’s private life anymore, that’s not going to help the situation.”Steve exhaled sharply trying to change the conversation, mostly to keep himself from getting mad that Pietro had garnered your attention before him. However he needed to keep it quiet as he didn’t want to be suspected of any wrongdoing.

“You brought it up Capsicle, I just further clarified.”Tony said still staring at you with a wide smirk on his face.

“Now, has anyone argued with Pietro lately? Even if the fight seems insignificant it might be important?”Steve ignored Tony as he addressed the room searching for any sort of change on anyone’s faces only to be met with a lot of sadness and confusion.

“I don’t think so Steve, and we really aren’t getting anywhere like this.”Sam responded with slight annoyance in his voice from the corner of the room where he hadn’t moved since they entered.

“Well then how do you propose we figure out who killed a member of our family?!”Steve shouted hitting the table next to him with an open hand so forcefully it split in half, each piece tumbling to the floor loudly. Everyone jumped, being immensely startled by his outburst, it wasn’t like Steve to act like that often. The thunderous noise causing you to bury your face in Clint’s chest again out of fear, causing Steve to instantly regret his actions. “Hey, hey I’m sorry.”He frowned gently rubbing your shoulder to try and comfort you.

“Something just doesn’t feel right about all of this guys.”Bruce spoke up having been lost in his own thoughts until now. “The person had to get the poison from somewhere, slip in into Pietro’s glass, and the reason is still incredibly unclear. Not to mention they had to do all of this without getting noticed.”He said explaining what had been on his mind this whole time.

“YOU’RE RIGHT BANNER, THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD DO ALL THAT IS THE ONE WHO INVITED US HERE!!! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF STARK???!!!”Loki shouted causing the whole room to turn and look at Tony.

“WHY WOULD I INVITE YOU ALL HERE JUST TO KILL HIM?! I COULD HAVE JUST INVITED HIM AND YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN NONE THE WISER! YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS LAUFEYSON, THOR REIGN IN YOUR GREASY DOG! Tony screamed angrily glaring at Loki who returned it with haste.

“GREASY?!”Loki retorted lunging for Tony, only to be caught by Thor and Steve immediately upon wrapping his hand around Tony’s throat. Sam and Bucky having to hold back Tony who threw his empty glass towards Loki’s head in retaliation.

“GUYS GUYS! STOP FIGHTING! It’s not helping anything it’s just making us not focus on what’s important right now. That is finding out if we are still in danger by the hands of someone here.”You cried out before whistling to get everyone’s attention at once.

A pin drop could be heard with the silence that was cast over the room at your outburst. “You’re right, my apologies dear (Y/N).”Loki said nodding his head backing away from Tony smoothing out his formal outfit.

“We need to fight together instead of each other.”Steve agreed tipping his chin towards you. “So where do we go from here?”

“There isn’t much we can do but wait the weekend out and hope no one else turns up the same way.”Tony shrugged sadly. “I do suggest however that we stay at the very minimum in pairs or groups of three. That would be the best way we can try and prevent more deaths from occurring. We will have to watch each other closely and report anything suspicious. We are all suspects I’m afraid, and we are just going to have to accept that for now.”

“I hate to say this but I think Tony is right.”Steve said resigning to the fact that this was no longer a vacation, it was a real nightmare.

“Well then who is going to stay with who?”Sam asked looking to Steve for the lead, he didn’t trust anyone else as far as he could throw them.

“Bucky and Sam, Wanda is with Natasha, Bruce and Tony, Thor and Loki, Clint and Peter, and then I’ll be with (Y/N).”Steve explained assigning everyone partner, secretly using his being the leader to his advantage. “Anyone have any questions?”

“Yeah why do you get to be with (Y/N)?”Peter asked getting slightly indignant at what he saw as a serious misuse of power.

“I just assigned everyone I wasn’t really thinking about it.”Steve lied narrowing his eyes at the younger man, hoping he would get the message. “If you are that upset about it tomorrow we will switch groups.”He resigned trying to appear like he was being fair.

“It’s okay Peter we can be partners tomorrow.”You said trying to make him feel better, the awkwardness getting too thick for you to handle. “I think I’m ready to go to bed now.”You said standing up stretching a little. “I have a really bad headache.”

“Here I’ve got some aspirin in my bag.”Bruce offered handing it out to you for you to take.

“Thanks Bruce.”You said downing them, taking a sip of a glass of water Steve offered you. “You ready partner?”You ask Steve before motioning for him to lead the way. Following him up the steps towards your temporary bedroom, your world suddenly faded into darkness.  

End of Chapter Two

Tag List: @beeeb05 , @albinotigerpython , @streverogersgirl , and @thisoneisspokenforalready 

(Thank you for your support guys, it means the world to me!)

[warriyorcat]

i’m pretty sure the younglings in question are trying to use ao3′s platform for more exposure or whatever but not realizing (or not caring) that ao3 works very differently when compared to wattpad. For example, here’s a list of things that kind of clues me in to the fact a writer may have come over from wattpad:

-they tag relationships incorrectly (for ao3), whether they use character x character, or misuse the ‘/’ and ‘&’ symbols

-the work description has ‘minors DNI’ and lists the content warnings, but they don’t tag them

-uses weirdly fancy fonts in both the description and title

-they use an alternate fandom dialect. if you see a story titled ‘character imagines’ the author probably came over from wattpad

-an overuse of singular oc’s, most often female and evocative of some subcultural and/or fanfic stereotype (i’m thinking of that one Good Girl x Bad Boy fic where the girl is fashionable and aesthetic and has no personality and the boy wears a leather jacket and smokes and drives a motorcycle or black sports car. know which fanfic i’m talking about? cuz i don’t. there’s literally millions of fanfics like this on wattpad)

-the title will have the character’s name somewhere in the title with the format {first initial}{last name} (so a Draco Malfoy/Reader fic would have a title something along the lines of ‘Harry Potter x reader imagines (d. malfoy)

-they more often than not have poor grammar/vocabulary, but don’t automatically assume that every fanfic writer with poor grammar comes from wattpad, as some are non-native english speakers who are still learning. generally, if a fic as several of the abovementioned characteristics AND has poor grammar then it’s likely the author is on wattpad

-they (un)intentionally take the content of other authors without proper consent of the original author (no, simply crediting/tagging them doesn’t count. like fanart, if you are going to use an idea someone else created, you need to get their explicit consent that they’re okay with others using their content. If they’re not, DON’T USE IT.)

It’s also some of the things like constantly updating their stories simply to stay at the top of the fandom page, posting each chapter in a multichaptered work as an individual story, tagging unrelated fandoms or tags in an effort to gain more exposure (pls no repeats of ‘sexy times with wangxian’), etc. that are frustrating to the communities already established on ao3, and then to completely miss the basic point of ao3, to miss that it’s an archive and not a commercial platform like wattpad and twitter is why people are upset. “felt mocked and condescended” so basically you come and completely disregard a place that has it’s own culture and etiquette and then whine, moan, and act hurt when that place asks you to correct your behavior because you feel the need to act like an entitled bitch? yeah that’s not going to fly. a significant portion of the authors on ao3 are adults with lives, and your whining isn’t going to do anything. the word will spread about your behavior and people just won’t interact with your work.

i am so baffled by the conversation i'm watching right now, where younglings* who assumed AO3 had an algorithm felt mocked and condescended to when informed no, AO3 does not push any content at any user, and so the younglings are now doubling down and stanning algorithm??? that thing where social media sites get money from advertisers the more shit you click on so they shove content at you that is theoretically to your interest but actually is content that will keep you clicking, including content that enrages you, because they don't care about giving you shit you like just about keeping you engaged as long as possible, and oh also did we mention this ties into the modern lack of data privacy, the algorithm is watching everything you interact with to profile you better for advertising to you, it's spying on you across platforms whenever possible, THAT algorithm,

really you want it to know what fanfic you read, too? good grief

*"younglings": I know none of my edits are going to reach the reblogs so I'll get dragged for this forever, but this was strictly descriptive as in users who are younger than me but not children or kids because you have to be an adult to be on the AO3 or at least you should be

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

But people try to use mbti and enbeagram to understand thrmsrves, to deal with thrir issues. Abd instead of scientific explantions they get an advice of sorts: "You just have an inferior Si, that's why you're so bad with details" or "you haven't developed your tertiary Fe yet". It's not very good.

I don’t know what this specifically in reference to - I assume it’s the tritype post I just made - but let’s have a little talk about my general personal philosophy outside of the context of personality theory.

The short version:

1. You should consider the implications of the information you put out into the world and be thoughtful and when appropriate provide instruction, but you can’t ultimately control what people do with your information once you’ve done so.

2. There is no scientific answer on how to live life, and when it comes to psychology, which is a science, there are many things for which we don’t have a scientific answer. If someone comes to you with those questions you should again give a good faith answer that you genuinely believe is in their best interest but my first point still stands.

At length:

I believe that while one should be thoughtful about what one puts out on the internet, it is completely delusional and unproductive to do so with the expectation that no one will ever be hurt by it. The goal should be to do no intentional harm, but no matter how child-safe you make the fence, if a child runs into it hard enough, they’ll hurt themselves.

There’s a whole lot of things I post about on the internet on this blog and elsewhere and there are ways in which people might be upset, triggered, or harmed by those things - which is not my intention, but just a fact of life. I talk about exercise sometimes and someone with an eating disorder might misuse this. I talk about mental illness sometimes and maybe there’s someone out there who has diagnosed themselves from that instead of going to a professional. And so on. No matter how much I tag things or reiterate that I’m not a dietician or a mental health professional or add qualifications - and I do all of those things pretty extensively - there is always a possibility someone will take this information and use it to do something harmful to themselves or possibly others. The only thing I can possibly do to make sure that never happens is never post anything ever, because I don’t have insight into the minds of every person on earth and how they’ll take this information.

Obviously I’m not going to do that. I have my own personal standards of what I post and how I post it with the intention of putting information out in as helpful a way as I can, and then it’s out.

The thing about the situation posed in your question is that it absolves the person asking of any sort of responsibility to think critically about advice, and that’s not fair to either of us. Again, I try to be thoughtful, and doubly so if the person asking says they’re fairly young, but at some point if you ask advice of random strangers you don’t know you need to consider this information and ask yourself “does this make sense? Do I think this will help given what I know about the situation?” Frankly this goes even for information you get from trusted people. I’ve considered but rejected advice from people I usually trust sometimes not because they’re bad or wrong people, but because sometimes their advice isn’t right for me and they know I’m a person who can make her own choices. That is the basic contract here: everyone is responsible for both the information they put out and that they solicit or consume.

There’s less to add to the second item - it’s just a fact that there’s a whole lot we don’t know, and we should try to address our weaknesses or things we dislike about ourselves as best we can. Sometimes there is a scientific answer in the form of a diagnosis but sometimes there’s not and you just need to work on being more organized.

Now, with regards to how I apply this to MBTI and personality theory:

-if an ask sounds to me (not a trained mental health professional) like there might be mental illness, cognitive disorders, abusive behavior, or similar involved I usually say so, offer what resources I know, and recommend they talk to someone who is an expert. I have a post to this effect linked as the first question after the intro to my FAQ (an intro which encourages people to think critically and do external research rather than blindly trusting in me).

-Even if I don’t know if there’s a mental illness involved, if someone talks about their life being a mess, or that they’re incredibly unhealthy or looping all the time, or even that they’re getting really stressed out about mistyping, I usually say something to the effect of “get your life figured out without MBTI”. I frequently discourage young teens from getting into it for that reason, and when people treat accelerating function development like the end game instead of just developing as a person normally I discourage that as well and tell them that you don’t need to know or use MBTI to be a functional human being.

-when I get questions to the effect of “how do I get more organized if I don’t have Te” I usually just give general organization tips on the grounds that you don’t need Te to get organized; again, MBTI or enneagram or whatever isn’t required to be a functional human being.

I’m certainly not perfect, and I know that even if I tell someone “go see a psychiatrist and get help” or “you can still develop this skill without this function” they could completely ignore me and use MBTI in a way that isn’t best for them. But first of all, at that point, I have done my due diligence, and second of all, it would be immensely presumptious of me to think that I know what’s best for them better than they do. Everything I write is going to be from my perspective as an internet stranger and containing what I’m willing to take responsibility for saying, and once I’ve done so I entrust them to use that information how they see fit.

If you do believe MBTI as a whole is harmful you are welcome to do so. I’ve found it a helpful tool that, like any tool, you need to learn how to wield appropriately. You don’t have to like this blog or follow it - you’re welcome to block me even - but if your argument here is that I should be an arbiter of what information is appropriate for people to know, I’d ask first of all why on earth you think I should have that authority, and second whether everything you’ve ever put out on the internet could only be used for good.